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The Melee Stats Top 100: 100-91

By Melee Stats | 11/01/21

The Melee Stats Top 100 Players of All-Time as presented by PGstats begins today with the reveal of players 100-91.

For more on the methodology behind these rankings, the people who made this all possible, and the schedule going forward, read our introductory article here.
For other articles in the series, see below:
By Anokh "EdwinBudding" Palakurthi
In what still feels like a brief moment in time,
beat quite a few good players:
,
,
, moky,
,
,
, and
, among others. However, AbsentPage's greatest contribution to the scene was his ruthless dedication to competing.
In 2018, he entered a mind-boggling 104 tournaments, including an incredible first place finish at DreamHack Atlanta 2018, which came over
. I often think about when he posterized
at The Gang Steals The Script, with one of the most monstrous set-ending combos you'll see in your life.
By Zane "epengu" Bhansali
Look, I’ve spent a couple hundred hours talking to
about this game, and there’s a reason he used to be known as SmashG0D. He’s been a student of the game for longer than people know, since he was a 11-year-old Luigi main at BOMB4. In the 16 years since, he’s developed a set of innate Smash instincts and a staggeringly deep Iron Man roster.
and Rishi may have been turning Marth’s movement inside out at the same time, but Rishi’s made his bread off of DI mixups and neutral reads that are at their most potent when he’s faced with massive hills to climb, which, thanks to Rishi’s penchant for incredible defense, he’s been able to turn into some of the best comebacks in modern Smash history.
By Anokh "EdwinBudding" Palakurthi
is one of only 23 players to make the Melee Top 100 in every year of its existence. He's been a stalwart of Arizona Melee for more than a decade, having been ranked in its power rankings from 2010 to early 2019.
From his 33rd place finish at Genesis 2 to his continued presence in the Arizona scene it's safe to say that Tai will always be good at Melee - a living example of what a strong player looks like.
By Melissa Blight
No, not Bob$, Rob$. You'd be forgiven for not really knowing who he is, as his entire career happened back in the MLG Era. However, if you look at his resume, I feel pretty confident you'll remember at least a few things.
Staying just outside a Top 10 level for three years straight, Rob$ scored impressive wins over players like Azen, and regularly showed prowess in the Falco ditto against his contemporaries. Good thing too, considering his original tag was RobFalco.
By Jacob "chroma" Robins
If my character has an infinite, why would I ever do anything else? Well, setting it up involves keeping a CPU alive, hitting grabs with a character lacking range, and enduring a lot of community disdain. None of that ever stopped
, as he used a rare combination of neutral focus, labbing dedication, analytical ability, and personal composure to revolutionize the ancient and deadly art of wobbling.
In three years' time, the ICs prodigy went from narrowly missing the SoCal PR to making a top 30 year-end national ranking and multiple top eights at majors, all while building a trophy case full of top player souls (check his Summit diss track for details), garnering a voracious cheering section, and at one point finishing No. 2 in SoCal behind only
. By the way, the two have clashed at majors twice—both times, game five was on Mango's counterpick, and both times, ARMY walked away as the true King of Cali.
By Brendan "GimmeDatWheat" Malone
In a state so often defined by its wacky mid-tiers, the title of Arizona's greatest Fox may not seem to carry much weight, but don’t underestimate
. Beginning his career as a perennial hidden boss, Medz was easily able to establish himself a true bracket threat with his adept Fox, and later, his deadly Marth. A master of both sides of the Fox-Marth matchup, Medz has taken sets from both top Marth players such as
and
, while also using his own Marth to take sets off of
,
and other top spacies.
It’s his aptitude versus Pikachu, however, that truly sets him apart. While he’s always had a competitive career versus fellow Arizonan
, it was his local dominance in 2021 which led him to the current number one spot on the Arizona PR, gaining a title better than Arizona’s best Fox player: the best player in Arizona, period.
By Anokh "EdwinBudding" Palakurthi
Before there was
,
or
, there was
: the Deadly Alliance legend who's now known as the godfather of Peach.
Back in the pre-MLG days of Melee, before there were ever official sponsors or anything that resembled a tournament infrastructure, Mike G and his crew used to travel up and down the East Coast. By attending several events and enjoying as much success as he did in those early days, Mike G gave Peach a foundation for future success in competitive play.
By Melissa Blight
Sometimes going by Takagi,
was a valuable member of the early and mid 2000s Smash scene. Living in both Washington and Japan, Kei often bridged the gap between the then two scenes, doing it while boasting impressive records over Sastopher and
.
In fact, when I interviewed Kei a few years back asking about old-school results, he had an entire database of every SKYPAL local from 2003 to 2006. He, obviously, won most of them.
By Anokh "EdwinBudding" Palakurthi
At The Big House 8, I was talking to some Texas smashers who were thrilled that their hometown boy,
, had upset
. Knowing that Bananas was soon to run into Fiction, the Ice Climbers slayer himself, I thought, "free money."
Here's what happens next: I proceed to lose 20 bucks on a side bet. Bananas proceeds to beat
, Mango, and Axe at subsequent events, and he also wins No Fun Allowed 3 over Fiction for good measure. I guess it was free money—just not for me.
By Melissa Blight
If nothing else, Wife should be remembered for his input in "The Smash Brothers," and in his own book, "Team Ben," titled after his crew name. His eloquence and ability to weave together stories of the past were a main driver of one of the most important pieces of media our scene has ever had.
He was no slouch on a controller either, netting wins over KoreanDJ and ChuDat at his peak.
The Melee Stats Top 100 will continue Wednesday with the reveal of players 90-81. Follow @MeleeStatsPod and @PGstats on Twitter to keep up with the full series.