Written by: Alice
At the top of the mountain is ggopw, unarguably the greatest 1v1 player of all time. Despite not liking SS as much as SM, the Serb still managed to win a seasonal without dropping a set (again) and is currently in Losers Finals of LT. It should surprise no one that the East Europe captain is the favorite to crush this stacked slot. In a tied second place we find DenisTheMenace and Waylaid. With XSC in the Bo7 slot, the Italian stallion Denis is free to try his hand at the Bo5 slot, where he will without a doubt pose a challenge for anyone. After already being a great SM player, Denis has really established himself as one of the strongest threats in SS, recently placing 4th in the spring seasonal and going 5-2 in PL. The Barraskewda/West Manager and Two-Time PL champion Waylaid will be starting for his first time this World Cup. He’s far from a team tour rookie though, as his sheet record currently sports 9 wins over 12 games. After winning the SS 1v1 Startup Tournament Waylaid has been pretty much at the top of the SS meta since, and he’s looking to continue his dominance here.
In fourth is another WC newcomer in zioziotrip. The Morpeko tiebreak player had a huge breakout in his first team tournament earlier this year, and will be looking to carry Central’s SS to greatness in his second ever big stage performance. Rounding out the top 5 is South Europe’s last SS player, Close. Despite being the 3d player in SEU’s SS core, Close is no slouch. After playing SM in PL, Close made it to a respectable 5th place finish in LT to prove that he is ready for SS. Not having gone negative since an 0-1 in his first PL, Close is looking to continue that streak in this WC. In 6th is Alice (hi). The NWEU captain is a controversial figure, but has shown to be able to compete with the best over the course of 2 previous WC wins, and has racked up some nice SS wins in PL and the spring seasonal. Motivated as ever to lead her team to victory, Alice will be on the hunt to improve her 7-8 sheet record back to positive once again. CONE player Potatochan finds himself in the 7th rank position. Another newer player who broke out this year only, 2020 join date Potatochan is looking to make it big after only just starting out. A 3-3 performance in PL is nothing to scoff at, and hopes are high for the rookie to improve upon that performance this time around.
Finishing off the top half of the SS Bo5 rankings is Downcoming3. This veteran returned from a longtime hiatus this PL and has adapted to SS quite nicely, making playoffs of LT. During her prime Dc3 managed to make it to Grand Finals of the first LT, so if we can see a full return to form there she will without a doubt put up a top record. Yet another rookie in JustUhhDude finds himself in 9th place. Dude is another newer player, and is actually the only person so far to have his first team tour this World Cup. Making it to Winners Finals in LT shows a lot of promise, but it’s up to Dude to prove that he has what it takes to win on the big stage now.
Continuing the trend of rookies trying to break out is smely socks in 10th. Unlike Dude, he did make an appearance in the last PL, but he only saw the field once, in a game he lost. The hopeful 3d central SS will be working hard to prove himself, and change that winless record.
The 3d CONE SS and 11th rank, Bopher, is, just like Dude, making his first major team tour appearance here. Expected by many to defy this low ranking, the crafty Australian will be looking to show what tricks he has up his sleeve in what might just be his breakout tour. Finishing off US East’s SS is the One-Mon-Army wonder LuckyPiper. Starting out in 1v1 during SS, the 12 rank quickly rose to fame for racking up some impressive wins while only using one mon on each team. After a positive PL, Piper is back to add some more wins to his repertoire - especially vs. those whose profile pictures he deems inadequate.
After the last significant dropoff in rankings we find Wanony in 13th. The Belgian will be making his debut in SS this season, but has racked up a numerous amount of BW wins over his respectable career, alongside a PL and two previous WC wins. Despite not having played SS in team tournaments so far, Wanony did show a lot of promise in the recent Post DLC No Johns tournament, where he made it to the semifinals. Tied with Wanony is beloved and hyped rookie eblurb, who after an impressive seeded tour run finds himself in the last EEU SS slot. Despite having no prior team tournament experience, the environment is quite good for eblurb to break out here. With neomon and ggopw as his managers and co-SS players, the stars seemingly align for him here. The Asian SSBo5 core is the only one to place adjacently to each other, but unfortunately does so in 15th and 16th place. philisteen, just like eblurb, had a respectable seeded performance, but has no prior team tournament experience. All eyes are on DEG to see how well he prepared his mentee for the big stage. Finishing off the SSBo5 rankings is frostyicelad. Repping a disappointing 1-6 sheet record, frosty will be looking to have his first positive performance this World Cup, and to defy his ranking to prove that he does have what it takes.