Power Rank: MLG Fall Edition

By: TeamLiquid Writers

In an age where drama and discord are being scorned by the masses, the writers at TeamLiquid have fearlessly come out with yet another edition of the Power Rank. Yes, that bi-monthly feature that can only guarantee disagreement and outrage. This time around, our cutoff line was thirty.


What is the Power Rank?

"Who would beat whom in a best of 101 series with their lives on the line?" That crossed our minds. So did "Who had the best tournament results in the past X months?" Those, and many other questions factored in as we attempted to figure out the contentious question: "who's better?" It was a complex process, which we're not even sure we completely understand ourselves. A few notes:

The PR is not a ranking of everyone's chances to win the tournament, though we will mention that purely as a point of interest for some players. There's a lot of bracket luck involved, as well as a considerable advantage given to players who start in the group stage. Again, the Power Rank is just our all-around answer to the question "who's better?"

Finally, the Power Rank does not suggest that a higher ranked player is better than a lower ranked player in a head to head. Rankings are based the overall appraisal of a player.

Notes:

• The Power Rank only takes players competing at MLG Fall Championship into account.
  
• The official pre-tournament MLG player list was used as a reference - some players may cancel or be absent from the tournament.
  
• KeSPA players were excluded from the power rank due to lack of information. Except one.
  
• The power rank is a compromise between the opinions of several writers, ensuring that not even the writers are happy with the end result.
  
• TeamLiquid is not responsible for rage or rage related injuries suffered as a result of reading the Power Rank.

The Power Rank

Forgive the schizophrenia, each section was written by a different writer.

#30: SsonLight

It was tough deciding who would make the final cut into the power rank, with players like IdrA, Suppy, Ret, Illusion, qxc, mOOnGlade, etc. all on the bubble. In the end, we decided to go with Sson because he is Korean. Come on, it's not like that reasoning is ever wrong.

#29: ROOTViBE

The USA's reigning champion is still a highly underrated player. Vibe sports excellent ZvZ and is good enough all-around to have an easy time against most foreign opponents. His ZvT looked a little incomplete against Major in the recent MvP playoffs, but his dominating play in the US and NA WCS qualifiers must be kept in mind as well.

#28: ESC.Daisy

Food for thought: Alongside Summer Arena and Summer Championship, MLG Fall will be the third consecutive MLG where Daisy has earned a seed. Over that period, Daisy has defeated all the foreigners he has faced, but has lost to every single Korean opponent save one (Golden).

#27: EG.HuK.RC

HuK is a player who has been all over the board, looking rather American at times, and very much Korean at others. While he's a far ways off from retaking a high spot in the Power Rank among the Koreans, he's at the very least one of the better foreigners competing in Dallas.

#26: ROOTMajOr

Major is one of the few foreign Terrans who has remained competitive in 2012. He placed 3rd at the MvP tournament and made it further than any other foreigner. While KeSPA players are a big story at Dallas, keep in mind that Major played well against them in MvP, winning an impressive 2 - 0 victory against Jaedong, and had an epic comeback against Soo on Daybreak.

#25: FXOBabyKnight

BabyKnight's been on a roll lately, winning a spot to the WCS World Finals with a sixth place finish at WCS Europe, as well as taking down ThorZaIN, Nerchio, and SortOf in the MLG qualifiers to earn a seed at the Fall Championship. However, this will be his first time competing in a live tournament that's dominated by Koreans, and we'll have to wait and see how he handles this kind of test.

#24: Clarity.jookTo
#23: Quantic.Golden

Version 2.0 of the infamous Sleep-Golden "Take every North American online qualifier spot" duo. Expect one of these guys to make it through the open bracket.



The Grubby Line was always kind of a vague concept, so here's a way to make it easier to grasp. Given a certain player, ask yourself "do you feel okay about this player being one of the world representatives against the Koreans at the WCS World Finals?" If the answer is "yes," then the player is above the Grubby line. If the answer is "no," then he is below it. Conveniently enough, the answer to that question when asked about Grubby is an emphatic "maybe," thus making him the measuring stick once more.

