The current implementation of the WCS Circuit came too late. That was the opinion lurking in the shadows of the scene as 2016 reared up, with world-class stars such as Stephano and NaNiwa so far past their primes as to be rendered irrelevant. Even when 2015 came, look at the list of foreigners who made it to a quarterfinal in a WCS competition that year: Kane, TLO, ShoWTimE, Snute, Bunny, Lilbow, MarineLorD, Zanster, GunGFuBanDa, Petraeus, MaNa. If you told someone from that year that only two or three of those players would continue to be relevant at an elite level even a year later, they'd be dumbfounded. It becomes even sillier when one realizes that the two players who have replaced this breed of players as championship stars in 2017 were Neeb and Elazer. Neeb, who had been a borderline Ro.16 player for enough years to become predictable, and Elazer, who was thoroughly dissected by Hitman's brand of protoss cheese in the Round of 32, and only advanced due to what was effectively a miracle. But here Elazer is. One of three foreigners to win a WCS championship in the post-Schism era, and the only zerg. Not Snute. Not Nerchio. Not Serral. Not Zanster, who was a game away from being the favorite in the finals of 2015. It's Elazer.
"Elazer at his greatest embodies this sense of boundless ambition more than most foreigners ever could."
What's happened in a year to shift opinions so drastically? There's nothing quite as severe as a changing of calendars to make perfectly valid opinions seem so utterly inane. One year, Zanster is a borderline superstar in the foreign scene, and MaNa is on the verge of rediscovering the dominant protoss he once was. The next, both are irrelevant at the highest tier of competition. Elazer has known this more than almost anyone; in 2014, he didn't exist at all. He played matches, surely, and was even signed to a team, but did anyone bother to learn his name? Yet, hardly two years later, it was the taste lingering on people's tongues as he ascended to the semifinals of BlizzCon over the well-decorated and overwhelming favorite ShoWTimE. But even then, it was all so easy to discredit. He only beat foreigners, people squeaked. He was crushed by Dark. It wasn't even close. He won't make it there again, anyway.
But the changing of years came again, and it was merciless. Elazer has never been gifted a golden road. He lost in the qualifiers of WCS Austin to Bly, and one could almost taste the validation in the air; he didn't even attend the event. He was just another fading star. Just another dying breath. But Elazer's played too many games to be only that. He's tried too hard. To put their difference in mentalities into perspective, Elazer has already played twice as many games as NaNiwa in his young and largely fruitless career; the youth of now cares deeply about taking advantage of the deepened tournament scene, online and otherwise, and Elazer embodies the youth of now more than anyone. When he returned to the qualifiers for Jönköping, it was with the winds of glory in his lungs. He came back against ShoWTimE. He crushed Nerchio, and qualifier star Namshar. Elazer at his greatest embodies this sense of boundless ambition more than most foreigners ever could, of unstoppable dreams and unhalted victories. It's interesting to see Kelazhur and Elazer end up in the same group as, for all of his great play, Kelazhur has never quite been able to win the battle against fate. Yet it is Elazer who triumphs, over and over again, in the face of the worst odds and the most heart-aching of matchups. It is Elazer who eliminated Nerchio when the Blizzcon quarters are on the line. It is Elazer who doomed ShoWTimE to failure, both at Blizzcon and at Jönköping qualifiers. It is Elazer who stole Nerchio's thunder at WCS Valencia.
Winrate
67.66% vs. Terran 69.89% vs. Protoss 61.39% vs. Zerg
Rank
Circuit Standings 2
WCS Points
5245
It is Elazer who crushed the heart and soul of the foreign scene, Snute, coming back from being 3-1 down in his first ever finals. With nerves of steel and a heart of iron, it was Elazer who stood on that stage and lifted that trophy. Even at WCS Montreal, he took revenge on Serral, who had eliminated him from Austin and often dominated him early in the year. Even with all of this success, though, Elazer finds himself in the shadows. Sure, he is king within the shadows; he is the second-most accomplished foreigner of the year. But there is a 'second' next to the title he's so diligently sought. Without a single match played against Neeb, Elazer has been held back by him; he's been relegated to a rebel. Because that is the way of the StarCraft scene. Your accomplishments last year do not matter. Elazer was the last foreigner standing; last year. People are not loyal to the past, and only become less loyal as it grows with distance. People are loyal to tyranny, and tyranny only. Only by being absolutely dominant can one win over trust, the way Neeb has - and not Elazer. Never Elazer. Regardless of his unrelenting effort, of his trips to Korea, of his upsets of GuMiho and Stats online- he is the rebellion. It is in his blood. It was in his blood ever since he upset all those the audience loved to become the Dark Horse at Blizzcon - he was not Dark Horse because people adored him. He was not Dark Horse because he was favored, but people were too shy to say it. He was Dark Horse because every other horse was dead. In hindsight, it's been his birthright for much longer than just the Global Finals; he shouldn't have been at that BlizzCon at all, with many rooting for uThermal to make the upset over him in the dying moments. But that was never to be.
