"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 answer to a 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 this tournament. There's a lot of bracket luck involved, as well as a considerable advantage given to players who start with seeds, and doing a final ranking prediction would be pretty damn complicated. 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 on the overall appraisal of a player.
Notes:
The Power Rank only takes players competing at IPL5 into account.
The official pre-tournament fantasy bracket was used as a reference - some players may cancel or be absent from the tournament.
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.
It's very rare that we see one of these elusive creatures so far away from his natural habitat. The only international tournaments the Chinese usually attend are those that include the letters, "W" and "C". And even those usually held in China. Only through much cooperation between s.163.com(China's biggest fan site), MarsTV(one of China's broadcasting media), and IPL was a single seed secured for the Chinese. And as such, XiGua will have a lot riding on his shoulders. It's no secret that the Chinese SCII scene has been struggling. They lack money, tournament experience, and connections to the outside world. So it's a huge deal that Xigua is coming halfway across the world to attend such a prestigious tournament. China has combined their collective resources to send but one representative to America; it's as if Xigua is the last son of Krypton, sent on a rocket ship to Kansas Las Vegas as the last hope for their race.
Perhaps the most mysterious player in terms of how well he'll do, Sea will be Liquid's secret weapon heading into IPL. Most of the indication of Sea's skill comes from the EG MC tournament Sea competes in weekly. Though he suffered a loss to Empire.Happy in his very first, he easily beat the likes of Thorzain, Major, Luvsic, DdoRo, fraer, and Genius. His most recent victory against Genius was most notable, because in this series, Sea actually used mech to demolish the caught-off-guard Protoss player. Though he has a good record against some good players, Sea is very untested against fellow Koreans, especially the top ones we're used to seeing in the GSL. As IPL5 will be his debut offline tournament, Sea's progress will be a big story-line to follow this weekend. Will Sea cause waves, or will we have to wait till the next tide?
San has shown some amazing prowess in online preliminaries. He's earned flights to more than one MLG tournament through qualifiers, and he comes into IPL5 with a winners round four spot after taking second place in a very tough Korean regional. Strangely, the skill he shows in qualifiers never really shows up in the actual tournaments, leaving us to wonder what's the matter with San. It might just be a bad case of stage fright like it is for many other players, but he's got to do something about it if he doesn't want to squander his great starting position at IPL5.
So we've finally seen Scarlett in two big tournaments against top caliber players, and we've come to the initial conclusion that while she isn't Stephano and can't be predicted to consistently beat S-level Korean players, she is still good enough to be one of the few foreigners who is a real threat to said Code S level Koreans. The massive hype surrounding her since she upset BumblebeePrime at IPL4 has made everything she does get put under a microscope, so hopefully returning to the place where she got her big break will also mean a return to more realistic expectations. Scarlett isn't a player you expect to win the title, but she is someone you expect to show the Koreans that they won't have it easy.
Over the course of a year, Vortix has climbed from being just Lucifron's brother to being the more accomplished Duran. After a rapid rise that seemed to know no end, the last two weeks have finally started to reveal the precipice of Vortix's climb. At the WCS Grand Finals, he lost 2-3 to Creator and at IEM Singapore, he lost again in a close 2-3 to Sting. Vortix seems to be able to fight toe-to-toe with top Koreans, but lacks that final bit to be able to break into Stephano territory. Perhaps it's just a lack of chances? Well, here comes the third try in three weeks.
The defending IPL champ has been in a strange spot lately. The wins have stopped coming, but at the same time, the quality of his play suggests that he's better than what the stats say. With aLive always having struggled with TvZ post-patch, the difference seems to be that while he was previously able to barely win over top class Terran and Protoss players, he's now barely losing those same games. It would be great if he could return to Las Vegas and tip those narrow margins back in his favor, but his current form makes it seem unlikely.
In power ranks, we often joke about how Nerchio is the domestic version of Stephano, preferring to stay in Europe while his French counterpart finds success all over the world. Well, no more! Not two weeks ago, Nerchio made the rare trip to Asia to compete in the WCS Grand Finals. And this week, he'll make his first appearance on American soil, a truly joyous occasion for those hoping for something less than total Korean domination at IPL5.
Nerchio doesn't seem to be optimistic though, as when TL spoke with him at the WCS Finals, he was in a state of despair over Protoss. Specifically, the Protoss known as CreatorPrime. Lo and behold, look who Nerchio has to play in round two, none other than Creator himself. For a player who has made much of his fame by defeating Protoss players, MC and Yonghwa in particular, it's curious that Nerchio would struggle so much with Creator, who he holds a 0 - 5 record against. But hey, as long as they're in the same place, maybe Nerchio could ask HyuN for some pointers.
As a possible heir to PuMa's throne, TheStC has experienced a condensed version of his predecessor's career over the last four months. With a combination of beastly TvT and TvP, backed by sufficient all-in skills to prop up an average TvZ game, TheStC produced some great results at foreign tournaments, placing top four at MLG Summer and Dreamhack Valencia. And then, like PuMa, his TvZ stopped holding up in a Zerg filled world, with Snute and Stephano knocking him out of DreamHack Winter. Unless TheStC can improve his TvZ game greatly or bring some better cheeses, things can only get worse at this rate.
The former NS Hoseo Terran Sting never made a big impact in GomTV run Korean scene, but he's showed a great aptitude for winning multi-game series in international tournaments. With a combination of cheeses, greedy economic gambles, and strong two base timing attacks, Sting found success first in TSL4, and then at IEM Singapore. While some people might not like his choice of style, you can't deny that it's getting him results, and that IPL5 seems like just the kind of tournament where Sting would do well.
Somehow, Heart is still one of the most underrated players in the business. People have been waiting for him to regress to his true level ever since he took third place at MLG Winter Championship in March (eliminating HuK with two 1/1/1's didn't help) but he's stayed the course - and he might have even gotten better. At the last two MLG Championships he put in tie-7th and tie-5th performances, and he even made it into Code S as if to send a message to his haters. Yes, Heart might have a stronger-than-normal penchant for cheese, but his cheeses are strong because he uses them in tandem with other strategies. His tournament results speak for themselves, and those who continue to underrate him do so at their own peril.
Two of the three central figures behind the SlayerS drama will be in competition at IPL5, with only Jessica required to complete the unhappiest reunion ever.
Crank seems to have come down a bit after a nice tie-9th finish at MLG Summer Championship, whether it was due to continued problems with his neck pains or distraction from the SlayerS drama. He's proven to be a solid Protoss player in his limited outings, but has yet to have a truly impressive result.
Then there's MMA, the player that the power rank committee had the most contrasting opinions about. No, not in terms of his culpability in the entire SlayerS scandal - just in terms of how good he is now. There's no soft way to put it: his recent results have been dismal, and he's dropped straight down to Code B. On the other hand, you can never count out players who have played at the highest level. While you have to keep the cautionary tale of jjakji in mind, you also have to think about the times MC and MVP surged back after looking faded, proving that there's something timeless about class. MMA's in the roughest patch of his career, but now that he's found a new team and put the drama behind him, it could be time for his recovery to begin.
Looking at Ryung finally get his big break, we can't help but be reminded a tiny bit of ByuN. Like Ryung, he was another Terran who was a regular fixture in Code S, a core part of his team, and someone who could play at a championship level on his best days. Since Ryung has finally put together that one good run, you have to think that maybe ByuN could have his day as well. They do differ in one important way, however. Ryung's great at TvZ, while ByuN's specialty is TvP - not something that bodes well for ByuN in the current environment.
You have to be a little bit disappointed: After MVP singled out YoDa as the best player on the LG-IM team, he's proved himself to be merely good-but-not-great. With clean mechanics and strong macro play, there's a hint of an excellent player lying underneath, but somehow he hasn't come to light in the GSL. At least we know MVP's words weren't entirely lip service, as LG-IM choose to send YoDa as their IPL Team Arena finalist seed. While it only means so much when you consider Seed was already qualified and Yonghwa has WCG duty this weekend, it shows that the team has faith in their #2 Terran. Perhaps the rapid-fire, gauntlet style of foreign tournaments is what YoDa needs to really show his skills?
