Changes in the SSBM PH landscape
With pandemic-related lockdowns ending and the world opening up again, SSBM PH saw a slight decline in online activity. Despite this, the second half of the year saw more participants enter events. and thus competition has become fiercer. For the first time, some power ranked players have had their spots threatened by upcoming Filipino talent.
Events
During this period, PR eligible players entered 12 Philippine events and 6 Southeast Asia events. None of this would have been possible without the hard work of our tournament organizers. Thank you to all people who organized events in the region this season (Yetis Exist, Porqpine21, Sala and vugzi).
The Philippine All-Stars Tournament #1 (PAST)
Date: July 2nd
Entrants: 12
PAST was an invitational for 12 top players in the Philippines. The top 8 players of the PHSSBML (Philippine SSBM League) were invited. 1 secret guest was invited and 3 more players were voted in by the PH community. The event was the most stacked event in PH history.
Players started off in 2 Round Robin pools to determine seeding for the final Top 12 Double Elimination bracket. The top 8 of the tournament received payout for their placements.
usmash#15
Date: July 14, 2022
Entrants: 9 (U#15), 6 (U#16), 8 (U#17)
The usmash series was the only events in the list that were based in Cebu, Philippines. At usmash#15, most of the players were beginners however, it featured veterans, lately, xthechar and Yetis Exist.
The Yeti Weekly 4
The Yeti Weekly 5
The Yeti Weekly 6
Date: July 10th (TYW4), July 15th (TYW5), November 19th (TYW6)
Entrants: 13 ((TYW4), 9 (TYW5), 7 (TYW6)
The Yeti Weekly was an online series that started in the first half of the year. The Yeti Weekly used a waterfall floating system where the lower seeded players played in Round Robin pools and the top cut of those players advanced the next stage. Higher seeded players were floated (or started) in further parts of the bracket. The top cut of players in the final Round Robin pool would then go to a final Single Elimination bracket.
Porq Adobo #1
Porq Adobo #2
Porq Adobo #3
Porq Adobo #4
Porq Adobo #5
Date: August 21st (PA1), September 3rd (PA2), October 1st (PA3), November 12th (PA4), November 27th (PA5)
Entrants: 5 (PA1), 11 (PA2), 13 (PA3), 11 (PA4), 9 (PA5)
Porq Adobo was an online series held in the second half of the year. The first Porq Adobo was a Round Robin into Single Elimination, whereas every other iteration was a Double Elimination tournament. Porq Adobo 4 was randomly seeded. Porq Adobo 5 was also a Road to Ryan Major where the winner won a free venue fee to Yetis’ Birthday Bash, worth PHP250.
The Philippine Arcadian 3
Date: September 11th
Entrants: 12
Players who had been on the last 3 Power Rankings were banned from attending. A few other players were also deemed too “skilled” to enter the event.
The format of the third Philippine Arcadian was the same as older iterations. It consisted of Round Robin pools that culminated into a final Single Elimination bracket.
Fight Club Asia 1
Fight Club Asia 2
Fight Club Asia 3
Date: September 23rd (FCA1), October 15 (FCA2), December 10th (FCA3)
Entrants: 14 (FCA1), 26 (FCA2), 7 (FCA3)
Fight Club Asia was an online Melee tournament series featuring players from both South East Asia and East Asia. For the first two iterations, South East Asia and East Asia were separated from each other in the pools stage, which was in a Round Robin format, and the top placers from each pool advanced to a combined Double Elimination bracket. For the third iteration, the two regions were split to reduce connection issues, and a Double Elimination bracket was held for South East Asia pools.
Southeast Asia Melee 13
Southeast Asia Melee 14
Southeast Asia Melee 16
Date: August 27th (SEAM#13), September 25th (SEAM#14), December 1st (SEAM#16)
Entrants: 10 (SEAM#13), 6 (SEAM#14), 8 (SEAM#16)
South East Asia Melee or SEAM is a monthly online tournament series held in the South East Asia SSBM server which features players from all over Southeast and East Asia. SEAM typically runs a Round Robin pool into Final Double Elimination bracket format. SEAM is included in these rankings due to the presence of Philippine PR players. SEAM 15 did not feature any Philippine PR players and was skipped.
