The Greatest FFA Players of All Time

[Lightweight]

Lightweight - My ultimate Rival!    Lightweight was absolutely a top tier Human and Orc player.  A fearsome player that was very well rounded in all aspects of FFA.   

I was mentally weak and impatient though  . If i had the patience from J33 i could have had more impact. Also you mentioned me three times Seksi, people may think we have a bromance going on  .

I can't really comment on everything so i picked my favorites to discuss;

Fly: Agreeing with you about original best player. He was very versatile and could play any race. Also his micro was on top. He is from the elder generation and clan lone legend.

Magadansky: One of the toughest opponents to ever play against. No real weakness as a player, everything beyond excellent. Only weakness was his race. After some time i realized if i tanked him in the early game, there is not much undead can do. Doesn't mean it always worked out for me. 

Htrt: Even PlzLeaveDuck feared him and he was afraid of nobody. Maybe not the most title wins, but probably the one who will be in most people's top3 list of best players.

Nline: Another unfinished one. Played a lot of FML-Finals and had a great overall understanding of the gametype. In his late years he lacked a little on micro, but who doesn't when we get older...

J33: In my imagination he was a Snorlax. Lazy, patient, afk ingame. Who would even want to attack him? He didn't hurt anyone. Overall nice guy, only remember one game where he got mad afterwards.

Yane: Recently i hear from people he wasn't as good and overrated. I join Seksi here, best micro from any ffa player, got teamed 3v1 in fml finals and in most of his games. Speaks for himself. 

Yaws: The best so called "solo pro-gamer" to adapt to the ffa gametype. Didn't lose interest because of the sometimes annoying ffa dynamics and stood up his man. Probz for that.

All the others, i didn't forget about you, but i don't want to make it a 3 page statement  .

Edit: For those wonder where the hell Hydro and Persuade are;
Hydro is playing south park on steam while Persuade is owning dota 2 momentarily.

[Wrecktify]

what is greatness?  well its one step down from godliness, which is me.  these 5 in no order are the only ones ive sweated in a decade of demolishing all who stand in my way *cue evil laughter*

1) persuade
2) lw
3) maga
4) maga (hes like 3-1 vs me in finals he gets listed twice ok?)
5) eshan

[FML|Mage]

I'd note that I think Persuade's biggest downfall was he lacked the killer instinct all the top players have, and always wanted to be too fair. If he realized someone was being overteamed, even if it was benefiting him, he'd switch back to teaming the correct person. Just the type of person he is, however never able to be one of the best because of that. Also he refused to not play random, and despite what he said he could dominate with Orc way more than anything else.

Duck when he wasn't being an ass and was taking the game seriously was a top player. That being said, I doubt he was able to string more than a couple of those games together (though he should have had a title if not for that disc.).

Pencil I think deserves a spot just for being such a legend back in the day, bit hard to know how he really compared.

Fury actually took FFA seriously for a while, and is probably the best solo player to ever take the time to learn the game. That being said, I was only vaguely paying attention back then so one of the more old school people would have to provide some more info. I know he played at least one full season though.

Yaws had the opportunity to become one of the best FFA players of all time I think, he played Human which is obviously imba, and knew how to capitalize on it. That being said, I had to constantly remind him to play his matches and he never practiced so he got taken off guard and lost to some silly things from time to time that most serious FFA players wouldn't (Audigy's necrowagon beating Yaws is still a top memory for me)

Renaud gets points for consistency in my eyes, and while he may not top the charts in terms of micro he has an uncanny ability to know what's going on at all times and has insane FFA sense from the 100 Million games he's played and observed.

Sk2Flash had the potential to be a top player I think, however never played long enough to maintain that. Still, great micro and grew to learn about FFA.

L77 is an honorable mention for building enough towers to almost break the game, and then rage quitting the season after winning never to be heard from again. Seriously, that's impressive as most people at least show up from time to time.

Rain and Starshaped I have mixed feelings on. Cross between Duck and Flash in that they both showed incredible promise when they were trying, however also dicked around and never took it too seriously. Still, Rain did end up with a championship somehow.

