Flash was supposed to be the one. The herald that would mark the new age of Kespa. Its God come again to a new game to the sound of trumpets blaring, women fainting and hopes getting crushed as he mowed down the newcomers. And for a very small period of time during the hellbat era he was that monster. He was that player that was taking games and series off of the other top players in the world and he was that player that people thought could (and did at MLG) challenge for a Championship. But it never materialized into anything concrete. He was knocked out in the group of death in the first Code S season.

And since then it has been a sliding slope of disappointment. He did alright in his individual league performances in 2013 reaching the ro16 twice more, but both times he was either out thought or out played by his peers. In 2014 it got worse. While still a strong contender in PL, Flash just could not cut it in live bo3 competition. He was weak against early attacks, his series planning was mule-headed and often times one-dimensional. In GSL season 1, BravO easily cracked his defense to take the series off of him. YongHwa almost casually swept away Flash’s scv pulls. The season after that Flash went cc first against both Shine and Hydra and got busted by both.

Even beyond the GSL, Flash was never able to put together the results that the fans expected of him. In Dreamhack he was easily beaten by both YugiOh and MMA and never made it out of the group stages. At IEM he was eliminated by Curious. What was notable about that series was that Curious won it through his sheer grit and Flash’s mistakes: an inability to cope with counter-attacks, bad army movement and bull-headed aggression. In a way it was a culmination of Flash’s bad habits put into one game: one-dimensional thinking, over aggression, an inability to defend and a lack of composure in end game scenarios.

And yet despite all of that. Despite of the holes in his play, Flash was still a great player. His macro was impeccable. In straight up fights he often bulldozed over the competition so often that over aggression rarely became a problem. His timings were some of the best among the terran race and he--though rare--had a good sense of when to pull out proxy cheeses.

And those very strengths have been amplified in the past two months. His weaknesses passing into irrelevance. TvT has reverted to mass one-base aggression, a style that plays to Flash’s strengths. Should it get past that stage, Flash has already proven his mid and late game TvT to be excellent as well. In TvP, SCV pulls have become stronger than ever with the death of HT-Chargelot openings and Flash has swept every Protoss with the timing bar Zest. In TvZ, Flash has finally found a style that best suits him. With the new Thor buff to auto-attack mutas, Taeja’s old ThorHellBatMan has found new life in the hands of Flash. The style was predicated on passive aggressively sieging the creep while constantly poking at the zerg and baiting out bad engagements. The constant hellbat threat forces the zerg to make more banelings, lowering the muta count indirectly. Coupled with the thor buff, the muta threat becomes that much easier to deal with. He's also begun to rethink his predictable early game: Flash seems to have stopped his tendency for excessive risks in his TvP and TvZ games and has been opening safer than he has in the past. If there are any weaknesses in his current style of SC2, I haven’t found them.

All told this has led to his incredible record in the last two months. 50-11 in maps, 26-3 in series. Only dropping matches to Maru, Action and Zest. Flash is on a hot streak and already the fans are buying tickets on the hype train. No second coming has been awaited this long since Jesus. With almost no weakness beyond being out played, the stage looks set for Flash to not just take IEM Toronto, but to make a last second run for Blizzcon.

The chances are exactly 7.27% (Stats calculated by Die4eva http://sc2.4ever.tv/?page=player&player_id=55). Flash is at 750 WCS points. He needs about 2250 WCS points to ensure his spot at Blizzcon. With his participation in IEM, GSL and KeSPA Cup, the path is clear. It will be long, it will be hard, but Flash knows what he has to do. He has to place top 4 in all three events to barely make the cut. Should he win GSL, his chances go up to 64.08%.

Yet despite the difficulty, despite the odds, this run was done before with even worse odds, even less hype, even less fanfare. Last year before GSL Season 3 ro16, Dear had exactly 250 WCS points. Die4eva calculated his chances of making it to Blizzcon to be at 2.328%. He could only attend the GSL and if he did well, he could go to the Season 3 Finals. With a third the points of Flash, a third the percentage and with only two tournaments left, it was do or die. And Dear won. Against all expectations, he walked the royal road twice and took his spot at Blizzcon.

