SC2 Power Rank: epic29

epicLAN is a tri-yearly LAN which serves as the premier offline UK SC2 event. The next one is nearly upon us, and with over 40 participants signed up, last year's record of 33 SC2 players has already been beaten. This is also going to be the highest-skilled epicLAN in a long time (possibly ever), and so a Power Rank was in order – one that highlights the many storylines that will continue throughout the tournament.

Power Rank

1. Risky

Risky is the undisputed king of epicLAN with a current streak of seven wins in a row (with one absence last year), and even an eighth title which he achieved in 2016. Currently Risky seems to be in his best-ever form – training in Korea and recently beating players like Stats and Dear in very important qualifiers.

He has felt unstoppable, not dropping any matches in any of the epicLANs he won, and barely dropping any maps. His last match defeat at epicLAN was almost exactly three years ago, where he lost first to Mix and then to TeebuL. His solid and safe Zerg style has become more robust since then.

Risky can let his passionate emotions get the better of him, resulting in angry outbursts at events, so far this hasn’t hindered him, but it could eventually lead to his downfall. While Risky’s form is very strong, he shouldn’t be overconfident; this is the most competitive epicLAN in a long time, and many people are hungry for a regime-change.

2. RazerBlader

RazerBlader, the self-proclaimed ‘Son of Maru’, has cemented his spot as the second best UK player over the past couple of years (Demuslim being considered a caster now). He won last summer’s epic27, but considers it a sham victory due to Risky’s absence.

There have been so many Risky vs RazerBlader grand finals that it’s become routine. RazerBlader has lost every single tournament series he’s played against Risky – resulting in an unfortunate 8-54 map score against his nemesis (one of the most dominant records in seen in high-level StarCraft II). The day after epicLAN concludes, both RazerBlader and Risky will be heading to Poland to play in the IEM Katowice open bracket; the bracket is shaped so that the two are quite likely to cross paths. RazerBlader and Risky are truly tied together by fate.

Steady improvement throughout the years has seen RazerBlader recently peak at 6.3k MMR. While he can regularly beat strong international opponents, he has not yet achieved any standout performances online or offline. Though he sometimes has close series with the other epicLAN competitors, he almost always wins against them in the end. Perhaps RazerBlader’s best shot at a UK title is to rely on the other players knocking out Risky for him?

3. Spazymazy

Spazymazy is the highest-level foreigner attending, flying in from Denmark to compete and hang out for the third time at an epicLAN event. Due to an unfortunate elbow injury, Spazymazy has not been able to practice that much over the past few months, but has recently recovered and resumed practice, sitting at a solid 6k - 6.2k MMR.

His first epicLAN appearance was all the way back in 2015, where he lost in an upset to Aicy – who went on to win the whole tournament. He also came to last summer’s epicLAN, where he lost 2-3 to Zain in the upper bracket, then narrowly won 3-2 in the lower bracket rematch to make the grand finals, where he lost to RazerBlader in another close series.

With strong ZvZ, and favouring aggression in general, Spazymazy is a threat to Risky, but he will likely have to make it past several strong players in order to have a shot at the king.

4. Zain

Zain, older brother of the legendary RazerBlader, is an old-school player, but somewhat new to the epicLAN scene. Zain seems to have filled the place of the UK’s top Protoss. He comfortably made it to third place in his first two epicLANs and is looking to go further in this one. He also achieved brief international fame when he defeated a cocky MCanning in Nation Wars last October, sparing the UK from the 4-0 defeat that MCanning promised the USA would achieve.

His trademark has been pure mass-Sentry against weaker opponents, which has seen him drop several maps to players he wouldn’t normally lose to. Zain even seems to be able to play unphased with no sleep – having performed three all-nighters across the last two events, including on both championship Sundays against the recommendations of most players supporting him.

He is a secretive player, only really playing when a tournament is coming up, and when he does play it is on a hidden account, or possibly several hidden accounts. He is capable of many different playstyles, and his mystery gives him an edge over other players in the tournament.

