• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 06:48
CEST 12:48
KST 19:48
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt1: Fresh Flow5[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash10[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy21ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT30
Community News
MaNa leaves Team Liquid10$5,000 WardiTV TLMC tournament - Presented by Monster Energy5GSL CK: More events planned pending crowdfunding7Weekly Cups (May 30-Apr 5): herO, Clem, SHIN win0[BSL22] RO32 Group Stage5
StarCraft 2
General
MaNa leaves Team Liquid Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy Quebec Clan still alive ? BGE Stara Zagora 2026 cancelled Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool
Tourneys
Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament $5,000 WardiTV TLMC tournament - Presented by Monster Energy RSL Revival: Season 5 - Qualifiers and Main Event GSL CK: More events planned pending crowdfunding Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond)
Strategy
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3 [A] Nemrods 1/4 players [M] (2) Frigid Storage
External Content
Mutation # 521 Memorable Boss The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 520 Moving Fees Mutation # 519 Inner Power
Brood War
General
[ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt1: Fresh Flow BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ ASL21 General Discussion JD's Ro24 review The Korean Terminology Thread
Tourneys
[ASL21] Ro16 Group A Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2 [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL21] Ro24 Group F
Strategy
Any training maps people recommend? Fighting Spirit mining rates Muta micro map competition What's the deal with APM & what's its true value
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Battle Aces/David Kim RTS Megathread General RTS Discussion Thread Starcraft Tabletop Miniature Game
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
G2 just beat GenG in First stand
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread The China Politics Thread Trading/Investing Thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books Movie Discussion!
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion Cricket [SPORT] Tokyo Olympics 2021 Thread
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
[G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
lurker extra damage testi…
StaticNine
How Streamers Inspire Gamers…
TrAiDoS
Broowar part 2
qwaykee
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 2019 users

Greatest HotS Players of All Time: Part 2 - Page 9

Forum Index > SC2 General
215 CommentsPost a Reply
Prev 1 7 8 9 10 11 Next All
swissman777
Profile Joined September 2014
1106 Posts
March 07 2016 04:53 GMT
#161
On March 05 2016 16:53 Lil_nooblet wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 05 2016 15:55 fx9 wrote:
On March 04 2016 05:32 Phredxor wrote:
On March 04 2016 02:05 Orr wrote:
On March 04 2016 01:34 jpoiv wrote:
How are people so salty about sos at #7 slot?

There is no way in a million years i'd put sos over maru, taeja, life, zest, innovation. Yeah he won a lot of money, but compared to sheer impact on the game, the meta, the style of how a race is played, and crucially the beauty of the games they've provided, he doesn't hold a candle to those other guys. Not even close. He wins tournaments, but in terms of the games he has actually left behind in his wake, what the content actually IS, it's totally clear who ranks above him. There's more to this game than simply winning, as much as literalists would like to simplify history, or redefine sc by a singular champion...which would be a rewritting of what starcraft has been over the years.



This is one of the more hilariously odd things I've ever seen listed. If our main criteria is now prettiness of play to judge greatness, then we really are near the end and might as well pack up and GG out. Not sure if you followed BW, but Flash didn't ascend to God tier because his play-style made games beautiful to behold.

If the guy who won two of the three biggest tournaments ever, along w/ the richest IEM WC ever,

along w/ the most stacked Hot6ix Cup ever,

who had multiple top-four GSL finishes along w/ insane PL stats and was co-anchor to one of the winningest teams,

who went on perhaps the most dominant stretch ever seen in SC2 between 1st and 2nd rounds of the season ending playoffs last year (defeated Zest on D1. Then reverse all-kill of Flash, TY, Zest, Stats to defeat KT on D2 to eliminate the defending champions. Then against CJ in semis, defeated Byul on D1, and sent JAGW to the grand finals after defeating herO and Byul on D2),

and ended the HOTS era by defeating the consensus GOAT at his own game on the biggest stage of all in possibly the closest and most insane BO7 GF ever,

if this guy can't hold a candle to the five other names you've listed, I'd very much like to know what you're smoking.


I dunno if you can call 4 days perhaps the most dominant stretch ever seen in sc2..

