STL ARMS Power Ranking
The STL ARMS Power Ranking is the ranking of active ARMS players in Saint Louis, Missouri. It was one of the few ARMS Power Rankings observed for an offline scene alongside the Ohio ARMS Power Ranking. This ranking took into account offline events located in and around St. Louis as well as any other notable ARMS tournaments with a significant presence of St. Louis players.
Each Power Ranking was grouped into a Season that lasted for a three month period. Eligible tournaments were put into a Trueskill system, by HanukkahJamboree, and then the STL ARMS Power Ranking staff manually reviewed the output to finalize a Season's ranking.
Season 1
June 29-September 30, 2017
| Placement | Player | Character Used | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Steelhead |   |
▶ New |
| #2 | N-Man |  |
▶ New |
| #3 | HanukkahJamboree |   |
▶ New |
| #4 | Nova |   |
▶ New |
| #5 | Derfla |  |
▶ New |
| #6 | Bryvin |  |
▶ New |
| #7 | GiantDwarf |   |
▶ New |
| #8 | Stylo Ren |   |
▶ New |
| #9 | Vessel Onyx | |
▶ New |
| #10 | Dimes | |
▶ New |
| HM | Nama | |
▶ New |
STL ARMS' first Season, also known as their Summer 2017 Season, began a couple weeks after ARMS first released, with their first event verbosely being titled "St. Louis's first ARMS Weekly".[1] Later in July, the weekly Thursday Night Fights series began hosting ARMS tournaments. Said series is the most prevalent in Season 1, comprising half of the total events counted in the ranking period. Despite this, their ninth event was the final installment to feature the game, making the tournament series entirely contained within this single Season. In August, a number of events were run in association with Missouri Game Con. The longstanding partnership of STL ARMS with both Saint Louis University and Webster University also began in this Season with each school running biweekly events. Season 1 ended a few days after the conclusion of SLU's second successful biweekly event.
The Power Ranking image for Season 1 was initially revealed on October 14th, 2017 through the STL ARMS Facebook group, although it was more widely spread on October 19th.[2] The graphic, made by Stylo Ren, took direct inspiration from Grand Prix and features each player as a match on a playthrough of said mode. This culminates with Steelhead being the final match which perfectly fits with the theming as Max Brass, his main, was the game's final foe at this time. Similar to the fighter introductions of Grand Prix, player statistics are featured on the image. These include favorite ARM, favorite stage, a fun fact, and their hobbies. Season 1's sole honorable mention was Nama who was fittingly represented on the graphic with Biff as he was a frequent commentator for events. Including the honorable mention spot, this Power Ranking is STL ARMS' largest.
Season 2
October 1, 2017-December 31, 2017
| Placement | Player | Character Used | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Steelhead | |
▶ 0 |
| #2 | HanukkahJamboree | |
▲ 1 |
| #3 | N-Man | |
▼ 1 |
| #4 | Derfla | |
▲ 1 |
| #5 | Luna-Gabs |  |
▶ New |
| #6 | DjVova | |
▶ New |
| #7 | GiantDwarf | |
▶ 0 |
| #8 | Bryvin | |
▼ 2 |
| #9 | Nama | |
▲ 2 |
| #10 | Stylo Ren | |
▼ 2 |
STL ARMS' second Season, also referred to as their Fall/Winter 2017 Season, began with the second Webster biweekly which was followed closely by one of their monthly events. Both aforementioned universities continued to consistently hold their respective events throughout the Fall, with only two tournaments in Season 2 not falling under their recurring series: Starstorm 1 and Smash Out Hunger 2017. The latter of those was the region's first major and, to this day, remains as one of their largest ARMS events. The last tournament of the Season came one day later, on December 3rd, being Webster's sixth biweekly.
The Power Ranking image for Season 2 was released on January 20th, 2018 and was created by an artist called Highly Unusual.[3] The image displays the St. Louis cityscape at night, prominently showing the Gateway Arch in the background. Each player is represented by their respective main throughout a building in the foreground. Biff is once again featured on the graphic in a minor role, this time being hidden within the moon. While this Season has ten ranked players like the first one, it is the only STL ARMS Season thus far to lack designated honorable mentions.
Season 3
January 1-March 31, 2018
| Placement | Player | Character Used | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| #0 | Steelhead | |
▲ 1 |
| #0 | Nova | |
▶ New |
| #1 | HanukkahJamboree | |
▲ 1 |
| #2 | N-Man | |
▲ 1 |
| #3 | Luna-Gabs | |
▲ 2 |
| #4 | Dastardly |  |
▶ New |
| #5 | Derfla | |
▼ 1 |
| HM | Hamma | |
▶ New |
| HM | JaRoH |  |
▶ New |
| HM | Stylo Ren | |
▼ 1 |
STL ARMS' third Season, also known as their Winter 2018 Season, started at the beginning of the new year with the first three eligible events being SLU biweeklies. In early February, the Switch Hitters series began, which featured both ARMS and Pokken Tournament DX. These events persisted solely alongside the recurring university events as no other major tournaments were held in St. Louis within this Season's timeframe. The final tournament of Season 3 was an SLU Biweekly held on March 28th.
The ranking image for Season 3, created by Brrrr, was released on April 7th, 2018 and was themed after SpongeBob SquarePants.[4] While it was the first graphic not explicitly inspired by ARMS, the background nonetheless featured a humorous depiction of a boxing match. Due to lower turnouts, this Season's ranking was lowered to a top 5 while featuring a #0 spot and three honorable mentions. Steelhead and Nova received their shared placement due to their historical prowess throughout STL ARMS events.
