I was curious as to who was the best player on the seasonal ladder. So I wrote some code to confirm my own perceptions (nerd). I'll post my findings by different metrics. The lists below are computed with these assumptions/ pre-requisites

• This includes data from 28 seasons.
  
• To appear on a list, a player must have been ranked top 50 in at least 5 seasons.
  
• Only considers your top 50 ranks(while computing your mean rank)
  
• All lists(except mean rank) contain the number of times a player has ranked in that top N category. They are also sorted in descending order.
  
• The mean rank list is sorted in ascending order.

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Observations

• Ruthless Bastard is the king of the seasonal ladder. He has six podium finishes and thirteen top 10 finishes!!
  
• Ruthless Bastard has more 2nd place finishes than me! I cannot tell you how good this makes me feel ;)
  
• Mod and Timon are the only two players to have won two seasons.(Rubik has won two as well but didn't meet the pre-reqs)
  
• Some of the other consistent top 10 performers are Timinator, MoD, 13CHRIS37, fatality, ACL Tears
  
• Math Wolf has an astonishing twenty-one(out of 27) top 50 finishes!
  
• Some of the players with the best average rank include myself, TeddyFSB, fatality,
  Ruthless Bastard, MoD and Buns

p.s - This was done in 30 minutes as I'm about to go to sleep. If anyone points out inaccuracies in the data, I'll fix the bugs tomorrow.

Edited 7/26/2017 17:41:57

Winner

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timon92                   2
master of desaster        2
Heyheuhei                 1
Fizzer                    1
fatality                  1
Ruthless Bastard          1
Latnox                    1
brisk • apex              1
Krzysztof                 1
JV                        1
Master of the Dead        1
Master Jz                 1
USA Biches                1

Edited 7/26/2017 09:11:59

Top 3

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Ruthless Bastard 6
Master of the Dead 5
fatality 4
master of desaster 4
13CHRIS37 4
timon92 3
alhazi 3
brisk • apex 2
Krzysztof 2
Master Jz 2
TeddyFSB 2
ACL Tears 2
Tenshi 2
The Window Cleaner 2
Heyheuhei 1
Fizzer 1
Latnox 1
JV 1
USA Biches 1
Summer 1
Ko 1
Botanator 1
TheWarlightMaster 1
FlyingBender 1
Mike |GG| 1
Dom365 1
Buns157 1
dunga • apex 1

Edited 7/26/2017 09:12:42

Top 10

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Ruthless Bastard 13
Timinator • apex 11
master of desaster 9
13CHRIS37 9
fatality 8
ACL Tears 8
timon92 7
Master of the Dead 6
Tenshi 6
alhazi 5
The Window Cleaner 5
Mike |GG| 5
Fizzer 4
Krzysztof 4
Master Jz 4
TheWarlightMaster 4
Buns157 4
Heyheuhei 3
TeddyFSB 3
Summer 3
Ko 3
dunga • apex 3
smileyleg 3
Beren • apex 3
Latnox 2
brisk • apex 2
JV 2
USA Biches 2
FlyingBender 2
Math Wolf 2
[WM] Anonymous 2
[WM] Old Surehand 2
CONQUISTADORS 2
Master Bjarke 2
Jackie Treehorn 2
bytjie 2
NoobSchool (AHoL) • apex 2
Wenyun 2
Ineffable 2
Phaeril 2
Botanator 1
Dom365 1
Hroptatyr 1
his balls. 1
Oh Noes 1
fwiw 1
GOATFINGER 1
Jorgst 1
Willow 1
Frankdeslimste • apex 1
tartan1314 1
Vendetta 1
EZPickens 1
farragut 1
BraaK 1
GreenTea 1
dodo comander 1
rakleader 1

