Starcraft 2 is dominated by korean players – but by whom? Well, by someone who lost four GSL-finals in a row, someone who loses to the same people over and over in WCS and someone who is sponsored by Red Bull.
1. [bomber]
In November [bomber] has risen to the leading spot in the World Ranking for the first time in his long career. It’s the highlight of an incredible year for the 26-year-old Red Bull athlete. He won WCS America in October after a second place in July and he won both Red Bull Battlegrounds in Washington and Atlanta. At the WCS Global Finals however he finished as third.
2. [hyun]
[hyun] is one of the few player who has played more than 100 tournaments in his career. But in 2014, he started to be successful in more and more of the major ones. He won the first season of WCS America this year in April and was third in both consecutive seasons. At the Global Finals he dropped out in the Round of 16 and beside WCS America he still lacks some effort. But that might improve in 2015.
3. [zest]
[zest] is the shooting star of 2014. He was 138th in the World Ranking in January, now he sixth. What happened in between? [zest] won the GSL in April and the KeSPA Cup in September. He was third and fifth in both consecutive GSL seasons and won the GSL Global Championship. He finished second at IEM Toronto. A lot of great performances that might turn him into one of the dominating players of next year.
4. [mma]
Few players are as constant in their performances as [mma] is. This year he won a season of WCS Europe (just like last year) and was runner-up at the WCS Global Finals and another WCS Europe. He won Dreamhack Moscow too. No wonder [mma] is one of the most successful Starcraft players of all time.
5. [mc]
In the four years of [mc]s career, 2014 wasn’t the strongest one, but the 23-yearold hasn’t lost much of his power. He won WCS Europe in April and was fifth in both consecutive seasons. Besides that he collected a lot of silver medals, for example at Dreamhack Valencia (lost to [sacsri]), HomeStory Cup IX (lost to [taeja]), and IEM Sao Paulo (lost to [hero]).
6. [stardust]
[stardust] entered the top10 of the World Ranking for the first time in his life in September after he head won WCS Europe. The swiss resident also won ESET Masters in August. In major tournament he got a lot of bronze medals (just like [mc] did with silver medals) like at ASUS ROG Winter, Dreamhack Valencia and Red Bull Battlegrounds Detroit.
7. [san]
Most people don’t remember, but [san] was a big deal in 2011 when he twice was third in GSL tournaments. His career took a slump for a long time but this year he came back stronger than ever. He won Taiwan eSports League and ASUS ROG Winter earlier in 2014 before he got a silver and a two bronze medals at WCS Europe. At the WCS Global Finals he lost in the round of 8 to [life].
8. [soo]
[soo] is the impersonation of a tragic greek hero. He played three GSL-finals this year and lost three times. [zest], [classic (kdw)] and [innovation] beat the 22-year-old who also lost the final of the last GSL season in 2014 – making it an astonishing four final losses in a row! Additonally he lost the final of Dreamhack Stockholm in September to [solar] and was third at the GSL Global Championship. May he become a winner in 2015!
9. [polt]
[polt] is the only player in this list who has lost steam in 2014 and significantly dropped in the World Ranking. In January he was fourth, now he is 12th. This is partly because his two WCS-victories of 2013 got deleted from the evaluation, but he was also less successful this year. Nevertheless [polt] won the Red Bull Battlegrounds Detroit and was third at the IEM World Championship, second at both IEM Colohne and MLG Anaheim and third and fifth at WCS America.
10. [taeja]
For two months, [taeja] topped the World Ranking this year. He is the one to win many major tournaments like HomeStory Cup (twice!), IEM Shenzhen and Dreamhack Summer. I guess you get which tournaments are missing and deny him a higher rank in this list: [taeja] never made it past the round of 8 in WCS America. He lost twice in the quarter-finals to [hyun] and [pigbaby] and once in the round of 16 to… well, [hyun] and [pigbaby].
Bonus round: [life]
Of course this list would be incomplete without the champion of the WCS Global Finals: [life]. Though this isn’t to be underestimated, the 17-year-old had kind of a rough year. He won Dreamhack Bucharest and was third in GSL Season 1 but apart from that he lacked success in major tournaments and unfortunately didn’t make the regular list. But chances are he will in 2015.