Esports World Cup 2025 - Power Ranking

by Wax

The TL.net Power Ranking makes its long awaited return for the 2025 Esports World Cup, where eighteen of the top players in competitive StarCraft II will compete for the title of world champion.

#18: Lancer

Well, somebody had to be last place, and unfortunately that distinction falls to Lancer. The Protoss formerly known as Cyan wouldn't even have qualified normally, but the EWC Asia qualifier runner-up was abruptly promoted to regional reprerentative following Firefly's expulsion due to a match-fixing scandal.

Lancer has shown he can punch above his weight class in the past, most notably when he beat a handful of fringe Code S players to qualify for IEM Katowice 2024. However, given the level of competition at EWC, I can't see him pulling off any miracles.

#17: Astrea

Astrea booked his EWC ticket at the last minute through the Global Qualifier, after narrowly losing his status as the #1 NA player to Trigger in the Americas qualifier.

Overall, Astrea profiles as a solid macro player with fewer creative quirks in his play than his old reputation would suggest. He has a fighting chance against anyone in the tournament if he gets to play longer macro games, but in the current meta, you could say that about every Protoss who's at EWC. Unfortunately, I don't think Astrea is as defensively sturdy as the higher-ranked players, and he may not survive to show his best play.

#16: trigger

Trigger is the one the toughest players to rate, as he's actually played some of the fewest tournament matches since securing his EWC qualification. His most recent showing at BGE Stara Zagora was discouraging, as he was eliminated rather quickly with BO3 loses to both Ryung and SKillous—neither of whom qualified for the world championship.

While Trigger looked much improved in online competitions during the first half of the year (back when he was still playing in cups), one has to question if he can play at 100% on a stage like EWC. Rogue noted that nerves seemed to get to Trigger in his GSL RO12 elimination, and the pressure will only be more intense at the world championship.

#15: Lambo

The professor has struggled in top-tier events in 2023-25, and was noticeably missing at the last EWC. However, he upped his game when it mattered most in the EWC Global Qualifier, sweeping both Astrea and Goblin to clutch out a spot. While he had struggled with ZvP since the 5.0.14 patch (as have many other Zergs), aggressive early/mid-game attacks helped him find his way to Riyadh.

Lambo should have a decent chance to advance from the play-in stage, as he's the closest thing Europe has to a GSL-style player who gets an extra bonus from preparation time. However, should he make it to the main event, it's hard to see him surviving the rapid-fire series of matches in the three-day main event.

#14: HeroMarine

It might be a little surprising to see HeroMarine this high in the rankings, considering that he's been a part-time player for some time now. However, Big Gabe has maintained a high level of play while going to university and getting absolutely jacked, and he remains quite competitive within the European scene.

Players #14-17 fall within a pretty similar band of ability, but HeroMarine has given us the most evidence that he can elevate his play in the biggest tournaments. While it was over a year ago now, one can't forget his surprise run to the RO8 of IEM Katowice 2024 where even surviving the group stage seemed like an iffy proposition. Not only does Big Gabe have a good chance to make it out of the play-in stage, but he could cause some main event upsets if he draws favorable match-ups.

#13: ShoWTimE

Holding the #4 spot in Europe behind Serral-Clem-Reynor-MaxPax has been a game of musical chairs throughout the years, and right now, the position has come circling back to ShoWTimE. Die Mauer has been on a mini hot-streak in recent months, earning his EWC spot with a fourth place finish at BGE Stara Zagora (a 2-1 win against Reynor clinched it) and taking second place at HomeStory Cup 27.

Unfortunately, there's a 'best of the rest' quality to ShoWTimE, where he's competitive against anyone except the top-tier title contenders. He really struggles against the likes of Serral, Clem, and Maru, while even the variance of PvP doesn't help him much against herO. A recent WardiTV Cup win against Clem must have been a pleasant surprise, but one can't read too deeply into isolated cup results ahead of a major offline event.

