Code S currently contains 32 players, including people such as Huk who are generally agreed upon by many not to belong there. Nevertheless he is there. These 32 players will be our benchmark group.
Then we take a bunch of other players counted among the best in the world, let them play 32 hypothetical games against everyone in the benchmark group, and record their expected score. This is a number between 0 and 32.
For players already in the benchmark group, they get a "free" 0.5 because that's their expected score against themselves. Thus their score will be somewhere between 0.5 and 31.5.
Before I present the list I'd like to first point out that this rating considers games, not tournaments, and it weighs recent performance quite heavily compared to past ones. Thus, if your guy is a serial GSL code S winner from the bygone age, such as the holy trinity of MC, NesTea and Mvp, well that doesn't matter here.
Note also that this list is based on the top 150 rated players (active and inactive), and the code S players. The ranking can change a little bit in the lower levels if I expand this, because players who have high ratings against T and Z but low ratings against P will do better than normal, since the benchmark group contains so few Protosses.
If you have questions about the math you can read the FAQ or just browse the website where I play around with all this stuff.
So what do we find?
1. Life 22.669 (code S)
2. First 21.351
First may be the best player currently not in Code S.
3. DongRaeGu 20.202 (code S)
4. Sniper 20.111 (code S)
5. PartinG 20.103 (code S)
6. Symbol 19.083 (code S)
7. Bomber 18.868 (code S)
So far so good. Code S has six of the top seven players in the world. It seems likely to be the hardest individual league to win in the world.
8. Jaedong 18.779
9. viOLet 18.705
10. Monster 18.362
11. Scarlett 18.284
These four are not in code S, of course, but I don't think many people would disagree that they show the level, gender be damned.
12. Squirtle 17.743 (code S)
13. Leenock 17.683 (code S)
14. BBoongBBoong 17.549 (code S)
15. GuMiho 17.534 (code S)
16. Rain 17.445
17. Maru 17.405
18. HyuN 17.348 (code S)
19. VortiX 17.254
20. Soulkey 17.195 (code S)
21. San 17.083
22. Sen 16.635
23. TaeJa 16.631 (code S)
24. Polt 16.630
25. Curious 16.549 (code S)
26. JangBi 16.338
27. ForGG 16.327
28. HerO 16.182
29. NesTea 16.159 (code S)
30. Tear 16.000
This concludes the list of the players who can expect at least an even score in the code S with the current lineup. I have skipped Dark, who sneaks in on place 22 between San and Sen, but he is inactive after having played no rated games in eight weeks.
Perhaps surprising is the appearance of people like Maru, Vortix, San, Sen, JangBi and ForGG, who are not usually brought up in these discussions.
31. YoDa 15.768 (code S)
32. EffOrt 15.730
That is the size of the code S. Would you consider the above lineup an improvement to the current one? Probably not, I'm guessing. YuGiOh sneaks in on 31st place just ahead of YoDa, but like Dark, he is inactive (will return next list though, as he some games from January 31st).
33. Flash 15.506
34. RorO 15.499 (code S)
RorO is the strongest player currently in code S who has a "dubious" claim to his spot. Fun fact: CoCa's rating puts him around here, but he is of course also inactive.
35. Last 15.243
36. Arthur 15.172
37. MC 15.109 (code S)
38. SuperNoVa 15.001
39. Ryung 14.996 (code S)
40. MarineKing 14.905 (code S)
41. Giantt 14.863
42. Oz 14.814
43. Hack 14.763 (code S)
44. Vampire 14.568
45. Creator 14.549 (code S)
46. BaBy 14.549 (code S)
47. INnoVation 14.539 (code S)
48. Dream 14.434
49. Brown 14.306
50. Lucky 14.220
So that concludes our top 50. "But wait!", you might say, "what in the name of Dustin Browder is Giantt doing there?". Yeah, good question, I don't know either. He is probably helped out by the fact that he has a very low ZvP rating, but there are so few Protosses in code S, so he gets a bit of an artificial boost.
