CLM Summer 2021 Power Rankings

The PR Panel:
Penicillin Krillin
Mattchu
iWater
Fluid
PAC DIESEL
TechDeath
Havard

It’s hard to believe it’s been over a year and a half since the last CLM PR. As a scene, we’ve been through a lot in that time span. Difficult but necessary conversations and decisions have been had about player safety in more than one way. We as a PR Panel wanted to thank you all for keeping each other safe through these tumultuous times.

With Kelly “Kels” Smith no longer active in Melee, for the first time in over 10 YEARS, the throne is up for grabs. A lot of the following rankings were extremely tough calls, with some members achieving their rank only by the most narrow majority. Without further ado, we present the 2021 Summer CLM PR:

1. UGS | Michael: You know him by many names, Michael, Michael41000000000, Banana’s worst nightmare, the Leffen Slayer (for 1 game). And now you know him as the new king of CLM. Michael had an impressive winning record against the entirety of CLM with the exception of Skerzo, only dropping sets to Skerzo, Ober, Unsure, and Blue (at Riptide). He was one of only two unanimously ranked players and was a very worthy choice as #1.
2. Skerzo: Halfway through this season, it seemed a no-brainer that Michael would be #1. Skerzo decided he had had enough and proceeded to win almost every subsequent set against Michael, ending up with a positive record on him by season’s end. A handful of upsets kept Skerzo out of the throne for this season, but that didn’t stop him from being the other unanimously ranked player on the PR.
3. Pleeba: The absolute master of consistency, Pleeba had no losing records to anyone in CLM outside of the top 2 and earned a Reeve win at HTL. While he struggled against the top 2, he was virtually a lock against anyone else, earning himself the #3 spot.
4. Ober: Ober has had one of the most impressive rates of improvement, not only during the COVID period, but in any period in modern CLM history, making a leap from #12-#4. While he struggled against certain mid-tier matchups, he kept it very competitive against the top 3 and was one of the few who won a Midlane Melee and took sets off Michael.
5. Unsure: The CLM TO Extraordinaire, Unsure has had his most consistent season in his career. He boasts no losing records against the remaining PR ranked below him. However, his 4-24 record against the Top 4 keeps him out of the upper echelons for now.
6. Fluid: Fluid has always been a staple of the upper ends of the PR and this season was no different with an impressive 8-1 combined record against Skerzo and Ober. Michael has always posed an extremely difficult matchup for ICs and he will continue to seek out a potential answer to his bracket demon.
7. Q?: With a legitimate claim as one of the best Docs in the world, Q? has made big leaps this season, besting Ober 3-0 and Fluid 3-1. Pleeba in particular stands out as a particularly difficult hurdle for Q? to clear to earn a Top 5 spot next season.
8. FoxCap: FoxCap makes his debut appearance on the CLM PR at #8! FoxCap has had a great season, with impressive winning records over Skerzo and Fluid. The former Champaign fox definitely has what it takes to make any CLM player sweat.
9. Larfen: It’s a welcome return to the PR for Larfen! Last debuting on the PR at #20 in Winter 2017, Larfen has put in great work to push into the Top 10, with no losing records to any of the remaining players below him on the PR.
10. ORLY: A mainstay of the CLM PR, ORLY continues his 11 year streak on the PR. While he did not get in many games against PR players, he notably has a winning record on Q? and a Skerzo win.
11. Killablue: Champaign’s finest Falco, Killablue makes his debut on the CLM PR at #11 with wins on Skerzo, Pleeba, Unsure, and Larfen!
12. Frost: Frost had a historic season, becoming the first CLM player in many years to win the Chicago Arcadian! He makes his debut on the PR with wins over Skerzo, Killablue while having no losing records to the players ranked below him on the PR.
13. Hyunnies: Returning to the PR at the same spot, Hyunnies found a variety of high level upsets via wins on Skerzo, Ober, and Fluid.
14. Casual: CLM finds itself with 2 Samus players on the PR for the first time since 2018 with Casual making his debut at #14! Casual notably placed 2^nd at the Chicago Arcadian and had wins over Skerzo, Fluid, FoxCap, and Frost.
15. GI0GOAT: Former Fuddbrudders aficionado GI0GOAT rounds out the PR for this season with his debut! He had an impressively consistent season with one of the lowest non-Top 20 (per the TrueSkill) win/loss ratios of anyone on the PR and found himself with an impressive victory over Preeminent at HTL.

And that’s it for this season! There were a lot of close calls and players that just barely didn’t make the cut this season. We hope to continue to see up and coming members break into the PR and are excited to see what the future of CLM holds!