And now it is Flash’s turn. And it all starts here at IEM. Flash has proven himself time and time again in the online qualifiers and Proleague. He stomped through his Code A matches. Since July 1st, he has a 81.97% win rate. The luck of the draw even favors him as he’s avoided all the players that are historically favored against him. He’s avoided Life, Zest, Taeja, sOs. Maru has cancelled, and while herO isn’t much better for Flash, at least herO hasn’t dropped Flash out of GSL, Global Championships and PL Playoffs. The stage is set for the second coming. This week he challenges Canada. In the month after that he fights in the KeSPA Cup. By October, a GSL Champion will be crowned. And the first step will start here. At IEM Toronto.

This wasn't supposed to happen. We were supposed to do a normal preview with groups and open bracket predictions. But then, we got this line up. It's no exaggeration to say that this might just be the most talented lot of players an IEM event has ever seen, and many fan favorites were able to qualify ahead of their less famed counterparts.

The double IEM champion herO is back. The IEM World Champion sOs is here. Captain America has crossed the border with his sidekick viOLet. The Old World Koreans StarDust, MC, YoDa and First have made the voyage. The #1 ranked WCS player, HyuN; the King of Summer, Taeja; the #1 ranked GSL player, Zest--all look to add to their tally. The three currently most accomplished foreigners attempt to break the Korean monopoly.

We might even see Leessang rok (Flash vs Jaedong, for the unfamiliar).

The last time we did a power rank was DH Summer, just as Taeja's reign was beginning. Now, it's close to the fall, and the final seasons of regional WCS events are in full swing. Some of these players have all but booked a ticket to Blizzcon, some are hanging by a thread, and some are leaving it late to qualify. This tournament will be an acid test for those in the latter two categories: will we find them in the running for the year end showpiece?

What is the Power Rank?

"Who would you bet on in a best of 101 with your mortgage and 401k on the line?" Yeah we thought that might be a good thought experiment. "Who has looked the most impressive in the past X months," also crossed our minds. There are many different factors that enter our discussions (and yes, we do thoroughly discuss this) when we try to answer the question: "Who's better?" and we couldn't list down all of them if we tried. If it were up to lichter though, he'd probably just vote for who he finds more entertaining. However, thanks to our spreadsheet heavy, completely democratic, and reasonably systematic process that involves a lot of name calling and secret google doc editing, we're pretty confident someone will agree with us on this. Hopefully.

A few notes on the rankings:

• The Power Rank only takes players competing at IEM Toronto 2014 into account.
  
• 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. The Power Rank is just our all-around answer to the question "who's better?"
  
• 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.
  
• It is possible that some players may be absent or cancel their attendance between the release of this article and the start of 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.

Alright, let's get it on!

       These players are mostly comprised of locals and qualifying foreigners who've done enough to reach the main tournament, but have done little to show they have what it takes to make it far. They'll have the support of the crowd and the comforts of home, but it will be a tall order for any of these competitors (MaSa excluded) to make the group stages.

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#28: Jer

If you're asking to yourself, "who the hell is Jer?" then you aren't alone. Unless you frequent the TL strategy forum, there's no way you're familiar with this guy. As one of its terran staff, he has contributed a lot to the development of bronzies around the world. Unfortunately for him, that won't mean much in a tournament setting. As a masters terran who binged on Diablo last week until he was informed that he was set to replace Believe, he's lucky we're even giving him a number and a paragraph. We're probably not going to see any of his games, but if he beats Snute in the open bracket, we'll probably have to ban him.

#27: Bones

Despite only being 1 rank higher than Jer, Bones is probably around 2x as good. The grandmaster protoss qualified for Red Bull Detroit by beating CatZ 2-0 to reach 3rd/4th place in Red Bull's Satellite Tournament, and he proceeded to reach the Ro32 to equal the likes of Revival, Jaedong, Oz, Bunny and HuK. That means little since the tournament was partially a single elimination bracket that relied on a lot of luck, but at the very least it means he can make it as far as any local hero. Unfortunately, he has never even reached WCS AM Challenger League and this is only his 3rd premier or major tournament. As the least seasoned, least accomplished pro, that means he belongs in last place.

