I think Naniwa is the best right now because right now Code S is the hardest tournament to be in and Naniwa is showing he belongs there, with Ro8 appearnces. Stephano is really good and he has a good record vs koreans, and he wins tournaments. But i do get why stephano doesn't want to play in the gsl, it ties you down in one place for a long time, when you could play at a different tournament every weekend and make more money. But who knows if he wins a few MLG and IPL 5 maybe stephano will be #1?

Aserrin

Uruguay231 Posts

July 20 2012 03:27 GMT

#304

On July 19 2012 21:04 Skiblet wrote:
and has still been dismantling Code S players left right and center.

Such as?

MMA, Nestea, MC, Polt, Marineking, Ryung, Jjakji, aLive... all have positive records against Stephano.

Could you please tell me who those 'Code S players that have been dismantled by him' are?

On the other hand, Naniwa has positive records against Genius, Nestea, Creator, Puzzle, Ryung, he's even with MC... he also made an MLG run eliminating both DRG and Nestea reaching second place.

breadfanSC2

7 Posts

July 20 2012 04:07 GMT

#305

I voted Stephano, purely because I think he could/will be a big force if he went to Korea. I don't necessarily think he will go over and get a Ro8 in his first season, but I think it will take him a little less acclimation than it did for NaNiWa. It's a tough choice though, because with 2 GSL Ro8s in as many seasons, NaNiWa deserves the title. Stephano needs to hurry up and get himself over there to justify my choice!

Kergy

Peru2011 Posts

July 20 2012 04:10 GMT

#306

Stephano didn't prove himself in the most important stage yet so the title goes to Naniver

Kharnage

Australia920 Posts

July 20 2012 04:28 GMT

#307

This isn't even a question. Naniwa, definitly.

Look, every korean Stephano has faced has had jet lag as a factor as a bare minimum. For a lot of them it's at the end of a tiring tournament and they are totally exhausted.

Facing them at a foreigner comp vs in the GSL is a totally different thing.

Polt and Stephano were very comparable not so long ago, and Polt is solidly in Code A even with his code s seed.

GoonFFS

Denmark323 Posts

July 20 2012 08:31 GMT

#308

it's pretty clear and obvious that naniwa is several classes higher than Stephano imo

lInsta

Serbia10 Posts

July 20 2012 08:38 GMT

#309

Quality of a player can only be judged by Code S accomplishments. Not a single forigner tournament had all of the best players while code s does. Code S removes those 8 hour long plays, gives players time to prepare and show their best.
Right now naniwa is most consistent player in code s while stephano is afraid to show up.

Sab0t

Sweden3 Posts

July 20 2012 08:38 GMT

#310

Mallement

Denmark39 Posts

July 20 2012 08:59 GMT

#311

I would give it to Stephano, even though he has not paticipated in GSL - but I think it is because he dont want to go to Korea.

Naniwa got to RO8(which is impressive!) and what a close match it was vs DRG, but Stephano won against MC at the NASL, and MC just destroyed DRG in RO4 very one sided, 3-0, so througt this absurd way of comparason Stephano will be the best.

If Stephano wanted to put in the hours and participate in GSL, he would take it to the end.

Thurken

961 Posts

July 20 2012 10:10 GMT

#312

On July 19 2012 20:09 Keelshing wrote:
When Stephano gets Ro8 in GSL twice in a row, let me know.

I don't know why most people here use this...
The only other player who went to ro8 twice in a row the last two season is Taeja. Do you consider Taeja and Naniwa the two best players in the world?
And to the "only GSL count", do you consider MKP worse than Naniwa? He definitely had worse results in the last two GSL season. And what about MC, should he be considered far from the best because it took him more than a year to get to the GSL final?
Of course GSL matters a lot, but do you rank Taeja and Naniwa higher than MKP and MC before this week?

RaelSan

Belgium223 Posts

July 20 2012 10:29 GMT

#313

The only thing that we can agree on is the fact Stephano is way more talented, tell me if i'm wrong !

Greendotz

United Kingdom2053 Posts

July 20 2012 10:34 GMT

#314

I can't understand the amount of people who justify Naniwa as the best purely based on his recent GSL finishes. By that broken logic Jinro blows both Stephano and Naniwa out of the water. Let's not forget Naniwa also has an MLG win under his belt, as well as coming 2nd at Providence, the closing MLG event of 2011 (some would argue that as been the hardest foreigner tournament out there). He's so much more than simply a 'RO8 finisher'.

