Smash Bros is getting a brand-new ranking system this year, the SSBMRank and UltRank are launching to replace the Panda rankings.
Ranking in fighting games can always be tricky, with different fans having differing opinions on just who the best players are. We can look at who wins what Major to pick the best Smash Bros players, but it’s hard to quantify every single player. That’s where rankings come in.
A player breaking the top end of the rankings is a watershed moment for them and the community puts a lot of stock in them. The way that they are organized has always been a bit less agreed on though. This new system brings together multiple bodies that run rankings, for possibly our most accurate Smash rankings yet.
New Smash Bros Rankings Launching
Up until recently, the predominant ranking organization was Panda. They published the Panda Global Rankings, which gave updates on where each player was standing. While not universally agreed on, these rankings were definitely the biggest in the last few years. They ran from 2015 up until last year, with changing metrics and panels for how players’ ranks were decided.
The Panda organization’s relationship with Smash has had better days though. The cancellation of the Smash World Tour and the growing fallout with the Panda Global Circuit have left the rankings as a bit of an unknown. Thankfully, someone new is stepping in to take over rankings for 2023. A new group will be offering their own Smash Bros ranks, SSBM Rank and UltRank.
SSBMRank and UltRank
SSBMRank and UltRank are two new rankings which will be launching in 2023. These are going to be organized by Start.gg. A popular site for hosting tournaments in Smash Bros and other games. It isn’t just one group runnings the rankings this time around though.
These new rankings are going to have input from Melee Stats, Melee It On Me, OrionRank, EchoRank, and OmegaRank. All of these groups will be working to together to come up with the definitive rankings for the current Smash Bros esports community as the 2023 season begin.
Start.gg isn’t doing the ranking themselves. That’s being left up to their partners with a deeper involvement in stats for Smash Bros. Instead, they’ll be giving the rankings hosting and a flashy page to display the current results. They’ve also promised that all of the ad revenue from the stats pages will be given to those who created the rankings.
They’re definitely adding an element of the dramatic to the rankings. They’ve opted not to release the rankings all at once. Instead, they’ll be gradually teasing out the results.
Over ten days, they will be releasing another of the best players for both Ultimate and Melee. It kicked off on day 1 with Mr. 101. SSBMRank isn’t entirely new. This has grown out of MOIMRank which went inactive a few years ago. UltRank will similarly have the help of others in the Smash Bros scene to ensure it’s as accurate as possible.
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