Anywhere between a 16th to 5th place finish seems plausible for ShoWTimE, depending on how frequently he runs into the top players.

#12: ByuN

ByuN is looking a lot like his old self these days, playing well in online competitions but not quite living up to expectations in offline tournaments. Thankfully, his psychosomatic wrist issues seem to have been cured—we haven't seen him force a mid-series pause in quite a while—but he's still being held to mid-table finishes in larger events.

When things are clicking for ByuN, he can play an aggressive, muilti-tasking heavy style that's second only to Clem. He's also shown impressive patience in the late-game when he has a mind to, whittling his opponents down in a way that's reminiscent of his close friend Maru. However, he's just not consistent enough to place any higher in these rankings.

#11: Solar

Solar was one of the first players to qualify for EWC, earning his spot with a second place finish at DreamHack Dallas. In the last few months, it's been hard to process what the results from the chaotic Texas showdown really meant for the scene. In general, it does really feel like there's way more parity in the scene than before—the skill gap between players is definitely way closer than it was before EWC 2024.

That said, it also feels like the ZvZ-heavy Dallas run overstated Solar's abilities to some extent, as he hasn't been nearly as good in other tournaments. ZvP in particular has been a major problem for Solar. He struggles in the late-game like everyone else, but also doesn't have the killer instinct to finish Protoss players off before the games can go long. Overall, this just seems like an unfavorable meta for Solar. He prefers to play a safe and standard style, but that just isn't getting the job done for players who aren't Serral.

#10: SHIN

Dark may be missing for EWC due to military service, but Zerg fans will at least get a quasi-replacement in the form of SHIN. The aggressive Zerg marches to the beat of his own drum, and there's no problem he won't try to solve with a series of creative all-ins.

Alas, while Dark was one of the best late-game Zergs in history, SHIN is somewhat lacking in that department. While he's rather capable up to the early/late-game (damn, we need some better terminology) where you can still win by a-moving Ultralisks, his performance takes a nosedive once games stall out.

Despite this limitation, SHIN's style of play has allowed him to pull off some of the biggest upsets in recent history. He eliminated Serral in the RO4 of IEM Katowice 2023, and more recently he 3-2'd Clem in the semifinals of DreamHack Dallas. SHIN will be one of the more dangerous wildcards at EWC, with a chance to seriously impede the tournament runs of stronger players.

#9: Zoun

Zoun's stellar off-season play was heavily hyped in TL.net previews, but his results once the EWC 2025 cycle actually began have been a mixed bag. He somehow missed out on GSL Season 1 qualification, and was eliminated in the RO24 of DreamHack Dallas with a loss to MaNa. On the other hand, he earned his EWC qualification handily in the Korean qualifier (beating Rogue, ByuN, and Cure), came in third at BGE Stara Zagora (going 1-1 against Serral in BO5 series), and recently won HomeStory Cup 27.

Match-ups are important for everyone at EWC, but Zoun must be especially wary about PvP. While he's made considerable progress in shoring up his weakness in the mirror, it's still the match-up that gives him the most trouble in major tournaments.

In total, Zoun is a player with tremendous upside, but like many players in the middle of the rankings, his consistency remains a major question mark.

#8: Rogue

At this point in the rankings, the issue of past credit and reputation start to make things very tricky. Rogue is arguably the greatest big tournament riser in the history of the game, proving time and time again that recent form and results mean jack squat to him when there's a serious payday up for grabs. If there's $100,000+ to be won, the best version of Rogue shows up.

Well, at least that's how it was up until his military service.

Like many other pros before him, Rogue struggled after his return from military service in 2024. He spent nearly a year without achieving any notable results in major tournaments, while his performances in online play varied wildly from match to match.

However, just as it seemed like the ship had sailed on Rogue qualifying for EWC and going for one last heist, he proved once again why he can never be counted out. Facing title favorite herO in the Code S Season 2 semifinals, Rogue emptied his bag of tricks to steal a stunning 3-1 upset and reach the Code S finals, thus qualifying for EWC. Not only that, but he pushed Classic all the way to seven games in the finals, proving his timeless quality yet again.

