Nisticism Profile Joined May 2015 41 Posts Last Edited: 2018-04-30 06:42:55 #1



Hi, Nistic here.



I'm a GM zerg player and organizer of the Platy-pro Weekly (learn more here!



Firstly I wanted to recognize the most common participants in the weekly tournament. These players have participated (not just checked in) in 10 or more of the 16 weeklies so far:



Seigifried

Future

Ukko

Barbarossa

Ninja

Hunta



And these are a few runners up at exactly 9 tournaments:



EON

Caleb

GAMETIME



Thank you to these players for being so devoted ^^



And also would like to recognize some very talented players who didn't make the list due to overall lower participation but have participated in at least one Platy-pro Weekly (and this list might be incomplete):



Meomaika

Gerald

Railgan

Cuddlebear

BLord

eGGz

Kozan

Lero

Quanta

PengWin

Playst

Snake

Flood

HeltEn

DayDreamer



Hope to see more of these players!



(If you want to sign up for next week this is the bracket:



And on to the rankings ~



Again these may be controversial, in part because there have been many good players who have made showings, but only once or twice, and therefore weren't considered over more regular attendees. It must be noted that due to the time zone, most of these players are from NA:





15. THERIDDLER



Known very well in the NA scene as a meching terran, THERIDDLER always creates exciting, albeit slightly long games. Recently he had a game that last over one and a half hours in the Platy-pro Weekly #15 with Caleb, which he eventually won, as well as other showings, including a famous win vs Avilo. He's certainly improved over the past year and continues to show his skills in community tournaments and the ladder.

Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 7



14. Bee



Bee is a Russian zerg player who has made some deep runs in the Platy-pro Weekly. He's shown to have a very aggressive style, heavily focused on lings, banes, and mid tier tech units (sometimes). I would consider him to have a fairly good understanding of the early game and fairly formidable mechanics.

Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 5



13. Hunta (aka Farmcakes)



Hunta is a strong NA zerg both on the ladder and in tournies. One of the more prolific zergs out there, Hunta has played in numerous tournaments from WCS to OSC events and always takes out a number of opponents along the way, and has earned himself a position in the power ranks. Between him and Caleb, it's close right now, but Hunta has yet to make an appearence in the top 3 of a Platy-pro tournament, so he is still some degree looking to prove himself. He has the power to upset almost any platy-pro player IMO.

Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 10



12. Winter



Winter, the Swedish zerg player is a very talented zerg who is most known to me as the winner of Platy-pro Weekly #6. I didn't expect him to take out Future in the finals and since has made a fan in me, coming from the lower bracket no less, but he had an amazing run and was able to show strong macro play throughout the entire tournament. He has some very crisp timings that he relies on as well, but overall I think when playing at his peak he's an extremely strong opponent to play. If he had played more, I'm sure he could advance higher on this list (although I'm sure it's not a very nice time to play in EU).

Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 3



11. Caleb



CalebAracous, or simply Caleb, is a very active player and young NA zerg who is commonly seen participating in many tournaments of all kinds. He's been known to make deep runs in Platy-pro as well as some other OSC tournaments. Like Hunter, Caleb is viewed I think as "one echelon below that of the top caliber of [semi-pro] zergs" which which likely should provide a good reason to play and practice even more! He's sure to improve with his current rate of play. He's one of the top placers and earners in Platy-pro tournaments. His weakness may be inconsistency, as he's placed in top 3 twice now, and won one tournament, but does not always succeed to make such deep runs. Caleb's play-style is a fairly all around one as far as I have seen and given this, he has the potential to ascend from good to great in coming months or years.

Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 9



10. Antis



Antis is a known NA ladder hero to some of us, or simply hero to others. He's not been to my knowledge a team asset, but more of a lone wolf zerg, who has a very fast paced powerful style, capable of entering late game or ending games early. He has not participated in too many tournaments but when he does it always makes for good, exciting games. Often floats on NA ladder at close to 6k MMR. With Antis I think we enter the back-to-back "US 4" semi-pro zerg players who are known very well to me through Platy-pro but mysteriously unknown to most of the community despite making up some of the best NA zergs we have. [Offtopic: there's another US zerg, McMonroe, who should also be in the "US 4", but arguably has ascended this position based on aligulac data, and I hope to see him play too]

Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 4



9. Starkiller



Starkiller is the second of the 'US 4' zergs. He's so good, and consistently places highly, taking out surprisingly difficult opponents on occasion. The style of starkiller can be characterized by consistent crisp timings, often roach based play, with a heavy focus on macro after initial aggression. The play style is similar to the style of Dark, which I personally criticize for being a little too aggro-cost-inefficient, but this is honestly the way of the zerg swarm, played at the highest level, as shown by Dark himself and until someone finds out how to counter it, it's always going to be viable. Props to this up and comer for playing in a similar way!

Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 5



8. Cicada



Cicada recently qualified for WCS, which on paper makes his accomplishments greater than that of many on this list, and it is only his Platy-pro accomplishments which hold his place at #8 instead of higher. Also part of this US 4, he's a super aggressive zerg, like several NA zergs are, and succeeds largely in the ling bane phase of many games. I think he's gotten better recently at advancing past this stage. His play is very distinct from starkiller as he favors hydras over roaches in the mid game in most matchups.

Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 5



7. Ukko



Ukko is the last of the US 4 semi-pro zergs I've been following. He has all but proved himself, perhaps becoming the single most consistent player in Platy-pro tournaments. He's made top 3 five times, getting first place once, and second place twice. Ukko has an excellent all around style which I would be hesitant to classify as either late game oriented or aggressive. He's just a very adaptable formidable opponent who's advantage seems to be the lack of predictability that other NA zergs suffer from. I think he has a bright future assuming he continues his practice and plays out games in his own way. Cheerful as always he's also offered me excellent zvz advice which I have been implementing in my own play.

Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 11



6. Rodzyn



Rodzyn is the first of two Polish protoss players (or three counting Gerald) who have dominated the Platy-pro scene. With a very similar name to Romson, it's probably easy to confuse the two but I assure you they are not the same person. Rodzyn is a fantastic protoss, which currently has won 2/3rds of the tournaments he has entered, making him arguably the most successful by statistics, even though his total entered is 3. He won back to back tournaments recent (#14 and #15), which foreshadows further success in the future. I can't say too much about his style because I haven't played or observed him enough to know it, but hopefully he continues showing up and showing great games.

Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 3



5. Bioice



Bioice became the second player in Platy-history to win first place twice, and has placed in the top 3 five times. He won the first ever Platy-pro Weekly, and if only he continued playing he would surely has continued success (though recently he has not has as high of participation). He's been in the scene a long time, as a high level Canadian zerg, considered pro in my book but also lacking results. He was barely taken out in a WCS qualifier recently. I imagine a veteran like Bioice might eventually make deep runs elsewhere but so far he is doing quite well in the semi-pro scene dominating Platy-pro, at least in its earlier weeks. Bioice heavily favors speedling openings, pulling drones off the extractor after 100 gas is mined, into 3 base economy, followed by a ling bane hydra stage. The style is more macro oriented than Noregret's style has historically been.

Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 7



4. Romson



Romson is truly a force to be reckoned with, as his high aligulac stats as well as his ability to defeat the very best players in Platy-pro make him one of the top players to ever play in the weekly. He's 'the other Polish protoss' I was talking about. It was a toss-up between him and Rodzyn, but the fact that he has played so much more, and placed top 3 more times, makes him my favorite. He does still have one gold medal to his name too. Very scary, timing oriented protoss player, who is capable vs most any style.

Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 7



3. Jens (aka Jarppi)



Jens is the terran hero of Chile. He's been temporarily inactive in the Platy-pro tournaments but we hope to see him attend more, as he's been active in other, mostly Latin American events. He won back to back tournaments (Platy-pro #8 and #9) and has placed multiple times in the top 4. Jens has an excellent late game in almost every single category. Excellent macro, harass, micro, and decision making. His large-army control might be his only weakness. Another player that played in many of the earlier events, but completely dominated them, we hope to see his return again to Platy-prominence.

Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 7



2. GAMETIME



GAMETIME is an excellent professional zerg from the US. I can't say how many times GAMETIME has rekt me in tournaments or on ladder. GAMETIME's play does have easily identifiable strengths and weaknesses which is arguably a sign that he's continually improving his play and knows exactly where to improve. His macro is top notch, and his harassment is pretty good. Sometimes he runs into a problem of being too inefficient in large army engagements, but he makes it possible to bounce back being caliber of zerg that GAMETIME is. He was the first Platy-pro 2-time champion and continues to participate and rekt all kinds of players in this tournament and others. Another player who was just outside of WCS qualification this year, however he's done it in the past and probably will again. He has forfeited a few times in Platy-pro tournaments due to streaming or not feeling up for it, but surely he could have had further runs were it not for this. He won the second and third Platy-pro tournaments and has placed top 3 four times.

Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 9



1. Future



Future is right now, hands down, the best American terran player. At the age of 16, he's accomplished more in the sc2 scene than the vast majority of semi-pro players, and continues to improve his own play. His history in Platy-pro tournaments has been sketchy, often citing tiredness and late times as reasons for forfeits, but one must look no further than his map score to appreciate how good he is. It took me a while to calculate this number, but Future is 51-20 in maps (20 losses is not small, often losing maps to European protoss players high level zergs, but the ratio would still be fairly insane in any other tournament). Any way you look at it he is a good player, having placed top 3 three times, and winning one Platy-pro tournament, he's certainly up there with the best. Credentials don't match that of GAMETIME, Ukko, and others, but in terms of consistency when he does play, it appears he is the whole package. Future recently avoided the NA qualifiers by grinding 50 games a day and getting qualified for WCS through the ladder. He's extremely highly rated on aligulac and was barely knocked out from the next round in WCS by none other than JonSnow, a name many would assume would easily get out of his group. Future and JonSnow might have a rivalry in coming months/years if he continues playing at this level. Future soon undoubtedly will not be allowed to play in Platy-pro tournaments as he's expected to earn himself past the 8k barrier, if he keeps up the high level of skill he's been exhibiting. If he would play more and could stick it out through the grueling 5 hours of Platy-pro each week, he would easily dominate the tournament and I think there are only a rare few that could contest that statement among the Platy-pro player pool.

Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 11 Hi, Nistic here.I'm a GM zerg player and organizer of the Platy-pro Weekly (learn more here! http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/sc2-tournaments/529325-platy-pro-weekly#1) . I decided to finally get around to looking at the statistics for the Platy-pro Weekly and produced some just-for-fun rankings based on the overall likelihood to succeed in the tournament. These rankings are not just based on current skill and form, but also on participation and chance of showing up to the tournament.Firstly I wanted to recognize the most common participants in the weekly tournament. These players have participated (not just checked in) in 10 or more of the 16 weeklies so far:SeigifriedFutureUkkoBarbarossaNinjaHuntaAnd these are a few runners up at exactly 9 tournaments:EONCalebGAMETIMEThank you to these players for being so devoted ^^And also would like to recognize some very talented players who didn't make the list due to overall lower participation but have participated in at least one Platy-pro Weekly (and this list might be incomplete):MeomaikaGeraldRailganCuddlebearBLordeGGzKozanLeroQuantaPengWinPlaystSnakeFloodHeltEnDayDreamerHope to see more of these players!(If you want to sign up for next week this is the bracket: https://challonge.com/Platy17 And on to the rankings ~Again these may be controversial, in part because there have been many good players who have made showings, but only once or twice, and therefore weren't considered over more regular attendees. It must be noted that due to the time zone, most of these players are from NA:15. THERIDDLERKnown very well in the NA scene as a meching terran, THERIDDLER always creates exciting, albeit slightly long games. Recently he had a game that last over one and a half hours in the Platy-pro Weekly #15 with Caleb, which he eventually won, as well as other showings, including a famous win vs Avilo. He's certainly improved over the past year and continues to show his skills in community tournaments and the ladder.Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 714. BeeBee is a Russian zerg player who has made some deep runs in the Platy-pro Weekly. He's shown to have a very aggressive style, heavily focused on lings, banes, and mid tier tech units (sometimes). I would consider him to have a fairly good understanding of the early game and fairly formidable mechanics.Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 513. Hunta (aka Farmcakes)Hunta is a strong NA zerg both on the ladder and in tournies. One of the more prolific zergs out there, Hunta has played in numerous tournaments from WCS to OSC events and always takes out a number of opponents along the way, and has earned himself a position in the power ranks. Between him and Caleb, it's close right now, but Hunta has yet to make an appearence in the top 3 of a Platy-pro tournament, so he is still some degree looking to prove himself. He has the power to upset almost any platy-pro player IMO.Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 1012. WinterWinter, the Swedish zerg player is a very talented zerg who is most known to me as the winner of Platy-pro Weekly #6. I didn't expect him to take out Future in the finals and since has made a fan in me, coming from the lower bracket no less, but he had an amazing run and was able to show strong macro play throughout the entire tournament. He has some very crisp timings that he relies on as well, but overall I think when playing at his peak he's an extremely strong opponent to play. If he had played more, I'm sure he could advance higher on this list (although I'm sure it's not a very nice time to play in EU).Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 311. CalebCalebAracous, or simply Caleb, is a very active player and young NA zerg who is commonly seen participating in many tournaments of all kinds. He's been known to make deep runs in Platy-pro as well as some other OSC tournaments. Like Hunter, Caleb is viewed I think as "one echelon below that of the top caliber of [semi-pro] zergs" which which likely should provide a good reason to play and practice even more! He's sure to improve with his current rate of play. He's one of the top placers and earners in Platy-pro tournaments. His weakness may be inconsistency, as he's placed in top 3 twice now, and won one tournament, but does not always succeed to make such deep runs. Caleb's play-style is a fairly all around one as far as I have seen and given this, he has the potential to ascend from good to great in coming months or years.Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 910. AntisAntis is a known NA ladder hero to some of us, or simply hero to others. He's not been to my knowledge a team asset, but more of a lone wolf zerg, who has a very fast paced powerful style, capable of entering late game or ending games early. He has not participated in too many tournaments but when he does it always makes for good, exciting games. Often floats on NA ladder at close to 6k MMR. With Antis I think we enter the back-to-back "US 4" semi-pro zerg players who are known very well to me through Platy-pro but mysteriously unknown to most of the community despite making up some of the best NA zergs we have. [Offtopic: there's another US zerg, McMonroe, who should also be in the "US 4", but arguably has ascended this position based on aligulac data, and I hope to see him play too]Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 49. StarkillerStarkiller is the second of the 'US 4' zergs. He's so good, and consistently places highly, taking out surprisingly difficult opponents on occasion. The style of starkiller can be characterized by consistent crisp timings, often roach based play, with a heavy focus on macro after initial aggression. The play style is similar to the style of Dark, which I personally criticize for being a little too aggro-cost-inefficient, but this is honestly the way of the zerg swarm, played at the highest level, as shown by Dark himself and until someone finds out how to counter it, it's always going to be viable. Props to this up and comer for playing in a similar way!Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 58. CicadaCicada recently qualified for WCS, which on paper makes his accomplishments greater than that of many on this list, and it is only his Platy-pro accomplishments which hold his place at #8 instead of higher. Also part of this US 4, he's a super aggressive zerg, like several NA zergs are, and succeeds largely in the ling bane phase of many games. I think he's gotten better recently at advancing past this stage. His play is very distinct from starkiller as he favors hydras over roaches in the mid game in most matchups.Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 57. UkkoUkko is the last of the US 4 semi-pro zergs I've been following. He has all but proved himself, perhaps becoming the single most consistent player in Platy-pro tournaments. He's made top 3 five times, getting first place once, and second place twice. Ukko has an excellent all around style which I would be hesitant to classify as either late game oriented or aggressive. He's just a very adaptable formidable opponent who's advantage seems to be the lack of predictability that other NA zergs suffer from. I think he has a bright future assuming he continues his practice and plays out games in his own way. Cheerful as always he's also offered me excellent zvz advice which I have been implementing in my own play.Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 116. RodzynRodzyn is the first of two Polish protoss players (or three counting Gerald) who have dominated the Platy-pro scene. With a very similar name to Romson, it's probably easy to confuse the two but I assure you they are not the same person. Rodzyn is a fantastic protoss, which currently has won 2/3rds of the tournaments he has entered, making him arguably the most successful by statistics, even though his total entered is 3. He won back to back tournaments recent (#14 and #15), which foreshadows further success in the future. I can't say too much about his style because I haven't played or observed him enough to know it, but hopefully he continues showing up and showing great games.Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 35. BioiceBioice became the second player in Platy-history to win first place twice, and has placed in the top 3 five times. He won the first ever Platy-pro Weekly, and if only he continued playing he would surely has continued success (though recently he has not has as high of participation). He's been in the scene a long time, as a high level Canadian zerg, considered pro in my book but also lacking results. He was barely taken out in a WCS qualifier recently. I imagine a veteran like Bioice might eventually make deep runs elsewhere but so far he is doing quite well in the semi-pro scene dominating Platy-pro, at least in its earlier weeks. Bioice heavily favors speedling openings, pulling drones off the extractor after 100 gas is mined, into 3 base economy, followed by a ling bane hydra stage. The style is more macro oriented than Noregret's style has historically been.Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 74. RomsonRomson is truly a force to be reckoned with, as his high aligulac stats as well as his ability to defeat the very best players in Platy-pro make him one of the top players to ever play in the weekly. He's 'the other Polish protoss' I was talking about. It was a toss-up between him and Rodzyn, but the fact that he has played so much more, and placed top 3 more times, makes him my favorite. He does still have one gold medal to his name too. Very scary, timing oriented protoss player, who is capable vs most any style.Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 73. Jens (aka Jarppi)Jens is the terran hero of Chile. He's been temporarily inactive in the Platy-pro tournaments but we hope to see him attend more, as he's been active in other, mostly Latin American events. He won back to back tournaments (Platy-pro #8 and #9) and has placed multiple times in the top 4. Jens has an excellent late game in almost every single category. Excellent macro, harass, micro, and decision making. His large-army control might be his only weakness. Another player that played in many of the earlier events, but completely dominated them, we hope to see his return again to Platy-prominence.Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 72. GAMETIMEGAMETIME is an excellent professional zerg from the US. I can't say how many times GAMETIME has rekt me in tournaments or on ladder. GAMETIME's play does have easily identifiable strengths and weaknesses which is arguably a sign that he's continually improving his play and knows exactly where to improve. His macro is top notch, and his harassment is pretty good. Sometimes he runs into a problem of being too inefficient in large army engagements, but he makes it possible to bounce back being caliber of zerg that GAMETIME is. He was the first Platy-pro 2-time champion and continues to participate and rekt all kinds of players in this tournament and others. Another player who was just outside of WCS qualification this year, however he's done it in the past and probably will again. He has forfeited a few times in Platy-pro tournaments due to streaming or not feeling up for it, but surely he could have had further runs were it not for this. He won the second and third Platy-pro tournaments and has placed top 3 four times.Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 91. FutureFuture is right now, hands down, the best American terran player. At the age of 16, he's accomplished more in the sc2 scene than the vast majority of semi-pro players, and continues to improve his own play. His history in Platy-pro tournaments has been sketchy, often citing tiredness and late times as reasons for forfeits, but one must look no further than his map score to appreciate how good he is. It took me a while to calculate this number, but Future is 51-20 in maps (20 losses is not small, often losing maps to European protoss players high level zergs, but the ratio would still be fairly insane in any other tournament). Any way you look at it he is a good player, having placed top 3 three times, and winning one Platy-pro tournament, he's certainly up there with the best. Credentials don't match that of GAMETIME, Ukko, and others, but in terms of consistency when he does play, it appears he is the whole package. Future recently avoided the NA qualifiers by grinding 50 games a day and getting qualified for WCS through the ladder. He's extremely highly rated on aligulac and was barely knocked out from the next round in WCS by none other than JonSnow, a name many would assume would easily get out of his group. Future and JonSnow might have a rivalry in coming months/years if he continues playing at this level. Future soon undoubtedly will not be allowed to play in Platy-pro tournaments as he's expected to earn himself past the 8k barrier, if he keeps up the high level of skill he's been exhibiting. If he would play more and could stick it out through the grueling 5 hours of Platy-pro each week, he would easily dominate the tournament and I think there are only a rare few that could contest that statement among the Platy-pro player pool.Platy-pro Weekly appearances: 11 NA GM Zergie ~~ https://www.twitch.tv/charmquark_ ~~