Smash Ultimate's Most Improved Players of the Past Year

These are the most improved players of the past year, presented by LG SchuStats! The methodology is pretty simple: simply the difference between the player’s current rating and their rating one year ago, zero if they didn’t have one. If you’d like more information on the point-in-time ratings used, see this methodology document. The only requirement is that the player went to at least one C or higher tier event this past year.
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Here are the country and character breakdowns of the top 100:

Countries:

60 Representatives: Japan

24 Representatives: United States

5 Representatives: France

3 Representatives: Mexico

2 Representatives: Australia, Canada

1 Representative: Guatemala, Netherlands, Dominican Republic, Chile

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Characters:

16 Representatives: Steve

7 Representatives: Kazuya Mishima, ROB

5 Representatives: Luigi

4 Representatives: Hero, Donkey Kong

3 Representatives: Min Min, Mario, Pyra & Mythra, Sonic, Mr Game and Watch, Snake, Greninja

2 Representatives: Ness, Olimar, Pit/Dark Pit, Pikachu, Diddy Kong, Young Link, Toon Link, Fox, Mega Man, Roy, Duck Hunt, Mii Brawler, Pac-Man

1 Representative: Wario, Yoshi, Falco, Byleth, Sephiroth, Wolf, Pichu, Peach/Daisy, Bayonetta, Terry, Ken, Mii Gunner, Rosalina and Luma, Robin, Cloud, Incineroar, Sheik, Ice Climbers, Piranha Plant, Palutena, Wii Fit Trainer, Zelda, Shulk, Lucario, Samus/Dark Samus, Ridley, Corrin

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Wow! That’s a lot of Japanese players. They really dominated the most improved list this year… I wonder what it looks like with all Japanese players removed. Let’s look:

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Countries:

56 Representatives: United States

11 Representatives: Mexico

8 Representatives: France

5 Representatives: Canada

4 Representatives: Australia, England

2 Representatives: Guatemala, Germany

1 Representative: Netherlands, Dominican Republic, Chile, Spain, Venezuela, Honduras, Costa Rica, Italy

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Characters:

11 Representatives: Steve

9 Representatives: Kazuya Mishima

7 Representatives: Mii Brawler

6 Representatives: ROB

5 Representatives: Mr Game and Watch, Palutena

4 Representatives: Luigi

3 Representatives: Mario, Sonic, Peach/Daisy, Min Min, Rosalina and Luma, Snake, Hero

2 Representatives: Ness, Pikachu, Fox, Bayonetta, Greninja, Duck Hunt, Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong, King K Rool, Ryu, Pichu, Terry, Meta Knight

1 Representative: Wario, Young Link, Ken, Mii Gunner, Mega Man, Incineroar, Pac-Man, Zelda, Lucas, Wolf, Captain Falcon, Falco, Kirby, Sephiroth, Pyra & Mythra, Piranha Plant, Inkling, Sora, Wii Fit Trainer, Bowser Jr, Mewtwo, Ice Climbers 

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And finally, here’s a chart that shows the improvements of the top 100 relative to where they started a year ago, with higher improvements at the top of the graph:
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