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Who were/are the best foreign sc1 players? - Page 6

Forum Index > BW General
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StarStruck
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
25339 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-12-18 19:36:06
December 17 2010 22:52 GMT
#101
On December 18 2010 06:24 HalfAmazing wrote:
You guys are mostly getting the chronology and relative skill levels for their respective playing periods mixed up. 1999-2001: Slayer, sVEN, Maynard, NTT, ElkY, Grrrr... were the best non-Korean players in the world. Slayer, NTT and Grrrr... were better than almost all Korean progamers and were better than the other players mentioned. ElkY always played in Slayer and NTT's shadow and it took their retirement for him to shine. There were no US players at the time who were even close to being on par with the best European and Korean players. Slayer is the best non-Korean of all time, and to put NTT at #5 on the best Dutch players list is just offensive. :-) Shit, we're talking about guys who quit playing because they got bored of being so dominant. Korean progamers would practice with these guys, lose horribly and then go on to win tournaments the next day. It was a different era.

EDIT: also, please don't include known map hackers like Testie in the "best of all time" list, that's just wrong.


You are looking at the glass half empty rather than half full.

As for the list I provided, I wouldn't read too much in it other than which players stood out like sore thumbs for their given countries. I used a variety of criteria in choosing which players deserved to make it on a shortlist based on the following:

- chronological, for example it is much easier listing Germany this way, because they had so many
- contribution to their countries
- made it to Korea
- tournament wins
- clan wars/nation wars
- ladder
- players I know off the top of my head

As for the Netherlands..

Why does Ret come to mind first? (I should have left my side notes in so there was no confusion). Anyway, the answer is simple. He has been the most active for the longest and when he was he was hands down one of the best players our scene had to offer. So take my 'rankings' with a grain of salt. Hell, I wouldn't even call it a ranking. Everyone who made my list is special in my opinion and it doesn't necessarily mean one is above the other. It's more or less a way to keep things organized. As for the bolded part, that's very misleading especially in the case of NTT. It's a cop out.

Testie is one of the few ex-hackers who deserves to be recognized. If you were around while the kid was playing legit you would know he was still a beast without hacks. He had what most players don't. A raw talent and good understanding of the game.
astalkulo
Profile Joined October 2007
United States444 Posts
December 18 2010 00:41 GMT
#102
fisheye couldve won wcg 03 if he played with his main race protoss, i think he played the first game with terran who got crushed. he played ... ah forgot his name but later on i read something about his arrest for stealing.
rift
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
1819 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-12-18 03:03:58
December 18 2010 03:02 GMT
#103
On December 18 2010 02:54 Biff The Understudy wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 17 2010 21:02 Holgerius wrote:
On December 17 2010 20:26 Biff The Understudy wrote:
I would say Mondragon.

He was a bit the western Boxer. He dominated for a very very long time, was very charismatic and at the end could still take a game from someone like Sea from time to time.

Idra tried very hard, and got the best mechanics a foreigner ever had, but never understood that mind game and strategy are somehow important. He was very good at repeating standart games but had no imagination whatsoever. Combined with a really shitty scouting, he kept failing all the important things he tried in quite a sad fashion.

Do you realize how much Idra won in the last year or so of BW?

Yeah, great career, great achievements... Let's see...

Failed to qualify in any major league in Korea,
Failed to go to A team after 3 years,
Failed to play a single Kespa TV match,
Lost to a foreigner in WCG 0-2,
Failed in TSL1 early on
Failed in TSL2 although he has 600 more practice time and experience than anybody else.

He won a lot of small tournaments. Great. If he had been Korean, we would refer to him as a scrub who never achieved anything at all. Probably none of us would have ever heard of him.

No, sorry, Idra has been a very very unsuccesfull progamer. He played amazingly, had fantastic mechanics, but something has always been missing, and this something seems to have been essential.


From your posts it seems like you have something personal against IdrA.Your dislike of him as a player is warping your assessment of his ability. It's pretty much accepted that he was the best foreigner in 2009. NonY came out of retirement to play TSL2 and beat him 3-2 in a close series with some well-known incidents. Yes, if he was Korean "probably none of us would have ever heard of him", but the same could be said of ret, nony or almost any other top foreigner of the past several years. What makes them stand out is that they aren't Korean
MuffinDude
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States3837 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-12-18 05:51:41
December 18 2010 05:50 GMT
#104
PJ by far. Hes a protoss that beat effort and maybe bisu?

On December 18 2010 12:02 rift wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 18 2010 02:54 Biff The Understudy wrote:
On December 17 2010 21:02 Holgerius wrote:
On December 17 2010 20:26 Biff The Understudy wrote:
I would say Mondragon.

He was a bit the western Boxer. He dominated for a very very long time, was very charismatic and at the end could still take a game from someone like Sea from time to time.

