Hi folks!
We're back with another exciting PR update for the Chicago Smash 4 scene! A lot of moving and shaking has occurred in the past few months so let's get right into it:
1) Akiro: That's right, folks. Not even a move to Wisconsin can stop this man from rampaging on our Power Rankings. Despite relocation due to his new job, Akiro has stayed faithful to the Chicago scene, traveling here for enough weeklies to qualify for the Invitational as well as some big tournaments. His most impressive performance yet was at the recent E2C16, defeating powerhouse players such as LOE1, Ryuga and Zinoto on his way to a second place finish. The next step for Akiro is to get back into the traveling habit. Chicago's final boss is still a very hidden quantity to the rest of the scene, and he needs to display his talents against as many top-level players as he can to truly prove himself.
2) Shel: The Godslayer himself takes second place on this edition of the PR in what I'm sure is a surprise to many of you. However, the numbers tell a tale of consistency. 4th at SmashNSplash, 9th at E2C15 and 5th at E2C16 are all respectable results in the past month or so. At this point you can pencil Shel into any given top 16, and when his reads are on, any top 8 or even top 4. The next step for Shel is variety in his neutral, as high-level players have started to pick it apart. If he incorporates some of the style of neutral used by LOE1 during E2C16 then watch out, Chicago.
3) JJROCKETS: Birds Up! After a string of consecutive weekly victories, JJ has risen himself from almost out of the top 5 into a solid 3rd on this update. His hyper-aggressive Diddy Kong continues to thwart players of all skill levels, and he put those skills on display at e2c16 where he 2-0'd Ksev on his way to a 5th place finish. Like Shel above him, JJ's consistency is to be marveled, and at the same time, his aggression appears to be solved by players such as Zinoto. An adjustment needs to be made to propel his game to a higher level.
4) GreenBeast: At the mention of consistency, Greenbeast has surprisingly lacked some of it in his recent results. 13th at SmashNSplash, 5th at E2C15 and 9th at E2C16 are his recent results, losing to players such as Demitus, Ksev and Ryuga in that span. After some of the most impressive play I've ever seen from the artist formerly known as Freebeast at Dismantle, he has to find a way to turn it back up again. He has been labbing new characters such as Sheik, and impressively went toe-to-toe with Akiro in the mirror on winner's side of the bracket at E2C16. Is she the answer he needs?
5) JTWild: JT manages to sneak into the top 5 despite missing out on big tournaments like E2C16. His Mario still proves to be the one to beat in Chicago, as his strong results at Dismantle and E2C15 have given him enough clout to stay on top of the pack. His aggressive pressure and offstage game are still his greatest strengths, but he has to be wary of being too predictable with his rushdown. There's also a rumor floating around about his Luigi being tournament-caliber as well... Might he make an appearance at E2C17? We'll see next month!
6) GGA.NiTe: NiTe had a string of consecutive top 8s broken at E2C16, where he placed 9th. He is one of the most consistent players in our scene, with a high-class Rosalina that can go toe-to-toe with anyone, and an up-and-coming Mario that he can use for Rosa's harder matchups. The next thing NiTe needs is results versus the rest of this top five to real prove himself. At the last Top Cut Tuesday he managed to beat JJ twice but fell to Greenbeast twice as well. He is a couple upset victories away from being top 5 at this point.
7) BoScotty: The lowest result Bo has had on a PR yet, and I'm sure Bo won't be surprised by it. 13th at Combo Breaker (assisted by a demotion to loser's bracket due to tardiness), 17th at SmashNSplash and 25th at E2C16 highlight his recent singles results not up to the BoScotty standard. His faith in singles is fading fast, and the Chicago scene is the one that pays the price. We all hope he can find that Dismantle magic that got him 4th place in a stacked bracket, as well as sent Akiro to losers, because when Bo is at the top of his game we all benefit.
8) Demitus: Demitus' Captain Falcon continues to be a pure force of aggression, capitalizing on every read that you give him until you are kneed into the blast zone. While he hasn't made top 8 at a monthly event in a while, he has dominated the weeklies he attends while also displaying very high-level games against players such as Ally, Mew2King and Greenbeast. The theme seems to be that higher level players lack the holes in their game that Captain Falcon can appropriately punish, and that's where Demi struggles. However, I trust the Demitus Touch, and know that on any given day he is a major threat to any top 8.
9) Gamerhead22/Semoponume: Reports of Gamerhead's hiatus have been greatly exaggerated, it seems. Back with a new tag, Semoponume continues to take names at the weeklies he attends. His hyper-aggressive Ness is a force and always a threat to crack any top 8. He has been able to make it to tournaments, however his results are on a bit of a downturn lately, only getting 5th in his pool at E2C16, a first for him.
10) Dan: Dan will be happy to hear that he finally breaks the top 10 in this month's edition of the PR. After a rough showing at Dismantle Dan has rebounded, securing at least 5th in every weekly he's attended since and getting top 16 quite regularly at our monthlies. I would describe his Mario as a more bait-and-punish style of character as compared to JTWild's ruthless aggression and Shevy's aerial spacing style. Dan is nothin if not persistent, and that persistence has led him to many great results, but now he need to work on upsetting those players above him on the PR to take his game to the next level.
11) Knubs: The real shocker of the list, Knubs lands in 11th place with his fundamentally sound Luigi play. A primary Melee player, Knubs rides in on the back of several strong weekly finishes in a row. He even beat Chompy in his pool at Dismantle to make it out in winners, a very notable accomplishment. His play shows very few weaknesses, except for his focus on another game means he struggles in certain matchups in this one. Hopefully he takes this placing as motivation to focus some serious effort into Smash 4, as a player of his quality would be great to have in our scene permanently.