Season 4
April 1-June 30, 2018
| Placement | Player | Character Used | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | HanukkahJamboree | |
▶ 0 |
| #2 | Dastardly | |
▲ 2 |
| #3 | Luna-Gabs | |
▶ 0 |
| #4 | N-Man | |
▼ 2 |
| #5 | Hamma | |
▲ 1 |
| HM | Stylo Ren | |
▶ 0 |
| HM | Derfla | |
▼ 1 |
| HM | GiantDwarf | |
▶ New |
STL ARMS' fourth Season, also known as their Spring 2018 Season, began in April with the first event being a Switch Hitters on the 8th. On the 21st of that month, the last Webster monthly of the Spring 2018 semester took place, which also happened to be Hanukkah's last event run for the WFGC at the time. April also contained a charity event, named Landing ARMS First, in addition to other recurring series. The rest of Season 4, mainly due to Summer break, lacked the university events and was primarily filled with Switch Hitters biweeklies. At the start of June however, Smash'N'Splash 4 commenced, which featured a multitude of St. Louis players in attendance. In addition to Hanukkah being the main tournament organizer for ARMS, notable STL talent at the event included Luna-Gabs, who placed 17th in the Customs bracket, and N-Man, who placed 13th in Defaults. After Smash'N'Splash, two more Switch Hitters happened, the latter of which concluded the Season on June 24th.
The Season 4 Power Ranking image, created by HanukkahJamboree, was released much later compared to other images, coming out on October 18th, 2018. Similar to the prior Season, this one was based on SpongeBob SquarePants, although Season 4's graphic was specifically based on the special titled The Sponge Who Could Fly. This episode revolves around a 'lost episode' which was referred to directly by the image's tagline being 'STL ARMS: The Lost PR'. Due to similar reasoning as Season 3, this ranking featured a top 5 with three honorable mentions.
Season 5
July 1-September 30, 2018
| Placement | Player | Character Used | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Dastardly | |
▲ 1 |
| #2 | Luna-Gabs | |
▲ 1 |
| #3 | Steelhead | |
▶ New |
| #4 | N-Man | |
▶ 0 |
| #5 | HanukkahJamboree | |
▼ 4 |
| HM | Stylo Ren | |
▶ 0 |
| HM | Hamma | |
▼ 1 |
| HM | GiantDwarf | |
▶ 0 |
STL ARMS' fifth Season, also known as their Summer/Fall 2018 Season, began with FTK, an Extra Life charity tournament, on July 22nd. ARMS was also featured at the multi-game event Apollo 8 later that same month. At the start of August, an official ARMS side event occurred at EVO 2018 in which STL's own Dastardly placed 7th. The later half of the Season was filled with a multitude of Switch Hitters and Apollo 9 on August 18th. The final Switch Hitters of the Season took place on the final eligible date in Season 5, being September 30th.
Season 5 is thus far the only STL ARMS Power Ranking to lack a dedicated graphic. This Season is also notable for being the only one in which HanukkahJamboree placed outside the top 3.
Season 6
October 1-December 31, 2018
| Placement | Player | Character Used | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Dastardly | |
▶ 0 |
| #2 | HanukkahJamboree | |
▲ 3 |
| #3 | Luna-Gabs | |
▼ 1 |
| #4 | N-Man | |
▶ 0 |
| #5 | Steelhead | |
▼ 2 |
| HM | Stylo Ren | |
▶ 0 |
| HM | Nama | |
▶ New |
| HM | Hamma | |
▶ 0 |
| OoS HM | Asqew |  |
▶ New |
| OoS HM | Cat |  |
▶ New |
STL ARMS' sixth Season started with a return to Webster University on October 6th for one of their monthlies. A second WFGC monthly also took place this Season on November 10th. Recurring Switch Hitters events continued throughout the entire eligibility period in addition to a number of more notable tournaments. On November 3rd, Midwest Mayhem 12 took place in Illinois which saw a strong showing from STL: Hanukkah placed 2nd, Steelhead placed 3rd, Stylo Ren placed 4th, Hamma placed 5th, while N-Man and Luna-Gabs tied for 7th. Smash Out 2018 took place on December 15th in St. Louis with the highest placing player from the region being Dastardly at 3rd. The final tournament in the Season was Midwest Mayhem Ultimate on December 28th where STL once again proved to be a strong region: Dastardly took 1st, Steelhead placed 2nd, HanukkahJamboree placed 4th, and Stylo Ren placed 5th.
The Season 6 Power Ranking image was officially revealed on January 2nd, 2019 and was themed after the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series.[5] This image was the first, and only, STL ARMS PR image to feature direct depictions of the players themselves. While this Season once again featured a top 5 with three honorable mentions, it also had two out of state honorable mentions: Asqew and Cat. Both players made occasional appearances in St. Louis, most notably at Smash Out 2018, and were consistent supporters of the ARMS scene as a whole.
Trivia
- Steelhead initially went 0-2 at the start of Season 1, but improved significantly throughout it to end up placing 1st on the ranking.[2]
- The Season 3 Power Ranking image was erroneously labeled with "Winter 2017" instead of "Winter 2018" when initially posted on Reddit.[4]
See also
- HanukkahJamboree
- Steelhead
- Dastardly
- Luna-Gabs
- Hamma
- Derfla
- N-man
- Nama
- Smash Out Hunger 2017
- Smash Out 2018
References
- ↑ https://www.start.gg/tournament/stl-arms-presents-st-louis-s-first-arms-weekly/details
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://www.reddit.com/r/ARMS/comments/77f73b/saint_louis_mo_just_finished_their_summer_power/
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/ARMS/comments/7rtd15/stl_arms_has_finished_its_fallwinter_2017_pr/
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 https://www.reddit.com/r/ARMS/comments/8an4gn/stl_arms_has_wrapped_up_their_season_3_power/
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/ARMS/comments/abqivh/stl_arms_has_finally_finished_their_fall_2018_pr/