Obviously sOs can hold a candle to everyone above him. He's one of the best players out there and on his day can make anyone look silly. Doesn't mean he deserves to be top 5 though.



What? How did you come up the 4days of dominance?

sOs has been in beast mode from MSI tournament up until Blizzcon. He absolutely wrecked everybody during that time, not only in individual tournaments but also in team league. Never forget his double all-kill in the Proleagues final.

That is as dominant as a player can get in Hots, on par with Life's run at the end of 2014.




The run sOs had from MSI to Blizzcon is nothing compared to Life's run from Blizzcon all the way up to his gsl win. Life won Blizzcon, came in 2nd at Dreamhack Winter, won iem Taipei, got to the ro4 in ssl and barely didn't make the final, and won gsl. Life's run was much more dominant and it isn't even close.


Well, did he reverse all kill tho? Life played great on teamleague but it was never on the level of sOs' as well. Obviously sOs' run was not "nothing compared". And we're talking about HoTS in general.
Phredxor
Profile Joined May 2013
New Zealand15076 Posts
March 07 2016 05:18 GMT
#162
On March 07 2016 13:53 swissman777 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 05 2016 16:53 Lil_nooblet wrote:
On March 05 2016 15:55 fx9 wrote:
On March 04 2016 05:32 Phredxor wrote:
On March 04 2016 02:05 Orr wrote:
On March 04 2016 01:34 jpoiv wrote:
How are people so salty about sos at #7 slot?

There is no way in a million years i'd put sos over maru, taeja, life, zest, innovation. Yeah he won a lot of money, but compared to sheer impact on the game, the meta, the style of how a race is played, and crucially the beauty of the games they've provided, he doesn't hold a candle to those other guys. Not even close. He wins tournaments, but in terms of the games he has actually left behind in his wake, what the content actually IS, it's totally clear who ranks above him. There's more to this game than simply winning, as much as literalists would like to simplify history, or redefine sc by a singular champion...which would be a rewritting of what starcraft has been over the years.



This is one of the more hilariously odd things I've ever seen listed. If our main criteria is now prettiness of play to judge greatness, then we really are near the end and might as well pack up and GG out. Not sure if you followed BW, but Flash didn't ascend to God tier because his play-style made games beautiful to behold.

If the guy who won two of the three biggest tournaments ever, along w/ the richest IEM WC ever,

along w/ the most stacked Hot6ix Cup ever,

who had multiple top-four GSL finishes along w/ insane PL stats and was co-anchor to one of the winningest teams,

who went on perhaps the most dominant stretch ever seen in SC2 between 1st and 2nd rounds of the season ending playoffs last year (defeated Zest on D1. Then reverse all-kill of Flash, TY, Zest, Stats to defeat KT on D2 to eliminate the defending champions. Then against CJ in semis, defeated Byul on D1, and sent JAGW to the grand finals after defeating herO and Byul on D2),

and ended the HOTS era by defeating the consensus GOAT at his own game on the biggest stage of all in possibly the closest and most insane BO7 GF ever,

if this guy can't hold a candle to the five other names you've listed, I'd very much like to know what you're smoking.


I dunno if you can call 4 days perhaps the most dominant stretch ever seen in sc2..

Obviously sOs can hold a candle to everyone above him. He's one of the best players out there and on his day can make anyone look silly. Doesn't mean he deserves to be top 5 though.



What? How did you come up the 4days of dominance?

sOs has been in beast mode from MSI tournament up until Blizzcon. He absolutely wrecked everybody during that time, not only in individual tournaments but also in team league. Never forget his double all-kill in the Proleagues final.

That is as dominant as a player can get in Hots, on par with Life's run at the end of 2014.




The run sOs had from MSI to Blizzcon is nothing compared to Life's run from Blizzcon all the way up to his gsl win. Life won Blizzcon, came in 2nd at Dreamhack Winter, won iem Taipei, got to the ro4 in ssl and barely didn't make the final, and won gsl. Life's run was much more dominant and it isn't even close.