Htrt has to be on everyone's top 3 list, and if he played longer and more consistently I think would make everyone's list as the best player.

Maga & Wreck should always be paired together to me. Clearly the top two FFA players, and they switch position depending on any number of questions. All told, Wreck is still here and kicking so I think he gets #1 by default (that being said in both of their primes I have Maga by a hair)

LW is far and away one of the most erratic on and off players, however there's no doubting he's one of the top players when he's on. Everyone feared him (as well as feared if he would play the game rational or just take out folks because he could), and one of the most fun players to watch I think.

YZ and Dase come to mind together for me, similar time period, similar dominance, and similar getting teamed out time and time again during the period where we really really hated Orcs.

Darkness was a force to be reckoned with when he was around, and I think suffers from never taking a title and not being around to face a lot of the newer FML players who had better micro.

Seksi is tough to place, far and away the most consistent and dominant player in multi-game formats (so many FML and PlayFFA season titles or top finishes), but never managed to finish out an FML final with a win. Clearly a player who could win any match at any time though.

Worpex - We're on his site, we have to be nice to him!

That's everything that comes to mind instantly, though obviously I'm forgetting folks/not touching some that I think everyone has already covered a bunch. Nostalgia is the best.

P.S. Sup guys

[FML|WorpeX]

Interesting post and very good list as well!! I've been lucky enough to have watched and played with a lot of these players over the years. I have mixed opinions on many of them from complete agreement to otherwise.

Because i'm bored, ill do a little round up. If I were to make a HoF, it'd look something like this:

The FFA Legends:

These players DEFINED FFA. The guys that got us all into the scene and we all looked up to. They may not play any longer or be on the same skill level as current pros, but we still remember them for their contributions to the scene and amazing games...

F-L-Y [Best Random Player Ever Pre-S10]
Target [Absolutely dominated FML from S2-S6]
Invincible_Rice [Before my time, but well renowned for tearing up b.net]
Nooblex [Invented the Old Elf Macro Meta and created the single greatest FFA guide which allowed many of us to become better players]
Lost.Ancient [Best elf player i've personally ever seen.]
PencilWarrior [The only dominant UD player in FFA in the early years]
LeL [Founder of the Russian FFA scene and was a dominate orc pre-S10]

Honorable Mentions: DasElend, Nline, Plush, UnholyDreadlord,  Snamuh

The Modern Day Heroes:

The players active during the modern day era of FML [Post S10] which have made a major impact in the scene and FFA Meta

Humans7ar [I've always credited him for bringing human out of the tower meta. Amazing micro human]
Lightweight [Specifically his Orc which transformed the orc meta from the old Russian Deathstar to a more micro heavy style akin to Plush. Few Orcs during this period had the impact on the scene that LW had.]
j33 [Elf has always been a macro race, but j33's macro made even Nooblex look like a scrub. Always seems to find himself in the finals of FML seasons.]
DarknessCallsMe [Best micro orc i've ever seen play. Hasn't been an orc this good since he quit and maybe never will be.]
Seksi [An an extremely dominant period from S14 to S17 thanks to great micro and great FFA sense.]
Renaud [While he had little impact on the games meta, FML itself would not exist without Renaud's contributions]
Ugrilainen [Again, no impact on the meta but he founded PlayFFA, the FFA ladder and ran multiple side events for the scene.]

Honorable Mentions: zTsoso, PLZLEAVEDUCK, Mog[Skynet], Tyrant66, SuperCumulo, Persuade


The ELITE 4

These are the best players to ever play the game. Want a dream FFA match? These are the 4 players.

Wrecktify [Smartest FFA player to ever play and holds the record for most FML titles.]
Magadansky [Best Micro in FFA. Longest period of total domination ever.]
HTRT [Most electric player to ever play in FML. I've always thought that he was good enough to show up in FML and win the whole season whenever he felt like it. And he did so.
Noexxx [Best player currently active right now. Has the potential to become as dominant as Magadansky]

---

Would be really interesting if someone started up an official Hall Of Fame with new players voted in every season!

