SPL XVI Pre-Tournament Series: Best Records per Tier

By teal6. Released:2024/12/01

Introduction

In this article, we are going to look back over the history of SPL and try and determine who the best players are for each of the represented tiers. While this list is, of course, subjective, all nine players discussed are true titans of their respective metagames and deserve recognition.

Honorable Mentions

While we consider the nine players below to be the best representatives of their tiers, the decisions weren't unanimous, and several other players remained in close contention. Competing in DPP was roscoe with a 23-11 record, but ultimately he lost out due to his 1-3 record in playoffs. Santu contended in ORAS OU with an impressive 31-17, but the people deciding valued our pick's teambuilding capabilities more. SM OU was the most contested tier, where the playoff performance of our pick (4-1) ended up edging out Skypenguin (22-8, 2-2) and Welli0u (28-15, 3-2). All of these players are close, and after the conclusion of SPL XVI, some of these picks have the potential to be dramatically revised.

SV OU: hellom 10-1

While hellom's raw numbers in SV OU are still waiting to be bolstered, his win percentage is simply absurd, sporting the highest on this list with a 91% success rate. Having set SmogTours alight during his first run in the site's most prestigious tournament, hellom will be looking to continue his conquering run in SPL XVI, showing the world that it wasn't luck or chance that defined last season's wins.

With his only loss coming in a semi-final tiebreaker against Trosko, hellom will definitely be eyeing up a trophy to go with the record this season. With SV OU being volatile, fast-paced, and quick to punish players that haven't kept up, the challenge will be a big one as hellom aims to get a bit further.

SS OU: Gtcha 18-6

A veteran of three SPLs, Gtcha started his conquering run in SS OU in 2022 in earnest as a member of the Raiders, sporting a 10-1 record before following that up with an 8-3 record for the same team. Gtcha actually began his SPL XIII campaign on the bench, missing the first two weeks of the tournament before being thrown in during week three, where he hit the ground running. Costing the Raiders a measly 3.5K, Gtcha faced down numerous strong opponents like dice, Suapah, Luthier, and bro fist—the last of whom came in the form of a finals tiebreaker, which Gtcha won, helping seal the SPL XIII title.

SPL XIV came with higher expectations and a higher price tag, but Gtcha still rose to the occasion. With a price of 10.5K, the Raiders put the LA superstar against another gauntlet of power players, watching as he took the scalps of SoulWind, Luigi, and xavgb before winning another Finals tiebreaker, this time against another strong player, mind gaming. Gtcha's performances helped seal two successive SPL titles, and, when combined with his incredible raw number of wins, he deserves to stand as SS's representative.

SM OU: Empo 22-9

Is there that much that needs to be said about Empo in SM? Widely considered the best SM player of all time, Empo has spent his SPL career almost entirely with the Ruiners before a 2023 switch to the BIGs. While Empo left his first two SPLs with tepid records, he did manage to take home the trophy in 2019's SPL X. This performance was capped by a crucial victory over Blunder, a player vying for his own SM title.

While Empo's performance would jump significantly in 2020 during SPL XI, he spent most of that tournament playing SS OU, save for a crucial finals tiebreaker victory over bruno back in SM OU, his home turf. Empo would return to SM OU during SPL XII, where he'd complete a 6-2 record before taking a hiatus from playing for a year. He returned in SPL XIV, where the BIGs would break his lifelong commitment to the Ruiners, picking up the Italian maestro for a prodigious 36.5K in the auction. Empo, though, is no stranger to pressure, and he'd repay the faith with a generational run entirely in SM OU, picking up 8 wins and 1 loss and defeating a laundry list of powerful players including Ojama, Skypenguin, and Gondra. While the BIGs wouldn't have a tournament to remember, Empo's run gives him the best SM OU record for our list, a fitting title for one of the generation's premier players.

ORAS OU: xray 37-22

It might not be a huge surprise that Mr. ORAS OU makes his way onto this list as one of the tier's most iconic players. xray's 62% win rate over 59 games is elite, and importantly, he's responsible for a huge amount of the legwork himself as a player not unfamiliar with the lab.

xray's SPL is a bit mercurial, having played for all of the BIGs, Sharks, Raiders, Falcons, and Scooters in ORAS at one point or another. Additionally, it's important to note that xray's run in the tier encompasses both current generation OU and old generation OU—the man's been here since the beginning. With a number of reasonable seasons in his history, xray's best was likely 2019's run with the BIGs, where xray claimed a 7-2 record, taking out players like Obii, Santu, Trosko, and Poek along the way. The German's fascination with the generation has held strong for years, and, after a break from playing in 2023, his return last year shows that he's still happy to teach the rest of the pool a lesson. One black mark on xray's record remains his playoff performance, an underwhelming 0-2, which he'll aim to turn around if given the chance in the coming season.

