By TheViralMelon, Meechole, OldManSpidey, windy — March 4, 2026
Welcome to the first Rivals Community Rankings (RCR)! The RCR is a list of the top 25 players in North America competing in Rivals of Aether each calendar year. The rankings are created by a community panel that considers data from across the continent and the year to construct a comprehensive list that highlights active top players and their accomplishments.
View more articles in the 2025 NA Community Rankings:
“Let ’em think you’re unremarkable and prove them wrong!” -Mammoth
A familiar face in the online rivals sphere, Spyker had his fair share of top 8s, not missing a single one for all 8 qualifying tournaments he entered this season. Among those, his best placing comes from Midoff 131, where he took first place beating Gremlin once and Sethie twice. His wins didn’t end there: throughout the season, Spyker boasted an astounding four set wins over TheViralMelon, another four over Sethie, two wins on Gremlin, and even managed wins on humanlime and windy. Spyker is most pleased with his Genesis X2 medal for third place, and hopes to continue playing simply for the love of the game.
“GOOD BETTER BEST / NEVER LET IT REST / ‘TILL YOUR GOOD GETS BETTER / AND YOUR BETTER GETS BEST!” -Ben Johnson
Fennec has been around for longer than most know, but here he makes his breakout season in 4th place on our list. You would recognize him most from a never-before-seen major win utilizing solo Shovel Knight at Riptide. On his road to victory, he bested HitTheGriddyForUkraine, Zeebee, and The Real Man twice, while also taking 1000 of Dan Fornace’s real life dollars as a reward for the feat. His prowess on the helmeted catfish didn’t end there, as he confidently blew through HitTheGriddyForUkraine, Bicycle, OoDa, and Bucketfullabiscuits on his path to 3rd place at Hitfall 4, and similar names to take 2nd at BMS 195 just the day before. This amazing seasonal performance lit a fire in Fennec, making him determined to keep himself consistent and remain at the top of Rivals competition for the foreseeable future.
“Ori is top 3 and Pinden is a real chemist and I love Kragg.” – kevincake515
ne of the newest players on the rankings, windy started playing only shortly before the end of RCS, but quickly grew to be one of the strongest players in North America in both singles and doubles. He put himself on the map for most onlookers fairly late into the season, achieving a monumental 2nd place at Hitfall 4 — well ahead of his 11th seed — in a nailbiter game 10 Grand Finals with humanlime. Only a month later at Heat Wave, the largest bracket of the year, he secured his crown and redeemed himself against Wrastor, confidently taking 1st place. His record boasts multiple wins on Fennec, SBS, TheViralMelon, and HitTheGriddyForUkraine, alongside a set win on humanlime from the conclusion of Hitfall 4. In the future, windy would like to play and see more doubles.
“Right as you said this I accidentally unplugged my pc with my foot” – TheViralMelon
humanlime makes his debut at 2nd place with fantastic results in both online and offline brackets, all while actively competing in Rivals 2, building up a record of wins against both ranked players — including windy, Fennec, Spyker, Bicycle, TheViralMelon, and Meechole — and unranked threats like Bucket, Sethie, Phantom, teri, 2JANK, and Games & Flames. Impressively, he’s also the only ranked player to achieve a win on Soulrifle211 in a qualifying bracket. Making waves early in the season with 3rd place at Hitfall 3.5 and 2nd at Super Midoff, humanlime’s attendance waned later in the season, but he stayed determined to finish the year with a bang. After an outlier 9th place finish at Riptide, he bounced back to take Hitfall 4 as his best and final performance of the season, securing him 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishes at the last three instances of the MD/VA major. Despite disparate attendance in the latter half of 2025, humanlime is not done yet, and next year intends not to lose ever again.
Despite the overwhelming volume of new talent in the top rankings, our #1 spot is taken commandingly by a familiar face. Though Soulrifle211’s expansive roster of characters was always known to some degree, in 2025, it was truly given the chance to shine, earning him victories at qualifying brackets with Absa, Etalus, and Forsburn. Almost nothing could stop him this season, as he earned 1st place at all but one of the qualifying brackets he entered. Along the way, he built up a record of notable wins too long to list in full, but including three on Gremlin, two on Spyker, four on TheViralMelon; single wins against elkiies, Bucket, Danzello, and Sethie; and a ludicrous 5-1 record on humanlime. Furthermore, he achieved all this while also making waves in the Rivals 2 competitive scene. Although he won’t be traveling much if at all, Soulrifle211 intends to continue competing online in the future. His focus on competition has declined since the end of RCS, but he nevertheless maintained a towering level of skill throughout the year. Only time will tell how long it will take the competition to catch up.
By TheViralMelon, Meechole, OldManSpidey, windy — March 3, 2026
Welcome to the first Rivals Community Rankings (RCR)! The RCR is a list of the top 25 players in North America competing in Rivals of Aether each calendar year. The rankings are created by a community panel that considers data from across the continent and the year to construct a comprehensive list that highlights active top players and their accomplishments.
View more articles in the 2025 NA Community Rankings:
The second beloved TO in the MDVA scene in a row, Willow found his way into the top 15 with respectable placements at Super Midoff 10 where he found his way to a 4th place finish. He also boasted a specialty 2-0 record over Sethie, giving him a massive leg up over the other qualifying players. This and his 2-1 record against Rice, win over HitTheGriddyForUkraine, and 2-1 record with Bicycle solidified him within our top echelon of players. With all these achievements across the season, Willow would like to continue travelling to events, promoting a healthy scene, and possibly drop some more Rivals of Aether content for others to enjoy.
“If you’re not taking 5 stocks a game, are you truly playing?”
Another RCS veteran, Ahntye was the first previously-ranked player on this list to have attended an online bracket in Last One, where she found wins over the likes of Meechole and Julie. More notably than her wins, she didn’t miss a top 8 in all three brackets she attended, including her first ever top 8s at Heat Wave and Genesis. Ahntye sported impressive consistency this year, only losing to players who have been previously ranked in the top 10 of RCS offline, and beating other top 50 mainstays such as Plastic Dinos and CheesyPotato. She intends to continue competing at whatever offline events she can reach.
13. Meechole
“It doesn’t miss until you let go” – Zoomander
The only Ranno to make the list, Meechole’s best wins came from his runs at Riptide and Hitfall 4. In those brackets, he beat elkiies, TheViralMelon, and HitTheGriddyForUkraine, along with Bicycle, a set he especially prepared for. He also showed impressive consistency in his online runs, with a 7th place finish at The Hunt: Finale and 4th at Last One. Meechole intends to continue traveling to events to compete with the best of the best and gatekeep TheViralMelon in particular.
