The second of five articles breaking down the Top 50 is here!

Information about OrionRank 2017 Late Summer can be found here for those who missed the announcement post.

Using data from very late December of 2016 to Shine 2017, we proudly present the Top 50! Let’s get into things.

#40 – SCATT

-OrionRank 2016: 46th (+6)

One of many in the army of powerful Southeastern titans, the U.S.A’s premier Mega Man continued to make waves in 2017 in the Southeast, which has quickly become a dark horse region in Smash 4.

His most significant win comes with one of his better performances of the year – CEO: Dreamland, where picked himself up after a loss to Mr. R and proceeded to ram his way through losers bracket from a potential 33rd to 9th, managing to take out Tweek, ZD, Dandy Penguin, and Rich Brown, before losing to Marss.

This wouldn’t be the only time he’d go on a successful loser’s run, either, with another successful 9th at Nairo Saga where he defeated numerous western threats such as JK, Luhtie, and ImHip.

#39 – EARTH

-OrionRank 2016: 24th (-15)

No stranger to battling inconsistency, Earth’s placements happen to be all over the place. Despite a major drop at Umebura 28 (33rd) and EVO (65th), Earth still has retained respectable placements at stateside majors like Civil War, GENESIS, and Frame Perfect Series 2.

Despite his relative inconsistency within Japan itself – where he could feasibly win an event or place far lower than you’d expect – Earth’s dedication to maining one of the least used characters in the game makes him a fan-favorite, carrying one of the best neutrals of any player and essentially inventing Pit’s metagame as we know it today.

While he may have fallen some from 2016, Earth remains a consistent threat, managing to have sets on most of Japan’s big names and even a set on VoiD at the pre-Civil War Wednesday Night Fights 1.6.

#38 – MR. E

OrionRank 2016: 25th (-13)

One of Marth’s pioneers, Mr. E has stayed relatively consistent throughout his career. A casual glance at his major record on an aggregate website like Smashwiki shows that while his performance at CEO: Dreamland (65th) was disappointing, it wasn’t the first time it had happened, and it certainly didn’t stop him from reaching new heights.

He hasn’t had a run comparable to his impressive outing at UGC: Smash Open and has no wins on the Top 10 this year despite many attempts, but he’s shown himself to be very capable at taking out players ranked above him, especially early in the years with wins of both Fatality and Captain Zack.

Without a peak as high as his placements in 2016, his score falls a bit, but he remains a persistent threat and has shown the world that he can take down players at the top before or at least go down with a huge fight.

#37 – LOCUS

-OrionRank 2016: 82 (+45)

Locus crept his way onto OrionRank 2016 with a phenomenal run at 2GGT: ZeRo Saga that saw him defeating top level players such as 9B, Tweek, and Mr. R. Since then, he’s continued to make a name for himself as the greatest Ryu in the world.

He may have a bit of a roadblock in major results as of late – not uncommon for even the most legendary of Ryu players – but he has managed to hold steady with a solid 4-9 record against the top 10, and took Dabuz to game 5 at ARMS Saga and nearly defeated ZeRo at Midwest Mayhem 8.

#36 – JK

-OrionRank 2016: 52nd (+16)

One of 2016’s more noted Bayonetta players, JK has made sure the world knows he is Las Vegas’ best player with a hometown powered losers bracket run at EVO 2017, where he ultimately placed 9th with a crew of other Bayonetta players.

While his placement record is mixed, he has taken down numerous top players, including a big win on Salem at 2GGC: Nairo Saga. With additional pickups on ESAM, Zinoto, and Marss, we can see his full ability to combat the game’s upper echelon as one of the game’s rising Bayonettas.

#35 – RAITO

-OrionRank 2016 Rank: 150th (+115)

Raito made the single largest jump of any player from OrionRank 2016, advancing well over one hundred placements despite maining a character that many feel is low tier or at least heavily disadvantaged.

Despite once being considered a breakout “third best” Duck Hunt in late 2016, Raito has become the undisputed best Duck Hunt player in the world, taking players like Dabuz the distance while managing to defeat Mr. R, Larry Lurr, and even MKLeo (albeit at an unused Kanto weekly.)

His mastery over projectile trapping makes the upstart Duck Hunt main a massive fan favorite, well deserving of his Top 50 placement.

#34 – MVD

OrionRank 2016: 51st (+17)

Florida’s best Diddy Kong greatly improves his standing from 2016 between more sets on Top 20 players on his resume and better placements at majors with no sub-33rd placements.

The tables were turned at CEO and EVO this year. While he placed 65th at both last year, this year he placed 9th at 33rd, respectively, eliminating Abadango at CEO and Ally at EVO. His victory over Canada’s best gives him his one victory over a top 10 player, but additional wins on ANTi, Marss, and ESAM over 2017 further demonstrate he can take on some of the game’s top players.

#33 – 6WX

OrionRank 2016: 33rd (No Change)

The first player on this list to have no change in movement, Pennsylvania’s Sonic is one of the first signals of significant consistency on the ranking, often placing 9th or higher at majors and only placing 33rd twice – both at two of the biggest tournaments of the year, GENESIS 4 and Civil War.

He picked up two wins at the biggest Smash 4 weekly in history by defeating MKLeo and Larry Lurr at MSM 100, adding to two wins on Tweek and a major win on Ally at Super Smash Con 2017.

#32 – FALLN

OrionRank 2016: 34th (+2)

After a rough start to 2017 with a 65th at GENESIS 4 and 33rd at GENESIS Saga, Falln quickly collected himself by sneaking into 13th at Civil War. From there, he’d go on to be a persistent meta threat, with May being among his best months as a competitor.

While we did not count Mega Smash Mondays 96 & 97 where he was runner up, we did use his impressive at Port Priority, and it’s hard to forget his 5th at Greninja Saga where he defeated ZeRo. Since then, he was almost stuck more in that 17th-25th rut where players have a harder time getting big set wins, but he’s closed things out for his scoring by placing just shy of Top 8 at Super Smash Con.

#31 – NED

OrionRank 2016: 59th (+28)

Rounding off today’s list, the Midwestern Cloud sensation Ned nearly breaks the Top 30. Coming off of a win at Midwest Mayhem 7, Ned went on the most impressive losers run of any player listed thus far. DKWill, Captain Zack, Zinoto, VoiD, and Larry Lurr all fell to him at 2GGC: Midwest Mayhem Saga, with DKwill being the only player on that list managing to get him to game 5.

Ned wasn’t done, though. In a pulse pounding moment, Ned defeated ZeRo 3-2 with two seconds left on the clock at Midwest Mayhem 8. He was rebuked in the runback, but still placed 4th at the event, walking away as one of the first Clouds to successfully beat ZeRo since Mew2King’s heyday as one of Cloud’s best players.

Despite a more varied recent record at major events, Ned has built himself up as one of the best Cloud mains in the world.

That’s all for today! Stay tuned for #30-#21 tomorrow, where we’ll cover a very surprising addition and some of the biggest fan favorites!

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