The July E-Rankings update produced new career-high positions for Lambo, Percival, Lemon and Silky. Looking ahead to August, several more players are already within striking distance of their personal best.

For this watchlist, I looked for active players who improved in the latest ranking update and are now close to their career-high rank, both in positions and ranking points. Here are some of the most interesting cases.

Serral could return to No. 1

Serral is the one exception to the actual career-high theme. Having already occupied the #1 spot for several extended periods, he obviously cannot set a better personal record.

However, victories at Maestros of the Game 2, HomeStory Cup XXIX and several smaller tournaments have helped the Finnish Zerg climb from #4 to #3. His HomeStory Cup result could now put him in position to challenge for the top spot again.

Serral previously led the ranking from September 2018 to September 2020, from August 2022 to February 2023 and from January to August 2024. He has not returned to #1 since then, arguably in part because he competes in relatively few tournaments.

Nicoract is 206 points away

Nicoract was only 15 when he first entered the StarCraft 2 World Ranking in 2018. It took him almost eight years to break into the top 25, which he finally achieved in January.

His career high is #24, set in February. After gaining ground again in the latest update, he is now 206 points short of the total currently required to match that position.

Nicoract is competing in the WardiTV Summer Cup 2026. A deep run there could be enough to give him another career-best ranking in August.

Jieshi continues to climb through the Chinese weeklies

Jieshi regularly reaches the later rounds of the SC2 Weekly Open tournaments. His recent results helped him jump from #49 to #36 in the July update.

His career high remains #30, which he reached in November 2020. He currently needs approximately 300 additional points, or some help from players above him losing ground, to return to that position.

Jieshi has already collected 71 ranking points from July’s weekly tournaments, with one more event still to be played on Sunday.

Three more Chinese players are close

Jieshi is not the only Chinese player whose weekly tournament results could produce a new career high.

KingslayeR currently occupies #92, only one position and three points short of his career-best #91. He has already earned 59 points from July’s SC2 Weekly tournaments.

Misaki sits at #98, two places below his personal best of #96. With 104 points collected from July tournaments, he appears to have a very good chance of surpassing that mark in the next update.

Number is ranked #167, while his career high is #156. Despite the eleven-place difference, he is only eight ranking points short of the current threshold for that position. He has already earned 39 points this month.

Their final positions will also depend on how the players around them perform, but all three appear to be on course for new career highs.

Could DeeDan do it after only two tournaments?

Most players need a sustained series of results to approach their best-ever ranking. DeeDan may be able to do it after playing only two tournaments within a year.

The 22-year-old Russian recently returned from around twelve months of inactivity and immediately finished fifth at the Championship of Russia 2026. That result propelled him to #132.

DeeDan is now only 11 positions and 17 points short of his career high. He has not played another tournament in July yet, but one more solid result could already be enough to move him beyond his previous best.

The full watchlist, including all ten candidates and their current rank and points gaps, can be found here:

-> StarCraft 2 ranking watchlist: These players are closing in on a career high

Who do you expect to reach a new career high in the August update? And is there anyone missing from the watchlist?