Best Fortress Player 2010

[syllabear]

OK, so I came up with the idea of us discussing who was the best fortress player of 2010. After ranking your top (10?) players, you can also give explanations as to why you feel these players deserve the rankings you give them, perhaps due to the ability to play a particular position well, or maybe they are an all-rounder. Maybe they have improved a lot this year, or influenced fortress in a particular way.

I'll put up my top 10 shortly, when I have a chance to think about it, as I only just came up with the idea.

Hopefully we can have a nice clean discussion about this to finish off what has been a great year for fortress

[Magic]

1syllanub-nuffsaid
but seriously it's hard to get some of the things that happened early in the year fresh in your mind as some of the stuff that's happened latest.
2woned-I don't think anyone else has been as influential in any position as woned has with center. He gets this spot not only for his centers but because every other center has to prepare for him.

3.fofo&flex- these two were just incredible sweepers early on in the year pushing the position to an entirely new level they are still good sweepers alone but there teamwork togethor makes them a real threat.

4. Titanooba-man this kid has turned his game around one ladle he loses it for his team a few later he wins it all if there's any competition for best center it's between him and woned.

5. Insanity- early on in the year you couldn't talk about defence without talking about how long it would take to finally take down insa. I would say if not the best defence the best for his system.

6.free kill- well this guy is anything but a free kill if your lucky enough to get him trapped quickly you've done your team an enormous favour he's possibly the most skilled survivor up here

7.gonzap- just because he doesn't always get in doesn't mean he doesn't influence a game if you leave this guy alone you've given him permission into your zone. A team almost always has to prepare for players like him and that does influence a match.

8viper-(see gonzap)

9delta- hole,attack,hole,attack delta could get players in a zone in more ways then one obviously the holing might have been the biggest influence to fortress this year.

Honorable mention: mb53- the dude plays more fortress than I care to think about so why not?
Other honorable mention: magic: this guys just the most all around skilldest player ever he would be number 1 but it's so obvious I didn't bother putting it

[Pr3]

1) Xyron
Lets face it, nobody can beat this dude when it comes to sumo / sheer ability to stay alive.
2) Titan
Very talented; when it comes to recording players, titan doesn't fail to awe you.
3) Gonzap
Not much you can say about zap, when he's on a roll, he's untouchable.
4) Potter
Overall talented and has definitely grown to be one of the top players of 2010; and is one of the main reasons for uNk's growth.
5) Slash
In my personal opinion the best sweeper in the game. Other teams make adjustments when slash is sweep.
6) Madmax
Amazing player, others know it. Nuff said.
7) Hoax
Hoax is overall a great player, and is definably an asset to any side he's on. Not to mention for a majority of the year he was the most active player.
8 ) Teen
Great attacker and is obviously the best ex:plus member imo. Teen's awesome and he knows it.
9) Lacka
Lets face it, he pwns. Is a valuable asset to ~R~, and one of the reasons for their victory.
10) 3B
Imo the best DS player. 3B has proven himself time and time to be someone to contend with. I expect great things from him this coming year.

In terms of improvement over the year, I'm going to have to say most of uNk's members. Definite growth was needed to contend with all the great players on Fort. I'm sure there are plenty of players I've missed, but the ones I listed are who came to mind. I expect 2011 to be a competitive year.

[ppotter]

not in any particular order (except the order I thought of them):

• • madmax
  • newbie - He's not played a lot recently but has arguably more influence on a match than any other player
  • Lackadaisical
  • Xyron
  • insa - Not just for his def, if there's a 1v1 at the end of a round you can bet insa will be on, and that he'll win
  • Titanoboa - Become one of the best players in the game despite for playing not much longer than a year.
  • Fofo
  • Gonzap - the most aggressive attacker along with Titan
  • free kill
  • Luffy - The hardest def to crack (for me anyway )

The ones without notes should be self explanatory

Then there's Durka, Hoax, Liz, Puuquie, 1200, Concord, MaZuffeR, most of CT and so on

And a few that deserve mentions for their improvement over 2010 : Syre, MB53, pre, 75, Cronix, fini, dariv, 3B

I might be wrong on some of those, can't rememebr how good some people were a year ago

[INW]

1)-10) CT

Enough said.

[DDMJ]

Then there's Durka, Hoax, Liz, Puuquie, 1200, Concord, MaZuffeR, most of CT and so on

I don't think I've played enough/at all in the past 4 months or so to even qualify/be remembered, but thanks, heh.