Grubby always seems to be getting a little bit better, and he had his most impressive SC2 result a month back by placing top six at WCS Europe to earn a spot at the WCS World Finals. Combined with good performances against Koreans at IEM Cologne, and his rather impressive 19 - 29 record in the MvP tournament (the best foreigner was NaNiwa at 26 - 22), it's not a real shock to see Grubby beat Koreans anymore. Still, we'd like to see just a little bit more before we think about renaming the line.



#21: EG.ThorZaIN.RC

How typical. After months of being fairly anonymous, ThorZaIN popped up at the ASUS ROG GD Invitational to take the first place prize of $4,000, seemingly his way of reminding everyone "by the way, I did happen to beat a GSL champion in the finals of a major tournament, just in case you forgot." While ThorZaIN's never been that good at MLG tournaments, it's that kind of potential that forces you to keep him in mind as a darkhorse player.

#20: NaNiwa

Now that some time has passed, we can attempt to put NaNiwa's incredible rise and fall in the GSL into perspective. Perhaps he did get lucky during his two Ro8 runs to draw mostly Terran and Protoss opponents, but he definitely showed Code S level play in those two match-ups. And while his play during the five game losing streak to send him down to Code B was extremely disappointing, you could say that was in turn, an unlucky stretch. After all, NaNiwa was the only non-Korean player to have a win rate over 50% in the recent MvP tournament. For a player of that caliber, it's hard to think Code B is a natural state - it's probably more of a natural fluctuation.

#19: Acer.Scarlett

After managing to dodge out of every live event where she would have possibly played a Code S class Korean player, Scarlett will finally step into the ring at Dallas and show us the games we've all been anxious to see. From IPL4 and various online tournaments, we know that she can beat Korean players. But so can other foreigners like Vortix, Nerchio, or NaNiwa when they're on their game - what we really want to know is how she compares to the others. By the end of this tournament, we'll know whether Scarlett was overhyped, or perhaps deserving of even more praise. For now, #19 it is.

#18: coL.GanZi

Ganzi joined Complexity as a top five Terran, but his skill level steadily declined ever since (as with many others pros, health problems with his wrists didn't help). He fell into Code B in Korea, and more recently he was knocked out by Eifer and Binski at MLG Summer. After that, we were ready to write him off as a relevant player entirely.

And then all of the sudden, Ganzi totally changed our opinions by winning the open qualifier into Iron Squid II. After chewing up some foreigners in the earlier rounds, Ganzi went on to defeat HyuN, Polt, and Luvsic to take first place. Honestly, we have no idea what to make of it, and it could be a little too early to declare for sure that Ganzi is back. However, since he's historically been one of the more consistent players on the tournament circuit, we're willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one.

#17: coL.Heart

The One Who Cheesed. The Destroyer of Greed. Oft maligned. Sometimes loathed. But also admired for his straight up dedication to winning by exploiting any lapses in early defense. Heart has built up an excellent MLG resume on the back of his very stylistic way of playing and even made it to a round of sixteen in Code S.

In the last two seasons of GSL, there's been a new trend in Heart's play: a tendency to exchange his all-in strategies for outright greedy openers. Fascinatingly, this has also coincided with a fall back to Code A. One must wonder if a return to MLG will mark a return to his more familiar style of play.

#16: Axiom.CranK

It was a very heartwarming tale when Crank, a player down on his luck after leaving SlayerS, was rescued by the lovely Genna Bain, her husband Total Biscuit, and their pal Husky. They helped Crank go to Summer Championship, where he seized the opportunity by making a splash out of the open bracket. Things got even better for Crank, with his good performance in Raleigh leading to him becoming the first player of Team Axiom.

However, that was just the beginning of the fairy tale. With old SlayerS teammate Ryung reportedly joining the team in a week, and Axiom wanting to one day have a strong enough Korean roster to take on the GSTL, this Cinderella needs to keep on producing results. As we all know, you can become old news in the blink of an eye in the world of StarCraft II. Crank might have been the story of Raleigh, but he needs a good performance at Dallas to stay relevant.

