10. Lowww
After finally emerging from the shadows of online only play almost a decade ago, at the since closed-down Nebulous venue, winning a weekly, that happened to be the first tournament he ever attended, Lowww has remained a staple in the Smash 64 community.
This year Pikachu and Fox dual main from New York via Atlantic City returns to the top 10 in the 2025 Smash 64 power rankings, securing back-to-back top 10 showings for the first time in his smash career.
A fierce and stone-cold competitor, Lowww took sets over multiple players ranked in the top 15 and was pixels away (and maybe a beer or two) from winning two different ranked tournaments in Keystoned Lite and Kirbstomped X.
Some of his most impressive wins came against competitors that had career years themselves, including wins over Grain, Dogs_Johnson, Josh Brody, KD3, Mercy, Finio, and many more.
Lowww surprised viewers and competitors alike at Keystoned Lite when he debuted his Yoshi, scoring a set win on Finio and showcasing his versatility with even more of cast. At this point, almost any character on the roster could be an option for Lowww moving forward into 2026 and beyond.
Lowww isn’t just one of the world’s premier players. He’s a content creator, Twitch streamer (LevelWithKevin), photographer, videographer, and has recently taken on responsibilities as an organizer of netplay tournaments, trying to raise money for other players. Stay on the lookout as he looks to attend even more events in 2026 and continues to level up his game in all aspects!
– KD3
9. Dogs_Johnson
Following a standout 2024 campaign, close friend and fellow Indiana player B33F stated that Dogs_Johnson “has been steadily climbing his way up to the precipice of competitive Super Smash Bros. for years.” In 2025, that ascent culminated in a definitive breakthrough: Dogs_Johnson earned the number 9 spot in the Smash 64 power rankings, officially cementing his place among the game’s elite.
Widely regarded as one of 64’s most cerebral competitors, Dogs_Johnson has built his resume through meticulous preparation, relentless grind, and a deep understanding of neutral theory. His marquee victory at Supernova 2025 over former world number 1 player wario showcased the full range of his skillset. Displaying precise spacing and suffocating, calculated neutral control, Dogs dismantled wario’s defenses in a commanding 3–1 performance that signaled his arrival as a legitimate top-tier threat.
Beyond that signature win, Dogs_Johnson compiled an impressive slate of victories over established contenders including KD3, Josh Brody, KrisKringle, Hotline, JPX, and numerous other high-level opponents. Each result reinforced what many had anticipated: his steady climb was no longer a projection; it was reality.Cracking the top 10 has long been a personal goal for Dogs_Johnson, and achieving that solidifies his legacy within the modern era of Smash 64. Yet for a competitor of his caliber, number 9 is unlikely to be the finish line. With momentum on his side and a proven ability to perform in the biggest tournaments, Dogs_Johnson appears ready to not merely hold his position, but to continue pushing higher.
– Dr. Sauce
8. Josh Brody
Josh Brody’s name immediately pops into your mind when you think about Maryland’s finest players, when you think about North America’s strongest Pikachu mains, and when you think about one of the community’s most infamous memes in the past few years: “Has Josh Brody fallen off?” Josh has done what any wise man and good sport would do, which is lean into it.
You’ll often see him rock “Fallen Off” as his prefix when registering for a tournament, but at this point, we know what it is. It’s a joke. It hasn’t been true for quite some time, and it may have never been true to begin with. Josh puts himself out there and risks more than any other player in the community, as you can expect to see him competing at almost any sizable tournament around the world.
Josh started the year out on an absolute heater, claiming 1st place at both Genesis X2 and Snosa 6 in back to back weekends! He stacked wins against Isai, Grain, Hero Pie and had many more victims along the way.
Josh would probably tell you he was somewhat disappointed with the rest of 2025, but it’s worth noting he finished 2nd at Keystoned VIII and 1st place at Kirbstompd X, winning the tournament from Loser’s bracket, and picking up wins against Lowww (x3), Mercy, JPX, Hotline (x2), and Dogs_Johnson along the way.
Josh’s talent, perseverance, instincts, and attitude towards the game are all undeniable traits that have helped him become one of the world’s most dangerous players and one of the community’s strongest leaders. Buckle up because you’re likely to see him at your region’s next major, and he’s pretty likely to be the last man standing. After his 4th appearance in the top 10 we will close with a joke that Josh would appreciate. Has “has Josh Brody fallen off” fallen off?
– KD3
7. KD3
One year ago, the Bird took flight. He had ascended to the Top 10 of the rankings, opening the ceremony showcasing the game’s greatest talents. He was ready to take to the skies, hungry to break every barrier in his path.
