SSBMRank Summer 2025: 11–20

Melee Stats is proud to present SSBMRank Summer 2025! The annual countdown of the best Melee players in the world continues with a look at the fifty best players of 2025 so far, from old favorites to new breakouts and so much more.

We polled 21 community figures to rate each ballot-eligible player based on their performances throughout the first half of 2025. These panelists span a wide range: top players, tournament organizers, writers, analysts, and more. Each panelist rated each player with a value between 1 and 70, and then each player’s rating was aggregated to a single value based on their distribution of votes.

SSBMRank Summer 2025 #20: Ossify | Photographer Credit: Victoria Hamilton (@bluerosetori)

#20: Ossify | Rating: 72.72

Dillon “Ossify” Duhalde has carved a metaphorical and literal staggering swath through the competition in 2025, netting himself a second consecutive spot amongst some of the best players in the world.

With his superb tech skill and crisp punish game, the Michigander continues to be a staple name in the later portions of brackets, not dipping below 17th at any regional or major event that he has entered so far this year. Ossify’s best run of the ranking season came during the month of April, where, over a six day span, he placed second and first at Full Bloom 2025 and Out of the Blue 4 respectively. This dominant week-long stretch of activity netted the red Marth prominent wins over Magi, Salt, Ben and Jmook.

While his tournament attendance has been spotty (he’s only been to five events in total in 2025), Ossify continues to demonstrate that he is a burgeoning force in the competitive leagues. With fall quickly coming around the corner, expect the Michigan star to conquer even more ground as he makes his way towards contendership.

-Hank Strandberg

SSBMRank Summer 2025 #19: Junebug | Photographer Credit: Atheen (@atheen_art)

#19: Junebug | Rating: 73.77

Imagine for a moment a Melee player whose storied history points to antics galore. A player who’s gone through multiple character switches, had to choose between commentating Top 8 and playing in Top 8, and has DQed from the tournament just to see a magic show — all the while, picking up results that make you say, “they beat who?!”

Arjun “Junebug” Rao is this player. After making the Top 50 with Sheik, Junebug decided to do the same in challenge mode — that is, with Donkey Kong. This year, Junebug has continued their rise in the ranks, starting off with a 9th place finish at GENESIS X2. There, they defeated mvlvchi and Jmook before eventually being taken out by hopeful winners Cody Schwab and Hungrybox. Not easily satiated, Junebug followed up with another 9th place at Nouns Bowl 2025, including an earth-shattering win on Zain. Accompany this with a 1st place at the stacked regional It’s Not You, It’s Melee #23, and Junebug’s upward trajectory seems to be never-ending.

Know this for certain: Junebug will always be on the main stage. The only question is if it’ll be cheering in the crowd, in the commentary booth, or winning the whole thing.

-Connor “Zyko” Kenney

SSBMRank Summer 2025 #18: aMSa | Photographer Credit: Chadd Brown (@browningtons_)

#18: aMSa | Rating: 74.64

Masaya “aMSa” Chikamoto’s rise to Melee’s elite may very well be the greatest Cinderella story our scene has ever witnessed, and it isn’t because he plays Yoshi. For a player with access to only a fraction of top level resources, aMSa’s whole career has been defined by consistently scaling walls we thought were insurmountable: from becoming a Top 30 player, to defeating “The Gods,” to defying all odds and winning a major. This is an unprecedented feat that would be considered unbelievable even with the best characters. aMSa’s managed to do it with the red dinosaur in his proverbial backyard.

Lately, it’s no secret that the next wall for number one has seemed more daunting than ever. The distance between him and the world’s premier tournaments hasn’t gotten any shorter, but the landscape has been becoming more hostile. Cody Schwab has remained aMSa’s demon, but both Salt and Krudo have broken the dam to become major roadblocks on his path to Top 8. Coupled with only a single win against the Top 10 this season, aMSa has found himself ranked outside of that pantheon for the first time since 2017. Never before has he faced a test this difficult. But, hey, doesn’t this all look familiar? Overcoming all odds, destroying any perceived boundaries, surpassing our wildest expectations? Well, that’s sort of aMSa’s thing, isn’t it?

-Glenn “KayB” Kim

SSBMRank Summer 2025 #17: Magi | Photographer Credit: Victoria Hamilton (@bluerosetori)

#17: Magi | Rating: 75.51

Melee has only gotten more difficult over time. The recent scourge of floaties and mid-tiers revolutionizing their way to Top 8 graphics has made it all the more difficult to compete with fragile Falco, but Sasha “Magi” Sullivan consistently fights her way through the crowd.