5. GamerRichy

GamerRichy is currently in his best-ever shape – with a stunning 6080 MMR. Having been to ten epicLAN events, he is one of the most experienced LAN veterans. While he consistently places highly, his only Top 3 performance is a second place back in 2015, where he lost to Mix in the finals.

GamerRichy is an extremely aggressive player with no fear; his catchphrase is ‘STIM AND WIN’. He seems to underperform at offline events in the most crucial matches, having been eliminated by Figaro and Aicy in his most recent two tournaments. Figaro in particular has been a consistent nemesis to GamerRichy (somewhat mirroring the relationship between Risky and RazerBlader).

It has been a long time since his last epicLAN appearance, he missed the two most-recent events due to real-life commitments (congratulations on getting married!). It was a tough choice between Zain and GamerRichy for fourth and fifth spots on this ranking, but Zain has been given the edge due to his recent LAN results, but a match between the two would certainly be one of the highlights of the tournament.

6. Teebul

Teebul is the last person to slay Risky at an epicLAN – having done so almost exactly three years ago during Teebul’s first and last epicLAN where he finished in second place. Teebul briefly made a splash in the international scene in 2017, where he played for the UK in Nation Wars, almost beating Neeb during his prime. He subsequently disappeared from the StarCraft scene to study. He has now returned to StarCraft, and is finally going to make his long-awaited second epicLAN appearance, and for the first time with his long-time coach Zain.

He has chosen to play Terran in all his tournament games since his return, but rumour has it he has been training very hard as both Protoss and Terran; it is a mystery which race he will choose to play at epicLAN. Teebul is a very strategic and flexible player – excelling at studying his opponent’s play and figuring out a good response. Overall, Teebul is somewhat of a wildcard, but a Top 3 finish would hardly be surprising.

7. Figaro

Figaro is a long-time epicLAN regular with several third place finishes, but no grand final appearances. Figaro is similar to Zain in that he doesn’t play that consistently throughout the year, but will put in solid practice a few weeks before an upcoming epicLAN. Currently he seems to be playing a decent amount, sitting at around 5.9k MMR.

He is a mechanically strong player, favouring low-tier aggression and unorthodox play. He is said to have invented the Lurker Ling ZvZ style that is usually credited to Risky in the international scene. Figaro can struggle against very strong defensive players, as well as players who surprise him.

Being good friends with Risky, Figaro has good insight into Risky’s approach to the game. A match between the two would involve lots of mindgames and be a good opportunity for Figaro’s unusual play to shine; Risky has expressed in several interviews that he believes Figaro has a decent chance of beating him. After so many events together, it’s still been two years since Risky’s and Figaro’s paths crossed – but maybe this will be the event Figaro makes it that little bit further and gets another chance at playing his friend, the champion.

8. Mix

Mix is another old name making a return this LAN. Though Mix is mainly coming to this event to socialize with old friends, he is still capable of upsetting good players. He is actually a two-time epicLAN champion: winning in 2016 against GamerRichy; and in 2017 against Teebul. His 2017 win was particularly impressive, as he wasn’t considered to be in good shape going into the tournament (but still active, unlike now), and had a pretty fun night before championship Sunday.

It’s hard to know what to expect from Mix as this is new territory for him: he could lose to some of the 5k MMR players; or he could knock out some of the GM players. Back in 2017 he did beat Risky in the upper bracket, so anything is possible.

9. Mystic

Mystic is the last of our top returning players, he used to be an epicLAN regular, but has not attended an event since 2017. Back when he was active, Mystic was a solid GM player, who always narrowly missed out on Top 4 at epicLAN.

He seems to have played a respectable amount recently – particularly on NA where he is around 5.5k MMR. Mystic plays a very drop-heavy style of Terran which creates exciting action-packed games. He is a bit too low in MMR to have a real shot at taking out Risky (especially as he’s Terran), but he is still capable of beating most other players.

10. Aster

Aster will be competing in his fourth epicLAN since returning to the game around a year ago; during Heart of the Swarm he was feared for his unique ZvZ build. At each of his epicLAN appearances so far he has secured a Top 6 spot, but has never managed to come close to beating those considered better than him. A couple of tournaments ago he did take a map off Risky, resulting in a hilarious incident of rage.

