Mount Rushmore of Races for Wings of Liberty - Page 13

Well this seems like a rapidly growing thread, these are always fun to do ^^
In order by race and preference I'd rank them:

Terran:
#1 Mvp
#2 MarineKing
#3 MMA
#4 Polt

Starting with the easy one, there are 4 names that immediately come to mind, Mvp being the obvious first pick, no explanation needed. MKP would come after due to being (on and off) one of the very best players for all of WoL's lifespan. MMA had the most inspiring Terran play I've ever seen during his breakthrough, crushing through in 2011, but sadly has fallen off quite a bit in 2012, no thanks to the SlayerS incident by the way. Polt takes the 4th spot with his big Super Tournament victory and a decent amount of foreign winnings to his name as well.

Zerg:
#1 Stephano
#2 DongRaeGu
#3 NesTea
#4 Leenock

This one should be a 6-man lineup to be honest, but I had to cut someone, so I had to ditch Fruit Dealer, as no matter how iconic he is, he's still nothing but a one-hit wonder that then faded to oblivion. Stephano is... well he's Stephano, not much to say, he essentially represents the foreign hope wherever he goes. Even if NesTea may have more overall winnings with his GSL titles and whatnot, you have to remember that this community is, in the end, foreign, and Stephano does fill a very special role as far as that goes. Also, NesTea may be the god of zerg, but he's fallen off so hard during 2012, whereas DRG has always gotten out of his slumps relatively quickly, therefore I'd put the latter at #2. It's worth clarifying that this is not a list of skill level, but one of iconization, which is why I've been forced to give Stephano quite a boost. Finally, Leenock with his multiple big foreign trophies has to make the 4th spot. I really, really want to put Life in here as well, being the 15 year old Royal Roader and all, and had it been a listing of 2012 alone, he'd be right at the top, but fact of the matter is: I can't really put someone who's been top tier for the last 3 months as the key figure for a 2+ years old game. Sorry :/

Protoss:
#1 MC
#2 PartinG
#3 HerO
#4 NaNiWa

Honestly MC is the only one really deserving to be mentioned, but PartinG will have to take second with the ridiculous amount of money he's won lately, combined with perhaps the greatest personality in the scene and becoming the world champion. HerO has been top tier for quite a while longer, and has won more tournaments, but that alone is not enough to take PartinG's #2 spot. 4th spot is a tossup (literally), I chose Nani as he's won consistantly for a long time, and actually did really well in GSL the time he was there. One might as well put HuK in there instead, but I'd rather not, also Squirtle just doesn't seem to have luck on his side when it really matters, and Rain is, despite blowing everyone away with his play, still such a recent addition to the toss powerhouse roster that you can't really mention him that noteably for all of Wings of Liberty, when he's hardly been playing it.


To expand on your concept a bit though, I thought I could combine the above listings and create a new top 4 for any race, which would look like this:

All:
#1 Mvp
#2 MC
#3 Stephano
#4 MarineKing

Mvp, 4-time GSL champion, 2-time GSL runner-up, and winner of numerous different foreign tournaments as well, being the role model for just about every SC2 terran in the world. I'm honestly not really a fan, but I'm not going to argue with facts. MC has the most prize winnings in the world, however the gap is really small down to Mvp, but his road there has generally not been quite as hard. That being said, the pair of them are the clear winners of the honors of standing atop Mount Rushmore, regardless of whom you'd prefer as the #1. Stephano would not be what he is in the eyes of the community had he been born a Korean, but the simple truth is: he's the best foreigner on the planet, that's a fact, and he's been so for a long time now. He's also a drama magnet, which, despite normally hurting him, does put him even more in the spotlight. You have to admit that no matter what your angle is on the issue, Stephano will always be one of the players you think of the very first when it comes to these kinds of polls, and for that, he should be remembered for it in return. Finally, MKP has to make it in the top 4 in last place, for being such a likeable human being that's been performing strongly for over 2 years now, even if he's been slumping here and there, he's always bounced back and kept coming back for more.


My 2 cents on the matter, wasn't intending it to go on this long, but I enjoyed discussing it with myself, so there ya' have it