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Poll: Who is the Best ProtossDear - Back to back wins, such mindblowing timings (301) 52% sOs - Grand finals champion, always ahead of the metagame (181) 32% Rain - Ultimate defense, impeccable mechanics (47) 8% Other - HerO, the Boss Toss, Parting, Naniwa, or someone else (45) 8% 574 total votes Your vote: Who is the Best Protoss (Vote): Dear - Back to back wins, such mindblowing timings
(Vote): sOs - Grand finals champion, always ahead of the metagame
(Vote): Rain - Ultimate defense, impeccable mechanics
(Vote): Other - HerO, the Boss Toss, Parting, Naniwa, or someone else
HotS has really seen a huge leap forward in Protoss play. Not just in terms of results, but in terms of style and skill level. In the latter days of WoL, Protoss seemed to struggle to win major tournaments. Even the legendary Boss Toss wasn't as dominant as he used to be, and when Protoss did win, it often felt a little flukey and not entirely sustainable...
But a new breed of Dragons have emerged. Players from BW, with stunning mechanics paired with incredible strategic innovations. Players who have redefined what we think the Protoss race is capable of.
There are many good Protoss out there. MC is the most successful and consistent SC2 Protoss of all time, and he's still no slouch today. HerO's skill with multitasking remains amazing. PartinG's got soul, Naniwa's got attitude, Duckduck is capable of beating anyone, and Oz is a terrifying force in PvP.
But to my mind, 3 Protosses have separated themselves from the pack over the last year. They aren't just good, they're genuinely great. They are:
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images2/thumb/a/a0/Dearmlg.jpg/300px-Dearmlg.jpg)
Dear
Three months ago, Dear was relatively unhyped. If he wasn't a complete unknown, he certainly hadn't yet distinguished himself on the SC2 scene. But all that changed when he went on perhaps the most dominant run of any SC2 player since Life's storied peak. It wasn't just that he tore through both WCS Korea and the Season 3 Finals--it was the way he did it. He showed a combination of skills that hadn't been shown by any Protoss before. Amazing gamesense to always have just enough units to defend and hold off drops, while meanwhile he's attacking all over the map, using his amazing micro to win small engagement after small engagement. He has an uncanny knack for figuring out the perfect time to strike, right when his opponent is at their most vulnerable--and even when he's on his back foot, he'll simply play perfect defense, wait for his opponent to make a mistake, and then punish it. Though he didn't win the Global Finals, he manhandled Taeja and played one of the best series of the year against JaeDong, so its clear that Dear's skills are still sharp.
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images2/thumb/2/27/Rain-SFMLG20130316-162247.jpg/300px-Rain-SFMLG20130316-162247.jpg)
Rain
For a long while this year, Rain's hold on the title of best Protoss was undisputed. The first BW Protoss to transition in a truly dominant way to SC2, Rain's claim to fame is simple--he is hands down the best defensive Protoss in Sc2 history. His mechanics are incredible, but he combines them with insane patience and perfect discipline. He doesn't take stupid risks, and he doesn't make mistakes. He just defends and defends and defends while building the exact composition he needs to win. It is the polar opposite of the "aggressive Toss" style that had dominated WoL (see: MC, PartinG), and he makes it look scarily dominant. Rain hasn't won a big tournament recently, but he's still a very dominant player, and it would be foolish to think he's not a threat to win big in 2014.
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images2/thumb/3/3f/SOsDHBucharest2013.jpg/300px-SOsDHBucharest2013.jpg)
sOs
In the start of 2013, sOs seemed to be poised to dominate SC2. He was so far ahead of the metagame it wasn't even funny, and the styles he was pioneering would soon gone on to become the new standard, particularly in PvZ. But as people caught up with his innovations, it seemed like sOs wasn't quite the force he'd been. But that all changed in one phenomenal tournament. Over this past weekend, sOs walked into a tournament of the very best players in the world, and he brutalized them. Just look at these wins:
3-1 HerO
3-1 Polt
3-1 Bomber
4-1 Jaedong
13-4 total
He played every matchup, and looked amazing in all of them. In particular, the Templar first PvT style he and Dear play looks certain to become the new standard (though few can match sOs' Jangbi-like Storms). But sOs did what even Dear couldn't, mindgaming and ultimately outplaying JaeDong on the biggest stage. In the world's biggest, toughest tournament, sOs showed us all what he's really made of.
3 Dragons. 3 great Protoss players. 3 unique playtsyles that have resulted in numerous impressive wins.
The question is: Who of them is the best of all? At this moment, who is the world's best Protoss player?
(of course, if you think its someone else, just say so. But you're going to have to make a strong argument, because I think these 3 have clearly put themselves above the pack).
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Personally, despite sOs' big win, I think Dear is the top. His series with JaeDong came down to a nailbiter, and if he'd won it, I suspect we'd be talking about Dear as a 3 in a row champion right now. More importantly, though he's not quite as tricky as sOs, in terms of sheer ability I think he's the most impressive--its like he combines the best of Rain's defense with MC's timing, PartinG's army control and HerO's multitask. Others may do one or two specific things better, but Dear has the complete package to an unparalleled degree.