#26: desRow

The PandaToss lucked out when Maru canceled his open bracket participation due to GSL scheduling issues. PvT has not been kind to desRow recently as he lost a series 0-2 to NA GM Schnitzel at Redbull Detroit. With sub-50% winrates in all his matchups, desRow has a mountain to climb if he wants to reach the groups. He did place second in Copa America by beating HuK and CatZ before falling to MajOr, but he hasn't quite shown that he's competitive against even middle tier Koreans. The French Canadian protoss faces CJherO in his very first match, and that might be all we see from him at this IEM.

#25: hendralisk

Pros need to take tips from Henry when it comes to public relations. Despite his meager results and only two WCS AM Premier League appearances so far, it's difficult to find someone who doesn't like him. A lot of his positive press has come from his participation in LR threads, and his friendly banter with fans and updates about his games give us insight into the man behind the mouse. He's not all talk, either, as he defeated ViBE and Scarlett for his two runs in Premier. If we were ranking players in terms of how much we like them, hendralisk would be near the top. Unfortunately he'll probably spend more time posting in the LR thread than competing.

#24: puCK

puCK is probably the safe pick for best player in the United States, but he still ends up outside of the top twenty on our IEM power rank. Heading into the summer, puCK looked like one of the top protoss players in the region and a player with the potential to be the first American to make top eight in WCS this year. However, this summer hasn't exactly gone as planned. He was brutally ganged up on in Red Bull North America, had a poor showing in pools at MLG Anaheim, and has now fallen out of WCS in the round of 32 in last place. puCK's star has certainly fallen quite a bit over the past several months, and a tournament this stacked doesn't seem like a great place for a rebound. He has upset potential, particularly against some of the strong Zerg players here, but puCK likely won't be a real contender at this IEM.

#23: Kane

Of all non-Scarlett American players, Kane is probably one of the most underestimated. He lurks just out of sight, barely unable to achieve great runs in various tournaments. Whether it's beating Life and HerO at Destiny I, taking a game off of StarDust a few days ago at Detroit, or having close series vs both Journey and CranK at Red Bull Global, Kane certainly has a heavy dose of potential. Yet, as he proved in a largely iffy qualifier run, he's still very much a work in progress. Seeing him get through the dual tournament would be an amazing showcase of his skills, yet it'd also come as a massive surprise to many.

#22: HuK

One time potential number one foreigner and long time Canadian runner up to Scarlett, HuK lands at number twenty-two on our power rank for a number of reasons. The bad news is that HuK hasn't been close to his 2011 brilliance for years and his run at least weekend's Red Bull Detroit lasted only one round before he got knocked out by San. The good news is that HuK has been playing pretty well recently in online tournaments as well as WCS. He just earned his way into the Ro16 of WCS America once again and also made the finals of the fairly stacked Destiny I tournament where he beat viOLet, MC, MajOr and Kane before losing to INnoVation in the finals. HuK still lands around the "good foreigner that probably has no shot at winning the tournament" level, but at least he will have the Canadian crowd behind him, right?

#21: MaSa

MaSa is our resident national hero, yet he doesn't feel much like one at all. There were zero doubts about the strength of his qualification--he beat Scarlett and Kane, the two consensus best Canadians--yet he still doesn't -feel- better than either of them. After becoming one of NA's consistent Premier League players in Seasons 1 and 2, he fell to slam in 3 straight games in Challenger to fall out completely. He bounced back with qualification for IEM Toronto and some nice results online, but MaSa comes into this tournament as one of the biggest question marks, and any success in his group would be enough to push him into the big leagues.

These are the players out to make a mess of our prediction. For one reason or another, they are only considered outside shots for the final stages of the tournament. Despite a history of mediocrity, a slump in performances, or a weakness in weekenders, many of these players are talented enough to win other events. Unfortunately, this one's a lot tougher than your normal IEM.

