PMRank 2023 continues with both faces new and old alike.
Welcome everyone to another year of PMRank! PMRank is a panel-based Power Ranking of the Top 50 Project+ players in North America. We're excited to put together another list of the best performers throughout the 30+ eligible events this year, covering Exodus 2023 through Honeypot 6. Initially, 76 players were qualified to be ranked based on their placings and attendance at major Project+ events throughout 2023. Panelists were tasked with reviewing this data and ranking each player in order, from #1 to #76. For each player, the highest and lowest rankings on all panelists’ lists were removed when averaging votes to reduce variance. After an initial ballot, panelists were given time to discuss the aggregated results and move closer to consensus in the case of players with high standard deviations. Then, panelists submitted a second and final ballot to determine the placement of our PMRank Top 50.
This project would not have been possible without the dedicated volunteers who helped us engineer spreadsheets, track down tournament data, construct head-to-head charts, create and revise ranking ballots, write and edit player summaries, and gather photographs. A number of photographers have given us permission to use their high-quality photographs of Project M/+ players for the purposes of this project as well.
The full list of eligible events and eligibility requirements for PMRank 2023 can be found on our start.gg hub.
Let's get into our next section of players.
Once again, the notable Ice Climbers main, Serb, returns to claim his rank as #40. Although YouTube split one of the scene’s most consistently active content creators in two (probably in some weird attempt to nerf Ice Climbers), Serb’s Ice Climbers work hand in hand as one (most of the time) to build a snowball of fear around the character. To start his 2023 journey, he traveled from his home of Massachusetts out to the mountain ranges of Colorado to make sure no one forgets his name and maybe grab some combo video material along the way. In his character's home environment, he took the Ice Climbers almost all the way to the summit at Mile High Club, placing ninth at the stacked tournament of 113 entrants. On the way up there, he froze out Youngblood, Suvir, Big Large, and Dr. Grin with his blistering blizzards. From here, he traveled out to Shine Out of Shield, an event that had many notable matches, and Serb made sure to have his own while he was there. He aptly put Ice Blocks in the way for Chaka and Whoratio, once again securing a solid ninth place at this stacked event. In his final trek to the summit of the year, he hiked back to the classic East Coast event, Blacklisted 8, where he had to face off against fellow Ice Climbers main, Phresh, who showed Serb the trail to the lower bracket where Serb forged a course to 17th after taking a set off of the prolific Ike main, metroid. With well-placed blizzards and frigid ice blocks to secure his path, Serb made sure to show that even if Popo and Nana are from a game in 1984, they are still relevant to the current Project+ meta.
Written By: [Fleabag]
The Midwest’s favorite FNAF fan, “Big Glup” (sic) consumer, and Food Wars viewer proved that it truly is better late than never to attend PMRank-qualifying events. Despite getting a late start in November, Not Chris put up big numbers at the events he was able to attend, trouncing all of your favorite players while still finding time to mix all of the Big Gulp flavors together at 7-Eleven. Even though the lightning-quick Ness only managed to make it out to the minimum number of events to qualify, he definitively established himself at #39 with wins including Veka, PMRank veteran and 2019’s #10 Sothe, and a devastating double-elimination of Real Chris (ORLY) at The Bird House XII. God only knows what rank he could get if he would stop playing Valorant and show up in 2024.
Written By: evil lesbian
Chicago’s own evil lesbian wanted to show that she can glow even brighter than Din’s Fire, excelling in both her Zelda and Sheik skills to take her spot at #38. Rye changed the meaning of “MM” from Money Match to Moniker Maker by donning a new tag at nearly every event she attended. At the Mile High Club, “the bread witch” went on a tear to make it to 25th by upsetting Big Large and defeating Colorado’s hidden boss, Steel Kangaroo, in a tight game three. From there, she continued her tour of the Southwest by going down to The Back Hit where she, now known as “in traffic”, left a trail of upsets in her wake beating Tealz, Twisty, and Pug before bowing out at ninth after having to face a challenger from her home region, Chaloopy. At the Midwest invitational, PM Concert: Symphony, evil lesbian won two nail-biting game five sets against renowned PMRank 2022’s #2, techboy in a reverse 3-0 and PMRank 2022’s #29 ORLY during the round robin segment, “First Movement.'' Then, at Tripoint’s celebratory 200th iteration, the “sinister sapphic” herself had a run through the lower bracket that was for the books, beating MVZY, ORLY, and mawwwk, with metroid being the only person who could stop her the whole event. From “the bread witch” to “sinister sapphic,” evil lesbian has made sure that no matter the name, you can clearly identify her by her Zelda and Sheik skills!