#15: TSL_Revival

One of the more curious subplots of MLG Raleigh was how Revival, TSL's fourth or maybe even fifth string Zerg, quietly earned himself an eight place finish, picking up victories over MarineKing and Stephano along the way. Is it a testament to how much luck factors in at tournaments? The shallowness of the MLG Raleigh player pool? Or the depth of the TSL Zerg line?

Whatever the case may be, we give all due credit to Revival for the best tournament finish in career. At the same time, we'd like to see him prove himself again before we increase our appraisal of him any further. After all, there must be a reason he's never broken out of Code A.

#14: Quantic.TheStC
#13: FnaticRC Oz

It might not be obvious at first glance, but TheStC and Oz are fairly similar types of players. Both have visited the top four of major tournaments on multiple occasions, shown championship caliber play at their best, and both are marred by terrible inconsistency. Oh, they've also both fallen to Code B from Code S, which further serves to reinforce that last point.

Right now, their upward and downward trajectories seem to be intersecting. After finishing top four at MLG Summer and DH Valencia, TheStC bombed at DreamHack Bucharest, a tournament with a soft player pool that was ripe for the taking. On the other hand, Oz recently escaped from a months-long funk to tear through the MvP invitational tournament, making it all the way to the finals (yet to be played at the time of writing). Maybe MLG Dallas will be another turning point for these two, but for now, Oz seems to be the one with the hot hand.

#12: EG.JYP.RC

As always, JYPvZ should be something fans look forward to this upcoming weekend. JYP's PvZ has always been very strong, and he's also one of the more creative and entertaining players out there (in his most recent game against HyuN, he showed phoenix/dt composition that was reminiscent of Brood War). While he lost the game, it breathed some new life into an otherwise stale matchup. As for JYPvT, JYP has slowly increased his winrate from 15% to a slightly less abysmal 33% in the last 2 seasons of GSL. While the big Terran names at MLG - Bomber, TaeJa and Polt - are probably still beyond his reach, we still think that on the whole, this is the best JYP has looked coming into a foreign tournament.

#11: San

Currently holding the award for best teamless player in the world until MMA's contract expires on the 6th of November (and even then, it would be debatable), AND manliest player in the world, ManZenith is making his MLG Championship debut in Dallas. Coming into this tournament under the radar, San qualified through the invite-only qualifiers for Korea, not dropping a single series the entire way. We all know everyone loves Parting's exploits with the 'wonwonwon' immortal-sentry all-in, but if you want a slightly poor man's version of Parting, look no further than San. Parting and San are close friends who share builds between each other, and don't forget that San is the player who knocked Life out of the OSL qualifiers. While he might not have as much 'soul' as PartinG, San's manliness should make his immortals and sentry all-in just as deadly.

#10: LG-IM_First

At MLG Summer Championship at Raleigh, First looked mighty fine as he blazed a path to the grand finals, taking down players like HerO, TaeJa, and Losira on the way. However, once he reached the grand finals, he was gutted by Leenock in one of the most brutal, one-sided series we've seen at an MLG.

What did we learn about First? On the plus side, his PvT and PvP were indeed, the real deal, on par with the best Code S players. On the flip side, his PvZ left something to be desired, and he didn't look all so composed when he had to play in high pressure games. Whether or not First can make another deep run into the championship bracket will depend on whether he has shored up those weaknesses.

#9: ST_Bomber

Inconsistency is a word we throw around fairly liberally, but Bomber is definitely the poster boy. At his best, he won an MLG championship. At his worst? He got sent all the way down to Code B.

Here's how it will go for Bomber this tournament. A) He will look extremely poor as he drops out of his group bracket early on, then make a ridiculously good run through the championship bracket to make everyone exclaim "WHY CAN'T HE ALWAYS PLAY THAT WAY?" before being finally eliminated around 12~10th place. Or B) Bomber will do extremely well and place top four or above, then return to Korea and get knocked out of the first round of Code A.