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#20: Oz

Oz is one of those weird cases where it feels like he should be higher up these lists but just isn’t. Once the god of PvP, Oz fell off for a long time in 2013 before coming back into form with a second place finish in WCS AM Season 1 this year. However since then he has continued to swerve in and out of irrelevance. Every time he plays it seems like he should be able to beat the players he’s put up against but somehow keeps coming up short. With a 0-2 to StarDust at Redbull Detroit, a 0-2 to HerO at MLG Anaheim, and a loss to Jaedong twice in WCS AM, Oz seems to be crumbling to inconsistency once more. Luckily for him he has one of the easier brackets in the tournament. If he comes ready to play there’s definitely a chance of him getting out of the bracket stage, but he'll have to do more than that to convince us he can still compete with the best.

#19: Revival

What do we make of Revival? He’s always walked a tightrope between pretty good and unremarkable, and part of his appeal is making that tension look natural instead of intractable. But ever since WCS America Season 2, he has looked firmly unremarkable. Revival enters Toronto as frigid as a glacier, incapable of generating any traction over the last two months. His woes are well documented at this point. He does not excel at any matchup in this patch, can’t string together a series of wins for qualification or advancement, and appears incapable of figuring out ZvP. That last point is especially worrisome as Toronto is teeming with top-tier protoss, many of them superior to what Revival faces in his region. Revival’s issues already cost him his Premier League spot this season. Sadly, it looks like the trend will continue unless he finds his mojo again.

#18: Leenock

Continuing the trend of old timers with roller coaster careers is Leenock. The Yoe Flash Wolves zerg was once considered the best zerg in the world and destined to become a champion. It came true at MLG Providence 2011, and it's happened every now and then until DreamHack Stockholm 2013. Since then, the Leenocktopus has descended to the level of middling Korean filler. That seems like a harsh thing to say about the GSL silver medalist, but a quick glance at his results page shows 17-24th over and over again, with a stray 3rd/4th place at DreamHack. He had a good chance of winning the ZvZfest that was Taiwan Open after defeating Taeja--where he impressed with his mutalisk control and zergling usage--but he was unable to overcome HyuN. So don't be surprised if this ends up with another 17th-24th on his liquipedia page.

#17: Jaedong

It's always tough to write about Jaedong as he is so unpredictable. A part of you always wants to give him the benefit of the doubt since he, after all, is 'The One True Dong' and he does, at times, reach semi-finals. Yet if we have to be realistic he will most likely fall early on at IEM Toronto as he has never qualified from an open bracket before. Despite managing to take his WCS group to reach the round of 16 for the first time this year, he fell early in Red Bull Battlegrounds Detroit and the KeSPA Cup qualifiers. His much vaunted JvZ couldn't earn him gold at Taiwan Open either, where he lost to the Taiwanese Ian in the quarter finals. This doesn't fill us with much confidence, even though he is fortunate enough to be in the easier bracket. This is the first tournament since GSL Season 1 2013 that Jaedong and Flash are competing in the same tournament, so the Tyrant and his fans must be salivating at the thought of them finally meeting on a big stage in SC2. The odds are stacked against him, but he seems to like it that way.

#16: First

Perpetually overshadowed by the San/StarDust/MC triumvirate in WCS Europe, there is no better time or place for First to make a bold impression. Thanks to a great qualifier run he won’t have to risk the murky depths of the Open Bracket. His Stage 2 group is tough yet currently the weakest out of the 4, while First’s PvP proficiency gives him a decent shot at taking out sOs. From an opportunistic viewpoint, the possible synchronicity between joining TCM and attending Toronto is unmistakable. What better way to impress an established organization just entering the scene, thereby securing your future, than performing well against a host of KeSPA representatives? First’s recent blunders in WCS Europe won’t be buried so easily, but a solid run here will wash away some of the bitterness.

