SC2 Power Rank - December 2013 Text by TL.net ESPORTS Graphics by shiroiusagi Photo: R1CH by Waxangel



After a long delay, the Power Rank is back!



First off, we'd like to apologize for the long hiatus. With the tournaments coming in almost non-stop during the autumn months, we fell into the trap of constantly thinking "wait, let's see how this next tournament turns out before we finish the rankings."



Alright, let's move on to the December Power Rank! As usual, here's our ever important criteria, with a few minor tweaks.



Results : Obviously, the primary basis of the Power Rank. Given that this edition of the Power Rank is late and needs to encompass a three month period or so, we're giving additional credit for past results.



: Obviously, the primary basis of the Power Rank. Given that this edition of the Power Rank is late and needs to encompass a three month period or so, we're giving Difficulty of opponents : Let's put it this way: if the PR existed last year, we definitely would not have given PartinG the #1 spot for his rather soft WCS championship run.



: Let's put it this way: if the PR existed last year, we definitely would not have given PartinG the #1 spot for his rather soft WCS championship run. Quality of play : How impressed were we with this player's performance? Not all wins (or losses) are created equal. By nature, this is the most subjective factor.



: How impressed were we with this player's performance? Not all wins (or losses) are created equal. By nature, this is the most subjective factor. A review, not a predictor: The PR is a rating based on previous results, not a scouting report on who will do well in the future.



Special Mentions Alliance.NaNiwa and Acer.Scarlett: Scarlett and NaNiwa did their best to keep foreigner hope alive, taking out formidable Korean opponents like MC, Bomber, Curious, Leenock and HyuN. However, they haven't actually won anything yet like the ten players who made it into the Power Rank proper (or at least come in second place five times).





Close But No Cigar Acer.MMA: The final WCS Europe champion of 2013 is looking the best he has in years. How far can he go in 2014?



ST_Bomber: The mileage we're getting on Bomber's law is virtually limitless. After looking to be in peak condition in WCS Season 2, Bomber has gone back to his old ways. He's looked spectacular in spurts, but hasn't been able to put together deep runs.



CMStorm_Polt: Polt has been incredible in WCS America, taking two titles back to back. However, he hasn't been able to perform as well outside his adopted country.



SKT_soO: I mean, he was the runner-up in the toughest WCS region...



The December 2013 Power Rank



10.

CJ_herO



New! New!



HerO proved himself to be a complete player, capable of both going completely all-in as well as playing for the late game. Mainly in a PvP specialist in the previous Proleague, herO showed great ability in every match-up that should have him in MVP contention if he can keep up this form in the 2013-2014 season.



It may have been just one tournament, but herO has convinced us that he's the real deal. In the number ten spot is IEM Singapore champion herO. HerO raised eyebrows when he ripped through players like Maru and Symbol in the qualifiers, and he proved to be even better once he arrived play in the main event. He went an incredible 14-3 in maps (5-0 in series) as he defeated Dream, Bomber, Mvp, DongRaeGu and San to claim the championship.HerO proved himself to be a complete player, capable of both going completely all-in as well as playing for the late game. Mainly in a PvP specialist in the previous Proleague, herO showed great ability in every match-up that should have him in MVP contention if he can keep up this form in the 2013-2014 season.It may have been just one tournament, but herO has convinced us that he's the real deal.



9.

SKT_PartinG



+ 1 "Parting is back!" declared the Soul Train conductor after taking out Scarlett, Bomber, MC, and sOs to lift the trophy at



In addition to his performance at the live Red Bull event itself, PartinG also destroyed the opposition in the 15-0 in maps en route to the title.



At the very least, PartinG has returned to his position as one of esport's top prize money hunters, and he may soon return to being one of its best players as well. declared the Soul Train conductor after taking out Scarlett, Bomber, MC, and sOs to lift the trophy at Red Bull Battle Grounds NYC. Unfortunately, his performance didn't match his bravado when he got to WCG, and he was forced into a third place finish by fellow Korean Sora. Well at least he's BACK! ...in the Power Rank.In addition to his performance at the live Red Bull event itself, PartinG alsothe opposition in the TLMC qualifiers for the tournament, suggesting that the best approach to playing maps you don't know is to all-in the hell out of your opponents. To cap it off, he also crushed Liquid`HerO 4 - 0 in the finals of StarsWar Season 3 , a Chinese tournament that ended up being more or less an excuse to give PartinG $10,000 as he wentin maps en route to the title.At the very least, PartinG has returned to his position as one of esport's top prize money hunters, and he may soon return to being one of its best players as well.

