INnoVation has certainly dropped the ball the hardest (the furthest? the most?) compared to anyone left in the top ten. He went 0-4 in his Code S Ro32 group with losses to Keen and Classic, while he had another disappointing outing at ASUS ROG where he dropped out of the Ro16 with losses to Solar and herO.

It's just hard to expect consistency from INnovation anymore. Despite being good enough to win big money at WESG and GPC 2019, he just hasn't looked like a real title contender in Korea—largely due to his inability to overcome top level Protoss players. While his legacy of greatness keeps him from leaving the rankings entirely, it seems like even his reputation is fading when you consider how he couldn't get voted into GSL vs. The World.

It's been a pretty slow month for herO, a 2019 regular in the lower half of the Power Rank. Once again, he did well in the tournaments he participated in, but not too well (really, the only time herO went above and beyond to dazzle us this year was at IEM Katowice, where he reached the top four with PvP trickery).

In Code S, he advanced to the Ro16 with unsurprising wins against Zest and soO. At ASUS ROG Summer, he went through Snute, PtitDrogo, soO and INnoVation on his way a quarterfinal elimination at the hands of eventual champion Stats. The results weren't bad per se, but they weren't good enough to see him maintain his previous spot in the rank—especially when compared to our newest entry.

TY has the honor of being the first commentator ever to enter a TL.net Power Rank, so congratulations! Since taking a side job as GSL caster (replacing the outgoing JYP), TY made a deep run to the finals of HomeStory Cup 19—notably beating Stats and Zest on the way. While he wasn't able to defeat Serral during their two clashes in the final rounds, he went a respectable 4-6 in maps against him, taking home HSC silver for his efforts.

Back in Korea, TY advanced into the Ro16 of GSL Code S, ditching his suit and the commentary desk to beat Impact and Maru in a strong performance. If he's able to maintain this level of play, his gig as commentator might become quite short-lived. Could TY become the first caster to win a title at BlizzCon since Artosis’ great Hearthstone triumph in 2013? And could he unintentionally kick-start the commentary career of soO, the next replacement down on the GSL desk?

Solar continued his upwards trend after re-entering the rankings last month based on his MVP-level performance in the Chinese Team Championship. While his online game wasn’t at its typically high level, his offline performances made more than up for it: acing his GSL Code S group (with wins against Patience and last season’s finalist Trap) and rampaging to the finals of ASUS ROG Summer 2019.

In Finland, Solar dispatched two strong foreigners in uThermal and Neeb, and then proved himself against his fellow Koreans by beating soO, INnoVation, GuMiho, and Zest on his road to the finals (racking up a ridiculous 14-1 map score in the process). Though he lost 2-4 loss to Stats in the end, it was still a great showing, regardless. Solar seems fired up to show us a great second half of the year, and could even play a role in the WCS Global Finals if he keeps this run going.

Without many tournament results to push him in either direction, this month's Power Rank finds Maru staying put in the same spot.

Having received an invitation to a surprisingly lucrative four-player tournament at WCG Xi'an, Maru secured the $25,000 bag by running over Reynor (x2) and Neeb. In Korea, he advanced from his Code S Ro32 group as expected, but it wasn't in the most impressive manner—he lost outright to TY, and defeated Super and Impact to advance (dropping a map to Super). While there is no shame losing to TY in TvT, his struggles against Super and Impact suggest Maru isn't completely recovered from his Ro32 elimination in Season 2. But stumbling in the group stages of Code S didn't prevent Maru from winning four of them in a row, so perhaps we shouldn't read too deeply into those results.

Without any international tournaments to attend, Trap had few opportunities to affect his ranking. He advanced to the Code S Ro16 as expected, though not in the convincing fashion of a finalist. He hit a speed bump in the form of a resurgent Solar, advancing in second place with wins over Patience and TaeJa. In online play, he kept up his typically strong form by winning two OlimoLeague Weeklies in a row and placing third in the monthly final (to no-one's surprise, online-Zest took first place).