Magi has used the 2025 tournament lineup excellently. So far she’s taken sets from moky, Jmook, Aklo, and even the mysterious hermit Plup. Combine those wins with a seeming invulnerability to nearly any player outside of the Top 20, and you end up with results to brag about — like two major Top 8s, at Tipped Off 16: Safari and Full Bloom 2025.

You know Magi not just for her gameplay, but for being one of the most content-savvy players around. It’s a pleasure to report that she’s only expanded her virtual horizons by venturing into the wide world of VTubing to roaring success. Each and every one of her electric combo videos continue to dazzle, as well.

With a character as flighty as Falco, it’s worth praising Magi for something distinctly un-birdlike: her consistency. Through her gameplay, her immaculate content on-stream and off, and constant inspiration to all the dolls and Falco mains alike — there’s only one thing left to say. Woo Magi! :3

-Juno “Jiffy” Meili

SSBMRank Summer 2025 #16: Aklo | Photographer Credit: Victoria Hamilton (@bluerosetori)

#16: Aklo | Rating: 76.86

There is a cup we all drink from, on occasion — especially online — filled with doubt and malaise. It slowly poisons us. Dawud “Aklo” Rahman drinks from a different cup. If the game is dying, he hasn’t noticed.

He has attended 32 events already this year. That’s one a week, every week, for 8 months. He’ll enter a Project+ side bracket with 11 entrants, any invitational he can get to, any open bracket, online bracket — whatever. He’s been around the Melee community his entire life, indoctrinated by his three older brothers, and he is endlessly looking for ways to grow and defend it. For him, “being a Melee community member means giving back to it, not getting something from it.” He is constantly sharing his positive experiences at events on social media and challenging cynics to go to more events — to meet people, to build their own community.

Yet, on stage, his Fox is an ice bucket challenge for crowd-favorites. Aklo says he doesn’t mind playing the villain if the audience needs one — even if it takes some work to get used to their hostility. At Full Bloom 2025, the crowd booed Aklo as he fought Magi. When the set was over, narratively satiated, they awoke from their dramaturgical disposition to cheer for Dawud Rahman, Melee Citizen.

-Jack “Jackzilla” Harmening

SSBMRank Summer 2025 #15: Jmook | Photographer Credit: Julzz (@liquidjulzz)

#15: Jmook | Rating: 81.09

Picture this: you’ve won Genesis, become a top five player, and moved across the country to pursue your dreams. Now — what would you do next?

In 2025, we’re seeing Jake “Jmook” Dirado’s answer — try to do it all. Despite some lackluster placements compared to his gold standard (first place), he’s been anything but inactive. Jmook has entered 17 events this year, more than any top player. It’s only natural that for an ardent supporter of local scenes, most of these were within SoCal, where he traded blows with the region’s long-time warden Fiction and came out on top.

Make no mistake — set wins over Cody Schwab and aMSa show that Jmook is merely in hibernation, waiting for his next opportunity to whisk another medal away to the valleys of upstate New York.

But arguably the most telling moment of Jmook’s year came at Fight Pitt 10 — not for what he won, but for what he set out to do. He arrived in Pittsburgh donning his moniker “The Jake”, the name of his ego-destroying Zelda secondary, to honor the legacy of Aaron “The Lake” Beilstein — the original greatest Zelda of all time. What started as a symbolic gesture turned into a demonstration of Jmook’s brutality: he put up the best Zelda performance in history, trouncing the likes of Mot$, Zuppy, and Goodie to place 5th.

It’s hard being the Jake of all trades, master of tons. The Beast of Bing is back home in the Empire State — it’s only a matter of time before he erects a new dynasty.

-Tommy “PGH Fahey” Fahey

SSBMRank Summer 2025 #14: lloD | Photographer Credit: Victoria Hamilton (@bluerosetori)

#14: lloD | Rating: 81.34

Peach player, resident surgeon and, most impressive of them all, tap jumper, Arjun “lloD” Malhotra is the scariest type of person to have to see in your bracket. He stands up to the parts of life that challenge him and force him to grow, reveling in the endless process of lifelong learning.

After a relatively quiet 2024, it’s been a delight to see lloD step back up to the plate at a slew of Melee majors this year, contributing to the sharpest rise of top level Princess Peach we have seen in a decade. Those who tuned in to Melee during the summer got to see a marathon of lloD when he attended and secured Top 8 at four of the biggest tournaments of the season in a row.

lloD fans rejoiced as he displayed a triumphant return to the supermajor stage at Tipped Off 16: Safari, defeating Junebug, Soonsay, Trif and a surging Axe — securing him a spot at the Nounsvitational 2025 in Japan. The last time we saw lloD at such a prestigious invitational was Smash Summit 13, where he beat Zain and Leffen. If he puts up even a fraction of the performance he did there, lloD fans everywhere will be getting a satisfying bookend to a great comeback year.

