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The Melee Stats Top 100: 20-11

By Melee Stats | 11/19/21

The Melee Stats Top 100 Players of All-Time as presented by PGstats continues today with the reveal of players 20-11.

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 Brendan "GimmeDatWheat" Malone
In 2011,
placed top eight at Genesis 2, one of the biggest tournaments of the year. In 2020, after nine years and a character switch, Shroomed placed top eight at Genesis 7, the biggest tournament of the year.
While it’s easy to view this a victory lap for the veteran’s career, it’s really more of an indication that you can never count Shroomed out. The NorCal native has been a mainstay of yearly top ten lists with both Dr. Mario and Sheik, garnering wins over players such as
,
and
. With a feel-heavy, intuitive playstyle and years of results, don’t be surprised to see Shroomed sitting in top eight anytime soon.
By Zane "Epengu" Bhansali
I can think of two competitors whose drive to win has genuinely seemed otherworldly to me: Michael Jordan in "The Last Dance," and Aziz Al-Yami, every time I’ve heard him speak.
has undeniably broadened Melee’s horizons: of multiple character metagames, of technological solutions, and of the types of celebrity we afford to our perceived heroes.
Very few lights shine brighter than Hax$ at his best, but his compulsive drive to improve ensures that his burnouts are as much an event as his most brilliant moments. Whatever his future may hold, Hax$ grew up in Melee, and if the past is any indicator, all signs point to him spending the rest of his days making sure he never has to spend a moment away from it again.
By Brendan "GimmeDatWheat" Malone
Imagine this scenario: You are playing
in a tournament. Somehow, the set goes to its last game, and, purely by the grace of God, you are up an entire stock. There’s one small problem: you get hit, and then there’s one huge problem: you die.
This is called a Johnny Stock, a term synonymous with the explosive come-from-behind combos that S2J is known for. He’s done it to Mew2King,
, and all of SoCal for more years of top level success than any other Captain Falcon main. S2J’s ability to combine aggressiveness, incredible spacing, and defense - along with his knack for conditioning and reading his opponent - makes for a timeless playstyle and storied career with no end in sight.
By Anokh "EdwinBudding" Palakurthi
It's going to take a while for any top player from New England to fill KoreanDJ's shoes. Although his pursuits outside of Melee limited his ability to remain as involved as some of his peers, it was once reasonable to wonder if he could have possibly won Evo or any of the multiple majors he couldn't attend.
For what it's worth, though, he finished well within the Top 100 for its first two years before retiring for good. Rumor has it that a New England top player - one who shall remain anonymous - was once so excited upon beating KoreanDJ for the first time that they called their father immediately after it happened. Honestly, wouldn't you do the same?
By Anokh "EdwinBudding" Palakurthi
In every year of MPGR's existence,
has finished at least Top 25 in the world. Within that time, he not only beat
and Mew2King multiple times, but once beat Hungrybox so thoroughly at The Big House 6 that even Scar felt bad for Jigglypuff.
What's especially impressive for SFAT are his overwhelmingly positive lifetime records against many of his peers. His rivalries with S2J (33-18),
(19-15), Shroomed (57-39), and even Plup (8-5) are all ones where SFAT, more often than not, comes out on top. If he ever puts it together to finally win that elusive major he's been looking for, we should all go vegan for a week.
By Melissa Blight
Okay, let's get this straight: Isai could've been the best if he tried—don't get it twisted. The Smash 64 GOAT is no stranger to being the best there is at a game, and in brief spurts, he showed that prowess, most notably at MOAST 3, where he and Ken casually laid the bedrock for the Captain Falcon-Marth matchup.
Isai's heart was never in singles, which makes winning two majors all the more incomprehensible. He was also a mentor to many up and coming Falcons of his time, with his most direct apprentice being
, the next great NorCal Falcon. When Isai gave a crap, he was unstoppable, advanced the tech and meta of this game by several years. When he didn't give a crap, he was still one of the best to ever do it.
By Anokh "EdwinBudding" Palakurthi
Remember when
was simply seen as "20GX?" From seemingly 3-0'ing
out of nowhere at WTFox 2 to taking sets off each his toughest rivals over the last few years, Wizzrobe has become the definitive modern Captain Falcon player.
Even more impressively, his rise came at a time when many were doubting the character's future in the metagame. As 90 percent of the community seemed ready to call Falcon worse than Pikachu, boom—Wizzrobe destroys Mew2King a few times and he becomes the only Falcon to beat Plup's Sheik at a major. For a brief stretch in mid-2019, you wouldn't have been crazy for wondering if Wizzrobe was actually the best player in the world. It's not too ridiculous to imagine that he could officially have that title one day.
By Melissa Blight
PC Chris's rise to the top was much more of a gradual struggle than the common story told. After initially maining Ganondorf, he slowly rose the ranks upon his switch to the spacies in 2005, eventually becoming a Top 10 player, with wins on Isai and
. Following his third place at MLG New York 2005, PC Chris proved it was no fluke with a stunning defeat of Ken at the opener of the 2006 season.
His and Ken's epic trilogy across New York Opener, Dallas and Anaheim remains one of the best in our game's history, and he was able to end this monumental year the same way he started it, with a win at the Vegas Championships. His years after were also impressive, notably with a mind-blowing loser's run to first place at Zero Challenge 3, but the snapshot of PC Chris with a fat $10,000 check is what he'll be most remembered for.
By Melissa Blight
I'm honestly still in disbelief that
won Smash Summit 8 and finished as the world No. 4 in 2019. For a decade, Axe was always the bridesmaid, but never the bride. Playing with Pikachu, Axe pushed the boundaries of what people thought the character was capable of, pretty much being his sole representative at the top level for ten whole years.
Without question, he's the greatest to ever do it with the rat and probably the greatest dedicated mid-tier player of all-time. His immense win streak against Marth is simply staggering to look at in its entirety and his long, arduous climb to the top of the mountain is maybe the most inspiring story in our game's history. Axe's career will forever be defined by the moment that he finally reached the summit, but never forget the climb that brought him there.
By Melissa Blight
After the heat death of the universe, when all other life has been extinguished and Melee is nothing but a memory,
will still be getting top eight at The Big House 30 Trillion. In terms of their first and last years at being a threat, nobody has had a career like ChuDat, as he beat Azen in 2002 and got fourth at Shine 2019.
His unparalleled longevity has brought him immense success and wins over the years, sometimes when you least expect it. ChuDat's comeback in the early 2010s, particularly coming with wins on Hungrybox in both 2011 and 2012, seems like a mere precursor to his insane run in 2017, when he beat Mango three times in a row and won Battle of BC 3 over Mew2King.
We're nearly there! The Melee Stats Top 100 will conclude Sunday on the 20th anniversary of Super Smash Bros. Melee, and will include a video celebrating all 100 players. Follow @MeleeStatsPod and @PGstats on Twitter to keep up with the full series.