#15: Scarlett

After a short hiatus at the start of 2014, the Queen of Blades has returned stronger than ever. She helped lead her team to a second title in the ATC and has also been performing well in individual tournaments. Still training in Korea, Scarlett’s hard work is finally bearing fruit as she qualified for IEM Toronto, WCS PL Ro16, and the Red Bull finals in D.C. As the undisputed top Canadian player, Scarlett will likely be a huge crowd favorite heading into Toronto. While this may be just her second ever IEM event, Scarlett does have homecourt advantage - the ultimate creep spread. Still, she'll need all the support she can get with Flash and MC in her group. One of only two foreigners seeded into pool play, Scarlett - alongside Snute - will be the foreign hope of this tournament. Prepare to be dazzled by a new haircut this weekend and expect to see some great games from North America’s most beloved protoss.

#14: Snute

A heavy candidate for top foreigner of 2014, Snute has had one hell of a roller coaster ride this year. On the one hand, Snute conquered several TakeTV events, led Norway to gold in Nation Wars, and has hit top eight in multiple premier tournaments. But on the other hand, he has crashed out early in the previous two seasons of WCS Europe. While the Norwegian Zerg can rival the top Koreans on a good day, he sometimes crumbles under the pressure and reminds us why Koreans were so dominant in 2013. As the highest ranking foreigner in WCS, Snute will need an encore performance of IEM Shenzhen in order to stay in the top 16. Showing no fear of KeSPA, he defeated the likes of Stork and TRUE live in China and has also beaten INnoVation in the past. Snute is solid when it comes to ZvZ and has an incredibly patient mindset against both terran and protoss. So if he can overcome his mental block and stay confident, Snute has a good shot to go very far in Toronto.

#13: viOLet

Most Korean players view an IEM event as a slightly exotic destination, a chance to experience a new format against new opponents in a strange location. For viOLet it is a sort of second home. He first garnered widespread recognition at Sao Paulo, where he upset SuperNova to win his first premier tournament. Ever since that magical moment, the circuit has been the stage for his most consistent performances. Never finishing lower than the quarterfinals in 4 total appearances bodes well for him at Toronto…yet this is new territory for viOLet. Simply put, he has never attended an IEM tournament with this level of competition. At least he will be avoiding the worst of it in the group stage, where he faces familiar competition in HyuN and YoDa. Honestly it’s not all bad news. A lucky Open Bracket pick, some elbow grease, and a bit of zerg magic should propel him to another Round of 8.

#12: Bunny

When Bunny won Gfinity G3, it presented a sea change in the way we view foreigners and shifted their place in the hierarchy of Starcraft talent. Where it was once every foreigner below and every Korean on top, we've now come to accept the fact that the very best foreigners can compete with top rated Koreans. Many of the strongest the world has to offer can now be ranked fairly above middle tier Koreans without raising suspicions of bias, and Bunny's place at 12 in such a deep tournament goes to show how far he's climbed since arriving on Team Liquid. No longer the precocious talent, Bunny took one weekend to mark his name onto the list of best foreigners. Though he only finished in the Ro32 in Detroit, he almost took out San in WCS EU to reach the Ro16. That isn't enough to land him in the top 10, but a good performance here could catapult him into stardom.

#11: Life

Life’s showings over the last two months have been scattershot, most instances on the side of disappointment. He dropped out of Code A at the bottom of his group, failed to advance from the group stages of IEM Shenzhen, and bombed out spectacularly in Destiny I. But it seems like his dip into mediocrity was only temporary. According to a certain informant Life has resumed his practice routine and will be in shape for the Open Bracket. Despite such assurances, even a reenergized version of the StarTale zerg will find the competition stiff. Starting with a rough match against WCS champion StarDust, Toronto is going to be battle-tested turtles all the way down. Life will have to play transcendentally well if he wants to reassert his place as a member of the zerg elite.

This is where it gets interesting. All of these players have shown that they are championship contenders in any tournament they enter. They have the history to prove it, and the only thing separating them is current form. Some players are hotter than others, but will they be able to ride that momentum into a title? It's margins of victory are small, but that's all it takes to find one's self on the podium.