"But wait!", you might say again, and I'll answer "what now?". "There are code S players missing!" Indeed there are. Some end up quite far down the list, it turns out.
51. Noblesse 14.140 (code S)
54. LosirA 14.026 (code S)
55. Stephano 14.026 (code S)
63. Keen 13.891 (code S)
96. Mvp 12.376 (code S)
120. ByuL 11.322 (code S)
121. HuK 11.268 (code S)
129. Byun 10.847 (code S)
+ Show Spoiler [Full list] +
1. Life (Z, KR) 22.669 (code S)
2. First (P, KR) 21.351
3. DongRaeGu (Z, KR) 20.202 (code S)
4. Sniper (Z, KR) 20.111 (code S)
5. PartinG (P, KR) 20.103 (code S)
6. Symbol (Z, KR) 19.083 (code S)
7. Bomber (T, KR) 18.868 (code S)
8. Jaedong (Z, KR) 18.779
9. viOLet (Z, KR) 18.705
10. Monster (Z, KR) 18.362
11. Scarlett (Z, CA) 18.284
12. Squirtle (P, KR) 17.743 (code S)
13. Leenock (Z, KR) 17.683 (code S)
14. BBoongBBoong (Z, KR) 17.549 (code S)
15. GuMiho (T, KR) 17.534 (code S)
16. Rain (P, KR) 17.445
17. Maru (T, KR) 17.405
18. HyuN (Z, KR) 17.348 (code S)
19. VortiX (Z, ES) 17.254
20. Soulkey (Z, KR) 17.195 (code S)
21. San (P, KR) 17.083
22. Dark (Z, KR) 16.853 (inactive)
23. Sen (Z, TW) 16.635
24. TaeJa (T, KR) 16.631 (code S)
25. Polt (T, KR) 16.630
26. Curious (Z, KR) 16.549 (code S)
27. JangBi (P, KR) 16.338
28. ForGG (T, KR) 16.327
29. HerO (P, KR) 16.182
30. NesTea (Z, KR) 16.159 (code S)
31. Tear (P, KR) 16.000
32. YuGiOh (Z, KR) 15.905 (inactive)
33. YoDa (T, KR) 15.768 (code S)
34. EffOrt (Z, KR) 15.730
35. Flash (T, KR) 15.506
36. RorO (Z, KR) 15.499 (code S)
37. CoCa (Z, KR) 15.491 (inactive)
38. Last (T, KR) 15.243
39. Arthur (P, KR) 15.172
40. MC (P, KR) 15.109 (code S)
41. SuperNoVa (T, KR) 15.001
42. Ryung (T, KR) 14.996 (code S)
43. MarineKing (T, KR) 14.905 (code S)
44. Giantt (Z, BG) 14.863
45. Oz (P, KR) 14.814
46. Hack (T, KR) 14.763 (code S)
47. Seal (Z, KR) 14.595 (inactive)
48. Vampire (P, KR) 14.568
49. Creator (P, KR) 14.549 (code S)
50. BaBy (T, KR) 14.549 (code S)
51. INnoVation (T, KR) 14.539 (code S)
52. Dream (T, KR) 14.434
53. Brown (P, KR) 14.306
54. Lucky (Z, KR) 14.220
55. Noblesse (T, KR) 14.140 (code S)
56. LiveZerg (Z, RU) 14.107
57. TLO (Z, DE) 14.091
58. LosirA (Z, KR) 14.026 (code S)
59. Stephano (Z, FR) 14.026 (code S)
60. soO (Z, KR) 14.003
61. Inori (P, KR) 14.003 (inactive)
62. XlorD (Z, DE) 14.000
63. XiGua (Z, CN) 13.995
64. Yong (P, KR) 13.989
65. NaNiwa (P, SE) 13.976
66. sOs (P, KR) 13.965
67. Fraer (P, UA) 13.942
68. insect (Z, KR) 13.923 (inactive)
69. Dayfly (T, KR) 13.905 (inactive)
70. Keen (T, KR) 13.891 (code S)
