June-July 2012 Team Power Ranking

Power Rankings are awesome. They stimulate discussion and debate over who is the best, and who is not the best. But I am not going to go and make a Power Ranking of individual players (that has been done before, and it is incredibly difficult to keep track of all the individual players and tournaments). Instead, I am going to make a Power Ranking of the top 10 StarCraft II teams in the world (KeSPA excluded).

My methodology is simple: I look at teamleague results for a given period of time, and generally discount earlier results from factoring into current rankings. I also only look teamleague results, so individual tournament performance does not affect the ranking. Is this a perfect system? Of course not, and I do not pretend that it will be objective (otherwise this would not be a Power Ranking), nor will I pretend that there are no flaws in the methodology. But I like to think it is an adequate system, and I would certainly be interested to hear what the community thinks.

For this month's edition of the Power Rankings, I began on May 28th, simply because it was the start of GSTL Season 2. GSTL results were given the most weight, followed by IPL TAC results. Outside of these two major teamleagues, I also gave weight to the EG MCSL, since I felt that this tournament was a major event in terms of teamleagues, with a relatively strong lineup of teams. Various other tournaments were given minimal weight. Remember, this is not a ranking of a team's strengths, but only their results. The top ranked team does not necessarily have the strongest roster, but merely the best results during this roughly 2 month period of time.

But let us transition past the introduction, and onto the Power Ranking itself:

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Prime

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Just a few months ago, Prime was the defending GSTL, IPL TAC, and KSL champions, holding the coveted “triple crown”. They had an elite Terran lineup, one of the world’s scariest Protoss teamleague players, and a goofy Zerg who never failed to provide comic relief.

But this Power Ranking does not factor in what happened several months ago, otherwise Prime would hold a much higher rank. Today, Prime failed to defend both its GSTL and IPL TAC titles, and the KSL is on hiatus, and thus the triple crown has been lost and scattered. Prime’s recent performance has been quite disappointing considering the expectations the community places on the team. Prime was upset in the GSTL by an upstart Fnatic, and all-killed and eliminated by Coca. Meanwhile in the TAC, Prime suffered another all-kill at the hands of Taeja, but perhaps more devastating was their elimination from the tournament by their fiercest rival Startale.

It would be utterly foolish to call Prime a bad team, and on paper Prime is easily one of the top eight teams in the world. But there is no denying that this team has seen better days in terms of results, and as such, their Power Rank reflects this sad reality.

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Fnatic
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Looking back, it is quite incredible to realize that Fnatic was merely one game away from making the GSTL playoffs. Perhaps it was due to low expectations, which made the fact that this team had made it so far even more amazing. If anything, it showed that while Fnatic might not be a favorite to win the GSTL, this rag-tag band of Warcraft III legends, TSL refugees, a wizard suffering from a self-afflicted curse could at least take games from even the best of teams.

Fnatic was one of the most noticeable absentees from IPL TAC3, but they were able to grab the silver in the EG MCSL, notably upsetting Slayers in the Losers’ Bracket finals, which played a huge role in getting them on this Power Ranking this month.

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Startale
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“Startale, we as a community would like to congratulate you on the acquisition of Zenex, and the pickup of rising talents like Life. Also, congratulations on achieving top 4 of the IPL TAC3: now you get to send a player of your choosing to IPL 5! Of course, I am sure that your TAC victory was especially exciting, since you finally managed to beat your long-time rival Prime and finally get your revenge for all the times they have robbed you of sweet victory.

Now that we have gotten the positives out of the way, let us discuss the GSTL. Last season, the team made it all the way to the finals, and won a team trip to Las Vegas. This season, you guys did not win a single match, losing 5 games to NSHoseo Terrans at a time when Terrans seemed most underpowered, and suffering death by PvP from FXOTear. You guys have the roster to become a championship team, but this GSTL was not the best result for you guys. Better luck next season guys.”

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Complexity
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“Aw hell no, you did not just put Complexity higher on the Power Ranking than Prime and Startale! I’m calling your sponsors for this outrage and giving them a piece of my mind!”

Let me explain: Winning tournaments is pretty important, and Complexity did that. They might not be the strongest team, but they won when they needed to win, and that was enough to claim the EG MCSL Season 7 title (the results of this tournament barely made the cutoff to be factored into this month’s Power Rankings, as the finals took place on July 1st). Complexity might be weaker than some of the teams listed lower on the ranking than them, but this team won a major teamleague tournament this month, and it would be unfair to not acknowledge it. Despite barely entering the playoffs as the lowest seed, they beat Slayers, then Fnatic twice to take home the gold. Complexity did not dominate during the playoffs, and were forced into the ace match several times, but during those high pressure situations, they held their ground and their opponents blinked. Unfortunately, Complexity’s results in the IPL TAC3 have been largely unimpressive. They did not make a deep run, but then again, not many people expected them to. Still, winning $5 thousand from the EG MCSL has to feel good.