Though it's been overshadowed by many of the bigger storylines of the year, viOLet's consistency in 2012 has been remarkable. Just look at his results on Liquipedia – he's been top eight in nearly every major tournament he's entered, and he even made the Code S Ro16 as if to prove that he's not just taking advantage of weaker international opposition. While viOLet has been fairly quiet in the past few months (a top four performance at LSC2 was quickly buried by the onslaught of giant year end tournaments), that's no reason to think one of the most consistent players of 2012 has somehow declined. With a little bit of that all-important tournament luck, he could be right back in the championship picture.
Stephano hasn't been able to impress with his recent performances at DH Winter and the BWC, but he's still the best shot the foreigners have at winning this tournament. The champion of IPL3 and top six finisher at IPL4, Stephano returns to Vegas with a chance to make a year end statement to the people who think there's any substance to the EG curse. While his last two tournament outings were poor, everything will be forgiven with a strong showing at IPL5. Stephano doesn't necessarily need to take the title due to the stacked player field, but letting a player like Vortix or Nerchio finish higher than him could re-open the 'best foreigner' discussion that seemed slammed shut just a few months ago.
After looking like he had roared back to his early 2012 form heading into MLG Dallas, Polt instead looks like he's back to being in so-so form. With a disappointing 9~12th finish at MLG and then a disastrous Lone Star Clash where he didn't even finish in the money, Polt traveled back to Korea for his Code S Ro16 matches. While he didn't make it to the quarterfinals, he was still able to knock off Parting 2 - 0 before losing to semi-finalists Bogus and Sniper to be eliminated from the tournament. Heading into IPL5, nothing would really surprise us from Polt. He could win it all, as we've known for a while that he's one of the best Terrans in the world when he's fully prepared and in form. He could also fall out early, in a third straight disappointing result.
Corollary to Bomber's Law: If Bomber does not disappoint, it will be in order to set up a bigger disappointment later.
It's surprising and depressing how well this rule holds up, as Bomber is great at building up momentum with a string of good results, only to smash into a brick wall in a burning wreck. His great runs at MLG Fall (including a fantastic win over by.Rain) and Lone Star Clash seemed like signs of a Bomber revival, but his fans are cautious about getting their hopes up lest they get burned again. As usual, Bomber enters the tournament with the potential to win it all, but also bearing a huge weight of doubt.
Monk: I could not believe that so many of my fellow writers have called DRG down and out for the count, ranking him so low here in the power rank! After all, DRG is still arguably the best performing player of 2012. And did we forget that he was recently in the finals of an OSL? Or that he still made round of 16 in the GSL?
Sure, DRG is in a mini-slump at the moment, but we've all seen those DRG mini-slumps before, and each time he came back. The last time we doubted DRG, he made it all the way to the finals of the OSL. And more recently, look no further than the fact that coach Choi of MVP still saved DRG as his closer/ace in the GSTL match against TSL, sending even the "higher rated" Sniper beforehand. Ladies and gentlemen, be prepared to see DRG surprise us all and silence the naysayers yet again.
You have to be looking at MC anxiously as he comes to IPL5. It's been nearly four months since he earned his last serious payday at an international tournament, having earned $6,500 for a second place finish in August's ASUS ROG Assembly tournament. The foreign circuit is MC's bread and butter, and he seems bound to cash in in Vegas, regardless of criticisms of an inflexible style.
Someone would say the cracks are showing, with his Ro8 elimination at IEM Singapore being the latest disappointing result. But this is MC in an international tournament, for which we must hold an equal amount of reverence as we do for MVP in the GSL. The major complication would be that this tournament is a little more Korean than international, but we ARE talking about the third place OSL finisher here.
MMA and Ryung may be on different teams, yet somehow they're still connected. As previously mentioned, MMA is in a situation where many are willing to overlook his current form because of his past results. It's the same case for Ryung, but not in a positive way. After so many tournaments where Ryung proved he was good-but-not-great, it seems that many believe his current semi-final run in Code S is a temporary spike rather than a real shift.
After all, what Ryung showed was mostly an increase in consistency (he was already capable of playing world class games on his best days) - something that can be hard to tell apart from luck without seeing a lot of games. It's all very familiarly unfair for Ryung, as his fellow semi-finalists are receiving the benefit of the doubt because of their lack of a track record, when it's not yet clear that any of them are the real deal either.
As with MMA, the Power Rank committee was conflicted on where Ryung should go, and we ended up compromising at #12.
Squirtle comes back to IPL5, mostly known as the guy who should have won IPL4. As history tells us, aLive bested Squirtle in the finals of the previous IPL, but what do we find when we dig a little deeper? Squirtle had tirelessly clawed his way to the finals through the open bracket, the group stage, and then the loser bracket of the championship round, playing around forty games in three days. Meanwhile, Alive progressed from the lofty group stage into the finals, watching his would-be challengers scrap against each other in the dirt. Even though Alive was holding the trophy at the end, many were more impressed by Squirtle's second place finish.
The momentum of IPL4 saw Squirtle to a Code S finals, and earned him recognition as the best Protoss player in the world. After that, there followed a decline, where Squirtle seemed more egg than blastoise. Recently, however, Squirtle seems to be finding his stride again, cruising in Code A and playing a key part for Startale in Team Leagues. As he's returning to the place where his career first took off, he couldn't have had better timing.
Not since Jjakji won a GSL champion last November, has a Code S champ looked so vulnerable. The path to Seed's trophy was paved with close 3 - 2's and cheesy play in a PvP finals. Sure, Seed showed some instances of greatness directly after his championship; he was the hero who prevented Taeja from all-killing IM twice at the IPL TAC finals and he qualified to WCS Asia after placing in WCS Korea. Seed's stable and solid play inspired confidence that he was not just the beneficiary of a lucky run, but a player who would be around in the scene for a long time. But more recent events suggest differently. Seed fell out of WCS Asia, and in last week's GSL matches Seed joined jjakji in Code B after losing to the unheralded TSL_Center.
Few would remember that in IPL4, Jjakji was considered one of the favorites. After his GSL win, Jjakji too, had his successes, even winning the IPL tournament of champions. But after a disappointing performance at IPL4, his stock seemed to plummet, sending him into obscurity. Seed will have to do his best at IPL5 to avoid suffering the same fate.
It's weird to say, but Symbol, the hottest kid on the Zerg block, is rapidly being phased out by newer players like Life, Sniper and even his own teammate Hyun. Red hot with momentum after surprising everyone at Iron Squid in April and then following it up with a reverse all-kill of LG-IM in the GSTL, Symbol was never able to get past the Ro8 of Code S and went out 0 - 2 in this season's Ro16. With Hyun destroying IPL Fight Club, making the semifinals of GSL, and even used as TSL's final ace in the most recent GSTL semifinals, Symbol has seemingly been replaced as the head Zerg on the TSL team. Hyun and Symbol are known close friends and share everything when it comes to builds, and Symbol has stated thousands of times that Hyun is one of the main reasons why he is so good. Symbol is still one of the best Zerg players in the world, but this is a tournament where he's in danger of being demoted from TSL's super ace to Hyun's sidekick if he can't put in an awesome performance.
The events of DreamHack Winter were critical in HerO overtaking TaeJa for the first time in months. Both destroyed their group stage opponents, but come the playoff stage, TaeJa had a fairly rough time handling ThorZaIN and Nerchio (his games vs. the latter were tighter than the 3 – 0 scoreline suggests) while HerO breezed through monchi and Snute. And while we don't take head to head directly into account in these rankings (our criteria for tiebreaks are more nebulous than DreamHack's), HerO's 4 – 0 finals victory over TaeJa counted as a quality win against a Code S player, giving him the push ahead.
While both players are more than good enough to dominate international competition, one has to wonder how things will go for them against the masses of Korean Zergs at IPL5. It's those very Korean Zergs who caused them to drop from the current season of Code S in the first place, and HerO's loss against Sen at WCS and TaeJa's less-than-easy wins against foreign Zergs at DreamHack suggest they haven't found the whole answer just yet. It's a strange world where HerO and TaeJa's worst match-ups are now against Zerg, and while both can get far, they won't be able to win the championship without fixing that point.