Zeebee is a familiar face in the upper echelon of play here in Rivals, and it’s no different for 2025. He took down players such as elkiies, Bucketfullabiscuits, and Juno, and boasts impressive consistency, reaching top 8 in every bracket he entered. Although they won’t be able to travel to events specifically for it, ZeeBee still plans to attend any brackets for Rivals 1 that coincide with his travels to compete in its sequel.
“Griddy works a 9-5 getting me to kill percent nearly every stock” – Jubilo
The highest-ranked Sylvanos player of the year, HitTheGriddyForUkraine’s meteoric rise first within MD/VA, and later North America as a whole, earned them 11th on the 2025 rankings. Though their 5th place finishes at Riptide and Full Stack 2 are undeniably impressive, their best and most cherished run was to 2nd place at Bracketfullabiscuits Supernova, where they found wins over Rice, ZeeBee, and Bucketfillabiscuits. With additional wins over Fennec and The Real Man, HitTheGriddyForUkraine showed themself to be a bracket threat to even the best of the best. They hope to reach the top 8 of a Hitfall event next year, as its two installments were the only offline brackets where they failed to achieve that result in 2025.
“I found that if you have a goal, you might not reach it. But if you don’t have one, then you are never disappointed.”
The Real Man is a seasoned player in the MDVA scene and makes his mark on our list as the first member of the top 10. He had impressive placings this season, achieving second at Riptide. There, he ran through Pity and Meechole, as well as Rice, in both the winners’ and losers’ side of the bracket. Additionally, The Real Man towered over every other competitor at Bracketfullabiscuits Supernova with a commanding first place finish with wins on Rice, CheesyPotato, and two on HitTheGriddyForUkraine. Coming into the next year, The Real Man will likely take a step back from competing seriously, though, if there’s any doubles or Bear Armada, you’ll be seeing him.
9. Rice
“I do not think therefore I do not am”
Rice was an out-of-region demon this season, taking names at Riptide, Bracketfullabiscuits Supernova, Full Stack 2, and Heat Wave 8. During this cross-country takeover, Rice defeated TheViralMelon, humanlime, Zeebee twice, HitTheGriddyForUkraine, Nbad, HenArten, and Willow. Along with being proud of his wins throughout the country, Rice is also happy to boast a (nearly) undefeated record in doubles side brackets this season with his good pal windy, and he hopes to have a similar season next year, planning to travel far and wide for top level doubles and SK gameplay.
When you think of Mollo nowadays, it’s none other than TheViralMelon who comes to mind. Honorary owner of the Mollo discord, and bomb logic connoisseur, they exploded onto the scene with a breakout performance at Hitfall 3.5, where they outplaced their 21st seed by 5 rounds, beating HitTheGriddyForUkraine, and CheesyPotato, to secure a 4th place finish. It was after this big win where many would have returned to mediocrity, but TheViralMelon didn’t waver. They continued on their tear, getting 3rd at Full Stack 2, 7th at Super Midoff, and 4th at The Hunt: Finale. Overall, TheViralMelon is proud to have brought Mollo into the limelight. And they’re not done yet — ideally, they’ll continue this path of improvement with Mollo and in-person bracket conditions to land a tournament win of their own.
7. Bicycle
“BMS at home? BMS at home.”
Bicycle is historically the king of MD/VA. Despite being a long-time competitive threat, this year is his debut on the NA rankings at a landmark 7th place. He achieved strong placements both in-region, where he took 5th place at both Hitfall 3.5 and Hitfall 4, and out-of-region with a staggering 1st place finish at Full Stack 2, his first significant out-of-region tournament win. Along the way, he accumulated wins over Meechole, Rice, and Willow, along with an unbelievable three wins against windy. Next year, he’s hoping to win doubles at a major.
“i never learned how to play neutral. i just learned how to dsmash. it’s like that one bruce lee quote.”
Thanks to a win at Hitfall 3.5 early in the year, alongside a 3rd place finish at Heat Wave, 2nd at Genesis, and 5th at Super Midoff 5, elkiies managed to maintain her top 10 position from RCS season 8. Her well-known and unique style of play lent her set wins on humanlime at Hitfall 3.5, Spyker at Genesis, and both ZeeBee and Rice at Heat Wave. She additionally secured wins on unranked but high-performing players like Akashi and twice against Penguin to win Hitfall 3.5. Though she intends to take a step back from competing to focus on her other hobbies, elkiies hopes to continue being ranked in future seasons with the events she does enter.
Stay tuned for placements #5-#1 to be revealed tomorrow!
By TheViralMelon, Meechole, OldManSpidey, windy — March 2, 2026
Introduction
In the 18-month period since the conclusion of the RCS in season 8, community members have continued to participate in and host many tournaments for Rivals of Aether (Rivals 1). Although Aether Studios’ competitive attention is now focused on Rivals of Aether II (Rivals 2), many hoped to also see a continuation of the yearly rankings for a game close to our hearts. To that end, we would like to officially introduce the Rivals Community Rankings, or RCR — a yearly ranking of the top 25 Rivals 1 players in North America.
Though it takes inspiration from previous seasons of the official RCS circuit, because of the different circumstances of the competitive scene, these rankings differ from them in many ways. Nevertheless, 2025 had countless dedicated TOs that gave players the opportunity to show off the skill they were honing year-round, and gave this project plenty of data to work with. Their efforts are a testament to the enduring dedication and passion within the community, even after many have moved on from the original Rivals of Aether in favor of its sequel. Without them, this project would not have been possible.
For future updates on the Rivals Community Rankings and archives of previous years’ rankings, please visit: https://rivalscommunityrankings.com.
Without any official tournaments or previously-announced standards, a post hoc baseline had to be decided on to select which events would qualify. Ultimately, the requirement was simple: all North American tournaments hosted in 2025 with 25 or more entrants (after DQs), online or offline, would have their results be considered for the RCR rankings. All 2025 tournaments were considered, rather than having an off-season period as in RCS. In chronological order, these tournaments were:
Although this general benchmark led to a somewhat messy list of tournaments, it gave us ample data to work with, and, importantly, could be measured objectively.
Player Qualifications
While circumstances of the competitive scene are different now, we decided that emulating what official RCS seasons have done before was the most straightforward way to form a list of dedicated competitors with a workable amount of results. Initially, players would qualify if they had attended at least three qualifying tournaments, with at least two being offline. Towards the end of the year, however, requirements were loosened to allow players with only one offline attendance to qualify if they had attended five total tournaments — as many dedicated players wouldn’t have qualified otherwise, or weren’t aware that end-of-year rankings would happen.
This gave us a good list of players to work with, but there were inevitably some competitors that didn’t qualify despite strong performances at multiple online events. In particular, we’d like to highlight three powerful players with impressive performances:
Gremlin, Sethie, Link of Origin
Methodology
After deciding on qualification requirements, we built a panel of seven knowledgeable community members, akin to the system established since season 3 of RCS. Our panelists were: OldManSpidey, Willow, windy, Meechole, TheViralMelon, Alto, and 2bootz. Five of these panelists were already involved with the RCR project, while the latter two were brought in specifically to help with the panel.