8.

Acer.INnoVation



—



For the immense amount of credit we have to give INnoVation for his past successes and reliably excellent play, we have to acknowledge that he hasn't won a championship since the WCS Season 1 Finals back in June. His days of complete and utter dominance are gone, largely in part due to the



Even so, it's not like INnoVation hasn't gotten results in recent months. He came in second place at DreamHack Bucharest and placed top four at DreamHack Winter, stopped only by TaeJa and Life. He even had an excellent shot at playing at Red Bull NYC after storming through his qualifier, only to forfeit to lead his team to the GSTL championship instead. For a player with such an impressive body of work in HotS, that's enough to secure him eighth place. There are few other players who have consistently played at a high level like INnoVation. Ever since the start of HotS, INnoVation has always been a top championship contender in any tournament he entered, and he is rated by many of his peers as the top Terran in the world. If we were talking best Terrans of 2013, there's no question that he's in the top two at the very least.For the immense amount of credit we have to give INnoVation for his past successes and reliably excellent play, we have to acknowledge that he hasn't won a championship since the WCS Season 1 Finals back in June. His days of complete and utter dominance are gone, largely in part due to the calamitous collapse of his TvT. While he's shown signs of improving his TvT—especially a clutch 2-0 against SuperNoVa to clinch the GSTL title for Axiom-Acer—it remained the liability that held him back at DreamHack Winter. Also, surprise eliminations from WCS tournaments at the hands of duckdeok and soO can only hurt his case.Even so, it's not like INnoVation hasn't gotten results in recent months. He came in second place at DreamHack Bucharest and placed top four at DreamHack Winter, stopped only by TaeJa and Life. He even had an excellent shot at playing at Red Bull NYC after storming through his qualifier, only to forfeit to lead his team to the GSTL championship instead. For a player with such an impressive body of work in HotS, that's enough to secure him eighth place.



7.

MaruPrime



− 4



A trio of top four finishes in Code S, the WCS Season 3 Finals, and the WCS Global Finals sees Maru fall into the number seven spot. Twice he was stopped by Dear who was playing out of his mind, but he managed to play some



We feel that if Prime offered better opportunities for foreign travel, Maru would be tearing it up overseas as well. But alas, we've been limited to seeing him in official WCS tournaments. Look out for him in the Hot6ix Cup! The diminutive Marine Prince hasn't received as much attention as fellow stone-faced Terrans INnoVation and TaeJa, but he's definitely not wanting for skill in comparison. Maru's great mechanics and ability to brute force his way through situations on the back of his stellar bio micro are eerily reminiscent of MarineKing at his prime, with the difference being that Maru has already won a major Korean title.A trio of top four finishes in Code S, the WCS Season 3 Finals, and the WCS Global Finals sees Maru fall into the number seven spot. Twice he was stopped by Dear who was playing out of his mind, but he managed to play some seriously impressive and insanely high level PvTs even in defeat. At BlizzCon he was stopped by Jaedong who was on his run of almost-destiny; not a loss you can fault him too much for.We feel that if Prime offered better opportunities for foreign travel, Maru would be tearing it up overseas as well. But alas, we've been limited to seeing him in official WCS tournaments. Look out for him in the Hot6ix Cup!



6.

ST_Life



New! New! know that's the one thing you never want to do against Life. Even his ZvZ is looking a lot better after a long period where it was a serious hole in his game.



The Zerg mirror still caused Life a few hiccups at



Life's a top Zerg again, no doubt. Whatever it was that made him get his rear in gear again, let's hope it keeps him motivated him throughout 2014. It would be a crime if such talent went to waste again. Zerg fans will be pleased to see that Life is playing like Life again. His zergling micro makes it seem like they are an extension of his body, responding directly to his brainwaves. Also, he's rediscovered that psychic ability to make opponents constantly leave their backdoor open against him, despite the fact that theythat's the one thing youwant to do against Life. Even his ZvZ is looking a lot better after a long period where it was a serious hole in his game.The Zerg mirror still caused Life a few hiccups at IEM New York , but once he entered the bracket stage he made winning a championship look almost easy as he crushed HerO, Curious, and NaNiwa in succession. Similarly, Life looked great at DreamHack Winter , making short work of all his opponents. Well, as long as they weren't named TaeJa... Who knows? If not for TaeJa, perhaps Life would have gone on to take the titles at both DreamHack Bucharest and Winter.Life's a top Zerg again, no doubt. Whatever it was that made him get his rear in gear again, let's hope it keeps him motivated him throughout 2014. It would be a crime if such talent went to waste again.



