#2 Tt.PiG
It's hard to pick a clear second place. All year long have we seen PiG and Mafia trading blows. Right now, we give the edge to PiG. 2012 truly has been the year of the Notorious PiG. With a strong third place at ACL Goldcoast and ACL Sydney, winning ACL Melbourne, winning WCS Australia, doing admirably beating VoriX at IEM Singapore in a very tough group, we find PiG slotting into second place. If PiG continues full time, and shows similar levels of dedication, we await with baited breath to see just how scary he can become in 2013.
#9 Iaguz
It feels almost strange listing Iaguz at 9. In 2011 he was arguably second to Moonglade, has always been a competitive force in every single tournament he has entered. The only trouble is, he simply doesn't have a major win. Each time, he has crushed face only to find himself slightly unlucky and come 2nd or 3rd. With big expectations and even bigger potential, we sit Iaguz at 9th. When asked about his year, Iaguz dropped the following inspirational words. "My results were shit and I'm depressed".
#3 iM.Mafia
Mafia, similar to Pig, began steam rolling the SEA scene in the middle of the year, and has not let up since. Runner up of ACL Melbourne, 2nd place WCS Oceania, solid performance in the group statge of IEM Singapore, felling some no name player called Luicfron to get there, hitting 1st place in the Korean GrandMaster league, and winning various online tournaments and cups, Mafia has had a year he should be proud of, and we're positive that 2013 will be no different.
#5 iM.Light
SEA's greatest non-zerg hope. Light, similar to his team mate Tgun, is consistently a top performer in tournaments and LAN events, but yet to take a major win. We could humour you with tales /of his terrifying 2 base all-ins, but words can only convey so much. And then there's his macro play. With the weight of the non-zergs on his shoulders, Light inspires the scene, helping them to see The 'Light'(sigh) by trying to help them with builds and tactics. 2012 has been a solid year for Light, and with cries of "Protoss imba!" in HOTS, 2013 might have a few Rays of sunshine.
#1 Nv.mOOnGLaDe
In perhaps a not so shocking fashion, mOOnGLaDe has once again found himself the top performing player of 2012. With 3 ACL victories (Gold Coast, Sydney and EB EXPO), runner up WCS Australia, victor of WCS Oceania, and impressive displays in group and bracket stages at various MLG's and IEM's, Dreamhack remains the only tournament yet to feel the wrath of Moonglades mop. A big congratulations to Mr.Pender on his fantastic year of 2012, and good luck in the future. The fate of SEA rests in your luscious locks.
#4 iM.tgun
Tgun has always been a top performer on the LAN scene. Online his performances are not to be scoffed at either, taking down the ASUS Pro-AM in stunning style, and other online tournaments like the Masters cup and WT Weeklies. Perhaps one of Tguns' best attributes however, is his style and emotions the man displays whilst playing the game. Using ling-centric builds and wearing his heart on his ripped sleeve from his massive (t)Guns, Tgun definitely entertains and displays a unique sense of style like no-one else in the scene, and with practice and dedication perhaps 2013 will be the year of the Tgun.
#10 Nv.jazbas
Jazbas may be 2012's quiet achiever. He won WCS New Zealand and placed decently at WCS Oceania. He made it out of groups at ACL Sydney, and most recently he seems to have Petraeus' number in New Zealand. Perhaps the only reason he is not much higher in this list is because other than those 3-4 tournament, we haven't really seen him. Staying hidden and reslishing in his love of music and not Starcraft, has made seen Jazbas slipping under many people's radars. With recent tournament results in IEM Poland qualifiers where he took 5th/6th, and defeating Petraeus at New Zealands Barcraft tournament, whilst seemingly with little practice, it only begs to ask "WHY YOU NO PLAY AND PRACTICE MORE?"
#8 fray'Petraeus
This young gun has quite literally come out of no-where to finish in the top 10 of 2012. Residing in New Zealand, constantly living in the wrath, control, and shadow that is Jazbas, Petraeus has had a monster of a last 3-4 months on the scene. Exploding onto the scene with a 3rd place at Asia e-Sports Cup, then coming home and placing 3rd at ACL EB-Expo, winning himself a ticket to ESCW in France, his first and second international appearances didn't dissapoint. Taking down freizy, before losing in a nail biter to WW.Sortof 2-1, he departed from France proud to have shown the world what New Zealand can do. Since then, he's systematically destroying every online tournament and qualifer bracket he enters, often placing in the 1st-3rd Region. With school and a future being his only worry, 2013 will be exciting for our young New Zealander.
#7 Nv.Rossi
For foreign terrans, 2012 has typically been a tough year, and perhaps even tougher if you live in SEA. nV.Rossi, however, has shown courage in the face of adversity. Improving his TvZ dramatically and TvT similarly thanks to his team mates Moonglade and Deth, Rossi has definitely been a fierce competitor this year. With a great start to the year, finishing second behind Moonglade, at ACL Gold Coast and winning online tournaments, 2012 looked bright for Rossi. Alas, his year did not come to fruition. Racial problems and other commitments saw him falling off slightly midway through the year, before coming back strong towards the end. Had he shown his best results and capabilities all year long, he very easily could have been higher up the ladder, but for now, he places a respectable 7th.
#6 fray'Ninja
2012 has been good to Ninja. In the past twelve months, he's established himself as a respected zerg member of the community (Well, as respected as zergs get these days). Ninja is a top contender in any tournament, at any time. Unfortunately he hasn't quite yet been able to clinch a big win. The highlight of his year was making it through the group stages at IEM Singapore, the only SEAtizen to do so, where he ultimately fell 3-0 to Vortix. Not one to beat himself up after a loss, he simply turned around, calm as a cucumber, and spouts these momentus words "I'm just not good enough", before proceeding to continue practicing. That's commitment. And that's why we'll have our eye on him in 2013.
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