I never actually realized just how many games are played in a month. And then I only watched two games live last month. Now that I'm back, there's a lot of catching up to do, and not a lot of time to do so. Please note that at this time I haven't watched every game that I'd have liked to watch, but I have watched the ones that matter. I'd like to thank Foolishness for taking time to aggregate raw data for me, since otherwise this post would have been delayed even further.
Speaking of games that matter, I always keep an eye out for Flash's losses. In a month where SPL matches matter more than ever [playoffs are always so exciting!] a team's Ace is going to be under even heavier scrutiny. Therefore, the first three VODs I watched were Flash's losses to Shuttle, ZerO, and Leta--all in playoffs. If for some reason you haven't watched the games versus Leta or versus ZerO, go check them out now, as they are ridiculously good.
Normally, we use losses to show weaknesses in a player, though in some cases losses are also used to convey that the losing player still played very well--his opponent just played better. I still don't know where Leta whipped that army up from, and I'm very happy to see ZerO's stop lurker tactics work to such great effect. In those cases [unlike in the game against Shuttle where Flash just simply didn't have mines] ZerO and Leta outplay Flash. That can happen to anybody, even if one is the best player in the world.
And now to talk about Flash's wins. Despite losing three games over the course of the playoffs, Flash has won the rest of them in pretty convincing fashion, including revenge against Shuttle [though Disruption Web play is seriously cool], two stomps over Really, and immaculate Wraith usage against Skyhigh. Outside of SPL, Flash went 3-0 in his OSL Round Robin group, taking out Hydra, Stork, and Shine in "dominating fashion".
Flash stays atop this Power Rank both because of his own prowess and because other players, through limiting circumstance and/or failure, haven't really been able to prove themselves. Of course, the SPL Grand Final would have rectified this problem a bit [cough cough Bisu], but Muifa, the true #1 of this Power Rank, decided to play a joke on KeSPA and the Chinese government. We can only wait till next time.
If the SPL Grand Final had been allowed to commence, this ranking would be a bit different. Most likely, Flash and Bisu would occupy the top two slots in some order, and ZerO would be bumped down to number three. But as it is stands, the "deciding factor" hasn't occurred yet, so I'm going to go with what we do have.
ZerO and Bisu have similar profiles: both are instrumental to team success, both played well during July, and both failed out of OSL prelims. Furthermore, other top contenders, namely Hydra and Jaedong, have not had the best months. It's unfair to Bisu due to circumstance [SKT being already in the final], but I have to give ZerO the #2 slot over Bisu because ZerO has actually played [many] games this month, and he's played them in a good fashion as well. Barring the loss to Crazy-Hydra in the first playoff match against KT [which ZerO made up for by trouncing Flash in the Ace match] and the loss to Killer in the STX Masters' Cup [which I don't really care for much], ZerO's play hasn't revealed much for me to complain about.
Actually, on paper the ZerO of July seems as standard as it comes for ZerO: loveable ZvT and ZvP and questionable ZvZ. But that's not exactly true. Despite getting 0-3ed by Flash in the ABCMart MSL Final and flopping out of OSL prelims, the Zero of these past two months has played some excellent Starcraft, what with the clutch Ace matches against TurN and Flash and a cool 10-game winstreak. Of course, results matter in the end. ZerO didn't win the crucial game against Stats in the third day of playoffs against KT [which would have given ZerO another crack with the Ace match], so Stars went home. Even though ZerO is #2, there was not even a slight chance that he would have overtaken Flash on this Power Rank.
Again, because of circumstance, Bisu didn't have a chance to shine this past month. With only three games played [but three games won as well], it's hard to place Bisu objectively, and even harder as soon as it becomes subjective [which Power Rank is]. As contentious as Brood War forum-goers get, I believe that as a topic, Bisu is the most debated-over. My stance: Bisu gets ranked above the rest this month not because of his dominating Starleague performance, but because of his consistent performance in the 2010-2011 season of Proleague. Because of Bisu, SKT went straight to the final. Bisu didn't have any playoff games to play this month, but that is in no way a negative mark against him--Bisu has no games to play because he's already won the games that mattered, scattered throughout the ten months of this season so far.