12) Shion: Our second resident high-level Falcon player, Shion's clearly picked the right main to fit his personality. Brash, stylish and aggressive, his falcon is a threat to take sets off of anyone at any level. He's also a threat to just leave the venue when he gets bored, too. He continues to be the wild card of Chicago's Smash 4 scene, with nobody truly knowing which Shion may appear at any given weekly.
13) Shevy: Completing the Mario triangle, Shevy has finally earned himself a weekly win this past season, one of many reasons for his rapid rise in these rankings. As stated earlier his Mario is much more aerial-based than Chicago's other Marios, using his bair and dair to lead to follow up scenarios. This can sometimes lead to a predictable attack, and when his offense fails his defense can sometimes have holes in it. Good thing is, if he tightens up his habits and learns from other Marios the top 10 is certainly within reach.
14) Sage: My better half, Sage, prefers to focus on commentary at large events, but when he does decide to enter singles he is a threat. Having taken more games off of top 10 players than players 11-13, Sage's Rosalina (and his stable of... interesting secondaries) are not to be slept on. He is a very technical player who also regularly labs with the monster players he houses on a regular basis. But when will the labbing convert into serious tournament results, and more importantly, sets against the top 10?
15) Lefty: Lefty might be one of the most soft-spoken members of this list, but that doesn't mean you should sleep on his skills. A regular top-eight placer at GGA, arguably our scene's strongest weekly, Lefty continues to take games off of our best players with his Duck Hunt Dog and Kirby. The man who defies the tier list is really one strong monthly performance away from cracking the top 10 in this writer's opinion.
16) Hoenn: One of the most technical players in all of Chicago, the Pikachu main has fallen from in the top 10 all the way down to 16th in this update. Part of the issue is lack of attendance, as Hoenn only recently started going to a weekly regularly just a few weeks ago. In addition, carpal tunnel has reared its ugly head, putting him out of commission for a few weeks. Finally, his monthly results have not been up to his high standards recently, and many other players have hungrily claimed his top 10 spot. Just like Lefty, if Hoenn performs at the next monthly we will surely see his name rise back to where he knows he belongs.
17) zStorm: Another player who has been plagued by attendance issues, Zstorm has had trouble making it out to our bigger events recently. However, when he has traveled he has made noise, placing top 32 at E2C16 and performing well in his pools at SmashNSplash. Regular attendance at a weekly would go a long way for Zstorm's ranking. He does claim to be labbing some new, StaticManny-inspired tech, so hopefully that can lead to a breakout performance at E2C17.
18) iTony: iTony may be a mystery to some of you, but once you see his play you will understand his ranking here. The best way to describe his Wario is frustrating, taking your defensive options and turning them against you with his bite. The best thing iTony could do for his ranking is travel to the other weeklies and get some experience with other players in our scene. He is a GGA warrior who regularly gets top 8 but some training against people he doesn't often play would be great for his development as a high-level threat.
19) SlowJoe: Slowjoe's loyalty to Fox as a character is something to be admired. Every time new tech is discovered for his character he immediately hits the lab, grinds it and applies it to his game. It's refreshing to see his time in the lab pay off with a top-20 finish in this PR update. With that said, he doesn't have as many upset wins on those ranked above him as other players on this list. That will be Slowjoe's next step in the development of his game.
20) XYZ: The popular streamer and online warrior makes it into the top 20 on the back of a series of strong showings at weeklies such as the first Poplar Creek Bowl, where he beat Greenbeast to finish second. He is always a threat to take out any player with his powerful Zero Suit Samus, but he also needs to work on his consistency and tournament nerves. If he locks down his mental game he plays like a top-10 player.
21) Blind: The PR mastermind himself comes in just outside of the top 20 and is the third Rosalina on our list. His play revolves around careful spacing and placement of Luma to frustrate any approaching player, and he's rode this play style to victory in a handful of weeklies. He's yet another player outside the top 10 who is missing big upsets on his resume, so expect him to be hungry to win the next time he's paired against a top-10.
22) Dom: This fox player, however, is very familiar with the word 'upset.' He's taken games off of many of the GGA crowd, and even beat Stewey, a highly-ranked Michigan player, to make it out of his pool at E2C16. Consistency is a common theme among these up-and-coming players in this top 25, and Dom is no exception to that rule. Watch for him to be on the rise if he continues to crack challenging top 8s like he has recently, however.
23) Naoto: You'll have to pardon me because this is actually the player I know the least about on this list. A BITG regular and a Little Mac main, Naoto is one of the players I would like to run into in bracket the least. A skilled boxer main can take a set off of any unprepared player, and the more Naoto hones his spacing the scarier an opponent he becomes. Of note is that a shift to a two-stock metagame could be considered a buff to Little Mac, so it will be curious to see if he gets better results now that Chicago is experimenting with these new rules.
24) Santo: Santo is a very creative player who loves to learn new characters. Originally a pre-patch Diddy main, he has since switched to a very patient Captain Falcon, a spacing-oriented Villager and even an aggressive Lucas. The fact that his play style can switch mid-match with an effective counter pick plays heavily in his favor. He is no stranger to upsets as well.
25) Lord Sturm: Hey, that's me! I snuck into the top 25 this update and I promise I didn't pay anyone off to do it. I can list my issues as a player for pages and pages, as we are our own worst critics, but there's a solid player here with room to grow. I think the secret to that improvement lies in movement and solid punishes, as Yoshi can dance around opponents for days, a la like Hungrybox's Jigglypuff. There's a lot of work to be done yet but I know I can do it.