In 2016, Elazer learned that a peasant's only claim to fame is by being a rebel; in 2017, he learned that rebels can never be King. He won WCS Valencia, and Neeb still won three tournaments in the year and utterly dwarfed his accomplishments, without a single head to head between them. Serral arguably gets more claim to fame, because he was the promised prince; Elazer was promised nothing. If anything, he was promised irrelevance, and through sheer persistence has overcome the promises of fate to ascend to a mere false king. A fluke. That word stains everything he's done - the HomeStory Cup semifinals, the WCS Winter quarterfinals, WCS Global Finals run, the WCS Valencia victory, it was all one long fluke. One fever dream where a borderline WCS Premier zerg ascended to become somehow greater than players such as Nerchio and Snute, who were always going to be destined for the Hall of Fame. The only way for Elazer to seize the crown is to surpass it. If he does as he did last year - squeeze an upset over herO, draw some crowd favorite foreigner in the Quarters, then get 3-0'd in the semis - nobody would care. Sure, they'd say now that they would care, but that has already come and gone. In order to be King, Elazer needs to ascend even further. He would need to gather his vengeance against Dark, the Slayer of Foreigners and Tyrant in Korea. It is then, in that moment, that Elazer would have the strength of the entire foreign scene behind him. All of those men Dark has 3-0'd over the past couple of years. All of those crowd favorites. The heat and energy of a dozen dead men at Elazer's fingertips. It is then, with burning hatred, that Elazer could seize his throne.
It's a wish. A daydream. But none more grandiose than last year's miracle was. Elazer originally didn't deserve to be at BlizzCon; he tied with viOLet, and many assumed the Korean would edge out in their matchup. But then Hydra cancelled, and he was moved up to eighth seed. A cancellation from Polt moved him to seven, and now in a group of death featuring his idol Nerchio, a path was forged. An informal prophecy. As we have learned since, there is nothing that could stop Elazer from fulfilling a grandiose dream. Facing off against his idol, the favorite of the foreign scene, at the biggest tournament of the year. Down 2-1 against ShoWTimE with both player's years on the line. Down 3-1 against Snute in his first ever finals. It is Elazer who plays the role of the rebel, no matter how precarious. It is Elazer who is the peasant, forever rising to become a King. It is Elazer who fulfills his dreams.
And what dream more sweet than defeating the Dark?
"That words stains everything he's done - the HomeStory Cup semifinals, the WCS Winter quarterfinas" Small typo - quarterfinas -> quarterfinals Great read as usual
I don't see a reason to put Elazer as the second highest foreigner tbh, I feel like his acheiments (although great) have been carried by ZvZ. Wouldn't give him a good chance against the terrans and protoss at blizzcon, not compared Snute and Serral at least
Result wise Im ok with the order, maybe elazer doesnt have the veteran feel of Snute and Nerchio, but result wise he should be this high, you may argue about bracket luck and that he was hitting ZvZ a lot in tournaments, but given the amount of Zergs there are outside of korea is kinda imposible to not play 2 or 3 ZvZ in the playoffs of az tournament.
Just a minor complaint...but Neeb was not a borderline ro16 Terran in 2013; he was strongly a ro32 player. He was a ro16 Terran in 2014, with two ro16 and a ro32, and he switched to Protoss in 2015 with only one ro32 result.
The reason this is annoying is that he was a good enough Terran in 2013-2014 that he could have been a strong foreign Terran had he continued, and he had a meteoric rise in 2015-2016 after just switching to Protoss. In other words, he wasn't one of the perpetually ro16 players who could get near or just to the ro16 and then get eliminated. He was someone who was seen as having a lot of potential if he continued playing. If I recall correctly, it was big surprise that he beat Stardust in challenger.
On October 17 2017 01:16 Fango wrote: I don't see a reason to put Elazer as the second highest foreigner tbh, I feel like his acheiments (although great) have been carried by ZvZ. Wouldn't give him a good chance against the terrans and protoss at blizzcon, not compared Snute and Serral at least
He had some great result online against Korean lately beating Zest, Stats, Gumiho and tying vs Classic and Rogue, that probably boost him a bit.
On October 17 2017 03:04 LtCalley wrote: i knew it was gonna be like this, but it's still funny to see nothing but foreigners at the bottom of the power rank xD
Im kind of OK with it tho.. cause.. how many times TL Power rank was wrong....
I think that the skill difference between these 16 players is marginal right now, at least much smaller than many people believe. Each player can take down any other player. Innovation perhaps stands out a bit. Its all down to form on a given day and bracket luck.