Recently Aster’s MMR has fluctuated quite a lot, peaking at around 5.7k a few months ago, falling to 5k, and now bouncing back to around 5.5k. Aster’s weakness seems to be Protoss; when he does beat Protoss it’s usually with gimmicks. The new-wave of UK Protoss players are definitely a threat to Aster this event. It’s hard to predict what form Aster will be in, but if he’s in good shape he could get into the money again.

11. WindmillMan

WindmillMan was the official caster of epic27, while casting the event he realised he was actually better than most of the players, and now he will make his first appearance as a competitor. He is famous to some for his thorough descriptions of PvZ Immortal all-in pushes during the SC2 talk show at epic27, unfortunately this footage is now believed to be lost.

Currently at 5.1k MMR, he is a fair bit behind Aster, but he seems to enjoy sneaky Protoss tactics – something that many people at epicLANs seem to enjoy complaining about. It’s difficult to judge his skill level without many games to look at, but his casting showcased strong game knowledge. It will be interesting to see what this newcomer can bring to the event.

12. Kray

Kray achieved a fourth-place finish in his debut a couple of epicLANs ago, though he could have made it further had he nor forfeited in the lower bracket to Spazymazy (using pizza as an excuse). The fourth-place was secured in a nail-biting series against Aster, which created an intense rivalry between them. Unfortunately the following event saw an out-of-shape Kray eliminated by Aster, adding fuel to the burning feud between the two.

Many of the strong builds in his arsenal are borrowed from his hero Classic, whose in-game portrait he is compelled to use, despite it possibly lowering the surprise-factor of his builds. It’s unknown what kind of shape Kray will be in going into this next event, but likely not-losing to Aster is all it will take to satisfy Kray.

13. Aicy

Aicy is an ancient epicLAN champion – with a surprise victory five years ago. Recently, he has not played much StarCraft, putting in just a few games before each epicLAN. Still, his solid mechanics and good RTS-fundamentals allow him to do pretty well without practice. He managed to eliminate GamerRichy a few epicLANs ago and came very close in another recent one. Depending on how seriously Aicy takes the tournament, he could definitely squeeze into the Top 8 and grab some money for himself.

14. Cladorhiza

Cladorhiza, nicknamed ‘Clad the Lad’, is another old school epicLAN champion, beating Mix in the finals of epic17 four years ago. Similarly to Aicy, Clad has retired from the game (favouring the far easier League of Legends instead), but can still play the game at a decent level with very little practice. Clad is behind Aicy in this ranking, as Aicy is more likely to practice before the epicLAN weekend, whereas Clad will likely rely only on a few ladder games just before his tournament games. With money going to the whole Top 8 this time, it’s possible Clad may put in a little bit of extra effort and reach higher.

15. Savage

Savage has been a staple member of the UK StarCraft community for a couple of years now, everybody wants to sit next to him at epicLAN, but only two people per event get the pleasure. His performances have been mixed for a player of his caliber: his highest result being a Top 4 finish at epic24, but that event had only 9 players (the lowest ever SC2 turnout, now we’re at over 40!). He has a solid 5k MMR on his main, but is rumoured to have an even higher MMR on a barcode. Savage’s strength is a good understanding of both the game and the playstyles of the other players. However as one of the oldest competitors, he isn’t as fast as he used to be.

16. Wardi

Wardi needs no introduction, he may be only sixteenth on this list, but is without a doubt the biggest name here. 2020 has been an amazing year for Wardi so far: his casting has been fantastic and his viewership is record-high; but his gameplay remains untested. With so many events to run and cast, he doesn’t seem to have much time to play the game nowadays. When he was last active he was at a solid 5k MMR (pretty good for a caster!), but by now he must be rusty.

Wardi’s LAN performances historically haven’t been great; he mainly goes to socialize and have a much-deserved break from all the work he puts into StarCraft. However, last year’s February event saw Wardi beat Savage in order to nab a Top 8 placement, which even awarded money that tournament. This epicLAN is going to be harder than last year’s, but perhaps Wardi has cast Cure win so many games recently that he’s actually gained some skill.