Edited 7/26/2017 09:13:22

Top 25

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Ruthless Bastard 15
Timinator • apex 15
timon92 14
13CHRIS37 14
ACL Tears 13
Math Wolf 12
Krzysztof 11
master of desaster 11
alhazi 10
Mike |GG| 9
NoobSchool (AHoL) • apex 9
Fizzer 8
fatality 8
Tenshi 8
Master Jz 7
The Window Cleaner 7
Botanator 7
Buns157 7
[WM] Old Surehand 7
Vendetta 7
JV 6
Master of the Dead 6
Summer 6
TheWarlightMaster 6
FlyingBender 6
CONQUISTADORS 6
Master Bjarke 6
Jackie Treehorn 6
fwiw 6
Frankdeslimste • apex 6
EZPickens 6
rakleader 6
ChrisCMU 6
Heyheuhei 5
TeddyFSB 5
dunga • apex 5
Hroptatyr 5
Oh Noes 5
bytjie 5
[WM] Nord 5
Guriga 5
Latnox 4
[WM] Anonymous 4
his balls. 4
smileyleg 4
GOATFINGER 4
Ineffable 4
tartan1314 4
Phaeril 4
Anakin Chigurh 4
[Bajtan] nightfly 4
Arkanton 4
USA Biches 3
Ko 3
Dom365 3
Beren • apex 3
BraaK 3
GreenTea 3
dodo comander 3
davidhmtk 3
Mirror 3
ultimaratio 3
Grinche 3
Mr. Z. 3
brisk • apex 2
Jorgst 2
Willow 2
Wenyun 2
00Dev 2
MilitaryManiac 2
Andersault 2
JimH 2
INSIDE 2
roque_nacho 2
farragut 1
lawm 1
Mentysh 1
Pushover 1
Général Charles De Gaulle 1
fireice82 1
King Leonidas 1

Edited 7/26/2017 09:14:15

Top 50

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Math Wolf 21
ACL Tears 18
Ruthless Bastard 17
timon92 16
13CHRIS37 16
Timinator • apex 16
Botanator 15
Vendetta 15
Krzysztof 14
Dom365 14
CONQUISTADORS 14
Mike |GG| 13
EZPickens 13
Fizzer 12
master of desaster 12
JV 12
NoobSchool (AHoL) • apex 12
tartan1314 12
FlyingBender 11
[WM] Old Surehand 11
GOATFINGER 11
Frankdeslimste • apex 11
alhazi 10
The Window Cleaner 10
Oh Noes 10
Master Bjarke 10
smileyleg 10
[WM] Nord 10
fatality 9
Ko 9
Tenshi 9
Jackie Treehorn 9
ChrisCMU 9
Arkanton 9
Diabolicus 9
Master Jz 8
his balls. 8
farragut 8
00Dev 8
Mirror 8
ultimaratio 8
Général Charles De Gaulle 8
Master of the Dead 7
Summer 7
Buns157 7
Hroptatyr 7
fwiw 7
Jorgst 7
Beren • apex 7
BraaK 7
MilitaryManiac 7
Andersault 7
[Bajtan] nightfly 7
Grinche 7
roque_nacho 7
Guriga 7
Heyheuhei 6
Latnox 6
TheWarlightMaster 6
dunga • apex 6
Willow 6
Phaeril 6
dodo comander 6
rakleader 6
lawm 6
Anakin Chigurh 6
davidhmtk 6
Pushover 6
brisk • apex 5
USA Biches 5
TeddyFSB 5
[WM] Anonymous 5
bytjie 5
Wenyun 5
Ineffable 5
GreenTea 5
Mentysh 5
JimH 5
INSIDE 5
Mr. Z. 5
fireice82 5
King Leonidas 5
[REGL] Pooh 5
Furacão.BR 5

