| Rank |
Player |
Prev |
High |
Description |
| 1. |
Jaedong
(Z) (stats) |
+2 |
1 |
In his post-MSL Ro16 qualification interview, a very tired-looking Lee Jaedong lamented "My schedule has been so packed lately, it feels as though I'm playing a (broadcasted) match every day." Close: from June 22 to July 4 (13 days) JD played 10 games, or .77 games per day. He led Hwaseung to a sweep of KT, advanced to the GOM Ro8, climbed out of an 0-1 hole (as usual) to make the MSL Ro16, and earned a very comfortable lead in the OSL's group of death. Jaedong's opponents over this stretch — including Zero, Effort, Violet, Leta, Flash, and Stork — would make a pretty decent Power Rank. And he stomped all but one of them (Stork, who had the luxury of facing JD last).
In short, Jaedong just played a stupidly strong month of StarCraft. Neutralizing Flash's bunker rush while losing just one drone, holding Movie's zealot-archon aggression with the bare minimum in defenses, outmicroing Leta's feared 2port while building a fearsome economy — Jaedong did it all this month, and without even flinching from his ruthless game face. How can JD make such an impossibly tough schedule look so easy? I'm with Leta: "I sometimes watch [Jaedong's] games in total awe. I can think nothing but that he's amazing." |
| 2. |
Fantasy
(T) (stats) |
+6 |
1 |
Fantasy hasn't had a schedule near as tough as Jaedong's, but he's posted similar results: eight solid wins and one narrow loss since the June PR. Fantasy made short work of the Avalon MSL's group of death with two spectacular performances against Leta and Movie, and has command of the OSL's Group B after easy wins over BackHo and Type-b. As part of a string of PL victories that helped T1 nab first place from Hwaseung, Fantasy reinforced his immunity to cheese by making GuemChi's cannon rush into proxy robo Protoss's worst fail since Horang2's proxy everything in the 2009 MST.
I probably shouldn't come down so hard on GuemChi — trapping a proxying probe is actually a relatively painless way to escape a PvT vs. Fantasy. Iloveoov's prodigy just owns this matchup (he's 10-1 vs. Protoss this season), and rode it to three of his most compelling wins this month (against Kal, Movie, and Backho). Fantasy has recently taken his unparalleled mid-game TvP harassment to new levels with a curious combination of vulture and dropship play. By airlifting tanks in and out of enemy bases to support his vulture raids, Fantasy executes particularly deadly hit-and-run attacks without compromising his late-game tank count. This clever tactic (see it in action here, here, and here) is yet more evidence that Fantasy is StarCraft's premier strategist — hell, even his spider mines are crafty. |
| 3. |
Bisu
(P) (stats) |
-1 |
1 |
Kim Taekyong claims third in this rank by a tiny margin, and primarily because of his massively clutch MSL Ro16 qualification. Playing from 0-1 after failing a 4gate against JangBi in his Avalon debut, on June 25 Bisu edged Free and overwhelmed Jangbi with composure that defied both his opponents' skills and his dangerous proximity to yet another disappointing MSL Ro32 exit. Dismantlings of Leta (courtesy of a clever hidden pylon), Hwasin, and Snow are indication that Bisu has fully recovered from the three-game slide capped by his momentous loss to Yellow on June 20. |
| 4. |
Effort
(Z) (stats) |
-3 |
1 |
Although Effort is hanging on to his reputation as one of BW's hottest players, he has actually put up fairly mediocre results over the past month: five wins in eight games, and two of them over Guemchi and Cloud. His GOM Ro16-concluding series with Violet was supposed to be a defining showcase of high-level PvZ, but instead turned into a sloppy cheese-fest that only proved GOM is still last priority for top gamers (a fact confirmed by Violet in his interview with TL — KT's desperate push for the PL's last playoff spot limited his practice time to "a little bit the day of the [GOM] match" and thus prevented him from giving Effort a decent series).