With the list of qualifying players and data on qualifying tournaments, each panelist was instructed to create a top 25 list of their own independent of the others’. Panelists were given specific encouragement not to factor in recency for how tournaments were weighed, and to rank players irrespective of their results or perceived strength outside of the qualifying tournaments. Otherwise, they were allowed to decide on their own ranking methodology.
After all of the panelists had finished their lists, they met to compare and discuss the placements of the qualifying players, only moving on to the next placement once at least five of the seven panelists had agreed on their position. At each point of non-unanimity, panelists were allowed to discuss options amongst themselves, even if the five out of seven benchmark had already been reached. Players were argued for or against based on their placements at qualifying events and their wins and losses within those events, against both ranked and unranked players. Once 25 players had been chosen, the list was given a pass-through by all panelists before being finalized.
Special Thanks
Though they weren’t a part of the panel, a special thanks is owed to Link of Origin, who greatly assisted the ranking process by creating a spreadsheet compiling all the data from the qualifying tournaments and organizing it in a fashion digestible to our panelists. Without their efforts, creating the final rankings would have been much harder and taken much longer. Thank you, Link! 💙
Lastly, thank you to SBS and Aether Studios for allowing the use of the official dev blog to announce these rankings, as well as heartfelt gratitude for his contributions to the competitive scene as a whole over the years!
Players
25. Giga
“All I know is I’m behind the wheel so it’s my party now.” -JP
Starting out with a familiar face on the NA rankings, although Giga’s attendance was low this season, he managed to qualify with three offline showings. His win over HitTheGriddyForUkraine at Hitfall 3.5 especially allowed him to snag a Top 25 ranking. Giga is no longer as interested in serious competition, but plans to continue attending tournaments (and their side brackets) for fun.
Our first panelist to make the list! Alto had a solid showing at 6 events this season, 4 of which were at separate installations of the Super Midoff series. His standout wins were at other brackets, however. He managed to score a win over abruh at Hitfall 4, and a last minute win on Link of Origin at Okay, Last One to secure 5th at both events, and this spot on the rankings. Alto has always been a technical wizard on Absa and can’t wait to go to more events to both meet more of the community and show off his tech on the big stage.
23. HenArten
“You have a co-dependent relationship with Sylvanos Dair.” – Starfury
HenArten is our second Sylvanos player to make the Top 25! A long-time player, commentator, and the head TO of Upstate New York, she secured a spot on the rankings thanks to her landmark 7th place performance at Hitfall 4, with wins over Alto, Willow, and Julie along the way. Now living in Boston, HenArten hopes to start a stronger Rivals scene there.
Photo credit: Hitfall 4 stream
22. Dilettante
“nice full time job dude” -TheViralMelon
Our first, but very much not the last representative of the Workshop 4 to make the list, Dilettante has a laundry list of results to pull from. With impressively consistent results across all of his attended events, Dilettante notably managed to pick up a 4th place finish at Platfight Online, taking down jenova and Kelly. However, easily his best set win came from Super Midoff 5, beating Gremlin in a game 5 set. He was most proud of his 2nd place offline performance at the Heat Wave 8 amateur bracket, and hopes to travel to more majors going forward.
“Rivals is about coaching your brainworms to outplay your opponent’s brainworms. Remember to be kind, yet firm, to your worms. They’re a little stupid sometimes but so are you, and that’s the beauty of fighting games.”
The star player of Upstate New York on this year’s top 25, Julie has been Pomme’s best representative following RCS season 8. Wowing spectators with her fast and aggressive gameplay, Julie secured solid placements during the year, getting 7th place at Full Stack and 9th place at Hitfall 4. The latter included an upset over The Real Man, which she expresses particular pride in. Julie hopes to improve her play going forward to become a consistent threat to top players.
“wow this is a cool video game https://itsmsb.itch.io/pipsqueak”
MSB has been a household name in the community since the beta days and continues to travel, competing at three offline events this year. Attending the West Coast’s very own Heat Wave 8, he managed a 9th place finish, beating the aforementioned Dilettante. Meanwhile at Full Stack 2, his best performance, he took down Jubilo and Bucketfullabiscuits and landed a 4th place finish. He hopes to get better at his lesser-seen Olympia going forward.
“The Incredible Hulk : 0CFF-0000-FF08-1CFF-00A1-00CF-942E-9800-FF14-21FF-0142”
One of the most active competitors of the year, abruh is one of the most successful up-and-coming Mollo players of the year, also sporting a powerful Maypul secondary. Attending a plethora of events, abruh secured an impressive 2-0 record over Jubilo, alongside a win over Gremlin at Super Midoff 5. Going forward, abruh hopes to continue running Midoff, the most active Rivals of Aether online weekly, gain excessive amounts of wealth, and beat everyone.
“Some people reflect light, some deflect it, you by some miracle, seem to collect it.” – Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves
2bootz was the premiere Etalus player of the year, and a king of consistency. Without undergoing a significant upset the whole year, he claimed wins over the likes of Bucketfullabiscuits, Jubilo, and abruh at Last One and Midoff 131. 2bootz expressed his appreciation for those he met through the Rivals community, and hopes to attend more out-of-state events to challenge more players.
Photo credit: Mrs. bootz
17. Jubilo
“Crumb Neutral”
Whether it’s tearing through doubles brackets with Bucketfullabiscuits, or setting fire to the competition, Jubilo clawed through his opponents all the way to the number 17 spot on our list. He achieved this through repeated victories over Willow at both installments of Hitfall, as well as other scattered wins on Rice, Alto, and humanlime at BMS 195 and Super Midoff 4. Going forward, Jubilo would like to get a handle on his in-region threats in Bicycle and HitTheGriddyForUkraine. Congrats on getting 17th, Jubilo!
Photo credit: Bucketfullabiscuits
16. Bucketfullabiscuits
“The problem is that I recover like I want to be onstage”
Whether it’s tearing through doubles brackets with Jubilo, or giving electrifying performances on stage, Bucketfullabiscuits showed how determined study can lead to impressive results. Most prominently, he boasted a 7th place at both Hitfalls, with wins over The Real Man, Julie, and starbos at Hitfall 3.5, which he expresses particular pride in. He also sported wins over humanlime and Bicycle at BMS 195 and his own tournament, Bracketfullabiscuits Supernova, respectively. Beloved TO of the grassroots tournament Bracketfullabiscuits, he intends to continue supporting his local scene and travel to more events.
Photo credit: Bucketfullabiscuits
Stay tuned for placements #15-#6 to be revealed tomorrow!
