EPT
) the last months. (You were more spot on with Leenock though)KalWarkovs Foreigner Top30 December: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=385855
Introduction
+ Show Spoiler +
There is always a lot of discussion who the best SC2 players are. Some automated ELO rankings like TLPD (or sc2charts.net) provide an idea but are not satisfying. Based on KalWarkov`s Top30 Foreigner Ranking, I present you my Top30 Koreans.
The players should be ranked by their current overall skill.
To judge this, obviously recent results count more, but a GSL win doesnt put you on #1 automically and an established player who is slumping a bit won't fall too far.
I hope we can get a nice discussion going like in the other thread. I will regard your opinions for the next ranking. Please consider that the skill-gaps are pretty small and there is no real difference between 3-4 places (especially in the lower part).
I could give explanations why I placed the players in this order but I guess I wait for your critics.
The players should be ranked by their current overall skill.
To judge this, obviously recent results count more, but a GSL win doesnt put you on #1 automically and an established player who is slumping a bit won't fall too far.
I hope we can get a nice discussion going like in the other thread. I will regard your opinions for the next ranking. Please consider that the skill-gaps are pretty small and there is no real difference between 3-4 places (especially in the lower part).
I could give explanations why I placed the players in this order but I guess I wait for your critics.
Ranking
1. (+1)
Life (Startale)2. (+7)
Leenock (FXO)3. (+1)
PartinG (Startale)4. (-3)
By.Rain (SKT)5. (+13)
Sniper (MVP)6. (+10)
HyuN (TSL)7. (+4)
Creator (Prime)8. (-5)
MVP (IM)9. (-3)
TaeJa (Liquid)10. (-3)
DongRaeGu (MVP)11. (-3)
Symbol (TSL)12. (-2)
MarineKing (Prime)13. (+12)
Bogus (STX)14. (+3)
Polt (TSL)15. (+6)
HerO (Liquid)16. (*)
Bomber (Startale)17. (-2)
YongHwa (IM)18. (*)
Ryung (Axiom)19. (-6)
Curious (Startale)20. (-6)
Squirtle (Startale)21. (+1)
Neo.G_Soulkey (Stars)22. (+4)
Flash (KT)23. (*)
viOLet (Azubu)24. (-5)
Byun (Prime)25. (-13)
MC (SK)26. (-21)
Seed (IM)27. (*)
NesTea (IM)28. (-8)
RorO (Khan)29. (-5)
Hack (Startale)30. (-7)
sHy (Stars)Dropped Out: hero[jOin] (CJ), YoDa (IM), Jjakji (NS HoSeo), n.Die_soO (SKT)
Close but no cigar: Keen (MvP), Vampire (MvP), Oz (Fnatic), Alicia (-), Supernova (mtw), Last (STX), finale (MVP), BaBy (Team 8), hyvaa (STX), Bbyong (CJ), MMA (Acer), First(IM), Happy (IM), Gumiho (FXO), hero[jOin] (CJ), YoDa (IM), Jjakji (NS HoSeo), n.Die_soO (SKT), TheSTC (-), Bboong (MJ), Jaedong (Team 8)
Teams: Startale 6, IM 4, Prime 3, TSL 3, Liquid 2, MVP 2, Stars 2, SKT 1, FXO 1, SK 1, Khan 1, KT 1, STX 1, Axiom 1, Azubu 1
Explanations on changes:
- Coming off his GSL title, Life added another major trophy at MLG. Life doesnt really lose anything but some ZvZ (GSL vs Soulkey, IPL vs Leenock and Snute)
- Close 2nd is the real shooting star of November: Leenock. At MLG he lost the final to Life, at IPL he could win the whole thing in another ZvZ final vs violet (losing the first series). Notable is also his 4-kill against Prime in GSTL.
- Partings achievements can easily be a bit overvalued. He only had to beat 1 korean (Creator) at BWC and no korean (and not really any good player) at WCG. It does give him rank #3 but not more.
- Rain gained a lot of flack for his loss in Code A vs Dream. But thats only one series and actually Rain isnt really far of his game. At MLG he only lost Leenock and Bomber, at BWC to Creator.