BW OU: SoulWind 62-40

Unquestionably one of the best players of all time, it really should come as no surprise that SoulWind makes an appearance on this list, especially as he's the player with the most wins in SPL in history. Perhaps the quintessential SPL veteran, SoulWind's career has seen him play for more than half the available teams, making appearances for the Tyrants, Sharks, Classiest, Raiders, Wolfpack, Cryonicles, and Ruiners across a consecutive thirteen-year appearance streak in the tournament, which started in 2012.

The Spaniard has won the tournament three times in three different eras. While his record was not much to write home about in SPL V, the SPL IX Wolfpack would have a different experience as he went 9-4 for 23K, with wins over McMeghan and elodin in the regular season being cap-stoned by an important semifinal tiebreaker victory over We Three Kings. Having taken home his second SPL trophy in his home tier, SoulWind would repeat the effort in SPL XV, taking home the trophy mainly playing BW OU. As one of the most consistent, creative, and clutch players on the site, BW OU and SoulWind seem like a match made in heaven. While it's not guaranteed he'll play the tier year after year, for now the all-time great has the best BW OU record amongst all of his peers.

DPP OU: Tamahome 35-26

The player with the third most wins in SPL history, Tamahome, represents a little bit of a departure from most of the other names on this list in the sense that he has jumped between tiers more commonly, although DPP OU does remain his most visited. Having made 12 successive appearances in SPL between 2011 and 2022, Tamahome was an expensive fixture for many of those years. Tamahome has only won the tournament once during SPL IV when he was still DracoMalfoy, an unfortunate username in a fortunate season where he switched regularly between DPP and ADV OU. Through his many games, Tamahome has amassed an impressive 6-2 record in the tier in playoffs, showing that his performances are agnostic to the moment and that he's able to win no matter the circumstances.

It's SPL VIII that provides Tamahome's best season, though, as he helped lead the Tigers to the finals. Having played almost entirely in DPP, Tamahome's 9-2 record bolstered the team, but they'd unfortunately ultimately have the trophy stripped due to the Mazar cheating scandal. Having seemed to back away from SPL after a disastrous 2022, Tamahome seems less likely to return to the battlefield in the future, but for now, his voluminous experience and penchant for winning give him a spot in this rank.

ADV OU: ]V[ajinTupacZ 19-5

A name which will be less familiar to many reading this list, ]V[ajinTupacZ's absurd 19-5 record gives him a 79% win rate, which is one of the best among this group. While ]V[ajinTupacZ remains without the vaunted SPL trophy, his performances left a mark on the teams he played for, having shifted between the Tigers, Scooters, and Cryonicles in his first three SPLs.

Having a 3-0 playoff record, ]V[ajinTupacZ was clearly a player trusted in the biggest moments. The names he's faced over the course of this record are huge, too, with players like husk and Gouki being some of the opponents he had to take down for this record. ]V[ajinTupacZ came close to winning another SPL title during SPL V when he was traded to the Cryonicles midseason, but the team ultimately fell short in the finals despite his wins over Golden Sun and make. While it's exceedingly unlikely that ]V[ajinTupacZ retakes the field at this point, ADV OU remains such a challenging tier that matching this record might be difficult for the aspirational players.

GSC OU: Fear 46-21

GSC OU legend Fear has spent his entire SPL career in his home tier, making appearances for the Classiest, Tigers, Scooters, and Sharks after kicking off his SPL tenure with a barnstorming three-year campaign on the Wolfpack. With a 20-6 record in the tier during his time with the Wolfpack, Fear managed to help bring home the trophy in 2018's SPL IX, capping a ludicrous 9-1 run with two victories in the playoffs.

Fear's career has been spent almost exclusively playing good players, with his insane 67% win rate existing because of his wins against names like Mr E, choolio, Earthworm, Sulcata, giara, IFM... the list goes on and on. A player marked by his consistency, Fear's post-Wolfpack career also has numerous strong seasons like his 6-2 in 2020 or his 7-2 in 2024. Having played every single SPL in the same tier since 2017 uninterrupted, fans will want to see Fear work his magic again in the coming SPL, maybe adding another trophy as would be befitting a player of this caliber.

RBY OU: Heroic Troller 49-18

Honestly, who else did you think was going to be here? Troller's consistency in RBY during SPL is absurd, sporting a nearly 75% win rate over seven years and 67 games. Making his first appearance with the Classiest in 2018's SPL IX, Troller would find his feet in his second SPL, where he ran an 8-3 season for the Tyrants. The Tyrants management, clearly impressed with the Italian, brought him back for a 7-3 season the year after, before losing Troller to the wilderness for three iterations where he put up extremely strong records for the Ruiners and Sharks.

Realizing the mistake of letting him go, the Tyrants brought the RBY legend back in last year's SPL XV. That decision would be repaid with a 9-3 record, including vital playoff victories in both the semifinals and the finals while also winning in the semifinal tiebreaker. Troller, as a player, appears to understand something that the rest of the RBY playing world doesn't—his consistent play, deep understanding of the metagame, and penchant for exploiting opponents' psychology make it such that Troller is our RBY representative with the best record. Bluntly, do not expect this to change any time soon.

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