The PGStatscord Top 100 Panel for 2021 – 80-61

After several months of work, various data collectors and seeders from the PG Stats Discord have compiled together a Panel Vote of the 2021 Season. Today, the ranking continues, with the next 20 of the Top 100.

#80 – Jagaimo

Jagaimo’s first event of the season was the first iteration of Kagaribi and although his only notable win would be Yamanaction, Jagaimo at least started the season with a solid top 8 performance.

At Mjolner #0 Jagaimo was able to beat Paseriman, Gackt, and a depth win in Yamanaction for a 4th place finish at the event. Jagaimo’s best performance of the season was by far the Eastern Powerhouse Invitational 2 where he would get wins on Kept, Kameme, Nietono, and KEN en route to another 4th place. Going into this season placing 2nd at DAWN #4 and taking a set off of a recently thriving Paseriman, Jagaimo’s season is already looking promising.

• Wumbulon

#79 – Peabnut

In Rfang’s absence Peabnut represents the Carolinas and as the best Mega Man in North America, has built a solid resume of wins in the past year. At Typhoon Saga Peabnut beat Fatality among Georgia depth on a run to 5th place to open the season.

Low Tide City would be Peabnut’s next notable event, beating Skyjay to land himself a spot in Top 32 at 25th and nearly walking out with a win on Muteace. Mainstage would be much of the same for Peabnut, clinching a win on WaDi before falling just short of a win on MVD and placing 25th. The aptly named Peabnut Formal was Peabnut’s strongest run as he tore through Moxi, Teaser, and Goblin to place 2nd and cap off the year. Although he was seemingly cursed to fall just short of a breakout run last year, Peabnut’s prospects are looking up with a strong run to 17th at Collision.

• Wumbulon

#78 – ZAKI

ZAKI has long been considered to be the best King Dedede player in the world, a position he managed to hold this season despite legitimate competition for the title for the first time in years. ZAKI has managed to rack up an impressive resume consisting of wins this season such as Injelly, Lunamado, tk3, Munekin, and HIKARU. His most notable upsets of this season were Atelier and Kome at Sumabato SP 19 and Maesuma TOP 4 respectively, which are among ZAKI’s best wins in Ultimate’s lifespan. Despite using a character considered underwhelming by the general community, ZAKI’s season was anything but that. 

• PureFire

#77 – Ned

When Sephiroth released in late 2020, the Final Fantasy VII antagonist had everyone intrigued. Who would be the first to master the One Winged Angel? As it turns out, Chicago’s most-feared player, Ned, rose above the rest, standing out as the only top player to primarily use Sephiroth throughout the year. He took the newly-released DLC character to lofty heights, slicing through Kobe (twice), Jake, MuteAce, Fatality and Myran on his way to a runner-up finish at InfinityCON Tally 2021.

His other most notable result, another second place, was at the Ultimate Summit 3 qualifier, MSM 240, where he double eliminated Kurama. A BigBoss win at Glitch 8.5 – Konami Code was the apex of a handful of consistently solid placements throughout the latter half of the season, but after coming within a game of a Top 8 appearance at Lets Make Big Moves 2022, the Midwest has reason to believe that Ned could once again reach the upper echelon of the Smash scene while proving Sephiroth’s viability for good.

• Bronc

#76 – Raito

In the absence of overseas travel, Raito has struggled to put up the level of results he would normally see as he spent much of the season dedicating himself to a Banjo secondary on top of his Duck Hunt. An unfortunate 33rd place at Kagaribi #3 made for a rough start to the season but Raito would pick up traction with Kagaribi #4 with wins on Etsuji and Gackt, and beating Etsuji once again at Seibugeki #8.

After a few months without attending, Raito’s next notable performance would be at Kagaribi 5 with a 9th place finish over HIKARU and Munekin. At Mjolner #0 Raito would find himself yet another big win in Gackt and a depth win in Ly to place 5th, before ending the season with a second HIKARU win at the Eastern Powerhouse Invitational 2. Still the best Duck Hunt and now most likely the best Banjo, Raito will likely find himself making deep bracket runs again once overseas travel becomes safer and more accessible.