Bogus, man. He started out his SC2 career with a 1 - 8 record on one of the most overlooked teams in the KeSPA Proleague, and he is now on the verge of creating history in Vegas. He not only has a chance to become the second royal roader in GSL history and the first KeSPA player to take a GSL championship, but he is also listed to take part in the IPL5 tournament as well. With comparable micro to MarineKing and Polt, he has an array of timing attacks that he can rely on to take out players in the early game. In the times he's been pushed to the mid and late game, Bogus has been just as solid, having wins over Soulkey and Sniper on his way to the semis. Innovation, Bogus, or whatever you want to call him, is a different kind of KeSPA player. He erased his past and started anew by changing his ID, and he is the only KeSPA player to do away with the barcode ID and publicize his actual account. Eccentric, powerful, and strong enough to a-move to victory, he is one of the top contenders to take the title in Sin City.
Sniper makes his international debut after having made a reputation for himself among the hardcore GSL fans as Mr. Anti-Fun. In his career, he's eliminated fan favorites like NaNiwa, Sen, Clide, Leenock and PartinG from the GSL, robs MVP fans of opportunities to see DongRaeGu play as the ace, on top of which he recently all-killed the remnants of the SlayerS team in their emotional farewell GSTL match. In the latter match, he also happened to make SlayerS_Eve cry in her debut game, confirming his position as the biggest fan-not-favorite in a very long time. As he starts at the bottom of the IPL5 bracket, he's guaranteed plenty of games where he can cause even more grief.
Though Sniper's not the first player to knock out popular players and earn their fans' ire, there's something about him that makes him even further embody the spirit of 'no fun allowed' (he's the anti-mage of SC2). At least players like Heart and Sparta had the storylines of resourceful underdogs getting by to make them interesting. Sniper is just flat out excellent in a very unremarkable way, and we know from years of esports that unless your name is MVP or Flash, that's not a good way to get people to like you. The thing is, Sniper just might have the talent to get to that level.
After the WCS Grand finals, Creator must have felt a bit aggrieved. Just compare Creator's opponents of Nerchio, Vortix, and Rain against Parting's opponents, Socke, Suppy, and Sen, and even PartinG would have to say he had it a bit easy. And of course, the finals happened to be a PvP... Even so, $40,000 is a pretty good consolation prize, and Creator seemed to be a good sport about it.
Unlike IPL4 at the beginning of the year, which was Creator's first international tournament, Creator comes into IPL5 as a veteran, a known quantity, and one of the favorites to win the championship. But even as a contender, Creator is looking for his first real big league win. At the end of the day, TSL4 and WCS Korea are being remembered as very tough competitions, but not tournaments of the highest order. With Creator's failure to win at the WCS Grand Finals, he will be looking to IPL5 as his chance to finally win on the grandest of stages.
Oh, but those dreaded Zergs. Last week, against Hyun in the GSL, Creator seemed to be trying to make a statement with his game on Daybreak. He got his ultimate army, everything he could want, even highly upgraded carriers with templar support. But even as Hyun let Creator be, not attacking at all while each player built up his force of choice, the final outcome was a Protoss massacre. As the only player we've ranked in the top 5 who's not a Zerg, Creator better be prepared with some new type of fly swatter if he wants to squash some bugs.
Although Hyun was one of the first A-team KeSPA players to switch to SC2, his debut games in the GSL left much to be desired. In those debacles, Hyun looked like a perfect neophyte to the game. He missed his opponent's troop movements totally, used very questionable builds, and seemed to lack understanding of basic unit counters. So Hyun went back to the drawing board, determined to live up the hype befitting an elephant. He waited in the shadows, fading into the label that was "TSL Zerg". And even when Symbol arose as the dominant TSL Zerg, Hyun still did not fret nor did he lose determination to become the very best; he knew his time drew near.
Fast forward to August 6th, 2012, a date many would consider a turning point in Hyun's career. On that date, Hyun was pitted against the top Protoss at the time, Squirtle, in IPL's Fight Club #28. With Squirtle's then stunning form, his the 3 week streak, and Hyun's relative anonymity, it seemed at first like an easy walkover for the Startale Protoss. But don't forget that Hyun once broke even God's streak. When Hyun toppled Squirtle, many called it a fluke, but as his streak grew and grew to its current 14 kills, none could deny that HyuN had finally arrived. And with his current standing in the GSL Round of 4, well, it's about time.
With the Zerg race being derided from all corners for its boring play, Leenock is nearly single-handedly keeping up their reputation as race that can play dynamic, entertaining games. While even Life seems to be gradually abandoning his more unpredictable play for the comfort of BL-infestor, Leenock is going the opposite direction and getting more erratic by the day (alas, he's bound to play standard in ZvZs). Whether it's by going for Nydus all-ins, overlord drops, or early baneling busts, Leenock makes sure that his opponents never know what to prepare for.
Even with his less than standard play, Leenock has been one of the best performing and most consistent players in the second half of the year, winning one MLG and taking second place in another, as well as reaching the final eight of two consecutive Code S tournaments. Leenock's made the most out of limited international opportunities compared to other players, and opportunities don't come any bigger than this.
Life doesn't have a GSL title to play for in Las Vegas due to a surprise loss to Soulkey in the GSL Ro16, but he still has a lot to gain. With Rain ending his 2012 campaign by taking third at WCS, and Mvp opting out of IPL5 to rest his body, this could be the championship that affirms Life as the most accomplished player of 2012. DRG and MVP have the best resumes so far this year, but for player of the year honors, you'd have to say a triple of GSL/MLG/IPL would give Life the edge.
On the other hand, another quick exit in this tournament would start to put some doubt on Life's true abilities, and make people wonder if his style has already been figured out in a few short weeks. It's been a year where momentum has been alarmingly hard for anyone to keep going, and it was a shock to see Life drop out of the GSL in ZvZ's after having had a 70%+ win rate in the match-up earlier in the year. If a KeSPA newcomer in Soulkey could figure out his ZvZ style so easily, you have to wonder if the same can't be said for his aggressive, unpredictable style of playing non-mirrors.
But then again, you have to remember that he's still a 15-year-old kid who's still enrolled in school while only playing StarCraft II full time during vacations (by the way, a 2 month winter break in Korea is coming up). In those circumstances, he came up with a style that all his colleagues say is impossible to imitate, and executed it well enough to win a GSL and MLG in dominating fashion. Thus, while Life's momentum might have taken its first real hit after MLG Dallas, he's still the most exciting young player in the world, and the one nobody will want to face.
Found some placements a little questionable like Seed, Symbol, TaeJa, Squirtle and MC who I felt were a little too high. Hoping for a TSL victory nevertheless.
I would have put Stephano below Violet and Nerchio. He hasn't been practicing since he got back from his most recent trip to Korea, and any elite player who drops series to TT1, Idra and Fraer in the same month is having problems.
I like Bogus at 6 although I'm not familiar with his TvP at all. He appears to have the best tvz in the business and even managed to make the matchup look a tad imbalanced in favor of Terran, which means he must be a deity of some sort.
I'm not sure I would put Life above Hyun although I obviously can't quibble too much with you for doing so; he's looking for whatever reason a little less like a world beater lately. He recently actually lost a tvz to Gumiho where he made it to blord-infestor; I thought the world was going to explode.
I hate zergs, but drg is definitely underrated. One of the few genuinely skilled zergs, with or without autowin patch, and even though he has an occasional weak showing he's always a top5 contender tbh.
Bogus is too high up. Rain proves that these foreign tournaments WRECK KeSPA players. KeSPA has never had to participate in these marathon tournaments before, and the variance in who you could play takes away the diligence and preparation advantage a lot of KeSPA players have.
On November 29 2012 06:15 Cyanocyst wrote: I didn't realize all the remaining GSL players were actually participating in IPL. I would have thought that they would rather stay focused on GSL.
you do realize GSL ro4 and finals is going to be at IPL right?
On November 29 2012 06:13 BaconofWar wrote: Bogus is too high up. Rain proves that these foreign tournaments WRECK KeSPA players. KeSPA has never had to participate in these marathon tournaments before, and the variance in who you could play takes away the diligence and preparation advantage a lot of KeSPA players have.
Honestly I don't think Nerchio should be in the top 30, at least not considered the second best foreigner anymore. Scarlett (who has taken care of Nerchio online and offline now), Vortix and maybe Naniwa should be in front of him.
Normally I really agree with these rankings but some of these seem kind of crazy. San in the top 30 when people like Ganzi/Naniwa and such aren't? Seed so high up when he has done little but lose recently. Especially having him above people who have slumped far less like Ryung, MC, Drg and such... some very odd choices indeed.
