EPTNo really, I think that's how some people think sometimes on the interweb. And many of you may be wondering about my own credentials to post; for this you can check out my North American power rank, which to my surprise was very well-received. I expect this one to go up in flames, because there is so much talent jammed into the top 30 players in Europe that its almost impossible to rank outside the top three, and hard to put the top three in any order, particularly due to the interactions with great NA and Korean players, so feel free to add your gently voiced opinions at the bottom of the page and remind me of what I missed.
1. Naniwa - Dignitas
I really really wanted White-Ra in the #1 spot. I really did. But Naniwa has been beasting everyone, and though White-Ra really only loses to oGsMC, but all of a sudden MC drops several big games and seems mortal, and this doesn't bode well for Vodka Drop Protoss. Naniwa vs. Kas in TSL final, I'm calling it right now and its going to be epic. Naniwa destroyed MLG. Naniwa then destroyed another tournament, I think in Britain. Naniwa is destroying the TSL, and I think did everyone a favor by beating Cruncher in PvP. He is the destroyer and really deserves this spot.
2. White-Ra - Duckload
(thick Russian, ahem Ukrainian accent) Beat oGsMC in Vodka drink game one time, but MinChul develop tolerance. Now lose in bad bracket not have second chance for TSL, and need to make more appearance online. Still, win many tournaments and place second and beat very good player a lot of time, and have scary build and mid game with many actions. Other players need to take game to next level to beat White-Ra and anticipate sneaky zealot.
3. Kas - Empire
Russia is technically not a part of Europe. But that's ok, we're down with Russia here at the Power Rank. This guy is results monster, he plays in every online qualifier and always sits second or third. Now he faces Thorzain in the TSL round of four and I think he's going to put Thorzain in a hospital bed. It's Kas' time to shine. I'm not going to list his achievements but he's got a ridiculous medal case. Its really a pity the Russian players don't attend more live events, but at Copenhagen Kas lost to oGsMC in the finals and took second over a stack of great players. If only Thorzain were there to mess up the bracket! Kas also needs to win something. But he beats the good people, and I think his recent 3-0 vs. Grubby and only dropping one game until meeting oGsMC basically ties him for #2. Great player and I think we're all looking forward to the TSL Finals with him in it.
4. SjoW - Dignitas
SjoW wins a lot of games with timing pushes and scary tanks, but overall in watching a few VoDs, I think his opponents make more mistakes against his style than Kas or White-Ra's. Shortly after the fall of the MouseSports trifecta (Mana/Naama/Morrow), SjoW was the most dominant player in Europe, and dignitas the most dominant team. Now he's kind of riding that and I feel like people have started to figure him out, but still this guy does a ton of slaying and I think he's banked like $40,000 or so since the start of SC2? Not including sponsorships or salary. White-Ra however, is SjoW's bane, and lately, as in the last two weeks, I haven't seen much from SjoW that's impressed me like Kas and Naniwa have. SjoW sits easily at number four.
5. DIMAGA - MTW
Ok so DIMAGA is cruise control for bad-ass Zerg. He is so bad-ass right now that he gets a spot on here just for being bad ass and not really really striving to prove it. Or does taking out JulyZerg and then MVP and then Nestea in Korea have something to do with these here rankings? Awww hells yeah it does! He's also picked up wins against a few of the players above him as well, namely SjoW, so I think we'll see him continue to rise to prominence in the scene as he attends more events.
6. ThorZain - Praetoriani
Ok so ThorZain took out MC. Not cheesed. Not MC made a mistake. ThorZain won the series against MC 3-2 in macro games. ThorZain looked pretty damn sick, pulling out Ghosts vs. MC's DTs and making every single game look very winnable and he really showed his skill. I think he has a fair chance against Kas, who is the Russian equivalent of MC, but Kas is still favored. On the flipside, who the heck is ThorZain?
7. Grubby
Grubby's been showing up in a lot of places recently. Its kind of hard to rank him between the number six and number ten, but I really feel like he's accomplished more than ThorZain because he's been at the top of several very recent tournaments, and I really don't feel like Adel or Hasu are quite on his level. On the other side, he's been losing a lot, though in his defense he's been losing valiantly. And Grubby vs. Moon was as good of an opening as the NASL or any league is likely to have, ever. I think in six months we'll see Grubby on the top five of this rank as most improved, but for now, he sits calmly at number seven.
8. Hasu-Obs - MouseSports
Ok so there's MLG going on and Naniwa is like the only notable European to show up because there's this $3,100 baller LAN going on in Italy. Which is won by Hasu-Obs of all people. What the what? Hasu has been Huk fodder for like a year now. And then he wins a TLOpen, which is basically an act of god considering how many games you have to play, and now he's doing great in the TSL, 3-0 against Boxer of all people. I think Naniwa is more than his match, but Hasu has actually been performing in the mid-level leagues as well and in the NASL where he beat Goody but got kind of killed hard by SeleCT. Really hard to read this guy. His brackets have kind of seemed soft, and I can't find any evidence of his ability to beat the people above him, but he's been performing way above his average.
9. MorroW - MouseSports
MorroW is still an exceptional progamer with a great old-school style and a lot of skill. He's been showing amazing games in the NASL, beating TLO, pulling ahead of KiWiKaKi until KiWi could mothership, and continuing to put up results here and there. I feel like this guy is a bit underrepresented in Europe right now, which is weird to say considering his huge fanbase, but I've only seen him blink into epic tournaments and lose to epic players in the first round. Still, I feel like of all the EU Zergs, only MorroW and DIMAGA are standouts, and only those two stand a good chance against anyone on this power ranking. Still I'd like to see him attend more lans and not get pushed into massive brackets, and I'd like to see more consistency against the European names.
10. AdelScott - Millenium
OK so AdelScott's name has been floating around since he took out Huk in a PvP and got featured on Day[9] back in the very first days of SC2. He's supposedly not that good, but he keeps beating people. IMMvP for instance. Then a surprisingly on-form qxc. He even took a pretty good match off of Kas, though for the other three Kas was looking pretty damn mighty. But sometimes he just doesn't feel that good and doesn't look that good either, and makes bad decisions fairly often. He gets #10 because he meandered there via a winding road not without its dips and turns, but he still gets it based on results.
My only Honorable Mention goes to TLO, still my favorite random player and still my favorite EU Terran. 5th at MLG is no joke considering his win over IdrA, but losing to iNControL, the master, lord and commander of the obvious, 4-2 is always very hard times for your spot on the power ranking. There's a few other names drifting in the wind, like online tournament monster mouzStrelok, Satinii who has been popping up here and there, SarenS who is universally agreed to be an amazing player and up-and-comer, and MYMClouD who is really good but far too inconsistent. But TLO seems to be the only player keeping Liquid afloat outside of Korea; Haypro is still mediocre in a world of really really good players, Ret has great mechanics but only makes drones in tournament matches, NonY doesn't play too much any more and even Huk kind of stopped being the player to watch. What can I say? Where you at, Liquid? The players that paved the way for Starcraft are being so quickly paved over, and I have to tip my hat to TLO for really trying hard, having fun, winning tournaments, and keeping this great team's candle alive.
Anyway this Power Rank is dedicated to my $5 on Empire.Kas winning the TSL. Every time Kas kills a base take a shot of Vodka <3
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