And that he did.
Kyle “KD3” DiFrank lands at the #7 spot this season, taking on wins not just for himself, but for his home region of Pennsylvania as well. Through the sheer aura, energy, and passion behind the triumphant victory of the Eagles at the Super Bowl, he took wing with pride, winning both Keystoned Lite and Keystoned VIII, defending his home turf from all invaders. As the eagle hunts for its prey, so does the Falcon of KD3, taking them down one by one with deadly, accurate, and ruthless precision and execution. It should be no surprise when one falls to him. One blink and your stock is already gone. One wrong move and you’ve already lost the game. One miscalculation and you have already been eliminated from the tournament.
His list of victims includes Josh Brody, Mercy, Finio, grain, JPX, Lowww. The list goes on.
And on the world’s biggest stage, Supernova 2025, he made his mark more than ever. After advancing to Top 8 by defeating Janco, he continued his run, taking down Crovy before finally falling to SuPeRbOoMfAn and finishing at 5th place in the largest tournament of the season. This is not his peak, it’s just the beginning of his reign of terror, a sneak peak at what’s to come. His domination does not come unnoticed; with every new foe defeated, his aura grows stronger, the crowd gets louder, and the venue becomes enthralled. He was once a boy with a dream, and now he’s a man on a mission; a mission to become the best player in the world, by any means necessary.
I shudder to think of what else he’s capable of, what other deadly combo he’s going to cook up, what other maniacal run he’s going to make. One thing’s for sure: you will not be able to stop him and you will have to respect the title when he earns it.
– Cagt
6. Robert
Competition is an art form that brings intense pressure and mental strain to those who compete at the highest echelon. Many often succumb to the weight that it puts on one’s mind, and even the greatest of competitors have shortcomings when it comes to their mental state. It is part of the journey for those looking to become the best to learn how to control yourself and perform at the level necessary to be the best.
Robert is a player who has achieved mastery in that domain – both in and out of the game – and it is no surprise to see him etch his spot in the Top 10 rankings once again. No matter when and where you see him, whether it be during friendlies, mid-match, or even online afterward discussing the tournament, Robert has shown consistent composure and decorum in his endeavors, establishing himself as a prime example of what it takes to be at the top. His results speak to that as well, brandishing a 1st place finish at both Frame 16 & 17 with his heavily optimized Pikachu gameplay taking down some of the game’s toughest players.
Dispatching Andykins, Josh Brody, Janco, grain, and KD3 in two separate sets is a spectacular start to the season, and being able to replicate that same feat at Frame 17 while adding Lowww to that list of wins is another testament to the skill level at which he operates. After each win, the same serious, determined expression can be found on his face, which only means one thing: he is focused and ready to win more.
Even at the peak of it all, the place where everyone is pitted against one another, Supernova 2025, Robert was still able to deliver an impressive 9th place finish, taking down the likes of Crovy, JPX, and many more. Nothing phases this player, and nothing will stop him from continuing to grow.
What will be the next step in his career? We don’t know. But one thing’s for sure: he will strive to become the best, and he will not be phased by any obstacle in his way.
– Cagt
5. KeroKeroppi
In the discussion of “who are the greatest players to ever do it”, there are always some clear choices. But you are a fool if you don’t mention how close former New York, current Maryland’s “KeroKeroppi” is to that top player echelon. Over the last decade and more, Kero has been a mainstay near the top of 64. Some may forget, but he was even in Grand Finals at the very first Super Smash Con.
After a phenomenal 3rd place finish at Supernova in 2024, Kero had one goal in mind: to win in ‘25. Most of us would see a drop off in performance after spending almost a year away from tournaments along with becoming a new father, but 2 weeks out from Supernova, Kero tweeted “I’m on the precipice of greatness”. And right he was.
Fighting tooth and nail against multiple top 10 ranked players, Kero took sets off of Robert, Josh Brody, Dogs_Johnson, and many more before falling to the eventual tournament champion Kurabba, and runner-up Wario, securing a 5th place finish. An astounding placement most players can only dream of reaching, but if we know anything about Kero, it won’t be enough, and whoever is in his path at next year’s events better be prepared. While we are all eager to see him back in another bracket, dominating the competition, the community will most likely have to wait until August to see that red rat again. And who knows? Maybe at Supernova’s 10th iteration, we see him back at the top, competing for another trophy.
Kero, I’m expecting a response. Don’t disappoint me.
– Goyard
4. SuPeRbOoMfAn
Usually, when a player does something like letting Twitter polls choose his characters for tournaments, a giant asterisk is attached to those results. We would say things like “if only they were playing their main, they would’ve made it into bracket,” but for SuPeRbOoMfAn it’s instead: “if he weren’t locked to two characters, he may have won the biggest tournament of the year.”