- Sniper moves up to #5 with his GSL win. He doesnt have a lot of personality or a creative playstyle, he is just all around a very good player. And this isn't some kind of luck strike, Sniper is eventually the best GSTL player this year and I ranked him high before. He also had a decent IPL run, fighting from Losers Round 2 with 7 consecutive wins (MC, Taeja, Hero amongst others), showing some ZvT weakness in losing to TheSTC and Polt.
- The other finalist (Hyun) comes after and for all what we saw he could have very well taken the title as well. He is proved again to be the online king with a 5-1 against Parting. IPL 5 was pretty disappointing though.
- In such an eventful month you can easily forget about the GSL groupstages which mostly happened there. Creator advanced into the Ro8, but couldnt make it further (vs Hyun). At BWC he beat Rain, but lost to Parting, to claim the second price. He could take revenge vs Hyun at IPL, but then lost to Bomber and Polt.
- Its difficult to currently rank MVP, so I just put him there. He lost in GSL groupstage and then pulled out from other events. His wrist issues are concerning, but nobody would be surprised if he comes back for the GSL Grand Tour finals and just wins.
- The next group (Taeja, DRG, Symbol, MKP) is pretty close. They were all ranked 6-10 last time and didnt really disappoint this month. They all won their first groupstage in GSL, MKP also the second groupstage. DRG and Symbol had decent IPL, sharing 7th/8th places. Taeja proved he can beat foreigners at Dreamhack, then lost 0-4 to Hero. He went 0-2 at IPL, but both matches were 1-2s against strong opponents in Sniper and Creator.
- Bogus man! I don't know if he was too uncomfortable in Vegas since he lost his GSL semifinal and had a pretty bad IPL performance, but his GSL run before in Korea was simply amazing.
- Polt played a lot of events this month. MLG was so-so, LoneStar was bad, but at IPL he really could impress people with some strong wins over Yoda, Creator, Sniper and Bomber!
- Heros month started bad after losing in the first GSL group stage also came a weak MLG. BWC was decent, the Dreamhack win with 4-0ing Taeja really nice. IPL was ok-ish.
- Bomber made an impressive re-entry into the ranking. Top4 MLG, Runner-Up LoneStar, Top4 IPL. What is more to say? Very nice to see and if he continues like this, he will move up further.
- I feel like after Bomber, there is a cut. The top16 seems pretty clear to me though some places are interchangable.
- The next terran re-entry goes to Ryung. A very strong GSL performance where only narrowly lost 2-3 to Sniper in the semis. In IPL he was eliminated by Canadians Scarlett and Huk.
- The Startale players Squirtle and Curious both lost in their GSL groups (second round for Curious). In international events they performed (below) average. Curious could get 3 wins vs FXO in GSTL.
- Soulkey had an ok-ish MLG and could 4-0 Life in GSL, then got smashed by Bogus.
- Flashs MLG might a bit overvalued (mostly due to hype and his status). The only strong opponent was Life which he beat 2-0 and then lost 4 straight games in the extended series. He won his Code A match, but I remember it wasnt too souvereign.
- viOlet makes the next re-entry coming off a very strong IPL where he beat Bogus, Symbol, Hero, Polt and Leenock (the first series). MLG and Lonestar were not comparable.
- Byun could win his Code A match and book some GSTL wins. IPL seemed totally off for him.
- MC was totally off this month. Lost to moonglade and TheSTC at MLG, to Grubby at IEM, to Symbol and Sniper at IPL, to Stephano in the GSL WC. On the other side weren't many impressive wins.
- But he wasnt the worst. Seed dropped 21 places due to his performance. Too much? I just really don't know who he deserves to be put in front. He lost in Code S, then in Code A and is out of GSL. IPL was weak and he recently he even lost to Kas in IronSquid.
- Nestea re-qualified for GSL and won his first match? Have him on the radar.
- Roro lost vs Idra and Hero at BWC. Not more. I leave him on the list since he seemed promising in other tournies.
- Hack only had GSL where he beat Yoda and lost 1-2 to MKP and Hyun.