On November 29 2012 06:13 BaconofWar wrote: Bogus is too high up. Rain proves that these foreign tournaments WRECK KeSPA players. KeSPA has never had to participate in these marathon tournaments before, and the variance in who you could play takes away the diligence and preparation advantage a lot of KeSPA players have.
Rain won WCS Asia and placed the highest at MLG from players in the opening bracket
I think you're way too generous with the Zerg rankings and I predict that the Korean protoss will do real well in this tournament. My bet's on Creator or Squirtle winning the entire thing.
On November 29 2012 06:13 BaconofWar wrote: Bogus is too high up. Rain proves that these foreign tournaments WRECK KeSPA players. KeSPA has never had to participate in these marathon tournaments before, and the variance in who you could play takes away the diligence and preparation advantage a lot of KeSPA players have.
Rain got 5/6 th at MLG coming out of the open bracket and 3rd at WCS; so no, Bogus is not ranked too high
On November 29 2012 06:51 nemod wrote: Why isn't Rain participating? Anyway this tournament is gonna be a killer
Kespa can't play at IPL, the only reason Bogus is playing is because he's going there for GSL Semi Finals and it would look really bad if Kespa/MLG would say he can't play even though he's already there.
Nerchio and Scarlett are in the top 30 and yet Naniwa is not?? Pretty sure Naniwa has been making deep runs in tournaments and defeating "code-s level" koreans not just in the past but also quite recently.
TL writers have a serious bias against Naniwa and Huk and always have. While I agree Huk isn't nearly at the shape he once was in..... even when he was on the top of his game making deep runs in MLG and competing in GSL they still had him and Naniwa at the very bottom below many other less accomplished players (usually Korean).
Tricky power rank when the tournament is stupid stacked. Still some Koreans was really high up in the rank while a couple of foreigners were left out cold.
Like MC on rank 13, did I miss the tournaments MC did great in the last 3 months?
The StC above Nerchio, Scarlett, Vortix Sen and Naniwa? Well it cannot not have been tournaments results cause there it is K/O victory for the foreigners so someone must have seen something I did not.
Could make it longer by adding some question marks like Byun. Not sure about MMA either or well maybe he actually has been performing again.
Did I just miss it, or did Sen not make the list or honorable mentions? He did just do better than anyone outside of Korea in the BWC. He took second in the GSL WC NA qualifiers.
On November 29 2012 07:02 Killmo wrote: Did I just miss it, or did Sen not make the list or honorable mentions? He did just do better than anyone outside of Korea in the BWC. He took second in the GSL WC NA qualifiers.
On November 29 2012 07:02 Killmo wrote: Did I just miss it, or did Sen not make the list or honorable mentions? He did just do better than anyone outside of Korea in the BWC. He took second in the GSL WC NA qualifiers.
I like this list, maybe shifting Life a bit down and perhaps replacing Nerchio with NaNiwa.
Problem with lists like this in general is that there's been a lot of upsets in the GSL recently and no player's been really consistent - the GSL Ro4 is currently made up of mostly previously unmentioned players. This makes it hard to see who is actually on top.
And to whoever said Squirtle will win, funny you paired Creator with him - WCS Korea, maybe? Anyway, Squirtle does have a shot, but the odds are stacked against him... he's on the rise, but it's too soon for him to win an IPL, especially with so many strong players.
Nice writeup, and the most controversial ranking I've read here by far. Seed is way too high, MMA shouldn't even be on the list, Bogus and Yoda also too high tbh. I think ganzi or lucifron shouldve fought for a #30 ish spot.
I'd be interested to know who's translating for Xigua and whos coming with him from China or is he coming alone and meeting up with someone from IPL? Hopefully someone knows!
there is a major problem with Bogus's ranking (and ryung's). his only accomplishment (current gsl) has been tremendously less dramatic than ryung's. ryung who also has more experience, has shown better games vs better opponents in the most recent gsl is sitting at 12.... all 4 gsl semifinalists are coming to this tournament, why give credit to 3 of them and not all 4, do i need to remind everyone that given ryungs TvT and his recent TvZ's make him the favorite for this GSL season?? and hes ranked worse than squirtle seed bogus (whos accomplished nothing) and lmfao hero and taeja?
Don't like this list at all. Huge amount of things I disagree with. Stephano and Naniwa should be the only foreigners here IMO and Naniwa isn't even on it. Naniwa placed better than a lot of the people on this list at MLG and Dreamhack.
I really don't get why Ryung is only 12th. Especially since Bogus is 6th. They both have the same recent accomplishment of GSL ro4 and IMO Ryung's path was harder. He definitely deserves to be above at least Squirtle and Seed who have just been doing meh lately especially Squirtle. When is the last time Squirtle has looked good at all?
I also think some of the others that didn't make the list is bad. Genius, Sculp, Bboong, Byul, all deserve spots more than players like TheSTC, Vortix, Scarlett, and MMA.
On November 29 2012 07:27 JJH777 wrote: Don't like this list at all. Huge amount of things I disagree with. Stephano and Naniwa should be the only foreigners here IMO and Naniwa isn't even on it. Naniwa placed better than a lot of the people on this list at MLG and Dreamhack.
I really don't get why Ryung is only 12th. Especially since Bogus is 6th. They both have the same recent accomplishment of GSL ro4 and IMO Ryung's path was harder. He definitely deserves to be above at least Squirtle and Seed who have just been doing meh lately especially Squirtle. When is the last time Squirtle has looked good at all?
I also think some of the others that didn't make the list is bad. Genius, Sculp, Bboong, Byul, all deserve spots more than players like TheSTC, Vortix, Scarlett, and MMA.
even though you said exactly what i said about ryung and bogus which i commend, squirtle looked good this past weekend when startale threw him out last in the gstl and his games were quite impressive
On November 29 2012 07:27 JJH777 wrote: Don't like this list at all. Huge amount of things I disagree with. Stephano and Naniwa should be the only foreigners here IMO and Naniwa isn't even on it. Naniwa placed better than a lot of the people on this list at MLG and Dreamhack.
Nerchio placed better than Naniwa at Dreamhack and 5-0ed him in a recent showmatch, although I would root for Nani in an encounter between these two, I´ve got to admit that Nerchio is the clear Nr. 2, maybe even Nr. 1 of the foreign scene right now.
On November 29 2012 07:34 terfand wrote: Life and Leenock to bomb out and... To be serious, I don't even how can win this, everybody seem to be fragile and vulnerable.
Exactly, there are so many top tier players that it's hard to say just who's on top.
Also (as a response to others, not the quote), I think VortiX does deserve a spot, I'm not sure he's lost by a long shot to a top Korean since August at least. He 3-0'd No_Longer_TSL_Revival, 3-2'd TaeJa in the RSL on October 5th (so TaeJa was still in his prime), and in IEM, other than VortiX going 0-2 against MC and 1-2 against PiG (which was frankly awful), he lost only 2-3 to Sting, who went on to win the tournament. In the RSL, he lost 2-3 against Leenock earlier this month (who's in his prime), and then lost to Creator, also 2-3, in a very close series akin to Suppy's versus PartinG's. Because of all of this, I think VortiX does have a decent shot, if he can get past Sniper.
Some really strange choices here: Yoda so high, above Byun and Heart, DRG way too low and many more. Nonetheless, really great write-up as usual! Looking forward to see how it turns out, if my evaluations are so off, or the TL writers'
On November 29 2012 07:27 Advantageous wrote: why is San up there? Genius, Naniwa, and Hwangsin are all (in my opinion) better than him.
Because he continues to qualify for these things through tough Korean qualifiers, is in OSL, and qualified for GSL code A this season (got knocked out 2-1 by Happy).
Awesome write up as always, these power ranks are awesome for getting my juices flowing (is that a dirty saying?).
About Naniwa, there's noone else I'd rather see doing well but I cannot disagree with not putting him on the top 30. After MLG I was so excited to see him play at lone star clash and DHW but he didn't quite show the quality there that he's capable of, which is contending with Stephano over being the best foreigner.
Gonna cheer for my toss brothers, Nani, MC and Creator now and pray to god we don't have a zvz final.
No way. Seed is not worthy of #10. I wouldn't even say top 15. Somewhere between #20 and #15, but going from just barely clawing his way to a GSL finals, winning a PvP series against MC (Something Naniwa, HuK, Grubby, and others have done before) and then dropping off the face of the earth other than GSTL makes me really question the ranking here. We'll see though.
