<p>I have a list of ranked users, and would like to select the top 50. I also want to make sure one particular user is in this result set, even if they aren't in the top 50. Is there a sensible way to do this in a single mysql query? Or should I just check the results for the particular user and fetch him separately, if necessary?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

If I understand correctly, you could do:
```
```
select * from users order by max(rank) desc limit 0, 49  
union  
select * from users where user = x
```
```
This way you get 49 top users plus your particular user.