There was once a final season for EU’s Rivals Championship Series. One where we saw players with skills never seen before. A final push for the Rivals of Aether competitive scene, before its sequel took us by storm. When the season was over, it was time to reflect and pick up the pieces. A team gathered to decide which players would receive the honour of being in the final PR of this game’s lifespan.
Work began, but eventually, things were… lost to time. The scene was, generally, on cooldown, especially while waiting for the next game. PR development slowed down so much that with the release of more and more RoA 2 betas, and eventually, the full game, it stopped completely. Players moved on. Panelists moved on. Our momentum didn’t carry us far enough.
…until now. Recent efforts finally brought life back to what was once lost. Working on top of what once was unfinished, we were able to revive this project and at last give the players what they had earned! We hope you enjoy this blast to the past, one last look at the original Rivals of Aether.
This season had a handful of players who had a PR-worthy performance, but didn’t meet the minimum participation requirements, or were barely lacking the level of results needed to make the top 15. Since these players were close to making the PR, they deserve an honourable mention:
Making the rankings for the first time since Season 2 almost six years ago, Yam returns to the PR at 15th! This former Aethernity TO came back to compete with a new main, Hodan.
Although many players tried Hodan when he was released, few remained loyal to the character as he was often considered too bad or weird. However, it seems that this switch to Hodan was a perfect choice for Yam as it allowed him to fully express a unique playstyle with precise combos that enabled him to take stocks from his opponent outrageously early and gave him the ability to control the pace of the game.
Results wise, Yam placed consistently within the final stages of every bracket he entered this season, picking up multiple top 16 finishes and even a 7th place at November’s online major.
Yam also makes an impression with his love for the game and for his character, as well as his involvement in the Rivals of Aether community. Whether it’s by explaining the intricacies of his character, managing the French scene as an admin, posting super sick clips on Twitter or being on the beta team; his positive presence can be felt.
Too bad Hodan sucks.
14. Retro
“It was fun”
Retro returns to the PR, solidifying his position as one of the most consistent PR members in the last few years. Despite playing Shovel Knight and Hodan, two characters considered to be on the weaker end of the spectrum, Retro continued to squeeze every last drop out of these characters, managing to find new tech and strategies to carry his opponents to the blastzone with.
This season Retro entered both of the German locals, Rivals Rave and ~fkt Cup 3~, placing 4th, beating players like orkanone and Mae in the process. However it was online where he got his best result, finishing 5th at EU RCS November, beating Yam with his Shovel Knight before denying a reverse 3-0 with his Hodan. It is also worth mentioning his set with Fireicey this bracket was a game 5 nail-biter which Retro just narrowly lost.
Retro is more than just a player however, as he is now on the beta team to improve Hodan by finding bugs and giving game balance suggestions. He’s also a great commentator, providing the in-depth analysis you’d expect from one of the most creative players in Europe. Whether you’re bananas for Hodan or just a Retro fan, their presence will always be appreciated. We hope to see Retro continue to be a part of the scene, whether it be on the sticks or on the mic.
13. zonyx
“Ever fallen asleep while watching Solo Leveling ? Well, you’re not alone. Apparently its studio was tasked with creating a TV Anime that would help insomnia patients with sleep. Inspired by the infamously boring South Korean comic, the studio got to work creating the most sleep inducing show imaginable. When tested with patients, a staggering 90% increase was shown in sleep time and quality. So if you’re ever looking for a good nap, just remember to put on a Solo Leveling episode!”
To those outside of Europe, this may come as a surprise. zonyx was previously ranked as high as third. Make no mistake, zonyx is one of the best players in Europe with their aggressive, flashy and creative gameplay.
Whilst most known for their Clairen, a lack of faith in the character caused zonyx to switch to other options, preeminently Zetterburn and Ranno which during the season picked up very respectable wins over players like orkanone and Yam. When they did feel like playing their tried and true Clairen, it put in work as they swiftly dispatched Kader and took a game off practice partner TheDripCollector on their way to make top eight at EU RCS December.
We all know how good zonyx can be on their day, and with a plethora of platform fighter experience, whether it be on Clairen or a different character, it would not be a surprise at all if they could end up being one of Europe’s finest in Rivals of Aether II.
12. lilie
“give me a day or two to think of something clever”
lilie mashes her way yet again back into the top 15, rocking her signature – and at times infuriating – bait and punish defensive playstyle, with tricky Sein usage, “clever” jabs out of hitstun, and flashy bash combos, she unsurprisingly proves once again that she’s able to hang with the big dogs with a little help from her speedy white friend.
Despite a rough start to the season, lilie managed to end on a high note with wins over Yam, Tandoori, Orticoltore, and even taking Boss Hog to a nailbiter game 5 to end it all. Whilst being the head TO of her region and never once daring to approach her opponent, she still only placed either in top 8 or barely outside of it. It’s also worth mentioning her dominance at local events, never missing top 2 at any of the italian events she attended (all of them).
We’ll see what she’ll manage to achieve in Rivals 2, kneecapped by the lack of her trusted little stupid rat but full of motivation to try and make her new green critter work.
11. Sheush
“Play Pogo3D”
Completing the mirepoix of French players on this season’s PR we have Sheush (that’s pronounced ʃə.ʃ, for all our American readers), a player who has over the last few seasons slowly become a mainstay in our region’s top rankings.
This season, however, Sheush spent most of his time playing Maypul instead of his iconic Elliana, a switch that could explain why his results, while still incredible, weren’t quite as impressive as in previous seasons. He still made top eight twice, at October’s online Major and the EU RCS Finals, it was at the Finals when he went back to Elliana that he had his best showing this season, beating his partner in crime zonyx, and tuto while only losing to last season’s top two, Boss Hog and Fireicey for 7th.
With his fourth appearance in a European Power Ranking in a row, Sheush is now tied with only Kaos (barring an honorable mention) as the French player with the most PR appearances, displaying just how dominant he’s been for the last few seasons. Outside of Rivals of Aether, Sheush is an avid platform fighter fan, having taken his talent to various other platform fighters this season. We’re sure that wherever he goes next, whether it be Rivals of Aether II or another game, that Sheush will continue to be a force to be reckoned with. He also made the workshop character French Sonic. Sorry about that.
10. Kader
“I’m not getting owned, I’m getting ledgetrapped. There’s a difference.”
Going into the start of Season 8, you’d be forgiven if you wrote off Kader’s chances for PR. The young Zetterburn player had only just graduated from EURAS and with a restrictive school schedule, it was unlikely that Kader would be able to meet the minimum requirements to be ranked this season.
Fortunately for Kader he just barely met the criteria, only entering three brackets this season. Missing the first three online brackets, he made up for his absence with back to back top 8 finishes at RUN IT BACK and December’s RCS, doing the double over lilie (even forcing her to pull out her secondary Kragg) and having his discipline tested in a tense five-game set with Sheush.