Damn, this must be the most staked tournament in the history of SC2 so far. Like, we're only missing Mvp and NesTea for it to reach new heights of stupidly stacked. The number of Koreans, and the list of accomplishment each has, is so ridiculously big that you could write entire articles on that alone. There are some former GSL regulars that didn't even make it to the top 30, including one finalist (Genius), as well as several code S champions and regulars that placed really low on the ranking.
I've never seen a more stacked tournament since IPL4.
I really like how IPL is forging its own identity here. GSL is the most prestigious tournament out there. DH is the best EU tournament bar none with the second best production (only behind GOM). MLG is the biggest NA event. WCS is the biggest global event, pitting players against each other from across the globe and trying to find new talent.
IPL is now confirmed as the most stupidly stacked event out of all, sporting so many GSL Code S Koreans that it nearly rivals the GSL Super tournament, not to mention the huge number of good foreign players also there. If IPL continues its good work and their 6th event is even more stacked then this, then I won't have words to describe it, I'm having trouble finding words right now.
On November 29 2012 07:27 JJH777 wrote: When is the last time Squirtle has looked good at all?
His team matches have been quite steller. Recently when ST played FXO he played Leenock and Lucky, and looked very top tier doing so. Quite enjoyable games.
On November 29 2012 07:26 Tentsraider wrote: wait a sec no MKP?
WCG
MKP/Parting/Younghwa at WCG MVP has wrist issues Nestea, Curious, Gumiho didn't qualify Rain and Flash didn't attempt to qualify, because they're Kespaplayers
On November 29 2012 07:26 Tentsraider wrote: wait a sec no MKP?
WCG
MKP/Parting/Younghwa at WCG MVP has wrist issues Nestea, Curious, Gumiho didn't qualify Rain and Flash didn't attempt to qualify, because they're Kespaplayers
Rest of Korean top 20ish are here.
If IPL could schedule their next event to include all these players + all the champions of the most recent events of the time + all the GSL champs that haven't retired, it would reach new levels of epic. Probably never going to happen due to the massive logistics involved and bad luck/circumstance that prevents certain players from attending, but then again, I didn't think it was possible to get as stacked as this one is either.
If I've learned anything from past rankings is that it never turns out that way(I guess that can be said about anything in life). Kinda hoping for an upset of some kind. Maybe Byun or Sea!
Edit: Or of course a Startale player would be awesome
Nice read. With MKP elsewhere, I feel free to root for (not Root, sorry) IPL.Hyun, Scarlett, and CreatorPrime.
Sad that there is no Grubby line for the ranking, though... guess it's tough without a Grubby.
I'm really feeling Hyun for this IPL/GSL weekend. Maybe it's finally his time. And IPL already has a check ready for him.
But I think it'd be nice to see Scarlett come out swinging for the return to her first major appearance.
(Wait, am I holding out hope for two zerg players? Ack! Umm... Taeja! Taeja should do well too. Phew! Thought I was betraying my race there for a minute.)
Honestly, Sniper is probably the best player right now in the word record-wise and momentum-wise, but I'm pretty sure he'll need to win IPL5, GSL and cure cancer for people to call him the best in the world.
On November 29 2012 08:32 Fionn wrote: Honestly, Sniper is probably the best player right now in the word record-wise and momentum-wise, but I'm pretty sure he'll need to win IPL5, GSL and cure cancer for people to call him the best in the world.
Sorry, Sniper.
If he can overcome a Fionn curse like that, he'll have a really good start on building up that reputation.
StarTale Bomber will bomb every enemy, but himself. Life will siphon life from his enemies. Hyun will be a cute fuck and demolish people. Squirtle fighting ^_^
On November 29 2012 08:21 Enel wrote: what a boring power rank, so many faceless koreans. Fucking foreigners better start winning korean heavy tournaments.
Rofl. Just because you don't care doesn't mean that the rest of us think the same way. Go back to watching your little foreigner tournaments while we bask in the epicness of GSL-level play. And to those of you complaining about Naniwa being left out, go look at some of his recent results and tell me if he deserves to be on this list. Foreigner bias much?
I would downgrade most of the terrans in places 16-27. In fact, I would downgrade all terrans with a few exceptions. Terran is underpowered now, didn't you hear? Bogus hasn't proved himself in a tournament format and I don't agree with Ryung being so high up either.
Stephano, nerchio and scarlett are good, but Vortix doesn't deserve that ranking imho. Vortix hasn't played anything major since ESL Berlin where he sucked balls. Snute and Naniwa are miles better than Vortix imho.
Still, decent ranking. Top 5 is spot-on and I can at least understand your reasoning for the other places.
This is awesome but I can't help but feel that Lucifron is criminally underrated. he loses to VortiX but stomps almost everyone else. I'll be looking forward to some sick Luci mech tvz tomorrow :D
Nice write up and I mostly agree, however, With how reliable Naniwa generally is and how he beat flash at MLG he surely should at least be in the top 30? Also I feel like Heart is generally underrated, he's cheesy,sure, and I don't like him, sure, but he cheeses well, and mixes straight up play. At MLG he completely manhandled Polt in straight up play (admittedly he opened with slight cheese iirc, but didn't do a lot of damage and just played straight up and won in the mid-game).
Either way mostly solid, and with anything like this there's no way to be definitive/please everyone.
On November 29 2012 08:21 Enel wrote: what a boring power rank, so many faceless koreans. Fucking foreigners better start winning korean heavy tournaments.
Rofl. Just because you don't care doesn't mean that the rest of us think the same way. Go back to watching your little foreigner tournaments while we bask in the epicness of GSL-level play. And to those of you complaining about Naniwa being left out, go look at some of his recent results and tell me if he deserves to be on this list. Foreigner bias much?
I am looking at recent results. Guess what at Dreamhack winter he out placed Stephano and TheSTC. Yes Nerchio outplaced him but Nerchio got 3-0'd the next round and he also got 2-0'd by the person that barely knocked Naniwa out of the tournament. At MLG he out placed a gigantic amount of this list including MC, TheSTC, Scarlett, San, Hero, and Crank. The only tournament he disappointed at was LSC.
Hell even at LSC he tied with Polt and still placed better than TheSTC. Out of the top 30 STC is probably the one that deserves it the least tbh.
Quite a controversial pick, but makes for a better read than the same tournament predictions as every other breakdown. I really would've liked to see more foreigners on the list though, especially for a whopping 30 man list.
On November 29 2012 08:21 Enel wrote: what a boring power rank, so many faceless koreans. Fucking foreigners better start winning korean heavy tournaments.
Rofl. Just because you don't care doesn't mean that the rest of us think the same way. Go back to watching your little foreigner tournaments while we bask in the epicness of GSL-level play. And to those of you complaining about Naniwa being left out, go look at some of his recent results and tell me if he deserves to be on this list. Foreigner bias much?
I am looking at recent results. Guess what at Dreamhack winter he out placed Stephano and TheSTC. Yes Nerchio outplaced him but Nerchio got 3-0'd the next round and he also got 2-0'd by the person that barely knocked Naniwa out of the tournament. At MLG he out placed a gigantic amount of this list including MC, TheSTC, Scarlett, San, Hero, and Crank. The only tournament he disappointed at was LSC.
Hell even at LSC he tied with Polt and still placed better than TheSTC. Out of the top 30 STC is probably the one that deserves it the least tbh.
just because naniwa placed higher at one tournament doesn't mean he's better than players, that's not how you judge who's better lol naniwa is also highly inconsistent
On November 29 2012 08:21 Enel wrote: what a boring power rank, so many faceless koreans. Fucking foreigners better start winning korean heavy tournaments.
Rofl. Just because you don't care doesn't mean that the rest of us think the same way. Go back to watching your little foreigner tournaments while we bask in the epicness of GSL-level play. And to those of you complaining about Naniwa being left out, go look at some of his recent results and tell me if he deserves to be on this list. Foreigner bias much?
I am looking at recent results. Guess what at Dreamhack winter he out placed Stephano and TheSTC. Yes Nerchio outplaced him but Nerchio got 3-0'd the next round and he also got 2-0'd by the person that barely knocked Naniwa out of the tournament. At MLG he out placed a gigantic amount of this list including MC, TheSTC, Scarlett, San, Hero, and Crank. The only tournament he disappointed at was LSC.