-Trinity Meleesadposts

SSBMRank Summer 2025 #13: Soonsay | Photographer Credit: Atheen (@atheen_art)

#13: Soonsay | Rating: 83.96

The nature of competition is that no matter how high you climb, there can only ever be one champion at the summit, while the rest are forced to gaze from below. Miles “Soonsay” Foster has seen this view many times. Even in the beginning, as an unranked player, his career was defined by razor-thin losses against the world’s finest at their last stock — a harsh lesson that Melee is a game of inches. Some days, those inches don’t come and you’re back sitting outside of Top 8. Other days, they give — and suddenly Soonsay’s right there at the summit. It all sounds so simple; until you realize the sheer amount of sacrifice that must be given just to wrestle those inches a little closer.

Soonsay understands this cost and volatility of victory. But his unique recognition has also led to a drive to achieve his North Star: winning a major. Today, that star hovers above Japan, an opportunity manifested by both him and the fans who believe in his journey. Following Soonsay’s career in 2025 alone makes you realize one simple truth: when people recognize passion has no price, people will do what passion demands.

-Glenn “KayB” Kim

SSBMRank Summer 2025 #12: Aura | Photographer Credit: Ben McDowell (@ben__mcdowell)

#12: Aura | Rating: 83.98

It’s always a pleasure when a fresh face gets to see that Sunday Top 8. It’s even more of a pleasure to see that honor bestowed on someone as deserving, passionate, and emotive as Derek “Aura” Olsen.

At GENESIS X2, Aura found himself battling Wizzrobe for his first major Top 8. Despite cutting it so damn close that the main stream could see the tears streaming down his face, Aura had to settle for 9th. That placing, though it may have stung, was hardly a consolation prize; after all, Aura got there by ripping apart a pair of Fox mains by the names of Soonsay and Cody Schwab. And no matter — Aura went on to immediately make not just one, but two Top 8s at Battle of BC 7 and Get On My Level: Forever. He’s recently parlayed these stellar placings into a full-time Melee career. Nearly every top Fox has had the bad fortune of receiving the royal treatment from his princess’s grueling punish game.

But Aura’s friends and local community in Oregon know that his dedication doesn’t stop at gameplay. They’ve seen his efforts to maintain connections, care, and support as a model member of his community. Derek is an unending well of positivity and love for a region just reaching its stride, and the scene out here loves him back. So if you’ve got the time, take the opportunity to come see the PNW, and meet the living legend who resides here. He’ll make sure to text you the address for the after-party.

-Juno “Jiffy” Meili

SSBMRank Summer 2025 #11: Trif | Photographer Credit: Victoria Hamilton (@bluerosetori)

#11: Trif | Rating: 84.16

How far would you go to play Melee? For Álvaro “Trif” García, there is no limit. Trif will go across oceans, into the depths of Discord DMs, to the hyperborean reach above top platform and the last tick of the timer, all to squeeze every possible second of the game he loves. Few have the heart to follow him.

Sure, Trif’s notorious penchant for defense may render those DMs unanswered and send would-be practice partners scurrying from the friendlies setup. It also produced the greatest Peach run since Armada. At GENESIS X2, Trif proved that time erases all bracket demons, beating Wizzrobe for the second time ever and picking up maiden wins on SDJ, S2J, and Mang0.

All demons but one. For nine long games, Trif and Hungrybox made Puff versus Peach the most exciting match-up in Melee. One grueling hour later, Trif was left watching history’s most protracted pop-off. He dusted himself off, took a moment to reflect — then took a selfie with Hungrybox, beaming wide. After all, he’d just gotten to play a whole lot of Melee.

So what if Trif hasn’t reached that peak again in 2025? Evaluating Trif on such momentary terms is a grave miscalculation, one that equates him with humans whose careers last mere years or decades, not the eons Trif will surely persist. At time’s end, when entropy has extinguished the stars and a lone CRT casts the last friendly glow in the universe, Trif will be there — waiting on the top platform for you to come to the place where we can play Melee together.

-Zane “epengu” Bhansali

The SSBMRank Summer 2025 Team

Director: Brendan “GimmeDatWheat” Malone Editing Lead: Zane “epengu” Bhansali Data Lead: Eryk “Ambisinister” Banatt Graphics Lead: Nick “DarkDragoon” Konstantino Community Lead: Justin “DarkGenex” Cohen

Check out start.gg/SSBMRank to follow along with the full list as it releases