Late Night Melee: The Fourth Philippine Arcadian – Road to Ryan Major
Date: November 21st
Entrants: 6
The Fourth Philippine Arcadian was announced very late and it only had 4 attendees (after DQs). The format for the event was Double Elimination throughout. The winner was awarded with a free venue pass worth PHP250 for Yetis’ Birthday Bash 2023.
Honorable Mentions (w/ Honorary Filipinos)
1. Johnny69 (Falco, PH)
2. Notxtwhiledrive (Yoshi, PH)
3. Balu (Marth, IN)
4. ILikeFries (Fox, SG)
Official Power Ranking
randomname
Mains: Luigi/Ganondorf
Rank: 15
Rank Change: NEW
No. of Events: 3
Best Performances: The Philippine Arcadian #3 (2nd)
After barely missing the PR last season, randomname proved himself as deserving of a spot in the top 15 this time. His performance at the Philippine Arcadian #3 cannot be forgotten as he dropped 0 games to Kaiser, Sweets, Jericoaster, xerendipity and badongtakla before finally losing 1-3 to xian in grand finals.
lately
Mains: Fox
Rank: 14
Rank Change: NEW
No. of Events: 4
Best Performances: usmash#15 (3rd)
lately is the tech skill god of the Philippines. He also has the inhale tech where he inhales while counting up to 40 in one breath. Although we do not have much data on lately, we all know he can achieve even higher on the power rankings as long as he attends enough events and has the opportunities to show his talent. His best performances came in usmash#15 where he almost defeated xthechar. Even if he lost, its all okay because he still has the most consistent JC shines in a 2000km radius.
hex
Mains: Marth
Rank: 13
Rank Change: 0
No. of Events: 5
Best Performances: Porq Adobo #5
After a good long period of deliberation, the PR panel decided to have hex reprise his role in the 13th spot. hex had a very crucial run at Porq Adobo #5 near the end of the season, where he brought Hawk to game 5 and also took a set off of ILikeFries, the biggest victory among any player on this list so far. hex recently announced that he would be taking a step back from the game, and we’d like to say congratulations on getting this spot, and thank you hex for what you’ve done for the community.
xian
Mains: Fox
Rank: 12
Rank Change: NEW
No. of Events: 4
Best Performances: The Philippine Arcadian #3 (1st)
After being on the honorable mentions list, xian has finally made it onto the power ranking. xian had a strong showing in the start of the season, garnering wins over hex, randomname, Sweets, Eastopal and more. He had a dominant performance at the Philippine Arcadian #3 where he dropped 0 sets. xian tends to improve in big chunks and his playstyle revolves around tricky movement in neutral. Only time will tell when his next big burst in improvement will be.
Hawk
Mains: Samus
Rank: 11
Rank Change: NEW
No. of Events: 4
Best Performances: Fight Club Asia #1 (13th), Porq Adobo #5: Road To Ryan Major (3rd)
Donning the pink armored suit is Hawk at rank 11. This season he has broken many records. Not only is he the first Samus player in history to get onto a Philippine power ranking, but also he is the second player from Cebu to get on the national power ranking. With his results, he has clearly demonstrated a potential for Samus. His first breakout performance was at Fight Club Asia #1 where he beat Machu and became the second player to ever take a set off a top Philippine player (the first being Porqpine21). We hope to see Hawk push the character forward and inspire more of Cebu’s talent to enter events.