• Wumbulon

#75 – Lv. 1

One of Japan’s several high level Toon Link mains, Lv 1 has continually been one of the most overlooked players despite wins over a number of Japan’s best throughout Ultimate’s lifespan. With an Eim win at Mesuma and only losing to higher ranked players, Lv 1 had a favourable start to his season. At Kagaribi #4 his only notable win was Nietono but at Maesuma TOP #6 he would step it up with wins on ZAKI and KEN to place 9th. Kagaribi #5 wouldn’t provide any notable wins for Lv 1, but yet another event without unranked losses speaks to his consistency. Unfortunately however, Lv 1 would fall short at Mesuma #2 but his results indicate he won’t have any trouble bouncing back in 2022.

• Wumbulon

#74 – Nietono

One of the few players that have stuck it out with Pichu this long, Nietono has continued to show that the character is still viable despite low representation. Starting the season with an unremarkable 33rd at Kagaribi #4 would only be a temporary setback as Nietono would rebound with a 17th at Kagaribi #5 beating Rido, Jogibu, and Shirayuki in the process.

Nietono’s star event was at the Eastern Powerhouse Invitational #2 where he beat Kome, Kishiru, Kameme, and Repo to place 5th at his final event of the year. With sparse attendance and the occasional upset it’s hard to predict how 2022 will go for Nietono, although his EPI2 shows he’s far from done.

• Wumbulon

#73 – Ling

One of the most active and traveled players in the history of Ultimate, Ling attended tournaments from Puerto Rico, to California, all the way to Florida this year. He accrued strong regional wins on players such as naitosharp and Capitancito at smaller events, but his highest major placement came at Riptide. There, he defeated TonyZTank and had a close game 5 set with Elegant in winner’s, ending up at 9th.

However, he was also the victim of bad luck at Mainstage and Low Tide City, where he placed solid but unimpressive 33rds – losing to exclusively top 50 players (Anathema, Riddles, WaDi, and Kola) at each. Arguably his best wins of the season came at back to back Florida major events, being first CEO where he took out Sonix in winner’s, and then the SWT Last Chance Qualifier, when he found himself eliminating Goblin. A perennial grinder and gatekeeper both, Ling constantly finds himself on the verge of great success, as he remains a constant force in brackets, big and small, around the world.

• Phoenix

#72 – naitosharp

Hailing from New England is naitosharp, a player with an explosive playstyle and a whole arsenal of characters to use including Joker, Zero Suit Samus, Wolf, and Sephiroth, to name a few. After achieving big results during the WiFi Era, naitosharp was one of the players many kept their eyes on to see how he would fare offline.

Sharp made a great run to 9th place at Riptide for his first major post quarantine, beating Kola, Grayson, and MuteAce. Following Riptide, Sharp attended Glitch 8.5, where he got 13th place, snagging a win against yonni along the way. After a few disappointing placements, Sharp refound his footing with a 13th at Mainstage, beating top level talent such as BigBoss, VoiD, and MVD. Going into 2022, whether with his Zero Suit or his Joker, it seems Sharp has a bright future ahead.

• Mustard

#71 – moxi

Hailing from the West Coast, Moxi (formerly known as Pandarian) could have her year summed up in one word, “change”. Swapping mains from one of the best Pokémon Trainers in the world to Wolf, Moxi had a solid year with good placements and wins to prove that the switch was well worth it. Moxi went to a handful of majors in 2021 including Riptide where they picked up a couple of wins including against Peabnut, Aaron, and T3 Dom.

After Riptide, Moxi went to the SWT NA West Regional Finals where she qualified for the championship event and snagged a win against BassMage along the way. At Mainstage, Moxi continued to rack up wins adding Riddles and his Terry along with another win on BassMage. Moxi’s last pit stop of 2021 was located at the SWT Championship where she snagged two clutch wins against both Kola and Kobe. Rolling into 2022, if Moxi keeps her momentum from 2021, one thing that won’t change is their steady incline to the top.

• Mustard

#70 – tk3

Playing both Chrom and Roy, tk3 (pronounced “Takumi”) is one of the most unpredictable players in the world and is as likely to beat some of the best in Japan as he is to find himself in loser’s early. Starting the season at Kagaribi, tk3 beat Paseriman before losing game 5 sets to Zackray and Shky for 9th. Next up was tk3’s best performance by far at Sumabato #16 where he tore through Kome, Atelier, and Akakikusu to finish at 3rd.