Well, did he reverse all kill tho? Life played great on teamleague but it was never on the level of sOs' as well. Obviously sOs' run was not "nothing compared". And we're talking about HoTS in general.


sOs is the only one to do it I believe. And Life isn't great in teamleauges.. he's average.
JeffKim
Profile Blog Joined November 2013
Korea (South)36 Posts
March 07 2016 18:17 GMT
#163
On March 03 2016 02:33 digmouse wrote:
Wow sOs only #7?
I just got to reading this and I also was surprised.
Homunculus159
Profile Joined December 2014
Austria220 Posts
March 07 2016 20:18 GMT
#164
On March 05 2016 06:42 Yonnua wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 05 2016 03:26 Homunculus159 wrote:
Do people actually read the articles or just look at the numbers and instantly start bitching?


Do you read people's detailed responses or just look at the number of posts and instantly start bitching?



I read peoples responses. A FEW explained why they think this ranking is wrong and why player x should be higher up or lower in the rankings.

MOST of them though are just: Player x is #y? -> This is Bullshit.

I am not bitching either. I just think it is funny how fast people jump the gun without even reading stuff. I dont agree with all the rankings but the writer explained why HE(!) thinks these players deserve these rankings.
BlackZetsu
Profile Joined October 2014
United States179 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-03-10 20:26:43
March 10 2016 20:05 GMT
#165
This list is silly. Ranking Classic 11 is outrageous. Classic is the only player in HOTS to win both GSL and SSL. That alone makes Classic better than every other protoss except for possibly sOs. But Team Liquid caters to fan bias and makes this a pure popularity contest by sticking a Top 2 protoss at #11. Ridiculous.

And ranking Rain ahead of herO? Rain won 1 GSL in HotS. That's it! herO won SSL, 3 IEMs, Kespa Cup, and had the most wins in Proleague in back to back seasons.

And sOs, who has won 3 world chamionships, is not even Top 5? But everyone's favorite pretty boy Zest, who won GSL at the height of protoss imbalance and a forgettable IEM Katowice over a nerve-wrecked Trap, obviously makes the Top 5 to satisfy the ridiculous biases of this obtuse fan base.

Peace.

Edit: Rain also won Hot6 Cup 2013 but that's his only other premier win in HotS (he won a Homestory Cup but that is not a premier tourney). The article falsely lists Rain as having won an OSL in 2013 HotS but that was actually a 2012 WoL tournament.
FrostedMiniWheats
Profile Joined August 2010
United States30730 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-03-10 21:55:56
March 10 2016 21:43 GMT
#166
On March 11 2016 05:05 BlackZetsu wrote:
This list is silly. Ranking Classic 11 is outrageous. Classic is the only player in HOTS to win both GSL and SSL. That alone makes Classic better than every other protoss except for possibly sOs. But Team Liquid caters to fan bias and makes this a pure popularity contest by sticking a Top 2 protoss at #11. Ridiculous.

And ranking Rain ahead of herO? Rain won 1 GSL in HotS. That's it! herO won SSL, 3 IEMs, Kespa Cup, and had the most wins in Proleague in back to back seasons.

And sOs, who has won 3 world chamionships, is not even Top 5? But everyone's favorite pretty boy Zest, who won GSL at the height of protoss imbalance and a forgettable IEM Katowice over a nerve-wrecked Trap, obviously makes the Top 5 to satisfy the ridiculous biases of this obtuse fan base.

Peace.

Edit: Rain also won Hot6 Cup 2013 but that's his only other premier win in HotS (he won a Homestory Cup but that is not a premier tourney). The article falsely lists Rain as having won an OSL in 2013 HotS but that was actually a 2012 WoL tournament.


Who cares if Classic won both Korean starleagues? As if that's some added prestige. It's basically two GSLs since they're nearly identical in format and level of competition. Should ByuL somehow be ranked ahead of soO for having made both starleagues finals compared to soO only making 4 consecutive GSL finals? I think not. In addition, Classic won both of those almost a year apart from each other, it might hold more weight if he pulled the feat off simultaneously as ByuL and Life almost did.

Then you diss Zest for abusing Protoss imbalance but not Classic? What? Protoss imba or not, Zest had one of the most dominant years ever in 2014. Not to mention, Zest's bread and butter is PvP anyway. He's way above Classic. Every Protoss above him easily earns their place over him. Rain and herO for having far better consistency, sOs for having bigger wins and the innovative contributions, Zest for being the best. I think there's even an argument for PartinG who had his share of wins/deep runs coupled with ro16+ in the GSL every season.

