#5 | Polt, The Professor







Achievements:

Tier 1:

GSL Super Tournament - 1st

GSL August 2011 - Top 4

NASL Season 4 2012 - 3rd

IPL 5 - 3rd

WCS NA Season 2 2013 - 1st

WCS NA Season 3 2013 - 1st

IEM Cologne 2014 - 2nd

IEM WC 2014 - Top 4

WCS NA Season 2 2014 - Top 4

WCS 2015 - 1st



Tier 2:

MLG Spring Championship 2013 - 1st

MLG Anaheim 2014 - 2nd

Red Bull Washington - 3rd



Tier 3:

Asus ROG Winter 2012 - 1st

DH Stockholm 2012 - 2nd

Red Bull Atlanta - 2nd

Red Bull Detroit - 1st



Greatest Series Played:

Polt vs MC - GSL Open Season 1

Set 1 | Set 2



Polt vs Ryung - GSL Season 3 Up and Downs 2012

Set 1



Polt vs Taeja - ASUS ROG 2012

Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3



Polt vs Stephano - ASUS ROG Winter 2012 Finals

Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 part 1 | Set 5 part 2



Polt vs Stephano - Lone Star Clash Semi Finals

Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3



Polt vs Stephano - Lone Star Clash Finals

Sets 1-4



Polt vs Stephano - MLG Winter Championship 2012

Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3



Polt vs Stephano - MLG Spring Championship 2012

Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3



Polt vs Classic - IEM Cologne Quarter Finals 2014

Part 1 | Part 2



Polt vs Rain - IEM Cologne Semi Finals 2014

Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5



Polt vs HerO - IEM Cologne Finals 2014

Part 1 | Part 2



Polt vs Byul - WCS NA Season 3 Finals 2014

Set 1 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5



Polt vs Sage - WCS NA Season 3 2013

Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3



Polt vs Taeja - WCS NA Season 2 2013

Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3



Polt vs Hyun - Hyun Spring Championship Finals 2014

Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5



Polt vs Bomber - WCS NA Season 3 Semi Finals 2014

Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5



Polt vs Hydra - WCS Finals 2015

Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Set 6 | Set 7



“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” - Sun Tzu, Art of War



For my money there is no one in SC2 who understands himself more than Polt. And there is no player who truly understands the skill difference between himself and his opponents. Polt has never lied, neither to himself or his opponents. Initially this got him a lot of hate from the community as he commented correctly that Jinro was bound to fall out of the top echelon of Code S players as he just wasn’t up to snuff. It was why he was able to dissect and kill the combination of MMA and Ryu Won. It is why among all terrans he has always been one of the few that have gotten even stronger during bad metas for terran in 2012, 2013 and 2014.



Many people talk about the GomTvT era with a sense of derision. Yet from that era came some of the greatest terrans to have ever played the game. Players like Mvp, MMA, Bomber and Polt. And all of them have one unique aspect to them that have made them stand apart from the cookie cutter INnoVation imitations of the new era. It is that they were all forced into a new game. Each of them were forced to take this new game and find their own solutions. You get a very strong sense of what they think and who they are. You can see their very personalities in the way they play and the vision of victory they want to implement when they play.



For Polt that vision of victory is one he has implemented both inside and outside the game. It is a vision of balance. Polt does not want to be an average gamer, but he won't sacrifice everything to become the greatest of all time either. Instead he wants be successful, to find a way to secure his own life without having to bet it all on a shaky esports career. That is why during 2011-2012, despite being one of the best terrans in the world, he still continued his studies at Seoul University. It is how Polt was able to both study in America while competing for to be one of the best players in 2013.



Perhaps that is why he is such an incredibly charismatic figure in SC2. In an industry where it is the norm to risk your studies, your jobs, your lives, Polt shows that not only is it possible to balance those things with competitive gaming, but he also showed you can exceed at both. Even his role in the career is one of balance. He spent his first half of his career in Korea as the villain. Another faceless terran that insulted the foreign favorite Jinro. Yet once he moved abroad, he learned English, became Stephano’s greatest rival and with the force of his personality and gameplay, became one of the darlings of SC2. Even in his latest outing in WCS Season 1 2015, he eliminated local hero after local hero (including a French native in FireCake, a french emigre in ForGG, and Bunny the last foreigner), yet game after game, interview after interview he won the hearts of the audience and fans around the world.



Play Style:







On this list, Polt is close to if not the least talented player in terms of mechanics. In terms of sheer APM he was often dwarfed by his peers in any era. Here is an interesting stat. We measured the APM of Mvp, MMA, MKP and Polt in their primes. They were 370, 360, 360 and 260 respectively. Their EPM (which is effective APM that filters out that spamming) had all of them around the 160-170 mark. Polt may have had the least amount of APM, but he made it count more than any of his peers. And that differential has only increased in size the longer he has stayed in the game.Yet Polt is one of the few players to have won a Premier Tournament in every year of SC2. And it was not by chance.



Earlier I talked about how Polt approached the game with incredible intellect. What I meant was that Polt understands his weak points and he understands his strong points. He knows that his APM is lower so he must use it more efficiently. He must find a way to make his APM do more work than his opponents. So what he does is he solves matchups. He looked at TvT and came up with an aggressive style of bio tank that allowed him to break siege tank lines with aggressive marine splits that minimized damage, gave him a better concave and let him take awkward fights.



There was an old triangle back in 2011. It was MMA > Mvp > Polt > MMA . It was very much in line with how their styles mesh. Mvp combined solid mechanics with great defensive play, meaning he never allowed Polt to dictate engagements in positions favorable to Polt. MMA always beat Mvp because he had close to similar mechanics, but was much more adept at creating flowing harassment or clever all-ins that disrupted Mvp’s defense. This allowed MMA to get further ahead or win the game. On the other hand, Polt always beat MMA because he never allowed MMA to dictate the terms of the match because Polt was the one on the offensive. Polt’s style broke through MMA’s harassment style because of Polt’s superior positional awareness. If this was Rock Paper Scissors, Polt was the Rock, MMA was the Scissors and Mvp was Paper.



In fact Polt’s tactical and positional thinking is some of the best ever seen in SC2. Fionn had an interesting stat: in 2012 TvTs, Polt never lost a bio-tank vs bio-tank battle except against Ryung (a player who has won some of the hardest positional games ever played in the history of SC2) and Taeja. Not only did Polt solve TvT to emphasize his strengths, he did it for TvZ and TvP as well.



If there was a match that best informed about Polt’s methodology towards TvZ it was Polt vs Stephano. Both were two of the most intelligent players to have ever played SC2. Neither had the mechanics of their peers, yet both found new ways to play the game that changed the battlefield to one that favored their strengths. So inevitably they both ended up having some of the greatest games ever played. Polt gave up on the typical terran response of using drop harass to thin out the zerg army and using mechanics to win the war of cost efficiency and instead bet it all on one gigantic push where his APM became a smaller factor and his positioning became more important. In many ways Stephano mirrored that style (who could ever forget the Stephano roach max), leading the two players to engage in large confrontations, then into economic warfare, and finally into small scrappy fights that went down to the last unit.



The final matchup that really shows Polt’s intelligence is his TvP, specifically his TvP during the blink era. Back then every terran in Korea except Maru could not win a bo3+ against a protoss. Maru could only do it because his micro and control could not be overwhelmed in a battle of mechanics. For a player like Polt, that style was impossible. Instead he chose the seemingly absurd route and counterattacked. The crux of what made the Blink Era so strong for protoss was terran knew what they were going to do, but there was no way to punish it, no way to get ahead and no way to kill it. All you could do was defend it on maps that allowed near 270 different angles to blink in from. This meant that terran went down a specific path which allowed protoss to open up however they wanted without fear of reprisal. The Blink All-in either killed the terran, put protoss far ahead that they inevitably won the army clash or at worst put them even. Even when the Blink All-in “failed”, protoss could always play the mindgame of pretending to transition and then attacking with an even stronger All-in. So while every other terran (besides Taeja and Maru) was either dying or losing holed up in his base, Polt came up with his own solution.



If you cannot win a straight up fight, then don’t try to win a straight up fight. He created the counter attack style and in his famous run at IEM Cologne, he beat two of the best Koreans in PvT. And he did it in a hugely imbalanced matchup against superior mechanical players by refusing to engage. That is what makes Polt brilliant. These new age protoss were all just stronger than he was when it comes to the direct confrontation and pure mechanics. If he played the “standard” game he’d lose every time. That is why he had always counterattacked and that is why he has never pulled SCVs against protoss. It is just playing into the hands of his opponents' strengths. Instead, he forces the game into a game of tactical and positional prowess. He concedes that his opponent will always have a better army, better tech, better economy, but Polt has created his own pathway to survival, to victory.



