The KeSPA ranking is definitely one of the most important tools when determining which players are doing well and which should spend more time training. Overall, this month’s ranking was pretty silent, with no major ups and downs; this obviously doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, so let’s take a look at the best 30 Korean players in July’s KeSPA ranking:

July KeSPA rankings: 1 - 10
Rank	Name	Team	Pts.	Var.
1.	Flash	KTF MagicNs	2349.8	+1
2.	JaeDonG	Lecaf OZ	2097	-1
3.	Luxury	OnGameNet Sparkyz	1668	+4
4.	Stork	Samsung KHAN	1619	-1
5.	Bisu	SK Telecom T1	1554	-1
6.	Mind	WeMade FOX	1551.8	-1
7.	Sea	MBCGame HERO	1412.3	+3
8.	KaL	STX SouL	1407.4	-2
9.	Much	CJ Entus	1373.6	+3
10.	BeSt	SK Telecom T1	1316.6	+8

Flash is now KTF's most prized possession

The Prodigy Terran also known as Flash is now the best Korean player according to KeSPA; he has been on a killing spree for far too long to see him #2 anymore, so his fans can now drink in his honor. Name a player and he defeated him, he’s that good: MSL, OSL, PL, you name it, he’s there. There’s really no need to say that he’s virtually indestructible, with no particular weak matchups, which is why he’s #1 in the first place. How long will he hold on? Let’s not think about this just when he secured this spot.

Down to #2, but for how long, JaeDonG?

Ranked 2nd is Lecaf OZ’s JaeDonG, with a solid month, but not as solid as we would have expected from him. Sure, he managed to improve his ZvP in such a way that we start doubting which his best matchup is, but he still had some slipups. Sure, he’s not in the OSL (god damn BackHo!), but he still has the Arena MSL and the ProLeague to worry about; as a matter of fact, his progress in the MSL is impressive, to say the least. However, he still deserves this #2 spot, and he needs to work more to get back to that first place.

Luxury's definitely living large these days

The third player according to KeSPA is none other than OGN’s shadow twin, Luxury. For too long he’s been hiding in the shadow of Yellow[ArnC], and it was about time to see him getting rewarded with a higher rank. Known for his incredible ZvZ, great ZvT and above-average ZvP, Luxury improved his play time and time again, with one win after another and the last two times he met Flash he won. Needless to say this is something worthy of mentioning any time of the day.

Much is in the shape of his life

Much has been on the best streak of his life recently, with results that definitely surprised him as well. With a decent amount of wins in the MSL and OSL, he finally entered top 10. He’s not in the OSL anymore but he definitely did a great job so far and he now has MSL to focus on, not to mention his ProLeague duties. I don’t think anyone sees him as MSL winner but it would be interesting to see how far he can go.

BeSt in top 10? Who would have thought?

The other fresh top 10 member is SK Telecom T1’s young executor BeSt, the one who eliminated Much in the OSL. If we look at his recent results, especially the ones from the PvP matchup, there’s really no shame in losing to this guy, since his win ratio here is more than 80%! Oh, and guess what? He’s on a rampage with his other 2 matchups too! Protoss players fear him the most, true, but he’s far too dangerous overall, with Luxury being his most recent victim. Watch out for this one, because he’s definitely shooting (and aiming) high.

July KeSPA rankings: 11 - 20
Rank	Name	Team	Pts.	Var.
11.	JangBi	Samsung KHAN	1262.3	+5
12.	HwaSIn	STX SouL	1181.3	+2
13.	NaDa	WeMade FOX	1178	-3
14.	July	STX SouL	1160.3	+6
15.	free	HanBit Stars	1152.1	n/a
16.	Light	MBCGame HERO	1011.8	-3
17.	Anytime	Lecaf OZ	993.3	-8
18.	sAviOr	CJ Entus	973.5	-7
19.	Rock	WeMade FOX	972.8	+4
20.	BackHo (New!)	Lecaf OZ	970.5	+16

Is JangBi the new pack leader?

Samsung KHAN’s newest Protoss Commander is JangBi, no doubt about it. Stork is doing well, don’t get me wrong, but he’s not doing as good as JangBi, and we have many Protoss and Terran players to back that up. But BackHo is the one who kicked him from the OSL just recently… a Protoss player, how ironic. Nevertheless, he has shown results that definitely make Stork proud (in case Stork is not jealous), and if he keeps it up, we should see him in top 10 as soon as next month.

July, the mighty God of War, is back

July aka The God of War is alive, ladies and gentlemen! Well, he’s not as strong as he was back in the days, but he truly is a presence nowadays, ever since he moved from SK Telecom T1 to STX SouL. Check out his OSL progress, because he’s giving away slices of ownage like there’s no tomorrow; I would recommend you his latest series against Rock, but the games are pretty painful to watch and you would definitely feel pity for this poor Protoss victim. +6 spots all the way to #14 is too little for this Zerg and we might actually live to see him get that elusive Golden Mouse. Good to have you back, July!

BackHo, a young revelation

BackHo entered top 20 this month. Let me rephrase that: BackHo entered KeSPA’s ranking this month, with a whooping +16. Apart from being the one who denied JaeDonG’s shot at the OSL, we wouldn’t actually remember him for anything else, would we? Basically yes, since that’s the most important player that he managed to bring down, but we shouldn’t forget he’s still in the OSL, he’s doing a pretty good job in the ProLeague and his recent victims include names such as Bisu or BoxeR. I guess this is the biggest mistakes his opponents did so far: they underestimated him. Silly Koreans, don’t you know that there’s no such thing as “underdog” in the StarCraft leagues?

July KeSPA rankings: 21 - 30
Rank	Name	Team	Pts.	Var.
21.	fOrGG	Lecaf OZ	928.5	+1
22.	Yellow[ArnC]	OnGameNet Sparkyz	900.8	+4
23.	Kwanro	CJ Entus	816.8	-4
24.	Firebathero	Samsung KHAN	810.8	n/a
25.	Rumble	SK Telecom T1	767.3	+2
26.	UpMagiC	eSTRO	756.4	-9
27.	GGplay	CJ Entus	712.1	-2
28.	Lomo (New!)	Lecaf OZ	696.4	+9
29.	XellOs	CJ Entus	668.3	-8
30.	Canata	SK Telecom T1	628.5	-1

The last part of the ranking basically includes good players gone bad, otherwise we wouldn’t see the likes of Firebathero, GGplay or XellOs here, right? There’s not much to say here: Yellow[ArnC] is slowly (but surely?) getting back in shape, Kwanro is starting to disappoint, UpMagic has a 9 spot drop this month (unlike XellOs, who is down only by 8 places).

Lomo may be the next Terran symbol

Maybe the most interesting mentions is Lomo from Lecaf OZ who just entered top 30 after some pretty good games. He still is in the MSL, going up against Flash soon, and while not many people believe he can defeat him, he definitely stands a pretty good chance. You can’t just cruise in the MSL and claim to be lucky, just like you can’t say his ProLeague wins were easy.

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