This is a blog about the results of a little tool I have have developed to rate players overall and their peak performances.
Without going too much into technicalities here - more below - the method is based upon each and every top4 Premier Tournament finish from 2010 up to today (19th of March 2015), all of them carefully handrated in 5 Tiers.
The Best Players of All Time (by overall performance):
+ Show Spoiler +
The Best Players of All Time (by peak performance):
+ Show Spoiler +
The Best Players of WoL (by overall performance)
+ Show Spoiler +
The Best Players of WoL (by peak performance)
+ Show Spoiler +
The Best Players of HotS so far (by overall performance)
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The Best Players of HotS so far (by peak performance)
+ Show Spoiler +
The best Foreigners (by overall performance):
+ Show Spoiler +
The best Foreigners (by peak performance):
+ Show Spoiler +
How it works
+ Show Spoiler +
Some performance Graphs
DISCLAIMER: Due to the points handed from events to the past it is only natural that the graphs around early 2015 are declining in comparison. (those points in the plot have zero points from future events right now) This makes late peaks like Life's even more impressive, since those peaks could be even higher a few month from now.
+ Show Spoiler +
Mvp vs Life+ Show Spoiler +
Mvp: He has reached the highest peak ever achieved, showcased in every graph by the blue Mvp-line.
Life: The only player (I believe) that would have made it into the top10 peak performances with two
far apart peaks. His current, higher peak is ongoing and does not profit from future events in the same way that Mvp's 2011 peak profits from 2012 wins yet!
MMA, MC, TaeJa+ Show Spoiler +
some of the most steady players overall. Even though they had their ups and downs (in MMA's case a down to zero even), they have been around for a really long time and performed well throughout most of it.
Rain, sOs, Zest, Dear, herO, PartinG+ Show Spoiler +
a lot of Protoss before the Void.
Maru vs INnoVation+ Show Spoiler +
No clear answer to the best Terran of HotS question.
Life, Soulkey, soO+ Show Spoiler +
The Heart of the Swarm!
Seed, jjakji, Sniper, Classic, RorO + Show Spoiler +
Who is the biggest one-hit wonder amongst the GSL winners?
Stephano vs NaNiwa+ Show Spoiler +
Foreigners fightingback each other.
Flash vs Jaedong+ Show Spoiler +
A clear advantage in the eternal duel so far.
herO vs HerO+ Show Spoiler +
Which hero do we deserve?
DRG vs NesTea + Show Spoiler +
Behold Artosis, DRG #1 in WoL!
soO vs Zest + Show Spoiler +
2014's best?!
Without going too much into technicalities here - more below - the method is based upon each and every top4 Premier Tournament finish from 2010 up to today (19th of March 2015), all of them carefully handrated in 5 Tiers.
The Best Players of All Time (by overall performance):
+ Show Spoiler +
1. Mvp (7.592 points)
2. Life (7.458 points)
3. MC (7.175 points)
4. MMA (6.692 points)
5. TaeJa (6.083 points)
6. Polt (4.866 points)
7. Maru (4.65 points)
8. DongRaeGu (4.292 points)
9. PartinG (4.25 points)
10. INnoVation (4.075 points)
2. Life (7.458 points)
3. MC (7.175 points)
4. MMA (6.692 points)
5. TaeJa (6.083 points)
6. Polt (4.866 points)
7. Maru (4.65 points)
8. DongRaeGu (4.292 points)
9. PartinG (4.25 points)
10. INnoVation (4.075 points)
The Best Players of All Time (by peak performance):
+ Show Spoiler +
1. Mvp (3.625 points)
2. soO (3.25 points)
3. DongRaeGu (2.979 points)
4. Life (2.967 points)
5. Zest (2.875 points)
6. MMA (2.808 points)
7. Soulkey (2.65 points)
8. INnoVation (2.5375 points)
9. Jaedong (2.417 points)
10. Maru (2.4 points)
2. soO (3.25 points)
3. DongRaeGu (2.979 points)
4. Life (2.967 points)
5. Zest (2.875 points)
6. MMA (2.808 points)
7. Soulkey (2.65 points)
8. INnoVation (2.5375 points)
9. Jaedong (2.417 points)
10. Maru (2.4 points)
The Best Players of WoL (by overall performance)
+ Show Spoiler +
1. Mvp (6.675 points)
2. MC (5.008 points)
3. DongRaeGu (4.125 points)
4. NesTea (3.517 points)
5. MMA (3.467 points)
6. MarineKing (2.992 points)
7. Life (2.416points)
8. Leenock (2.1 points)
9. TaeJa (2.083 points)
10. Polt/PartinG (2.025 points)
2. MC (5.008 points)
3. DongRaeGu (4.125 points)
4. NesTea (3.517 points)