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Team Liquid
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Liquid was definitely reeling after a disappointing GSTL debut, winning only three games the entire tournament. Things were not looking great, and it looked like Liquid would end up trapped in a limbo, beating mediocre and solid “foreign” teams, but never being able to compete with the top powerhouse “Korean” teams. Then Taeja happened. Normally in a teamleague, conventional wisdom tells us that the strongest teams are teams that have depth; teams that have several solid players. Taeja killed conventional wisdom. In the past 4 IPL TAC matches that Liquid has won, Taeja has averaged 3.75 kills per match, including an all-kill of Prime. Along with his trusty sidekick Hero, who critically beat Keen and DRG in Liquid’s match against MVP, Taeja has played a key role in sending Liquid to San Francisco for the IPL TAC3 finals, earning Liquid a spot on this month’s Power Ranking. The IPL TAC finals are going to be very tough for Liquid, as they face off against an SK-IM team that has looked unbeatable this tournament. Conventional wisdom would tell us that there is no way Liquid would beat SK-IM in two Bo9 matches, especially when they rely so heavily on Taeja and Hero to carry the team, but conventional wisdom is dead.

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SK-IM

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After a disappointing 0-2 elimination from the GSTL last month (though to be fair, they were only one game away from advancing to the second round, had a single SK-IM player managed to stop Symbol’s reverse all-kill), SK-IM returned to the IPL TAC3 in a big way after missing the second TAC. IM, the former TAC1 champions truly dominated this tournament, never showing any weakness, as their players knocked out heavy-weight teams like MVP, Startale, and Slayers to the lower bracket, never dropping more than 2 games in any of these matches. SK-IM looks unbeatable in the IPL TAC3, as their “B-team” ravages opponents without mercy, while MVP and Nestea sit back and sip on martinis by the team pool. While GSTL was a fiasco for SK-IM, IPL TAC3 has showcased this team’s utter dominance above the rest of the powerhouse teams, and has really helped make up for the early GSTL elimination last month. Heading to the TAC finals in San Francisco against the underdogs Liquid, and with a critical Winner’s Bracket advantage, SK-IM seems poised to take the IPL TAC3 title and become the first 2-time TAC champions. Still, the GSTL is the most prestigious teamleague in StarCraft 2, and no matter how dominant a team may look elsewhere, a poor showing in GSTL means that SK-IM can advance no further in the GSTL.

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TSL

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You definitely have to hand it to Coach Lee. Half a year ago his team looked to be on the verge of collapse, having lost JYP, Killer, Clide, Heart, and aLive in rapid succession and suffering a quick 0-2 elimination from the GSTL. The controversy over aLive’s transfer to Fnatic also cast a very negative light on TSL and on Coach Lee’s management of the team. But love him or hate him, Coach Lee turned this team around and kept it alive, even without his former ace aLive. In fact, TSL is more than alive, having rampaged through the group stages of the GSTL this season, not losing a single match in the process. Ironically, despite being named "Team SCV Life", it has been TSL's Zergs that have looked most dangerous. Led by Symbol, who achieved the first reverse all-kill in GSTL history and looked nearly unstoppable during the group stages, TSL Zergs tore through the opposition and filled the forums and LR threads with cries of "Zerg imba!"

Though their bid to become GSTL champions was stopped by some clever sniping by Slayers, and TSL once again found itself in the familiar position of GSTL semifinalist, they proved themselves to be a fearsome team, and one of the finest in the world.

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MVP

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After being stopped once again from advancing to the GSTL finals, one really has to start feeling a bit of pity for MVP. Last season they missed out on a chance to visit Las Vegas, and this time they missed out on a chance to go to DRG’s hometown of Busan. Still, a GSTL semifinal run is nothing to scoff at, and the team did advance first from the second group stage from one of the most stacked groups in GSTL history (3 GSTL championship teams and the dark horse Fnatic). MVP has looked strong this GSTL season, and many expected them to advance to the finals, had it not been for a young Zerg named Leenock. MVP also did win that Asia StarCraft II Invitational teamleague tournament (as expected against much weaker opposition), which in the larger scheme of things is relatively insignificant, but with a first place prize of $20 thousand, I am sure that the team is more than happy with the extra cash. That victory, as well as MVP’s victory over TSL in the IPL TAC, gives the team that little extra boost that pushes MVP one spot over its fellow GSTL semifinalist team.

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Slayers
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Slayers finished top 3 at the three largest teamleague events this month: The GSTL, the IPL TAC3, and the EG MCSL. Considering that no other team was able to simultaneously break top 4 at even two of these three tournaments, Slayers should be commended for their consistency for making these deep runs again and again. Advancing to the GSTL finals through two group stages and a powerful TSL team is also particularly impressive, and considering Slayers’ results in the past two GSTL seasons, this season was a huge improvement. But in each of these three tournaments, they drastically underperformed at the end, losing to Complexity, Fnatic, almost being all-killed by SK-IM, then actually getting all-killed by FXO and, then finally losing to Liquid most recently. Slayers should be commended for constantly making the medal stand, but also criticized for not being clutch enough during the most important matches and winning the championships.

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FXO

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Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2012 GSTL Season 2 Champions! The rationale behind this month’s top ranked team is simple: The GSTL is the most prestigious teamleague in StarCraft II, and FXO won it (in quite dominating fashion at Busan as well). Not many expected them to win this season’s GSTL, but FXO became the underdog champions, beating StartaleQ, NSHoseo, MVP and Slayers-EG to grab their first big teamleague title.
In the other major teamleague, the IPL TAC3, FXO floundered, getting eliminated by Prime and failing to make top 8. As a result, the team finds themselves relegated to the Challenger Division of the upcoming IPL Teamleague, the “Code A” of the tournament, even as seemingly weaker teams such as EG and Liquid were able to grab a berth in next season’s Premier Division (Code S). Unfortunate for FXO, but thankfully they have a nice GSTL trophy to cheer them up.
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Doesn’t matter; Won GSTL

Teamleague Player of the Month:

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Liquid