Idra tried very hard, and got the best mechanics a foreigner ever had, but never understood that mind game and strategy are somehow important. He was very good at repeating standart games but had no imagination whatsoever. Combined with a really shitty scouting, he kept failing all the important things he tried in quite a sad fashion.

Do you realize how much Idra won in the last year or so of BW?

Yeah, great career, great achievements... Let's see...

Failed to qualify in any major league in Korea,
Failed to go to A team after 3 years,
Failed to play a single Kespa TV match,
Lost to a foreigner in WCG 0-2,
Failed in TSL1 early on
Failed in TSL2 although he has 600 more practice time and experience than anybody else.

He won a lot of small tournaments. Great. If he had been Korean, we would refer to him as a scrub who never achieved anything at all. Probably none of us would have ever heard of him.

No, sorry, Idra has been a very very unsuccesfull progamer. He played amazingly, had fantastic mechanics, but something has always been missing, and this something seems to have been essential.


From your posts it seems like you have something personal against IdrA.Your dislike of him as a player is warping your assessment of his ability. It's pretty much accepted that he was the best foreigner in 2009. NonY came out of retirement to play TSL2 and beat him 3-2 in a close series with some well-known incidents. Yes, if he was Korean "probably none of us would have ever heard of him", but the same could be said of ret, nony or almost any other top foreigner of the past several years. What makes them stand out is that they aren't Korean


Chinese or taiwanese progamer > idra anyday.
Zerg can be so abusive sometimes | third member of the "loli is not a crime club" PM konadora to join!
Game
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
3191 Posts
December 18 2010 06:19 GMT
#105
Making a top foreigner list (current) would prove exceedingly difficult due to the influx of korean smurfs played on by good foreigners who also play SC2.
SC is like sex. You should play often, but never too hard. And you should only try hard when it matters.
aimaimaim
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
Philippines2167 Posts
December 18 2010 06:31 GMT
#106
On December 18 2010 14:50 MuffinDude wrote:
PJ by far. Hes a protoss that beat effort and maybe bisu?

Show nested quote +
On December 18 2010 12:02 rift wrote:
On December 18 2010 02:54 Biff The Understudy wrote:
On December 17 2010 21:02 Holgerius wrote:
On December 17 2010 20:26 Biff The Understudy wrote:
I would say Mondragon.

He was a bit the western Boxer. He dominated for a very very long time, was very charismatic and at the end could still take a game from someone like Sea from time to time.

Idra tried very hard, and got the best mechanics a foreigner ever had, but never understood that mind game and strategy are somehow important. He was very good at repeating standart games but had no imagination whatsoever. Combined with a really shitty scouting, he kept failing all the important things he tried in quite a sad fashion.

Do you realize how much Idra won in the last year or so of BW?

Yeah, great career, great achievements... Let's see...

Failed to qualify in any major league in Korea,
Failed to go to A team after 3 years,
Failed to play a single Kespa TV match,
Lost to a foreigner in WCG 0-2,
Failed in TSL1 early on
Failed in TSL2 although he has 600 more practice time and experience than anybody else.

He won a lot of small tournaments. Great. If he had been Korean, we would refer to him as a scrub who never achieved anything at all. Probably none of us would have ever heard of him.

No, sorry, Idra has been a very very unsuccesfull progamer. He played amazingly, had fantastic mechanics, but something has always been missing, and this something seems to have been essential.


From your posts it seems like you have something personal against IdrA.Your dislike of him as a player is warping your assessment of his ability. It's pretty much accepted that he was the best foreigner in 2009. NonY came out of retirement to play TSL2 and beat him 3-2 in a close series with some well-known incidents. Yes, if he was Korean "probably none of us would have ever heard of him", but the same could be said of ret, nony or almost any other top foreigner of the past several years. What makes them stand out is that they aren't Korean


Chinese or taiwanese progamer > idra anyday.


i remembered that game of Idra vs F91 ..

so awesome .. idra is great but not THAT great


Religion is a dying idea .. || 'E-sport' outside Korea are nerds who wants to feel like rockstars. || I'm not gonna fuck with trolls on General Forum ever again .. FUCK!
Guybrush
Profile Blog Joined December 2002
Spain4744 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-01-08 01:14:19
December 18 2010 06:46 GMT
#107
On December 17 2010 19:42 Manifesto7 wrote:
Legit post GuyBrush. I had the pleasure of randomly drinking with Sven in Korea last year. He was a very cool guy He mentioned Hellghost, who might not make into onto your list from acheivements, as someone who possessed great skill.

I would argue that Froz belongs higher up on your list, even if only for 2-0ing Boxer at WCG. At the time that seemed impossible, but it happened. He is also someone that could pick up the game at any time and be really really good again in a day, much like Smuft.