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#10: MC

Nobody embodies reliability as well as the Boss Toss. With the exception of a dry stretch through the days of Broodlord/Infestor, MC has stayed a constant presence for fans of decisive, dazzling gameplay. Of course MC’s foray into the foreign scene have come at a significant cost – while he remains the most accomplished protoss in SC2 history, he is far from being the best protoss in the world. The Korean scene has become an intense pressure cooker with the integration of the KeSPA elite, and several of their envoys are in attendance at Toronto. When it comes to pure skill, it’s hard to argue that sOs, herO and Zest don’t surpass MC. By the same token, such facts aren’t going to deter MC from trying to prove otherwise. Few players have more experience in weekend tournaments, and the legend will eagerly show these whippersnappers the consequences of underestimating him in such a setting.

#9: StarDust

After conquering Europe in Season 2, StarDust has proven that his sojourn to was the right thing for his career. While many have tried to imitate him, very few have made the old continent their home as much as StarDust. He's one of the most avid travelers in the scene--he's competed in 11 Premier tournaments this year alone--yet this is surprisingly only his third adventure in America after MLG Anaheim and Red Bull Detroit. Despite his 4-0 sweep of San and his moderate success in Europe, IEM Toronto is a different beast and a far more difficult tournament than he has ever competed in. After leaving KeSPA in 2012, he'll see a few familiar faces at the tournament, and it'll be interesting to see whether he reverts back to the inconsequential M18M or continue being mYi's star. With the KeSPA Cup coming up in two weeks, this will be his first test to see whether he's learned to fly since his migration.

#8: YoDa

Of all the previous IEM champions attending this event, YoDa's story is perhaps the most unique. Once called the best player on IM by none other than Mvp, the King himself, many were waiting for YoDa to finally show his talent. From a storytelling perspective, he chose the best possible stage to do so - he won an IEM event whose semifinals consistent entirely of Incredible Miracle players, and YoDa triumphed over all of them, defeating Mvp and First to claim his first and only championship. But then? Silence. YoDa left IM, moved to Europe and seemed doomed to mediocrity.

But something has finally begun to click for him and his play seems to have improved immensely over the past few weeks. Be it qualifier runs, WCS or other tournaments - YoDa has stepped up a gear. He already knows how it feels to win an IEM, but the burning question for him is whether or not he's in good enough shape to challenge for one again.

#7: HyuN

Though his bitter fall to Sen in the finals of the Taiwan Open was a difficult pill to swallow, HyuN won't have a disappointment hangover as one of the most experienced players in international tournaments. IEM Toronto will be his 12th premier tournament this year, and his place as the #1 ranked WCS player leaves no doubt about his accomplishments. Despite his numerous titles, IEM remains an item on his "To Win" list; the closest he's come is a semi final loss to NaNiwa at IEM New York last year. Unfortunately for HyuN, his unicorn may continue to elude him, especially with his finals failures in recent months. He's now lost to Sen, Bunny and Life in major finals, and he lost to viOLet early in Red Bull Detroit. These were all players HyuN is favored to beat, but the Spider zerg fell short. Could he be resting on his laurels? He finds himself in a group with YoDa and viOLet, two opponents he has lost to in the past month. HyuN must bring his A-game if he wants to that IEM crown.

#6: Polt

Just when it looked like Captain America was going to become the next silver surfer with runner ups at Anaheim and Atlanta, the CM Storm terran conquered Detroit last week to restore our faith in him. He only dropped 2 games the entire tournament and swept Taeja in the finals to put an end to his summer of dominance. Though his 2014 has not glittered as much as the previous year--in fact Detroit is his first gold--he's yet to fail to reach the quarter finals of any premier tournament he's attended. Though IEM remains one of the ducks in his sparkling resume, there is a sense of inevitability with its return to his adoptive continent. As one of the game's greats, his current place in the hierarchy of talent is up for debate as he often only competes in American tournaments that many view are 'watered down' without the participation of the best Korean players. This will be his opportunity to silence the naysayers and solidify his seat in the pantheon of greats as he is set to face the best his homeland has to offer.