Roya
Mains: Captain Falcon
Rank: 10
Rank Change: -1
No. of Events: 5
Best Performances: Philippine All-Stars Tournament #1 (5th)
When asked to comment on his writeup for the Power Ranking, Roya replied “writeups are stupid”. Roya is certainly the type of player to let his play speak for itself, as even though he went into PAST#1 without much online tournament attendance, he garnered big wins over xthechar and Delta in the pools round, and capped off his tourney with a win over Taxmaster. Roya’s solid gameplan and execution can carry him far, even when the odds seem stacked against him.
Taxmaster
Mains: Sheik
Rank: 9
Rank Change: -1
No. of Events: 2
Best Performances: Philippine All-Stars Tournament #1 (7th)
Similarly to Roya, Taxmaster also found himself entering PAST#1 without much tournament preparation. He also outperformed in pools, securing the 1st seed in his pool by beating Delta, Machina, and Roya. Simply looking at his wins this season, it would be the resume of a top 5 player, with wins on Machina and Zak. However, Taxmaster’s losses to xthechar, Roya, and iSD, as well as his low attendance, hold him back in the ranking. After the season concluded, Taxmaster announced that he would be switching games and is now going to focus on grinding Anime Music Quiz.
iSD
Mains: Falco
Rank: 8
Rank Change: -1
No. of Events: 2
Best Performances: Philippine All-Stars Tournament #1 (4th), Porq Adobo #5: Road To Ryan Major (1st)
iSD did not qualify for PAST#1. However, through a genius marketing strategy and a smart monetary investment in himself, he got voted in. In PAST#1, he made a great run, defeating Machu, Taxmaster, and xthechar to make his money back more than sevenfold. iSD continued his lucrative wins, as he also won his next tournament, Porq Adobo #5, which won him free venue fee to the next local event. Over the course of his run, he defeated Machu (with Falco) and Hawk (with Ganondorf). Overall, iSD stood for I Secure Dollars this season.
Delta
Mains: Jigglypuff
Rank: 7
Rank Change: -2
No. of Events: 11
Best Performances: Southeast Asia Melee #14 (2nd)
Delta’s results this season were a cut above the rest (pun intended). With 1 win on each of vugzi, Cryteria and Sala in SEAM#14, he had the best international results of any PH player in the period. He also boasts a 1-1 record on Kaz and Machu which help his case for a higher rank. However, he is 0-3 vs Yetis Exist, 0-2 vs machina and 0-3 vs xthechar and that cements his placement below all three of those players.
He is definitely one of the most improved players in the PR and it will be exciting to see what he has in store for next season.
xthechar
Mains: Sheik, Zelda
Rank: 6
Rank Change: NEW
No. of Events: 5
Best Performances: Philippine All-Stars Tournament #1 (5th), Southeast Asia Melee 16 (5th)
Seeing xthechar (from Singapore) may be a surprise to some people. However, xthechar made the flight to attend PAST#1. That, combined with his solid online results meant that he qualified for the Philippine PR. PAST#1 wasn’t the only tournament that xthechar attended either, he even showed up for a Cebu local, making him one of two players this season to have both Luzon and Visayas locals recorded.
xthechar’s key wins this season include Machina, Sala, and Delta, including being up 3-0 on Delta in sets showing that he can beat almost anyone.
Porqpine21
Mains: Sheik
Rank: 5
Rank Change: +6
No. of Events: 9
Best Performances: Porq Adobo #1 (1st), Fight Club Asia #2 (5th)
Porqpine21 is one of (if not the most) improved player in the PR. From rank 11 last season to rank 5 today, he is the first person to break into the top echelon of PH Melee since Slippi rollback was released. His first breakout performance was at Porq Adobo #1 where he defeated Delta and Johnny69 twice to take 1st place.
Machu
Mains: Falco
Rank: 4
Rank Change: +2
No. of Events: 6
Best Performances: Philippine All-Stars Tournament #1 (3rd)
Machu has always had a hard time with some matchups. But this season, he has used Falco in conjunction with Fox to achieve some amazing results. His best performance was definitely at PAST#1 where he defeated hex and Kaz in pools, before beating Roya and iSD in the final bracket to place 3rd.
