Phantom Smoke & BBQ AB
Rating
1570
peak 1570
Contests
16
in the data
First seen
2023-06-16
latest 2026-05-24
Best ToY finish
#116
Master 2025
Grand champs
1
1 reserve
Category wins
3
9 podiums
Overall top-10s
10
of 16 contests
Avg finish
top 40%
overall standings
Best overall
707.9772
Perfect 180s
1 🔥
Current form
685.63 ▲
last 5 vs career avg 656.36 (+29.27)
Walk rate
88%
contests with a top-10 call
Top-10 streak
7
best run (overall)
Best single call
180.0000 🔥
Consistency
±85.78
std dev of overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Chicken
avg 169.97 · weakest Pork Ribs (168.39)
Road miles
5461
mi across 16 mapped stops · furthest 1941 mi
Storylines
🎯 The one to beat
Slam Dunk BBQ has finished one call ahead of Phantom Smoke & BBQ 2 times — their closest competition in the data.
⚔️ A tough matchup
Q Cartel has come out ahead in 7 of their 9 shared contests.
⚔️ A strong matchup
They've finished ahead of Mc Que It in 7 of their 7 shared contests.
💔 The heartbreaker
Came within 2.8572 points of the Grand Championship at 8th Annual KCBS World Invitational: Master Series Invitational and the Backyard Series Invitational (Sunday, May 24, 2026) (2026-05-24).
🃏 Against the odds
Their Grand Championship at Smoke in the Valley (2025-09-27) came as the ratings underdog — roughly a 17-in-100 shot against the field's top-rated team, SMELLAQUE.
Teams like this (closest power rating, AB first)
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 17 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 176.0000 | 161.1428 | 169.97 | top 45% |
| Pork Ribs | 17 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 178.8572 | 154.2744 | 168.39 | top 43% |
| Pork | 16 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 178.8800 | 154.8684 | 169.03 | top 44% |
| Brisket | 16 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 180.0000 🔥 | 155.4516 | 168.84 | top 41% |
“Calls” = top-10 category finishes (getting called to the stage). Scores here are the final weighted totals KCBS publishes; per-criterion appearance/taste/tenderness marks aren’t in the public results feed.
By state / province
| Where | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| AB | 8 | 1 | top 25% |
| SK | 3 | 0 | top 77% |
| TN | 2 | 0 | top 46% |
| NY | 2 | 0 | top 38% |
| MB | 1 | 0 | top 50% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 4 | 0 | top 54% |
| Medium (20–39) | 8 | 1 | top 33% |
| Large (40+) | 4 | 0 | top 42% |
The story so far
- Busiest season: 2025 (9 contests)
- Cooks mostly in AB (8 of 16 contests)
- Most-entered category: Chicken (17 entries)
- First Grand Championship in the data: Smoke in the Valley (2025-09-27)
- Wins it all in 6% of contests
- All-time average overall score: 656.36
- 1 perfect 180 on the books 🔥
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
Category scores over time
Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)
Where they finish (overall)
Best vs average (by meat)
Team of the Year rank by season
Season by season
| Season | Contests | GCs | Category wins | Best overall | Avg overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 707.9772 | 688.92 |