Bisu is not perfect. Yes, he is [again] out of the OSL, and for the past who-knows-how-long he hasn't demonstrated proficiency in the MSL either. But there is still the Proleague Grand Final to be played, and he's through to the main part of this current MSL. Bisu has shown a lot in this past year, but there is still much that he needs to prove.
Hydra's case is similar to Bisu's. Because CJ was seeded directly into the semifinals for SPL playoffs, he didn't get to play many matches this month. Unfortunately, the ones he did play he was not stellar in. Hydra, team Ace, went 1-1. Poor play against Stats lost CJ the day 1 match, and his game against Tempest wasn't exciting. Still, he advanced in OSL by defeating Stork [cute strategy, by the way] and Shine and is seeded straight into the MSL as a top seed due to two consecutive semifinals-or-better appearances.
I'm not hating on Hydra, though I seriously cannot ever find much to say about him. Yes, he's very consistent, though I wish he would go on "blazes of glory" more often instead of being hot-when-hot and not-when-not. Hydra gets bonus points for consistency throughout all leagues [especially MSL], and for having the best ZvZ in the scene right now.
Because OZ did not make playoffs, Jaedong didn't have many games to play this past month. He polished off his last Proleague game in an amazing match against JangBi, and then proceeded to win his first Round Robin match against Modesty to secure a 10-game winstreak as well. If that's not good momentum, I don't know what is.
But then Jaedong proceeded to, again, drop out of the OSL. His ZvZ is definitely not what it used to be, since his play against both hyvaa and Hyuk was... poor. And it's because of his ZvZ that Jaedong has lost his claim to the Zerg throne as well--he's no longer #1 Zerg by ELO or by KeSPA ranking, since Hydra and ZerO have overtaken him in both. No Zerg yet has lost the KeSPA throne and retaken it yet, and with Jaedong out of OSL and Hydra still in it that task has become even more arduous.
Still, I want to believe. Jaedong's ZvZ is looking poor, his ZvP isn't as stellar as it was in the glory days [though through limited sample size, it's hard to say], but his ZvT is looking better than it ever has: 27-9 for the season against a roster comprised of many excellent TvZers.
Jaedong is still in the MSL, perhaps the last MSL. He has been denied over and over now again, first by Flash and then by Zergs, but there is still a chance. Can we have another player take the sixth? Or has Jaedong's time finally come?
Killer and Jaedong had the same schedule. Since OZ didn't make playoffs, neither of them had Proleague games to play after the last regular season match against KHAN. However, unlike Jaedong Killer managed to advance, no, smash, his OSL group. Going 3-0 against Calm [a great ZvZer], a "reborn" JangBi, and super-spammer-multitasker BaBy is no small feat. As a bonus, he also beat both ZerO and Light in STX Masters'. Not even making it to the MST hurts him a bit, but I'd say Killer has been one of the most improved players of this past season. His record is impressive, his gameplay and decision-making look solid, and he's still ridiculously cute. Harem, find me some more pictures.
On my first runthrough in writing this Power Rank, I somehow forgot soO. For that, I apologize.
With only one loss this month [to Fantasy] and four wins, soO takes the I watched the MST game between HiyA and soO. And darn, that was entertaining--mass Valks is pretty funny. Still, soO played very well, what with catching HiyA unsieged all the time and whatnot. Also, it was a ZvT where a Zerg made guardians... and actually won! We have all talked about how soO is just a one-show [ZvP] matchup, but this month he showed us that he can fight Terran as well. And with style--guardians were used in the OSL match against Sea as well to pretty good effect. And if you haven't watched it yet, go watch the game against Fantasy. soO lost that game [unfortunately, Hydra masses suck versus sieged tanks], but his defense against vultures was amazing and... queens get me excited. For his demonstration that he can effectively and stylishly play against Terran [as well as Protoss--good defense against Snow allowed soO to take the game late], soO takes slot seven.