Edited 7/26/2017 09:14:48

Avg Rank

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Master of the Dead 6
TeddyFSB 7
fatality 8
Ruthless Bastard 9
master of desaster 9
Buns157 9
Master Jz 10
Tenshi 10
TheWarlightMaster 10
Timinator • apex 10
alhazi 11
13CHRIS37 12
timon92 14
dunga • apex 14
Summer 15
The Window Cleaner 15
bytjie 15
Heyheuhei 16
[WM] Anonymous 16
ACL Tears 17
Ineffable 17
rakleader 17
Krzysztof 18
USA Biches 18
fwiw 18
Phaeril 19
Fizzer 20
Mike |GG| 20
brisk • apex 21
Jackie Treehorn 21
NoobSchool (AHoL) • apex 21
dodo comander 21
JV 22
Math Wolf 22
Hroptatyr 22
Master Bjarke 22
Latnox 23
FlyingBender 23
[WM] Old Surehand 23
his balls. 23
smileyleg 23
Anakin Chigurh 23
CONQUISTADORS 24
Oh Noes 24
Beren • apex 24
GreenTea 24
Mr. Z. 24
Guriga 24
Willow 25
ChrisCMU 25
Botanator 26
Frankdeslimste • apex 26
Wenyun 26
Vendetta 26
[WM] Nord 26
Arkanton 26
[Bajtan] nightfly 27
GOATFINGER 28
Jorgst 28
BraaK 28
INSIDE 28
roque_nacho 28
Ko 29
EZPickens 29
Mirror 29
Grinche 29
Mentysh 30
MilitaryManiac 30
davidhmtk 30
Dom365 31
00Dev 31
ultimaratio 32
fireice82 32
tartan1314 33
Andersault 33
JimH 33
Pushover 33
farragut 34
lawm 35
[REGL] Pooh 37
Général Charles De Gaulle 39
Diabolicus 39
King Leonidas 41
Furacão.BR 42

Edited 7/26/2017 09:15:23

I do not remember the last time I up-voted a thread/post. Lately have been thinking if someone has done some analysis. I think it is more than I would have expected to find. Although I have one improvement to suggest - adding "times participated on ladder" or "times ranked" after top 3|10|25|50 would give good comparison of ones performance.

Well done!

Nice lists, especially since I made a couple of them. Avg rank is hard, did you only do a larger sample size (meaning a person who plays 1 ladder and finishes 10th is not counted)? Also, if anyone (like me) played the FFA season, I lost like 3 games on the last day to auto finishes because games took forever and you still had no idea who would win. I would throw that ladder out of any statistics really, as it wasn't a great measure of skill.

Fantastic thread though.

I have not played the last few (French Brawl was last one I played), I need to get back into them and up my number!

Next can you analyze clans? That could be a little harder since people like Dodo Commander have wins while playing for WG, but he retired and is not currently in WG, while other players like Timon have been in a half dozen clans probably.

Edited 7/26/2017 14:41:41

Wow great and very intressting Motd!

Edited 7/26/2017 14:58:06

Math Wolf has an astonishing twenty-one(out of 27) top 50 finishes!

Meh, old news (and it's out of 28 actually, going to be 22/29 after this one with 2 53rd places as well). Which season did you exclude in the analysis?
I'm more proud to have finished in the top 100 of every single seasonal ladder in existence. Wonder how long I'll be able to keep that one up.

No surprises on the top ranks. Until recently, I would have put Ruthless Bastard and TeddyFSB as 1a and 1b of the Seasonals, but lately you are rigging everything in your favour of course (including the current seasonal?) ;-)

Although I have one improvement to suggest - adding "times participated on ladder" or "times ranked" after top 3|10|25|50 would give good comparison of ones performance.

This information is much harder to extract at the moment which is why I didn't do it yesterday. I'll look into it soon.

Avg rank is hard, did you only do a larger sample size (meaning a person who plays 1 ladder and finishes 10th is not counted)?

Yeah. You need at least five top 50 finishes to feature on any list.

Also, if anyone (like me) played the FFA season, I lost like 3 games on the last day to auto finishes because games took forever and you still had no idea who would win. I would throw that ladder out of any statistics really, as it wasn't a great measure of skill.

You're right. I'll compile the numbers again today and exclude that FFA season.

Next can you analyze clans? That could be a little harder since people like Dodo Commander have wins while playing for WG, but he retired and is not currently in WG, while other players like Timon have been in a half dozen clans probably.

WL doesn't preserve the information of a player's clan membership during that season. If I were to compile clan statistics, it would consider the player's current clan(I'm not sure if this is what people are looking for).

it's out of 28 actually. Which season did you exclude in the analysis?

That was a typo. This analysis contains data over 28 seasons. I will exclude the FFA season and recompile numbers soon though.