Another aspect of Polt’s play is his creativity. Every once in a while, when he is allowed to prepare for a specific player in a specific matchup for a large amount of time he comes out with something insane. There are three big examples. The first was when he met MC in the GSL Open 1 and unveiled the 1-1-1. The second was his finals against MMA, where Polt had analyzed all of MMA’s TvTs and MMA's games at MLG to find his weakness and obliterate him at the GSL Super Tournament. The third time was his series against Classic at Blizzcon 2014 where he did the build of the century. He took an obscure mech v P build (one used by GuMiho once and not seen by any but the most hardcore of fans), tailored it into a 2 base all-in and completely shut down Classic in that one game.



Perhaps the most important piece to Polt’s gameplay is his composure or clutch factor. In 2013, there was a saying about Polt: “Once Polt gets behind in the game, he is certain to win.” This adage came about because Polt often found himself behind in economy, army supply and upgrades in WCS NA. Yet it only seemed to make him strong; Polt still won through superior use of tactical positioning and intelligence. The reasons for this is simple: the impact and importance of mechanics decreases as a game extends beyond the late game. Polt has created multiple series throughout his career that have seemed magical due to his ability to recover victory from the jaws of defeat.



Polt is able to stay calm in any series against any opponent, analyze the situation and find a way to make the series his. The best example of this was his most recent WCS 2015 run. In the playoffs he played against ForGG, Bunny and Hydra. Against ForGG, Polt was the underdog; Polt had lost his last two series against him (0-2 and 0-3). Yet Polt prevailed because he realized that ForGG was more afraid of him than the other way around. In his words he said, “ForGG’s best is mech. But ForGG went bio instead of mech in game 3. That means that ForGG thinks his best can’t beat me so he had to try something else.” Against Bunny, Polt was considered the slight favorite, but if you had looked at their recent series, Bunny had been leading 2-1, with the most recent encounter a 2-0 in Bunny’s favor. This time Polt went down 1-2 in the series. Yet Polt once more came back in the series and in his interview he said, “After losing the first few games, I learned how Bunny opened and learned that I could beat him in the late game. So I wasn’t worried, even though I was down overall.” In the finals against Hydra, Polt was again the underdog. Hydra had beaten him in their last two series, one of which was just the day before. Hydra even went up 3-1. But again Polt stayed composed and looked at his previous games and evaluated the mistakes he had made in the earlier games and realized there was a very real chance he could not only get to the late game, but beat Hydra there. So Polt stayed composed and created one of the best comebacks ever seen in a SC2 finals.



Difference between Polt and MMA



Separating Polt and MMA was, by far, the most difficult decision to make in the entire list. It forced me to drag out everything the two players had done in their entire careers. Every tournament they attended and the context of each, every opponent they faced and their relative strength at the time, every meta they played in and every adversity they faced was considered. I even considered the intangibles: MMA's indomitable spirit against personal and professional setbacks against Polt's enviable balance and intelligence in constantly solving matchups. Even the impact they had on the scene. In almost every way they were even.





Polt

Tier 1:

GSL Super Tournament - 1st - HuK, Alicia, TOP, MMA

GSL August 2011 - Top 4 - MMA, Keen, loss to TOP

NASL Season 4 2012 - 3rd - Huk, DRG, aLive, loss to HerO

IPL 5 - 3rd - YoDa, Creator, loss to Leenock, Sniper, Bomber, loss to viOLet

WCS NA Season 2 2013 - 1st - loss to Taeja, Alicia, Jim, Oz, Taeja, Jaedong

WCS NA Season 3 2013 - 1st - Revival, ByuL, Heart, Oz, ByuL

IEM Cologne 2014 - 2nd - StarDust, Classic, Rain, loss to HerO

IEM WC 2014 - Top 4 - Naniwa, Dear, loss to herO

WCS NA Season 2 2014 - Top 4 - MacSed, Jaedong, Heart, HerO, loss to Bomber

Blizzcon 2013 - Top 8 - aLive, loss to sOs

MLG Spring Arena 2012 - Top 6 - DRG, Symbol, loss to Violet, loss to MC

IEM Sao Paulo - Top 8 - herO, loss to Jjakji

BlizzCup - Top 6 - Naniwa, Nestea, MMA, loss to Mvp

WCS NA Season 2 2014 - Ro8 - loss to Hyun

DH Winter 2014 - Top 6 - MMA, Snute, loss to Jjakji, loss to Impact, loss to ForGG, loss to Taeja

WCS NA Season 1 2014 - Ro8 - Bomber, loss to Revival

DH Winter 2013 - Top 8 - loss to Life, loss to JYP, loss to MMA, StarDust, Hyun, HerO, loss to Patience

Blizzcon 2013 - Top 8 - aLive, loss to sOs



Tier 2:

MLG Spring Championship 2013 - 1st - Naniwa, Dear, Naniwa, HyuN

MLG Anaheim 2014 - 2nd - Scarlett, Stardust, viOLet, loss to Trap

Red Bull Washington - 3rd - loss to Cure, PartinG, Scarlett, loss to Bomber

IPL 4 - Top 8 - Squirtle, MC, Puma, loss to aLive, loss to MMA

MLG Spring Championship 2012 - Top 8 - No one noteworthy

MLG Spring Arena 2012 - Top 6 - DRG, Symbol, loss to viOLet, loss to MC



Tier 3:

ASUS ROG Winter 2012 - 1st - Taeja, HerO, Stephano

DH Stockholm 2012 - 2nd - Ret, loss to Thorzain

Red Bull Atlanta - 2nd - loss to Bomber

Red Bull Detroit - 1st - San, viOLet, Taeja

IEM Shanghai - Top 8 - Hyun, loss to Revival

IEM Sao Paulo - Top 8 - herO, loss to Jjakji



MMA

Tier 1:

GSL Blizzard Cup - 1st - Nestea, Leenock, Naniwa, Polt, Mvp, DRG

WCS EU Season 2 2013 - Top 4 - loss to Naniwa, loss to MC

WCS EU Season 3 2013 - 1st - duckdeok, Vortix, MC

IEM Bucharest 2013 - Top 4 - Snute, Flash, YugiOh, ForGG, loss to INnoVation

WCS EU Season 1 2014 - 2nd - loss to Welmu, loss to VortiX, Bunny, Mvp, Snute, San, loss to MC

WCS EU Season 3 2014 - 1st - YoDa, loss to Golden, ForGG, San, YoDa

Blizzcon 2014 - 2nd - StarDust, Bomber, Classic, loss to Life

GSL Season 1 2015 - Top 4 - Dark, INnoVation, TY, loss to PartinG

IPL 4 - Top 4 - loss to MKP, Polt, Stephano, loss to Squirtle

WCS Season 3 Finals - Ro8 - Jaedong, loss to Maru

DH Winter 2014 - Top 8 - Snute, loss to Polt, loss to Jjakji, Patience, loss to Jjakji

GSL November 2011 - Ro8 - MC, Nestea, Leenock (Bo1s), loss to Oz

GSL Season 1 2012 - Ro8 - GuMiho, Oz twice, loss to aLive

DH Winter 2013 - Top 6 - loss to Life, loss to JYP, Polt, StarDust, Patience, loss to Taeja, loss to Patience

GSL Global Championship - Seeded in but fell out - doesn’t count. (MMA)



Tier 2:

Iron Squid 1 - 1st - Jjakji, pre-Champion Life, loss to MaNa, aLive, Symbol

MLG Anaheim - 2nd - loss to Rain, Naniwa, DRG, Ganzi, Boxer, loss to Mvp

IPL 3 - Top 4 - Puma, loss to Lucky

DH Stockholm - Ro8 - Life, loss to ForGG



Tier 3:

MLG Columbus - 1st - July, Idra, Losira

IEM WC 2012 - 3rd - viOLet, loss to Puma

HSC IX - Ro8 - Taeja, loss to Scarlett



Tier 4:

IEM Keiv - 1st - Zenio, Dimaga

DH Moscow - 1st - loss to Jjakji, YoDa, Patience, Snute, Jjakji



That is right. I was forced to write down every Ro8 and then I compared them all. In the end the difference came down to this: MMA had more “prestige points”. WCS EU is about as prestigious as WCS NA. Blizzcon is much more prestigious than IEM Cologne 2014. Polt had harder competition in far worse metas (BL/infestor and the Blink Era). MMA had a higher peak in 2011 and has a higher peak now. It was an endless struggle back and forth but in the end I came to the final decision was Polt. The harder competition during his runs, the fact that WCS NA was more competitive than WCS EU and the metas in which he shined just barely, barely put him over MMA. *And most recently Polt's win in 2015 WCS tipped it more decisively in his favor.



