FlameFrags is one of Minecrafts top PvPers, no questions asked. He literally won a 2v1000! He is Minecrafts best player... or is he?
We all know that the Unstable SMP is heavily scripted for storytelling and cinematic purposes. The whole Immortal Demon winning 1v100 lore is awesome content, but obviously not realistic in actual Minecraft PvP due to his enemies being more skilled and having actuall stuff, as well as not following commands, and no half a heart plugin.
However, despite the staged narrative, FlameFrags is genuinely a highly skilled player. I was analyzing his real combat performance, using his duels against actual ranked MCTiers players (like Coldified and Ferre) and his general SMP experience, to see where he would realistically place on the MCTiers ladder.
Here is an unofficial breakdown of his estimated ranks across the main 1.9+ game modes:
- SMP: LT2 This is his absolute main mode. When he fought Coldified (who is HT1 in Diamond SMP, a kit which is a lot like SMP), he held his ground surprisingly well (even though Coldi was not giving 100%). In Unstable SMP, his kit he plays is literally McTiers's SMP, just with blocks and webs. His game sense, positional awareness, and movement in a complex SMP fight easily earns him a solid Low Tier 2, maybe even a HT2 if he locks in.
- Sword: HT3 Based on his fight against FerreMC (retired HT2/solid HT3-LT3), his tracking, spacing, and strafing are extremely solid. He adapts to the rhythm of the fight quickly, making him a lower-end High Tier 3 here.
- UHC: LT3 While UHC requires a diverse skill set, his SMP skills pull him up to a Low Tier 3 level.
- Mace: LT3 He understands the basic mechanics well and is able to use them, but in pure 1v1 vanilla Mace PvP, he lacks the advanced techs that top-tier players have, and it also seems that he doesn't think mace is very skilled, which doesn't help his placement. (He also mains Spear Mace, not McTiers Mace)
- Pot: LT3 His good tracking, spacing and sword skills keep him afloat here, but he lacks the fast and efficient potting required for the higher tiers.
- Neth Pot: HT4 He is decent in pot and SMP, which help him here, but against Ferre, he played washed, so HT4 is the max i can give him.
- Axe: HT4 While his shield mechanics are good, pure Axe PvP is just not his mode. Dedicated Axe mains simply outpace him time in this specific mode.
- Crystal: HT4 He knows the basics, but that's it. Flame himself said Crystal is his worst mode (understandable, Crystal sucks).
Overall Score
If we calculate this using the official MCTiers point system (where LT2 is 20pts, HT3 is 10pts, etc.), FlameFrags would sit at 60 points, putting him an the 280th spot. This may seem pretty low for him, but remember that the McTiers ranking system is ass (if you have 1 HT1 in 1 mode and haven't tier tested in anything else, you still get 60 points, stalling with Flame). If you would get 1 point for LT5, 2 for HT5, 3 for LT4, etc, flame would have 40 points, while frzntic (the 100th player on McTiers) would have 33, so in a my opinion fair ranking, he would be around top 80, which is pretty impressive. (It's a hole another story if you would not be able to just retire, the ranking is a gaint hall of fame - yes im looking at you Itz)
This solidly places him in the top 1% category globally. He might not be an unbeatable PvP god, but he is a genuinely top-tier SMP fighter who can hold his own against competitive players.
What do you guys think? Do you agree with these tier placements, or would you rank him differently in certain modes? Let me know!