And SuPeRbOoMfAn came extremely close to doing just that. For Supernova 2025, Twitter chose Falcon and Pikachu for his characters and his Pikachu took him all the way to a 4th place finish, being held at bay by Pikachu mirror match experts Isai and Wario. This is an extremely difficult achievement, but what may be more impressive is that he won Port Priority 9 over top-20 ranked players with the game’s generally agreed-upon worst character, Luigi.
With 20+ years of competitive smash 64 experience, SuPeRbOoMfAn has amassed an encyclopedia of techniques to dominate his competition, including reaction-time that leaves only the narrowest of windows for his opponents, spacing that will keep opponents locked an inch away from getting a hit, strategy that will utilize his character’s strengths and minimize its weaknesses, and the patience required to execute all of this to near perfection.
I don’t know if there is a more complete player than SuPeRbOoMfAn. His robust game, honed over decades, leads to a level of polish that seems alien even to competitors who have been playing for years and are near the top themselves.
– B33F
3. Isai
A player nobody is surprised to see this high on the list, cementing himself at the top with another top 3 finish is Joel “Isai” Alvarado.
After a year-long hiatus throughout 2024, Isai came back swinging with his Yoshi and Mario in Los Angeles at SNOSA 6. Starting off the top 16 with an early loss to Canada’s Janco, Isai proceeded to tear through the losers bracket with only a single game loss, beating out Huntsman, Grain, Kris Kringle, Paco, and HeroPie, before falling to Baltimore’s Josh Brody in grand finals. However, we did catch a glimpse of greatness as Isai pulled out his Pikachu and flexed for a single game before swapping back to the Yoshi.
At Supernova, Isai laid down the Yoshi, picked the Pikachu back up, and reminded everybody why people call him the GOAT.
Smashing his way through the bracket, Isai got his SNOSA revenge on Janco and Josh, a set win over JaimeHR, and an astounding 3-0 win over SuPeRbOoMfAn, only falling in winners finals to Kurabba in a Super Smash Con 2023 rematch, and Wario in losers finals.
For nearly the entire lifespan of Smash, Isai has repeatedly shown off the highest level of competition and creativity, and I doubt we’ll see that change anytime soon. Hopefully we get to see more of him in 2026.
– Goyard
2. wario
A mainstay of the Super Smash Bros. 64 elite, wario returned to the forefront in 2025 with his fifth career top 10 appearance, finishing ranked number 2. It marks his highest placement since the inaugural Smash 64 League 2016 rankings, when he stood atop the scene as the undisputed number 1.
After being knocked to losers at Supernova 2025, wario delivered one of the most electrifying runs in recent memory. Refusing to fade, he tore through an elite gauntlet of Reefybeefy, Josh Brody, Robert, Wizzrobe, KeroKeroppi, SuPeRbOoMfAn, and Isai—reasserting himself as one of the most dangerous players in the world and an absolute monster in the Pikachu ditto.
His sets against SuPeRbOoMfAn and Isai were instant classics, each going the full five games. The set with Boom, in particular, added yet another chapter to one of Smash 64’s most storied rivalries, producing a defining moment that will be replayed for years to come. Where were you when wario got that reverse ledge DI?
His 2025 campaign proves that he is far from a relic of a past golden age – he remains a central figure in the modern meta. With a number 2 finish, the question isn’t whether wario still belongs at the top; it’s whether another run for the title is on the horizon.
– Dr. Sauce
1. Kurabba
How do you kill that which has no knockback? If you hit him during double jump armor, he hits you back. If you hit him on the ground, you get parried and punished. Kurabba turns the old 64 proverb: “don’t get hit” into “do get hit.” He bends the rules into a new game, a game which he almost never loses.
Even among the best players in the world, Kurabba is a terrifying presence and his seat on the throne is nearly unassailable. Despite the efforts of longstanding greats like Isai, SuPeRbOoMfAn, and Wario, Kurabba made the most talent-rich tournament of the year, Supernova 2025, look easy by not losing a set the entire tournament and not even being brought to game 5 in the top-8 bracket.
A player who has already cemented himself on Smash 64’s Mount Rushmore, Kurabba has done something incredible: pushed his legacy even further. With this ranking, he becomes the first and only player to both repeat as rank #1 in consecutive years and be ranked #1 three different times.
Surrounded by titans of the game, Kurabba stands above them as a permanent fixture in the halls of Smash 64 history. Congratulations, Kurabba!
– B33F