I do agree herO should be ahead of Rain but not by much. Rain had greater longevity and consistency (pretty damn good SPL record as well despite the heavy competition on SKT) but herO's 2015 was incredible. Also regarding Rain's 2013 OSL from the article:

OSL 2013 - 2nd
NesTea | Mvp | MC | Leenock | Losira | Gumiho | DRG | Taeja | Jinro | Stephano | Thorzain | Sen | Idra |Polt | Bomber | Symbol | Squirtle | Fantasy | Jaedong | Maru | sOs | Seed | ByuN | ByuL | Neeb| Scarlett | Rogue | IM forever
BlackZetsu
Profile Joined October 2014
United States179 Posts
March 10 2016 21:58 GMT
#167
On March 11 2016 06:43 FrostedMiniWheats wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 11 2016 05:05 BlackZetsu wrote:
This list is silly. Ranking Classic 11 is outrageous. Classic is the only player in HOTS to win both GSL and SSL. That alone makes Classic better than every other protoss except for possibly sOs. But Team Liquid caters to fan bias and makes this a pure popularity contest by sticking a Top 2 protoss at #11. Ridiculous.

And ranking Rain ahead of herO? Rain won 1 GSL in HotS. That's it! herO won SSL, 3 IEMs, Kespa Cup, and had the most wins in Proleague in back to back seasons.

And sOs, who has won 3 world chamionships, is not even Top 5? But everyone's favorite pretty boy Zest, who won GSL at the height of protoss imbalance and a forgettable IEM Katowice over a nerve-wrecked Trap, obviously makes the Top 5 to satisfy the ridiculous biases of this obtuse fan base.

Peace.

Edit: Rain also won Hot6 Cup 2013 but that's his only other premier win in HotS (he won a Homestory Cup but that is not a premier tourney). The article falsely lists Rain as having won an OSL in 2013 HotS but that was actually a 2012 WoL tournament.


Who cares if Classic won both Korean starleagues? As if that's some added prestige. It's basically two GSLs since they're nearly identical in format and level of competition. Should ByuL somehow be ranked ahead of soO for having made both starleagues finals compared to soO only making 4 consecutive GSL finals? I think not.

Then you diss Zest for abusing Protoss imbalance but not Classic? What? Protoss imba or not, Zest had one of the most dominant years ever in 2014. Not to mention, Zest's bread and butter is PvP anyway. He's way above Classic. Every Protoss above him easily earns their place over him. Rain and herO for having far better consistency, sOs for having bigger wins and the innovative contributions, Zest for being the best. I think there's even an argument for PartinG who had his share of wins/deep runs coupled with ro16+ in the GSL every season.

I do agree herO should be ahead of Rain but not by much. Rain had greater longevity and consistency (pretty damn good SPL record as well despite the heavy competition on SKT) but herO's 2015 was incredible. Also regarding Rain's 2013 OSL from the article:

Show nested quote +
OSL 2013 - 2nd


Ok, so what other players have won 2 Korean individual leagues in HotS besides Classic? Maru and Innovation. That's it. Sorry but winning one Code S then getting a top 8 and a top 4 is not "dominant." It is "very good" but it is not dominant. The Zest hype among Sc2 fans is absolutely nauseating. He didn't make it out of Code B for 2 seasons in 2015. He's not a Top 5 player.

Classic also made it to top 4 at Blizzcon 2 years in a row. By your standards that's "dominant."

Sheesh.
FrostedMiniWheats
Profile Joined August 2010
United States30730 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-03-10 22:43:50
March 10 2016 22:35 GMT
#168
On March 11 2016 06:58 BlackZetsu wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 11 2016 06:43 FrostedMiniWheats wrote:
On March 11 2016 05:05 BlackZetsu wrote:
This list is silly. Ranking Classic 11 is outrageous. Classic is the only player in HOTS to win both GSL and SSL. That alone makes Classic better than every other protoss except for possibly sOs. But Team Liquid caters to fan bias and makes this a pure popularity contest by sticking a Top 2 protoss at #11. Ridiculous.

And ranking Rain ahead of herO? Rain won 1 GSL in HotS. That's it! herO won SSL, 3 IEMs, Kespa Cup, and had the most wins in Proleague in back to back seasons.