5. MMA (3.467 points)
6. MarineKing (2.992 points)
7. Life (2.416points)
8. Leenock (2.1 points)
9. TaeJa (2.083 points)
10. Polt/PartinG (2.025 points)
The Best Players of WoL (by peak performance)
+ Show Spoiler +
1. Mvp (3.625 points)
2. DongRaeGu (2.979 points)
3. MMA (2.808 points)
4. Life (2.417 points)
5. NesTea (2.375 points)
6. MC (2.167 points)
7. TaeJa (1.833 points)
8. Rain (1.8 points)
9. PartinG (1.775 points)
10. MarineKing (1.6 points)
2. DongRaeGu (2.979 points)
3. MMA (2.808 points)
4. Life (2.417 points)
5. NesTea (2.375 points)
6. MC (2.167 points)
7. TaeJa (1.833 points)
8. Rain (1.8 points)
9. PartinG (1.775 points)
10. MarineKing (1.6 points)
The Best Players of HotS so far (by overall performance)
+ Show Spoiler +
1. Life (5.042 points)
2. Maru (4.65 points)
3. soO & TaeJa (4.00 points)
5. INnoVation (3.575 points)
6. Zest (3.5 points)
7. Jaedong (3.4 points)
8. MMA (3.225 points)
9. Polt (2.842 points)
10. Soulkey (2.817 points)
2. Maru (4.65 points)
3. soO & TaeJa (4.00 points)
5. INnoVation (3.575 points)
6. Zest (3.5 points)
7. Jaedong (3.4 points)
8. MMA (3.225 points)
9. Polt (2.842 points)
10. Soulkey (2.817 points)
The Best Players of HotS so far (by peak performance)
+ Show Spoiler +
1. soO (3.25 points)
2. Life (2.967 points)
3. Zest (2.875 points)
4. Soulkey (2.65 points)
5. Jaedong (2.417 points)
6. Maru (2.4 points)
7. INnoVation (2.325 points)
8. TaeJa (2.092 points)
9. sOs (2.025 points)
10. Dear (2.0 points)
2. Life (2.967 points)
3. Zest (2.875 points)
4. Soulkey (2.65 points)
5. Jaedong (2.417 points)
6. Maru (2.4 points)
7. INnoVation (2.325 points)
8. TaeJa (2.092 points)
9. sOs (2.025 points)
10. Dear (2.0 points)
The best Foreigners (by overall performance):
+ Show Spoiler +
1. Stephano (2.133 points)
2. NaNiwa (1.817 points)
3. HuK (1.375 points)
4. MaNa (0.917 points)
5. ThorZaIN (0.908 points)
2. NaNiwa (1.817 points)
3. HuK (1.375 points)
4. MaNa (0.917 points)
5. ThorZaIN (0.908 points)
The best Foreigners (by peak performance):
+ Show Spoiler +
1. Stephano (1.217 points)
2. NaNiwa (0.983 points)
3. Jinro (0.8 points)
4. HuK (0.725 points)
5. ThorZaIN (0.575 points)
2. NaNiwa (0.983 points)
3. Jinro (0.8 points)
4. HuK (0.725 points)
5. ThorZaIN (0.575 points)
How it works
+ Show Spoiler +
The Five Tiers of Tournaments:
Tier 1 - Preparation tournaments of the highest level of their time with a certain factor of exclusiveness usually granted through a tough qualification process. E.g. GSL, WCS KR, NSSL 2012-2015, OSL 2013
Tier 2 - Tournaments that for a certain reason (e.g. lack of preparation time or too high frequency of the tournament in a year) do not make Tier 1. E.g. GSL 2011, OSL 2012, WCS Blizzcon Finals
Tier 3 - Similar to Tier 2 tournaments which are usually below T1 and T2 tournaments in tournament length, price pool and prestige, yet still feature the absolute top players in the world. E.g. Hot6ix Cup, GSL Blizzard Cup, IEM WC 2014 & 2015, GSL World Championship 2011, WCS AM, WCS EU
Tier 4 - Frequent Premier Tournament Series which usually include a lot of traveling, no preparation time for opponents and are usually held at LAN events. E.g. MLG, DH, IEM
Tier 5 - Like Tier 4, but with a weaker player line up, a very small bracket or less of a competetive character. Basically all the other tournaments that are not listed in the other Tiers. E.g. HomeStoryCup, Red Bull Battlegrounds, MLG/DH/IEMs with weak player line ups.
For each placement as 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th player in an SC2 Premier Tournament, said player gets points.
Tier 1 - 1 point/0.75points/0.5points/0.5points
Tier 2 - 0.8 points/0.6points/0.4points/0.4points
Tier 3 - 0.5 points/0.375points/0.25points/0.25points
Tier 4 - 0.33 points/0.25points/0.17points/0.17points
Tier 5 - 0.15 points/0.1points/0.075points/0.075points
So, to put it into perspective: you need three Dreamhack championships to match the points of one Code S champion. For every one point a player has, he has achieved as much as Seed. A player that won one Tier 1 GSL, but never ever placed top4 elsewhere.
Example: Mvp's overall achievments are more impressive than winning 7 GSL titles through all of SC2's lifetime. More than the best 5 foreigners combined.