Kader capped his season off by finishing just outside top 8 at the EU RCS Finals, a run that cemented him as one of the most exciting players to watch out for in Europe. Kader remains one of the biggest “what-ifs” of this season, perhaps with more time on his hands we could have seen him even higher. Nonetheless, it’s been a very impressive season for the young lad and we’re looking forward to seeing what he can cook up next with his Zetterburn.
9. Midmol
“I am not responsible for the sins of my doubles partner”
Midmol reclaims his spot at #9 on the EU PR, confirming to everyone and himself that he is confidently one of EU’s strongest players and can tussle with the best the region has to offer.
This season Midmol’s main goal was to return to the top 10, which is a tough ask with the rising competition this season. Midmol’s season was quite small, being made up of only four events. Despite this, he was able to take home some notable wins in the tournaments he did enter, beating previously ranked 3rd zonyx and taking a set off last season’s 2nd Boss Hog offline at Rivals of Glasgow. He didn’t just stop at the top though, maintaining consistency by never dropping a game to a player ranked below him this season and only missing top 8 once this year due to a connection issue.
Outside of this PR season, Midmol has managed to keep up his win streak at the Front Runners locals, bringing his combined set count total at the London tournament series to an astonishing 32-0. Already getting results with his Forsburn, Midmol is excited to compete in Rivals of Aether II, where he hopes to remain as one of Europe’s top players.
8. arianaa
“no will to break”
Similar to her fellow Orcane main Midmol, arianaa reprises her spot from last season’s PR and stays as the eighth best player in Europe. Moving from Italy to the Netherlands due to university, arianaa didn’t enter much this season but when she did enter she made sure her opponents remembered how good she can be.
arianaa started this season with a bang, winning Rivals Odyssey Summer 2023 and picking up a stunning three set wins over Midmol. After a short break, she travelled to Germany to compete in ~fkt~ Cup 3, defeating Retro before running into Hukon and getting revenge on him for last season, then taking a set off Slap, proving how good she is in the Orcane matchup. arianaa finished her season with a respectable 5th at EU RCS December, beating zonyx before losing to Europe’s two elite Etalus players, Orticoltore and Bleblemlic in two game 5 banger sets.
This season arianaa played the game a bit more casually, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t improve during that time, continuing to increase her fundamentals and becoming more consistent with her terrifying punish game, perfectly utilising tilts and spacing to keep combos going until one back air is enough. When she’s not gambling her hard earned winnings away in various gachas, you can find her on Twitch streaming her hilarious offline grind sessions with TheDripCollector.
7. tuto
“Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear but forgetting where you heard it.”
Breaking through the wall out of nowhere we have tuto, debuting on the PR at 7th. tuto’s a relative unknown to those who aren’t intimately familiar with the scene, since he sparsely entered tournaments, but he was a prime example of an online warrior hidden boss. Ironically his first eligible event this season was Rivals Rave where he snagged a 5th place getting knocked out of the tournament by the eventual winner and runner-up, Fireicey and OliveOily. His best performance was however undoubtedly RCS October, where he overcame 3 previously top 10 ranked players in zonyx, Sheush and Kalamahri, for an outstanding 4th place finish.
Like several of EU’s other keyboard players tuto’s a highly aggressive player, always trying to force the opponent into unfavourable interactions and forcing them into mistakes with heavy pressure. He’s not one to shy away from using specials, but they are merely a tool for him to get close and bash your face in. He has a great recovery, boldly sneaking right past your edgeguard with quick movement or a clever rock diversion, and he might just as boldly pick up rock in your face to start a deadly advantage state that can have you flying through any blastzone.
With the end of this RCS season he has once again disappeared, hidden amongst the rocks, but perhaps, if you’re lucky, you can catch a glimpse of him by searching in exhibition or in the future playing Rivals 2.
6. Orticoltore
After dominating Italy for so long, Orticoltore’s turn to show his true potential in Europe finally came! The last years’ underwhelming seasons didn’t demoralize him, finally ending up as #6 on this year’s PR as the highest ranking Italian player ever.
His nation always knew how scary his consistent and methodical punishes could be, but he’d never been able to show off at an international level until his breakthrough this year, conquering top 8 after top 8 and even taking wins off of big names such as Bleb and arianaa on his way to a third place finish at RCS December.
None of this would’ve been possible without his trusted polar bear, an Etalus he’s optimized through and through to the point where being offstage against him almost feels like playing a bullet hell game. And don’t fret, if you somehow manage to make it back on stage, you’ve still got plenty to worry about, from his unorthodox Down Special mixups to DACUSes that will leave you frostbitten!
This year also marked his most dominant showing in his home country, confirming his status as the GOAT of Italy while tearing through every single national tournament, only being stopped once by lilie. She ended up being his only “bad” loss in Europe too, the only blemish on an otherwise impeccable season against a player he’s faced and beaten countless times.
Who knows if he’ll ever be able to snatch that coveted title of best Etalus in Europe in the future…
5. Boss Hog
“Samson couldn’t hold my pillars. I threw the rock that killed the dinosaurs. @jadefox8 just try and stop me I’m tweeking out like Gavin Dempsey”
Coming in at number 5 on our illustrious PR, we have the man, the myth, the glorious leader of our beautiful nation, Boss Hog!
The Bossman took a more laid back approach to this season of rivals, choosing to focus more of his efforts on upping his Melee abilities, and getting ready for Rivals 2, speaking of which, he placed an incredible 4th at his excursion to Canada for GOML (let’s hope they don’t nerf Kragg too much).
Despite his split focus he still performed to a high level this season, never placing below 5th by utilising his set of skills to punish bad habits, dissect playstyles, instil fear in his opponents and wait for that one stock ending mistake.
One event we’d like to take a closer look at is the only Scottish local of the year, Rivals of Glasgow, an event that was truly emblematic of him as a player this year, he rocked and rolled his way through the early stages of bracket, but came to a tough halt after a game 5 loss to Midmol. He proceeds to reverse 3-0 the Scottish mainstay Defileus, before laying down a clean 6-2 record across 2 sets against Midmol in grand finals, walking home with a gold medal, and some Scottish doubloons.
Boss Hog was the only player to take a set off of Drip this season, with the exception of Fireicey, of course. Proving that even when he is juggling other platform fighters, his can be the rock that shatters the heavens. Boss Hog is no stranger to PR’s, he’s present on this beautiful list, as well as the Scottish Melee PR and if his GOML placing is anything to go on, we can expect to see him on the first Rivals of Aether II PR too!
4. Bleblemlic
“The Drip Collector? Never heard of him.”
Bleblemlic has been slowly and steadily climbing the EU PR ever since his first placing in season 6 at 10th, moving up to a remarkable 8th in season 7, and now thanks to the continuous effort he has put into improving all aspects of his gameplay, and an extremely solid performance this season, Bleb is finally able to say he is top 5 in all of Europe.