[Olive]

In no particular order:

Potter
Greatest asset of UNK. From no to pro in notaym.
Titanoboa
'Do the Titan' had become a well-known expression in 2010's spring.
Newbie
Hard to kill and the sweepers' worst nightmare.
Lackadaisical
Hard to kill and the defenders' worst nightmare.
Woned
Annoying
Rudy can't fail
Carried a noob team to the ladle finals
Xyron
Because everyone adds him
Monkey.D.Luffy
The largest leap to pro-defending I've ever witnessed.
MaZuffeR
Brainwork > fingerwork
Concord
Best strategian and tronauthor 2010

[Word]

• Woned (next year he's too old for this, so i'll mention him first before his time has run out. )
• Flex (doesn't die...ever)
• Gonzap (center of the year 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. should have 2 keys for left and no keys for right, because that's all he needs to center.)
• insa (i don't know who spread the rumour that he was a good sumoer...he can't do anything except defending better than 99% of us...)
• Fofo (sweeps better than most people think, not to mention that he's one of the best attackers)
• Sixzero (mazes almost as good as Xyron, but he can also kill you in ten other ways, provided that he has enough spare time while he's still warming up)
• madmax (because he can turn a 1vs1 in his zone in a 1vs1 in your zone - but as defender he suicides very often when he tries to kill one of the players above )
• Punish (not sure why all forget him...)
• Hoax (kills a good step def like insa with a speed attack in 4 seconds...but not always LOL)
• teen (good at any position)

Other good forters: Vanhayes, sine, Deso, viper and emmy. Sorry, everyone else sucks.

for me, dariv is the newcomer of the year.

[syllabear]

I've decided to go for most influential player with my top 10, with explanations to follow, just to see what I can come up with (still haven't thought of all the players/ranks by the time I'm typing this). Also, I can only speak for the last half of the year, since I pretty much (re)started playing exactly half way through the year (4th of June?). Note, I did the top 5 improved first, and now I've run out of time for the top 5 influential, so I'll leave the top 5, and come back to do the rest of the 10 later. I'll leave the initials though, wonder if people will guess who they are.

1. Woned.
Centre ability, attack ability, charisma, fame, youth, this tronner has it all. I hate comming up against woned when I'm centre, even if he isn't trying. And I hate it even more when I try to block centre as defence, since he'll stay alive even in tiny little spaces. Not many people appreciate it, but woned is very skilled at pretty much every other position on the grid, its just he shines so well as a centre/attacker nobody really notices. He has certainly influenced the way centre/defenders start each round, and even in individual rounds he'll influence the entire style of play.

2. Unk holers.
Although almost every clan or team out there now has a system for no-point holing, and although Unk weren't the first to employ the NPH, they were the first to take it to the next level as far as I'm concerned, and are probably the fastest and most systematic holers out there at the moment. They can sneak past your sweepers and plant a cheeky hole or NPH before you even saw them on your half of the grid. Influence: Sweepers and defenders better keep a watchout for two or more unks gathered in one place. Other teams have also started to realise holing needs a lot more control and professionalism than previously thought.

3. Sine.wav.
Great defender, and overall forter, but thats not why he's here. He is selflessly dedicated to the ladle, and to fortress, especially earlier in the year, he was almost always the one organising brackets, resetting the ladle page, discussing, mediating and helping to decide on the rules, and their implementation. Influence: Behind the scenes, one of the most important (if not the most) figures in fortress, without whom, I'm not sure if ladles would run, and definately much less smoothly than they do already.

4. Titanoboa.
His influence is both in the style of attack, as well as his influence with the Rogues. He pretty much brought them into fortress, and helped garner many of their newer members. Without him, we would probably be without Rogues in fortress, and even if they would have made the jump, they wouldn't be nearly as far along as they are now. His aggressive style of attack is also present, where he is more willing than most to actually try and cut a defender instead of simply relying on holes. Influence: heavy hand in bringing Rogues to become the dominating force of fortress they are, and an aggressive style of attack that keeps defenders on edge.

5. Speeders.
Speeder's reign of domination in fortress is legendary, with the past "3 in a row" a mean feat even the mighty CT has yet to match. They inspire tactics, create some themselves, and retain a very strong squad, which has seen a bolstering recently, with several new applicants. However, their influence also comes with some of the trouble they seem to always find themselves embroiled in on the forums. This year perhaps focused around the use of smurf names in some ladles, which turned into a heated debate. Hardly anyone on the grid at that time wasn't talking about it. Influence: Skill, innovation, but probably most of all, notoriety.