For reference here is an entire checklist of how I balanced the scales:

GSL Super Tournament - 1st - HuK, Alicia, TOP, MMA

vs.

ST - 2nd - SuperNova, Ganzi, Ryung, MKP, loss to Polt

IEM Keiv - 1st - Zenio, Dimaga



GSL August 2011 - Top 4 - MMA, Keen, loss to TOP

DH Stockholm 2012 - 2nd - Ret, loss to Thorzain

vs.

WCS EU Season 1 2014 - 2nd loss to Welmu, loss to VortiX, Bunny, Mvp, Snute, San, loss to MC



NASL Season 4 2012 - 3rd - HuK, DRG, aLive, loss to HerO

Red Bull Atlanta - 2nd - loss to Bomber

BlizzCup - Top 6 - Naniwa, Nestea, MMA, loss to Mvp

vs.

WCS EU Season 3 2013 - 1st - duckdeok, VortiX, MC

IPL 3 - Top 4 - Puma, loss to Lucky



IPL 5 - 3rd - YoDa, Creator, loss to Leenock, Sniper, Bomber, loss to viOLet

vs.

GSL 2011 October - 1st - loss to Nestea, Happy, Mvp (Finals higher prestige)

Iron Squid 1 - 1st - Jjakji, pre-Champion Life, loss to MaNa, aLive, Symbol



WCS NA Season 2 2013 - 1st - loss to Taeja, Alicia, Jim, Oz, Taeja, Jaedong

vs.

WCS EU Season 3 2014 - 1st - YoDa, loss to Golden, ForGG, San, Yoda

IEM WC 2012 - 3rd - viOLet, loss to Puma



WCS NA Season 3 2013 - 1st - Revival, ByuL, Heart, Oz, ByuL

Red Bull Detroit - 1st - San, viOLet, Taeja

vs.

GSL Blizzard Cup - 1st - Nestea, Leenock, Naniwa, Polt, Mvp, DRG



WCS NA Season 2 2014 - Top 4 - MacSed, Jaedong, Heart, HerO, loss to Bomber

vs.

IEM Bucharest 2013 - Top 4 - Snute, Flash, YugiOh, ForGG, loss to INnoVation



IEM WC 2014 - Top 4 - Naniwa, Dear, loss to herO

IEM Cologne 2014 - 2nd - StarDust, Classic, Rain, loss to HerO

vs

Blizzcon 2014 - 2nd - StarDust, Bomber, Classic, loss to Life



MLG Anaheim 2014 - 2nd - Scarlett, Stardust, viOLet, loss to Trap

Red Bull Washington - 3rd - loss to Cure, PartinG, Scarlett, loss to Bomber

vs

GSL Season 1 2015 - Top 4 - Dark, INnoVation, TY, loss to PartinG

WCS EU Season 2 2013 - Top 4 - loss to Naniwa, loss to MC



MLG Spring Championship 2013 - 1st - Naniwa, Dear, Naniwa, HyuN

vs.

MLG Columbus - 1st - July, Idra, Losira

HSC IX - Ro8- Taeja, loss to Scarlett

DH Stockholm - Ro8 - Life, loss to ForGG



ASUS ROG Winter 2012 - 1st - Taeja, HerO, Stephano

vs

DH Moscow - 1st - loss to Jjakji, YoDa, Patience, Snute, Jjakji



WCS NA Season 2 2014 - Ro8 - loss to Hyun

vs

WCS EU Season 3 Finals - Ro8 - Jaedong, loss to Maru



IPL 4 - Top 8 - Squirtle, MC, Puma, loss to aLive, loss to MMA

IEM Shanghai - Top 8 - HyuN, loss to Revival

vs

IPL 4 - Top 4 - loss to MKP, Polt, Stephano, loss to Squirtle



DH Winter 2014 - Top 6 - MMA, Snute, loss to Jjakji, loss to Impact, loss to ForGG, loss to Taeja

MLG Spring Championship 2012 - Top 8 - No one noteworthy

vs

MLG Anaheim - 2nd - loss to Rain, Naniwa, DRG, Ganzi, Boxer, loss to Mvp



WCS NA Season 1 2014 - Ro8 - Bomber, loss to Revival

vs

DH Winter 2014 - Top 8 - Snute, loss to Polt, loss to Jjakji, Patience, loss to Jjakji



DH Winter 2013 - Top 8 - loss to Life, loss to JYP, loss to MMA, StarDust, HyuN, HerO, loss to Patience

vs

GSL November 2011 - Ro8 - MC, Nestea, Leenock (Bo1s), loss to Oz



GSL Season 1 2012 - Ro8 - GuMiho, Oz twice, loss to aLive

DH Winter 2013 - Top 6 - loss to Life, loss to JYP, Polt, StarDust, Patience, loss to Taeja, loss to Patience

vs

Blizzcon 2013 - Top 8 - aLive, loss to sOs

MLG Spring Arena 2012 - Top 6 - DRG, Symbol, loss to viOLet, loss to MC

IEM Sao Paulo - Top 8 - herO, loss to Jjakji



Polt's WCS 2015 was left over.



