The beginning of the top 30 are players we love to see at our tournaments. This tier is filled with rising talent and members of the old guard alike. With a mix of play styles present, anybody in this tier is bound to give a good set.
Legendary quad-game player Evan “EG” Gunn keeps a low profile nowadays, but you can still catch him at any Knoxville event. In the past he ran Tennessee’s Brawl scene, saved us all from Nice Climbers reign of terrors, and beep booped the PM scene. While only playing for fun in recent times, he still managed to pick up a win on Xtreme this season. While you won’t see him top 8’ing anymore, you can always enjoy kicking back and having a beer with TN smash’s friendliest man. -Xtreme
Unlimited potential spread too thin, like butter scraped over too much bread perfectly describes Murfreesboro Falco main Toto Sripun. The young, talented bird split his time between FighterZ, Melee, and Ultimate which ultimately saw his results suffer. However, he succeeded in other aspects of his life. He’s become the official photographer for Tennessee smash and also has seen success locally at DBFZ. With any luck, FighterZ will drop a bad patch to turn his focus back to the game that’s as old as he is, and we’ll finally see TopTenToto. -Xtreme
Scott “Cornycows” Knowlton is the second best Pikachu main in Clarksville. While being fairly reclusive in the later part of the season, Cornycows secured a couple early wins on Toto and KY PR player Green Machine. Some have gone as far to say that if he could ledgedash, Scott would be better than Kimchi. Will Clarksville's native son take time out of his busy schedule of watching MD/VA locals to attend his own? Find out next season. -Xtreme (Beautiful selfie taken by the man himself)
Phoenix “Phoenix” Zulueta is a young fox main from Middle TN. Possibly the youngest member of our scene, Phoenix has impressed in his early career. He has taken sets from T and Wolven and taken many players to close sets. He has a very bright future in Melee if he decides to stick with it. -T
Eric “Kari” George has been a mainstay in Middle TN monthly and weekly tournaments for years. His Fox/Falco combo has been a gatekeeper for many players, he has placed above average consistently at many tournaments and a 9th at Anchor Down 10. Eric was also essential in establishing our small Nashville community and bringing together tournament players and our local players. Eric has shown a great dedication for the game over the years, and you can always find him at whatever weekly or monthly smash tournament continuing to practice and grow. -Signify (Picture unknowingly swiped from Kari's FB.)
Between organizing consistently excellent events at Vanderbilt and competing in Ultimate, Brandon Weber has yet to reach his Melee peak. He didn’t enter Melee much, but when he did he made waves, dropping #3 Kimchi at Anchor Down Smash 10. Brandon will be stepping down as Vandy’s head TO next semester, and every one should be afraid of what his lightning fast falcon with a practiced, perfect punish game can do. -Xtreme
Kevin “Kevo” Simons is a peach main from Knoxville. No one knows exactly how old he is, but trust me he’s old. Kevo is known for his intelligent neutral and rock-solid tech skill. While he has been on a bit of a hiatus recently, he managed to beat Den early this season showing he’s still got it. Kevo is a potential top 10-15 player in TN when active, and a threat to almost anyone in the state. -T
Coby "Jankie" "Plankie" Massengale, is an up and coming Marth/Sheik main from Knoxville. His refined punish game and years of analysis put him in the upper levels of this scene. With weekly victories over Rooster, T, and Ghettoblush, this guy doesn't mess around. When he isn't whining about his controller, he's a real threat. -12yoweaboo
Tyler “Rooster” Cox aka “Balls” aka “Cox” aka “Tyler Balls” is a Puff player from Tri-Cities. Rooster is a former PR player in TN that has been inactive of recent note. However, he just completed a recent move to the centralized Mid TN region, so look for him to be back in the mix soon. While in Tri-Cities, Rooster was almost always #1 or #2 in the region. He is right in the massive pool of borderline PR talent we have in TN, so it will be interesting to see how he fairs in the crowded Mid TN region. -T
Cole “Droog” Sexton is currently the best Melee player in Cookeville. Like most mid-level Falco mains he has a disdain towards Marths and Fox's full hop because Falco cannot beat Fox jumping around. More known as a spacie slayer, Droog's practiced pillar combos and laser game managed to take a set from T as well as Ghettoblush at Top Platform to obtain 9th place. Watch out because you could be next on his blip list. -Mascot
This project was created to acknowledge the dedicated players you'll want to look out for at Tennessee's SSBM tournaments. These top 30 rankings were directly taken from Winter 2019's TrueSkill™ rankings without committee discussion. The actual TN top 10 PR has some differences due to player activity. Thanks to Chase Harrell for collecting and organizing the data, and to a few other TN players for writing blurbs.
Unless otherwise stated, all photo credit belongs to Toto Sripunvoraskul. Final images created by Jayson Rice.