#8: AZUBU.viOLet

With SeleCT retiring from StarCraft II, Violet will be the honorary Korean claimed by America this MLG. Violet has been relatively quiet since MLG Summer, having not attended any major LANs or tournaments so it’s hard to know his exact skill level right now. However, Violet has always shown his best play in America, and there's no reason to believe he somehow became significantly worse while we weren't looking. He's always within striking distance of the championship at any tournament he goes to, so even with the addition of KeSPA players, we expect viOLet to do well as usual.

#7: Liquid`HerO

The Liquid Protoss has undergone some interesting transformations since his debut on the foreign tournament scene. He has gone from being a fringe GSL player to a household name in Code S. He has gone from a vZ specialist to finding real strength and consistency in his play versus Terran. His PvP has fluctuated over time, but recently, it has become much more reliable after being a fatal weakness. Overall, HerO has reached a strange equilibrium of skill.

But while he looks to be much better off in terms of Korean competitions, the same doubts still linger concerning his chances for success internationally. Of all the Code S staples traversing the globe in pursuit of foreign success, he still looks like the most vulnerable to lose to cheese. He still is the kind of player one suspects will be PvP'd out of a tournament. The kind of player you expect to draw another team-kill against TaeJa. While perhaps he does not deserve the 'inconsistent' tag as much as some of the other competitors on this list, there is still a feeling that something will go wrong for HerO.

#6: SK_MC

The Protoss republic has been in chaos ever since the once-dictator MC was ousted from his presidential palace by Seed. As a bitter power struggle rages, Rain is the presently reigning Protoss with double crowns in the OSL and WCS Asia. MC mounted a strong offensive to return to power, but was thwarted in the semi-finals of the OSL, and failed to qualify for Code S. Forced to continue his exile, MC has decided to go abroad to the United States in search for support.

MC’s overall form is hard to pinpoint lately, as he's swung between looking overbearingly strong or underwhelmingly weak, often within the same series. Still, you can't count out MC’s biggest strength in his intangibles. Similar to MVP, MC knows how to win no matter what condition he is in, especially at foreign events. Unfortunately for MC, Rain also has an eye on expanding his international influence, and has come to Dallas as well. With both players starting in the open bracket, it’ll be a race to the top for MC to prove that outside of Korea, he is still the #1 protoss.

#5: Liquid`TaeJa

TaeJa's 0 - 4 elimination from Code S might come as a surprise to some, but if we use 20/20 hindsight, it was something we could have seen coming. Starting from his Ro8 match against Leenock, and going onto his Ro4 match against Life, TaeJa definitely didn't look like the near-perfect player who won three foreign tournaments in three months. While he was good enough to get by Leenock in a sloppy series, Life had no patience for weakness as he stomped TaeJa down 3 - 0. If you look at his Code S Ro32 group as a continuation, it makes sense.

So, the question at MLG will obviously be, what kind of TaeJa will show up? If it was just a temporary dip in form, then of course TaeJa is right up there with the rest of the title contenders. But if he plays like he did in Code S, then he has absolutely no chance in Dallas.

#4: TSL_Polt

At the start of 2012, Polt single-handedly kept TSL on the map by traveling to foreign tournaments and bringing money home from just about every one of them. Winning at Assembly, getting second at Lone Star Clash and Dreamhack Stockholm, and placing in the money for every MLG tournament he was flown to, Polt was able to bring much needed positive attention to a team that seemed to be losing another core member every week. The downside to all his foreign glory was that his Korean results suffered. Dropping down to Code A for a few seasons and even dangling dangerous near the edge of Code B, Polt made the bold move to cease his international activities and streaming until his Korean results improved.