Bogus is still here, and is still silently chugging along without being noticed by too many. It's actually kind of unsettling. When did he become the third-highest Terran by ELO and seventh-highest overall? When did he break into the top 20 by KeSPA ranking? [Answer: this month] Ever since I put him on my anti-team at the beginning of the season, Bogus has been playing some great Starcraft. This month was no exception: he 2-0ed his Survivor group and beat Stats twice in the two KT-STX playoffs matches.
Bogus, like Light, is invisible. Unfortunately [if your name is Cheep or Mustaju] STX didn't advance in the playoffs despite Bogus' wins, so we won't see him play much more. Bogus is overshadowed by Calm and Kal in terms of name recognition, even when he performs better than both of them. In a similar vein, Bogus got unlucky with his ODT group [hello Flash and Jaedong], and failed to advance. Otherwise I think he would have made it to the quarterfinals.
In playoffs, Light has actually been very solid. He won all his matches against KT in his standard "hi, my name is Light and I kill Zergs" fashion, and only dropped one against Reality in the first match against KHAN. Light hasn't changed much: he still has his killer TvZ, good TvT, and suspect TvP. Despite not making it to the OSL [due to his TvP] and not 2-0ing his MST group [due to his TvP], Light hasn't let that stop him from having a good past month. Unfortunately, Stars couldn't edge out KT even with Light's three wins [let's blame Free and hOn_sin], so their post-season is over.
For Light, the goal now is to survive the MSL Round of 32 group. As long as he doesn't get grouped with a strong Protoss, he should be fine. And as long as he gets out of there, he should get pretty far if the past two MSLs of this season have anything to show for it: Zergs advance, Protoss get killed by Zergs, and then there's Flash. If Light can make it, he'll go far.
Soulkey has played an interesting month of Starcraft. He 2-0'd his Survivor group, showcasing that baller ZvT against firebathero and BByong. In terms of playoffs, he did fairly well as well. Soulkey won all his matches against KHAN pretty easily, but then against KT he couldn't hold up well enough, winning only one of three matches. I watched the game against Perfective, and darn that was such a silly set. Seriously, a-moving into a scourge cloud? Not a good idea.
I like Soulkey a lot but he hasn't been very awe-inspiring this month. Nor has he beaten anybody particularly "high-tier" either. Still, he's in the MSL. I'm going to hope for good games there.
Fantasy There are always trolls in any month of Power Rank writing. Fantasy is this month's king troll, what with the out-of-nowhere "I'm going to return to form and win in Starleagues" mentality. Seriously, the dude goes on a 6-game loss streak in Proleague during June but then decides to 3-0 his OSL group and 2-0 his MST group.
HoeJJa For the past few months, HoeJJa has suddenly decided to go into beast mode. Yes, after getting knocked out of his MST group he's in neither individual league. However, he has been instrumental in KT's success in making it to the SPL Grand Final, winning five of his seven matches. It's interesting to say this, but a good deal of KT's chance at gold right now depends on HoeJJa winning his match in the final.
JangBi If JangBi hadn't lost all three of his playoff matches [ZerO and Soulkey are good, but still], he'd have a Power Rank spot. Still, he gets kudos for stomping BaBy and Calm in the tiebreakers and 2-0ing his MST group. Looking forward to some more JangBang in the individual leagues soon.
Modesty I thought it was weird that Modesty made it to an OSL semifinal. I still think it's weird now, when he's advanced to another OSL quarterfinal [over the corpse of Jaedong] and made it to the MSL main as well. He also won a game in the Day 2 playoffs match against KT, where STX 4-0'd. Still, none of his games have been impressive or even fun to watch.