Froz could definitely be higher and while his 2-0 against Boxer was huge, it's his consistensy in winning multiple WCG USAs that stand out for me. I wont put too much weight on him barely practicing because it's a very subjective issue, but he was certainly able to handle pressure from playing in live tournaments extremely well. Could have had better achievements at the main event though, but yeah he'll probably be remembered for those wins against Boxer in a time when Boxer was bonjwa .

As for Hellghost, I think he's a small notch below these players as he wasnt ever considered to be top5 outside Korea at any point. Speaking of which I've made another list of 100 so called A-class nonkoreans - players who like Hellghost were very good but never the best.

If the top 31 nonkoerans of alltime were S-Class players these would be A-Class players,
not considered the best at any point but somewhere between top5 and top20 at various points. There are teamtags on some of these players and they're sorted in chronological order from when they first started getting noticed.

[image loading] [image loading] Zileas(P) - Best 98
[image loading] [image loading] Agent_911(R) - Best 98,99
[image loading] [image loading] INCinerate(R) - Best 98,99
[image loading] [image loading] D23-Gad/Gadianton(P,R) 98,99
[image loading] [image loading] [9]Kain/Kain-The-Feared(P) - Best 98,99
[image loading] [image loading] [9]eVERLAST(R) - B.net ladder champion, Best 98,99
[image loading] [image loading] :+:jolly:+: (Z,R) - Best 98,99,00
[image loading] [image loading] Tillerman(Z,R) - Best 98,99,00
[image loading] [image loading] [5th]Fire(P) - Best 99
[image loading] [image loading] {PH}Expo(R) - Best 99
[image loading] [image loading] {PH}Pillars(P) - Best 99,00
[image loading] [image loading] Multifaith(R) - Best 99,00
[image loading] [image loading] 006Trevelyan(Z) - Best 99,00
[image loading] [image loading] [9]Thor(Z,R) - Best 99,00
[image loading] [image loading] {PH!}BOO!(Z,R) - Best 99,00
[image loading] [image loading] Crexis/Chris_Low(R) Best 99,00
[image loading] [image loading] D22-Soso(R) - Best 99,00
[image loading] [image loading] (orky)~soul~(P,R) 2nd wsop main event 2008 - Best 99,00,01,02
[image loading] [image loading] [o]Mr.X(Z) - Best 99,00,01,02
[image loading] [image loading] KeNKa(T,R) - Best 99,00,01,02,03
[image loading] [image loading] {iM}Daaman(R) - Best 99,00,01,02,03,04,05
[image loading] [image loading] CQ2000(T) Best 00,01
[image loading] [image loading] MaDFroG[pG](Z) - Best 00,01,02
[image loading] [image loading] DkH.Kalaschni(Z) - WGT season1(old french WGT), Best 00,01,02
[image loading] [image loading] Kovax[pG](P) - Best 00,01,02
[image loading] [image loading] GreatZyneck(Z,R) - Best 00,01,02,03
[image loading] [image loading] sataNik(Z,R) - Best 00,02,03,04,05,06
[image loading] [image loading] DIDI8[pG](P) - Best 01,02
[image loading] [image loading] JessE[pG](Z) - PGC1, Best 01,02
[image loading] [image loading] Ranger[pG]/GoodlyDwarf(T,R) - Best 01,02
[image loading] [image loading] Whear(T) - Best 01,02
[image loading] [image loading] [Feel]..Arch(T) - Best 01,02,03
[image loading] [image loading] eSu.DeliCato(Z,R) - Best 01,02,03
[image loading] [image loading] Ogerdaniel/TameTheSheep(R) - Best 01,02,03
[image loading] [image loading] WiLLEt[pG](P) - Best 01,02,03
[image loading] [image loading] TomsOn[pG](T,Z) - Best 01,02,03,04
[image loading] [image loading] eSu.StinGeR(R) - WGT season2, Best 01,02,03,05
[image loading] [image loading] HellGhost[pG]/HG(T,R) - Best 01,02,03,04,05
[image loading] [image loading] Bz.BlasT(P) - Best 01,02,03,04,05
[image loading] [image loading] uT)Annihilator(Z) - Best 02,03
[image loading] [image loading] sYs(DUNE)(P) - Best 02,03
[image loading] [image loading] Rekrul[pG] - Best 02,03,04
[image loading] [image loading] uT)Phellan[S2](Z) - Best 02,03,04
[image loading] [image loading] Fizban(GN)(R) - Best 02,03,04
[image loading] [image loading] TreK-PL(R) - Dreamhack, Best 02,03,04,05