Achievements:Tier 1:GSL Super Tournament - 1stGSL August 2011 - Top 4NASL Season 4 2012 - 3rdIPL 5 - 3rdWCS NA Season 2 2013 - 1stWCS NA Season 3 2013 - 1stIEM Cologne 2014 - 2ndIEM WC 2014 - Top 4WCS NA Season 2 2014 - Top 4WCS 2015 - 1stTier 2:MLG Spring Championship 2013 - 1stMLG Anaheim 2014 - 2ndRed Bull Washington - 3rdTier 3:Asus ROG Winter 2012 - 1stDH Stockholm 2012 - 2ndRed Bull Atlanta - 2ndRed Bull Detroit - 1stGreatest Series Played:Polt vs MC - GSL Open Season 1Polt vs Ryung - GSL Season 3 Up and Downs 2012Polt vs Taeja - ASUS ROG 2012Polt vs Stephano - ASUS ROG Winter 2012 FinalsPolt vs Stephano - Lone Star Clash Semi FinalsPolt vs Stephano - Lone Star Clash FinalsPolt vs Stephano - MLG Winter Championship 2012Polt vs Stephano - MLG Spring Championship 2012Polt vs Classic - IEM Cologne Quarter Finals 2014Polt vs Rain - IEM Cologne Semi Finals 2014Polt vs HerO - IEM Cologne Finals 2014Polt vs Byul - WCS NA Season 3 Finals 2014Polt vs Sage - WCS NA Season 3 2013Polt vs Taeja - WCS NA Season 2 2013Polt vs Hyun - Hyun Spring Championship Finals 2014Polt vs Bomber - WCS NA Season 3 Semi Finals 2014Polt vs Hydra - WCS Finals 2015“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” - Sun Tzu, Art of WarFor my money there is no one in SC2 who understands himself more than Polt. And there is no player who truly understands the skill difference between himself and his opponents. Polt has never lied, neither to himself or his opponents. Initially this got him a lot of hate from the community as he commented correctly that Jinro was bound to fall out of the top echelon of Code S players as he just wasn’t up to snuff. It was why he was able to dissect and kill the combination of MMA and Ryu Won. It is why among all terrans he has always been one of the few that have gotten even stronger during bad metas for terran in 2012, 2013 and 2014.Many people talk about the GomTvT era with a sense of derision. Yet from that era came some of the greatest terrans to have ever played the game. Players like Mvp, MMA, Bomber and Polt. And all of them have one unique aspect to them that have made them stand apart from the cookie cutter INnoVation imitations of the new era. It is that they were all forced into a new game. Each of them were forced to take this new game and find their own solutions. You get a very strong sense of what they think and who they are. You can see their very personalities in the way they play and the vision of victory they want to implement when they play.For Polt that vision of victory is one he has implemented both inside and outside the game. It is a vision of balance. Polt does not want to be an average gamer, but he won't sacrifice everything to become the greatest of all time either. Instead he wants be successful, to find a way to secure his own life without having to bet it all on a shaky esports career. That is why during 2011-2012, despite being one of the best terrans in the world, he still continued his studies at Seoul University. It is how Polt was able to both study in America while competing for to be one of the best players in 2013.Perhaps that is why he is such an incredibly charismatic figure in SC2. In an industry where it is the norm to risk your studies, your jobs, your lives, Polt shows that not only is it possible to balance those things with competitive gaming, but he also showed you can exceed at both. Even his role in the career is one of balance. He spent his first half of his career in Korea as the villain. Another faceless terran that insulted the foreign favorite Jinro. Yet once he moved abroad, he learned English, became Stephano’s greatest rival and with the force of his personality and gameplay, became one of the darlings of SC2. Even in his latest outing in WCS Season 1 2015, he eliminated local hero after local hero (including a French native in FireCake, a french emigre in ForGG, and Bunny the last foreigner), yet game after game, interview after interview he won the hearts of the audience and fans around the world.Play Style:On this list, Polt is close to if not the least talented player in terms of mechanics. In terms of sheer APM he was often dwarfed by his peers in any era. Here is an interesting stat. We measured the APM of Mvp, MMA, MKP and Polt in their primes. They were 370, 360, 360 and 260 respectively. Their EPM (which is effective APM that filters out that spamming) had all of them around the 160-170 mark. Polt may have had the least amount of APM, but he made it count more than any of his peers. And that differential has only increased in size the longer he has stayed in the game.Yet Polt is one of the few players to have won a Premier Tournament in every year of SC2. And it was not by chance.Earlier I talked about how Polt approached the game with incredible intellect. What I meant was that Polt understands his weak points and he understands his strong points. He knows that his APM is lower so he must use it more efficiently. He must find a way to make his APM do more work than his opponents. So what he does is he solves matchups. He looked at TvT and came up with an aggressive style of bio tank that allowed him to break siege tank lines with aggressive marine splits that minimized damage, gave him a better concave and let him take awkward fights.There was an old triangle back in 2011. It was MMA > Mvp > Polt > MMA . It was very much in line with how their styles mesh. Mvp combined solid mechanics with great defensive play, meaning he never allowed Polt to dictate engagements in positions favorable to Polt. MMA always beat Mvp because he had close to similar mechanics, but was much more adept at creating flowing harassment or clever all-ins that disrupted Mvp’s defense. This allowed MMA to get further ahead or win the game. On the other hand, Polt always beat MMA because he never allowed MMA to dictate the terms of the match because Polt was the one on the offensive. Polt’s style broke through MMA’s harassment style because of Polt’s superior positional awareness. If this was Rock Paper Scissors, Polt was the Rock, MMA was the Scissors and Mvp was Paper.In fact Polt’s tactical and positional thinking is some of the best ever seen in SC2. Fionn had an interesting stat: in 2012 TvTs, Polt never lost a bio-tank vs bio-tank battle except against Ryung (a player who has won some of the hardest positional games ever played in the history of SC2) and Taeja. Not only did Polt solve TvT to emphasize his strengths, he did it for TvZ and TvP as well.If there was a match that best informed about Polt’s methodology towards TvZ it was Polt vs Stephano. Both were two of the most intelligent players to have ever played SC2. Neither had the mechanics of their peers, yet both found new ways to play the game that changed the battlefield to one that favored their strengths. So inevitably they both ended up having some of the greatest games ever played. Polt gave up on the typical terran response of using drop harass to thin out the zerg army and using mechanics to win the war of cost efficiency and instead bet it all on one gigantic push where his APM became a smaller factor and his positioning became more important. In many ways Stephano mirrored that style (who could ever forget the Stephano roach max), leading the two players to engage in large confrontations, then into economic warfare, and finally into small scrappy fights that went down to the last unit.The final matchup that really shows Polt’s intelligence is his TvP, specifically his TvP during the blink era. Back then every terran in Korea except Maru could not win a bo3+ against a protoss. Maru could only do it because his micro and control could not be overwhelmed in a battle of mechanics. For a player like Polt, that style was impossible. Instead he chose the seemingly absurd route and counterattacked. The crux of what made the Blink Era so strong for protoss was terran knew what they were going to do, but there was no way to punish it, no way to get ahead and no way to kill it. All you could do was defend it on maps that allowed near 270 different angles to blink in from. This meant that terran went down a specific path which allowed protoss to open up however they wanted without fear of reprisal. The Blink All-in either killed the terran, put protoss far ahead that they inevitably won the army clash or at worst put them even. Even when the Blink All-in “failed”, protoss could always play the mindgame of pretending to transition and then attacking with an even stronger All-in. So while every other terran (besides Taeja and Maru) was either dying or losing holed up in his base, Polt came up with his own solution.If you cannot win a straight up fight, then don’t try to win a straight up fight. He created the counter attack style and in his famous run at IEM Cologne, he beat two of the best Koreans in PvT. And he did it in a hugely imbalanced matchup against superior mechanical players by refusing to engage. That is what makes Polt brilliant. These new age protoss were all just stronger than he was when it comes to the direct confrontation and pure mechanics. If he played the “standard” game he’d lose every time. That is why he had always counterattacked and that is why he has never pulled SCVs against protoss. It is just playing into the hands of his opponents' strengths. Instead, he forces the game into a game of tactical and positional prowess. He concedes that his opponent will always have a better army, better tech, better economy, but Polt has created his own pathway to survival, to victory.Another aspect of Polt’s play is his creativity. Every once in a while, when he is allowed to prepare for a specific player in a specific matchup for a large amount of time he comes out with something insane. There are three big examples. The first was when he met MC in the GSL Open 1 and unveiled the 1-1-1. The second was his finals against MMA, where Polt had analyzed all of MMA’s TvTs and MMA's games at MLG to find his weakness and obliterate him at the GSL Super Tournament. The third time was his series against Classic at Blizzcon 2014 where he did the build of the century. He took an obscure mech v P build (one used by GuMiho once and not seen by any but the most hardcore