On October 17 2017 04:30 Kafka777 wrote: I think that the skill difference between these 16 players is marginal right now, at least much smaller than many people believe. Each player can take down any other player. Innovation perhaps stands out a bit. Its all down to form on a given day and bracket luck.
I disagree. Even within the WCS circuit the difference between Neeb and Kelazhur or Neeb and TRUE feels absolutely massive. While there are other factors that come into play such as races, some players just look hopelessly outclassed. Of the opening matches MajOr beating Stats, Kelazhur beating Dark, or TRUE beating INno are results I wouldn't bet on given 10 to 1 odds.
edit: On second thought at 10:1 I might bet on MajOr beating Stats. It's pretty close. I wouldn't take anything shorter though.
Age is a key factor, looking at overall esports earnings a player is in their prime between 19-22 years old which predicts good runs for players like Elazer and Neeb.
On October 17 2017 04:30 Kafka777 wrote: I think that the skill difference between these 16 players is marginal right now, at least much smaller than many people believe. Each player can take down any other player. Innovation perhaps stands out a bit. Its all down to form on a given day and bracket luck.
I disagree. Even within the WCS circuit the difference between Neeb and Kelazhur or Neeb and TRUE feels absolutely massive. While there are other factors that come into play such as races, some players just look hopelessly outclassed. Of the opening matches MajOr beating Stats, Kelazhur beating Dark, or TRUE beating INno are results I wouldn't bet on given 10 to 1 odds.
edit: On second thought at 10:1 I might bet on MajOr beating Stats. It's pretty close. I wouldn't take anything shorter though.
I'd bet on MajOr > Stats at 5:1 comfortably. He took him to five games at GSL vs the World, and it's only a Bo3. Upsets will come a lot easier than you might expect, ie. ShoWTimE > ByuN or Solar collapsing
On October 17 2017 04:30 Kafka777 wrote: I think that the skill difference between these 16 players is marginal right now, at least much smaller than many people believe. Each player can take down any other player. Innovation perhaps stands out a bit. Its all down to form on a given day and bracket luck.
I disagree. Even within the WCS circuit the difference between Neeb and Kelazhur or Neeb and TRUE feels absolutely massive. While there are other factors that come into play such as races, some players just look hopelessly outclassed. Of the opening matches MajOr beating Stats, Kelazhur beating Dark, or TRUE beating INno are results I wouldn't bet on given 10 to 1 odds.
edit: On second thought at 10:1 I might bet on MajOr beating Stats. It's pretty close. I wouldn't take anything shorter though.
Dark vs Kelazhur and True vs Inno are by far the most onesided opening matches. The (arguably) two weakest players at Blizzcon against the (arguably) two strongest. Barring a complete meltdown from the Koreans, they will take it effortlessly.
MajOr at least has some semblance of a chance against Stats, albeit not a great one.
The Blizzcon groups as a whole aren't very good for the foreigners. I would guess one (Serral or Neeb) makes it to the Ro8, two at most, and wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be zero.
On October 17 2017 04:30 Kafka777 wrote: I think that the skill difference between these 16 players is marginal right now, at least much smaller than many people believe. Each player can take down any other player. Innovation perhaps stands out a bit. Its all down to form on a given day and bracket luck.
I disagree. Even within the WCS circuit the difference between Neeb and Kelazhur or Neeb and TRUE feels absolutely massive. While there are other factors that come into play such as races, some players just look hopelessly outclassed. Of the opening matches MajOr beating Stats, Kelazhur beating Dark, or TRUE beating INno are results I wouldn't bet on given 10 to 1 odds.
edit: On second thought at 10:1 I might bet on MajOr beating Stats. It's pretty close. I wouldn't take anything shorter though.
I'd bet on MajOr > Stats at 5:1 comfortably. He took him to five games at GSL vs the World, and it's only a Bo3. Upsets will come a lot easier than you might expect, ie. ShoWTimE > ByuN or Solar collapsing
Fair enough. Both MajOr and Stats have been looking worse since then which also which adds some uncertainty. Ignoring specific numbers though I still wouldn't call skill differences between the top 16 players marginal.
On October 17 2017 05:54 scoo2r wrote: Age is a key factor, looking at overall esports earnings a player is in their prime between 19-22 years old which predicts good runs for players like Elazer and Neeb.
On October 17 2017 05:54 scoo2r wrote: Age is a key factor, looking at overall esports earnings a player is in their prime between 19-22 years old which predicts good runs for players like Elazer and Neeb.
I always wonder why people never bring that up
Most players peak in skill when around that age, and it's because they are most skilled that they earn more. So people don't discuss the age of the players as much since their age is subsumed by discussing their skill.
On October 17 2017 05:54 scoo2r wrote: Age is a key factor, looking at overall esports earnings a player is in their prime between 19-22 years old which predicts good runs for players like Elazer and Neeb.