[image loading] [image loading] ZelotITO(P) - WGT season6, Best 02,03,04,05,06
[image loading] [image loading] SoL.Shaman(T,R) - Best 02,03,04,05,06
[image loading] [image loading] SuKeR[pG](T,R) - Best 02,03,04,05,06
[image loading] [image loading] rS.Magoo(P) - Best 03,04
[image loading] [image loading] Bz.Beast/3wD.Christian(T) - WCG04 3rd, Best 03,04
[image loading] [image loading] Kimthan(Z,T) - Best 03,04
[image loading] [image loading] [S.Top]Angel(P) - Best 03,04,05
[image loading] [image loading] SoL.Dunaj(P) - Best 03,04,05
[image loading] [image loading] WE.WYW(Z) - Best 03,04,05
[image loading] [image loading] Lammerman(Z,R) - Best 03,04,05
[image loading] [image loading] Anon(Z) - WGT season11, Best 03,04,05
[image loading] [image loading] MYM.Raven(T) - Best 03,04,05,06
[image loading] [image loading] MYM.yAn[S2](T,P) - Best 03,04,05,06
[image loading] [image loading] ToT)Spawn((T) - Best 03,04,05,06
[image loading] [image loading] ToT)Ovvi((Z) - WGT season1, Best 03,04,05,06
[image loading] [image loading] BrEaKdOwN[pG](Z) - WGT season4, Best 03,04,05,06,07
[image loading] [image loading] ToT)MidiaN((Z) - Best 03,04,05,07
[image loading] [image loading] ToT)XiaOzI(/Fk.Timothy(Z) - WGT season5, Best 03,04,05,06,07,08,09
[image loading] [image loading] rS.DAy[9](Z) - Best 04,05,07
[image loading] [image loading] uT)Clawson/Arcneon/Madclaw (P,Z) - WGT season12, Best 04,05,06
[image loading] [image loading] MYM.HBQ(T) - Best 04,05,06,07
[image loading] [image loading] iG.EX(T) - Best 04,05,06,07
[image loading] [image loading] [S.Top]Storm(Z) - 4th WCG, Best 05
[image loading] [image loading] ToT)Avernum((T) - Best 05,06
[image loading] [image loading] MYM.SunCow/Wook(Z,P) - Best 05,06
[image loading] [image loading] ToT)Odin((T,P) - Best 05,06
[image loading] [image loading] rS.DaZe(T) - WGT season13, Dreamhack, Best 05,06
[image loading] [image loading] [S.Top]Phoenix66(T) Best 05,06,07
[image loading] [image loading] Play.LameR(T) - Best 05,06,07
[image loading] [image loading] SCI)DP_R(Z) - Best 05,06,07
[image loading] [image loading] S.C.EVA(Z) - Best 05,06,07,08
[image loading] [image loading] iG.KaaZ(Z) - Best 05,06,09
[image loading] [image loading] RushGoon/Never(T) Best 05,06,07,08,09
[image loading] [image loading] ToT)SquaLL((Z) - WGT season10, Best 05,06,07,08,09
[image loading] [image loading] 3D.Strelok(T) - WGTseason14,WCG08 3rd, Best 05,06,07,08,09
[image loading] [image loading] iG.Paranoid/ToT)Gosia((Z) - Best 06,07,08
[image loading] [image loading] ChinaTTTT(T) Best 06,07,08
[image loading] [image loading] Jaystar(P) - Best 06,07,09
[image loading] [image loading] BW-SarenS(T) - Best 06,08,09
[image loading] [image loading] 88)HayprO(Z,T) - Dreamhack, Best 06,07,08,09
[image loading] [image loading] Toodming(Z) Best 06,07,08,09
[image loading] [image loading] ToT)ClouD((P) - Best 07,08
[image loading] [image loading] Lovett(P) Best 07,08
[image loading] [image loading] CastrO(Z) - Best 07,08,09
[image loading] [image loading] MYM.Dreiven(P) - Best 07,08,09
[image loading] [image loading] RoX.DIMAGA(Z) - Best 07,08,09
[image loading] [image loading] Fenix(T,P) - Best 07,08,09
[image loading] [image loading] MistrZZZ(P,R) - Best 07,08,09
[image loading] [image loading] Vulture(P) Best 07,08,09
[image loading] [image loading] ToT)iNfeRnaL((P) - Best 07,08,09
[image loading] [image loading] MYM.Yayba(P) - Best 07,08,09
[image loading] [image loading] Fengzi(Z) Best 08,09
[image loading] [image loading] BRAT_OK(T) - Best 08,09
[image loading] [image loading] Naugrim(Z) - Best 08,09
[image loading] [image loading] kolll(Z) - Best 09
Live2Win is awesome. Happy new year scarabi!
Guybrush
Profile Blog Joined December 2002
Spain4744 Posts
December 18 2010 06:52 GMT
#108
On December 17 2010 23:28 Jibba wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 17 2010 13:31 Guybrush wrote:
20.Testie(R) - Best(hacked before 03) 03,04,05,06, PlayIT, Ace

Your post is absolutely amazing, but you're extremely underselling Testie's accomplishments. Need I remind you he was voted Clanbase #1 player?


