Competitive Smash Has A Ranking Problem

As someone who has worked on rankings for 9 years, it is evident that Smash has a culture around rankings. Today, let's dive into why and how we got here.
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Articles Mentioned in Video
- Making Sense of Melee: The Illusion of Objective Ranks and the Real Impact of Everything
planetbanatt.net/articles/amb...
- World War Kept: Finding Solace in the Unrelenting Entropy of Competitive Smash
/ world-war-kept-finding...
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VIDEO CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:43 What Doesn't Work
03:25 Brief History of Smash Rankings
04:36 The Power of a Finale
08:18 Maybe It's Not a Problem
12:24 I Don't Really Know How to End This Video

[@eazyfreezie]

Thank you for watching. If you are interesting in supporting me through patreon, you can do so here -> www.patreon.com/EazyFreezie This topic is personal to me as it is what I have dedicated a large portion of my life too. And I hope I was able to express 9+ years of work and emotion here.

[@snuggie1849]

This video was incredible. The production value for how few subs you have is insane. I look forward to watching your next video!

[@Darockam]

The work you and Barnard's Loop put our is immensly valuable for the Smash community. It brings a bit of professionalism in this chaotic scene.

[@FireThePyroYT]

Pretty good vid! Only thing I want to suggest is you lower the volume of some of the SFX you sprinkle in, probably by about 6-10dB. Some words can get stuffed out by loud sound effects, especially if the effect is phonetic

[@eazyfreezie]

Appreciate it! Honestly the transition from Premiere Pro to KZbin with audio sometimes makes no sense to me cause I didn't think they were that loud but I'll keep that in mind. (Also your videos are goated!)

[@nathanlevesque7812]

no problems for me

[@sarimsalman2698]

​​@@eazyfreezieJust throwing in some of my feedback if you don't mind. Some of the background effects like the one at 2:51 or 4:15 can be a bit disturbing/distracting with all the weird movements.

[@r0yel626]

I just wanna say that Mkleo's section in the 2022 Orion Rank video was one of the most hype and memorable things I've seen in the Smash community. It perfectly summarized Leo's presence in Smash Ultimate's history up to that point, and I still think about it all the time to this day. Thank you guys for creating such amazing stuff for the game I love ❤

[@pbz7572]

Honestly, this vent style video was long overdue. It felt like it directly addressed & responded to people like me who have repeatedly voiced their frustrations with the rankings and questioned the point & meaning of the way LumiRank is currently, I respect it. Regardless of the circumstances the scene is in right now, it was great and inspiring to see how you've honed your craft with the player card graphics. Regardless of what part you play in it, whether it be thru playing, commentating, TO'ing, designing, calculating or cultivating a ranking, Smash, moreso than most eSports (& sports), hammers in the feeling of being on an endless path in a barren land.

[@swiddhi]

Oddly, I think Lumirank being so public, an objective good thing, causes the responses to be more harsh and common. The PGR didn't do weekly updates in their heyday and only commented on the status of the rankings if it was an important change (ex: Glitch re-tier) or when it was time to release. And then comparing this to the modern day closest comparison, SSBMRank, they usually disappears for large stretches of time (granted they are able to do this as they have no TTS system) and only gets these complaints on again, release. Due to how Lumirank's system works with the TTS, hidden boss values, etc, you can't just stay quiet and things have to constantly shift. Even in 2020 where it was proposed to change point values mid-season for the PGR, it was planned to be once in-between the 6 month season, Lumirank does it weekly. What this does is keep people's minds on rankings for longer than in the past, which I think plays a role in this "ranking obsession" too. I'm not saying the two other rankings don't get hate, they probably receive a worse peak hate than what Lumirank does, but the way Lumirank does things feels like it would be exhausting to the team. Lumirank is the most robust ranking system I have seen for any of the Smash rankings, but if you feel the need to downsize or take time off for the sake of your mental it would be understandable. Appreciate everything you do Freezie and the rest of the team! Hope nothing in this comment comes across the wrong way

[@eazyfreezie]

Smash rankings haven't came up in therapy yet so I think I'm doing alright lol. Appreciate the love!

