esports
Have questions about #MPGR2018? Chances are you'll find your answers here!
Especially considering the fact that the leadership behind the Melee rankings has changed, we figure a lot of you might have questions. Here are answers to a few of the most common ones.
Will there still be a top 100 at the end of the year?
Yes! We will be staying true to the Melee community’s expectations and releasing a year-end top 100 list, the same way it’s been done since 2013.
Why the name change?
We’ve changed the name to keep the branding consistent between PGstats’ different rankings, and to remind people that there’s been a change in management (as PGstats and MIOM are collaborating on a managerial level).
When are the rankings being released?
As stated here, the Summer #MPGR2018 will be alternating release days with the Smash 4 PGRv5 over the next two weeks:
Mon July 23: Summer #MPGR2018 50-41
Wed July 25: Summer #MPGR2018 40-31
Fri July 27: Summer #MPGR2018 30-21
Tues July 31: Summer #MPGR2018 20-11
Thurs Aug 2: Summer #MPGR2018 10-1
Are you using an algorithm instead of panelists?
Short answer: No, and we don’t have any plans to, ever.
Long answer:
Some of you might know that I do all the math behind the PGR, the algorithmic ranking system used by the Smash 4 community. I’m a firm believer that the PGR system will one day be applicable to a wide variety of double-elimination games, including Melee. However, that doesn’t mean that switching to an algorithm will be the right choice, for several reasons:
- The Melee community has worked with a panel ranking for several years, and it’s for the best that the system remains consistent year-over-year.
- Several panelists expressed concern that their ballots would be used simply to “train” the algorithm, effectively making themselves obsolete. We wanted to assure them that this is not the case.
- Even in the best-case scenario, a solid algorithm will provide a result comparable to (not “significantly better than”) a diverse, well-informed panel. While an algorithm might be necessary for a game that lacks such a group, thankfully that isn’t the case for Melee.
For the above reasons, we don’t feel the need to switch to an algorithm; and since the ballot process has gone smoothly even after the leadership change, we can confidently say that we’ll stick to ballots for the foreseeable future.
How does the panel process work?
69 players qualified for inclusion on the ballot, and each panelist gave them a rating between 10.0 and 1.0. Panelists were also allowed to abstain from scoring a particular candidate if they felt they did not know enough about them; this had no effect on the player’s final score, but if enough panelists did not rate a player, they would be disqualified (this did not happen to any player for Summer #MPGR2018).
Panelist’s scores were then normalized for consistency, and each player’s final score was calculated using what is essentially a weighted average, with higher weights given to an individual rating the closer it is to the interquartile mean of the given player’s scores.
Who are the panelists?
35 panelists from around the world have sent in ballots for Summer #MPGR2018:
Central US
- Drew “Drephen” Scoles (Midwest)
- Kalindi “KJH” Henderson (Midwest)
- Omar “Heartstrings” Rifai (Midwest)
- Robin “Juggleguy” Harn (Midwest)
- Preston “Tuesday” Smith (Texas)
- Kyle “Appel” Appelquist (Colorado)
Eastern US
- Jason “Gahtzu” Diehl (Florida)
- Kyle T. “Krudo” Krudo (Florida)
- John “SleepyK” Lee (Georgia)
- Michael “Wills” Wills (Georgia)
- Josh “FendrickLamar” Fendrick (MD/VA)
- Anokh “EdwinBudding” Palakurthi (New England)
- Sean “STOC$” O’Connor (New England)
- Thomas “Gtown_Tom” Lavin (New England)
- Brendan “GimmeDatWheat” Malone (Tristate)
- Eryk “Ambisinister” Banatt (Tristate)
- Michael “Pikachu942” Forde (Tristate)
- Nico “Ryobeat” Rodriguez (Tristate)
- Rishi “Rishi” Malhotra (Tristate)
- Scott “SaveAsUntitled” Schroeder (Tristate)
Western US
- Damien “algebra123230” Jiang (NorCal)
- Michael “Nintendude” Brancato (NorCal)
- Solomon “DiplomaticTucan” Fuller (NorCal)
- Akhil “Fire” Silla (SoCal)
- Griffin “Captain Faceroll” Williams (SoCal)
- Hugo “HugS” Gonzalez (SoCal)
- Aiden “Calvin” McCaig (Washington)
International
- Luiz Felipe “Fairfax” Rossas (Brazil)
- Joshua “Mosh” Wood (Canada East)
- Ben “Ovenn” Dyck (Canada West)
- Julius “King Funk” Vissing (Europe - Denmark)
- Tristan “Reverb” Jakobsen (Europe - Sweden)
- Caspar “Moby” van der Sman (Europe - UK)
- Louis “Sponge” Stallard-Phillips (Europe - UK)
- Glenn “KayB” Kim (South Korea)
