The 2023 SSBBRank: 20–11
This is part 1 of 2 for the SSBBrank 2023.
Read Part 2 here: The 2023 SSBBRank Top 10
2023 has been a good year for Brawl. Super Smash Con this year was the largest event in almost a decade, since Apex 2014, and we’ve had 11 (!) events qualify for rankings this year. Brawl is looking to be in a good place for next year, with more events, an online player-base that will only grow, and more. And with this, we are bringing the SSBBRank from a multi-year ranking into a single year ranking. Every event considered here was from 2023. And as we move forward, each year will be able to have its own single year ranking. If you want to join in on the Brawl action, just join us in the Brawl Central Discord server! But for now, let’s take a look at who the best Brawl players in the world were this year.
Methodology:
This ranking considered 11 tournaments throughout the year, starting with Sweet Spot 7 in March and ending with Brotherly Love Fall Fest in November. Any tournament that was C tier or above on the SSBBRank TTS had its results considered for this ranking. Players qualified to be on the ballot by obtaining the necessary placing at one of the considered tournaments (see the TTS for specifics). The ranking was made by five panelists, ninja1167 (me), albs, Ashley, streety, and ElvisNeverDied. Each panelist was given the placements and head-to-heads of each player, and was asked to create a ranking of every player on the ballot. After this, the individual rankings were averaged together, and the panelists voted to make adjustments to the averaged list. If a proposal gained a majority support from the panelists, it would go through. The panelists also voted on the number of players who would make the ranking, and it was decided on 20, which brings us back in line with the 2017 and 2019 SSBBRanks.
Now, without further ado, here is the 1st half of the 2023 SSBBRank!
20. Max Power
Sheik is a character who has a lot of flaws, the largest being her inability to kill the opponent. Despite her flaws, Max Power has been able to pilot Sheik to success. At Super Smash Con 2023, he defeated Ness682, and reached 17th, losing to Player-1 and Ish. Later, at SSC Ranbats, he would place 5th, defeating Ness682 again, and nearly took a set from Bike, going to game 5. Despite not attending very much this year, Max continues to lab out new tech and strategies for Sheik. Watch out for what he could do next year, and maybe he’ll show us that his mid tier isn’t so bad after all.
–written by ninja1167
19. Dabuz
Dabuz only had one tournament this season, Super Smash Con 2023. At this tournament, he took down Big D and Azazel, but had some unfortunate bracket luck beyond that. His character, Olimar, is one of the best characters in the game. However, the character does struggle against Ice Climbers, and Dabuz happened to run into not one, but two of them. He would end up losing to Hoenn and Lux for 9th place, not a bad placing but a bit of a fall from his top 4 finish last year. Despite this, we all have seen what Dabuz is capable of, and if he chooses to compete next year (which we all hope he does), look out for him to bounce back to his former heights once again.
–written by ninja1167
18. Fabian
Fabian, with his Marth, is one of the best players in Norway, behind Gardex and Bike, and his results this year have shown it. At Smashborg Sesh 5, after beating Edeas, he would even take a win over Gardex, only losing to Bike for 2nd place. Despite dropping a set to Gardex at Smashborg Sesh 6, he still placed 3rd at that tournament, and gained wins over Edeas and Afrotwist. He’s already been making waves in Norway’s Brawl scene, and with a great year in sight, watch for Fabian to make even more upsets next year.
–written by ninja1167
17. LOE1
LOE1 only attended one event this year: the Michigan regional Youmacon 2023. However, at this event, he would end up picking up some great wins, defeating Ori, Chia, and Lain in Grand Finals before losing in the reset to finish in an impressive 2nd place. Taking down one of the top 10 players in the world is no small feat, especially for having not played in such a long time. Maybe this will be a return to prominence for the Wario main who was once in the top 60 on the SSBBRank. With this ranking, he is the first Wario main to have made a global ranking since 2019, showing that he and the character still have what it takes to compete at the highest level.
