THE CURRENT TOP 10 PROS IN COMPETITIVE CLASH

There are certain times in my life which I always look forward too. For example, being married on my birthday and receiving my once a year blow job (It's okay, Lil' Gramps is like everybody else and doesn't read my blog) This is another of my favourite times. I love updating my Top 10 Pro list at the completion of the CRL seasons. A lot has changed. Many former champs have been thrown into the machine with some OMO and are now washed. That reminds me. At the end of this, I will also name the top 3 washed. If only SK listened to me last time and replaced Sergio. BTW, I hear Sergio is a great guy, but when I analyse and write my opinions, I strongly believe in integrity. I call it exactly as I see it. So you get no favours from me even if you are a great guy or even a friend. In fact, I look forward to the day I can call Ahh Craaap washed, but it's not today. Before we begin, I wish to outline my criteria. Firstly, I don't care about how much potential a player has or how brilliant they can be in a moment. I look at consistency over a period of time and RESULTS. My best play would beat most pros (it's true) but I don't win anything because I play my best once out of every hundred games. I also give some credence to versatility. Finally, I respect those guys who get the dubs when they really matter. You can run at 80% during the qualification stage because you beat some plebs who shouldn't be there, but then go at 20% in the playoffs. Poor observers will give you credit for your overall rate which might end up being 73%. Statistics can be misleading, friends. So lets get into it, shall we. Here are my top 10 competitive pros: 10 - WINGS I said in my preview of CRL West that this guy was the most underrated player in the comp, and he stepped up and proved me right. Many people forgot how dominant he was in the first edition of CRL and wrote him off because of an average showing in the following split. Never write off a champ. Put simply, Wings is the current best closer in the game. If a match reaches KOTH as the deciding set, and you've got Wings in your roster, you can lock in a dub for the team coz this kid sweeps more than Good Will Hunting. 9 - HIGHER My first rep from the east is EDGM's Higher. This guy can really play, and the only reason I don't have him higher (yeah, I know, hahaha) in my ratings is because of a poor showing in the final. Despite that he did plenty in the qualifying and other playoff matches to demonstrate that he belongs in this list. 8 - DIEGO B When I did my first list, I had Diego ranked in the top 5. He has taken a small fall after Liquid had a very average season. A lot of this comes from the fact that his team seemed to have a world championship hangover, and then rather than stick to that winning formula, they fiddled with their line up. This saw Diego being used as a utility player who was thrown around to play in many different positions. If there's one thing we learned from this season, it's that you can't do that. The successful teams gave each player a role to do. Just think of the patience Sammy B had to show with SSG or TNT at Tribe. Nevertheless, Diego still played some great CR and especially under pressure. As I recently tweeted, he is the guy I would choose to play for my life because he thrives in must win matches. 7 - KK Once considered a logbait one-trick, KK emerged as a star in the recent CRL East split. He ended up carrying a very tired and washed PONOS squad into the playoffs, and in doing so, demonstrated a versatility and range in decks most thought he didn't have. He finished up topping the charts in the league as the single best performing player. I expect him to keep improving and to one day challenge for the No #1 in the world spot. You heard it here first. 6 - LAPOKATI What an enigma this kid is. He burst onto the scene with his now iconic stage swagger, and we all thought we were looking at a legitimate CR god. However, it then went to shit, and Lapo lost many 1v1 sets for the now defunct Immortals, mostly because of his predictability. Fortunately, Trainer Luis showed faith and took him over to the championship SSG project, and didn't Lapo pay him back in spades. What I love about watching Lapo is that he can defend a 47 elixir push with a broken rubber band and some acne cream. He might be the best defensive player in the game. His deck choices are now more unpredictable, just like what he will bring to us next. 5 - RAZZER If you're still scratching your head at Misfits making the final then you obviously haven't paid attention to the talents of this guy. Razzer is one of a few elite guys capable of playing both 2v2 and 1v1 at the absolute highest standards. He flies under the radars of many because he's such a quiet achiever, but those dubs keep stacking up season after season. Raz is CR's very own smiling assassin. He doesn't need emotes to BM. He just beats you and then beams his choppers at you as he says "good game". 4 - XBOW MASTER Speaking of smiling assassins... Sorry, Raz, you just lost that title. I am so delighted to be writing this because XBOW M is one of the games OG players and also my all time favourite, which is weird because I hate xbow the card. This guy looked at the laundry basket, jumped in, swam around for a year, and then said, "Fuck that, I ain't going into the machine". What a season he had, bouncing back to his very best and taking FAV to the title with a win vs Higher in a defining moment of CR's greatest ever come back. 3 - JUPITER KING Had Tribe won it all, I might be writing about this guy as No #1. He was such an astute pick up by that org because I am sure many thought "Who the fuck is he?" before the season started. I knew he was good which is why I predicted Sth Korea to do so well in NT Worlds. Jupiter was simply monstrous during qualification. He never looked like losing. What stood out was that whilst his opponents were playing CR, he was playing chess, always 4-5 moves ahead of them. Though we didn't see it for Tribe, he is also a gun 2v2 player. I actually expected him to team up with TNT and fill this role for the team. I look forward to watching him during the next split. Rest assured, he's going to work even harder and become even more formidable to make up for those disappointing playoff loses. 2 - MORTEN There's not really much to say which hasn't been said. When you're team is going shit and the season is on the line, relax. Morts will go 7-0 and take you through. The Atlas of SK carried that team on his shoulders, but eventually the weight became too much to bear for even a champion of his stature. 2v2 or 1v2, you know the rest. He does it all. Simply a god. 1 - thegod_Rf I just wanna say this: I told you so. I told you 2 months ago. I told you 4 months ago. I told you 6 months ago. I told you 8 months ago. He's the GOAT and the reason I chose the display pic. Okay, enough bragging. In summation: CRL West champ NT Worlds semi finalist Gamestry Cup runner up CWA Cup winner Lots of other shit - winner. Rf just keeps getting it done. I don't even see how this No #1 spot can be debatable. Over the last year, there isn't a player in the game who has achieved anywhere near what Rf has. Right now, he is definitely the GOAT. There hasn't been anybody better play the game. ...AND IN OTHER NEWS This list has undergone many changes since last time. Some greats like Surgical and Kanny have fallen from grace after Liquid's abysmal showing. Meanwhile, new champs like Pedro and Sammy B are knocking on the door of the top 10. Their time will come. TOP 3 WASHED PLAYERS I will not be including players previously named who are still playing. 3 - RAD Ponos might have won it all had they overhauled their entire roster. Instead they only changed half and thus Rad's stinking form held them back. You can throw his mate Raiki in the basket too. Most of us love these guys, but unless they do some serious off season work, it might be all over for them. 2 - ADRIAN PIEDRA Yo, Ades, it's time, ya know. Come join Gramps in retirement and leave the playing to the kids. We'd love to have you in Clash Royale Veteran's League. If not, you can coach, because I am sure you are one of the most respected people to ever not drop a golem first play. 1 - SURGICAL GOBLIN I thought long and hard about this. Ultimately I have to call Surge washed. I just feel like his heart isn't really in it after he has achieved everything there is to achieve. I am certain last year's worlds, with the visa issue leading up to them, took everything out of him after Liquid won it all. It certainly showed during this split. All that said, I am going to leave this disclaimer: Once you're washed, you're washed, but if ever there is a player who can bounce back, it's Surge. I hope he does, because this is not how I want to remember the first person who should go into CR's Hall of Fame.