5.

Woongjin

Soulkey



+ 4



He recently relieved concerns about his lack of titles after WCS Season 1 by winning the gold medal for StarCraft 2 at



While Soulkey is a formidable player, it's hard to shake off the feeling that he's constantly the victim of someone else's date with destiny, playing the role of the scary dragon the protagonist has to slay on his quest for glory. Sora, soO, Dear, and Bomber have all benefited from big wins over Soulkey at critical junctures.



Soulkey was the star at WCG 2013, and perhaps in 2014, he'll be the hero of more stories. In StarCraft 2 we tend to talk about consistency a lot, if only because it's such a scarce and desirable quality. Well, meet the paragon of consistency. Soulkey has placed in the top eight of SIX consecutive Code S/OSL tournaments, an incredible feat that may never be matched by another player. Like his rival INnoVation, Soulkey has never fallen out of title contention in HotS, and has always been considered either the #1 or #2 Zerg in the world.He recently relieved concerns about his lack of titles after WCS Season 1 by winning the gold medal for StarCraft 2 at WCG 2013, padding his stats against foreigners in the group stage before taking out Sen, Jim, and Sora to claim the championship in the bracket stage. Additionally, he placed second place at the WCS Season 3 Finals, looking strong for most of the tournament before getting stomped by a spectacular Dear.While Soulkey is a formidable player, it's hard to shake off the feeling that he's constantly the victim of someone else's date with destiny, playing the role of the scary dragon the protagonist has to slay on his quest for glory. Sora, soO, Dear, and Bomber have all benefited from big wins over Soulkey at critical junctures.Soulkey was the star at WCG 2013, and perhaps in 2014, he'll be the hero of more stories.



4.

EG.Jaedong



— It was hard to pick between Jaedong and Soulkey for the #4 spot, but we decided to give Jaedong to edge here. Jaedong's form from game to game, series to series, and tournament to tournament varies a ton. But when you look at the very big picture, what can you call FIVE second place finishes in the span of six months if not consistent? Being a kong is something we might mock in other contexts, but for the sake of the Power Rank it's proof of Jaedong's ability.



As with some other players, we're giving Jaedong a lot of credit for his past results in placing him this high. He had a fantastic run to second place at BlizzCon with wins over Mvp, Dear, and Maru, but outside that he hasn't actually done all that well in the last three months or so. Ro16 DH: Bucharest, Ro16 Season 3 finals, and Ro12 DH: Winter: hardly worth noting. He did manage to place top four in the final season of WCS America, but his path wasn't the hardest.



But at the end of the day, it's undenniable that the Tyrant is back in championship form, and he will eventually have his due.



3.

Woongjin_sOs



New! New!



Not only did sOs win BlizzCon, but he won it with relatively ease. No opponent took more than a map off of him, and he went 13-4 combined to defeat HerO, Polt, Bomber and Jaedong.



Unfortunately, sOs hasn't been doing so great outside of BlizzCon. TaeJa knocked him out of Ro8 of DH: Bucharest, Curious knocked him out of IEM New York, and the upstart Patience eliminated him from DH: Winter in the Ro12.



We have a soft spot for sOs and his stylish way of playing, but he's going to need keep getting good results if he wants to keep this spot.

As much fun as we've had mocking the notion that the WCS 2013 champion magically becomes the best player in the world, we did have to give sOs a significant bonus for lifting the trophy at BlizzCon. Even if the format of BlizzCon itself was highly volatile, no other tournament had such a long chain of events leading up to it, as rigorous process for qualification, or anywhere near as much money on the line. Simply put, if you ask any progamer "what tournament do you want to win the most?" 99.99% of them would answer with the WCS Global Finals. That matters.Not only did sOs win BlizzCon, but he won it with relatively ease. No opponent took more than a map off of him, and he went 13-4 combined to defeat HerO, Polt, Bomber and Jaedong.Unfortunately, sOs hasn't been doing so great outside of BlizzCon. TaeJa knocked him out of Ro8 of DH: Bucharest, Curious knocked him out of IEM New York, and the upstart Patience eliminated him from DH: Winter in the Ro12.We have a soft spot for sOs and his stylish way of playing, but he's going to need keep getting good results if he wants to keep this spot.