And sOs, who has won 3 world chamionships, is not even Top 5? But everyone's favorite pretty boy Zest, who won GSL at the height of protoss imbalance and a forgettable IEM Katowice over a nerve-wrecked Trap, obviously makes the Top 5 to satisfy the ridiculous biases of this obtuse fan base.

Peace.

Edit: Rain also won Hot6 Cup 2013 but that's his only other premier win in HotS (he won a Homestory Cup but that is not a premier tourney). The article falsely lists Rain as having won an OSL in 2013 HotS but that was actually a 2012 WoL tournament.


Who cares if Classic won both Korean starleagues? As if that's some added prestige. It's basically two GSLs since they're nearly identical in format and level of competition. Should ByuL somehow be ranked ahead of soO for having made both starleagues finals compared to soO only making 4 consecutive GSL finals? I think not.

Then you diss Zest for abusing Protoss imbalance but not Classic? What? Protoss imba or not, Zest had one of the most dominant years ever in 2014. Not to mention, Zest's bread and butter is PvP anyway. He's way above Classic. Every Protoss above him easily earns their place over him. Rain and herO for having far better consistency, sOs for having bigger wins and the innovative contributions, Zest for being the best. I think there's even an argument for PartinG who had his share of wins/deep runs coupled with ro16+ in the GSL every season.

I do agree herO should be ahead of Rain but not by much. Rain had greater longevity and consistency (pretty damn good SPL record as well despite the heavy competition on SKT) but herO's 2015 was incredible. Also regarding Rain's 2013 OSL from the article:

OSL 2013 - 2nd


Ok, so what other players have won 2 Korean individual leagues in HotS besides Classic? Maru and Innovation. That's it. Sorry but winning one Code S then getting a top 8 and a top 4 is not "dominant." It is "very good" but it is not dominant. The Zest hype among Sc2 fans is absolutely nauseating. He didn't make it out of Code B for 2 seasons in 2015. He's not a Top 5 player.

Classic also made it to top 4 at Blizzcon 2 years in a row. By your standards that's "dominant."

Sheesh.


Again, Classic has something to distinguish him apart from everyone in terms of achievement but it's only one factor. It's not nearly enough to cover his other shortcomings when compared to the top 10.

I'm not even a Zest fan, but he deserves his due. Even in 2015 he did good. He missed code S for two seasons but still had a good IEM WC victory, 2 SSL ro8s and a GSL ro8. Btw, Classic was also code B for those two seasons in 2015.

Factoring 2014 in just makes it no contest. Zest didn't just win code S, then go ro8 -> ro4. He won the GSL World Championship, a Kespa cup, came 2nd at a tough IEM and made it to the ro4 in a stacked Hotsix Cup. Hell, Zest was ro8+ in everything except Blizzcon for 2014 (Life is imba).
NesTea | Mvp | MC | Leenock | Losira | Gumiho | DRG | Taeja | Jinro | Stephano | Thorzain | Sen | Idra |Polt | Bomber | Symbol | Squirtle | Fantasy | Jaedong | Maru | sOs | Seed | ByuN | ByuL | Neeb| Scarlett | Rogue | IM forever
BlackZetsu
Profile Joined October 2014
United States179 Posts
March 10 2016 22:55 GMT
#169
Winning a Korean individual league is the most difficult accomplishment in Starcraft. Only 3 players were able to do it twice in Heart of the Swarm. And Classic has prestigious "extras" that fully justify a Top 5 placement:

IEM Shenzhen 2015 Championship over Parting (where he also had to defeat Rain and herO)
2 Top 4 finishes at Blizzcon

Zest won 4 noteworthy tournaments, 3 of which occurred within a relatively tight timeframe from April to September 2014. He was literally nobody before then, and his only other accomplishment is winning IEM Katowice 2015, which is impressive but everyone knows the quality of his opponents at that tourney was weak (weaker than Classic's at IEM Shenzhen).

You also have to factor in that the better player will get better at the game as time goes on. Zest's results indicate that he was pretty much figured out by the end of 2014 (at least in Korea), whereas Classic was still able to win another Tier 1 Korean tournament. For this reason I don't even think Zest should be ranked higher than herO, who got better and better at HotS as the game matured and finished 2015 with an SSL championship.