At Kagaribi #3 tk3 had somewhat of a lucky bracket, beating Lea and Huto before finishing at 5th place. Kagaribi #4 saw tk3 make a sizable 6 set loser’s run after an early loss to Sigma by running through Lv.1, Eim, and Tsu before falling at 9th to Akakikusu. After a number of successful tournament runs tk3 unfortunately found himself falling short with a 65th at Maesuma TOP#6 and a 49th at Kagaribi #5 to close out the year. His consistency has much to be desired, but tk3 has shown that he can hang with some of the best and it’s only a matter of time before he does it again.

• Wumbulon

#69 – ApolloKage

If you were to compare ApolloKage’s placements before and after quarantine, you would realize how much time ApolloKage put into honing his Snake during the online era. Throughout 2021 Apollo began taking names and becoming a name many wouldn’t want to meet in bracket due to his ability to almost instantaneously switch up his playstyle to keep his opponents scratching their heads for answers. When regionals came back ApolloKage started off strong taking 4th place at LEVELUP ARENA 3 adding Fatality and TonyZTank to a growing list of victims.

At Super Smash Con: Fall Fest, ApolloKage showed the Smash community that his Snake was to be taken seriously not just as one of the best in the United States, but as one of the best in the world. During his Smash Con run, ApolloKage went on a warpath, defeating Sinji, winning a huge upset over ESAM, and beating PkChris before losing a close game 5 to Pink Fresh, ending his run at 13th. After his blowup year in 2021, ApolloKage is looking strong and ready to attempt to solidify himself as a threat that can consistently top 8 majors.

• Mustard

#68 – Tsu

Long considered the best Lucario worldwide, Tsu found himself moving up the tier list, playing Terry and Hero this season. Opening the season at Kagaribi #3, Tsu lost a close set to Huto before going on 6 set loser’s run beating Eim and taking revenge on Huto in the process to place 5th. Kagaribi #4 was Tsu’s best run with wins on Shky and KEN, ending at 13th place.

Going back to Lucario after Kagaribi #4, Tsu unfortunately was upset by Higusaki at Kagaribi #5 before running into Paseriman in loser’s for 33rd. Closing out the year for Tsu was the Eastern Powerhouse Invitational 2 where he unfortunately placed 25th, unable to clutch it out with Lucario. His best wins being with Terry and Hero, Tsu may want to consider relying on them more going forward.  

• Wumbulon

#67 – Pink Fresh

The longtime DLC connoisseur and Brawl MDVA veteran finds himself in the top 100 for the first time in Ultimate. Piloting primarily a rarely seen DLC character in Min Min, he first defeated Atomsk en route to a top 8 finish at superregional The Comeback, and unfortunately ran into – and subsequently eliminated – fellow MD brethren ZD twice across his 4 notable events entered this season.

He would later place a stunning 9th at Super Smash Con: Fall Fest, where after taking an early loss in pools to Kurshaun he would go on to make a 6 set long loser’s run including wins on ApolloKage and Elegant before falling to event champion Light. Despite these good results, arguably the most talked about part of Pink Fresh’s season was his tragically close 3-2 loss to MkLeo at Glitch 8.5. Despite losing the set after going up 2-1, it truly helped put Pink Fresh on the map as the best solo Min Min in the United States and showed that even MkLeo can have problem matchups.

• Phoenix

#66 – Munekin

Hailing from Yamaguchi, Munekin makes his way onto this list as the highest ranked shoto representative. Typically gravitating towards Ryu, he never failed to break top 24 across all events attended this year. Every loss he took was ranked with the exception of low attendance PGR top 20 player Kuro late into 2020.

Despite failing to secure wins at his earlier events and falling to Kansai reps Rizeasu and ZAKI, Munekin bounced back with an extremely strong Kagaribi #5. There, he made one of the more stunning early upsets of the tournament, locking out top 8 seed Yoshidora 3-0 in pools. Yoshidora would go on to place 5th with an incredible 8 set long loser’s run, while Munekin managed another upset over Lea before falling in close sets to Kome and Raito, placing 17th.

Having already extended his positive record over Yoshidora at the post season Kagaribi #6, Munekin managed to be both consistent and show up when it mattered this year. With both his Ryu and rarely seen Ken making waves throughout all of Ultimate, it seems easy to say that with more attendance Munekin could be an extremely scary threat to many of Japan’s best. 

