- Jensen Kimmitt: 2009 - 2010 era Jensen influenced literally everyone.
- Yuuki Spencer: regarded as the most technical player ever.
- Jason Lee: popularized weave-motion tricks.
- DocPop: creator of staple tricks like branding and many others.
- Steve Brown: invented 5A.
- Ed Haponik: creator of modern fixed axle play.
- Zach Gormley: admired for his outside-of-the-box approach in his tricks.
- Evan Nagao: probably the most skilled yoyo player in the world.
- Mark Montgomery: admired for his organic, rythmic based yoyoing.
- Hiroyuki Suzuki: rail combos, horizontal play and overall solid style that gained him multiple world titles.
- Gentry Stein: made Freestyle Evaluation actually matter in yoyo contests.
- Anthony Rojas: incredibly artictic yoyoing.
- Paul Kerbel: horizontal innovator.
- Bryan Figueroa: 4A / 1A innovator. Creator of Unknown.
- Takahiko Lizuka: his technical suicide concepts are applied by almost every competitive player today.
- Ryosuke Iwasawa: inventor of iconic lacerations.
- Iori Yamaki: iconic competitive player.
- Shion Araya: the first person to win two 1A world titles after Hiroyuki Suzuki.
- Shinji Saito: the most condecorated yoyo player ever, and also the most skilled 2A player ever.
- Shu Takada: incredibly skilled 2A player, which popularized the application of acrobatic stunts in yoyoing.
- Andrew Bergen: laceration, whips and slacks innovator.
- André Boulay: he probably taught you how to yoyo.
- Jake Elliot: first person to beat Takeshi Matsuura in 5A at a world competition.
- Takeshi Matsuura: 1A/5A demigod. His influence and importance carries probably the most weight in the community.
- Spencer Berry: creator of iconic tricks like Rancid Milk, Enigma and Breath.
- Hajime Miura: first person to win first place in two different divisions in a world contest.
- Rei Iwakura: influential 4A player, soloham innovator.
- Takahiko Hasegawa: inventor of soloham (if i’m not mistaken).
- Hirotaka Akiba: chopstick trick innovator.
- Garbkamol “Polo” Limangkul: laceration and slack tricks innovator. IG sensation.
- Keiran Cooper: extremely influential 1A player.
- Charles Haycock: 1A legend.
- Nate Dailey: extremely influential 1A player.
- Yuki Nishisako: extremely influential 1A player.
- Connor Seals: extremely influential 1A player.
- Ayumu Harada: extremely influential 1A player.
- Alexis JV: popularized frontspin 1A play.
- Tony Sec: extremely influential 1A player.
- Tyler Severance: relevant 5A player.
- John Ando: extremely influential 1A/2A player.
- Riccardo Fraolini: 1A innovator.
- Janos Karancz: 1A innovator who specializes on incredibly hard slacks and rejections.
- Ahmad Kharisma: famous, well-rounded 1A player. Popular for his straightjacket style tricks.
- Tessa Piccilo: incredibly technical 1A player.
- Ann Connolly: yoyo personality.
- Jason Liu: extremely influential 1A player.
- Yamato Murata: influential 1A player, following the stylistic direction of Hiroyuki.
- Ryuichi Nakamura: influential 1A player.
- Yusuke Ootsuka: influential 1A player.
- Quentin Godet: 4A innovator. Incredibly artistic yoyoing.
- Daniel Tamariz: creator of “Cíclico” an alternative 1A style.
- Ky Zizan: influential 1A player. Creator of Double Dragon.
- Daniel Ickler: incredibly technical 1A player. Popularized Mobius.
- Victor Gravitsky: influential 1A player.
- Igor Galiev: influential 1A player.
- Hidemasa Semba: influential 1A player. Creator of Hidemasa Hook.
- Sebastian Brock: influential 1A player.
- Alex Gallimore: influential 1A player. Popular for his frontspin style.
- Adam Bottiglia: creator of Yotricks, the biggest yoyo tutorial repository on the internet. His work towards the pedagogic side of yoyoing has been of help to many people.
- Drew Tetz: inventor of Kickflip, a revolutionary fixed axle trick.
- Augie Fash: influential 1A player. Chopstick, agile play and plane-breaking innovator.
- Luis Enrique Villaseñor: influential 1A player.
- Harold Owens III: influential 1A player.
Will add more in the future.