The top Melee and Ultimate players in 2025 (so far)

The 2025 season for Super Smash Bros. Melee and Ultimate has begun.

Genesis X2 hyped up the hibernating Smash community with unexpected runs, crazy upsets and emotional pop-offs. The top players will most likely see a major shift based on performances throughout the year, but the 2024 SSBMRank and LumiRank currently show the dominant pros from the grassroots scene last year.

The SSBMRank is the official ranking of the top 100 players in the pro-Melee scene while LumiRank is the official ranking of the top 100 players in the Ultimate ecosystem, both calculated by an expert panel that factors 2024 match outcomes, major placements and tournament performances.

These are the rankings that inspire pro players to grind the next year, whether it’s to rise up the ranks or take down opponents in front of them. Here are the current standings and some predictions for 2025.

Melee has been around for almost 25 years — and its esports scene is well-established at this point.

With plenty of rivalries, emotional storylines and a passionate grassroots community, Melee is an esport full of veterans. Throughout the years, there have been the dominant ‘five gods’ and other long-time staples of the scene as well as new players bringing fresh playstyles to majors. Now, the top players in the world are a blend of both.

FlyQuest’s Jake ‘Jmook‘ DiRado was the only top player to attend every major in 2024, with mixed results. At the start of the year, Jmook showed promise with a second-place finish at Full Bloom 2024 but by mid-year, he was falling off. This includes the time he missed his alarm at Wavelength 2024, ruining his chance of placing in the top eight.

In December, Jmook showcased his dominance at Nounsvitational 2024. He didn’t drop a single set during his epic run to victory. Known for his innovative and exciting playstyle with Shiek, fans just love to watch him play. He placed in the top 16 at Genesis X2, likely gearing up for another impressive season.

Kurtis ‘moky‘ Pratt has become a Melee player to beat at every major he attends — beating his Fox is a sign that you’ve got what it takes. It was indeed moky who cut Derek ‘Aura‘ Olsen’s seemingly unstoppable run at Genesis X2 short this February.

The Moist Esports player spent 2024 grinding, getting in fourth at Collision 2024 and Genesis X, then third place at Nounsvitational 2024. It paid off with a win at Don’t Park on the Grass 2024, with moky getting first place after beating the likes of Cody Schwab, Juan ‘Hungrybox‘ DeBiedma and Dawud ‘Aklo‘ Rahman.

Cody Schwab put a stop to moky’s crazy Genesis X2 run, but the positive pro player said that he plans to ‘come back stronger‘ after the defeat.

It’s always refreshing to see one of the original Melee Gods in the top five. Joseph ‘Mang0‘ Marquez has continued to get the attention of the Melee community year after year — and not just due to his dominance. Mang0 has gone through phases of intense tournament grinding and then disapproving of the state of the game. It’s his refreshing realness and chaotic antics that have made him a fan favourite even when he’s not at his best.

But nobody can say he’s not at his best right now. A seemingly healthier Mang0 emerged in 2024, showcasing exactly what has made him the GOAT at Supernova 2024 and Tipped Off 15. But only time will tell if 2025 is his year. If the Eagles are playing during a major, forget about it — he’s not competing. If they’re not, however, expect big things. His top four placement at Genesis X2 is a sign of what’s to come.

Winning Genesis X without dropping a single set cemented Cody Schwab as one of the best players in the world, no question. To get first at so many big tourneys, including Battle of BC 6, Schwab had to beat a lot of top players, including Hungrybox, Jmook, Zain ‘Zain‘ Naghmi and the feared red Yoshi himself Masaya ‘aMSa‘ Chikamoto.

Cody Schwab is undoubtedly a talented player with a scary Fox that can easily beat Marth after the community considered it a bad matchup. Even Hungrybox once said that Schwab is the best Fox in Melee due to his work ethic and playstyle. However, he can often get easily distracted in and outside of tournaments, making him seem easily shakable under pressure at bigger tournaments. Let’s hope 2025 doesn’t include any nose bleeds, broken controllers or Melee community beefs so we can see more runs like his Top 6 at Genesis X2.

Zain was the most consistent top player of 2024, easily placing him at the top of the pack. While he may not have as many clean runs as Cody, it’s actually his grit, determination and grind that has made him unstoppable. he won Full Bloom 2024 despite coming from Losers and had to reset Grands to win Get On My Level X. His runs may not be perfect, but they simply showcase his unwavering ability to get back to the top and wipe out the best of the best.