The second statistic I'm showcasing here is the peak performance of a player. The performance is a curve that is a weighted sum of overall points achieved within a thirdteen month time frame.
E.g. Mvp peaking at 3.625points in October 2011 means that the sum of points he has achieved between July'11 and Jan'12 as well as half the points he got from April'11-June'11 and Feb'12-April'12 is worth more than 3 GSL wins.
Only the peak performances (hence the highest point of a players performance curve) are given above. For some complete graphs look below.
Tier 1 - Preparation tournaments of the highest level of their time with a certain factor of exclusiveness usually granted through a tough qualification process. E.g. GSL, WCS KR, NSSL 2012-2015, OSL 2013
Tier 2 - Tournaments that for a certain reason (e.g. lack of preparation time or too high frequency of the tournament in a year) do not make Tier 1. E.g. GSL 2011, OSL 2012, WCS Blizzcon Finals
Tier 3 - Similar to Tier 2 tournaments which are usually below T1 and T2 tournaments in tournament length, price pool and prestige, yet still feature the absolute top players in the world. E.g. Hot6ix Cup, GSL Blizzard Cup, IEM WC 2014 & 2015, GSL World Championship 2011, WCS AM, WCS EU
Tier 4 - Frequent Premier Tournament Series which usually include a lot of traveling, no preparation time for opponents and are usually held at LAN events. E.g. MLG, DH, IEM
Tier 5 - Like Tier 4, but with a weaker player line up, a very small bracket or less of a competetive character. Basically all the other tournaments that are not listed in the other Tiers. E.g. HomeStoryCup, Red Bull Battlegrounds, MLG/DH/IEMs with weak player line ups.
For each placement as 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th player in an SC2 Premier Tournament, said player gets points.
Tier 1 - 1 point/0.75points/0.5points/0.5points
Tier 2 - 0.8 points/0.6points/0.4points/0.4points
Tier 3 - 0.5 points/0.375points/0.25points/0.25points
Tier 4 - 0.33 points/0.25points/0.17points/0.17points
Tier 5 - 0.15 points/0.1points/0.075points/0.075points
So, to put it into perspective: you need three Dreamhack championships to match the points of one Code S champion. For every one point a player has, he has achieved as much as Seed. A player that won one Tier 1 GSL, but never ever placed top4 elsewhere.
Example: Mvp's overall achievments are more impressive than winning 7 GSL titles through all of SC2's lifetime. More than the best 5 foreigners combined.
The second statistic I'm showcasing here is the peak performance of a player. The performance is a curve that is a weighted sum of overall points achieved within a thirdteen month time frame.
E.g. Mvp peaking at 3.625points in October 2011 means that the sum of points he has achieved between July'11 and Jan'12 as well as half the points he got from April'11-June'11 and Feb'12-April'12 is worth more than 3 GSL wins.
Only the peak performances (hence the highest point of a players performance curve) are given above. For some complete graphs look below.
Some performance Graphs
DISCLAIMER: Due to the points handed from events to the past it is only natural that the graphs around early 2015 are declining in comparison. (those points in the plot have zero points from future events right now) This makes late peaks like Life's even more impressive, since those peaks could be even higher a few month from now.
+ Show Spoiler +
Mvp vs Life+ Show Spoiler +
Mvp: He has reached the highest peak ever achieved, showcased in every graph by the blue Mvp-line.
Life: The only player (I believe) that would have made it into the top10 peak performances with two
far apart peaks. His current, higher peak is ongoing and does not profit from future events in the same way that Mvp's 2011 peak profits from 2012 wins yet!
MMA, MC, TaeJa+ Show Spoiler +
some of the most steady players overall. Even though they had their ups and downs (in MMA's case a down to zero even), they have been around for a really long time and performed well throughout most of it.
Rain, sOs, Zest, Dear, herO, PartinG+ Show Spoiler +
a lot of Protoss before the Void.
Maru vs INnoVation+ Show Spoiler +
No clear answer to the best Terran of HotS question.
Life, Soulkey, soO+ Show Spoiler +
The Heart of the Swarm!
Seed, jjakji, Sniper, Classic, RorO + Show Spoiler +
Who is the biggest one-hit wonder amongst the GSL winners?
Stephano vs NaNiwa+ Show Spoiler +
Foreigners fighting
Flash vs Jaedong+ Show Spoiler +
A clear advantage in the eternal duel so far.
herO vs HerO+ Show Spoiler +
Which hero do we deserve?
DRG vs NesTea + Show Spoiler +
Behold Artosis, DRG #1 in WoL!
soO vs Zest + Show Spoiler +
2014's best?!
There may be a lot of smaller mistakes in there. (e.g. discovered that I typed INnoVation with just one 'n' in GSL 2013 S1 HotS... missed out on quite some points before I corrected that one) And since I was too lazy to program proper tools to analyse all the handcopied Premier results everything was manually observered lol... If I'm somehow missing some godlike player that you really think should be on some list, please tell me and I'll doublecheck.