StarCraft 2 is changing. New maps, new tournaments and new players are all tossing the whole scene into a storm and the remains are wont to land anywhere they please.

Even in this intensifying storm, there are four players who stand a head above the rest of the volatile world of StarCraft 2.

The goal here is to use evidence, reason and a bit of opinion to put together a coherent picture of the top players on the planet. At this point in the game, there is a huge amount of fluctuation and turn around. With that in mind, this is limited to only four players.

After these four, it would be impossible to name positions 5-10 while keeping a straight face. This article began with the goal of ten and then five top players but with the evident changes that the new maps and play bring and because we are sitting on the verge of a very interesting and revealing season of GSL, "The Gang of Four" will be the focus.

There are two goals of this ranking: to keep people up to date on the worldwide scene and to start a real conversation about who the best players on the planet are. You are all encouraged to leave comments and let your opinions be known about the best of the best.


#1: MVP. Elo: 2306, Peak: 2321. All-time Record: 38-9, 80%. Last month: 16-3, 84%. $51,065 in winnings

The obvious and undeniable number one right now is GSL champion MVP. This Terran has held the number one Elo ranking in Korea for quite some time. Since the new year, he’s played 35 games. He’s lost four of those games, adding up to a winning percentage of 88.5%.

MVP lost once to MarineKing in the Gainward tournament before winning three straight against him there and then four straight in the GSL Code S finals as if to make a point.

Next, MVP lost one game to NesTea in the GSL semifinals. NesTea played exceptionally well and surprised most everyone, himself most likely included, with the single win. On the other hand, MVP has beaten NesTea six times already this year.

MVP also lost once to the Protoss Puzzle in the Korean ZOTAC Team Invitational in a game which I have not seen and which carries relatively little weight.

Most recently, MVP lost a TvP against Squirtle in the GSTL finals. In perhaps the best game in StarCraft 2 history, it took two Motherships, maxed and re-maxed armies and almost forty minutes to wear down MVP and give the champion his first major loss in about three weeks.

MVP's march to a GSL Code S championship may not have been a guarantee from the beginning but when you look at the results, you wonder if it was ever in doubt in his mind. In an era that can justly be called a Terran era, his TvT sits at a beastly 94%. At 77% and 63%, his TvZ and TvP are less thoroughly tested but have passed with flying colors most tests he has had to face recently, the Squirtle game being a magnificent exception.

If you need further proof that MVP stands head and shoulders above most, look no further than his thorough dismantling of GSL3 champion MC in the GSTL and his impressive TvT win against the ascendant Bomber in the GSTL finals.

There is simply no one who could legitimately challenge for this spot right now. The GSTL has shown that he is not invincible but hardly showed any glaring weakness in his play or deterioration of his skill. Things certainly can change with the next GSL Code S tournament on the horizon but for the immediate future, MVP must to be looked at as the undisputed number one player on the planet.


#2 NesTea. Elo: 2231, Peak: 2263. All-time record: 52-29, 64%. Last month: 8-4, 66%. $100,080 in winnings

NesTea's position at the high end of the rankings cannot be disputed. He’s 19-9 (67%) this year and has earned the respectable winning percentage while going deep into the GSL Code S and the Gainward tournaments. He did not have the most difficult road to travel in the last GSL but the fact remains he is racking up these wins against some of the top players in the world.

Moreover, six of those nine losses have come against MVP who knocked him out in both of those tournaments. Aside from MVP, though, he hasn’t lost a series this year. He’s also won $100,080 in prize money, ranking number one all time for StarCraft 2 and nearly doubling MVP’s winnings of $51,065.

If you watched the GSL semifinals, you saw MVP take down NesTea 3-1. That score makes the series sound less close than it was and, in fact, it was NesTea’s determined effort here that ultimately won the second spot on the rankings for him. When NesTea took the first game, when he continued to challenge MVP in the subsequent games, he kept the excitement in the air for the rest of us and seemed to be saying that even in this Terran era, even against the best player in the world, there is no easy win against NesTea.

Keep in mind that for almost every round of the last GSL, Zerg had the lowest representation. This finally ended in the semifinals when all the Protoss had been eliminated and NesTea was the only non-Terran left.

To reiterate (and probably understate), Terran success has been significant as of late. Every single loss by NesTea this year has been to a Terran and most of those have been to MVP. Against Zerg, he’s never lost a major match. Against Protoss, he hasn’t lost since December against MC at the height of MC’s power. That’s a fairly impressive record.

His latest win against Squirtle to clinch the GSTL championship for IM only sures up his spot at number two and makes his prospects going forward brighter still.

What definitively put NesTea above the number three player in the rankings was his play in the GSL semifinals. NesTea got beat but put up a fight that our number three player simply did not seem to have in him.


#3 MarineKing. ELO: 2184, Peak: 2292. All-time record: 56-30, 65%. Last month: 20-12, 62%. $53,471.00 winnings

MarineKing is another player who has constantly been deep into tournaments. Second place in the GSL Code S to MVP, third place in the Gainward tournament from PlayXP.com where he was knocked out by the eventual winner MVP, quarterfinals in the third GSL where he was only knocked out by eventual champion MC and second place in GSL2 to NesTea.