• Phoenix

#65 – Zinoto

Having dropped Peach/Palutena in favour of his Smash 4 main Diddy Kong, Zinoto has gone from an underrated hidden boss to a veritable threat to just about anybody’s bracket. At Glitch 8.5 Zinoto defeated LeoN to place 17th falling just short of Top 16, losing last hit sets to Kola and Tilde. Zinoto’s next major was Mainstage where he beat Frawg and Bigboss to place 33rd.

Closing out the year for Zinoto is CEO, with a win on Anathema along his run before losing a close set to Myran for 9th place. Zinoto has been extremely consistent aside from an early loss to SamteaSilver (Formerly Yoomoo) and his next worst loss being VoiD. Falling victim to DDog and a freshly upset Raflow at Glitch Infinite is a rough start for Zinoto, but his solid 2021 starting similarly means his next event could be a major rebound.

• Wumbulon

#64 – Capitancito

Switching out Wolf for Mii Gunner over the online era, Capitancito unexpectedly saw great success and held his own against a number of the best in the world. The Smash World Tour: Central America Ultimate Regional Finals was the first event for Capitancito, and he beat Yei, Cloudy, and Chag to open the season with a 7th place finish.

At First Attack 2021 Capitancito traded sets with Ling, coming just short in grand finals to place 2nd at the event. Battleground 2021 was Capitancito’s best event of the season, double eliminating Sonix to win the event without dropping a set. Closing out the year was the Smash World Tour Championships where Capitancito unfortunately didn’t make it out of the pools phase, but beat Tilde and brought Bassmage to game 5 to finish the year with a 25th place.

• Wumbulon

#63 – HIKARU

After a respectable run as the best Donkey Kong player in the world in Smash 4, HIKARU relegated the fan favorite ape to secondary status in Ultimate. While he played mostly Pokémon Trainer for much of 2019, eventually landing him a 41st on the PGRU’s Fall ranking, HIKARU came out of quarantine with a newfound love for Roy. It was with the blazing swordsman that HIKARU achieved his most impressive result this season: a 1st place finish at MaesumaTOP#5, defeating Lunamado, Gackt, Sigma, and Rizeasu twice on his way to the champion title.

It was at the following iteration of the event that HIKARU would pick up his peak win of the season, defeating Tea with his trusty Donkey Kong en route to a 5th place finish at major event MaesumaTOP#6. HIKARU’s sky high peaks are however met by some unfortunate lows, like failing to make it out of pools at high profile Japanese events Kagaribi 4 and Seibugeki 9. HIKARU’s Roy draws from his western companions in more ways than just gameplay: this season saw him rocking tags like ‘TAXIN’ which were undoubtedly directly inspired by Kola. As the American Roy mains are having their highest peaks yet, HIKARU has all he needs to succeed, and looks to make 2022 his best year yet.

• Alice

#62 – IcyMist

After going back to her Smash 4 main Samus over the online era, Icymist has put together a solid resume of wins, despite her low attendance. Icymist started the season at Riptide where her best win was Wisconsin Fox player Comet before losing to Dabuz and Stroder for 49th.

At Super Smash Con: Fall Fest Icymist went on a stellar run beating Ling, Riddles, ESAM, and nearly pushed Sparg0 to game 5 before falling to Cosmos for 13th. The final event of the year for Icymist was The Gamble where after an early upset from iModerz she made a respectable run to grand finals, beating iModerz in the runback, as well as taking down MRW and Naitosharp before losing to Cosmos.

• Wumbulon

#61 – SKITTLES!!

SKITTLES!!’s season in 2021 was one of local dominance with a handful of extremely solid wins. SKITTLES!! largely owned the midwest, with favorable to very favorable records on most of the region’s other threats. He’s 3-0 with Ned, 3-1 with ApolloKage, and 12-1 with TonyZTank, to name just a few.

As for big out of region wins, he beat Cosmos in one of the full 3 sets they played at the Kentucky regional, Bourbon State Gaming. He beat Chag at Riptide, then Lavish and Kobe at Low Tide City. At the SWT NA West Finals, he took down BassMage both in pools and in the main bracket. In the SWT Championships he beat Chag again, as well as Sonix, who’d go on to beat both Tweek and Maister. As SKITTLES!! continues to show us more and more of what Young Link can do, we can only hope that his increasing mastery of the character over time leads him to increasingly high global rankings.

• Doxazo