71. Classic (T, KR) 13.811
72. Daisy (P, KR) 13.806
73. Stork (P, KR) 13.780
74. Puzzle (P, KR) 13.740 (inactive)
75. sculp (T, KR) 13.730
76. Lure (P, KR) 13.707
77. Seed (P, KR) 13.698
78. finale (P, KR) 13.650
79. Yonghwa (P, KR) 13.554
80. ZerO (Z, KR) 13.453
81. Socke (P, DE) 13.448
82. Zero (Z, KR) 13.447
83. Snute (Z, NO) 13.354
84. TheStC (T, KR) 13.321
85. Welmu (P, FI) 13.052
86. RevivaL (Z, KR) 13.038
87. Heart (T, KR) 13.017
88. Crazy-Hydra (Z, KR) 12.945
89. Genius (P, KR) 12.917
90. Miya (Z, KR) 12.866
91. hyvaa (Z, KR) 12.863
92. ToodMing (Z, CN) 12.710
93. Sage (P, KR) 12.677
94. StarDust (P, KR) 12.643
95. frCoolTea (P, RU) 12.632 (inactive)
96. herO (P, KR) 12.570
97. Jjakji (T, KR) 12.557
98. TAiLS (P, KR) 12.531
99. Action (Z, KR) 12.509
100. LucifroN (T, ES) 12.502
101. TOP (T, KR) 12.479
102. Light (T, KR) 12.440
103. mOOnGLaDe (Z, AU) 12.432
104. sKyHigh (T, KR) 12.417
105. Mvp (T, KR) 12.376 (code S)
106. Killer (P, KR) 12.335
107. GuineaPig (P, KR) 12.316 (inactive)
108. goswser (Z, US) 12.311
109. MMA (T, KR) 12.276
110. RagnaroK (Z, KR) 12.274
111. FLY (Z, TW) 12.242
112. Kas (T, UA) 12.228
113. Sting (T, KR) 12.202
114. SortOf (Z, SE) 12.073
115. Trap (P, KR) 11.976
116. Rain (T, KR) 11.962 (inactive)
117. Alicia (P, KR) 11.905
118. EffkA (T, IT) 11.874 (inactive)
119. free (P, KR) 11.854
120. PuMa (T, KR) 11.790
121. Choya (P, KR) 11.746
122. MacSed (P, CN) 11.739
123. Nerchio (Z, PL) 11.738
124. Avenge (P, KR) 11.725
125. CranK (P, KR) 11.724
126. Wizard (P, TW) 11.688
127. elfi (P, FI) 11.671
128. JYP (P, KR) 11.623
129. Freaky (Z, KR) 11.548 (inactive)
130. Sea (T, KR) 11.466
131. sC (T, KR) 11.433 (inactive)
132. HwangSin (P, KR) 11.389
133. Min (Z, KR) 11.345 (inactive)
134. MaNa (P, PL) 11.324
135. ByuL (Z, KR) 11.322 (code S)
136. HuK (P, CA) 11.268 (code S)
137. oner (T, CN) 11.264 (inactive)
138. Jaehoon (P, KR) 11.220
139. KiLLeR (Z, CL) 11.152
140. Dear (P, KR) 11.113
141. BabyKnight (P, DK) 10.954
142. GanZi (T, KR) 10.938
143. cyrano (P, KR) 10.906
144. JonnyREcco (Z, UK) 10.884
145. Byun (T, KR) 10.847 (code S)
146. Happy (T, KR) 10.759
147. Tree (T, KR) 10.706 (inactive)
148. aLive (T, KR) 10.581
149. Center (T, KR) 10.495
150. FanTaSy (T, KR) 10.479
151. Lyn (T, KR) 10.050 (inactive)
In the end I must say it is extremely impressive for a tournament with a relatively rigid qualification structure to be able to gather 16 of the top 32, and 32 of the top ~130. It's much easier to assemble ridiculous lineups in invitationals.