Again, Zest is obviously a very good player, and he's definitely Top 10. But his championships and consistency are worse than Classic's. And there are easily 5 players who accomplished more than Zest in HotS - Classic, Maru, Innovation, Life and sOs.
BlackZetsu
Profile Joined October 2014
United States179 Posts
March 10 2016 22:58 GMT
#170
Oh, and I guarantee if you switched faces on Zest and Classic, everyone and their mother would be putting Classic ahead of Zest.

You know I'm right.
swissman777
Profile Joined September 2014
1106 Posts
March 10 2016 23:06 GMT
#171
On March 11 2016 07:58 BlackZetsu wrote:
Oh, and I guarantee if you switched faces on Zest and Classic, everyone and their mother would be putting Classic ahead of Zest.

You know I'm right.

In your logic sOs and life must be pretty low in the rankings.
BlackZetsu
Profile Joined October 2014
United States179 Posts
March 10 2016 23:09 GMT
#172
On March 11 2016 08:06 swissman777 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 11 2016 07:58 BlackZetsu wrote:
Oh, and I guarantee if you switched faces on Zest and Classic, everyone and their mother would be putting Classic ahead of Zest.

You know I'm right.

In your logic sOs and life must be pretty low in the rankings.


It was a joke (with a lot of truth behind it). I already said sOs and Life are Top 5
Charoisaur
Profile Joined August 2014
Germany16062 Posts
March 10 2016 23:11 GMT
#173
Calm down, I do agree that classic is way too low but it's just stuchius personal opinion. You can do your own list if you want.
Also I think Classic, rain, herO and Zest are all damn close in accomplishments so it's not like classic should be far ahead of Zest or zest doesn't deserve his high rank.
Putting classic below Polt is laughable on the other hand...
Many of the coolest moments in sc2 happen due to worker harassment
BlackZetsu
Profile Joined October 2014
United States179 Posts
March 10 2016 23:21 GMT
#174
The real list should be:

1. sOs
2. Life
3. Innovation
4. Classic
5. Maru
6. herO
7. Zest
8. Rain
9. soO
10. Dear - I can't believe Dear didn't make the list. What an insult!
The_Templar
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
your Country52797 Posts
March 10 2016 23:37 GMT
#175
On March 11 2016 08:21 BlackZetsu wrote:
The real list should be:

1. sOs
2. Life
3. Innovation
4. Classic
5. Maru
6. herO
7. Zest
8. Rain
9. soO
10. Dear - I can't believe Dear didn't make the list. What an insult!

  • sOs higher than fourth place
  • TaeJa not in the ranking
  • herO above soO


Are you sure?
Moderatorshe/her
TL+ Member
BlackZetsu
Profile Joined October 2014
United States179 Posts
March 11 2016 00:01 GMT
#176
On March 11 2016 08:37 The_Templar wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 11 2016 08:21 BlackZetsu wrote:
The real list should be:

1. sOs
2. Life
3. Innovation
4. Classic
5. Maru
6. herO
7. Zest
8. Rain
9. soO
10. Dear - I can't believe Dear didn't make the list. What an insult!

  • sOs higher than fourth place
  • TaeJa not in the ranking
  • herO above soO


Are you sure?


sOs won 3 world championships he is absolutely #1, all the moreso now that the only player who can contend for that honor has been arrested for matchfixing.

Taeja did nothing in Korean starcraft. He had his chance in 2015 and bombed out of Code A.

soO only won 1 tournament in HotS, Kespa Cup in 2015. herO won 5.
FrostedMiniWheats
Profile Joined August 2010
United States30730 Posts
March 11 2016 00:26 GMT
#177
Winning a Korean individual league is the most difficult accomplishment in Starcraft. Only 3 players were able to do it twice in Heart of the Swarm. And Classic has prestigious "extras" that fully justify a Top 5 placement:

IEM Shenzhen 2015 Championship over Parting (where he also had to defeat Rain and herO)
2 Top 4 finishes at Blizzcon

Zest won 4 noteworthy tournaments, 3 of which occurred within a relatively tight timeframe from April to September 2014. He was literally nobody before then, and his only other accomplishment is winning IEM Katowice 2015, which is impressive but everyone knows the quality of his opponents at that tourney was weak (weaker than Classic's at IEM Shenzhen).