Hell even at LSC he tied with Polt and still placed better than TheSTC. Out of the top 30 STC is probably the one that deserves it the least tbh.
just because naniwa placed higher at one tournament doesn't mean he's better than players, that's not how you judge who's better lol naniwa is also highly inconsistent
Well for TheSTC it's 3 tournaments straight. For Polt he tied in placement twice in a row. For MC he beat him at MLG and then at dreamhack he got top 8 and at IEM MC got top 8. I think the dreamhack winter top 8 is more impressive. For the rest I admit they either placed better in the next/previous tournament or were only at one of the 3 but it's still a good enough record that he deserves to be top 30. At least over like Scarlett/Vortix.
I think the biggest problems behind the placements is misreading momentum and simply bad decisions in choosing based solely on their names. Seed is placed 10th, yet bombed out of Code A to a no-name Terran and has not been playing even at a Code S level, yet placed in a serious contender role. This might be his comeback, but really, what are the odds? The momentum problem applies to Squirtle especially, because he has neither been impressive or strong, yet 11th over players like Ryung who has been playing better than him currently.
Such a stacked field, I don't even care who's going to win. I just want to see some GGs.
Sniper, the ultimate anti-fun guy, should take it. The live report thread's gonna go crazy if some regular GSL viewers (including me) will take part in it! :D
Holy negative reviews batman... Lol they trashed every player up until hero/Taeja. Symbol's starts with a description of him being forgotten by newer zergs lol
Nice work on this. Largely agree with the Top 10, except that I want MC in there. He's such a clutch tournament player that it's weird to keep him out in favour of Seed, who I don't see going that far.
On November 29 2012 09:52 iNcontroL wrote: Holy negative reviews batman... Lol they trashed every player up until hero/Taeja. Symbol's starts with a description of him being forgotten by newer zergs lol
Would you put Naniwa in the top 30? (I know you're not his biggest fan, but would like to get a pro opinion on his exclusion)
On November 29 2012 10:06 opterown wrote: not a bad power rank, too much hate from posters lol
This is what happens when a tournament has too many fan favorites, just an explosion of opinions and emotions on whether it is appropriate to place a beloved player too high or too low.
On November 29 2012 10:06 opterown wrote: not a bad power rank, too much hate from posters lol
This is what happens when a tournament has too many fan favorites, just an explosion of opinions and emotions on whether it is appropriate to place a beloved player too high or too low.
I don't know the power rank feels a little weird. It's as if there is a pretty big difference between 9th and anyone beyond that ( except Ryung ). It seems that the top 9 players are the only ones doing well in the tournaments latelly. ( of course not counting the players that aren't here). Anyway, since terrans haven't had a new promise in a while I'm going to root for sea, I jope he can be what dream and maru were supposed to be. Edit: oh there is bogus too, completely forgot about him.
I want aLive to win again. I never watch him play but maybe he won't be as invisible if he wins IPL again. I do want EG to do well but realistically, I don't expect Stephano to win, maybe top 4 at best (though I hope I expected wrong).
i think bogus is perfect for this tournament and is my favorite to win, his timing attacks are perfectly played out and he can use them against any opponent
On November 29 2012 08:21 Enel wrote: what a boring power rank, so many faceless koreans. Fucking foreigners better start winning korean heavy tournaments.
Rofl. Just because you don't care doesn't mean that the rest of us think the same way. Go back to watching your little foreigner tournaments while we bask in the epicness of GSL-level play. And to those of you complaining about Naniwa being left out, go look at some of his recent results and tell me if he deserves to be on this list. Foreigner bias much?
I am looking at recent results. Guess what at Dreamhack winter he out placed Stephano and TheSTC. Yes Nerchio outplaced him but Nerchio got 3-0'd the next round and he also got 2-0'd by the person that barely knocked Naniwa out of the tournament. At MLG he out placed a gigantic amount of this list including MC, TheSTC, Scarlett, San, Hero, and Crank. The only tournament he disappointed at was LSC.
Hell even at LSC he tied with Polt and still placed better than TheSTC. Out of the top 30 STC is probably the one that deserves it the least tbh.
First of all, I didn't say TheSTC deserved to be in the top 30; I agree that he doesn't deserve the spot- but neither does Naniwa.
Who did he beat at DH Winter? ForGG, Ret, and Feast, the last two by a single game. Who did Nerchio beat? 2-1 TLO, 2-0 Targa, 2-0 Dimaga, 2-0 Bischu, 3-1 fraer, 3-0 Mana. And the assumption you're making is the head-to-head fallacy that OP smartly avoided; monchi beat Nerchio and barely beat Naniwa, but his PvZ and PvP aren't equal; results vs a single opponent tell you nothing.
At MLG he only won 2 series, against Ret and BabyKnight (the third vs. Flash was ultimately lost via extended series); many of the players you mentioned didn't have the luxury of being seeded in pool play or having a road that involved no Koreans until Flash in the 3rd round.
Polt was a huge disappointment at LSC, and even then his results are comparable to Naniwa's; Naniwa only beat Hawk and qxc, neither of whom holds a candle to top-level Korean players.He lost to Crank and got swept by Bomber.
And the last, most obvious disappointment was dropping straight from Code S Ro8 two seasons ago into Ro32, then Code A, and finally Code B to Mini.
Rofl at sculp and byul not even being in top30 while Stephano and violet are top 20. TL should hire writers that actually knOw how to watch the game instead of blindly looking at foreign tournament results. These ranks are always much better when they include pro/high level amateur opinions rather than clueless armchair critics.
Squirtle should be number 1.....Quote me on this after he wins. He's one of the only protoss that can play all PvZ. He will be the one who takes out the zergs to win. Top 4 will be 3 zergs and squirtle.
On November 29 2012 12:09 FakeDeath wrote: DRG #14?
What power rank is this?
He should be at least 6 or 7.
I don't understand why Seed has a higher power rank than DRG when he just bombed out to Code B.
.........................
Also,Polt should be ranked higher. Polt always does MUCH better in foreign tournament if you look at all his tournament history.
LSC and MLG beg to differ. Probably the main reason that Polt was ranked at only 16 was due to these two tournaments, and for fair reason. If Polt plays like he did at those two, we likely will see him eliminated very quickly despite his high seeding. Now if Polt is capable of playing like he did in early 2012, he has a good chance at top 8 finish, but it all goes down to how well he decides to play. Polt can be a bit of a coin-flip in tournaments, either he does very well, or crashes and burns miserably.
On November 29 2012 12:09 FakeDeath wrote: DRG #14?
What power rank is this?
He should be at least 6 or 7.
I don't understand why Seed has a higher power rank than DRG when he just bombed out to Code B.
.........................
Also,Polt should be ranked higher. Polt always does MUCH better in foreign tournament if you look at all his tournament history.
LSC and MLG beg to differ. Probably the main reason that Polt was ranked at only 16 was due to these two tournaments, and for fair reason. If Polt plays like he did at those two, we likely will see him eliminated very quickly despite his high seeding. Now if Polt is capable of playing like he did in early 2012, he has a good chance at top 8 finish, but it all goes down to how well he decides to play. Polt can be a bit of a coin-flip in tournaments, either he does very well, or crashes and burns miserably.
What? He did pretty good @ MLG 9th-12 place? 1 bad tournament doesn't mean inconsistent
On November 29 2012 12:09 FakeDeath wrote: DRG #14?
What power rank is this?
He should be at least 6 or 7.
I don't understand why Seed has a higher power rank than DRG when he just bombed out to Code B.
.........................
Also,Polt should be ranked higher. Polt always does MUCH better in foreign tournament if you look at all his tournament history.
LSC and MLG beg to differ. Probably the main reason that Polt was ranked at only 16 was due to these two tournaments, and for fair reason. If Polt plays like he did at those two, we likely will see him eliminated very quickly despite his high seeding. Now if Polt is capable of playing like he did in early 2012, he has a good chance at top 8 finish, but it all goes down to how well he decides to play. Polt can be a bit of a coin-flip in tournaments, either he does very well, or crashes and burns miserably.
What? He did pretty good @ MLG 9th-12 place? 1 bad tournament doesn't mean inconsistent
This rank is outdated as hell : (Z)ByuL , (Z)BBoongBBoong, (T)Sculp and Naniwa are not ranked . On the other hand we have ridiculous high places for Stephano , MC , MMA and Violet . ByuL wiped the floor with MMA in GSL . MC, Stephano and Violet are irrelevant at this point , with their bad finnishes the last couple of tournaments . There are other flaws , but i just point the obvious ones .