Damn! I also forgot that he was 1st place WGT (Poll) Voted By Most To Win TLT (31%) 2nd is Other with 23% and 3rd id Mondi with 13%
Live2Win is awesome. Happy new year scarabi!
NrG.GoD-
Profile Joined November 2009
Australia63 Posts
December 18 2010 07:03 GMT
#109
it depends how you define "best player"

if you define it as someone who had the highest skill ever, then it was Idra

if you define it as somebody who had relative dominance over other foreigners, or were the closest to koreans, it would be somebody else

for those who argue idra isn't best are just idiots jealous just because he is trash talker. There is no doubt skillwise idra was best foreigner ever. Those arguing that he lost to Nony in TSL2 don't remember the games nony won were pretty much cheese builds and a pathetic mistake by idra.

But for me personally, the foreigner that was most impressive, or was quite close to the koreans at any point in time was draco. Anyone remember his game against midas in WCG?
Romantic
Profile Joined January 2010
United States1844 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-12-18 07:28:07
December 18 2010 07:27 GMT
#110
NonY or Mondragon for having the highest potential. IdrA for being the most solid with less potential.

Edit: I don't know anything about the Chinese players
rift
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
1819 Posts
December 18 2010 07:35 GMT
#111
On December 18 2010 14:50 MuffinDude wrote:
PJ by far. Hes a protoss that beat effort and maybe bisu?

Show nested quote +
On December 18 2010 12:02 rift wrote:
On December 18 2010 02:54 Biff The Understudy wrote:
On December 17 2010 21:02 Holgerius wrote:
On December 17 2010 20:26 Biff The Understudy wrote:
I would say Mondragon.

He was a bit the western Boxer. He dominated for a very very long time, was very charismatic and at the end could still take a game from someone like Sea from time to time.

Idra tried very hard, and got the best mechanics a foreigner ever had, but never understood that mind game and strategy are somehow important. He was very good at repeating standart games but had no imagination whatsoever. Combined with a really shitty scouting, he kept failing all the important things he tried in quite a sad fashion.

Do you realize how much Idra won in the last year or so of BW?

Yeah, great career, great achievements... Let's see...

Failed to qualify in any major league in Korea,
Failed to go to A team after 3 years,
Failed to play a single Kespa TV match,
Lost to a foreigner in WCG 0-2,
Failed in TSL1 early on
Failed in TSL2 although he has 600 more practice time and experience than anybody else.

He won a lot of small tournaments. Great. If he had been Korean, we would refer to him as a scrub who never achieved anything at all. Probably none of us would have ever heard of him.

No, sorry, Idra has been a very very unsuccesfull progamer. He played amazingly, had fantastic mechanics, but something has always been missing, and this something seems to have been essential.


From your posts it seems like you have something personal against IdrA.Your dislike of him as a player is warping your assessment of his ability. It's pretty much accepted that he was the best foreigner in 2009. NonY came out of retirement to play TSL2 and beat him 3-2 in a close series with some well-known incidents. Yes, if he was Korean "probably none of us would have ever heard of him", but the same could be said of ret, nony or almost any other top foreigner of the past several years. What makes them stand out is that they aren't Korean


Chinese or taiwanese progamer > idra anyday.


Agree, but some people only consider westerners as foreigners for some reason
Release
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
United States4397 Posts
December 18 2010 07:41 GMT
#112
PJ, Period. No one else (except maybe mondragon) was considered good enough to beat koreans on a regular basis. In WCG 2007, his wins vs savior were from Savior fixing matches, but the win (vs stork) in 2009 was completely legit.
☺
chenchen
Profile Joined November 2010
United States1136 Posts
December 18 2010 08:04 GMT
#113
On December 18 2010 16:41 Release wrote:
PJ, Period. No one else (except maybe mondragon) was considered good enough to beat koreans on a regular basis. In WCG 2007, his wins vs savior were from Savior fixing matches, but the win (vs stork) in 2009 was completely legit.


I recall reading that Savior was fixing matches to secure a Korean medal sweep, not to purposely lose.

But yeah, PJ is probably the most skilled foreign even if Lx always beats him PvP. Certainly not the accomplished though compared to the early foreigners who competed on equal footing with top Koreans.
powerade = dragoon blood
ondik
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
Czech Republic2908 Posts
December 18 2010 08:54 GMT
#114
On December 17 2010 09:16 Boblion wrote:
Best storm drops: Nony


LOL. wonder how many people got this.

Bisu. The one and only. // Save the cheerreaver, save the world (of SC2)
maybenexttime
Profile Blog Joined November 2006
Poland5496 Posts
December 18 2010 09:16 GMT
#115
On December 18 2010 17:04 chenchen wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 18 2010 16:41 Release wrote:
PJ, Period. No one else (except maybe mondragon) was considered good enough to beat koreans on a regular basis. In WCG 2007, his wins vs savior were from Savior fixing matches, but the win (vs stork) in 2009 was completely legit.