Classic was even more of a nobody before 2014. Zest was slightly notable in 2013. Nobody expected him to go god-mode in the coming year but he also was a decent upcoming Protoss that could support Stats and Flash in SPL.

Zest's path wasn't that weak at IEM. He went through Hydra, Bogus, Bbyong and Trap. Not quite as tough as Classic's IEM but at least he played every MU in a bo5+.

You also have to factor in that the better player will get better at the game as time goes on. Zest's results indicate that he was pretty much figured out by the end of 2014 (at least in Korea), whereas Classic was still able to win another Tier 1 Korean tournament. For this reason I don't even think Zest should be ranked higher than herO, who got better and better at HotS as the game matured and finished 2015 with an SSL championship.


Not necessarily. There are many factors that can contribute to players getting worse or better as time goes on such as meta, balance, motivation, and personal issues.

Again, Zest is obviously a very good player, and he's definitely Top 10. But his championships and consistency are worse than Classic's. And there are easily 5 players who accomplished more than Zest in HotS - Classic, Maru, Innovation, Life and sOs.


How is Classic more consistent? Zest has longer and more impressive streaks of relevancy as a top-tier Protoss. Even in longevity he has the edge. I said before Zest was ro8+ in everything except Blizzcon for 2014 (no shame in going 2-3 to a peak Life). That includes 3 GSLs, 2 IEMs, 1 Kespa Cup, a GSL WC, and a Hotsix Cup. Which is just absolutely insane. Only Mvp beats his 2014.

Even looking at the brackets, Zest went through quite a lot of difficult opponents to pull those results too. The one major criticism you can make for Zest is that he's fortunate in avoiding a lot PvT throughout 2014. Not that he was even bad in PvT, just not nearly as godly.


On March 11 2016 08:21 BlackZetsu wrote:
The real list should be:

1. sOs
2. Life
3. Innovation
4. Classic
5. Maru
6. herO
7. Zest
8. Rain
9. soO
10. Dear - I can't believe Dear didn't make the list. What an insult!


I'm not even going to touch the rest of this, but Dear? DEAR?! C'mon, he doesn't belong in the top 10 or even top 15 at all.
NesTea | Mvp | MC | Leenock | Losira | Gumiho | DRG | Taeja | Jinro | Stephano | Thorzain | Sen | Idra |Polt | Bomber | Symbol | Squirtle | Fantasy | Jaedong | Maru | sOs | Seed | ByuN | ByuL | Neeb| Scarlett | Rogue | IM forever
BlackZetsu
Profile Joined October 2014
United States179 Posts
March 11 2016 00:56 GMT
#178
Classic is more consistent because he actually won a Korean individual league a whole year after winning his first Korean league. Winning a tournament should count for far more than simply making it far in a lot of tournaments. That's the entire purpose of the game - to win. Performances short of winning should only be taken into account for players who are close in tournament wins - and winning a 2nd Korean individual league a full 12 months after winning his first Korean league puts Classic well ahead of every other Protoss (except for sOs).

I said before Zest was ro8+ in everything except Blizzcon for 2014 (no shame in going 2-3 to a peak Life). That includes 3 GSLs, 2 IEMs, 1 Kespa Cup, a GSL WC, and a Hotsix Cup. Which is just absolutely insane. Only Mvp beats his 2014.


Zest had a great 2014 but that's it - it was a 5 to 6 month time period and after that he couldn't make it out of Code B. Over the 3 year time period of HotS that's the very definition of not consistent.

Not necessarily. There are many factors that can contribute to players getting worse or better as time goes on such as meta, balance, motivation, and personal issues.


These are general factors affect whether a player does well in any tournament. We can only go by actual results. The meta got worse for Protoss (except arguably PvZ after the swarmhost patch) as the game went on. Zest got worse. Classic stayed a champion.
BlackZetsu
Profile Joined October 2014
United States179 Posts
March 11 2016 01:01 GMT
#179
I'm not even going to touch the rest of this, but Dear? DEAR?! C'mon, he doesn't belong in the top 10 or even top 15 at all.