Written By: [Fleabag]
A master of all things spacie, NorCal’s very own Ivayne has pushed the P+ meta for all of his characters since his induction to PMRank in 2018. While the 2023 season was rougher for him than we have seen in the past, he still showed great promise at the events he attended. Ivayne started the year at Exodus with a solid fifth place performance, garnering wins over up-and-comer Nerfy and the old-school legend Darc. With such a strong start to the year, the spacie consistency bit Ivayne at Mile High Club where he suffered losses to two players who had a breakout performance at this event: Cloudburst and polear. Ivayne took the losses with a smile on his face, knowing that he would be able to bounce back. At The Grand Line #2, Ivayne showed up solidly with a win over Meta Knight connoisseur Tealz before suffering losses to dvd and a revenge hungry Darc, resulting in a ninth place finish. With this, Ivayne took some time off from competing before returning to competition again at Against All Odds in Washington. Ivayne showed dominance with both Falco and Wolf over players such as BlueZone and Sneez on day one. However, the top 8 on day two proved a lot more difficult for Ivayne as he took losses to SipMastah and WouldSmokeCraq, ending his run at fifth place. 2023 was one of Ivayne’s toughest in recent years in terms of tournament performance, however, that is sometimes what it takes to reignite the flames and chase the top again. Already showing promise in the start of 2024 with some local wins over strong NorCal players like SipMastah and I0N, I’m sure we’ll see a hungry bird out there this year looking to prove he belongs with the best.
Written By: Suvir
2023 proved to be a remarkably consistent year for Narq, a stylish Lucas player who plays a swaggy brand of gameplay that can sometimes lend itself to early bracket exits. Narq appeared at a trio of West Coast events including Exodus, The Grand Line, and Against All Odds. At Exodus, the Socalian savant defeated PNW up-and-comer Nerfy in pools, but then lost to SipMastah and Potatoes for ninth place. Narq’s seventh place at The Grand Line proved to be his best bracket of the year where, after losing in pools to Sabre, he went on a run defeating Spain’s best player - Melody, wren, and Bongo before succumbing to 3.6 legend Darc in his surprise fifth place gambit. A second ninth place came at Against All Odds despite taking a set off a red hot grealy, when Narq’s day was cut short following a loss to another PNW rising star, PartyGhoul. Despite not leaving the West Coast and being handed losses by two upstart PNW heroes at two different events, Narq’s 2023 showed us that the longtime PM mainstay and resident plant enthusiast can still flourish under the right conditions.
Written By: Serb
With an explosive first appearance at #35, 2023 has been an amazing year for the golden boy’s #1 advocate! Veka was only able to make it out to the minimum attendance requirement of three events this season, but wherever she went, she was burnin’ bright. Veka made her formal debut at Invincible VII, where she made an earth-shattering upset on the fearsome flatman Ellipsis. After a nearly four month hiatus from PMRank events, she made a triumphant reappearance at The Bird House XIII, taking sets from Illinois’ hidden boss C#, everyone’s favorite supervillain Ripple, and even Star in the midst of her best season to date. Veka carried that momentum into Honeypot 6, beating MVZY, Che, and Motobug on her way to a solid ninth place finish. Guided by a strong intent to prove Roy deserves a higher spot on your tier list, hopefully we can see Veka making her case at more events in 2024.
Written By: evil lesbian
Wisconsin’s top Ivysaur Kendrick and his R.O.B. alter ego AutoZone took a break from promoting nightclubs to enjoy a largely successful 2023 season. Kendrick kicked things off at JBB2 with an incredible run to fifth out of 110 participants, consecutively 3-0’ing sfy bees, metroid, and Star. For many players, this would be enough of a reason to pop champagne, but a wise man like Kendrick knows that you only get one life so you gotta live it up. As a result, Kendrick worked hard to try and defend his region at Invincible VII, beating SoulOfficer, Veka, and flatline hot off of his upset on metroid, only to be confronted with… eeeeek, Dirtboy! Toppled by the terrifying turtle, Kendrick finished out his run at a respectable 13th place. A few short months later, AutoZone took his talents on the road and traveled to Ohio for Undertow 2023, where he ran over Yuko, Zaza (Midnight Blue), and Tuck with consecutive 3-0’s to land in ninth place. Seeing no reason to stall his solid momentum, Kendrick proceeded to enter C3 in his home of Wisconsin and closed out his season with a string of respectable wins over SoulOfficer, Jisp, and flatline. As we head into 2024 keep your eyes peeled for AutoZone as he continues to prove his philosophy on gyro — “no top is better than bad top” — doesn’t produce sloppy results.