17. Molten

Molten is one of the younger players competing; despite being a relative newcomer to the UK scene, he has already gotten involved with managing the official UK SC2 Twitter, and was the key member in starting the UK SC2 University League (which he won comfortably). The previous epicLAN was his first offline appearance – an upset loss to MarsBar caused him to be eliminated in the groups. Since then, Molten has risen by about 400 MMR to a respectable 5.2k. While his MMR is pretty good, his lack of LAN experience, and previous LAN performance, hurts him in this ranking.

18. Chelch

Chelch seems to come-and-go from the game, he has been a member of several teams in the past, but always leaves on good terms. Currently he is playing for The Drunken Outlaws and has been practicing hard. Unfortunately, last event he had a rough tournament, not getting much sleep, and forfeiting after only playing a single close and crazy PvP series against ExoLightning. Chelch seems to have learned from his mistakes and will be staying in an Airbnb this time. He has good game knowledge, and always strives to pay attention to the details of high-level play. Rumour has it that he has been compiling detailed information on the other competitors; if these rumours are true, then Chelch will be even more dangerous than his MMR suggests.

19. Countess

Countess has secured Top 12 and Top 16 spots in her past epicLANs. While Countess usually hovers around the elusive 4.8k MMR – just on the cusp of Master 1 – a crippling weakness to Zerg, and a very strong matchup against Terran, can make her MMR inconsistent. Due to the sheer number of Zergs in the UK scene, it may be hard for Countess to make it past the group stage again, but a lucky group could nab Countess a comfortable spot in the play-offs . While only a former member of The Drunken Outlaws now, Countess still is a key member of their community, and she still gains strength for every member present.

20. ExoLightning

ExoLightning, or simply Exo, is one of the most active members of FoFoG. He usually plays very honorably, but sometimes lets himself go and busts out some weird and unique styles that could only come from his brain. Last epicLAN, Exo played against Chelch in their first match of the group stage in a truly bizarre and wild series; Exo’s victory drained Chelch enough to make him forfeit the rest of his group. Exo’s best ever placement is a Top 12, given how hard the competition is this time, he would be delighted to match that again, and Exo’s recent climb on the ladder suggests it’s possible if the improvement continues.

21. Voltacus

Voltacus is a long-time regular at epicLAN, and a key part of the UK SC2 community – recently starting the online UK SC2 League. His unexpected departure from The Cranky Ducklings has left Voltacus teamless for this event. As a player he has had mediocre epicLAN results, but a recent and sudden improvement has seen him reach a peak Master 2 MMR. Last epicLAN he unexpectedly failed to make it out of his group, largely due to an upset by EmTee, which seems to have started a new rivalry. He will need to bring out his A-game if he wants to make it out of groups, but as a very emotional player, it’s difficult for Voltacus to always play at 100% of his capabilities.

22. RedDain

RedDain (more commonly Dain) is finally making his first competitive epicLAN appearance, after coming to spectate and cast the last two events. Being Canadian, and fairly recently moving to the UK after getting married (congratulations!), he brings some NA flavour to the event (a rarity at epicLAN). Dain is capable of playing many different styles, and is even strong enough with Terran to be considered somewhat bi-racial. His positive attitude to the game allows him to shrug off defeats, learn from them, and go into the next game stronger. As one of the strongest members of The Drunken Outlaws, Dain will not be low on moral support, and will be aiming to make his team proud in his LAN debut.

23. TN

TN is one of the lesser-known returning players at this tournament, having only been to a single previous epicLAN back in 2016. There he comfortably made it out of groups, but was eliminated by the strong Terran players GamerRichy and Mystic. He is believed to be around 4.6k MMR, but without much intel on his current form, it’s hard to predict how he will do.

24. Frugs

Frugs is an old-school on-and-off player, but this will be his first epicLAN event. Last year Frugs’ team placed second in the CEA Spring 2019 SC2 event, so he is no stranger to playing under pressure. As a friend of Zain and RazerBlader, he has access to a lot of StarCraft knowledge should he seek it. Few competitors know how Frugs plays, making him a hard opponent to prepare for, so he is definitely capable of causing an upset this event.