of fans), tailored it into a 2 base all-in and completely shut down Classic in that one game.Perhaps the most important piece to Polt’s gameplay is his composure or clutch factor. In 2013, there was a saying about Polt: “Once Polt gets behind in the game, he is certain to win.” This adage came about because Polt often found himself behind in economy, army supply and upgrades in WCS NA. Yet it only seemed to make him strong; Polt still won through superior use of tactical positioning and intelligence. The reasons for this is simple: the impact and importance of mechanics decreases as a game extends beyond the late game. Polt has created multiple series throughout his career that have seemed magical due to his ability to recover victory from the jaws of defeat.Polt is able to stay calm in any series against any opponent, analyze the situation and find a way to make the series his. The best example of this was his most recent WCS 2015 run. In the playoffs he played against ForGG, Bunny and Hydra. Against ForGG, Polt was the underdog; Polt had lost his last two series against him (0-2 and 0-3). Yet Polt prevailed because he realized that ForGG was more afraid of him than the other way around. In his words he said, “ForGG’s best is mech. But ForGG went bio instead of mech in game 3. That means that ForGG thinks his best can’t beat me so he had to try something else.” Against Bunny, Polt was considered the slight favorite, but if you had looked at their recent series, Bunny had been leading 2-1, with the most recent encounter a 2-0 in Bunny’s favor. This time Polt went down 1-2 in the series. Yet Polt once more came back in the series and in his interview he said, “After losing the first few games, I learned how Bunny opened and learned that I could beat him in the late game. So I wasn’t worried, even though I was down overall.” In the finals against Hydra, Polt was again the underdog. Hydra had beaten him in their last two series, one of which was just the day before. Hydra even went up 3-1. But again Polt stayed composed and looked at his previous games and evaluated the mistakes he had made in the earlier games and realized there was a very real chance he could not only get to the late game, but beat Hydra there. So Polt stayed composed and created one of the best comebacks ever seen in a SC2 finals.Difference between Polt and MMASeparating Polt and MMA was, by far, the most difficult decision to make in the entire list. It forced me to drag out everything the two players had done in their entire careers. Every tournament they attended and the context of each, every opponent they faced and their relative strength at the time, every meta they played in and every adversity they faced was considered. I even considered the intangibles: MMA's indomitable spirit against personal and professional setbacks against Polt's enviable balance and intelligence in constantly solving matchups. Even the impact they had on the scene. In almost every way they were even.PoltTier 1:GSL Super Tournament - 1st - HuK, Alicia, TOP, MMAGSL August 2011 - Top 4 - MMA, Keen, loss to TOPNASL Season 4 2012 - 3rd - Huk, DRG, aLive, loss to HerOIPL 5 - 3rd - YoDa, Creator, loss to Leenock, Sniper, Bomber, loss to viOLetWCS NA Season 2 2013 - 1st - loss to Taeja, Alicia, Jim, Oz, Taeja, JaedongWCS NA Season 3 2013 - 1st - Revival, ByuL, Heart, Oz, ByuLIEM Cologne 2014 - 2nd - StarDust, Classic, Rain, loss to HerOIEM WC 2014 - Top 4 - Naniwa, Dear, loss to herOWCS NA Season 2 2014 - Top 4 - MacSed, Jaedong, Heart, HerO, loss to BomberBlizzcon 2013 - Top 8 - aLive, loss to sOsMLG Spring Arena 2012 - Top 6 - DRG, Symbol, loss to Violet, loss to MCIEM Sao Paulo - Top 8 - herO, loss to JjakjiBlizzCup - Top 6 - Naniwa, Nestea, MMA, loss to MvpWCS NA Season 2 2014 - Ro8 - loss to HyunDH Winter 2014 - Top 6 - MMA, Snute, loss to Jjakji, loss to Impact, loss to ForGG, loss to TaejaWCS NA Season 1 2014 - Ro8 - Bomber, loss to RevivalDH Winter 2013 - Top 8 - loss to Life, loss to JYP, loss to MMA, StarDust, Hyun, HerO, loss to PatienceBlizzcon 2013 - Top 8 - aLive, loss to sOsTier 2:MLG Spring Championship 2013 - 1st - Naniwa, Dear, Naniwa, HyuNMLG Anaheim 2014 - 2nd - Scarlett, Stardust, viOLet, loss to TrapRed Bull Washington - 3rd - loss to Cure, PartinG, Scarlett, loss to BomberIPL 4 - Top 8 - Squirtle, MC, Puma, loss to aLive, loss to MMAMLG Spring Championship 2012 - Top 8 - No one noteworthyMLG Spring Arena 2012 - Top 6 - DRG, Symbol, loss to viOLet, loss to MCTier 3:ASUS ROG Winter 2012 - 1st - Taeja, HerO, StephanoDH Stockholm 2012 - 2nd - Ret, loss to ThorzainRed Bull Atlanta - 2nd - loss to BomberRed Bull Detroit - 1st - San, viOLet, TaejaIEM Shanghai - Top 8 - Hyun, loss to RevivalIEM Sao Paulo - Top 8 - herO, loss to JjakjiMMATier 1:GSL Blizzard Cup - 1st - Nestea, Leenock, Naniwa, Polt, Mvp, DRGWCS EU Season 2 2013 - Top 4 - loss to Naniwa, loss to MCWCS EU Season 3 2013 - 1st - duckdeok, Vortix, MCIEM Bucharest 2013 - Top 4 - Snute, Flash, YugiOh, ForGG, loss to INnoVationWCS EU Season 1 2014 - 2nd - loss to Welmu, loss to VortiX, Bunny, Mvp, Snute, San, loss to MCWCS EU Season 3 2014 - 1st - YoDa, loss to Golden, ForGG, San, YoDaBlizzcon 2014 - 2nd - StarDust, Bomber, Classic, loss to LifeGSL Season 1 2015 - Top 4 - Dark, INnoVation, TY, loss to PartinGIPL 4 - Top 4 - loss to MKP, Polt, Stephano, loss to SquirtleWCS Season 3 Finals - Ro8 - Jaedong, loss to MaruDH Winter 2014 - Top 8 - Snute, loss to Polt, loss to Jjakji, Patience, loss to JjakjiGSL November 2011 - Ro8 - MC, Nestea, Leenock (Bo1s), loss to OzGSL Season 1 2012 - Ro8 - GuMiho, Oz twice, loss to aLiveDH Winter 2013 - Top 6 - loss to Life, loss to JYP, Polt, StarDust, Patience, loss to Taeja, loss to PatienceGSL Global Championship - Seeded in but fell out - doesn’t count. (MMA)Tier 2:Iron Squid 1 - 1st - Jjakji, pre-Champion Life, loss to MaNa, aLive, SymbolMLG Anaheim - 2nd - loss to Rain, Naniwa, DRG, Ganzi, Boxer, loss to MvpIPL 3 - Top 4 - Puma, loss to LuckyDH Stockholm - Ro8 - Life, loss to ForGGTier 3:MLG Columbus - 1st - July, Idra, LosiraIEM WC 2012 - 3rd - viOLet, loss to PumaHSC IX - Ro8 - Taeja, loss to ScarlettTier 4:IEM Keiv - 1st - Zenio, DimagaDH Moscow - 1st - loss to Jjakji, YoDa, Patience, Snute, JjakjiThat is right. I was forced to write down every Ro8 and then I compared them all. In the end the difference came down to this: MMA had more “prestige points”. WCS EU is about as prestigious as WCS NA. Blizzcon is much more prestigious than IEM Cologne 2014. Polt had harder competition in far worse metas (BL/infestor and the Blink Era). MMA had a higher peak in 2011 and has a higher peak now. It was an endless struggle back and forth but in the end I came to the final decision was Polt. The harder competition during his runs, the fact that WCS NA was more competitive than WCS EU and the metas in which he shined just barely, barely put him over MMA. *And most recently Polt's win in 2015 WCS tipped it more decisively in his favor.For reference here is an entire checklist of how I balanced the scales:GSL Super Tournament - 1st - HuK, Alicia, TOP, MMAvs.ST - 2nd - SuperNova, Ganzi, Ryung, MKP, loss to PoltIEM Keiv - 1st - Zenio, DimagaGSL August 2011 - Top 4 - MMA, Keen, loss to TOPDH Stockholm 2012 - 2nd - Ret, loss to Thorzainvs.WCS EU Season 1 2014 - 2nd loss to Welmu, loss to VortiX, Bunny, Mvp, Snute, San, loss to MCNASL Season 4 2012 - 3rd - HuK, DRG, aLive, loss to HerORed Bull Atlanta - 2nd - loss to BomberBlizzCup - Top 6 - Naniwa, Nestea, MMA, loss to Mvpvs.WCS EU Season 3 2013 - 1st - duckdeok, VortiX, MCIPL 3 - Top 4 - Puma, loss to LuckyIPL 5 - 3rd - YoDa, Creator, loss to Leenock, Sniper, Bomber, loss to viOLetvs.GSL 2011 October - 1st - loss to Nestea, Happy, Mvp (Finals higher prestige)Iron Squid 1 - 1st - Jjakji, pre-Champion Life, loss to MaNa, aLive, SymbolWCS NA Season 2 2013 - 1st - loss to Taeja, Alicia, Jim, Oz, Taeja, Jaedongvs.WCS EU Season 3 2014 - 1st - YoDa, loss to Golden, ForGG, San, YodaIEM WC 2012 - 3rd - viOLet, loss to PumaWCS NA Season 3 2013 - 1st - Revival, ByuL, Heart, Oz, ByuLRed Bull Detroit - 1st - San, viOLet, Taejavs.GSL Blizzard Cup - 1st - Nestea, Leenock, Naniwa, Polt, Mvp, DRGWCS NA Season 2 2014 - Top 4 - MacSed, Jaedong, Heart, HerO, loss to Bombervs.IEM Bucharest 2013 - Top 4 - Snute, Flash, YugiOh, ForGG, loss to INnoVationIEM WC 2014 - Top 4 - Naniwa, Dear, loss to herOIEM Cologne 2014 - 2nd - StarDust, Classic, Rain, loss to HerOvsBlizzcon 2014 - 2nd - StarDust, Bomber, Classic, loss to LifeMLG Anaheim 2014 - 2nd - Scarlett, Stardust, viOLet, loss to TrapRed Bull Washington - 3rd - loss to Cure, PartinG, Scarlett, loss to BombervsGSL Season 1 2015 - Top 4 - Dark, INnoVation, TY, loss to PartinGWCS EU Season 2 2013 - Top 4 - loss to Naniwa, loss to MCMLG Spring Championship 2013 - 1st - Naniwa, Dear, Naniwa, HyuNvs.MLG Columbus - 1st - July, Idra, LosiraHSC IX - Ro8- Taeja, loss to ScarlettDH Stockholm - Ro8 - Life, loss to ForGGASUS ROG Winter 2012 - 1st - Taeja, HerO, StephanovsDH Moscow - 1st - loss to Jjakji, YoDa, Patience, Snute, JjakjiWCS NA Season 2 2014 - Ro8 - loss to HyunvsWCS EU Season 3 Finals - Ro8 - Jaedong, loss to MaruIPL 4 - Top 8 - Squirtle, MC, Puma, loss to aLive, loss to MMAIEM Shanghai - Top 8 - HyuN, loss to RevivalvsIPL 4 - Top 4 - loss to MKP, Polt, Stephano, loss to SquirtleDH Winter 2014 - Top 6 - MMA, Snute, loss to Jjakji, loss to Impact, loss to ForGG, loss to TaejaMLG Spring Championship 2012 - Top 8 - No one noteworthyvsMLG Anaheim - 2nd - loss to Rain, Naniwa, DRG, Ganzi, Boxer, loss to MvpWCS NA Season 1 2014 - Ro8 - Bomber, loss to RevivalvsDH Winter 2014 - Top 8 - Snute, loss to Polt, loss to Jjakji, Patience, loss to JjakjiDH Winter 2013 - Top 8 - loss to Life, loss to JYP, loss to MMA, StarDust, HyuN, HerO, loss to PatiencevsGSL November 2011 - Ro8 - MC, Nestea, Leenock (Bo1s), loss to OzGSL Season 1 2012 - Ro8 - GuMiho, Oz twice, loss to aLiveDH Winter 2013 - Top 6 - loss to Life, loss to JYP, Polt, StarDust, Patience, loss to Taeja, loss to PatiencevsBlizzcon 2013 - Top 8 - aLive, loss to sOsMLG Spring Arena 2012 - Top 6 - DRG, Symbol, loss to viOLet, loss to MCIEM Sao Paulo - Top 8 - herO, loss to JjakjiPolt's WCS 2015 was left over.