In the past Bleb’s main struggle with reaching higher ranks on the PR was not being able to take wins off of higher-ranked players, usually being incredibly consistent at keeping out other players from advancing further into the top 8 of bracket but not advancing further himself. However this year Bleb was able to prove that he is a threat to EU’s best and belongs among the top 5 with wins over both Hukon and Fireicey, while also bringing his consistency from previous seasons with positive records on all players outside of the top 5…
…except for Orticoltore, who Bleb had a tug of war with throughout the season, with both players trading sets on each other in the battle to see who had the stronger Etalus, ending the season in an undecided h2h of 2-2 between them. Despite this extremely close set count, Bleb’s other results against both players ranked above and below him prove that he deserves the higher rank, and can indisputably hold his title as the best Etalus in Europe.
3. Hukon
“I’ve played this game for over 8 years and now I’m finally #1 at something (playing for a long time)”
Ah yes, our favorite Orcane player! Hukon has stayed with us since the very beginning, and has not let up this entire time, ranking 3rd in this final PR, and being one of the very few players that has been able to make the gods (or at least, the few players ranked above him) bleed.
Having appeared in 9 (nine!) out of ten Power Rankings is no small feat, especially considering that he has ranked into the top 10 of every season but one since 2016! But focusing on this season alone, Hukon has finally landed his best placement yet, having scored at least 5th place on every major tournament he stepped into, consistently being able to fight against the strongest of foes.
Hukon has undoubtedly been THE Orcane player to look up to in EU. Always with a consistently calm neutral, patiently waiting for the opponent to take the bait, and getting a sweet calculated punish out of it. You can feel it when watching him play – you won’t get into his head easily.
We have seen Hukon pick up the sequel, not only showing off his Orcane skills but also reaching new frontiers with Zetterburn. Perhaps this isn’t the last time we see him on a power ranking. Only time will tell.
2. TheDripCollector
“SSDI? Floorhugging? In Rivals? I have no idea what you’re talking about. Come on, we’ve got a set to play!”
Straight from the Garten, and boasting the highest first placement from a newcomer on the European PR. Drip is the newest competitor in the line of cracked kids from the Netherlands to make a mark on the scene.
Entering this season, everyone’s eyes were on TheDripCollector’s results, as within the previous year he had already taken sets over PR’d players such as Bleblemlic, Retro, and even the EU veteran OliveOily, but he was not eligible to be ranked because of his lack of attendance.
This year Drip was able to completely blow these expectations out of the water, as he had an outstanding showing at each of the 5 majors he entered this year, maintaining a winning record on every player ranked below him. He showed us that Wrastor could be pushed even further, advancing the character’s tricky disadvantage, utilising unique combo routes with slipstream and up b that could explode stocks in seconds, all the while giving our scene’s long-time #1 player the toughest challenge he’s faced in many years..
Throughout the season Drip fought hard for a 1st place finish over Fireicey, with multiple sets that went back and forth between them. Drip managed to pull out some wins over Fireicey, but the green Zetterburn was always able to keep his composure and claim 1st place in the tournament.
Towards the end of their feud and with RoA’s final PR season coming to a close, Europe saw its biggest prize pool ever with the announcement of the EU RCS Season 8 Finals. Knowing this would be his last chance to take home a 1st place this year, Drip practised and practised for this event. And with the help of a certain Smug Jug, Drip was able to take Europe’s highest stake tournament over Fireicey without even seeing the losers bracket, being the first player to win a major by double eliminating Europe’s #1 Player since Transco in 2019.
TheDripCollector outperformed the competition and was easily deserving of at least 2nd place this season, giving us potentially the most contention for 1st place in EU history, while making sure our final season went out with a bang. But despite the PR coming to a close, Drip will undoubtedly keep playing RoA out of love of the game, and with his performance over Fireicey in the finals, we could see EU’s crown passed onto him in the future.
1. Fireicey
“Guess I’ma just keep on drifting…”
No one deserves the spot at the top of the summit more than Fireicey, the dominant veteran of the EU competitive scene, who has now marked his sixth appearance on the RCS PR and claimed the title of champion for the fifth consecutive time. He is both awe-inspiring and daunting to opponents, who eagerly give it their all trying to make a dent in the near-perfect tournament record of the Norwegian Zetterburn god.
Audiences in competitive environments tend to root for underdogs, unintentionally turning the defending title holder into the antagonist. This makes it easy to forget how much work goes into becoming the one to beat and maintaining that position. The coolheaded mentality necessary to stay on top is characteristic of Fireicey’s personality. I witnessed this firsthand when I housed him over at my place for a tournament in the Netherlands. When he arrived in winter, it was a cold ~3 degrees, yet he was dressed like it was a heatwave. I asked if he wasn’t worried about getting sick, and he responded: “I’m used to worse.” He then quickly moved on to play friendlies against MSB inside, treating it like he was just some random guy.
Fireicey’s gameplan contains a deep knowledge of optimal punish options, shaped by his unrivaled spatial awareness. He combines this with imposing technical movement and mostly safe yet threatening skirmishing attacks in neutral, all performed with seeming ease. It’s possible to create cracks in this strategy, but a whiffed move is often punished by an overwhelming combo, ending in high percentage or a lost stock. The consistent threat of getting reversaled from their advantage state, and the inherent risk in trying to make a comeback against a player who seems aware of the best plan of action in almost any scenario, results in matches where, once Fireicey finds his momentum, opponents have to worry more about not ending up in a live combo video on stream than about winning.
Should a competitor not falter under the pressure of the green Zetterburn’s heat and take the lead, the reigning EU champion seamlessly adapts mid-set. Through patience and analytical baiting in neutral while maintaining composure in his movement, he ensures that either a comeback is set in motion, or that he’ll get his revenge later in bracket.
We’re here in 2024, a full 10 years after Dan’s first trailer for Rivals of Aether. I don’t think anyone ever thought this game would carry on as long as it has. We’re excited to present a new balance patch to kick off the second half of 2024!
We intend to catch up the Switch version of the game in the coming weeks. Updating the console can be tricky due to a number of reasons so a hard date is not guaranteed, but rest assured, we are working diligently to bring it up to date!
Without any further adieu, let’s dive in:
Now that development on Rivals of Aether is slowing down, we have heard many new fans asking about skins. We have been releasing skins for events for years. Many are inaccessible now that there is not an active RCS running and others have been retired for a long time. We want these new players to be able to obtain these skins while celebrating the long-term players who got them when they were new.