[@HoshiArt]

Thank you for your hard work in continuing to contribute to the true backbone of the scene.

[@nineteenblunts9195]

thank you for all the dedication and hard work man, it does not go unseen that’s for sure

[@IOSALive]

EazyFreezie, This is awesome! I subscribed because I want to see more!

[@SamuelMcLeod]

hughjay jumpscare 13:28

[@PKG315]

Great vid! Definitely hope that by the time our next Smash comes out we can have a more centralized accurate ranking system in place

[@JakeSm4sh]

This was an interesting video. All I can say. Thank You for all your work on rankings. I always love looking at the rankings. Thank You EasyFreezie

[@sham_noway]

doing PR stuff is hella stressful, like im currently doing the PR for my region atm, and me and the entire panel have SO much to juggle for a simple 15 man pr, so i can only begin to imagine how taxing it is doing something on the scale of LumiRank

[@misterd5272]

Hey EZ, the work you and others have put into the smash scene is so undervalued and I cannot stand those who disregard your work. your rankings provide more than some of these players will ever know. I will always be rooting for you!

[@AreYouMid]

You wanna know what's worse than this? Even people who are not even close to getting ranked, want to dunk on the players that *are.* Like whenever Leo doesn't make a top 8, all I see is "he is washed and is trash." Like dude he's still consistently making top 32s at worst on average.

[@nathanlevesque7812]

engagement

[@southfloridasmashultimate779]

much love, thank you for everything

[@lbesavant]

One thing that really made ranking culture even worse was that people saw that specific 3000 threshold as some new objective definition of a major. It burrowed into people’s heads and it started a cascade of arguments and drama. Like, I gotta admit, a LOT of things can be majors, and it’s more than just Leo showing up. However, for LumiRank, it really is just a number with an associated value on a weight, whatever that converted event points to weight ratio is. It’s always been nice to know that, from a purely player ranking standpoint, LumiRank is the culmination of almost a decade of trial and error and making things work. I want you and everyone on the LumiRank team to be proud of the hard work you all put in.

[@nathanlevesque7812]

someone will always get mad that B tiers didn't make the cut

[@TaleOfTheToaster]

You love what you do, and I love it too

[@squirrelwithabanana]

New eazy banger dropped

[@flamepan]

Frankly i wish other FGs had rankings. I think they bring a lot to a scene

[@Taylorperchasemccarthy]

When opening this up I had no idea you were in part behind the rankings, love the work. I do feel like there’s a couple other issues with rankings on paper, rooted in our scene as a whole. Namely the over dependence on them for event or personal value. Big events are obviously hype, but I feel like small events suffer because top players will see they aren’t worth much and dodge because they care about their rank more than improvement or playing the game. Letting a rank get your confidence up or down can be really detrimental to player growth. I made a state wide high school PR near Ult’s release, which led to overblown confidence, and no will to keep playing when I underperformed my seed later. Or Spargo getting so tilted that he wasn’t #1 for the first half of 2023 that he started the season with a 49th. I feel like when they get ranked, players can put too much value into rankings. It’s about purely being the best, not becoming better. I also feel like because of Ult’s international nature being grander than Melee, it can lead to rankings feeling unreliable at times, whether algorithmic or paneled. Melee’s fight for #1 last year was clear because of how even Cody and Zain were. Meanwhile Ult this season and last both can be a bit of a mess. Ie Spargo with the worst consistency and lowest lows of the big 4 being #2 at the end of the year, or who will be #1 for first half 2024. It could be Acola algorithmically since he’s only lost 3 sets but he’s only played sets domestically and hasn’t left Japan since WTT. Miya HAS traveled but had a tough time at Cirque, while also peaking at Acola’s peak. Sonix hasn’t won anything but has unmatched consistency, and hell, Tweek is the only player who’s won multiple supermajors this season. No matter who #1 is people will disagree. I do agree that since we lack finality in our years our rankings are important, but I also wonder how much healthier discussion would be in our scene without them, lower player egos across the board, less toxic ranking arguments, and smaller events being seen as more worth it because the point value for ranking doesn’t matter as much.

