In no particular order
1)
Stats, many very strong tournament finishes to his name, spent some time this year carrying the Protoss race by himself,
extreme consistency
2)
INnoVation, considered by many to be the best player at this time once more, however his 2016 was very bad because by his own admission, he played more LoL than StarCraft 2
3)
ByuN, returned from the depths of KeSPA jail to become one of the most iconic figures in our scene, has a sweet puppy
4)
Dark, undeniably the most important Zerg for the first year of LotV, shaping the Zerg meta in Korea
5)
soO, his 2015 and 2016 weren't that good (
sweet article), but he's a big deal once more in 2017
6)
TY, very consistent as a top Terran throughout LotV, the expansion has been the most successful time of his entire career as a progamer
7)
Zest, an invincible juggernaut for a long time in 2016, he recently hit a deep slump, he's recovering well but it may just be too late to make an impact for 2017
8)
Rogue, just recently hit the peak of his career, his 2016 was nothing special but he's a serious threat from now on
9)
Solar, while Dark was #1 in 2016 for the Zerg race, Solar was #2, he is wildly inconsistent at times but can always be a threat
10)
Classic, he's had some troubles with his consistency but he's always a force to be reckoned with
11)
Dear, he was a great player in 2016, and while he dropped off for a while this year, he's currently looking back in strong form
12)
GuMiho, hit the best form of his career in 2017
13)
herO, always a threat, one of the more consistent players of LotV but without finding many outstanding moments of success
14)
aLive, practically found a complete renaissance in LotV
15)
Maru, I suppose he warrants a mention, even though his individual league accomplishments are somewhat meager in LotV, he was the standout player in the last season of Proleague