Written By: evil lesbian
While some might say grealy is a movement player to a fault, that is something they embrace. The incredibly flashy and creative Lucas is a consistent Netplay grinder, working to show off just how much faith they have in their character. While absent from many of 2023’s major events, grealy made sure to truly shine at Shine Out Of Shield where they came in an incredible third place finish, defeating the player known as Thalia. They continued to have incredible performances at other events such as 17th at Honeypot 6 after they beat Mr.Watch&Learn and SoulOfficer, a ninth place finish at Undertow 2023 after defeating Star in the Lucas ditto, and a fifth place finish at Against All Odds after claiming sets from Boat, Sneez, and Suvir. Grealy continues to PSI Magnet their way into our hearts. With kindness and love for the game, they have earned their rank at #33, and we can’t wait to see how much further they go with the game we PK Love.
Written By: RAVN
A familiar name to PMRank, the SoCal titan Sneez has continued to show why he is one of the best R.O.B. and Diddy Kong players to do it in 2023. Sneez had a more inactive year compared to the past with only three PMRank eligible events this season. Despite this, Sneez continued to show robust play and pick up noteworthy wins along the way. At Mile High Club, Sneez suffered an early loss to ~CP9~, but he was able to show some resilience in the loser’s side picking up a win over the Charizard master Kycse on his way to a 13th place finish. Sneez then took a break before his next event over half a year later at Five Nights at Fingy’s. Coming in as a favorite for the tournament, Sneez had some pressure on his back when he suffered a loss to TRai in Winners. Despite this, Sneez kept his composure and went on to take out an Arizona gauntlet including AZ Rocky and ilovebagelz. He then showed strong adaptation to take two sets over TRai in Grand Finals to secure the first place finish at the event. Sneez finished off his year with a ninth place performance at Against All Odds, where he picked up a win over PMRank newcomer PartyGhoul. Sneez was able to continue to showcase his mastery of the item game and his ability to switch between characters in tense situations this year earning him a spot at #32 on PMRank 2023.
Written By: Suvir
Coming in at #31, the Northeast’s most prolific renaissance them, Thalia, had a season rivaling their PMRank debut. Despite being occupied with terrorizing their local scene with the full cast on rotation, they took it upon themselves to take their entourage of characters on tour. Thalia spent the majority of their season cycling between ZSS, Fox, and Roy. The potent duo (and Roy) made quick work of their competition, netting wins over Mr.Watch&Learn, Vaporeon (twice), Av, Zhime, WouldSmokeCraq, and Comb. When the going got tough for Thalia, the Fox got cookin’, landing them two huge reverse 3-0’s – one on Che at Warp Zone 2, and even more impressively, one on fellow KoF member Shadowhawke at Shine Out of Shield, the same tournament that Hawke went on to win over top Melee Fox Aklo. With a strong passion for the game and a solid knowledge-base to work with, one can only wonder what characters the Massachusetts menace will bring into the spotlight in 2024.
Written By: evil lesbian
Other PMRank 2023 Articles
1/29/2024 - PMRank 2023: The Edge of Glory
1/29/2024 - PMRank 2023: In The Margins
1/30/2024 - PMRank 2023: 50-41
1/31/2024 - PMRank 2023: 40-31
2/1/2024 - PMRank 2023: 30-21
2/2/2024 - PMRank 2023: 20-11
2/5/2024 - PMRank 2023: 10-7
2/6/2024 - PMRank 2023: 6-4
2/7/2024 - PMRank 2023: 3-1
1/29/2024 - PMRank 2023: In The Margins
1/30/2024 - PMRank 2023: 50-41
1/31/2024 - PMRank 2023: 40-31
2/1/2024 - PMRank 2023: 30-21
2/2/2024 - PMRank 2023: 20-11
2/5/2024 - PMRank 2023: 10-7
2/6/2024 - PMRank 2023: 6-4
2/7/2024 - PMRank 2023: 3-1
Last Year's Rankings
Credits
PMRank Staff:
- Che “Che” Woodson
- Brennan “FlashingFire” Connolly
- Paul “Motobug” Canavan
- Peter “Pikmon” Woodworth
Graphic Design and Character Renders:
- Paul "Motobug" Canavan
- Cosmetic Standardization Project (CSProject) & the Project+ Development Team
Editors:
- “CND”
- rye "evil lesbian"
- Artemis "[Fleabag]" Groobert
- Timothy “ilikepizza107” W.
- Paul "Motobug" Canavan
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