#4 | MC, The Exemplar









Achievements:

Tier 1:

GSL Open 3 - 1st

GSL March 2011 - 1st

GSL WC - Top 4

GSL Season 3 2012 - 2nd

OSL - 3rd

MLG Winter Championship 2013 - 4th

WCS EU Season 2 2013 - 2nd

WCS EU Season 3 2013 - 2nd

WCS EU Season 1 2014 - 1st



Tier 2:

NASL 1 - 2nd

MLG Orlando - 2nd

MLG Spring Arena 2 - 4th

Red Bull Austin - 1st

HSC IX - 2nd



Tier 3:

MLG Columbus - 3rd

IEM WC 2012 - 1st

NASL 3 - 3rd

ASUS ROG Summer 2012 - 2nd

IEM Shanghai - 4th

RB NY - 4th

DH Valencia - 2nd



Tier 4:

HSC IV - 1st

IEM Cologne - 2nd

IEM Sao Paulo - 2nd



Greatest Series Played:

MC vs Puma - NASL 1 Finals

Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5 | Set 6 | Set 7



MC vs Puma - IEM WC Finals

Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5



MC vs Jaedong - WCS Season 2 Finals Group A

Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3



MC vs Stephano - Red Bull Austin

Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5



MC vs Taeja - Homestory Cup X Ro16

Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3



MC vs Flash - IEM Toronto Ro16

Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3



MC vs Grubby - IEM Singapore 2012

Set 1 | Set 2 | Set 3 | Set 4 | Set 5





There are a multitude of things you can say about MC. He has the longest streak of consistency of any player in the world. He has never fallen out of the top tier of SC2 competition. He is the most traveled player of any SC2 player in the world. He has the most prize money earned of any SC2 gamer. He has played on a KeSPA team, an ESF team, and was one of the first to be on a solo sponsorship. He moved to Europe and created his own team house, then moved back to Korea. Many of the greatest ceremonies in SC2 were done by MC. He was one of the first Koreans to speak English and reach out to the foreign community. Even looking at his championships, he’s won 2 GSLs, multiple foreign tournaments and WCS EUs. There is nothing lacking in MC’s career. One time he even caught a thief with his bare hands.



After looking at all of those things as a whole I've come to understand one thing about MC. One thing that separates MC from the rest of the 14 greatest players of all time beyond his consistency. It is that MC understands the roles and responsibilities of what it means to be an icon, what it means to be a Champion, what it means to represent an entire scene. Unlike Polt, he never found balance in his life. Once MC went into SC2, he went all-in.



He flew everywhere, attended everything, competed against the best and won and lost. And through all of that thick and thin, he has always, always, always understood his role as an entertainer, his role in the community and his responsibility to his fans. It is that weight that may be what separates MC from all other players. And that is what makes MC the ideal Champion and that is what has made him one of the most beloved.



Play Style:







MC was the first player to understand the strength of the warp gate mechanic and the forcefield. He understood just how strong it was to be able to dictate the pace of every single battle and how to constantly maximize his attacks. Couple that with his incredible sense of mind games, his very strong control and his adaptability in every meta to pick up and learn new builds and create his own and you start to understand why MC has been around for so long when others have fallen off.



Perhaps the scariest thing about MC is that he ties it all together with macro builds. He rarely does them, but when he does you start to understand why so many players are caught off guard and play greedy against him. It is because his macro play is stellar. He doesn't have the pure refinement of strategy or control like Zest or Parting, but he has arguably some of the best on the fly thinking of any protoss player out there and it’s why some of the best MC games are him being outmatched and having to make a comeback. Because it showcases his incredibly creative reactions to solving problems, similar in many ways to Polt. It is a very unappreciated facet of his game as he has been pigeonholed as the master of all-ins for much of his career, when he has consistently proven that he can win anytime, anywhere.





Difference between MC and Polt







This one was thankfully not nearly as close as Polt vs MMA so I did not need to rely so much on extraneous x factors that aren't quantifiable. The first thing that should stick out to you is that Polt had 2.5 years of consistency. During those times he peaked for about an 1.5 years as a Top 3 terran (half a year during BL/infestor, latter half of 2013 to first half of 2014). MC has been a top 10 protoss for the entirety of SC2. That’s 4.5 years. In the first 2 years he was #1 protoss until he was arguably unseated by Seed. He spend the rest of WoL around the Top 7, shot back up to Top 5 briefly around the beginning of HotS and has generally been around Top 10 protoss ever since. In pure consistency alone he wins against every other player on this list. However there are the peaks and the paths to consider, so here it is.



MC

Tier 1:

GSL Open 3 - 1st - July, MKP, Jinro, TSL_Rain

GSL March 2011 - 1st - July, San, July (bad format)

GSL WC - Top 4 - Anypro, loss to MKP

GSL Season 3 2012 - 2nd - MKP, Squirtle, Taeja, DRG, loss to Seed

OSL - 3rd - Flying, loss to DRG, Last

MLG Winter Championship 2013 - 4th - herO, Mvp, Bomber, loss to Life, loss to INnoVation

WCS EU Season 2 2013 - 2nd - MMA, loss to duckdeok

WCS EU Season 3 2013 - 2nd - Genius, loss to MMA

WCS EU Season 1 2014 - 1st - Naniwa, Stardust, jjakji, MMA



Tier 2:

NASL 1 - 2nd - Boxer, Sen, loss to Puma

MLG Orlando - 2nd - HerO, Puma, MKP, Idra, TheSTC

MLG Spring Arena 2 - 4th - MMA, Ganzi, loss to Stephano, DRG, Polt, loss to Symbol

Red Bull Austin - 1st - Huk, Stephano, Bomber

HSC IX - 2nd - jjakji, Dayshi, loss to Taeja



Tier 3:

MLG Columbus - loss to Idra, Thorzain, Moon, Naniwa, Idra, loss to Losira

IEM WC 2012 - viOLet, Puma

NASL 3 - 3rd - Puma, loss to Stephano, Ret

ASUS ROG Summer 2012 - loss to Taeja

IEM Shanghai - 4th - Jaedong, aLive, loss to Revival

RB NY - 4th - Snute, HyuN, loss to PartinG, loss to Scarlett

DH Valencia - 2nd - Bomber, VortiX, Leenock, loss to Sacsri



Tier 4:

HSC IV - 1st - loss to MKP, JYP, Sound

IEM Cologne - 2nd - loss to Puma

IEM Sao Paulo - 2nd - jjakji, loss to herO



Polt

Tier 1:

GSL Super Tournament - 1st - HuK, Alicia, TOP, MMA

GSL August 2011 - Top 4 - MMA, Keen, loss to TOP

NASL Season 4 2012 - 3rd - Huk, DRG, aLive, loss to HerO

IPL 5 - 3rd - YoDa, Creator, loss to Leenock, Sniper, Bomber, loss to viOLet

WCS NA Season 2 2013 - 1st - loss to Taeja, Alicia, Jim, Oz, Taeja, Jaedong

WCS NA Season 3 2013 - 1st - Revival, ByuL, Heart, Oz, ByuL

IEM Cologne 2014 - 2nd - StarDust, Classic, Rain, loss to HerO

IEM WC 2014 - Top 4 - Naniwa, Dear, loss to herO

WCS NA Season 2 2014 - Top 4 - MacSed, Jaedong, Heart, HerO, loss to Bomber



Tier 2:

MLG Spring Championship 2013 - 1st - Naniwa, Dear, Naniwa, HyuN

MLG Anaheim 2014 - 2nd - Scarlett, Stardust, viOLet, loss to Trap

Red Bull Washington - 3rd - loss to Cure, PartinG, Scarlett, loss to Bomber



Tier 3:

ASUS ROG Winter 2012 - 1st - Taeja, HerO, Stephano

DH Stockholm 2012 - 2nd - Ret, loss to Thorzain

Red Bull Atlanta - 2nd - loss to Bomber

Red Bull Detroit - 1st - San, viOLet, Taeja



First off, their GSL Open Season 3 and Super Tournament wins were about the same. MC beat a Top 5 Z, Top 2 T, Top 3 T and Top 5 T. Polt beat a Top 5 P, Top 10 P, Top 5 TvT and Top 2 T to win his Super Tournament.