2.

SouL_Dear



New! New! BlizzCon may have been the single most important tournament of the year, but the most impressive achievement of the year was Dear's back to back wins in WCS Korea and the WCS Season 3 Finals. In this era of parity where there's no one single player who clearly outshines all the others, Dear's play over the course of a few weeks harkened back to the dominant days of players like Mvp in 2011 or Life in 2012. He didn't just beat his opponents during his dual championship runs, he crushed them (his 4-0 against Soulkey will make Zerg players shudder).



If we had to complain about Dear, it's that he hasn't been able to compete in any non-WCS foreign tournaments. On top of that, his performances in the GSTL have been disappointingly mediocre - shouldn't a double champion be able to at least save his team from a last place finish?



Even so, watching Dear at his best was a really awe inspiring experience, making us certain that the Year of Dear was ahead of us. Even if his WCS quest was ended in a close 2-3 defeat to Jaedong, he has all the skills needed to make 2014 his year yet.



1.

Liquid`TaeJa



+ 1 five major championships this year, a feat only surpassed by Mvp and Life when they were in their primes.



Along the way he has defeated plenty of formidable Korean opposition. His run at DH: Bucharest included sOs, Life, and INnoVation, while he had to take on Alicia, San and HyuN to win



TaeJa took care of all those concerns at DreamHack Winter where he had one of the greatest tournament runs of all time. He went 8-0 in series (18-7 in maps), defeating some of the best players at the tournament like INnoVation, sOs, HerO, MMA, and Life in the process. On top of that, TaeJa broke his $10,000 first place prize jinx to boot, claiming approximately $30,000 for first place. Hopefully, that will convince TaeJa that he should



With an amazing body of work this year and one of the toughest championship runs of the year to his name, TaeJa is our #1. But for now, it's all about the Year of TaeJa. Liquid's Terran ace may have been disappointing in WCS 2013, but the international tournament scene has been his personal checking account. He has won an incrediblemajor championships this year, a feat only surpassed by Mvp and Life when they were in their primes.Along the way he has defeated plenty of formidable Korean opposition. His run at DH: Bucharest included sOs, Life, and INnoVation, while he had to take on Alicia, San and HyuN to win ASUS ROG Summer. At HSC8, HerO, Symbol, Scarlett (not a Korean but whatever) and HyuN stood in his path. The only marks against him were that the money in these tournaments was on the "low" side at $10,000, and that the foreigner packed HSC7 was a tad bit weak.TaeJa took care of all those concerns at DreamHack Winter where he had one of the greatest tournament runs of all time. He went 8-0 in series (18-7 in maps), defeating some of the best players at the tournament like INnoVation, sOs, HerO, MMA, and Life in the process. On top of that, TaeJa broke his $10,000 first place prize jinx to boot, claiming approximately $30,000 for first place. Hopefully, that will convince TaeJa that he should stay in progaming for the long haul With an amazing body of work this year and one of the toughest championship runs of the year to his name, TaeJa is our #1.



After a long delay, the Power Rank is back!First off, we'd like to apologize for the long hiatus. With the tournaments coming in almost non-stop during the autumn months, we fell into the trap of constantly thinking "wait, let's see how thistournament turns out before we finish the rankings."Alright, let's move on to the December Power Rank! As usual, here's our ever importantwith a few minor tweaks.Scarlett and NaNiwa did their best to keep foreigner hope alive, taking out formidable Korean opponents like MC, Bomber, Curious, Leenock and HyuN. However, they haven't actually won anything yet like the ten players who made it into the Power Rank proper (or at least come in second place five times).The final WCS Europe champion of 2013 is looking the best he has in years. How far can he go in 2014?The mileage we're getting on Bomber's law is virtually limitless. After looking to be in peak condition in WCS Season 2, Bomber has gone back to his old ways. He's looked spectacular in spurts, but hasn't been able to put together deep runs.Polt has been incredible in WCS America, taking two titles back to back. However, he hasn't been able to perform as well outside his adopted country.I mean, he was the runner-up in the toughest WCS region...