I recall reading that Savior was fixing matches to secure a Korean medal sweep, not to purposely lose.

But yeah, PJ is probably the most skilled foreign even if Lx always beats him PvP. Certainly not the accomplished though compared to the early foreigners who competed on equal footing with top Koreans.


He's talking about the match fixing scandal with bet sites etc.
Biff The Understudy
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
France7857 Posts
December 18 2010 13:20 GMT
#116
On December 18 2010 12:02 rift wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 18 2010 02:54 Biff The Understudy wrote:
On December 17 2010 21:02 Holgerius wrote:
On December 17 2010 20:26 Biff The Understudy wrote:
I would say Mondragon.

He was a bit the western Boxer. He dominated for a very very long time, was very charismatic and at the end could still take a game from someone like Sea from time to time.

Idra tried very hard, and got the best mechanics a foreigner ever had, but never understood that mind game and strategy are somehow important. He was very good at repeating standart games but had no imagination whatsoever. Combined with a really shitty scouting, he kept failing all the important things he tried in quite a sad fashion.

Do you realize how much Idra won in the last year or so of BW?

Yeah, great career, great achievements... Let's see...

Failed to qualify in any major league in Korea,
Failed to go to A team after 3 years,
Failed to play a single Kespa TV match,
Lost to a foreigner in WCG 0-2,
Failed in TSL1 early on
Failed in TSL2 although he has 600 more practice time and experience than anybody else.

He won a lot of small tournaments. Great. If he had been Korean, we would refer to him as a scrub who never achieved anything at all. Probably none of us would have ever heard of him.

No, sorry, Idra has been a very very unsuccesfull progamer. He played amazingly, had fantastic mechanics, but something has always been missing, and this something seems to have been essential.


From your posts it seems like you have something personal against IdrA.Your dislike of him as a player is warping your assessment of his ability. It's pretty much accepted that he was the best foreigner in 2009. NonY came out of retirement to play TSL2 and beat him 3-2 in a close series with some well-known incidents. Yes, if he was Korean "probably none of us would have ever heard of him", but the same could be said of ret, nony or almost any other top foreigner of the past several years. What makes them stand out is that they aren't Korean

Well, I don't like Idra at all, but that's not the problem.

Take Mondi. Mondi is an amateur who dominated for years, won tournaments, and took game to progamers on a regular basis for ages. He was a leader of one of the biggest clan also.

Idra is the contrary. Idra is a professional who has failed for three years not only to do anything at all on the professional stage, but hasn't been able to win the biggest amateur tourneys at his time.

There is no doubt that Idra had incredible skill before switching to SC2 (but which talented player wouldn't with the training he had), and that he was the best player around on many aspects: mechanics, knowledge of the game, etc... He is just not the one that I would remember in ten years, especially if you compare him to people like Sen or Mondi. For me, something has always been missing.

No vendetta here.
The fellow who is out to burn things up is the counterpart of the fool who thinks he can save the world. The world needs neither to be burned up nor to be saved. The world is, we are. Transients, if we buck it; here to stay if we accept it. ~H.Miller
Art_of_Kill
Profile Joined September 2003
Zaire1232 Posts
December 18 2010 13:44 GMT
#117
its hard to say who was the best,
only if u look at specific time zones u can call a few names
TLT07 ===> *winner* <===TLT08
NIIINO
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Slovakia1320 Posts
December 18 2010 13:46 GMT
#118
Wasnt Grrrr someone like Madfrog in WC3 ? I saw video of him playing in that fancy old SC1 suit :D so epic
StarStruck
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
25339 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-12-18 14:04:07
December 18 2010 14:00 GMT
#119
On December 18 2010 15:46 Guybrush wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 17 2010 19:42 Manifesto7 wrote:
Legit post GuyBrush. I had the pleasure of randomly drinking with Sven in Korea last year. He was a very cool guy He mentioned Hellghost, who might not make into onto your list from acheivements, as someone who possessed great skill.

I would argue that Froz belongs higher up on your list, even if only for 2-0ing Boxer at WCG. At the time that seemed impossible, but it happened. He is also someone that could pick up the game at any time and be really really good again in a day, much like Smuft.
+ Show Spoiler +


Froz could definitely be higher and while his 2-0 against Boxer was huge, it's his consistensy in winning multiple WCG USAs that stand out for me. I wont put too much weight on him barely practicing because it's a very subjective issue, but he was certainly able to handle pressure from playing in live tournaments extremely well. Could have had better achievements at the main event though, but yeah he'll probably be remembered for those wins against Boxer in a time when Boxer was bonjwa .

As for Hellghost, I think he's a small notch below these players as he wasnt ever considered to be top5 outside Korea at any point. Speaking of which I've made another list of 100 so called A-class nonkoreans - players who like Hellghost were very good but never the best.