He almost won his first tournament at Porq Adobo #5. However, he made one of the biggest throws we’ve ever seen at any Philippine event. With a 2-stock lead in the last game of true finals he somehow managed to blow it [Machu vs iSD].
Kaz
Mains: Fox
Rank: 3
Rank Change: -1
No. of Events: 4
Best Performances: Philippine All-Stars Tournament #1 (2nd)
It can be said that Kaz has a second gear. At PAST#1, he lost to Machu in pools, at Porq Adobo #2, he lost to Porqpine21 early in the winners bracket, and at Fight Club Asia 2, he lost to Taxmaster in pools. Every time, Kaz fought back after his loss and won the rematch. As Disney’s beloved 3rd place car once said “I wanted to give the folks a little sizzle”.
Zak won a set versus every other PR player this season, besides Yetis Exist. His strong head-to-heads and insane tournament runs solidified his ranking at 3 this season.
machina
Mains: Marth
Rank: 2
Rank Change: -1
No. of Events: 5
Best Performances: Porq Adobo #2 (1st), Fight Club Asia #3 (1st)
When the season began, everyone was surprised by Machina’s 7th place at PAST#1. Machina still racked up wins on xthehar, Roya, and Delta, but fell short in the bracket. However, after that, Machina got to cooking, winning 3 consecutive Porq Adobos, not going to game 5 in any of them. He pulled out the Fox in Fight Club Asia 3, and still dominantly took it.
With his dominance and his multi-character mastery, Machina is looking as strong as ever. However, the age-old question still remains, is he better than Yat?
Yetis Exist
Mains: (Fox)
Rank: 1
Rank Change: +2
No. of Events: 4
Best Performances: Philippine All-Stars Tournament #1 (1st), The Yeti Weekly #4 (1st)
Yetis Exist made his return to the 1st place ranking this season. He had us in the first half of the year when he ranked 3rd, not gonna lie. This time, Yetis racked up win after win on PR players, including an insane 9 set win streak at PAST#1. This, combined with stellar online results, landed him at 1st, even though he left the country midseason. With this, he joins Junkyarddude as the second player to rank 1st in the Philippines whilst outside of the country.
Yetis will be making his return to PH tournaments in January, at the interestingly titled Yetis’ Birthday Bash. Will anyone be able to take a set off Yetis? Or will he blow out the candles and blow out the competition?
Previous Power Ranking Comparisons
Missing In Action
Sweets
Kaiser
BBNik
Aggrill
New Faces
randomname
lately
Xian
Hawk
xthechar
Returning Players
hex
Roya
Taxmaster
iSD
Delta
Porqpine21
Machu
Kaz
machina
Yetis Exist
Most common sets of the season
| 5 Sets | Delta vs Porqpine21 |
| 4 Sets | Yetis Exist vs Machu Yetis Exist vs Kaz Machu vs Porqpine21 |
Biggest Upsets of the Season
| PH Events | SEA Events |
| Kaz beating machina at PAST#1 | Delta beating vugzi, Sala and Cryteria at SEAM#14 |
| Porqpine21 beating Johnny69 twice at Porq Adobo #1 | Hawk beating Machu at Fight Club Asia #2 |
| Porqpine21 beating Delta at Porq Adobo #1 | |
| Porqpine21 beating Machu at Fight Club Asia #2 | |
| Hawk beating Machu at Porq Adobo #5 | |
| Machu beating Yetis Exist at The Yeti Weekly #4 |
Craziest SSBM PH Moments of the Season
Taxmaster vs xthechar @ PAST (Pools)
Zak vs ISD combo @ PAST (Top 12)
Yetis beats Kaz @ PAST (Grand Finals)
machina beats Machu @ Fight Club Asia 3 (Grand Finals)
Machu throws vs iSD @ Porq Adobo #5 (True Finals)
Written by Porqpine21, hex and Yetis Exist
SSBM Philippines