The rank takes in to account pass achievements rather then most recent results . To me Naniwa having a possitive record against the top 24 players in Proleague and top foreign finnish in MLG going toe to toe with Flash is infinitely more impressive then like half of this list's accomplishments in the past 6 months . Kespa players where fighting with teeth and nails to qualify for MLG you know and there was a 10 k price for first place .
On November 29 2012 16:30 raga4ka wrote: This rank is outdated as hell : (Z)ByuL , (Z)BBoongBBoong, (T)Sculp and Naniwa are not ranked . On the other hand we have ridiculous high places for Stephano , MC , MMA and Violet . ByuL wiped the floor with MMA in GSL . MC, Stephano and Violet are irrelevant at this point , with their bad finnishes the last couple of tournaments . There are other flaws , but i just point the obvious ones .
The rank takes in to account pass achievements rather then most recent results . To me Naniwa having a possitive record against the top 24 players in Proleague and top foreign finnish in MLG going toe to toe with Flash is infinitely more impressive then like half of this list's accomplishments in the past 6 months . Kespa players where fighting with teeth and nails to qualify for MLG you know and there was a 10 k price for first place .
violet and stephano are irrelevant? lol you are funny. naniwa better than half this list? even funnier. keep it up.
edit: way too many trolls,fanboys and uninformed people it's disgusting, but i guess everyone has an opinion even if it's wrong
How can you say that Rain and Life are the most accomplished players of 2012? Sure they did fine in these last months, but hey, TaeJa won 3 tournaments, got a 2nd place, and demolished teamleagues... If you consider the whole year, TaeJa is the most accomplished in my opinion.
On November 29 2012 18:43 Nightwishone wrote: How can you say that Rain and Life are the most accomplished players of 2012? Sure they did fine in these last months, but hey, TaeJa won 3 tournaments, got a 2nd place, and demolished teamleagues... If you consider the whole year, TaeJa is the most accomplished in my opinion.
taeja is nowhere near the most accomplished player this year. rain, drg, mvp, have easily done more taeja demolished all of one teamleague, haha
On November 29 2012 18:43 Nightwishone wrote: How can you say that Rain and Life are the most accomplished players of 2012? Sure they did fine in these last months, but hey, TaeJa won 3 tournaments, got a 2nd place, and demolished teamleagues... If you consider the whole year, TaeJa is the most accomplished in my opinion.
On November 29 2012 18:43 Nightwishone wrote: How can you say that Rain and Life are the most accomplished players of 2012? Sure they did fine in these last months, but hey, TaeJa won 3 tournaments, got a 2nd place, and demolished teamleagues... If you consider the whole year, TaeJa is the most accomplished in my opinion.
Hoping for Major to make a splash, but certainly don't see him win.
Stephano will probably be the foreigner to get the furthest, along with nerchio and/or scarlett. The winner? One of the Liquid Koreans, Leenock or Life.
On November 29 2012 18:43 Nightwishone wrote: How can you say that Rain and Life are the most accomplished players of 2012? Sure they did fine in these last months, but hey, TaeJa won 3 tournaments, got a 2nd place, and demolished teamleagues... If you consider the whole year, TaeJa is the most accomplished in my opinion.
It is the last 2 months bias
you're only as good as your last tournament - unless you're MVP or Flash
On November 29 2012 18:43 Nightwishone wrote: How can you say that Rain and Life are the most accomplished players of 2012? Sure they did fine in these last months, but hey, TaeJa won 3 tournaments, got a 2nd place, and demolished teamleagues... If you consider the whole year, TaeJa is the most accomplished in my opinion.
Stephano makes a good argument. If I counted right according to SC2earning does Stephano have 10 top 4 finishes in premier events in 2012. I am pretty sure no other player can matches those figures.
He also have a a considerable number of top 5-10 finishes and besides that has he won like 7-8 online tournaments as well. Overall Stephano is the second highest prize money earner in 2012 with 130,495$
Parting is n1 on $130,599 (due to his 100000$ win in WCS).
Rain is n5 with 85k, Life is n6 with 76k and Taeja n10 with 70k.
On November 29 2012 18:43 Nightwishone wrote: How can you say that Rain and Life are the most accomplished players of 2012? Sure they did fine in these last months, but hey, TaeJa won 3 tournaments, got a 2nd place, and demolished teamleagues... If you consider the whole year, TaeJa is the most accomplished in my opinion.
Stephano makes a good argument. If I counted right according to SC2earning does Stephano have 10 top 4 finishes in premier events in 2012. I am pretty sure no other player can matches those figures.
He also have a a considerable number of top 5-10 finishes and besides that has he won like 7-8 online tournaments as well. Overall Stephano is the second highest prize money earner in 2012 with 130,495$
Parting is n1 on $130,599 (due to his 100000$ win in WCS).
Rain is n5 with 85k, Life is n6 with 76k and Taeja n10 with 70k.
It's an interesting topic - who will be the best player of 2012? In 2011, it was quite clear that it was Mvp. This year, however, it's a lot more open. Maybe it will be decided after this weekend?
On November 29 2012 18:43 Nightwishone wrote: How can you say that Rain and Life are the most accomplished players of 2012? Sure they did fine in these last months, but hey, TaeJa won 3 tournaments, got a 2nd place, and demolished teamleagues... If you consider the whole year, TaeJa is the most accomplished in my opinion.
Stephano makes a good argument. If I counted right according to SC2earning does Stephano have 10 top 4 finishes in premier events in 2012. I am pretty sure no other player can matches those figures.
He also have a a considerable number of top 5-10 finishes and besides that has he won like 7-8 online tournaments as well. Overall Stephano is the second highest prize money earner in 2012 with 130,495$
Parting is n1 on $130,599 (due to his 100000$ win in WCS).
Rain is n5 with 85k, Life is n6 with 76k and Taeja n10 with 70k.
But but but .... Steohano never won a gsl or osl. So he isnt as good as those guys riiiight. Typical tl kr bias imo. Read trough it, felt like waste of Time.
And im still waiting for the Scarlett game where she lives up to the hype around her. Right now just another foreigner with few/none accomplishments
On November 29 2012 18:43 Nightwishone wrote: How can you say that Rain and Life are the most accomplished players of 2012? Sure they did fine in these last months, but hey, TaeJa won 3 tournaments, got a 2nd place, and demolished teamleagues... If you consider the whole year, TaeJa is the most accomplished in my opinion.
Stephano makes a good argument. If I counted right according to SC2earning does Stephano have 10 top 4 finishes in premier events in 2012. I am pretty sure no other player can matches those figures.
He also have a a considerable number of top 5-10 finishes and besides that has he won like 7-8 online tournaments as well. Overall Stephano is the second highest prize money earner in 2012 with 130,495$
Parting is n1 on $130,599 (due to his 100000$ win in WCS).
Rain is n5 with 85k, Life is n6 with 76k and Taeja n10 with 70k.
But but but .... Steohano never won a gsl or osl. So he isnt as good as those guys riiiight. Typical tl kr bias imo. Read trough it, felt like waste of Time.
if you send the GSL champions to most international tournaments they would do better than stephano, lol
On November 29 2012 18:43 Nightwishone wrote: How can you say that Rain and Life are the most accomplished players of 2012? Sure they did fine in these last months, but hey, TaeJa won 3 tournaments, got a 2nd place, and demolished teamleagues... If you consider the whole year, TaeJa is the most accomplished in my opinion.
Stephano makes a good argument. If I counted right according to SC2earning does Stephano have 10 top 4 finishes in premier events in 2012. I am pretty sure no other player can matches those figures.
He also have a a considerable number of top 5-10 finishes and besides that has he won like 7-8 online tournaments as well. Overall Stephano is the second highest prize money earner in 2012 with 130,495$
Parting is n1 on $130,599 (due to his 100000$ win in WCS).
Rain is n5 with 85k, Life is n6 with 76k and Taeja n10 with 70k.
But but but .... Steohano never won a gsl or osl. So he isnt as good as those guys riiiight. Typical tl kr bias imo. Read trough it, felt like waste of Time.
if you send the GSL champions to most international tournaments they would do better than stephano, lol
Okay so if you pull things out of Your arse i can Do that too: if steph would attend gsl he would win 5 times in a row. That is so much more fun than basing ur Argument on facts.