6. Spin
Surprised? I am a little, but Spin has done something pretty amazing with oracle in my opinion. He managed to get a seed on their very first ladle attempt, and then follow it up with a second place finish the very next time. Way to shake things up, and good luck next ladle, defending your number 2 spot!

7. Xyron
Just banging him in here because he's on everyone else's list. Can't fault his mazing ability, watching him is like watching art in progress. As I mention below, he has taken this and brought it to fortress, being probably the second best all-rounder, if not the best, alongside potter. Great defender, fierce attacker, steady sweeper and possibly a rising star in centre (how many do CT need?

8. Deso
Again, although Deso is a strong fortress player, I haven't put him in here for that, but for his impressive organisation skills in the fort world cup and fortress cafe tournaments, as well as the upcomming fortress brawl tournament. He's dedicated himself to these competitions, and to the overall fortress comunity, and put so much effort in, and hardly any recognition. I hope this goes a ways to fixing that!

9. G5
"Want a game of fort?"... "Sure, where should we play?". The answer to this question is, without a doubt, G5's mega fort pro. His server is the cradle of fortress as it is, despite changing its name throughout the year, its stayed true and strong, keeping the riff-raff from playing without logging in, teaching new players about authentication, and a breeding ground for talented fortress players, innovative skill, and amazing battles of fortress ability. G5 maintains this server, tests settings from time to time, and is a great host. Sure if it went, we'd head somewhere else, but while its up, its number 1.

10. Concord
An innovative fortress tactician, skilled player, great mind, and fantastic main writer for the blog play fortress, where strategy, players, predictions and all else is discussed, mulled over, and brought together. A small but dedicated set of followers and a large number of casual viewers, together a large swathe of the fortress community gets a significant amount of their current news and ideas from this blog. Its a great read from time to time, but delving deeper into the past also lets you explore the fantastic history of fortress. Concord as a writer sticks true to his style and provides riviting features on all aspects, influencing heavily with his words. I would have wished that this top 10 players had been done by him, but it didn't look like it, so I set this up instead.

I also want to do a most improved player, again probably limited to the second half of the year, but I'll only do a top 5 for this:

1. Titanoboa. Despite having played the game for quite a while, he has rapidly improved at fortress this year to be included in almost everyone's top 10. Speaking personally as a defender, titanoboa is one of a handful of players who makes me sit up straight and pay attention when he's nearby my defence, even in a casual game of G5s. However, not only skillwise, he's pretty much led R's transformation from kings of CTF to a serious contender for each and every ladle.

2. Slov. Damn, he'll probably read this, but wow. What an improvement in sumo, and even fort ability. Although he's still not quite near the best, and probably won't be included in any other top 10s, his sumo ability has definately made him someone dangerous to have in your zone, and even just outside it attacking it. With the help of SP, I'm expecting him to go even further next year... unless his career in basketball takes off.

3. Chah. His course is very similar to slov's, with a rapid improvement in sumo, and a slight lag as this transfers into fortress improvement a bit later on. Good mazing ability in sumo often translates to good ability in fortress, and chah is no exception. His talent for centre is another of his many facet's, combined with his 200+ ping (and accompanying ping_rubber), he is a threat to even some of the most talented and experienced centres.

4. Potter. Although he was good when I first saw him, his lengthly practice over the summer has really improved his ability, and turned him into possibly the best all-rounder this game has to offer at the moment and possibly of all time. But unlike many Jack-of-all-trades, he still maintains top tier ability in certain aspects of fortress, especially attack and centre in my opinion.

5. Syre. I've personally seen syre improve from some unknown CTWF noob to a very talented sweeper, and someone who has awareness of what is going on around him on the grid. He has also mastered the transition from passive sweeper to active attacker/holer if the situation of gameplay changes, in a fraction of the time it takes many others. If you are thinking of holing, and you suddenly get a good opportunity, Syre will be there in a snap.

Other honorable mentions: MB53 (who has played more than this guy this year though ), Cronix, Fini, Lanfear, Kult (or whatever name he's using now), and many others I can't remember atm.

[2020]

haven't been on much over a few years
once a month with the ladles
and nothing over the last few months
so my options are more a record of the past with no new-comers

madmax - excellent skills and courage, impressive sumo reverses, fearsome all-rounder
newbie - incredible sweeping skills
slash - one of the fastest players around
viper - his name says it all, swift, killer
hoax/subzero - i confuse these guys, solid
mazuffer - most intelligent play
vanhayes - gentleman of the grid, excellent safety, an ambassador of the game
durka - may not be playing much, but clever play
concord - incredible dedication, off and on grid, one of the most inventive players on the grid
psycho - does he still play? all-round skillful dude

then again
when i get on the grid these days
the number of incredibly skillful players pulling off ai-10-level mazing
makes my mediocre skills look flatteringly noobish

i wish the recording and editing was easier
i'd love to show some of the genius i've witnessed

[Clutch]

No specific order just ones that come to mind, seeing as I tend to stick to sumo more.