Effort's immediate future holds two chances for him to finally prove himself against BW's elite: a potentially critical OSL Ro16 set versus Flash on Friday, and a GOM quarterfinal series with Jaedong next week. At least until then, he belongs just out of the Power Rank's top three. |
| 5. |
Flash
(T) (stats) |
-1 |
1 |
After watching Flash's two most recent games (the 3set and 5set of KT's must-win against STX yesterday) I'm almost disgusted to rank him fifth. Flash blew leads against both Calm and Kal in the same utterly pathetic fashion: by foregoing turrets. Flash's boneheadedness spoiled his birthday and dashed KT's playoff hopes, but it shouldn't eclipse his mind-blowing performance against Firebathero just six days earlier — a game Flash called "the greatest game I have ever played" and the only reason KT was still in the playoff hunt come their match with STX.
Flash proved his TvP is still S-class by outlasting (quite literally, in the epic 1set) Shuttle in the GOM Ro16, but the Ultimate Weapon's sloppy TvZ has him up against a wall in the OSL Ro16 — where he needs to beat Effort just to force a tiebreak (but is out if Jaedong throws his game vs. Yarnc...interesting). Flash fans: try to relax, Youngho's birthday is only once a year (I expect it'll be at least another 363 days before he plays as poorly as he did vs. STX). |
| 6. |
Leta
(T) (stats) |
-1 |
1 |
Over the past month Leta faced each of this rank's top three players, and thus had three opportunities to finally end his entrenchment in the PR's middle slots. Leta seized none: against Bisu, Fantasy, and Jaedong he lost straight up (but exciting!) encounters by a margin substantial enough to keep him out of this rank's top five. Despite his flair for flashy, micro-intense strategies, Leta suffers from a robotic stubbornness that is holding him back against anyone who can match his mechanics: by consistently facing StarCraft's S-class without specially-designed builds or clever tactics, Leta is playing under a unique self-imposed handicap. |
| 7. |
Inter.Calm
(Z) (stats) |
- |
2 |
With STX absolutely demolishing Round 5 of the 08-09 PL, it should be no surprise to see their most reliable contributor in this rank. Calm capped last month's PR period by riding two ingenious strategies to one of the MSL's cleanest Ro32 runs ever, and, his Ro16 berth already secure, spent the remainder of June and July racking up five more PL wins to pad his sixth-best 08-09 Proleague record. Calm's latest outing (vs. Flash) was rather pathetic, but his games against Mind and Upmagic are entertaining glimpses of that certain tenacity which characterizes every great Zerg player. |
| 8. |
Canata
(T) (stats) |
- |
6 |
Your eyes do not deceive you: after five years and 141 televised appearances as a professonal gamer, Canata has finally cracked his first Power Rank. As one of the most consistently mediocre BW players of all time — always good enough to make the MSL, never good enough to break past its Ro16 — Canata needed a particularly remarkable month to place himself on this rank. In June he delivered, destroying Savior twice to reach the MSL Ro16 and holding his own in OSL Group D. The Survivor King looked solid in wins over Kwanro and Anytime, but his hard-fought loss to Leta is by far the most significant item on his June résumé. If Canata plays by.hero like he played Leta, he'll find himself in elimination stages of both major individual leagues — and, perhaps, in an even more unlikely position on the August Power Rank. |
| 9. |
Kal
(P) (stats) |
- |
3 |
Like his teammate Calm, Kal executed an impressive MSL Ro32 run in early June and so spent the last month fueling STX's Proleague domination. Considering he's only played four games since the June PR, Kal's presence here is as much due to a lack of other suitable candidates as it is to his apparent emergence from an awful spring funk that included particularly ugly losses to Zero and Shine[kal].