[Seksi]

Great comments from everyone!     

I will edit the original posts but the replies are gold.   

[dv]

Cool thread. Im a big fan of such stuff in sports history, the Book of basketball and that kind of things. So for me there are 3 main parameters: career lenght, style/impact on game meta and achievements
So here's my top (I did not think for too long on this, sorry!)

1. Maga - super long and stable career always on top level except for his last season, recognizable playstyle that established undead's game for years and 3 titles (plus 4 finals i think? maybe 5) Simply MJ of FFA. First name u have in mind when u say "FML"

2. Wreck - looooong career too and also biggest gap between first and last FML titles ever. 4 fucking titles in NOT anonymous league - C R A Z Y. No playstyle unfortunately, maybe except letting us know DR-Panda-Kotg is actually the strongest combo for NE.

3. HTRT - #1 FFA performer ever. Incredible micro, he understood how FFA works maybe the best of all. No need to talk about playstyle and influence on FFA - he's the only player you always want to watch. Every time he returns is like my birthday.
Very little career and one title.

4. Yane - #2 FFA performer ever. Sick micro. As an undead I felt so bad watching how he was managing his army in fight! I knew I could never do the same. Very little FML career and no titles.

5. Lightweight - only player except for Wreck who could play 2 races on TOP (best of everyone else) level. And only player who could literally dominate with 2 races. Best player who never won fml. Long career and huge impact on FFA game meta.

6. Persuade - I just love him. He was so cool for all races and always had good playstyle that was never based on too much chat. Long and stable career.

7-8-9-10. Soso, Noexxx, j33, Duck.

I would mention Alien, Eshan, Qwest, Renaud, y.z, Ludix, seksi, brain.man and tyrant and maybe a couple of other guys too.

[Slythe]

Thatīs my personal Top10 of all time atm. (in following order):

Magadansky
Yane
htrt
F-l-y
DarknessCalled
Soso
Noexxx
Wrecktify
Seksi
Plush

[IWANTWC4]

After seeing some people's list.  I think there should really be 2 separate lists.  FML is much different than somewhat anon ladder games.

However I still believe seeing someone like fly have success in both I believe pencilwarrior Would have as well.


What id really like to see though is how the best orcs dealt with noexxx's unstoppable rush.  I don't think it can be done honestly but who knows.

[FML|WorpeX]

After seeing some people's list.  I think there should really be 2 separate lists.  FML is much different than somewhat anon ladder games.

However I still believe seeing someone like fly have success in both I believe pencilwarrior Would have as well.


What id really like to see though is how the best orcs dealt with noexxx's unstoppable rush.  I don't think it can be done honestly but who knows.

Saying PencilWarrior didn't have success in FML is actually very wrong. He only played 1 season (S3) and advanced to the Finals of that season, where he lost to Target. He wasn't active during much of the FML years, sadly. He quit soon after the final. Had he played longer, he would have won a season.

For those who want to look back in time more, here is a FML finals history: http://ffamasters.net/index.php?topic=2439.0

[IWANTWC4]

After seeing some people's list.  I think there should really be 2 separate lists.  FML is much different than somewhat anon ladder games.

However I still believe seeing someone like fly have success in both I believe pencilwarrior Would have as well.


What id really like to see though is how the best orcs dealt with noexxx's unstoppable rush.  I don't think it can be done honestly but who knows.

Saying PencilWarrior didn't have success in FML is actually very wrong. He only played 1 season (S3) and advanced to the Finals of that season, where he lost to Target. He wasn't active during much of the FML years, sadly. He quit soon after the final. Had he played longer, he would have won a season.

For those who want to look back in time more, here is a FML finals history: http://ffamasters.net/index.php?topic=2439.0

O geez thanks for memory lane.  I didn't know he was there.  But some of those guys...  smrt and lok and many others.

Reminds me of when I was like 13-17 again.