Monkey D. Luffy - Apparently, awesome defensive ctf h4x work for fort as well

Titanoboa - Definitely a good player to have around. Along with monkey, definitely transfered his ctf skills to fort quite nicely.

sine.wav - See Luffy (thanks for the book btw)

Pokemaster - Just..can't..die. -.-

Punish - For the blatantly obvious fact he kicks ass.

Most Improved: Since last year? I'm torn between -=}ID< Red and chah.

[ppotter]

Then there's Durka, Hoax, Liz, Puuquie, 1200, Concord, MaZuffeR, most of CT and so on

I don't think I've played enough/at all in the past 4 months or so to even qualify/be remembered, but thanks, heh.

That's why you didn't make the list, but when I first stated you were the player I watched when I died, to learn

[sinewav]

sine.wav ... (thanks for the book btw)

No problem man, but now it looks like I paid you off to get on your list, haha.

And sylla, thanks for the kind words. I got a little weepy-eyed reading it. :'-)

[Gonzap]

okay here i go...

1) Woned. What can i say about this dude that the others didn't already? he is a monster, always been my fort hero, always staying alive when i thought he was lost. He, along with lacka, madmax, and infamous, motivated me to get better.

2) Emmy. WTF, nobody added the best defender of the grid to their top 10!? Speed defense, not the most effective (insa is, safety > risks for him), but the most risky defender i ever saw. Difficult to cut if he doesn't give a gap on the def, cause he is almost always faster than any attacker.

3) I don't know, this place could be shared by madmax and lackadaisical. Both have the same style even if they play in really different ways. They both use head, never make senseless truns, everyone of these have a purpose.

4) Xyron. Well this guy can shrink you faster than anybody, and he never freaking die when he circles you. I know that if he is attacking and it's 1v1 and he circled you, the round is over, and the winner is Xyron. Always.

5) Titanoboa. Yeah i'm gonna add him to the top 10 too. Even if he sometimes risks when he shouldn't, most of the time he succeed, at least on important matches

6) Wap/Puuquie. I also can't decide who i should put here, botha re great sweepers but different styles. Puuquie is a multi functional player. He can do everything and everything will be done fine, he isn't the best at anything, but can do everything and be put in any position. Wap in the other hand is more risky, mostly a good sweeper, can defend good if he is inspired and his attack skills are ok. But when he sweeps you have like a secure back there.

7) Luffy. Man when this guy moved to defense he annoyed me soooo much. Extremely hard to catch him unprepared. He has 10000 pair of eyes damnit . When he became inactive Rogues started to lose. I wonder if it's a coincidence?

Beer/potter/viper. Everyone aggressive as hell. Beer is the most aggressive player on this game, titan is second and potter & viper would be tied at third position. If you seem weak for even a second one of these guys will jump at you like a dog over a kitten. You can't relax near them, ever.

9) Slash. I almost forget about you. But i didn't slaaash ! Best sweeper. Sometimes just too aggressive. When he loses focus he suicides alone XD. But if he is focused, it takes like 5 minutes to even reach their defense. Best way to avoid slash is attacking with a partner. The other way around youa re screwed!

10) Sine.wav. What sylla said, thank you sine, you make ladle possible.

I didn't mention.... Durka, you are too inactive to even be considered this year... Fofo, same as durka. Psyko, same as fofo. Newbie, same as psyko. Mazuffer, same as newbie.

Most improving players... MB53 (his centre style is annoyiiiiing), dariv (he is playing since idk, 2 months? and he core dumps me like a 4 year tron-old player O.o), pokemaster (this guy is the one that improved the most i believe o.o, he never diesssss, has more than 2 eyes i believe), titanoboa, potter, olive (yeah he was an epic noob, now he is just a noob, big improvement! Disliking aside, maybe because he jumped around freelancers, he improved, probably learning from these pros), 3B, theroze (your damn connection is ******* up your tron career), dreadlord (he came back after a while and now he is a scary attacker when he is on fire)... sorry if i forget somebody!

[syllabear]

Gah finally finished my top 10 influential.

@sine, my few words are much below what your hard work and dedication deserves. Think nothing of it