25. FizzyElf

FizzyElf is representing TAW in his first epicLAN, and seems to be their strongest player in attendance (at least on paper). His name seems to imply he favours sneaky builds, particularly Dark Templar rushes, but this could be misleading. Little is known about him, which makes this Protoss player more threatening.

26. EmTee

EmTee is without a doubt one of the nicest people at epicLAN – bringing lots of smiles, laughs, and positivity to the event. He attended all three events last year; the most recent one being his standout performance, where he knocked out Voltacus from the group stage, and even swiped two maps from Zain in the upper bracket (though Zain opted for mass-Sentry shenanigans that series). Making it out of groups again seems unlikely with the tougher competition this time. EmTee is currently at around 4.2k MMR – unfortunately just below the MMR for Master league, hopefully he will ladder hard like he normally does at events and leave Diamond league behind him.

27. Wok

Wok is an official member of the British Esports Association as a Game Advisor for StarCraft II – a position he deserves thanks to all the work he has put into improving the UK SC2 scene over the last few years. Wok is also the current player-manager at ePunks, but with the departure of RazerBlader from the team, Spazymazy will be his only player to manage at this event. Wok is very focused on looking after his team’s interests and cares more about his player’s condition than his own; last event he took care of the UK Nation Wars team as if they were all ePunks players. His proudest moment may be the all-ePunks epic27 grand finals where RazerBlader beat Spazymazy thanks to Risky’s absence.

28. RaketeTuer

RaketeTuer is a 4.3k MMR German Zerg player coming to her 3rd epicLAN. She is the girlfriend of the famous UK Terran coach Mythic (not to be confused with Mystic), but their racial difference seems to hinder Mythic’s excellent coaching abilities. RaketeTuer has had some impressive series in previous events: a clean win against EmTee; and a close loss to the Danish giant Fluffy. She doesn’t seem to have practiced recently, but that seems to not be an issue for many epicLAN Zerg players.

29. Tao

Tao recently joined FoFoG, but not much is known about him, other than him being a Protoss player currently just barely below Master league. He is said to be in the process of moving house which has left him with little free-time, but hopefully he manages to squeeze in some practice before the event and have a good first showing.

30. MarsBar

MarsBar joined the scene last year and attended all three 2019 epicLAN events, and even travelled far to watch the last-ever WCS Global Finals in London until 7am with the UK SC2 community. While he used to be the only TAW member at epicLAN, he has managed to convince other members to come play as well. MarsBar is a cheery fellow who likes to throw in innovative strategies such as his trademark 1-base Swarm Host. Last event he managed to make it out of groups with a surprise victory over Molten, it will be hard to match that performance, but perhaps a new special strategy could make it possible.

31. Arc

Arc is yet another long-time FoFoG member. He is a chilled guy with a defensive Terran style to match. Across the three events he competed in he has only made it through one group stage, though his bad luck usually lands him in the hardest groups. He barely failed to make it through the epic26 group stage – being just a single map-score behind his teammate Weskimo sealed his fate. Hopefully Arc’s luck will be better this event, but it seems like this event will have no easy groups.

32. Jeddrix

Jeddrix is making his second epicLAN appearance in a row, perhaps solidifying himself as the next TAW mainstay at LAN after MarsBar. Bearing a Zerg tattoo on his arm, he is clearly passionate about StarCraft and proud of his race. In his first event he did make it out of a relatively easy group, but was unfortunately eliminated in the lower bracket by his teammate MarsBar in a close series. Jeddrix has room to improve, but it’s tough to stand out amongst all the Zergs in the UK scene.

33. Dune

Dune very recently became active in the UK SC2 scene, and has already decided to attend his first epicLAN. Dune managed to overcome a 1k+ MMR deficit and take a game off the 5K MMR player ThePurge in the second UK SC2 League Qualifier, which is enough to give this Protoss newcomer a boosted ranking.