There is no doubt that MarineKing is one of the most consistent and accomplished players in StarCraft 2. Very few people (outside of NesTea) have been such frequent visitors to the late rounds of these major tournaments. But whereas NesTea was able to convert that into a championship win in the second season of GSL and was able to put up a very good fight in the semifinals during January, MarineKing has fallen short each time.

There is a good dose of pride to be taken in the fact that it usually requires players of championship caliber to beat MarineKing. His atypical and aggressive style has its utilities and clearly has worked for months to repeatedly get him in a position to contend for championships. However, when he does run into that MVP, MC, NesTea-caliber player, his style has been beaten every time. Recently, in the GSL finals, he tried to move away from that style and his efforts fell flat as he was unceremoniously swept.

To make the step up to number one or two on this ranking and, more importantly, to win a championship, some sort of change will have to come from MarineKing. After all the close calls, I wonder if he still has confidence in his unique style when it comes to the matches that really matter. The way he steered away from his comfort zone during the GSL finals against MVP suggests that his confidence was shaken during that time at least.

If one was a lock and two and three were interesting, four is where things start to get real difficult. The number four player is slipping, barely holding onto this perch right now and will need to show some seriously positive results soon to stay this high in the rankings.


#4: MC. Elo: 2178, Peak: 2246. All-time record: 59-23, 71%. Last month: 9-9, 50%. $93,788 winnings

MC is a recent GSL champion. That counts for an awful lot but, to be fair, he won that trophy last year. It may not feel like a long time ago but we’re coming up on two months since MC claimed supremacy in GSL3 and in a game that is six months old retail and about a year old total, two months in competition is an eternity. He won that championship by dropping two games total in the last three rounds, putting on a PvT clinic for all to see.

After that, in late December, he won the YGosu invite tournament by beating a mix of players including NesTea but not exactly doing it in easy fashion. He won 4-3 against the Terran Bomber, a talent whose reputation in Korea and around the world is rising but who has never competed in a GSL.

MC's play in the GSTL was limited and had mixed results. He stopped a rampaging IMSeed but was promptly and thoroughly outclassed by MVP. His 2011 results have yielded a mediocre 55% wins.

After falling in the round of 16 last month, the next GSL has MC matched up early with MVP, July and Hyperdub. This group of death means that we’ll get a very good idea early of exactly where MC’s game is standing. He should be good enough for a second place finish but if his game continues to slip, third place is not out of the question at all.

Rising Stars

After the top tier of players, it becomes nearly impossible to sit down and accurately rank the next tier. Within a month, any top ten ranking would likely be totally destroyed. With the new maps and new players, the turnover would be huge and the rankings discarded.

As newer, larger and better maps are introduced, the entire hierarchy of StarCraft 2 is subject to change. Some top tier players will collapse as their style is exposed in the new environment. Some lower players will fade away forgotten, never able to adjust to the larger theaters of war and the mechanics demanded.

There are many players to consider for the the next tier. Nada, Jinro and several others in Code S deserve respect for their continued high level of play and results. However, they are spoken about all the time. Allow me to skip them and focus on a few rising stars, starting with everyone's new favorite team of upstarts: Startale.

Squirtle (2163, 25-10) came up on us like a bat out of hell. As of this writing, it is my opinion that Squirtle is one of the scariest players in the world.

As the maps change and the game changes with it, Squirtle seems to only be getting stronger. It remains to be seen whether or not he will translate his team league success into GSL wins but if he doesn't make it to the Code A finals this season and advance to S in the next, I will be shocked.

Squirtle completed the only all-kill in the GSTL. In the ZOTAC Team Invitational, he went 7-3 taking wins off of Code S names such as Clide, sC and TheBest.

Squirtle took MVP down in arguably the best StarCraft 2 game ever and joined elite company (NesTea, MarineKing, Puzzle) in beating MVP this year. In the two tournaments he's played since his flop in Code A, Squirtle has shown us that he can put up top tier play. The question is, will he keep it up?

Next to him on the team is the up and coming Terran with the #3 Elo ranking in Korea today: Bomber (2197, 16-6).

After an absolutely stellar YGosu tournament in late December in which he came within a game of beating MC right after MC had crushed the entire GSL3, Bomber has put up a very impressive 16-4 record including wins over MC, MarineKing, a number of well respected Code S players and an all-kill against oGs. The brightest spotlight thus far was shone on him during his game versus MVP in the GSTL finals. Although he lost, he took MVP to his limit and demanded a dramatic comeback from the number one player in the world.

Startale is home to some of the best unheralded talent in the game. Incredible Miracle, with bright players such as the Protoss Yonghwa, are right there with them. It's no wonder that these two teams are incredibly deep and talented after their GSTL finals provided what is being called the most exciting day in StarCraft 2 so far.

Blood in the water

As the new maps are broken in and the game warps, these newly emerging players are forces to be reckoned with. Whether or not they can successfully challenge the gang of four remains to be seen - with their recent success, it seems well within the realm of possibility. However, it seems inevitable that a new group will be rising through the ranks of Code A and beyond.

As the winds of change blow, the next GSL will set the tone for the future of StarCraft in Korea.

Even in Code S, there is blood in the water. There are competitors whose play is being exposed. The only question is, which sharks will come from below to take a bite?

Sources: TLPD for Elo ratings, GOMtv for prize money, FOMOS for photos, TL Power Rankings for inspiration. You guys have guts to do this all the time.