If the top 31 nonkoerans of alltime were S-Class players these would be A-Class players,
not considered the best at any point but somewhere between top5 and top20 at various points. There are teamtags on some of these players and they're sorted in chronological order from when they first started getting noticed.

Zileas(P) - Best 98
Agent_911(R) - Best 98,99
INCinerate(R) - Best 98,99
D23-Gad/Gadianton(P,R) 98,99
[9]Kain/Kain-The-Feared(P) - Best 98,99
[9]eVERLAST(R) - B.net ladder champion, Best 98,99
:+:jolly:+: (Z,R) - Best 98,99,00
Tillerman(Z,R) - Best 98,99,00
[5th]Fire(P) - Best 99
{PH}Expo(R) - Best 99
{PH}Pillars(P) - Best 99,00
Multifaith(R) - Best 99,00
006Trevelyan(Z) - Best 99,00
[9]Thor(Z,R) - Best 99,00
{PH!}BOO!(Z,R) - Best 99,00
Crexis/Chris_Low(R) Best 99,00
D22-Soso(R) - Best 99,00
(orky)~soul~(P,R) 2nd wsop main event 2008 - Best 99,00,01,02
[o]Mr.X(Z) - Best 99,00,01,02
KeNKa(T,R) - Best 99,00,01,02,03
{iM}Daaman(R) - Best 99,00,01,02,03,04,05
CQ2000(T) Best 00,01
MaDFroG[pG](Z) - Best 00,01,02
DkH.Kalaschni(Z) - WGT season1(old french WGT), Best 00,01,02
Kovax[pG](P) - Best 00,01,02
GreatZyneck(Z,R) - Best 00,01,02,03
sataNik(Z,R) - Best 00,02,03,04,05,06
DIDI8[pG](P) - Best 01,02
JessE[pG](Z) - PGC1, Best 01,02
Ranger[pG]/GoodlyDwarf(T,R) - Best 01,02
Whear(T) - Best 01,02
[Feel]..Arch(T) - Best 01,02,03
eSu.DeliCato(Z,R) - Best 01,02,03
Ogerdaniel/TameTheSheep(R) - Best 01,02,03
WiLLEt[pG](P) - Best 01,02,03
TomsOn[pG](T,Z) - Best 01,02,03,04
eSu.StinGeR(R) - WGT season2, Best 01,02,03,05
HellGhost[pG]/HG(T,R) - Best 01,02,03,04,05
Bz.BlasT(P) - Best 01,02,03,04,05
uT)Annihilator(Z) - Best 02,03
sYs(DUNE)(P) - Best 02,03
uT)Phellan[S2](Z) - Best 02,03,04
Fizban(GN)(R) - Best 02,03,04
TreK-PL(R) - Dreamhack, Best 02,03,04,05
ZelotITO(P) - WGT season6, Best 02,03,04,05,06
SoL.Shaman(T,R) - Best 02,03,04,05,06
SuKeR[pG](T,R) - Best 02,03,04,05,06
rS.Magoo(P) - Best 03,04
Bz.Beast/3wD.Christian(T) - WCG04 3rd, Best 03,04
Kimthan(Z,T) - Best 03,04
[S.Top]Angel(P) - Best 03,04,05
SoL.Dunaj(P) - Best 03,04,05
WE.WYW(Z) - Best 03,04,05
Lammerman(Z,R) - Best 03,04,05
Anon(Z) - WGT season11, Best 03,04,05
MYM.Raven(T) - Best 03,04,05,06
MYM.yAn[S2](T,P) - Best 03,04,05,06
ToT)Spawn((T) - Best 03,04,05,06
ToT)Ovvi((Z) - WGT season1, Best 03,04,05,06
BrEaKdOwN[pG](Z) - WGT season4, Best 03,04,05,06,07
ToT)MidiaN((Z) - Best 03,04,05,07
ToT)XiaOzI(/Fk.Timothy(Z) - WGT season5, Best 03,04,05,06,07,08,09
rS.DAy[9](Z) - Best 04,05,07
uT)Clawson/Arcneon/Madclaw (P,Z) - WGT season12, Best 04,05,06
MYM.HBQ(T) - Best 04,05,06,07
iG.EX(T) - Best 04,05,06,07
[S.Top]Storm(Z) - 4th WCG, Best 05
ToT)Avernum((T) - Best 05,06
MYM.SunCow/Wook(Z,P) - Best 05,06
ToT)Odin((T,P) - Best 05,06
rS.DaZe(T) - WGT season13, Dreamhack, Best 05,06
[S.Top]Phoenix66(T) Best 05,06,07
Play.LameR(T) - Best 05,06,07
SCI)DP_R(Z) - Best 05,06,07
S.C.EVA(Z) - Best 05,06,07,08
iG.KaaZ(Z) - Best 05,06,09
RushGoon/Never(T) Best 05,06,07,08,09
ToT)SquaLL((Z) - WGT season10, Best 05,06,07,08,09
3D.Strelok(T) - WGTseason14,WCG08 3rd, Best 05,06,07,08,09
iG.Paranoid/ToT)Gosia((Z) - Best 06,07,08
ChinaTTTT(T) Best 06,07,08
Skew[Media](T) - Best 06,07,08
Jaystar(P) - Best 06,07,09
BW-SarenS(T) - Best 06,08,09
88)Haypro(Z,T) - Dreamhack, Best 06,07,08,09
Toodming(Z) Best 06,07,08,09
ToT)ClouD((P) - Best 07,08
Lovett(P) Best 07,08
CastrO(Z) - Best 07,08,09
MYM.Dreiven(P) - Best 07,08,09
RoX.DIMAGA(Z) - Best 07,08,09
Fenix(T,P) - Best 07,08,09
MistrZZZ(P,R) - Best 07,08,09
Vulture(P) Best 07,08,09
ToT)Infernal((P) - Best 07,08,09
MYM.Yayba(P) - Best 07,08,09
Fengzi(Z) Best 08,09
Brat_OK(T) - Best 08,09
Naugrim(Z) - Best 08,09
Kolll(Z) - Best 09