–written by ninja1167
16. Vex Kasrani
Vex last entered an offline Brawl tournament in 2020. He hasn’t entered Smash Con since 2019. However, this year he and a couple others from the Philadelphia region began putting on their own local tournaments, which attracted attention from other ranked players who lived nearby. At Brotherly Love in September, Vex would showcase that he doesn’t even have to play his main to compete at the top level. He won this tournament over Kyoz using Fox against Kyoz’s ZSS, and picked up a win on Hinkage as well. With the return of the Tri-state Brawl scene, Vex has shown that he has what it takes to not only compete, but dominate his local competitors, which includes some of the best players in the world.
–written by ninja1167
15. RipplePuff
RipplePuff entered this year with a promising start, motivated to achieve higher than what she accomplished last ranking. RipplePuff first entered Sweet Spot 7, and managed to achieve 3rd place at the tournament, falling short to Lux while still managing to take wins over Fino and Chia, which the latter was ranked 9th on the 2020–2022 SSBBRank. However, due to circumstances that have occurred outside of Brawl, RipplePuff could not attend any more tournaments for this season, however, there can always be next year.
— written by streety
14. Lain
Lain is a legend of old school Brawl. He was one of the best players in the world in 2009, and has continued to enter Brawl events at majors even in recent times, and still does well at them, for example he made top 16 at Super Smash Con 2022 last year. This year, his first tournament was The Big House 11. Despite his 7th place finish seeming a little lackluster at first, he only lost to top 5 players Player-1 and Gunnermaniac, and picked up wins on Merrick and Grunyan Using Meta Knight and Ice Climbers. Then, just a couple weeks later, he would have his best performance of the year at Youmacon 2023. Lain would end up winning this event, defeating Chia and LOE1 twice. What’s even more impressive? This event had Meta Knight banned, and so lain decided to use King Dedede instead to take the victory, putting himself on a global Brawl ranking for the first time since 2009
–written by ninja1167
13. Big D
Big D is a Brawl veteran from the early-to-mid 2010s. This year, he took the plunge and participated in his first supermajor Brawl tournament: Super Smash Con 2023. He made a splash by gaining wins over Xufactor, Arch, and Gardex to claim 9th place. He wound up tying with other veterans Dabuz and Chia, as well major newcomers like Kyoz. While his lack of tournaments this season keeps him in the 13th rank, if he continues playing Brawl, he might very well work his way into the top 10.
-written by Tori
12. Gardex
Gardex dominated Norway for three straight years. With Bike taking a step back from competing during this time, Gardex was left as the best active player in Norway. This year, he decided to take a trip to the United States for the first time since Apex 2015 and compete at Super Smash Con 2023. He would end up losing to Hoenn and Big D, but beating Fishbait, at this tournament for 17th, however his real star showing would come later that weekend. At SSC Ranbats, he would defeat Tori, Lux, and Player-1’s Bowser to get 2nd at the event, only losing to Bike. After this tournament, Gardex would take a loss to Fabian at Smashborg Sesh 5, going out at 3rd, but would even up the record at Smashborg Sesh 6. At this event, he would get 2nd, only losing to Bike, and solidified his place as the #2 player in Norway. Should Gardex travel again, or if NAs top players make a trip to Norway, they will find his Mr. Game and Watch waiting to take them down.
–written by ninja1167
11. Strawberrow
Strawberrow has been playing friendlies on and off again for some time, but had not attended an offline tournament since BTIKC in 2018. However, he decided to attend The Big House 11 this year. This tournament featured 5 of the SSBBRank 2020–2022 top 10, but that didn’t stop Strawberrow. He would take out both Gunnermaniac and Zenan at this event on his way to 4th place, only losing to Player-1 and Chia. This was a fitting end to the year of Ice Climbers. After 3 others got top 8 at Super Smash Con, Strawberrow showed that he has what it takes to join that echelon. Don’t be surprised if he cracks his way into the top 10 next year, solidifying that the year of Ice Climbers is here to stay.
–written by ninja1167
Well that’s it for 20–11, tune in tomorrow for ranks 10–1! We’ll have another article which will have the ranks and information about each of the players. Don’t miss out!
Introduction, conclusion, and methodology written by ninja1167
Player-cards created by Ashley, built off template from E2B
Proofreading done by Tori and ninja1167
This is part 1 of 2 for the SSBBrank 2023.
Read Part 2 here: The 2023 SSBBRank Top 10