Then on the other hand, there's Stephano, who consistently has a dominating presence in the big five foreigner tournaments, DreamHack, MLG, NASL, IPL and Assembly. He holds the title of three premier tournaments along with a string of top 4 finishes. That's not even including the hoard of wins from smaller tournaments and battlegrounds. He may not be competing in Korea, but he sure as hell is the foreigner almost every top tier Koran pro has their eyes on.

As things are now I think it's really too close to call, I myself would go with Stephano but that's more a preference thing more than anything. By the end of 2012 when all the DreamHack's, MLG's, GSL's and most importantly, WCS is over, then I'm certain the winner between these two will stand out easily.

saksy2

Norway520 Posts

July 20 2012 11:09 GMT

#315

On July 20 2012 13:28 Kharnage wrote:
This isn't even a question. Naniwa, definitly.

Look, every korean Stephano has faced has had jet lag as a factor as a bare minimum. For a lot of them it's at the end of a tiring tournament and they are totally exhausted.

Facing them at a foreigner comp vs in the GSL is a totally different thing.

Polt and Stephano were very comparable not so long ago, and Polt is solidly in Code A even with his code s seed.

I've seen this quite a lot in this thread, and it makes little to no sense. Stephanos best results have been in american tournaments, and it's not like he didn't have to travel there as well. I did not know that the korean -> US jet lag was so much worse than the EU-> US one.

Otolia

France5805 Posts

July 20 2012 11:19 GMT

#316

This poll is a professional troll bait. You should be ashamed whoever had this idea.

Hiea

Denmark1538 Posts

July 20 2012 11:32 GMT

#317

Let me ask people who base Naniwa as better solely on two Ro8, but not much other as of late.

Now ask me, if you were to choose who would be the better player between Puzzle and Puma, I bet 99% of people would say Puma, however Puzzle got 2 Ro8 in Code S in a row, and Puma won 3 major international events+2nd at IEM WC.

With the logic that because Naniwa makes Ro8 twice his better than Stephano also has to say Puzzle is better than Puma, which may be right, Puzzle is scary, but you wouldn't think of him as better than Puma.

nimdil

Poland3767 Posts

July 20 2012 13:02 GMT

#318

On July 20 2012 20:09 saksy2 wrote:

Show nested quote +

Except Stephano is practically living in US.

Sadly there is no quality tournament that can compete with GSL outside Korea (OSL may very well match GSL and become SC2's MSL - what an irony). Stephano may be king of weekend tournaments but NaNiwa is a real contender of top Starcraft League and that makes him superior in my eyes.

Maxtor

United Kingdom273 Posts

July 20 2012 13:19 GMT

#319

On July 20 2012 20:32 Hiea wrote:
Let me ask people who base Naniwa as better solely on two Ro8, but not much other as of late.

Now ask me, if you were to choose who would be the better player between Puzzle and Puma, I bet 99% of people would say Puma, however Puzzle got 2 Ro8 in Code S in a row, and Puma won 3 major international events+2nd at IEM WC.

With the logic that because Naniwa makes Ro8 twice his better than Stephano also has to say Puzzle is better than Puma, which may be right, Puzzle is scary, but you wouldn't think of him as better than Puma.

I think the people that watch gsl/gstl would consider puzzle to be the better player, I highly doubt even close to a majority would say Puma is better than Puzzle.

In Sports and E-sports you consider the most recent results really, realistically last 2 months, maybe slightly more, thats why no one considers Polt, Jjakji or Fruitdealer to be the best in the scene at the moment. Its all about quality now. and what else could he have done other than top 8 in the latest code s, what do you mean not much else? what else could he possibly have done as well? Top 8 code S is crazy good.

No one disputes the gsl is the hardest tournament in the world, so surely the players that succeed in this tournament are the best in the world. Stephano has taken down MC and Hero, but he did that in nasl, not the gsl, and only 2 code S quality players, Naniwa this season alone took down Creator, Thestc, Keen and for the second season running, Genius.

I could be wrong, but until Stephano actually goes into gsl and does well, the title belongs to Naniwa. Winning an international tournament is just another notch on the belt to a player like him, thorzain won dreamhack, but people didnt all come out and say he's the best because look at his efforts in gsl. Its a bit like Ice Hockey, no one really cares that much about the world championships, but winning the Olympic gold is everything.

desRow

Canada2654 Posts

July 20 2012 13:38 GMT

#320

Scarlett!