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At the moment and of 2013 so far: sOs
Lots of players have had high peaks, time will tell with Dear. Not 100% sold on him yet.
Rain is at sOs' heels but sOs has just been more consistent and has actually won some gold.
I'm not much for in the moment rankings, so for 2013 so far with several tournaments left that can change things:
sOs
Rain
Dear
PartinG
First (2013 would also include WoL where First won IEM Katowice only dropping 2 games)
Trap
Duckdeok
HerO
MC
Naniwa
San
Hurricane
might be forgetting a few but that seems pretty reasonable
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United States97275 Posts
I'd give Dear the top spot with sOs close behind. After that it's pretty muddled between who's playing well at the time. I think Trap, PartinG, and Rain can all play like top toss when their on their game as well as some other toss like HerO, San, and Hurricane.
I thought duckdeok also put on a pretty good performance this weekend too. I almost feel like he's taken over MC's role as the guy who can just beat anyone with a perfectly executed all in. If he can get more comfortable in varying styles of games he could really become a top level player.
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Dear hasn't had enough time to prove himself yet in my opinion, he's had some amazing results for sure but will he show this same level of player for a long period of time or will he just be another player who does shows us some amazing stuff then disappears? He certainly seems to be the all-around package at the moment though.
on the other hand, the way sOs plays seems far more 'organic' than other players. I don't really know how else to explain it but it's like he approaches each game as something entirely new (rather than blindly following build orders) and isn't afraid to improvise on the spot. I feel like this really works to his advantage since not only does it give him a huge advantage in any nonstandard game, but the Protoss race tends to punish their opponent's failed / lack of scouting pretty harshly. Any game sOs loses seems to be a very close thing, and a lot of the games he wins seem to be almost elegantly easy.
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Seems to change every couple of weeks.
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As much as I love Rain, he's far from being the best protoss at the moment. He'll have to work his ass off to become number 1 again. While his style can work, he should really exploit the image everyone has of him imo - more mindgames, more metagaming, more balls. As of late, even his defense hasn't been that good.
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I think Dear is the complete package at the moment. But we'll see how it goes!
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Dear is my pick due to his reactive style and aggression. Basically a better MC without overcommitment MC does so often.
sOs is the best today though for winning WCS finals
I dont care for Rain AT ALL. Hate marco games unless they are action packed whole time and Rain is the macro toss.
I think it's irresponsible to leave out MC. Even with Dear and sOs' recent success he still is #3 Protoss in money this year.- was #1 until two weeks ago - and you know can take any tournament if he's playing well.
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Dear. sOs is just cheesy.
But both of them...must be annihilated.
Sorry, actually going to have to go with Naniwa...
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On November 10 2013 14:55 Qwyn wrote:
Dear. sOs is just cheesy.
But both of them...must be annihilated.
Sorry, actually going to have to go with Naniwa...
You're letting your personal hatred for these players influence who you think is objectively more skilled -_- It's not a very constructive attitude.
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Tough question. I think Dear still sits on the high chair as Executor in the Citadel. But, I'm just happy that our race has three champions able to have such distinctive play styles and to be successful at the highest level of the game.
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Haven't watched day 2 of blizzcon yet, but I still think it's Dear by a large margin. I think I'd even pick Sora over the others (because fuck results, trust is what matters =D )
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On November 10 2013 15:03 Nebuchad wrote:
Haven't watched day 2 of blizzcon yet, but I still think it's Dear by a large margin. I think I'd even pick Sora over the others (because fuck results, trust is what matters =D )
Watch day 2, man. Watch it. 
But yeah, Sora>>all :D
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On November 10 2013 15:03 Nebuchad wrote:
Haven't watched day 2 of blizzcon yet, but I still think it's Dear by a large margin. I think I'd even pick Sora over the others (because fuck results, trust is what matters =D )
sOs played incredibly well on day 2. He was a step ahead of both Bomber and Jaedong all day.
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Dear for me. Though admittedly that decision is influenced by the way the grand final was played and i being a fan of the tyrant.
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12305 Posts
On November 10 2013 14:55 Qwyn wrote:
Dear. sOs is just cheesy.
But both of them...must be annihilated.
Sorry, actually going to have to go with Naniwa...
next level troll post
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On November 10 2013 15:00 slowbacontron wrote:Show nested quote +On November 10 2013 14:55 Qwyn wrote:
Dear. sOs is just cheesy.
But both of them...must be annihilated.
Sorry, actually going to have to go with Naniwa... You're letting your personal hatred for these players influence who you think is objectively more skilled -_- It's not a very constructive attitude.
he's letting his hatred for anything not JD cloud his judgement.
hate leads to suffering.
I voted Dear because he seems more impressive to me but sOs is definitely up there too, really hard call
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1. Dear
2. sOs
3. Rain
4. Parting
5. San
6. Sora
7. Trap
8. First
9. YongHwa
10. herO
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EPT