Dear won a Code S and WCS Season 3 finals in 2013, and made it to the Ro4 in Code S Season 3 2015 (and a Top 4 at 2013 Hot 6 Cup which you think is such a wonderfu acomplishment for Zest).

The fact that Dear isn't on the list shows how rampant the fanboyism is in this community. A good looking guy like Zest wins a few tournaments over a few months, Artosis starts hyping him, and people don't care what he does the rest of his career.
Solar424
Profile Blog Joined June 2013
United States4001 Posts
March 11 2016 01:03 GMT
#180
On March 11 2016 10:01 BlackZetsu wrote:
Show nested quote +
I'm not even going to touch the rest of this, but Dear? DEAR?! C'mon, he doesn't belong in the top 10 or even top 15 at all.


Dear won a Code S and WCS Season 3 finals in 2013, and made it to the Ro4 in Code S Season 3 2015 (and a Top 4 at 2013 Hot 6 Cup which you think is such a wonderfu acomplishment for Zest).

The fact that Dear isn't on the list shows how rampant the fanboyism is in this community. A good looking guy like Zest wins a few tournaments over a few months, Artosis starts hyping him, and people don't care what he does the rest of his career.

Zest was a top 5 Protoss for over a year
Dear was a top 5 Protoss for about a week
Prev 1 7 8 9 10 11 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Afreeca Starleague
10:00
Ro16 Group A
Soma vs YSC
Sharp vs sSak
Afreeca ASL 12991
StarCastTV_EN340
Liquipedia
Replay Cast
09:00
WardiTV Mondays #78
CranKy Ducklings116
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
WinterStarcraft375
Lowko160
SortOf 134
ProTech114
OGKoka 21
Rex 15
StarCraft: Brood War
Sea 27163
Calm 11264
Bisu 5109
Jaedong 3391
Horang2 1966
BeSt 908
EffOrt 530
firebathero 435
actioN 326
Stork 323
[ Show more ]
Zeus 319
Light 319
Pusan 309
Larva 304
ZerO 228
Hyun 145
Soulkey 126
Mind 73
Killer 71
ToSsGirL 59
Barracks 28
yabsab 23
Hm[arnc] 20
soO 19
Movie 17
Sacsri 15
Terrorterran 15
GoRush 15
Bale 11
Nal_rA 11
SilentControl 11
ajuk12(nOOB) 11
Noble 9
Dota 2
XcaliburYe146
NeuroSwarm112
febbydoto10
Counter-Strike
olofmeister2251
shoxiejesuss995
zeus907
byalli442
kRYSTAL_34
Other Games
singsing1288
crisheroes280
Pyrionflax108
Mew2King39
QueenE38
B2W.Neo17
Organizations
Other Games
BasetradeTV668
Counter-Strike
PGL498
StarCraft: Brood War
UltimateBattle 302
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH210
• StrangeGG 46
• LUISG 33
• CranKy Ducklings SOOP2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• TFBlade1532
• Stunt785
Upcoming Events
Wardi Open
12m
OGKoka 21
Rex15
WardiTV0
Monday Night Weeklies
5h 12m
OSC
13h 12m
Afreeca Starleague
23h 12m
Snow vs PianO
hero vs Rain
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
23h 12m
GSL
1d 1h
Replay Cast
1d 22h
Kung Fu Cup
2 days
The PondCast
2 days
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
3 days
[ Show More ]
Escore
3 days
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
4 days
Korean StarCraft League
4 days
CranKy Ducklings
4 days
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
5 days
IPSL
5 days
WolFix vs nOmaD
dxtr13 vs Razz
BSL
5 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
6 days
Ladder Legends
6 days
BSL
6 days
IPSL
6 days
JDConan vs TBD
Aegong vs rasowy
Replay Cast
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Wardi Open
6 days
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
Bisu vs Ample
Jaedong vs Flash
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Escore Tournament S2: W2
RSL Revival: Season 4
NationLESS Cup

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
ASL Season 21
CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
IPSL Spring 2026
StarCraft2 Community Team League 2026 Spring
Nations Cup 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S2: W3
Acropolis #4
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
RSL Revival: Season 5
WardiTV TLMC #16
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
IEM Rio 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.