| 2025 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 694.8916 | 641.60 |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 668.6400 | 668.64 |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 651.4516 | 646.60 |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-24 | 8th Annual KCBS World Invitational: Master Series Invitational and the Backyard Series Invitational (Sunday, May 24, 2026) Lebanon, TN | 2 / 82 (707.9772) | 37 (174.8572) | 8 (178.8572) | 35 (174.2628) | 3 (180.0000) |
| 2026-05-23 | 8th Annual KCBS World Invitational: Wells Cup, Cocktail Ancillary, Dessert Ancillary (Saturday, May 23, 2026) Lebanon, TN | 104 / 117 (671.8512) | 110 (165.0740) | 95 (166.8344) | 57 (171.9656) | 79 (167.9772) |
| 2026-05-02 | Grand American Barbecue New York State Championship Open (OPEN FORMAT) New Paltz, NY | 35 / 59 (676.4456) | 40 (169.6800) | 30 (169.6800) | 10 (174.2628) | 47 (162.8228) |
| 2026-05-01 | Grand American Barbecue World Championship Invitational (COMPETITOR SERIES) New Paltz, NY | 7 / 43 (699.4056) | 19 (173.7028) | 21 (171.4056) | 2 (178.2972) | 7 (176.0000) |
| 2025-10-11 | Bean Town BBQ Cookoff Bow Island, AB | 3 / 15 (672.4680) | 1 (176.0000) | 6 (167.3712) | 9 (163.4284) | 6 (165.6684) |
| 2025-09-27 | Smoke in the Valley Edmonton, AB | 1 / 23 (694.8916) | 4 (174.8572) | 8 (169.7144) | 3 (173.1772) | 3 (177.1428) |
| 2025-09-12 | Summer Grillin' BBQ Festival Leduc, AB | 7 / 16 (679.9316) | 6 (171.4172) | 4 (172.5600) | 10 (163.9772) | 3 (171.9772) |
| 2025-09-06 | Big Smoke Bonnyville Bonnyville, AB | 9 / 15 (677.6572) | 9 (170.8344) | 10 (169.7028) | 9 (169.1200) | 9 (168.0000) |
| 2025-08-30 | Barbeque on the Bow Festival Calgary, AB | 5 / 38 (686.7768) | 23 (167.4172) | 8 (171.9656) | 8 (171.9884) | 3 (175.4056) |
| 2025-07-26 | Didsbury Lions BBQ Didsbury, AB | 7 / 32 (681.6456) | 1 (176.0000) | 19 (165.1200) | 13 (170.8228) | 8 (169.7028) |
| 2025-06-30 | Blue Bombers BBQ Pit Master Showdown Winnipeg, MB | 12 / 24 (666.7656) | 11 (167.9772) | 7 (171.9772) | 18 (161.7028) | 14 (165.1084) |
| 2025-05-31 | Small Town Smoke Down Bassano, AB | 6 / 25 (694.8456) | 5 (174.8456) | 7 (173.7028) | 6 (174.2972) | 8 (172.0000) |
| 2025-05-24 | Embers and Ice Pitmaster Championship Calmar, AB | 4 / 34 (319.3944) | 4 (165.1200) | 4 (154.2744) | 25 (158.2516) | 10 (170.2856) |
| 2024-09-21 | Smoke 'N the Valley Fort Qu'Appelle, SK | 11 / 21 (668.6400) | 17 (161.1428) | 7 (173.1656) | 1 (178.8800) | 16 (155.4516) |
| 2023-09-23 | Smoke 'N the Valley Lumsden, SK | 22 / 26 (651.4516) | 22 (162.8800) | 24 (156.0228) | 18 (165.1316) | 13 (167.4172) |
| 2023-06-16 | Father's Day Smoke n' Bones BBQ Regina, SK | 15 / 16 (641.7484) | 9 (169.1656) | 13 (161.1772) | 15 (154.8684) | 13 (156.5372) |
Team of the Year standings (rank per category by season — year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 ↗ | Master | #301 (380 pts) | #586 (180 pts) | #460 (275 pts) | #430 (255 pts) | #323 (355 pts) |
| 2025 ↗ | Backyard | #228 (182 pts) | #232 (182 pts) | #247 (182 pts) | — | — |
| 2025 ↗ | Master | #116 (1509 pts) | #106 (1524 pts) | #157 (1339 pts) | #178 (1169 pts) | #111 (1489 pts) |
| 2024 ↗ | Master | #946 (116 pts) | #1148 (86 pts) | #920 (151 pts) | #650 (271 pts) | #1077 (91 pts) |
| 2023 ↗ | Master | #837 (157 pts) | #809 (192 pts) | #989 (157 pts) | #822 (177 pts) | #761 (212 pts) |