I always wonder why people never bring that up
Most players peak in skill when around that age, and it's because they are most skilled that they earn more. So people don't discuss the age of the players as much since their age is subsumed by discussing their skill.
I guess so.
In most sports age is discussed regularly so I thought it was weird
On October 17 2017 05:54 scoo2r wrote: Age is a key factor, looking at overall esports earnings a player is in their prime between 19-22 years old which predicts good runs for players like Elazer and Neeb.
I always wonder why people never bring that up
Most players peak in skill when around that age, and it's because they are most skilled that they earn more. So people don't discuss the age of the players as much since their age is subsumed by discussing their skill.
I guess so.
In most sports age is discussed regularly so I thought it was weird
I wouldn't be surprised if it got to that point eventually assuming that a single eSport exists for long enough in a stable form for several generations of players exist.
On October 17 2017 01:16 Fango wrote: I don't see a reason to put Elazer as the second highest foreigner tbh, I feel like his acheiments (although great) have been carried by ZvZ. Wouldn't give him a good chance against the terrans and protoss at blizzcon, not compared Snute and Serral at least
I felt the same way until I read the article. I think the article makes a good argument for why Elazer is second best foreigner.
On October 17 2017 01:50 IArako wrote: Gumiho, SoO, TY, herO will be below Neeb
herO just made it to the finals of an offline Korean tournament and lost 4-3 to the best ZvP player in the world. In terms of current form, that's more impressive than winning a WCS Circuit event.
On October 17 2017 01:16 Fango wrote: I don't see a reason to put Elazer as the second highest foreigner tbh, I feel like his acheiments (although great) have been carried by ZvZ. Wouldn't give him a good chance against the terrans and protoss at blizzcon, not compared Snute and Serral at least
I felt the same way until I read the article. I think the article makes a good argument for why Elazer is second best foreigner.
The article is good at building hype and stories sure. But it terms of the actual games he's been showing, I can't put him higher than Snute or Serral (except maybe in ZvZs against eachother, but even then it's close)
On October 17 2017 01:16 Fango wrote: I don't see a reason to put Elazer as the second highest foreigner tbh, I feel like his acheiments (although great) have been carried by ZvZ. Wouldn't give him a good chance against the terrans and protoss at blizzcon, not compared Snute and Serral at least
I felt the same way until I read the article. I think the article makes a good argument for why Elazer is second best foreigner.
The article is good at building hype and stories sure. But it terms of the actual games he's been showing, I can't put him higher than Snute or Serral (except maybe in ZvZs against eachother, but even then it's close)
I would say Elazer has some of the best ZvP in the foreign scene and probably better than Snute's or Serral's (Serral is more of a tossup but he did say he's been struggling in the matchup during his time in Korea). Stats kept getting destroyed by Elazer on his stream (and then lost a series to him in a tournament the next day), and in general Elazer has always expressed confidence in that matchup. Ofc, these are just ladder games and online tournaments but I don't think it's a big stretch to say Elazer has the best ZvP outside of Korea, and his ZvZ is very much up there too.
Elazer's ZvT has always been super shaky and his recent wins (and loss) against Gumiho were fun to watch but ultimately not too convincing. Both Snute and Serral probably have his number in that regard. Personally I would probably put Serral ahead of Elazer, but I think Elazer's rank over Snute is fair.
On October 17 2017 01:16 Fango wrote: I don't see a reason to put Elazer as the second highest foreigner tbh, I feel like his acheiments (although great) have been carried by ZvZ. Wouldn't give him a good chance against the terrans and protoss at blizzcon, not compared Snute and Serral at least
I felt the same way until I read the article. I think the article makes a good argument for why Elazer is second best foreigner.
The article is good at building hype and stories sure. But it terms of the actual games he's been showing, I can't put him higher than Snute or Serral (except maybe in ZvZs against eachother, but even then it's close)
I would say Elazer has some of the best ZvP in the foreign scene and probably better than Snute's or Serral's
Rather mild statement, considering that Snute can't ZvP fot his life.
On October 17 2017 01:16 Fango wrote: I don't see a reason to put Elazer as the second highest foreigner tbh, I feel like his acheiments (although great) have been carried by ZvZ. Wouldn't give him a good chance against the terrans and protoss at blizzcon, not compared Snute and Serral at least
I felt the same way until I read the article. I think the article makes a good argument for why Elazer is second best foreigner.
The article is good at building hype and stories sure. But it terms of the actual games he's been showing, I can't put him higher than Snute or Serral (except maybe in ZvZs against eachother, but even then it's close)
I would say Elazer has some of the best ZvP in the foreign scene and probably better than Snute's or Serral's
Rather mild statement, considering that Snute can't ZvP fot his life.
lol very mild statement but maybe it magically got better while in Korea so i thought id give him some chance