Hurricane's inclusion in the Power Rank comes largely off the back of a surprising playoff run in GSL Code S that was only ended by eventual champion Dark in the semis.

Hurricane had a very slim list of individual tournament accomplishments in the past, and was more known as a rotation player in the GSTL and Proleague (bring either one back, pretty please). 2019 seemed to be par for the course: he suffered a not-at-all-unexpected Ro32 knockout in the first Code S of the year, and then fell victim to GuMiho's TvP antics in the RO76 of IEM Katowice.

However, Hurricane ended up playing a vital role in the spring 2019 Protoss renaissance, finishing in the quarterfinals of the Super Tournament. Pair it up with the aforementioned semifinal finish in Code S, and one has to admit that at least results wise, Hurricane is a top ten player in Korea. In fact, he's actually ninth in the WCS Korea point standings. If he can sustain this level of play—and that's a big IF—he may be a dark-horse candidate to make it to the Global Finals.

Solar breaks back into the power rank thanks to his MVP-level performance in the SCBoy China Team Championship. While the CTC wasn't widely watched by the Western community, it was a hugely ambitious venture that sought to revive the prestigious team competitions of old. Solar was an important player for champions Triumphant Song Gaming throughout the season, but he was particularly impressive in the semifinal round where he scored a super-sized all-kill (four BO3 victories) against team Player 1.

Perhaps CTC wil be the confidence-booster Solar needs to start performing well in individual events as well. Though he was a borderline BlizzCon candidate last season, we can't help but notice he's now suffered three Code S Ro32 eliminations in a row. Now that he's won qualification to Code S once more, we're eager to see if he can make another late run at the WCS Global Finals.

We weren't quite sure what to make of herO's underdog run to the IEM Katowice semifinals back in March, but his continued delivery of solid tournament results has made his 2019 comeback feel quite real. In June, herO finished in the top eight of Code S Season 2 (even if he was crushed 3-0 by Dark in the playoffs), and helped lead Triumphant Song Gaming to the title at the China Team Championship live playoffs. While herO has yet to win a high-stakes match against a so-called 'top tier' opponent, he seems rather comfortable taking on players who are just one rung below that.

Even Protoss-haters have to give herO credit for being an extremely resourceful player. For herO, there's no cheese that's too foul to employ, no base trade that's too risky to initiate, and no situation that's so bad that he won't give a desperation Dark Shrine a try.

While herO has been more successful than Stats during this blossoming spring of Protoss (where Zergs won both WCS Circuit and Code S, mind you), we're still giving Stats the benefit of the doubt and placing him one rank above herO at #7. After all, if the arguably most consistent player of LotV doesn't deserve our trust, then who does?

We're aware that there's a decent case against Stats. He hasn't put up any notable results since INnoVation eliminated him from the Code S RO16. He played in a couple of online tournaments and re-qualified for Code S—business as usual. Stats will return to more meaningful competition in HomeStory Cup XIX and the Code S Ro32, where we'll find out if we were correct to extend so much past-credit to the BlizzCon and IEM Katowice runner-up.

Maru also falls a bit further down the Power Rank, but it's not necessarily all his fault. He simply didn’t play a lot of matches after his shocking Ro32 elimination from the last season of Code S, giving other players around him the opportunity to climb. While few doubt that Maru is still one of the best players in the world, it's hard to lock him into the top five when other players have been winning in meaningful competitions. The least Maru could have done was pad his stats in online play, but he wasn't even able to do that—his online win-rate is barely above 50%+ over the last couple of months.

After being absent from offline matches since losing in the Code S Group stage, Maru returned at the Code S Season 3 preliminaries where he qualified easily after beating Guilty, RagnaroK, and Scarlett (who gave him his only map loss). It wasn't an impressive run by any means—those don’t really exist anymore nowadays, as the qualifiers are so thinly manned. But at least Maru didn't have his reputation tarnished like Bunny who failed to qualify at all, or GuMiho who lost two series to Super before advancing in the last-chance qualifier.

Maru might have slipped a few ranks for now, but anyone counting him out for next season of Code S, or indeed any tournament he enters, is a fool. This man is still championship caliber.

For a player outside of the Top 10 of the Power Rank, INnoVation’s June might have been a pretty good month. But for someone in the upper half, it merely secured his hold on the #5 spot. The month began with a narrow 2-3 quarterfinal loss in the Code S quarterfinals at the hands of eventual runner-up Trap. Protoss players continued to vex INnoVation in online play, and his vulnerability in TvP also revealed itself in the Code S Season 3 qualifier where he lost to herO before qualifying through the lower bracket against SpeCial.