[SteppinRazor]

I would say top 10 all time would be:

1. Magadansky - Best player in FFA for the longest period in time.  Most wins in FML history, one of the most balanced players to ever play

2. Wrecktify - Most successful FML player ever, one of the smartest FFA players to ever play who has adapted well with all of the changes in FFA play over the years

3. HTRT - Probably the best OVERALL talent to ever play FFA.  He was basically the ultimate example of the kind of player who needed to be teamed if he was anything less then totally dead.  Excellent game sense and overall skill

4. NOEXXX - Maga was probably the best player in FFA from season 10 until somewhere around season 20 or so, and NOE now holds that title.  Extremely balanced player with no weaknesses, has the potential to become #1 if he continues this success

5. Lightweight -Best player to never win a title.  I am maybe the only person who hold this opinion, but I believe him to be the BEST overall orc FFA player to ever play and his human was equally as good as his orc.

6. Seksi - Best random player to play, extremely long period as a dominate player, similar to LW he is one of a few who definitely deserves an FML title. 

7. J33 - Maybe he doesn't have the dominate micro of the others, but there is NO ONE who has pulled off as many wins in "unwinnable" games as he has.  A pure FFA player whos 2 titles and overall wins speak for itself. 

8. Persuade - Another excellent random player with great overall skillset who played and won for a long time.  Very comparable to seksi in overall skill, only made 1 final (i think) and did not win but certainly was considered a top 5 player in FFA for many seasons and years

9. Yane - Yane is like HTRT, could have been a top 3 player but just didnt hang around long enough to get the resume.  His micro skill was unbelievable, and he had excellent understanding of FFA.  Like HTRT, had he stuck around longer he would be higher ranked here.  Second best undead to ever play FFA

10. Renaud - Renaud is not at the skill level overall of the above players, but NO ONE HAS PLAYED MORE FFA GAMES IN HUMAN HISTORY THEN THIS MAN.  He has literally been around for all 26 seasons of FML and has been competitive in them.  His style hasnt changed in 10 years, but his accomplishments cannot be argued that he is one of the most distinguished players to ever play

Other players who come to mind: ztsoso, humanstar, mog, tyrant, duck, DV, qwest, darknesscalls, daselend, nline, yz, brainman, Rain, Flash, Yaws, Cumulo

[Peregrine]

In FFA you kind of have to rank players based on their level of dominance during the time they played

Because of course now that people have been playing this game for 15+ years, the level of skill is overall quite high. But if Target, for instance, had kept playing these past 8 or so years since he quit, he would be a lot better too. And then there are some players who would have dominated in any time period, even now. Players like Target, FLY, HTRT, Yane, DarknessCalls, Noexxx would beat anyone nowadays.

Thank you Seksi and all for bringing some really old names back into recognition...just want to shout out a few players like Elsha of EIL who was as good as Alien but without the rage, DV for being a dark sith lord, ZAKAZULU for being the most ridiculous FFA player ever, Darkness for being the ying to my yang for many years while we competed for rank 1, and FLY for being an FFA God.

[Seksi]

Updated thread and added some names. 

[Lightweight]

5. Lightweight -Best player to never win a title.  I am maybe the only person who hold this opinion, but I believe him to be the BEST overall orc FFA player to ever play and his human was equally as good as his orc.

Not the only one Steppin, TomToast has the same opinion :P.

[Seksi]

5. Lightweight -Best player to never win a title.  I am maybe the only person who hold this opinion, but I believe him to be the BEST overall orc FFA player to ever play and his human was equally as good as his orc.

Not the only one Steppin, TomToast has the same opinion :P.

It's too bad you won't come back to FFA.  I know you don't want to tarnish your reputation and all ;).  I am sure you will be back for Reforged, right?

6. Seksi - Best random player to play, extremely long period as a dominate player, similar to LW he is one of a few who definitely deserves an FML title. 

See? If you come back to we can both play an FML season together.  Plus with modern matchmaking and the influx of new players, BNet ladder will be active and competitive again.