[@AJ-sl7be]

Tweek isn't the only one to win multiple supermajors, Miya won Kowloon and Kagaribi, Acola won Umebura and Delta.

[@Taylorperchasemccarthy]

@@AJ-sl7be Technically speaking, wholly technically, I'm still right, since Kagaribi and Delta were premiers instead of supermajors, but you're right, I hadn't processed or caught that until now. Were they retroactive tier increases to supermajor like Gluto's Ultcore win to major? Or am I just daft and didn't notice it

[@AJ-sl7be]

@@Taylorperchasemccarthy Kowloon and Umebura were already announced to be Supermajors.

[@Taylorperchasemccarthy]

@@AJ-sl7be Alright, so just a lapse on my end. Makes sense.

[@griffinashley2890]

They're fun to do :)

[@Schonse]

TEKKEN 8 MUSIC!!! Celebration on the seine is a certified banger

[@MeesterTweester]

OrionRank lore

[@feresoththedamned2688]

Neon White soundtrack

[@tetros5265]

Glass Ocean my beloved

[@LilypadOW]

1:00 4:48 GAME MENTIONED DOPAMINE RELEASED

[@sarimsalman2698]

Why not just rank based on vibes? Seems legit

[@IOSALive]

EazyFreezie, You're the best! I subscribed because I love your content!

[@jijmotorp3079]

hey as a NBA fan we are also obessed by ranking and advanced stats so we can say Smash is kinda like the NBA

[@GazerPlur420]

It's all sports in general. I'm a huge MMA enthusiast and the athletes there also do the same stuff. They got their rankings, and they all cry when the slightest thing doesn't go into their favor. Lol

[@jijmotorp3079]

@@GazerPlur420 the dumbest one is by far the p4p with all the crying etc when its just fun hypothetical matchups

[@HenryZhoupokemon]

Honestly I disagree w you and I think smash could benefit from a tennis-style ranking I think the key difference is that tennis has a circuit, so everything is more standardized. Honestly it reminds me of the SWT, where tournaments were worth points, which were based off entrant #s and top players I don’t see the issue w the smash majors (using this in the tennis context, so biggest 4 tournaments of the year) changing year to year based off tournament size It’s not like tennis always had the US open be in flushing NY or the Aussie in Melbourne park

[@folseus_]

defy

[@eazyfreezie]

Caught it 10 minutes before premier and accepted that I will have to deal with a spelling error :/

[@heterodoxagnostic8070]

a number doesn't define you as a player i think you meant, not defy

[@salvatore_slate]

"defy" lol

[@Breaded_basil]

Wasnt spargo the next #1 after leo?

[@phoenix6974]

no, sparg0 has never been ranked #1

[@Breaded_basil]

@@phoenix6974 huh myb then

[@StudyingManually]

OrionRank was terrible for ranking Marss 2nd in 2020, although he got 17th at Frostbite, losing to Paseriman and Zackray. His G7 win was just a fluke

[@MonkeGeek]

That crazy to say marss G7 was a fluke bro. You can argue that he wasnt 2nd best player (it was probably tweek) but that a bold statement saying his win was a fluke at the biggest tournament. He easily was a top 5 player

[@imESAM]

your ass did NOT watch the video

[@Famtom-gb3su]

I won't say it was a fluke, but I think Marss didn't deserve that 2nd in 2020. His results were "5th at LMBM, 1st at Genesis, 17th at Frosbite". To be fair, it was a short period of time, so I can see why they gave him that rank. The other players I can think for that 2nd spot, are Zackray, Maister and Tea. lol

[@StudyingManually]

@@Famtom-gb3su Excellent comment, Famtom!

[@cringewyrm]

Didn't paseriman win a major

[@bloodofphantoms]

wah wah wah

[@bloodofphantoms]

you were going good at the start with objectivity until you started crying around the end... but the motivational spiel was okay if not corny

[@craeeg]

defy