Therefore we are introducing Skin Packs to Steam. There are nine new packs that contain a varying amount of skins at a deeply discounted price. If you own a skin through a Skin Pack instead of the original skin, then you will get a much less prestigious cardboard box icon on the Character Select Screen instead of the standard premium star icon. This way you can pick up packs for just the skins that you missed while still feeling like the veteran star that you are when using your original skins.
These skin packs are available as Steam DLC today and are even on sale for 30% off for launch! But if you are a completionist and still want your stars for any remaining Steam skins, we are leaving the individual Steam skins up until the end of July so you have one last chance to grab them.
Here are the 9 new Skin Packs that you can grab today:
ARCADE SKIN PACK
Includes all Arcade skins originally created for summer events.
Includes Arcade Clairen, Mollo, Maypul, Elliana, plus the Kraggling Buddy.
Each skin has a unique taunt and look.
Some Arcade taunts are playable minigames!
CHAMPION SKIN PACK
Pack includes all Champion Skins created since 2016 (16 total) excluding guest characters.
Includes Champion Mollo, Clairen, Zetterburn, Forsburn, Pomme, Wrastor, Absa, Elliana, Olympia, Sylvanos, Maypul, Kragg, Hodan, Orcane, Etalus, and Ranno.
The Champion skins for our two guest characters have been added to the game for all players, free of charge.
Each skin has a unique taunt and look.
COMMUNITY SKIN PACK
Includes various Community event character skins, buddies, plus a stage skin.
Includes Excalibur Zetterburn, Grassroots League Orcane, the Tony Tailslide buddy, the Frostbear cub buddy, and the CEO Ring Stage Skin.
Each skin has a unique taunt and look.
GENESIS SKIN PACK
Includes all Genesis skins originally created over 7 years of Genesis events (Genesis 4 – X).
Includes Genesis Clairen, Etalus, Forsburn, Hodan, Kragg, Sylvanos, and Zetterburn.
Each skin has a unique taunt and look.
HEAT WAVE SKIN PACK
Includes Heat Wave Clairen, Forsburn, Olympia, Wrastor, plus the Sunbert Buddy.
Each skin has a unique taunt and look.
LEGACY SKIN PACK
Includes hard-to-find skins from a wide range of events.
Includes Shine Zetterburn, Tuxedo Ranno, High Roller Absa, Dreamscape Forsburn, and Collegiate Wrastor.
Each skin has a unique taunt and look.
Tuxedo Ranno features a full resprite so he’s suited up in every sprite, not just his taunt!
POOL PARTY SKIN PACK
Includes all Pool Party skins originally created for summer events.
Includes Pool Party Etalus, Kragg, Orcane, Pomme, and Ranno.
Each skin has a unique taunt and look.
STEAMPUNK SKIN PACK
Includes all Steampunk skins originally created for Rivals esports events.
Includes Steampunk skins for Absa, Orcane, Sylvanos, and Zetterburn, plus the Loxobot Buddy.
Each skin has a unique taunt and look.
SUMMIT SKIN PACK
Includes all Summit skins originally created for early Rivals esports events.
Includes Spangled Wrastor, Summit Orcane, Summit Kragg, Panda Maypul, and Panda Etalus.
Each skin has a unique taunt and look.
NEW Tower of Heaven music from flashygoodness to celebrate a decade of Rivals of Aether development. This song can be found in menus by normal means, but it can be found in-match by clicking the Aether High variant of Tower of Heaven rapidly five times, then selecting Endless Abyss to play a new platformless variant of Tower of Heaven that features the new song.
The game now attempts to force GPU usage instead of the OS defaulting to integrated graphics, which should help lower end PCs run the game better.
Bug Fix: Fixed a visual bug with Golden Etalus’s sprite on the Custom Colors menu.
Bug Fix: Fixed Arcade Mollo not using the unique explosions when using a custom color.
Bug Fix: Fixed a visual bug with Orcane’s portrait in Story Mode leaderboards.
Workshop: Added the variable “ignore_camera” to players, which makes the camera not follow them.
Workshop Bug Fix: Fixed a bug making certain palettes of certain characters unselectable.
Workshop Bug Fix: Fixed a bug when searching workshop characters while selecting one for a CPU.
Workshop Bug Fix: Fixed the workshop mod list appearing to cap at 999 per category.
Hotfix Added the script “pre_update.gml” to players. This runs before most other per-frame update code.
Hotfix Added the script “set_state.gml” to players. This runs every time the player’s state is changed.
Hotfix Fixed Dreamscape Forsburn being available to everyone with the bundle stamp.
Hotfix 2.1.8.1Fixed some skins not being included in bundles.
Wrastor is one of the strongest characters in the game, with a unique and expressive combo game that we love to watch. We took the opportunity to really dive into some of his most problematic behaviors and take a crack at making his disadvantage state just a bit more punishing.
Walljump: Horizontal and vertical speeds changed, 6 hsp 7 vsp > 7 hsp 6 vsp. to make Wrastor’s Walljump less viable as a recovery option when other resources are depleted
There’s something disheartening about seeing a Wrastor use every jump and airdodge just to walljump backair onto stage without committing to a resource. We are putting the heart back into Rivals of Aether.
Forward Special: If Wrastor is hit by a physical attack or by a projectile that does 8% or more damage while in his own air current, the current is destroyed and Forward Special’s remaining cooldown is set to 2.5 seconds. (this has been updated in the hotfix listed below)
This change aims to make Wrastor a little more careful with his slipstream usage due to the risk of losing his resource. This will also help attacking enemies keep Wrastor offstage since he will lose his airspeed boost the get back quickly.
Hotfix 2.1.8.1Increased the cooldown on Wrastor’s Forward Special if destroyed early, 2.5 > 5.0 seconds
Hotfix 2.1.8.1Fixed a bug where multihits would repeatedly destroy Wrastor’s windcurrent.
Bug Fix: Fixed a bug in which nairbouncing restored double jumps.
Bug Fix: Fixed a bug in which landing on the pillar for one frame before it breaks would restore airdodge but not double jumps.
Down Air: Landing lag changed to previous values, 8 > 6
Down Air: Lowered Hit 1 and 2’s hitstun modifier, 0.8 > 0.7
These changes will bring back the speed associated with comboing the early hits of Ranno Down Air, while reducing hitstun on opponents to allow for better escape options than they had before the initial endlag nerf a few patches ago.
Shovel Knight is getting a couple fun additions to his kit this patch with a way to secure previously unattainable treasure and a cool new way to combo off of dust knuckle.
Neutral Special: Getting a purple screen on a guaranteed K.O. while you have the Coin Capture Neutral Special now auto-triggers it at triple range to help collect offstage gems.
This buff will help Shovel Knight line his wallet and purchase items quicker since a lot of his K.O.s come from ledge and offstage combos, where gems would be previously unattainable despite a well timed strike.
Forward Tilt: Shovel Knight can now cancel Forward Tilt into other tilts and jab on hit while maintaining a small amount of momentum.