I would have put Ruthless Bastard and TeddyFSB as 1a and 1b of the Seasonals

TeddyFSB never crossed my mind even though I knew he had a few top finishes. Off the top of my head, I would have said MoD, Timi or timon as 1b.

Edited 7/26/2017 17:46:38

"WL doesn't preserve the information of a player's clan membership during that season. If I were to compile clan statistics, it would consider the player's current clan(I'm not sure if this is what people are looking for)."

Speaking of which, does the MDL track that? Meaning did Blitz lose all their wins from Linberson moving to GG (assuming he played on MDL, just an example)?

Nice work overall.

To appear on a list, a player must have been ranked top 50 in at least 5 seasons.

This filters out (needlessly?) performances that are already statistically significant. A completed season consists of ~20 games (with a 40 point penalty for each game short of 20).

It seems absurd to exclude Rubik87, winner of seasons I and III, from any list of seasonal winners.

Edited 7/26/2017 22:40:49

I know for a fact that if you change clans all of your stats will transfer with you to your new clan so for Linberson his stats they moved over to GG if it goes for clans and my stats moved over from Blitz to Hydra. This is i think also because they don't remember in which clan you have been in on that specific account in the past.

Leaving out Rubik might have something to do with the fact he didn't finish top 50 on 5 different seasonals or the fact he did it on 2 different accounts but neither of them met MotD his prereqs.

Although I have one improvement to suggest - adding "times participated on ladder" or "times ranked" after top 3|10|25|50 would give good comparison of ones performance.

Another complication is the question of what it means to have competed in a season. If a player played 4 games did they compete? 7? 15? Or do they need to have completed all 20?

Another complication is the question of what it means to have competed in a season.

Good point. Officially, joining for even 1 game implies competition in the season. There's a measure in place to curb potential abuse.

"players who play fewer than 20 games (due to leaving the ladder early or joining late) get a penalty of 40 rating points per game."
https://www.warlight.net/wiki/Seasonal_Ladder

Edited 7/26/2017 22:39:01

This filters out (needlessly?) performances that are already statistically significant. A completed season consists of ~20 games (with a 40 point penalty for each game short of 20).

It seems absurd to exclude Rubik87, winner of seasons I and III, from any list of seasonal winners.

It does filter out players as specified. Such a filter is necessary unless people want to see hundreds of names, at which point the data is not consumable. I can always run the analysis for a smaller set of outliers if necessary.

I do think that there should be a min bar though, when we're talking of the best performers on seasonal ladders. In my opinion, performing really well for a season or two isn't as impressive as consistent results every season(Rubik being an outlier since he actually won 2 of them).

Another complication is the question of what it means to have competed in a season. If a player played 4 games did they compete? 7? 15? Or do they need to have completed all 20?

I think playing 5 games should be considered as having competed in a season. Sometimes, players forget to leave the ladder and get their initial 4 games. If they haven't left before the 5th, it shows an intent to play(you could even say 6, since some players get 5 initial games)

Edited 7/27/2017 04:53:25

I think playing 5 games should be considered as having competed in a season. Sometimes, players forget to leave the ladder and get their initial 4 games. If they haven't left before the 5th, it shows an intent to play(you could even say 6, since some players get 5 initial games)

This is a clever criteria, but isn't a perfect measure of "intent to play". It's possible someone intentionally joined the ladder, lost their first game, and then left the ladder munching sour grapes.

Because a person leaving with only 4 games gets a 16 game penalty, it's unlikely they'll make any of your lists. So there's a already "natural" filter.
Fun question: are there any seasonal winners with less than 20 games?

Well, I have played a few ladders only because the damn leaving ladder seemed to not work, and I would be auto joined next season. So I get 4 games to my surprise. I decide to play the 4, and to see if I like/hate the template, then leave. Not because I won or lost games (which this is intended to measure), but because I hated the template and never intended to play it in the first place.

So my vote would maybe be 6 games as a intent to play. If that means a person who just left after a loss is not counted, so be it. Since the ladders are opt out (based on prior season) and not opt IN, I think you have to assume people get ladder games without wanting to VERY often.