Next is MC’s GSL March win where he beat a Top 3 Z (July was peaking at that time), a Top 2 P (this is the closest San ever got to becoming #1 P player) and July again. In terms of sheer difficulty though it was about the same as Polt’s NASL 4 2012 run where he beat Huk, DRG and aLive. But I also added Polt’s IEM WC run to counter the prestige of a GSL.



Now we compare two Top4s. In MC’s Top 4 at GSL WC, he only beat a Top 5 P. This was equivalent to Polt’s August 2011 Top 4 run, though you could argue Polt’s was better because of the formats.



Next is MC’s silver run where he beat Top 5 T, Top 3 P, Top 5 T, Top 3 Z and lost to the best protoss at the time. This was close to Polt’s run at IPL 5 where he beat a Top 10 T, Top 3 P, Top 1 Z, Top 4 T (Bomber was peaking and you could have even called him Top 3 T at that point in time). Considering Polt’s run was under BL/infestor while MC’s run was during a slightly protoss favored meta, in terms of difficulty I favor Polt. But to counter the prestige I also added Polt’s Stockholm 2012 run where he got 2nd (though he only beat 1 notable player before losing to Thorzain.)



Weighed evenly are MC's OSL and Polt's WCS NA S2 2014. In the OSL, MC beat Flying, lost to DRG and then beat Last. Flying and Last are hard to rate since they both retired soon afterwards and KeSPA players were split away into different qualifiers at the time. So I decided to make this equal to Polt’s WCS NA Season 2 2014 Top 4 run where he beat Jaedong, Heart and HerO.



Next is MC’s MLG Winter Championship. It was when protoss was weak to terran and he beat a Top 5 P, Top 3 T, Top 5 T. This is similar to Polt’s IEM Cologne 2nd run where he beat StarDust, Classic and Rain during the blink era. In terms of difficulty and placing, Polt’s was higher so I added in MC’s lackluster HSC IV victory where he only beat 2 Korean players of note (only JYP cracked Top 10).



Comparing WCS EU and AM is somewhat difficult. In MC’s WCS EU Season 2 run he beat MMA before losing to duckdeok. The rest wasn’t noteable so I compared it to Polt’s WCS NA Season 3 victory over a Top 10 Z, Top 5 Z (or close to it), Heart (again a player hard to rate), Oz (Top 10 P, he was peaking around this time) and ByuL again. To balance the difficulty and prestige I added in MC’s NASL runner up where he beat Boxer and Sen before losing to Puma.



MC’s WCS EU Season 1 2014 run was the equivalent of Polt’s WCS NA Seas 2 2013 run. MC beat the best Europe had to offer. Polt beat close to the best of NA’s competition. In terms of pure strength Polt’s was probably favored considering Taeja was a Top 3 T and Jaedong was a Top 2 Z.



MC’s EU Season 3 2013 run was okay. He beat Genius, but lost to MMA. If you add in prestige it’s about the same as Polt’s MLG Anaheim 2nd place as Polt beat more notable players to get 2nd.



Next is MC’s MLG Orlando run where he beat a Top 5 P, Top 5 T (Puma was only ever top 5 in foreign events), Top 5 again and a Top 10 T (This was one of TheSTC’s peaks). This was about the same in terms of difficulty as 3 of Polt’s Red Bull Runs: Washington, Atlanta and Detroit.



Now that we’ve come this far, look at Polt’s remaining achievements:



MLG Spring Championship 2013 - 1st - Naniwa, Dear (pre-godlike Dear), Naniwa, Hyun

Asus ROG Winter 2012 - 1st Taeja, HerO, Stephano



These are MCs:



HSC IX - 2nd - Jjakji, Dayshi, loss to Taeja

MLG Columbus - 3rd - loss to Idra, Thorzain, Moon, Naniwa, Idra, loss to Losira

IEM WC 2012 - 1st - viOLet, Puma

NASL 3 - 3rd - Puma, loss to Stephano, Ret

ASUS ROG Summer 2012 - loss to Taeja

IEM Shanghai - 4th - Jaedong, aLive, loss to Revival

RB NY - 4th - Snute, Hyun, loss to Parting, loss to Scarlett

DH Valencia - 2nd - Bomber, VortiX, Leenock, loss to Sacsri

IEM Cologne - 2nd - loss to Puma

MLG Spring Arena 2 - 4th - MMA, Ganzi, loss to Stephano, DRG, Polt, loss to Symbol

IEM Sao Paulo - 2nd - jjakji, loss to herO

Red Bull Austin - 1st - Huk, Stephano, Bomber



Even if you thought some of the choices were Polt favored before, in the end MC has 12 more major tournament runs compared to Polt’s remaining 2. In sheer volume of work, MC is just shoulders above Polt. And we didn't even touch upon MC’s innovations to the protoss race and how those factor in for his overall greatness.