Forward Air: Shovel Knight can now cancel Forward Air into other aerials on hit while maintaining a small amount of momentum. This does not cancel into Dynamo Mail strong attacks.
Because Shovel Knight has a single hit jab that often knocks away, we wanted to add more variety to his punish game through dust knuckle. He also gets a fun movement tool and new combo trees for Shovel Knight mains to master.
Hotfix Fixed being unable to cancel Forward Air into Back Air via the right stick if it’s set to Strong.
Mollo is getting some help with his up strong connectivity and a small QoL for dealing with Kragg’s rock.
Up Strong: Added a body hitbox to the final hit to help it connect better in some cases.
Jab 1: Angle changed, 40 > 361
This change allows for rock shards to be sent directly forward, while keeping the utility of the move against opponents.
Bug Fix: Fixed a crash involving using the paint bomb abyss rune while online.
Hodan is in a pretty good spot overall right now, with players like Plushy Panic! really pushing him to his boundaries. This patch is primarily focused on making his sweatwhirls more useful, while squashing a few bugs along the way.
Forward Special: The Level 2 and 3 sweatwhirls are now projectile-immune.
While the upgraded versions of Forward Special add utility as multihits, we wanted to make them feel more powerful for Hodan. These projectiles will no loger break to weak projectiles such as Maypul’s seed and Elliana’s default missiles.
Forward Special: Reduced cooldown, 10 > 5
Since removing Hodan recovery infinites once and for all, we realized the previous cooldown to Forward Special could be partially removed. The new cooldown allows Hodan players to buffer the next throw during endlag, while making sure the move itself is not too spammy in neutral or edgeguarding.
Bug Fix: Fixed a bug where walljumping out of Up Special would not destroy a grabbed spirit in some cases. This also causes Down Special to properly remove spirits when moving through a sweatwhirl.
Bug Fix: Fixed the ability to instantly cancel Neutral Air on hit in certain frame windows.
Bug Fix: Fixed a crash when a sweatwhirl gets bashed as it is created.
Jab 1: Angle changed, 35 > 361
This change allows for rock shards to be sent directly forward, while keeping the utility of the move against opponents.
Down Strong: Hitbox extended slightly lower so it now break cancels.
Pomme has been a difficult one to balance when it comes to her projectiles. In this patch we are attempting to rework Neutral Special to be more fun for her AND her opponents.
Neutral Special: You now only lose notes on hit if charging or firing them, similar to Ranno needles.
Neutral Special: After throwing a note or losing notes, there is a 30-frame cooldown before you can summon more notes.
This note rework is an attempt at making notes more committal to use, while reducing the spammyness often associated with them. Pommes will no longer have to fear losing charges to stray hits, but they will lose the ability to dominate an edgeguard with a constant stream of music.
Bug Fix: Fixed notes not being knocked off when hit by Orcane bubbles.
Hotfix 2.1.8.1 Fixed a bug that would not apply Neutral Special cooldown properly on single note throws.
“Let ’em think you’re unremarkable and prove them wrong!” -Mammoth
“GOOD BETTER BEST / NEVER LET IT REST / ‘TILL YOUR GOOD GETS BETTER / AND YOUR BETTER GETS BEST!” -Ben Johnson
“Ori is top 3 and Pinden is a real chemist and I love Kragg.” – kevincake515
“Right as you said this I accidentally unplugged my pc with my foot” – TheViralMelon
“Look at the screen.”
“Meechole without needle: “Feed me!”
“If you’re not taking 5 stocks a game, are you truly playing?”
“It doesn’t miss until you let go” – Zoomander
“I’m 100% a cat-person.” -ZeeBee
“Griddy works a 9-5 getting me to kill percent nearly every stock” – Jubilo
“I found that if you have a goal, you might not reach it. But if you don’t have one, then you are never disappointed.”
“I do not think therefore I do not am”
“bang” – Meechole
“BMS at home? BMS at home.”
“i never learned how to play neutral. i just learned how to dsmash. it’s like that one bruce lee quote.”
“All I know is I’m behind the wheel so it’s my party now.” -JP
“One step at a time”
“You have a co-dependent relationship with Sylvanos Dair.” – Starfury
“nice full time job dude” -TheViralMelon
“Rivals is about coaching your brainworms to outplay your opponent’s brainworms. Remember to be kind, yet firm, to your worms. They’re a little stupid sometimes but so are you, and that’s the beauty of fighting games.”
“wow this is a cool video game https://itsmsb.itch.io/pipsqueak”
“The Incredible Hulk : 0CFF-0000-FF08-1CFF-00A1-00CF-942E-9800-FF14-21FF-0142”
“Some people reflect light, some deflect it, you by some miracle, seem to collect it.” – Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves
“Crumb Neutral”
“The problem is that I recover like I want to be onstage”
“Too bad Hodan sucks”
“It was fun”
“Ever fallen asleep while watching Solo Leveling ? Well, you’re not alone. Apparently its studio was tasked with creating a TV Anime that would help insomnia patients with sleep. Inspired by the infamously boring South Korean comic, the studio got to work creating the most sleep inducing show imaginable. When tested with patients, a staggering 90% increase was shown in sleep time and quality. So if you’re ever looking for a good nap, just remember to put on a Solo Leveling episode!”
“give me a day or two to think of something clever”
“Play Pogo3D”
“I’m not getting owned, I’m getting ledgetrapped. There’s a difference.”
“I am not responsible for the sins of my doubles partner”
“no will to break”
“Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear but forgetting where you heard it.”
“Samson couldn’t hold my pillars. I threw the rock that killed the dinosaurs. @jadefox8 just try and stop me I’m tweeking out like Gavin Dempsey”
“The Drip Collector? Never heard of him.”
“I’ve played this game for over 8 years and now I’m finally #1 at something (playing for a long time)”
“SSDI? Floorhugging? In Rivals? I have no idea what you’re talking about. Come on, we’ve got a set to play!”
“Guess I’ma just keep on drifting…”
Wrastor is one of the strongest characters in the game, with a unique and expressive combo game that we love to watch. We took the opportunity to really dive into some of his most problematic behaviors and take a crack at making his disadvantage state just a bit more punishing.
Shovel Knight is getting a couple fun additions to his kit this patch with a way to secure previously unattainable treasure and a cool new way to combo off of dust knuckle.
Mollo is getting some help with his up strong connectivity and a small QoL for dealing with Kragg’s rock.
Hodan is in a pretty good spot overall right now, with players like Plushy Panic! really pushing him to his boundaries. This patch is primarily focused on making his sweatwhirls more useful, while squashing a few bugs along the way.
Pomme has been a difficult one to balance when it comes to her projectiles. In this patch we are attempting to rework Neutral Special to be more fun for her AND her opponents.