34. Flux

Flux is one of the original FoFoG members. While he attended a few epicLANs back in 2014 and 2015, he hasn’t played much since then. Flux primarily going this time to meet up with the FoFoG crew. Still, Flux is quite an intelligent Protoss player who still follows and loves the game, he is certainly capable of sneaking in some wins. Flux dreams about defeating GamerRichy, but given the current skill difference between them, surely it will continue to be a fantasy. Regardless of how he performs, it will be great to have him back at epicLAN.

35. Fazed

Fazed is one of the younger competitors, but has still been with the UK SC2 community and FoFoG for a long time. Fazed’s reliance on highly-aggressive low-economy Baneling all-ins makes him very predictable in tournaments. Terrans and Protoss can easily deal with Fazed simply by playing safely, however in ZvZ Fazed is capable of out-microing and defeating players who are prepared for his style. The more Zergs in Fazed’s group, the more chances he has of taking maps.

36. Susken

Susken is the leader of The Drunken Outlaws, which makes him a key figure at epicLAN. He supports his team with extreme enthusiasm and McDonalds Fish Filet meals. This supportive effect is amplified by every member of the team present, thus making The Drunken Outlaws a very powerful team, even if Susken himself is not the strongest player. Unfortunately, Susken is the last person to lose to Grimzzy (spoiler: the lowest ranked player on this list), which hurt his Aligulac ELO a lot, he needs to make sure he wins some maps, or Susken could be at risk of taking Grimzzy’s spot in the future. At his last event, Susken did manage to kill a Drone of Spazymazy with his first Reaper; winning Susken a bet the two players had together.

37. Paws

Paws is a newcomer to the UK Scene, having joined the UK SC2 Discord just a few weeks ago – shortly before signing up to his first epicLAN. He is a teamless Terran player sitting at 3.8k MMR, and nobody seems to know his playstyle. Hopefully Paws will have a good time at the event and consider joining one of the great UK clans.

38. Magico

Magico is the owner of FoFoG (Forged Force Gaming), and therefore one of the most important people in the UK SC2 scene. Since 2014 he has been coming down to epicLANs to provide support to his team with valuable advice and Dominos pizza. Alongside his management role, he has been a competitor at several epicLAN events, but has not received notable results. His most impressive victory is a 2-1 TvT victory over Wardi on the back of some innovative-at-the-time Cyclone Mech. Magico always puts his team before himself; true victory will be achieved by him when FoFoG wins their first epicLAN title.

39. Fishert

Fishert is a newcomer to the UK SC2 scene and will be attending his first epicLAN. He joined FoFoG less than a month ago, very shortly after announcing he was looking for a clan in the UK SC2 Discord. Fishert has just 3.6k MMR on the ladder, but players tend to improve fast after joining FoFoG. While this LAN may be hard to do well in for Fishert, he could very well have good runs in the future.

40. Kadesh

Kadesh is flying all the way from France to attend his first epicLAN. He seems to favour team games over 1v1, resulting in a fairly low 1v1 MMR. It’s possible that the 2v2 ladder has taught Kadesh some interesting tactics that other players might not have seen, so he is still capable of punching above his MMR. As a high-ranking member of The Drunken Outlaws, he will surely provide lots of support to all his teammates.

41. Cree

Cree is a newcomer to epicLAN, and a very late sign-up to the tournament; so shrouded in mystery that even their race is currently unknown, and no ladder account can currently be matched to them. Cree could easily perform much better than this low ranking, but only time will tell.

42. Grimzzy

Grimzzy is the elder of the UK SC2 community, likely having attended more epicLANs than any other UK SC2 member. His fading competitive drive has led him to forfeit a significant chunk of his tournament games in recent years, resulting in him being the official second-worst competitive player in the world according to Aligulac.

With an an Aligulac ELO of -26 (and -110 in ZvZ), dropping even a single map to Grimzzy is enough to crater someone’s Aligulac ELO, thus making a high-stakes match out of any series Grimzzy elects to play.

Credits:
RazerBlader & Zain

Note: this Power Rank is not endorsed by TL.net

SC2 Power Rank: epic29

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