#5: TaeJa

Is the summer already over? After a dominant 2 months culminating in IEM Shenzhen, Taeja has looked vulnerable since the weather has started to cool. He looked susceptible to shenanigans in WCS AM dropping a map each to hendralisk and XiGua, and he was swept in the final of Red Bull Detroit against a Polt that has had his TvT doubted all year long. For some, that's still an excellent return, but expectations are higher for players of Taeja's caliber. His Taiwan Open exit in the very first match of the tournament looked like a sign that the equinox was nigh, but it did give him the chance to step back and take a break from competition. Truth be told, it's the Liquid Terran's condition that often determines his results over any sort of matchup analysis, and a tight June-July-August might finally be catching up with him. He hasn't gone to twitter to complain about it (though he did have a cold in July) and he's refrained from participating in anything other than premier tournaments, so we might be making a fuss over nothing. But if he starts grabbing his wrists and looking unsettled, you know his performances will suffer. Is the weather in Toronto nice this time of year?

#4: herO

CJ herO has had his ups and downs, but at the end of the day he is always in the conversation for top 5 protoss in the world. The second-best player in Proleague, 2-time IEM Champion, and online qualifier monster exited his last IEM event with a bloody $100,000 loss to sOs. Since then he has lost some of his dominant aura, settling into a more inconsistent form of occasional brilliance and occasional mediocrity. The most recent results from which herO's current form can be assessed are his severely disappointing 1-4 drop out of Code A and his impressive run through the Redbull BattleGrounds Online Open. Going 5-5 in the main event in all high-level PvTs to earn second and making two very impressive runs through the qualifiers show that herO has recovered some of whatever he lost in his Code A games.

That said, herO's offline performances recently, including the Proleague playoffs, have not been as good as his online rampages, so there is some doubt that he will return to IEM as the IEM herO of old. Regardless, it's hard to get past that his worst ever finish at an IEM event is a second place. Now that he has no Code S to practice for, he can exert 100% effort into a tournament that would help his Blizzcon chances immensely with WCS points (he's currently sitting 16th in the standings). The table is set for herO to put everything into the last IEM event of 2014, and his previous success gives good reason to believe he'll excel yet again.

#3: sOs

sOs is the hundred-grand man, a top-tier toss whose skills only go up when playing for gigantic prize pools. Sure, IEM Toronto itself doesn't have a huge payout--about ten times less than what $o$ usually wins--but it does have something immensely important for sOs. Currently sitting near the bottom of the top 16, a good placement in the not-so-frigid north is all that sOs needs to clinch a spot as the returning champion to Blizzcon. With solid performances in Proleague and the GSL, it's certain that failure here would be immensely disappointing.

His PvP in particular has been impressive, and he will always be considered the favorite against most protoss not called Zest or Rain. He's relied on the matchup for most of 2014, and he's only recently regained his composure in PvZ. In Season 2, he was dumped out of the Ro32 by Shine in macro games, marking a low point for the build order wizard. He was able to get revenge in Season 3 to head to the Ro16, but he lost to EffOrt's early pools in the winners' match. It's only a matter of time until he finds another loophole in the meta, but his PvT continues to be largely untested aside from a harsh defeat to Flash. Despite all this, sOs is the one player you can expect to turns things around on a dime (or a large check, in this case) and he's sure to pick things up as the next 100k tournament approaches.

#2: Flash

The first step starts here.

#1: Zest

The title of "Best Player in the World" is one that's as elusive as it is omnipresent. It gets thrown around by spectators and even commentators day in - day out, but only very seldom does someone have a universally accepted claim to it. Zest is one of those rare cases, a champion who, for some amount of time this year, was considered to be the best in the world by almost everyone. All killing SKT in the Proleague Playoff Finals of Round 1 proved to be just the tip of the iceberg, as Zest then went on to win Code S and the GSL Global Championship. But before all of that happened, Zest was still climbing the ladder, holding rank 1 on the Korean server while making deep runs in any online qualifier he entered.

His title as the best in the world may have slipped away from him in most recent times, but not much else has changed about Zest. He won the last two Asia Qualifiers for IEM events, he's still going strong in Proleague and GSL and most still rate him one of the top 2-3 protoss players in the world. His reputation took a bit of a beating at the last IEM he went to, but the KT powerhouse will try everything to salvage it and reclaim his spot on top of the StarCraft II world. Why not start by winning the most stacked IEM to date?