Power Rank 10/01/2009 - Page 22

1. Flash - There's been enough pages going over this, but Flash's month has been so remarkable, it's worth going over one last time. 9-0. NINE AND OH. Against good opponents, bad opponents, alike, Flash has absolutely dominated. But beyond that, Flash has become the TvZ monster he was before his troubles in the fall. We are seeing essentially a TvZ counter revolution from Flash, as he's been abusing zergs with oddball timings, dropships, and superb bio control. He looks unbeatable right now.

2. EffOrt - I went over my thoughts on this a few pages ago, but EffOrt's play this month has been sublime, with only one obvious hitch. Most impressive from EffOrt has been the flair with which he dismantled Luxury and YellOw[ArnC]. In fact, all of his games have been noteworthy games. If you watch one game from this last week, let it be the one against Lux. The messiahlisk looks in stunning form.

3. Calm - I think EffOrt has played better than Calm this month, but Calm was ranked higher last month, so would it be fair to drop him? I think so. Calm has padded his record against a series of new players, and (of course) BackHo. This doesn't count against him, per se, but Calm has also lost in an ACE match to Roro, a mediocre zerg who has no business even being in an ace match. Calm's play was sloppy (it's been sloppy in a few of his wins too), and he has no litany of impressive victories over the last month (save perhaps, Movie) to back up this loss.

4. Bisu - Apparently Bisu has good PvP, no? After two regrettable losses this month to Shine, Bisu's recent spate of PvP's against mediocre protosses appears to be just what the doctor ordered. What's impressive about Bisu is how intelligently he cheeses, it's always meticulously planned and executed. Bisu's opponent list hasn't been too impressive either, but he's looked impressive as hell in demolishing his opponents.

5. Jaedong - It's time to talk about Jaedong's S-Class ZvZ. And by "S" I mean... s... slu...sluh.... slummmp! The knives are out already for the player who looked invincible just a month ago. It's too early, I think, but it's only Jaedong's pedigree that keeps him at #5 after a 3-3 month. You have to think he'll recover. It's also the fact that Killer is so goddamn bad, and it's the mere sight of Killer gg'ing that reminds us all not to take Jaedong for granted.

6. Stork - Stork has been fairly surprising this month. It's hard to know what to make of him. His proleague appearances have been infrequent, and he's only had to tackle confirmed scrub ggaemo in the OSL qualifiers. But he's also dispatched his opponents with ease, and his PvZ has looked pretty solid.

7. fantasy - There are a lot of deserving players who could take the 7th spot. But it's hard to drop fantasy any further. He's 4-3 this month, and was upset by several surprising faces. But he's also looked quite powerful in proleague, and was denied two chances to prove himself this last week in TvT. That doesn't go in his favor, but neither should it hurt him too much.

8. Hyuk - Fuck you Hyuk. Thank god we can all point to your atrocious ZvT as proof that you belong no higher than 8.

9. Shine[KaL] - I know that Shine is a terrible player. We all do. It's just that at the moment, we can't prove it.

10. Pusan and RuBy - In the closing days of last month, and into this one, Pusan went 15-0 against a set of total scrubs. This month, he's gone 9-3 against a series of very solid players. Granted, he's played almost no PvZ, but who cares? Pusan's played better players than Calm, and he's done just about the same against them! And how great is it to see RuBy going 6-3 this month, with clutch wins against some very solid players. I mean, it's impossible to pick between these two players. Better just kick Shine out.

Luxury, Movie

Killer, YellOw[ArnC], Iris