However, INnoVation eventually seized his opportunity to shine. Lü Bu, as his Chinese fans call him, won his second Chinese tournament of the year, netting himself a cool 60,000 CNY (~$8500) at Gold Professional Championship Season 1 (defeating Scarlett 3-2 in the finals). Though INnoVation didn’t always face the toughest competition this month, he ultimately secured another championship in the tournament with the the next biggest individual stakes after Code S. Really, INnoVation looks quite good in both TvZ and TvT, with only TvP remaining as his Achilles-heel.

While Trap's peak-level play always hinted that he had the potential for greatness, his inconsistency suggested he would never realize it. His tournament success was always fleeting, flaring up spectacularly (e.g. defeating Dark to reach the IEM Katowice RO8) before burning out into a wisp of smoke (e.g. getting reverse-swept by Serral in the aforementioned RO8 match). But the past months have marked a distinct change, with Trap actually growing more and more consistent.

Even after Trap's impressive top four finish in Code S Season 1, past results told us it would not have been surprising in the slightest to see him eliminated in the Ro16 in the following season. Instead, Trap proved that he hadn't just gone supernova for one season—he had enough fuel for the long haul.

Not only did he return to the playoffs in Season 2, but he defeated far for accomplished stars in INnoVation and Classic to reach the finals. He even broke his reputation as a player who cracked under pressure, coming back to defeat Classic from 1-3 down in the semifinals. Unfortunately for Trap, he couldn't go all the way to the championship. His nerves seemed to catch up with him in the finals against Dark, even though he played a few masterful games. Still, a top four and runner-up placement in consecutive Code S seasons solidifies Trap's place as one of the best Protoss players in the world, and as a worthy team ace who single-handedly upheld Jin Air's reputation in Code S Season 2.

After rising to #3 last month by winning WCS Spring, Serral retains his position by dutifully winning yet another European Challenger tournament (his fifth in a row). Serral has now won sixteen consecutive matches since losing to Reynor in the WCS Winter finals back in March, with two revenge matches against Reynor included among those victories (7-1 combined map score).

As is often the case with Serral's Circuit results, we don't know whether to gasp or yawn. Even if Serral insists that he only has a 50% chance of winning any given tournament, we can't help but see his domination as inevitable. Unless Serral gives up the Circuit crown at WCS Summer or suffers some kind of catastrophic failure at HSC 19, he'll be stuck in a holding pattern around the top five of the TL.net Power Rank until August's GSL vs. The World.

Once Maru was eliminated in the Ro32, a second career Code S championship looked to be well within Classic's grasp. After Classic cruised through the group stages and easily dispatched of soO in the quarterfinals, it seemed like his semifinal match against Trap would be a mere formality before his finals date with arch-rival Dark. And then, Classic made a couple of mistakes, failed to close out a 3-1 lead, and discovered that he was actually the supporting character in Trap's career-defining run. For the runner-up of Code S Season 1 and the champion of the Super Tournament, a one spot penalty seems appropriate after such a 'disappointing' top four finish.

Classic's Global Finals spot is now virtually assured, even if his ability to get travel permission is not. But even if standing on the BlizzCon stage is out of the picture, at least he still has one final chance to chase the Code S title in Season 3.

As we look back on 2019 from its halfway point, it's clear that the year has been most notable for its upheavals. Zergs with an axe to grind ended up playing a huge role in upending the established order. First it was soO who ended his runner-up streak at IEM Katowice. Then it was Reynor who avenged his WCS Montreal loss to Serral at WCS Winter. And most recently, it was Dark who finally earned the trophy to match his reputation, winning the first Code S championship of his career.

Some would say the writing was always on the wall, reserving a spot for Dark's inevitable championship plaque in the hallway of the AfreecaTV studio. But even as his SSL championship and numerous runner-up finishes pegged him as a title contender and top player, his continued lack of Code S success had grown quite conspicuous over the years.

But in Code S Season 2 of 2019, Dark lifted that burden from his shoulders. His group stage dominance over the likes of DRG, Cure, Patience and INnoVation wasn't surprising—but this time, he sustained that dominance all through the playoffs. Dark lasered in on the final with all his focus, deftly swatting herO out of the way 3-0 in the Ro8, speeding over Hurricane 4-1 in the semis, and finally asserting his superiority over Trap with a 4-2 win the grand finals. This isn't Dark's first time at #1 in our Power Rank, but this time it's particularly well-deserved.