Achievements:Tier 1:GSL Open 3 - 1stGSL March 2011 - 1stGSL WC - Top 4GSL Season 3 2012 - 2ndOSL - 3rdMLG Winter Championship 2013 - 4thWCS EU Season 2 2013 - 2ndWCS EU Season 3 2013 - 2ndWCS EU Season 1 2014 - 1stTier 2:NASL 1 - 2ndMLG Orlando - 2ndMLG Spring Arena 2 - 4thRed Bull Austin - 1stHSC IX - 2ndTier 3:MLG Columbus - 3rdIEM WC 2012 - 1stNASL 3 - 3rdASUS ROG Summer 2012 - 2ndIEM Shanghai - 4thRB NY - 4thDH Valencia - 2ndTier 4:HSC IV - 1stIEM Cologne - 2ndIEM Sao Paulo - 2ndGreatest Series Played:MC vs Puma - NASL 1 FinalsMC vs Puma - IEM WC FinalsMC vs Jaedong - WCS Season 2 Finals Group AMC vs Stephano - Red Bull AustinMC vs Taeja - Homestory Cup X Ro16MC vs Flash - IEM Toronto Ro16MC vs Grubby - IEM Singapore 2012There are a multitude of things you can say about MC. He has the longest streak of consistency of any player in the world. He has never fallen out of the top tier of SC2 competition. He is the most traveled player of any SC2 player in the world. He has the most prize money earned of any SC2 gamer. He has played on a KeSPA team, an ESF team, and was one of the first to be on a solo sponsorship. He moved to Europe and created his own team house, then moved back to Korea. Many of the greatest ceremonies in SC2 were done by MC. He was one of the first Koreans to speak English and reach out to the foreign community. Even looking at his championships, he’s won 2 GSLs, multiple foreign tournaments and WCS EUs. There is nothing lacking in MC’s career. One time he even caught a thief with his bare hands.After looking at all of those things as a whole I've come to understand one thing about MC. One thing that separates MC from the rest of the 14 greatest players of all time beyond his consistency. It is that MC understands the roles and responsibilities of what it means to be an icon, what it means to be a Champion, what it means to represent an entire scene. Unlike Polt, he never found balance in his life. Once MC went into SC2, he went all-in.He flew everywhere, attended everything, competed against the best and won and lost. And through all of that thick and thin, he has always, always, always understood his role as an entertainer, his role in the community and his responsibility to his fans. It is that weight that may be what separates MC from all other players. And that is what makes MC the ideal Champion and that is what has made him one of the most beloved.Play Style:MC was the first player to understand the strength of the warp gate mechanic and the forcefield. He understood just how strong it was to be able to dictate the pace of every single battle and how to constantly maximize his attacks. Couple that with his incredible sense of mind games, his very strong control and his adaptability in every meta to pick up and learn new builds and create his own and you start to understand why MC has been around for so long when others have fallen off.Perhaps the scariest thing about MC is that he ties it all together with macro builds. He rarely does them, but when he does you start to understand why so many players are caught off guard and play greedy against him. It is because his macro play is stellar. He doesn't have the pure refinement of strategy or control like Zest or Parting, but he has arguably some of the best on the fly thinking of any protoss player out there and it’s why some of the best MC games are him being outmatched and having to make a comeback. Because it showcases his incredibly creative reactions to solving problems, similar in many ways to Polt. It is a very unappreciated facet of his game as he has been pigeonholed as the master of all-ins for much of his career, when he has consistently proven that he can win anytime, anywhere.Difference between MC and PoltThis one was thankfully not nearly as close as Polt vs MMA so I did not need to rely so much on extraneous x factors that aren't quantifiable. The first thing that should stick out to you is that Polt had 2.5 years of consistency. During those times he peaked for about an 1.5 years as a Top 3 terran (half a year during BL/infestor, latter half of 2013 to first half of 2014). MC has been a top 10 protoss for the entirety of SC2. That’s 4.5 years. In the first 2 years he was #1 protoss until he was arguably unseated by Seed. He spend the rest of WoL around the Top 7, shot back up to Top 5 briefly around the beginning of HotS and has generally been around Top 10 protoss ever since. In pure consistency alone he wins against every other player on this list. However there are the peaks and the paths to consider, so here it is.MCTier 1:GSL Open 3 - 1st - July, MKP, Jinro, TSL_RainGSL March 2011 - 1st - July, San, July (bad format)GSL WC - Top 4 - Anypro, loss to MKPGSL Season 3 2012 - 2nd - MKP, Squirtle, Taeja, DRG, loss to SeedOSL - 3rd - Flying, loss to DRG, LastMLG Winter Championship 2013 - 4th - herO, Mvp, Bomber, loss to Life, loss to INnoVationWCS EU Season 2 2013 - 2nd - MMA, loss to duckdeokWCS EU Season 3 2013 - 2nd - Genius, loss to MMAWCS EU Season 1 2014 - 1st - Naniwa, Stardust, jjakji, MMATier 2:NASL 1 - 2nd - Boxer, Sen, loss to PumaMLG Orlando - 2nd - HerO, Puma, MKP, Idra, TheSTCMLG Spring Arena 2 - 4th - MMA, Ganzi, loss to Stephano, DRG, Polt, loss to SymbolRed Bull Austin - 1st - Huk, Stephano, BomberHSC IX - 2nd - jjakji, Dayshi, loss to TaejaTier 3:MLG Columbus - loss to Idra, Thorzain, Moon, Naniwa, Idra, loss to LosiraIEM WC 2012 - viOLet, PumaNASL 3 - 3rd - Puma, loss to Stephano, RetASUS ROG Summer 2012 - loss to TaejaIEM Shanghai - 4th - Jaedong, aLive, loss to RevivalRB NY - 4th - Snute, HyuN, loss to PartinG, loss to ScarlettDH Valencia - 2nd - Bomber, VortiX, Leenock, loss to SacsriTier 4:HSC IV - 1st - loss to MKP, JYP, SoundIEM Cologne - 2nd - loss to PumaIEM Sao Paulo - 2nd - jjakji, loss to herOPoltTier 1:GSL Super Tournament - 1st - HuK, Alicia, TOP, MMAGSL August 2011 - Top 4 - MMA, Keen, loss to TOPNASL Season 4 2012 - 3rd - Huk, DRG, aLive, loss to HerOIPL 5 - 3rd - YoDa, Creator, loss to Leenock, Sniper, Bomber, loss to viOLetWCS NA Season 2 2013 - 1st - loss to Taeja, Alicia, Jim, Oz, Taeja, JaedongWCS NA Season 3 2013 - 1st - Revival, ByuL, Heart, Oz, ByuLIEM Cologne 2014 - 2nd - StarDust, Classic, Rain, loss to HerOIEM WC 2014 - Top 4 - Naniwa, Dear, loss to herOWCS NA Season 2 2014 - Top 4 - MacSed, Jaedong, Heart, HerO, loss to BomberTier 2:MLG Spring Championship 2013 - 1st - Naniwa, Dear, Naniwa, HyuNMLG Anaheim 2014 - 2nd - Scarlett, Stardust, viOLet, loss to TrapRed Bull Washington - 3rd - loss to Cure, PartinG, Scarlett, loss to BomberTier 3:ASUS ROG Winter 2012 - 1st - Taeja, HerO, StephanoDH Stockholm 2012 - 2nd - Ret, loss to ThorzainRed Bull Atlanta - 2nd - loss to BomberRed Bull Detroit - 1st - San, viOLet, TaejaFirst off, their GSL Open Season 3 and Super Tournament wins were about the same. MC beat a Top 5 Z, Top 2 T, Top 3 T and Top 5 T. Polt beat a Top 5 P, Top 10 P, Top 5 TvT and Top 2 T to win his Super Tournament.Next is MC’s GSL March win where he beat a Top 3 Z (July was peaking at that time), a Top 2 P (this is the closest San ever got to becoming #1 P player) and July again. In terms of sheer difficulty though it was about the same as Polt’s NASL 4 2012 run where he beat Huk, DRG and aLive. But I also added Polt’s IEM WC run to counter the prestige of a GSL.Now we compare two Top4s. In MC’s Top 4 at GSL WC, he only beat a Top 5 P. This was equivalent to Polt’s August 2011 Top 4 run, though you could argue Polt’s was better because of the formats.Next is MC’s silver run where he beat Top 5 T, Top 3 P, Top 5 T, Top 3 Z and lost to the best protoss at the time. This was close to Polt’s run at IPL 5 where he beat a Top 10 T, Top 3 P, Top 1 Z, Top 4 T (Bomber was peaking and you could have even called him Top 3 T at that point in time). Considering Polt’s run was under BL/infestor while MC’s run was during a slightly protoss favored meta, in terms of difficulty I favor Polt. But to counter the prestige I also added Polt’s Stockholm 2012 run where he got 2nd (though he only beat 1 notable player before losing to Thorzain.)Weighed evenly are MC's OSL and Polt's WCS NA S2 2014. In the OSL, MC beat Flying, lost to DRG and then beat Last. Flying and Last are hard to rate since they both retired soon afterwards and KeSPA players were split away into different qualifiers at the time. So I decided to make this equal to Polt’s WCS NA Season 2 2014 Top 4 run where he beat Jaedong, Heart and HerO.Next is MC’s MLG Winter Championship. It was when protoss was weak to terran and he beat a Top 5 P, Top 3 T, Top 5 T. This is similar to Polt’s IEM Cologne 2nd run where he beat StarDust, Classic and Rain during the blink era. In terms of difficulty and placing, Polt’s was higher so I added in MC’s lackluster HSC IV victory where he only beat 2 Korean players of note (only JYP cracked Top 10).Comparing WCS EU and AM is somewhat difficult. In MC’s WCS EU Season 2 run he beat MMA before losing to duckdeok. The rest wasn’t noteable so I compared it to Polt’s WCS NA Season 3 victory over a Top 10 Z, Top 5 Z (or close to it), Heart (again a player hard to rate), Oz (Top 10 P, he was peaking around this time) and ByuL again. To balance the difficulty and prestige I added in MC’s NASL runner up where he beat Boxer and Sen before losing to Puma.MC’s WCS EU Season 1 2014 run was the equivalent of Polt’s WCS NA Seas 2 2013 run. MC beat the best Europe had to offer. Polt beat close to the best of NA’s competition. In terms of pure strength Polt’s was probably favored considering Taeja was a Top 3 T and Jaedong was a Top 2 Z.MC’s EU Season 3 2013 run was okay. He beat Genius, but lost to MMA. If you add in prestige it’s about the same as Polt’s MLG Anaheim 2nd place as Polt beat more notable players to get 2nd.Next is MC’s MLG Orlando run where he beat a Top 5 P, Top 5 T (Puma was only ever top 5 in foreign events), Top 5 again and a Top 10 T (This was one of TheSTC’s peaks). This was about the same in terms of difficulty as 3 of Polt’s Red Bull Runs: Washington, Atlanta and Detroit.Now that we’ve come this far, look at Polt’s remaining achievements:MLG Spring Championship 2013 - 1st - Naniwa, Dear (pre-godlike Dear), Naniwa, HyunAsus ROG Winter 2012 - 1st Taeja, HerO, StephanoThese are MCs:HSC IX - 2nd - Jjakji, Dayshi, loss to TaejaMLG Columbus - 3rd - loss to Idra, Thorzain, Moon, Naniwa, Idra, loss to LosiraIEM WC 2012 - 1st - viOLet, PumaNASL 3 - 3rd - Puma, loss to Stephano, RetASUS ROG Summer 2012 - loss to TaejaIEM Shanghai - 4th - Jaedong, aLive, loss to RevivalRB NY - 4th - Snute, Hyun, loss to Parting, loss to ScarlettDH Valencia - 2nd - Bomber, VortiX, Leenock, loss to SacsriIEM Cologne - 2nd - loss to PumaMLG Spring Arena 2 - 4th - MMA, Ganzi, loss to Stephano, DRG, Polt, loss to SymbolIEM Sao Paulo - 2nd - jjakji, loss to herORed Bull Austin - 1st - Huk, Stephano, BomberEven if you thought some of the choices were Polt favored before, in the end MC has 12 more major tournament runs compared to Polt’s remaining 2. In sheer volume of work, MC is just shoulders above Polt. And we didn't even touch upon MC’s innovations to the protoss race and how those factor in for his overall greatness.