If you exclude Rogue's Code S run, he's done almost nothing in the last six months that says he'll be a title contender at EWC. However, that single run showed that the military didn't completely blunt his edge, and you underestimate the legend at your own peril.

#7: Cure

It may seem like a bit of a backhanded compliment, but Cure has been the most consistent top-tier player of the last two years who hasn't won a major title. He finished runner-up at Gamers8, top four at IEM Katowice 2024, and fifth place at EWC 2024 (with plenty of other high finishes in non-WC events between those). Cure achieved these results by using a time-tested approach for great Terrans: a solid macro base combined with an incredible nose for when to pull out the all-ins.

The problem for Cure is that he limited upset potential against stronger players. While an objectively weaker player like SHIN can occasionally pull off a massive upset due to his unpredictability, Cure just can't seem to create the variables needed to knock a player like Serral off balance. Still, the top-tier competitors are looking much more vulnerable in 2025 than they were in 2024, so perhaps EWC will give Cure a chance to break through his previous ceiling.

#6: Reynor

The question of past credit pops up once again with Reynor, who's completely undeserving of this placement if we're just looking at results in 2025. Top 8 GSL, top 8 DH Dallas, top 6 BGE Stara Zagoro—those results are just fine, but fine doesn't cut it for a player who we're used to seeing as a world title contender.

However, like a mini-Rogue, Reynor has shown he can ramp up and hit peak form at the perfect time. Such was the case when he won the championship at Gamers8 2023 (the predecessor to EWC), prior to which he had been putting up good but not spectacular results. Moreover, Reynor's skills haven't been blunted by a long stint in the military—he's still very much in the middle of what should be his prime.

There's a possibility that Reynor's long-running jokes about being washed had a hint of truth to them, and that we've been blind to a slow but steady decline since Gamers8. Still, it feels wrong to count out one of the most talented players of the 2020's, especially when he has a chance to set the record straight with one great tournament run.

#5: Classic

Peaking at the right time has been a historical recipe to winning a world championship. As we saw with ByuN at BlizzCon 2016, TY at IEM Katowice 2017, or Rogue at BlizzCon 2017, there are few things more dangerous than a previously mid-tier player getting hot in the months leading up to the big show.

Classic looks like he fits that profile, playing like a man on fire in the last two months. After placing top four at Code S Season 1 and DreamHack Dallas, Classic proceeded to become the second post-military player to win Code S by clinching the title in Season 2. Not only that, but he's been fantastic in online competitions as well, tearing through weekly cups and winning RSL by defeating Clem in the grand finals. While online results can be difficult to interpret in isolation, they are usually meaningful when combined with great offline performances as well.

The worry for Classic is that he could end up like Dear in 2013, who was on an even more incendiary tear before BlizzCon. Dear ended up flaming out at the main event, showing that momentum doesn't always guarantee a good world championship result.

#4: Maru

Maru is the biggest mystery player of the tournament, having played an extremely small number of games since the previous EWC concluded. His limited off-season tournament results were rather troubling, as he underperformed at HomeStory Cup 26 and was horrendous in a couple of $10,000-tier online events. Combined with his 2025 Code S results—RO8 elimination in both seasons—Maru was on the verge of having a full-blown crisis.

However, such concerns were mostly negated by Maru's championship run at DreamHack Dallas, which was the biggest offline event of the year so far. While Maru did profit from upsets elsewhere in the bracket, on the whole, his run was as dominant and convincing as any of his Code S title campaigns (wins against Creator, ShoWTimE, herO, Classic, and Solar).