While we are sympathetic toward Trap's lack of opportunities, he moves down a spot as we have to reward those who did manage to make an impact at big international events. On the bright side, Trap will soon have a huge chance to climb up the rankings. His toughest competition in July actually came from outside the game in the GSL vs. The World fan vote, where he barely secured enough votes to earn a spot at the event. If Trap is as good at StarCraft II as he is at campaigning, the #1 spot in the Power Rank could be his come September.

In the months following his second place finish at IEM Katowice, the Shield of Aiur was battered and dented by a series of mediocre tournament finishes: Ro16 in Code and Ro8 in the Super Tournament. But July became a month of redemption for Stats, returning to the Code S Ro16 (with wins over Hurricane and Cure), but more importantly winning the ASUS ROG Summer championship after filling in as a last-minute replacement for SpeCial.

Though ASUS ROG didn't have the biggest prize pool, it was a stacked tournament that brought together some of the best foreigners and Koreans. While Stats did drop a series to ShoWTimE in the group stage, he tore off a series of wins against Bly, Reynor, HeRoMaRinE, herO, Serral and Solar to win the title.

On the other hand, Stats was less convincing at the similarly composed HomeStory Cup 19, where he finished in the top 6 after losing to both TY and soO. All-in-all, we can say Stats reaffirmed that he is a championship caliber player at his best, but it remains to be seen how consistently he can bring his best to major tournaments.

It’s unfortunate for Classic, but his travel restrictions due to impending military service hurt him once more in these rankings. Falling down a spot isn’t his fault—he just missed out on opportunities that other people took.

In the tournaments he could participate in, Classic remained a strong force. However, he showed some cracks in his performances: his run into the Ro16 of GSL Code S was marred by a loss to Creator and his online results were rather poor for the player who held the 'best Protoss' spot for much of 2019. But overall, it was a tranquil month for Classic, without much reason for significant movement.

Now that the world turns its eyes back to Korea with GSL vs. the World coming up and Code S continuing, we’ll see Classic in action again, and will have some more results to really estimate his current position. For now, he remains a top contender in any tournament he enters.

Serral's performances at HomeStory Cup, WCS Summer, and ASUS ROG weave a complicated story for us to unravel. At WCS Summer, Reynor made Serral bleed once more by wresting away his second WCS Circuit title of the year. At ASUS ROG Summer, TIME pushed Serral to the brink in a best-of-five quarterfinal series, and Stats finished the job by kicking him off the cliff in the semifinals.

Compared to his legendary 2018 run, where he annihilated any and all opposition, Serral definitely looks diminished. However, it's always important to remember that it's unfair to compare Serral to his absurdly high ceiling from the past. It's a testament to his incredible results and skills that even a second place and semifinal appearance is considered disappointing. You almost forget Serral also WON a tournament in the past interval, taking the HSC 19 title with a 9-1 match record (24-8 map score).

Serral still hasn't experienced a real slump like many of the top PR players in the past, and he certainly heads into GSL vs. The World as one of the top candidates to win it all.

In a month where several players had limited tournament appearances, Dark stood out as being particularly inactive. By staying out of online competition (as is his usual approach), Dark gave us just a single matchday of results to go by: advancing from his Code S Ro32 group with wins over Bomber and RagnaroK.

But without any other player putting up results to definitively topple Dark, we had to maintain the status quo and return him to the #1 spot. Call it a fringe benefit of being the most recent champion of the most difficult and prestigious competition in Korea. If Serral had achieved a clean sweep, or perhaps went two-for-three at WCS Summer, HSC, and ASUS ROG, it may have been enough to push him over the top to #1. Unfortunately, he fell just short of the mark.

Still, Dark's grip at the top of the mountain is tenuous at best. With GSL vs the World and the Code S Ro16 coming up, we're likely to see a huge shake-up at the top end of next month’s ranking.