EPT
Now you ask, how did I evaluate each position? For me, it's all about how much impact the player had during their time as a professional player and the legacy they've left behind. Statistics and past results may or may not matter - it's up to you, the reader, to judge whether or not it is relevant towards this pseudo-ranking.
This topic has come many a time among Brood War enthusiasts, and I feel by compiling some sort of rudimentary ranking by writing an article piece, I can give some sort of basis for which people can argue their case over.
#5. Sea (염보성, Yum Bo-seong)
![[image loading]](http://stimg.afreeca.com/LOGO/yu/yuambo/yuambo.jpg)
No surprises here as Team Liquid's very own Sea appears on this list. As arguably part of the first breed of middle-school aged professional players instilled into the progaming lifestyle (from the top of my head it was him and fOfy[gm] from Hanbit Stars), there were high expectations of Sea after joining the fledgling Pirates of Space team in 2004.
Touted by their coach at the time 'aficionado' as their next secret weapon after JulyZerg
in an interview with Team Liquid in that same year, Sea made an immediate impact in the first Proleague season after the OGN-MBC team league merger in 2005. In 2006, in an interview also by Team Liquid with the Emperor of Terran - Boxer, he stated that Sea was the most promising Terran in the scene during that time.
However, for what has plagued for all of Sea's career, his strong performances in Proleague would be shadowed by constantly mediocre performances in both premier individual leagues, never placing past the round of 8. Despite being dubbed the 'King of Proleague' by those in the media, Sea's struggles in the OSL and MSL had become somewhat of a running joke in the community.
Despite having a well-rounded play style, Sea was never one to be prepared for individual series matches. While his play style was very strong for the Proleague style format (of preparing one match or two each week), his inability to prepare properly for a best of three or five series against a single opponent would cost him time and time again. In addition, the mindset of not having a team behind him in the case that he failed (Proleague), would hamper his psych in the booth, making him more prone to mistakes during his individual league runs.
There's no doubt that Sea was extremely talented, but if he eventually put it all together like we all expected him to during his long and illustrious career, then his legacy in terms of individual league success is moot. For his strong Proleague performances though, he merits a spot on this list.
#4. Goodfriend (이병민, Lee Byeong-min)
![[image loading]](http://c.ask.nate.com/imgs/qesi.tsp/9558169/10/1/A)
As much crap as I (along with many other people among the Brood War community) give towards Goodfriend over his career, it's hard to ignore that in his prime, he was undoubtedly the top of the second-tier of Terran's behind iloveoov and Nada. While Nada and iloveoov helped popularize the macro-style of Terran that we all know today, Goodfriend's emphasis of sticking to the basics helped him become one of the most boring but safe Terran's ever to play the game.
Unfortunately for him, for what he's achieved as a player, Goodfriend's career will always be remembered as a recipient of three of professional Starcraft's most memorable moments; his EVER 2005 OSL defeat to JulyZerg, the 'bus-ride' against iloveoov on Nostalgia during the Gillette OSL and most infamously, Nal_rA's hallucination recall on Parallel Lines during the SPRIS MSL.
His defeat to July in the EVER 2005 OSL was a textbook example of how better preparation for a best-of series will overcome sheer mechanics and fundamentals. Knowing July as an aggressive and unorthodox Zerg player, Goodfriend along with his team mates and coaching staff (Nada et al) helped develop a series plan to combat July during the finals. Despite being able to win two games with some nifty strategies, July outwitted Goodfriend in the end - with the pinnacle being the last-ditch surround effort by July on the final game on Forte, giving July his second OSL trophy. Goodfriend, clearly devastated, saw his Starleague championship dreams slip away in that single moment.
His infamous loss to iloveoov during the Gillette OSL would lead to a series of memes and jokes centered around the manner of his loss to iloveoov (you can find details here). Despite doing everything correctly, Goodfriend simply had no answer to iloveoov's insane macro management. Lastly, as a victim of Nal_rA's mass hallucination recall strategy, Goodfriend is mostly known among the casual viewers of Starcraft as 'that' guy who lost to Nal_rA.
Despite playing a race which was used by the majority of players and having a boring playstyle, Goodfriend is an oddity. Despite not having as much appreciation as other Terran players on a similar skill level such as Xellos or Midas, he is still respected as a well-rounded Terran player that had his moments.
#3. Light (이재호, Lee Jae-ho)
![[image loading]](http://m.gameabout.com/uploads/www/news/20070817102921a00ed.jpg)
If someone were to ask me, "Hey GTR, what would the average Korean Terran look like?", I would point them towards Light. Him - like many other Korean Terran's which have come and gone over the duration of professional Korean Starcraft, Light would be the perennial example of a typical Korean Terran. Strong TvZ, Good TvT, Mediocre TvP. Blessed with impeccable multi-tasking, he could run circles around Zergs on unfavorable maps, but couldn't hold his own against Protoss every time he ran into them during individual leagues.
Much like his team mate Sea, Light would be a consistent performer in Proleague, but could never put together a solid individual league run - and the one time he did, he faced an in-form Jaedong in the semi-finals (Bigfile MSL). After taking out Effort in the quarter finals; in what is in my opinion, one of the best TvZ series of all time, Light took Jaedong to five games before succumbing to Jaedong's trademark mutalisk aggression in game 5.