Up against Jaedong in the MSL Ro16, Kal faces his most important test since their GOMTV MSL S4 Finals. Playing with plenty of practice and a dash of confidence, Kal has a legitimate shot at revitalizing his once-mighty PvZ to capitalize on JD's busy schedule and upset his way into the Avalon MSL's quarterfinals. |
| 10. |
Light[aLive]
(T) (stats) |
- |
2 |
Garbage June performances from Stork, Jangbi, and Violet mean that the Power Rank's 10-slot is once again open to the King of CBNC, Light[aLive]. Light belongs here not primarily for busting Jaedong's sunkens or even out-wraith-ing Leta, but for consistently turning in respectable Proleague results despite playing for the trainwreck that is MBCGame HERO. Light is now 8-2 in his last 10 — a mark that looks almost as out of place on MBC's statsheet as Tossgirl does in the StarCraft Heritage League. So, cheers to Light: the only reason FakeSteve can still be proud to wear his MBC hoodie. |
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United States12607 Posts
Close But No Cigar
 Kwanro has been on the cusp PR-dom for a few months now. He's still alive in both major leagues, but his MSL Ro32 performance was not nearly as convincing as Calm's or Kal's, and he's bombing the OSL Ro16 (where Canata crushed him). Kwanro's major attraction versus Light (individual league participation) boils down to OSL Ro36 opponents: Light could easily be a contender in this OSL Ro16 if he had faced Casy and GGPlay instead of Yarnc. Light has also put on a decidedly stronger PL performance than Kwanro, despite what must be a relatively awful practice environment.
 Hwasin is in the MSL Ro16 (surprise, surprise) and has produced some pretty nice TvTs lately (Baby, Lomo) but played horrendously in both of his most important games this month (OSL outings vs. Bisu and Zero). A game between him and Light would be a tossup, but honestly I'm sick of seeing Hwasin in low PR slots just for floundering around in the early stages of the MSL and OSL. Kicking Hiya (7-game loss streak at the time) and Luxury (blows) while they're down is not enough to trump Light's wins over Leta and Jaedong.
ZerO's series with Tempest in GOM was pretty sickening, as is losing to Kwanro in ZvZ after he destroyed him so easily just a few weeks ago. I really want to give Zero credit for beating Skyhigh and Hwasin this past month, but I feel both results were more a product of the loser's bumbling than Zero's genius. I like this guy, but 5-6 with losses to Oversky, Kwanro, and Tempest (twice) is a pretty sorry month compared to even Hwasin and Kwanro.
UpMaGiC is in the MSL Ro16 and has led eSTRO to some unlikely PL victories, but I've still got the taste of his OSL Ro36 loss to Canata in my mouth. He'll have to do better than beating Cheese2 a couple times to crack the PR.
Not Close And No Cigar
 Stork and JangBi: your performance this month makes me feel ashamed at letting you bums sneak into the June PR. I hope you learned something while sitting on KHAN's bench during its recent PL matches.
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Perfect, completely agreed on the rankings!
Great one, JWD.
Jaedong fighting. =]
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Looks good. Rankings are fine and on the top of my head I cannot think of anyone partticula missing. Good job.
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Great PR, I agree
Its a bit sad to see Flash drop down to #5 and losing 2 games on his birthday
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For a change, I don't have any issues with the Power Rank this month. I suppose that Canata is the "controversial" pick of the month, but there's a good case for him.
Nice work, JWD.
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wow excellent job with the power rank! i love the hotlinks in the descriptions
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Bearded Elder29904 Posts
Hmmmmm.... I'm fully agreeing with this Power Rank, Jaedong absolutely deserved 1st place but FlaSh should be higher, instead of EffOrt I guess 
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United States12607 Posts
On July 08 2009 18:13 crucifix wrote:Hmmmmm.... I'm fully agreeing with this Power Rank, Jaedong absolutely deserved 1st place but FlaSh should be higher, instead of EffOrt I guess
Go watch his games vs. STX (blech, they're bad enough to make Flash fans vomit uncontrollably) and then decide whether you want to stand by this statement.
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United States2186 Posts
This is quite good. It's been awhile since I've had nothing to say about the placements and as usual your writeups are stellar. Fantasy's in particular was quite enjoyable to read and the readily accessible links makes it easy to catch up on missed moments/matches.
I do want to point out though that for all the hype Jaedong has gotten about his schedule Flash has had a busier summer than Jaedong. Flash played 23 games compared to Jaedong's 20 since June. Furthermore, Flash has had to play 20 of his 23 games on consecutive days with no rest in between, while Jaedong only played a mere 7 back to back.
Thus it seems rather silly to dedicate half of your description about Jaedong to his schedule then ignore it for Flash, when Flash's is worse and his performance is more negatively affected by it (showing extremely uncharacteristic weak points in defense vs Calm, Backho, and Kal and using unfinished builds vs Yarnc and Jaedong).