While Maru's poor results in the GSL can't be completely excused, one does get the feeling he may have reoriented his priorities in the wake of GSL's diminishment (Korean-elitists are recoiling in horror). Historically great players deserve the benefit of the doubt, and Maru's showing at Dallas should be considered his baseline. Even though Maru's match-up against Serral remains highly problematic, he should be firmly in the title mix if he can avoid an early meeting against his nemesis.

#3: herO

herO established himself as a world title contender in the early days of the off-season, staying extremely active and successful in online competitions throughout. It can be tough to know how much weight to put on online events and minor cups, but historically we've seen that sustained dominance in such competitions has been a good predictor of success in major tournaments. Cure, Zest, Clem, and herO himself (during his first year back from military) all proved that online skill can translate to offline results.

Of course, herO has also done well in offline tournaments after other players ramped up their activities for EWC. He won the first season of GSL Code S, reached the top four in Season 2, and placed top eight at DreamHack Dallas. While that may seem slightly underwhelming on paper, it's pretty impressive when you consider how evenly spread out this summer's championships have been.

herO has hit a minor road bump ahead of EWC, with Classic actually usurping him in terms of short-term momentum. Many fans will have Classic ahead of herO in their rankings, and there's a reasonable case to be made for such evaluations. However, the combination of both short and long term success favors herO, putting him at #3 in this power rank.

#2: Clem

Because of how evenly matched the top-tier players have looked throughout this short summer season, this power rank was always bound to be controversial. Thus, facing what's expected to be equal parts applause and derision, the reigning world champ comes in at #2 in the Power Rank.

A lot of what was said about herO applies to Clem as well. He barely took any time off after winning the 2024 world championship, and continued to be a tour de force during the lengthy off-season. While he did suffer a stunning RO8 loss to SHIN at DreamHack Dallas, in the context of his broader performances, it's easy to brush that off as a one-in-a-thousand result at one of the most unpredictable events in recent memory. Clem has shown he's still the best in the world when he's at 100%, winning tournaments like PiG Festival #6 (5-3 vs herO in the finals) and BGE Stara Zagora (4-3 vs Serral) against top competition.

However, Clem has definitely given viewers reason to worry about how consistently he can play at that transcendent level. His DreamHack RO8 elimination might be a fluke in isolation, but he's subsequently shown vulnerability on his home turf of online cups as well. His recent RSL runner-up run saw him lose to Classic twice in BO5+ series, which was jarring considering his track record of crushing Classic in the previous six months.

This ranking has given players considerable benefit of the doubt based on past performances, so it's only fair that the defending world champ gets the same treatment. Those minor hiccups will likely soon be forgotten as we see Clem make another deep run and challenge for his second world championship.

#1: Serral

Serral comes in as the only top contender who hasn't won a championship during the summer season, but honestly, does anyone really care? The Finnish Phenom has been the most dependably dominant player in the scene for the last seven years, and his abilities should be beyond reproach. Ironically, Serral doesn't get enough credit for being a big tournament performer because he always plays well—strip away half of his championships and he'd still have a case to be called the surest bet to win a given tournament.

Although Serral doesn't play many online events, just for good measure, he popped in a handful of times during the off-season to remind everyone just how good he is. He won the single biggest online event of Master's Coliseum #8 by beating herO 5-3, and he took down his rival Clem 5-4 at PiG Festival #5. Even in losing to Clem in the finals of BGE Stara Zagora, the one-map difference showed the match-up between the two is far closer than at the previous world championship.

Serral is this ranking's pick for #1, but it's clear that he's not gapping the rest of the scene the way he was in years past. The wild results of the summer season have shown that there are a number of players who can give Serral a run for his money, with ZvP standing out as a potential weakness. Both Classic and Zoun have handed him BO5 defeats in offline events, something which was nearly unthinkable just one year ago.

Yet, in an environment where the competitive margins between top players are paper thin, and where everyone has some vulnerabilities to exploit, Serral remains the most reliable pick to win it all. He's faced all sorts of opponents, metas, and maps throughout the years, and he's continuously found a way to succeed at the highest level.

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