It's paid off. Polt is now at a league topping 7-0 in NASL, qualified for IPL5, and most importantly, is in his second straight Ro16 of Code S, something that he hadn't done since the middle of 2011. At the top of his game, beating the likes of DongRaeGu, Taeja, and Gumiho in the past month, Polt looks better than he's been in a long time. He's more than ready to venture back forth into the international tournament scene, and even coming out of the open bracket, he is one of the favorites to win it all in Dallas.

#3: FXOLeenock

After having a disappointing first six months in 2012, Leenock came on fire in the second half of the year, placing top eight in the GSL, anchoring a GSTL winning team, defeating Nestea, MMA, and JYP for a $12,000 prize in China, and of course, winning MLG Raleigh from the bottom of the open bracket.

He did all of that while adding a new dimension to his game, demonstrating some of the most frustrating hive-turtle play we've seen. Leenock was already a championship class player with just his trademark aggressive style of play, but now he has become an even scarier, truly complete player.

For sure, Leenock is under-hyped going into Dallas, and he could use some more of the spotlight. Alas, we can't say that this state of affairs is unfair. Because as red-hot as Leenock has been, there are two players who have been even hotter. And they're both going to Dallas.

#2: SK.Telecom_By.Rain

Just the idea of Rain winning the OSL, MLG, GSL and WCS in a span of a month and what it would mean for StarCraft II history was enough to blow anyone's mind. However, we will just have to settle for a juicy storyline that begs for wild speculation.

Whether it was KeSPA, SK Telecom, or Rain's decision, it came to be that out of nowhere, GomTV was informed that Rain would be participating at MLG Dallas just days before his Code S match. With no way to reconcile the schedules on such extreme short notice, Rain was forced to forfeit his games in Code S.

Rain is KeSPA's new golden boy. He has been the only KeSPA player who has shown that he can go toe to toe with the top talent on a regular basis in Code S. Even Flash, the best player of the last few years in Brood War, was not able to get past the Up/Down matches and fell all the way down back to Code A. Rain has been able to distance himself from the rest of KeSPA, won WCS Asia against a mixed pool of eSF and KeSPA elites, and then won the OSL with a dominating victory over a former GSL champion in DongRaeGu.

After winning WCS Asia and OSL, what if Rain continues to go on to win MLG, and then the WCS World Finals... Where would that leave the fifth season of GSL? Would there always be a mental footnote in everyone's mind due to Rain forfeiting? With how Rain is playing lately, you can't rule out that possibility. Luckily for ESF and GOM, they have a champion of their own who is ready to represent them in the wild, wild west...

#1: ST_Life

Sitting atop of the world is Life. In all honesty, Life and Rain are coming into this tournament as almost joint #1's, but if you had to force us to pick one to place at the top of the ranking, we would have to give the slight edge to Life (the decision was not unanimous). Both Life and Rain had recent online losses that very slightly tarnished the shine of their OSL/GSL championships, with Life losing 5-4 to Hyun in Fight Club and Rain losing 4-1 to hyvaa in the MvP Invitational, but neither mean much when you look at how dominating the two players were on their roads to their respective championships.

Life, at fifteen years of age, lived up to his title of prodigy and won his first major Korean title before his sixteenth birthday. The only player to win a major Korean title at a younger age than Life will also be at MLG Dallas, that being Flash, arguably the greatest player in Brood War's decade long history. Life is still years away from being able to hold a candle to Flash's dominance in Brood War, but another major title in Dallas will reaffirm his place as the best player in the world, and one with possibly infinite potential in the future.

Dallas will have many juicy story lines like Flash's debut in an actual MLG championship, whether or not a foreigner can finally win a MLG tournament in 2012, and how well the other KeSPA pros will do in the group play, but the main story that everyone will be following all weekend long is the prospect of seeing a showdown between the GSL champion, and by proxy the ESF champion, Life, and the OSL champion, KeSPA's savior, Rain.

Two men will be walking into Dallas with supreme confidence, determined to show the world that they are the best in the world, but only one can win it all in the end. Brace yourselves. We might see the two most dangerous gunslingers in the east have one explosive showdown in the west.