You definitely know your Brood War and Vanilla Starcraft, but I would never put Skew anywhere on that list let alone call him the best in 2006-2009. Only place he did well was on ladder and nothing more.

I will put him on the close, but no cigar list. Thank you for taking me down memory lane. Everything before 2002 is fuzzy and I cannot believe I forgot the following players:

hbq (T) - one of China's all-time greats who resurfaced with MYM in 2005-2006
SunCow (P,Z) - If it weren't for MistrZZZ, he would be Poland's BM champion. Who cares about manner when you are that good? One thing is for sure, he stirred a ton of shit.
Gosia/Paranoid (Z) - sick Poland macro
Zileas(P) - Best 98 - I'm assuming you are talking about the most underrated American player of all time. He came out of retirement in 2004 with anSWers World when Gorky Island was still in the WGTour Map Pool. Yes he deserves to be recognized too. Remarkably the guy could still play.
:+:jolly:+: (Z,R) - Best 98,99,00 - thank you for making me look like an idiot, yeah definitely one of the top guys before replays.
Tillerman(Z,R) - Best 98,99,00 - this makes me look like a bigger idiot. MidiaN isn't alone after all. Leader of iN. and all around great player.
Agent_911(R) - Best 98,99 - cornerstone of team iN.
INCinerate(R) - Best 98,99 - see above
eSu.StinGeR(R) - WGT season2, Best 01,02,03,05 - Yeah, I'm an idiot. This guy deserves to go right after Slayer on Norway's list.
Bz.BlasT(P) - Best 01,02,03,04,05 - yeah, I'm an idiot. One of the best Mexican players of all time.
[9]Kain/Kain-The-Feared(P) - Best 98,99 - one of the best during the beta and onward
[9]eVERLAST(R) - B.net ladder champion, Best 98,99 - I think you left out one of the guys from [9] but I cannot remember who! I know you said Thor already.
{PH}Pillars(P) - Best 99,00 - I forgot to add him on the American list :/ Sorry Chris.
uT)Phellan[S2](Z) - Best 02,03,04 - another big name I forgot :/
Anon(Z) - WGT season11, Best 03,04,05 - Wasn't he from Lithuania? Yeah, he was. Shit more revisions to make.
WiLLEt[pG](P) - Best 01,02,03 - Ok, you cannot have a Swedish list without this man. He is the cornerstone of Swedish RTS just like MaDFroG. I knew I was forgetting some [pG] players and now that you said that, I'd like to add some of my own!


Ranger[pG] - Russian prodigy
Socke[pG] - sick German
[pG]MaDFroG - Sweden's pride
heXer[pG] - great German player
InFiNiTy[pG] - another German (see the pattern?)
[pG]GeN - actually you already said this guy :/
[pG]Asmodey - the Russian sensation
[pG]blaZe - actually this guy was Korean, but hell he was a lot of entertainment for the foreign scene
[pG]DeliCato - actually you already said him :/
[pG]KeNKa - another name you already said
[pG]Cope - German
[pG]CraZy - cannot for the life of me remember his nationality. I know I was going to add him to my list, but I just cannot remember the country. Wasn't he Canadian?
[pG]Dalailamer - German (this is why you cannot list all the German players D: too damn many!)
Korn[pG] - Canadian B.C. pride and joy! :D
Kiwi[pG] - while I'm on Korn I might as well add this Canadian too
[pG]Fire - spreading more Canadian love


I have revising to do on my list. X_X
SLoGgErDoGgEr
Profile Joined March 2004
Korea (South)340 Posts
December 18 2010 14:28 GMT
#120
[pG]SLoG4 [pG]L.Nazgul
https://www.twitter.com/SLoGsc2
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