Rankings

ISGP Rankings administered by the International Spyro Grand Prix (co-chaired by CrystalFissure and Nintendogen64) is divided into four ranked divisions. This replaced the older Titles starting on January 1, 2023 to allow more emphasis on a broad range of competitors instead of a select few. Competitors are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win-loss records in official tournaments promoted by ISGP. The divisions, ranked in order of hierarchy from highest to lowest are as follows:


 * Title Holders: Grand Master, Master, Chieftain
 * A Tier
 * B Tier
 * C Tier

Title Holders
The top division in ISGP rankings is reserved to that of the title holder rank. Within this rank competitors are ordered from the junior title holder rank of Chieftain up to the highest rank in ISGP, that of Grand Master.

Grand Master
To attain Grand Master status in ISGP, a competitor must achieve consistently high win-loss records in tournaments in addition to winning at least one tournament at the Master rank. The first three Grand Masters are the winners of the original mainline ISGP tournaments: Yeswally1 (ISGP1), TOTOzigemm (ISGP2) and Charity Royall (ISGP3). Once the rank of Grand Master has been achieved it can never be lost even if the competitor racks up consistent losing records or is absent for multiple tournaments. Multiple absences may result in a Grand Master no longer appearing on the published rankings, however, in their first tournament back they will be listed at the top of the ranking as a Grand Master. Grand Masters may be ranked internally depending on the number of Grand Masters appearing in a tournament. The Grand Master 1 rank is considered the highest and most prestigious rank and is given to the Grand Master with the most outstanding performance or highest win-loss record. If only a single Grand Master enters a tournament they will automatically be given the Grand Master 1 rank. If multiple Grand Masters enter a tournament they will not be drawn together in the first round; Grand Masters can only face other Grand Masters in the later rounds of tournaments but may face off with other title holders in the first round. If a non-title holder defeats a Grand Master then they will be awarded a Gold Star. This Gold Star will remain on the competitor's record throughout their competitive speedrunning career as a badge of honour for defeating the Grand Master.

Master
The second highest rank in ISGP is that of Master. The Master rank is one of the two senior title holder ranks along with the Grand Master.Promotion is discretionary and there are no hard-and-fast rules, achieving this rank is a multi-tournament process and competitor will generally be considered for promotion if they have an average win-loss ratio of at least 70% over 3 tournaments with at least one of these tournaments being contested at the rank of Chieftain. To retain the Master rank, a competitor must have a winning record during the tournament. Achieving an even or a losing record will place the competitor in jeopardy of being demoted and being classed as kadoban for the following tournament. To return to a fully fledged Master, a competitor must achieved a winning record from kadoban. If the competitor records a losing or even record from kadoban status they will be demoted to Chieftan. In order to return back to Master, the Cheiftain must record a win-loss ratio of at least 70% in their next tournament appearance. Failing to do this will result in the competitor being required to re-do the process in order to return to the Master rank.

Chieftain
Chieftain is the third and lowest of the title holder ranks. It is considered the junior title holder rank and can be achieved by scoring a winning record from the upper A-Tier. The upper A-Tier is generally considered to be either at A1 or A2, although impressive outings as the lower A-Tier may also result in a promotion to Chieftain. Retaining the Chieftain rank requires competitors achieving a winning record in a tournament. A losing or even record will result in demotion back to the A-Tier. Achieving the Chieftain rank is necessary for progressing to that of Master or Grand Master. It cannot be skipped, however, it may only take one appearance at Chieftain for a competitor to be promoted to Master given the requirement of a competitor having a 70% win-loss ratio over 3 tournaments with only one of those tournaments needing to be played at Chieftain.

A-Tier
The A-Tier is the highest tier of the non-title holder ranks. There is no strict cap on the number of competitors that can be ranked at A-Tier, however in tournaments the ratio of B and C-Tier competitors to that of Title Holders and A-Tier competitors must be 2:1. Therefore the number of A-Tier competitors may be determined by the number of competitors that sign up to any given tournament. Generally at any given time there are 2 Masters and 2 Chieftains, however, if additional Title Holders are required then the total number of A-Tier competitors will be reduced in order to ensure the 2:1 ratio is maintained. Within the A-Tier, competitors are ranked with A1 being the highest A-Tier ranking. Achieving an A-Ranking requires a winning record at the upper B-Tier, however, promotion is not guaranteed and can only be given if there is available space. Competitors may be demoted from the A-Tier if they achieve a losing or an even record. The performance of the upper B-Tier will determine how severe demotions may be with strong performances resulting in lower A-Tier competitors with an even record likely being demoted and weaker performances potentially saving lower A-Tier competitors from demotion. The A-Tier is not a mandatory tier for a competitor to enter, as a tournament win from the upper B-Tier may result in promotion directly to Chieftain depending on availability and overall performance of competitors ranked in the A-Tier.

B-Tier
The B-Tier is the second highest tier of the non-title holder ranks. There is no strict cap on the number of competitors that can be ranked at B-Tier,however in tournaments the ratio of B and C-Tier competitors to that of Title Holders and A-Tier competitors must be 2:1. B-Tier competitors are ranked internally from B1 being the highest ranking. To achieve a B-Tier ranking a competitor must achieve a winning record from the C-Tier. As the C-Tier is not ranked internally, a winning record may not be sufficient for promotion. Candidacy for promotion from C-Tier may prioritise competitors that have previously appeared at the Title Holder, A or B-Tiers. Demotion from B-Tier to the C-Tier may be given if a competitor achieves a losing or even record from the lower B-Tier. A big losing score from upper of mid B-Tier may also result in demotion depending on the performance of similarly ranked competitors. The B-Tier is a mandatory tier to achieve before further promotion, however, a tournament win from upper B-Tier may result in a competitor being promoted directly to Chieftain depending on availability.

C-Tier
The C-Tier is the lowest tier in ISGP. There is no strict cap on the number of competitors the can be ranked at C-Tier and any un-ranked competitor that joins an ISGP tournament will immediately be ranked at C-Tier. The C-Tier is not internally ranked and therefore every competitor in this rank is simply assigned the C Rank. It is impossible to be demoted from the C-Tier, however, if a competitor ranked a the C-Tier is absent from a tournament then they will be removed from the published rankings entirely. Promotion from C-Tier is not hard-and-fast, however generally speaking a winning record from the C-Tier may be sufficient to be promoted to B-Tier. If a competitor wins a tournament from C-Tier the highest they can be promoted is to B1 as the B-Tier is a mandatory tier for every competitor to appear in. As the C-Tier is unranked even a winning score may occasionally be insufficient for promotion to the B-Tier depending on the performance of B-Tier competitors. Candidacy for promotion from C-Tier to B-Tier may prioritise competitors that have previously appeared at the Title Holder, A or B-Tiers.