On November 29 2012 18:43 Nightwishone wrote: How can you say that Rain and Life are the most accomplished players of 2012? Sure they did fine in these last months, but hey, TaeJa won 3 tournaments, got a 2nd place, and demolished teamleagues... If you consider the whole year, TaeJa is the most accomplished in my opinion.
Stephano makes a good argument. If I counted right according to SC2earning does Stephano have 10 top 4 finishes in premier events in 2012. I am pretty sure no other player can matches those figures.
He also have a a considerable number of top 5-10 finishes and besides that has he won like 7-8 online tournaments as well. Overall Stephano is the second highest prize money earner in 2012 with 130,495$
Parting is n1 on $130,599 (due to his 100000$ win in WCS).
Rain is n5 with 85k, Life is n6 with 76k and Taeja n10 with 70k.
But but but .... Steohano never won a gsl or osl. So he isnt as good as those guys riiiight. Typical tl kr bias imo. Read trough it, felt like waste of Time.
if you send the GSL champions to most international tournaments they would do better than stephano, lol
Okay so if you pull things out of Your arse i can Do that too: if steph would attend gsl he would win 5 times in a row. That is so much more fun than basing ur Argument on facts.
except when you take a look at the actual results, stephano tends to lose to championship level koreans. championship level koreans do not lose to stephano often. that's a fact. there's a reason stephano does not go to GSL, it's because he knows it's not worth his effort.
On November 29 2012 18:43 Nightwishone wrote: How can you say that Rain and Life are the most accomplished players of 2012? Sure they did fine in these last months, but hey, TaeJa won 3 tournaments, got a 2nd place, and demolished teamleagues... If you consider the whole year, TaeJa is the most accomplished in my opinion.
Stephano makes a good argument. If I counted right according to SC2earning does Stephano have 10 top 4 finishes in premier events in 2012. I am pretty sure no other player can matches those figures.
He also have a a considerable number of top 5-10 finishes and besides that has he won like 7-8 online tournaments as well. Overall Stephano is the second highest prize money earner in 2012 with 130,495$
Parting is n1 on $130,599 (due to his 100000$ win in WCS).
Rain is n5 with 85k, Life is n6 with 76k and Taeja n10 with 70k.
But but but .... Steohano never won a gsl or osl. So he isnt as good as those guys riiiight. Typical tl kr bias imo. Read trough it, felt like waste of Time.
if you send the GSL champions to most international tournaments they would do better than stephano, lol
Okay so if you pull things out of Your arse i can Do that too: if steph would attend gsl he would win 5 times in a row. That is so much more fun than basing ur Argument on facts.
except when you take a look at the actual results, stephano tends to lose to championship level koreans. championship level koreans do not lose to stephano often. that's a fact. there's a reason stephano does not go to GSL, it's because he knows it's not worth his effort.
So he loses but is still the Most earning guy in 2012 (excluding bwc)... And i just gave you an example of how supid Your "Argument" was. He wouldnt have earned so much if he wouldnt have had consistent results. To now say that some random koream WHO played.good in One tourny is overall better than stephano is pure speculation and biased like hell. The only Part i agree with is hat steph maybe löst his.mojo. But hey didnt everyone said rain will tear apart mlg?
On November 29 2012 18:43 Nightwishone wrote: How can you say that Rain and Life are the most accomplished players of 2012? Sure they did fine in these last months, but hey, TaeJa won 3 tournaments, got a 2nd place, and demolished teamleagues... If you consider the whole year, TaeJa is the most accomplished in my opinion.
Stephano makes a good argument. If I counted right according to SC2earning does Stephano have 10 top 4 finishes in premier events in 2012. I am pretty sure no other player can matches those figures.
He also have a a considerable number of top 5-10 finishes and besides that has he won like 7-8 online tournaments as well. Overall Stephano is the second highest prize money earner in 2012 with 130,495$
Parting is n1 on $130,599 (due to his 100000$ win in WCS).
Rain is n5 with 85k, Life is n6 with 76k and Taeja n10 with 70k.
But but but .... Steohano never won a gsl or osl. So he isnt as good as those guys riiiight. Typical tl kr bias imo. Read trough it, felt like waste of Time.
if you send the GSL champions to most international tournaments they would do better than stephano, lol
Okay so if you pull things out of Your arse i can Do that too: if steph would attend gsl he would win 5 times in a row. That is so much more fun than basing ur Argument on facts.
except when you take a look at the actual results, stephano tends to lose to championship level koreans. championship level koreans do not lose to stephano often. that's a fact. there's a reason stephano does not go to GSL, it's because he knows it's not worth his effort.
So he loses but is still the Most earning guy in 2012 (excluding bwc)... And i just gave you an example of how supid Your "Argument" was. He wouldnt have earned so much if he wouldnt have had consistent results. To now say that some random koream WHO played.good in One tourny is overall better than stephano is pure speculation and biased like hell. The only Part i agree with is hat steph maybe löst his.mojo. But hey didnt everyone said rai will tear apart mpg???
i think you're the more biased person here, hahaha
On November 29 2012 18:43 Nightwishone wrote: How can you say that Rain and Life are the most accomplished players of 2012? Sure they did fine in these last months, but hey, TaeJa won 3 tournaments, got a 2nd place, and demolished teamleagues... If you consider the whole year, TaeJa is the most accomplished in my opinion.
Stephano makes a good argument. If I counted right according to SC2earning does Stephano have 10 top 4 finishes in premier events in 2012. I am pretty sure no other player can matches those figures.
He also have a a considerable number of top 5-10 finishes and besides that has he won like 7-8 online tournaments as well. Overall Stephano is the second highest prize money earner in 2012 with 130,495$
Parting is n1 on $130,599 (due to his 100000$ win in WCS).
Rain is n5 with 85k, Life is n6 with 76k and Taeja n10 with 70k.
But but but .... Steohano never won a gsl or osl. So he isnt as good as those guys riiiight. Typical tl kr bias imo. Read trough it, felt like waste of Time.
if you send the GSL champions to most international tournaments they would do better than stephano, lol
Okay so if you pull things out of Your arse i can Do that too: if steph would attend gsl he would win 5 times in a row. That is so much more fun than basing ur Argument on facts.
except when you take a look at the actual results, stephano tends to lose to championship level koreans. championship level koreans do not lose to stephano often. that's a fact. there's a reason stephano does not go to GSL, it's because he knows it's not worth his effort.
So he loses but is still the Most earning guy in 2012 (excluding bwc)... And i just gave you an example of how supid Your "Argument" was. He wouldnt have earned so much if he wouldnt have had consistent results. To now say that some random koream WHO played.good in One tourny is overall better than stephano is pure speculation and biased like hell. The only Part i agree with is hat steph maybe löst his.mojo. But hey didnt everyone said rai will tear apart mpg???
i think you're the more biased person here, hahaha
Because i Base my opinion off of facts? Lovly discussion
The difference between these and a bit lower ranked players are small. At that skill level anyone can loose a matchup. Ill be watching everything on the utube
The PR is not a ranking of everyone's chances to win this tournament. There's a lot of bracket luck involved, as well as a considerable advantage given to players who start with seeds, and doing a final ranking prediction would be pretty damn complicated.
On November 30 2012 01:52 Jornada wrote: Will a Protoss finally make it to the TOP 5.... we will see. Im hoping HerO or HuK take it all. Protoss FIGHTING!
On November 30 2012 01:52 Jornada wrote: Will a Protoss finally make it to the TOP 5.... we will see. Im hoping HerO or HuK take it all. Protoss FIGHTING!
As a possible heir to PuMa's throne, TheStC has experienced a condensed version of his predecessor's career over the last four months. With a combination of beastly TvT and TvP, backed by sufficient all-in skills to prop up an average TvZ game, TheStC produced some great results at foreign tournaments, placing top four at MLG Summer and Dreamhack Valencia. And then, like PuMa, his TvZ stopped holding up in a Zerg filled world, with Snute and Stephano knocking him out of DreamHack Winter. Unless TheStC can improve his TvZ game greatly or bring some better cheeses, things can only get worse at this rate.
EPT
iG.XiGua
Liquid`Sea
Genius, 
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/tlpd/images/flags/pl.png)
Quantic.TheStC
Sniper into the loser bracket...