Despite his crazy skills at Melee, Zain remains humble and playful throughout the season. He debuted on the rankings in 2016, making him a pretty fresh face in the 20-plus-year scene. He’s been a threat since 2017, and 2025 will likely be no different.

Zain wasn’t at Genesis X2 due to a missed flight but had a top six showing at MDVA Summit 2025. From the sidelines, Zain paid his respects to Mang0 and Hungrybox, saying he’d be “honoured to accomplish” a long-time career at the top of the Melee scene.

The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate scene is just starting to shake up in 2025. Based on the last two months alone, Japanese player Hurt is considered the number one after a victory at Genesis X2. But these top players will be fighting to protect their spot — and move up themselves — throughout this season.

Carlos ‘Sonix‘ Pérez has consistently proven he has what it takes to reach the top three at the season’s biggest tournaments. However, he often does this by working his way out of loser brackets. An example is at Supernova 2024, when Sonix had to defeat a handful of top players to get out of the loser bracket and make it to the Grand Finals.

While it shows Sonix is vulnerable to some match upsets, it also shows just how locked in he can be. Nothing can shake him once he’s determined to climb to the top. Using the globally unpopular Sonic, Sonix has taken down Leonardy ‘MkLeo’ Perez, Gavin ‘Tweek‘ Dempsey and other fan favourites on his incredible runs. Genesis X2 wasn’t his best showing, but Sonic is still S+ tier for a reason.

Paris ‘Light‘ Ramirez Garcia is a fan-favourite for his cool attitude and fast-paced Fox. After proving his dominance in New England, the Connecticut local took on the rest of the states with ease. He placed in the top three at Cirque 4, Luminosity Makes Moves Miami 2024, The Throne 2 and LACS Rivals 2024.

These runs saw him take down Tweek, Kolawole ‘Kola‘ Aideyan, Takuma ‘Tea‘ Hirooka and Bharat ‘Lima‘ Chintapalli (twice). He has also proven he has what it takes to beat Hurt, who recently won Genesis X2. Meanwhile, Light’s run was pretty uninspiring at Genesis X2, but he had this to say: “I’ll bounce back from this.”

‍There is no question that Japan is dominating the Ultimate scene. For years, the North American/European and Japanese scenes were completely different, both with their own metas, playstyles and character tier lists. But in the past few years, Japanese players have started travelling to majors all over the world — and it’s their meta now.

Mashita ‘acola‘ Hayato is often seen as the final boss now — if you can beat him, you can beat anybody. He has completely shaped the new Smash meta, which is wild for a player who started as a 16-year-old WiFi warrior in 2020.

The issue is that the Smash community hates to see the character Steve in the top eight. While acola has not fallen off, his competitors have put a ton of effort into figuring out the Steve matchup. But acola isn’t one to give up. He now throws Aegis into the ring when the time calls for it, hungry to keep one step ahead of his competition, including rival Edgar ‘Sparg0’ Valdez.

Miya has brought Mr. Game & Watch to the forefront of the Ultimate meta after players like Enrique ‘Maister‘ Solis paved the way. The 2D character is explosive at its full potential, even beating acola’s Steve and Aegis at big tournaments like Umebura SP #11 and Kowloon #12. He then beat Sparg0 at Litvitational 3.

International events like Supernova and Riptide proved to be a problem for Miya, but he continued to dominate in Japan throughout the 2024 season. But wins against Lima, Light, Tea, Tweek and Hurt show that he has what it takes to shake things up in 2025. Genesis X2 proved just that, with a Top 24 finish. It’s a no-brainer to predict that Miya will remain in the top five if he keeps grinding global tourneys.

‍Sparg0 started out in MkLeo’s shadow at the start of his career but quickly showed that he had what it takes to be the best in the world despite being just a teenager. He was number one in the world for part of 2023 after easily taking down the best players in Grand Finals matches, but his consistency was still being called into question.

FaZe Clan‘s Sparg0 answered it in 2024. This was his most consistent showing yet, with first-place finishes at Don’t Park on the Grass 2024, Riptide 2024, Supernova 2024 and plenty of others. Along the way, Sparg0 took down Hurt, Miya, Sonix and plenty of other international threats. His playstyle seemed to work just about everywhere and against everyone.

Will Sparg0 hold onto this top spot in 2025? Genesis X2 was underwhelming for the prodigy, who couldn’t make it to the top 16. But this hasn’t affected Sparg0 at all. He’s already signing up for tournaments around the world.