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Nice writeup, I love this PR.
So glad Canata got a spot there, he's been playing some really good starcraft as of late. And on top of that, he's got a good chance to advance into the MSL ro8.
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Fantasy seems a little up there. I woulda put him in 3 and Bisu in 2nd but that might only be cause I am a Bisu fanboy .
On another note, I really don't like how if Jaedong, Bisu or Flash lose one or two games in a row they are considered slumping. I mean flash has been posting fairly solid results in every other match up besides TvZ and Bisu is on the PvZ ball again after losing to Yellow. Usually the loses aren't because they lost their touch but just a cause of lack of sleep or over scheduling.
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United States12607 Posts
On July 08 2009 18:16 Ver wrote:
This is quite good. It's been awhile since I've had nothing to say about the placements and as usual your writeups are stellar. Fantasy's in particular was quite enjoyable to read and the readily accessible links makes it easy to catch up on missed moments/matches.
I do want to point out though that for all the hype Jaedong has gotten about his schedule Flash has had a busier summer than Jaedong. Flash played 23 games compared to Jaedong's 20 since June. Furthermore, Flash has had to play 20 of his 23 games on consecutive days with no rest in between, while Jaedong only played a mere 7 back to back.
Thus it seems rather silly to dedicate half of your description about Jaedong to his schedule then ignore it for Flash, when Flash's is worse and his performance is more negatively affected by it (showing extremely uncharacteristic weak points in defense vs Calm, Backho, and Kal and using unfinished builds vs Yarnc and Jaedong).
Thanks for the good words, really appreciate them!
You're right to say that Flash's schedule hasn't been getting enough attention, but I don't think its difficulty affects my rank considering he, as you mention, had a much tougher time dealing with it than Jaedong did his. And while over a longer period Flash has played more games than JD, he didn't face any 10-game stretch nearly as brutal as the one Jaedong just played through (and this stretch was the focus of my "JD's tough schedule" bit).
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Completely agree with this PR!!
Good Job, Sir !
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konadora
Singapore66358 Posts
Not sure about the bottom half, but the top half are definitely spot-on. Great job!
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United States11637 Posts
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United States12607 Posts
On July 08 2009 18:20 Dgtl wrote:
On another note, I really don't like how if Jaedong, Bisu or Flash lose one or two games in a row they are considered slumping. I mean flash has been posting fairly solid results in every other match up besides TvZ and Bisu is on the PvZ ball again after losing to Yellow. Usually the loses aren't because they lost their touch but just a cause of lack of sleep or over scheduling.
haha, I was actually expecting to catch this sort of flak for using the word "recovered" in that sentence about Bisu and Yellow. I completely agree that one or two losses does not constitute a slump, and people are too quick to jump on top players for a few bad games (prime example). However, when you're Bisu or JD, even three consecutive losses is an abnormality and does affect your confidence level. I mean, consider that when Jaedong mentioned "weakness vs. Protoss" in his recent MSL interview, he was referring to 2 games that he lost to free last MSL. Just two losses, and they're obviously still affecting his mindset months later. In this sense, it's perfectly valid to use "recovered" to describe Bisu stringing together a bunch of wins after losing to YellOw. I wasn't implying that he was ever "in a slump".
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Good ranking imo. Thanks JWD
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GW.
Fantasy sure is looking scary atm.
Hoping he will face some zergs soon, to see if he also can beat those (and in particular JD). If he can, well, we have a new best sc player.
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Bearded Elder29904 Posts
On July 08 2009 18:15 JWD wrote:Show nested quote +On July 08 2009 18:13 crucifix wrote:Hmmmmm.... I'm fully agreeing with this Power Rank, Jaedong absolutely deserved 1st place but FlaSh should be higher, instead of EffOrt I guess Go watch his games vs. STX (blech, they're bad enough to make Flash fans vomit uncontrollably) and then decide whether you want to stand by this statement.
I've watched them life but dropping 2 games in one day, doesn't mean he is worse player overall  Nevermind sir, good writeup !
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EPT