Having the architecture of an Average Korean Terran's has not stopped players from being able to win individual leagues if the bracket works in their favor. Just look at Sync (NATE OSL) and Casy (Shinhan S1 OSL) - Terran's renowned for their skill in the Zerg match-up, but having hideously embarrassing Protoss win-rates.
For Light, while he may have been better as a player all-round than these two former OSL winners, his inability to develop a consistent TvP game had limited him from becoming the next big Terran player and as such, lands on this list as a Terran that was never able to win a major individual league.
#2. Iris (변형태, Byeon Hyeong-tae)
![[image loading]](http://nimage.dailygame.co.kr/phpwas/restmb_idxmake.php?idx=3&simg=200912261622220020128_1.jpg)
Much like Goodfriend, I feel that Iris' legacy will always be highlighted by several memorable moments in Starcraft history; the historical semi-final against an unstoppable sAviOr where he took him to five nail-biting games (Shinhan S2 OSL) and being defeated 3-2 after leading two games against GGPlay in the Daum OSL final.
You have to credit Iris for breaking the mold of boring 'Goodfriend-style' Terran's dominating the scene at the time. Known for his aggressive play style, Iris acquired the nickname of 'Berserker Terran' (and would take up this nickname as his new ID for a period of time), which would join the other ubiquitous nickname the Korean's gave him of 'Sexy Terran'.
While many people talk about Iris' success in his first peak in late 2006-early 2007, many disregard his second peak in late 2009. This second peak can arguably be highlighted by one single game against Bisu in the Avalon MSL Round of 8. The final set saw Bisu hit Iris' with a reaver timing attack, crippling his economy. However, through sheer persistence and harassment, Iris was able to hold off all of Bisu's attacks, chipping away at his economy until finally marching with one single hanbang to finish the game. Iris would later on face his team mate Kwanro - and while heavily favoured to win, could not deal with Kwanro's own aggression and would proceed to be eliminated in the semi-finals.
Due to sAviOr's dominance as CJ's ace in Proleague, Iris used the individual leagues to showcase his abilities and skill to the general audience. During his best individual league runs, his predictable aggressive TvZ style would be counteracted by the strong management styles of sAviOr/GGPlay. As for his loss against Kwanro? He just wasn't prepared enough for what came to him.
It's easy to like Iris - he was in a popular team and had a unique play style different to the other players at the time. With my vivid memory of game three on Hitchhiker against GGPlay on the Daum OSL finals, it's hard to imagine that if he didn't mismanage his tank push timing, he could have swept GGPlay 3-0 and come away with a major individual league.
#1. Midas (전상욱, Jeon Sang-wook)
![[image loading]](http://eto.co.kr/Data/2008/12/30/N2008123010102110301.jpg)
Known as Baby Bear in Korea due to his resemblance to his former teammate 'Papa Bear' fOru, Midas tops the list of best Terran's never to win a major league. Widely considered as the only Terran to be able to match sAviOr in his prime, Midas was also responsible for changing the dynamic of early game TvP with the development of the fake double (FD) build.
However, while he was able to keep sAviOr on his toes, the incident which will forever haunt Midas for the rest of his life was picking him as his opponent in the Shinhan S3 OSL Ro16. Despite picking him in the Ro24 and winning decisively, Midas felt compelled to prove to everyone that he was the best player in Korea. His tactic fell short though, inspiring sAviOr to beat down Midas, and would eventually take him down 2-1. sAviOr would go on to royal road and win the Shinhan S3 OSL. Many speculate if Midas didn't pick sAviOr in that Ro16 selection, we could have had a different story.
After a sub par 2007 season, it seemed that Midas was done for. With continuing mediocre results in Proleague and struggles to even qualify for any of the individual leagues, it would not be until SK Telecom decided to move on from Midas and his subsequent transfer to Wemade FOX where Midas would receive a second peak.
Surrounded by Terran's such as Nada and Baby, he was able to make a deep run in the Hana Daetoo MSL, surprising people by defeating Flash in the Ro32 and demonstrating his trademark TvP against JangBi in the Ro16. In the Ro8 he would face Jaedong - and while introducing a unique style of mechanic play, he could not overcome the Tyrant himself and lost 0-3. Despite the tough loss, his new innovation would mark the beginnings of a shift in the meta game for the match-up.
Whenever Midas and sAviOr faced each other, the audience was guaranteed great games. Unfortunately for Midas - while having some of the best TvP in the world; a feat other Terran's did not have, his unfortunate luck in facing sAviOr in multiple individual league runs would see him unable to accomplish an individual league victory. For his innovations to the game and his ability to dominate players other than sAviOr in his prime, I feel that Midas deserves to top this list.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment and please spread this article by retweeting the following tweet and posting on Reddit.
I should have the next article up in the next week or so, depending on when I can find time to write. I'm not sure whether to talk about Protoss or Zerg, so I'll leave it to you guys to decide.
![[image loading]](http://defiler.ru/chat/smiles-hidden/3-gif/leta.gif)
