S Class Rankings

Thanks to Team Liquid forum poster sihyunie's translation, we finally have official word on how GomTV is calculating S Class. This is very overdue (not to be cynical, but the timing here suggests they waited to see how certain prominent players did before unveiling a points system that would make them S Class) but at least we can finally cut through all the misinformation that has been swirling around about this, like the silly rumor that GSL 1 qualifiers got some sort of bonus points that GSL 2 and 3 qualifiers didn't.

I feel like the system I used previously has been vindicated to some degree, since GomTV is also providing points for qualification, not just wins. However, the difference is that they have assigned point totals to each position:

Place	Points	Money (Won)
1	7000	100,000,000
2	4000	30,000,000
4	2500	10,000,000
8	1500	4,000,000
16	699	2,000,000
32	350	500,000
64	299	300,000

If there's a solid justification for the point assignments, I'd like to hear it. The ratios between the places are all different and don't even match the prize money allocation. But hey, at least we finally know for sure how this will work. In the TL thread there's a screenshot of a spreadsheet with the points after the first two tournments, but let's look at how things stack up for the top players when GSL 3 qualifications, and the 299 points these players get for making the round of 64, are taken into account (the numbers in the column headings are GSL seasons and P stands for points):

Rank	Player	Race	Team	1	1 P	2	2 P	3	3 P	Total
1	FruitDealer	Z	TSL	1	7000	32	350	64	299	7649
2	NesTea	Z	IM	64	299	1	7000	64	299	7598
3	Rainbow	T	ST	2	4000	4	2500	64	299	6799
4	Foxer	T	Prime	DNQ	0	2	4000	64	299	4299
5	Ensnare	T	oGs	4	2500	16	699	DNQ	0	3199
6	SlayerSBoxeR	T	sls	DNQ	0	4	2500	64	299	2799
7	LiveForever	T	ZeNEX	4	2500	DNQ	0	DNQ	0	2500
8	InCa	P	oGs	8	1500	16	699	DNQ	0	2199
9	Zenio	Z	oGs	32	350	8	1500	64	299	2149
10	Maka	T	Prime	8	1500	32	350	64	299	2149
11	Genius	P	ZeNEX	64	299	8	1500	64	299	2098
12	HongUn	P	Prime	8	1500	64	299	64	299	2098
13	Kyrix	Z	ZeNEX	DNQ	0	8	1500	64	299	1799
14	Check	Z	Prime	16	699	16	699	64	299	1697
15	NaDa	T	oGs	DNQ	0	8	1500	DNQ	0	1500
16	sSKS	P	TSL	8	1500	DNQ	0	DNQ	0	1500
17	IdrA	Z	EG	32	350	16	699	64	299	1348
18	TheWinD	Z	oGs	32	350	16	699	64	299	1348
19	Clide	T	TSL	16	699	64	299	64	299	1297
20	Hyperdub	T	oGs	16	699	64	299	64	299	1297
21	san	P	ZeNEX	16	699	32	350	DNQ	0	1049
22	LegalMinD	P	ZeNEX	16	699	64	299	DNQ	0	998
23	anypro	P	Prime	16	699	DNQ	0	64	299	998
24	jookToJung	Z		32	350	64	299	64	299	948
25	Polt	T	Prime	32	350	64	299	64	299	948
26	Tankboy	T	Prime	32	350	32	350	DNQ	0	700
27	Loner	T		DNQ	0	16	699	DNQ	0	699
28	TOP	T	oGs	16	699	DNQ	0	DNQ	0	699
29	SangHo	P	TSL	DNQ	0	16	699	DNQ	0	699

As you can see, Check has already vaulted over players like NaDa and is guaranteed to get S Class. IdrA is almost certain to get it even with a loss in the opening round, though a win will make it absolutely certain. Even for players who have already clinched, there's an excellent chance these points rankings will be used for seeding in the 2011 tournaments, so there's incentive to push up the list. Remember, anyone on this list who is still active in GSL 3 could possibly end up being #1 by the end of the tournament. I'll keep posting updated rankings as GSL 3 moves forward.