Stats After a period of dominance, Stats fell asleep. He failed out of both MSL and OSL prelims, and hadn't been holding up that well in Proleague. Then comes playoffs. After getting trounced in all three of his games against STX, Stats decided it was time to wake up. In the past few weeks, Stats has been pretty instrumental to KT's success, winning the five games he played against Stars and CJ. In particular, his games against ZerO and Hydra showcased some high-level PvZ. Currently, I just expect pretty much all non-Bisu Protoss to roll over and die, since Zerg players keep just hydra-busting them to death. Stats is one of my few hopes for PvZ, though since he's not in either individual league I'll have to wait.
The Proleague Grand Final should be interesting. Win or lose, I expect Stats to create a splash.
Shoutouts
Hyuk Hyuk, like Fantasy, is also a troll. Might be team-related. Because SKT is in the finals, he had no Proleague games to play. However, Hyuk did manage to 2-1 his ODT group, 2-1 his MST group, and 2-1 his OSL Round of 16 group to advance to the quarterfinals. Ironically, he'll be playing fellow troll Fantasy there. Basically, Hyuk is a not-so-good player that has managed to advance in both leagues... just like last season. What?
hyvaa Players with names starting with "hy-" tend to all-kill in STX Masters'. hyvaa all-killed KHAN, but I wonder how many teams actually really care about STXMC. Just thought this was kind of funny. hyvaa's been playing better as of late, though still nothing that impressive.
Perfective Perfective decided to go from losing almost every Proleague match [why did I put you on my FPL team, seriously?] to winning every one of his post-season games, with three of them being closing sets as well. His play may not be that good or inspiring to watch, but the results have mattered.
Really Really is another progamer to retire, and he won't be the last. Still, I am saddened to see him go. Ever since the dissolution of eSTRO, he hasn't been the same. Even if you don't really like Really, take a look at this old Proleague writeup.
One more thing--as you all know this current Power Rank writeup was delayed by almost two weeks. My question now is this: would you prefer to have one again at the end of August or wait till the end of September? Alternatively, September can be skipped and incorporated into October.
Personally, with school starting soon, among other things, I would rather wait the extra month (skip September). This is both me being lazy as well as there not being many games of Starcraft in the month of September since MSL is on hold till group selection some time in October. Once again, I'll leave it up to a poll.
Poll: PR for the next few months:
Write one every month (124)
53%
Combine August and September, do October as usual (105)
45%
Write August, combine September and October (6)
3%
235 total votes
Your vote: PR for the next few months:
(Vote): Write one every month (Vote): Combine August and September, do October as usual (Vote): Write August, combine September and October
Yay Killer is up there ^.^ I hope that Jaedong comes back with a vengeance though >.> Hyuk! Why do you troll me so?
Also regarding the poll, I truly don't mind having the 3 months merge. Much less problematic for you as you have school and it gives you much more information to see and we should (theoretically) get a very descriptive Power Rank.
So I'll vote for the 2 months combined and October alone. Hwaiting Flamewheel!
Bisu the only Protoss on the PR, so many zergs. Slowly Bisu, slowly but surely you'll get to number one. I also don't really think Bogus is invisible/overshadowed either, he's shot up in terms of recognition very quickly with the other two big names stumbling. Hopefully he moves up too
You must have had a lot of Vod marathons flamewheel haha
On August 12 2011 01:22 disciple wrote: btw I have a bet with Milkis that Jaedong wont win another title ever again (that includes MSL, OSL, PL and WL)
On August 12 2011 01:22 disciple wrote: btw I have a bet with Milkis that Jaedong wont win another title ever again (that includes MSL, OSL, PL and WL)
...GSL?
(I kid, I kid!)
It's getting really hard to make predictions about future titles. A year ago I would have said you were nuts, but with the apparently declining ZvZ, the inability to translate the ability to beat Flash into an ability to beat Flash in a finals, and so on, I'm starting to worry you might be right. It's a weird day when the farthest advancing OZ player in the OSL is a Zerg... who's not JD.
EPT
Fantasy
HoeJJa
JangBi
![[image loading]](http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y106/jonthomson/yesjacknicholson.gif)
