Defining the best is a very hard thing to do. I've tried in the past, and frankly, I have found no objective way that accurately ranks the players, and subjective rankings honestly don't mean anything.

However, I believe we can mention some of the best, with the understanding that I likely left out some players who are on these guys' level. Also, it is hard for anyone not already a very strong player to accurately rank the best. You don't necessarily have to be better than someone to rank them accurately, but you need to be in the general vicinity of their skill level.

So my best past players include the players who I believe have made the biggest impact on warlight, in terms of strategy. This is not a comprehensive list, but is a shout out to some of the best in past eras:

The Impaller: The dominant player of the early ladder era, The Impaller has a picking style named after him, despite being gone from the ladder for years.

Dead piggy: In my opinion, Dead piggy understood Strategic 1v1 better than anyone else ever has. He really tried to help new players get better at the game also, and loved discussing strategy with other great players.

Szeweningen: Szeweningen seems to lower his mistake count below what any other player has ever done. What is often overlooked is Szeweningen's ability to adjust and create new styles.

Qi: Qi is a very dynamic player; his games were some of the most interesting on the ladder, and he has done a lot to bring the best players together, and to help new players improve.

Gnuffone: Gnuffone seems to be the first wildly successful counter picker. While I doubt he actually started counter picking, he definitely made it an effective strategy.

Zaeban: Combo picking was around before Zaeban, but he used it more efficiently than past players, really popularizing the idea of getting 11 or 12 income after 2 turns.


For the best current players, I will just list four that I know play at the top level on most templates. I don't necessarily believe they are the best four, but they play at a very high level, and 100% deserve a mention as being among the best currently:

Szeweningen, master of desaster, Master of the Dead, Timinator


For up and coming players, it is tricky to determine who qualifies as an up and coming player. I will only mention players who have not already made a solid claim as being among the "best"(rules out buns and QB, and possibly others):

Nackinwind, ZeroBlindDragon, Hades, USA Biches, Jz

Best right now:

- Timinator
- master of desaster

Best upcoming:

- Buns157
- Tony Sodano

@Forbidden Knowledge...

Not really, because in Warlight you can win different things, such as points, recognition, fun... in the case of investors, they just want money whoever the portfolio.

Just look at points, or coin leaderboard, not always the same names. What I want to say is that "the best player" is one who is the "best" in almost every scenario. Not every #1 1v1 is a wonderful Roleplayer and so on...

Not really, because in science you can win different things, such as papers, Nobels, experiments... in the case of investors, they just want money whoever the portfolio.

Just look at citations, or the publications in Nature, not always the same names. What I want to say is that "the best scientist" is one who is the "best" in almost every field. Not every top physicist is a wonderful creation scientist and so on...

i agree with bane i meant the msf mod

Qi and dead pigy and strategos are same person.

Qi and dead pigy and strategos are same person.

This hasn't always been the case.

I can confirm that Yves is not Gui.

I'd like to see that, especially with Yves having a taiwanese flag :)

regardless of how great they may be,sze and yves are overrated in rt ladder
they don't play consistently,their standard deviation is not low,and they haven't played in quite some time

Edited 2/9/2016 14:56:08

everyone would drop under 2200 if he joins the rt ladder now. Ratings are lower than they used to be (matter of activity?) when the rt ladder was released

and thanks everyone. for me, dead piggy was the hero.
Newcomers: open turtle clan page, jz, sephiroth (not new accountwise, but active for like one year i think)

Edited 2/9/2016 15:15:28

Awesome thanks guys i hope to get as good one day