Babak is the best player I have ever played with, in my opinion. Honorable mention goes to djbent and Julien Vergues (from facebook)

I am relatively new to Diplomacy compared to those mentioned here. I don't believe I have played against someone who is so diplomatically advanced to be able to stand out from my perspective so far. I believe that there's a precise correlation between time spent thinking to win percentage. I don't see the difference, but as I said, I am relatively new.

MadMarx has that amazing silver tongue. DJBent is very persuasive and fun to talk with. I learned a lot from Bartdogg, plus he is awfuly generous to his allies. Same with Norin. Perry6006 taught me to be more ruthless and go for the jugular. Centurian is impressive, altho a bit aloof. LanGaiden is very smart and loyal. Akroma and Bigzombiedude are fun to chat with and make loyal allies. And Draugnar can be fun to ally with because he likes elaborate cons.

uclabb is a conniving bastard. His moves transcend what would be considered a normal underhanded stab. Don't trust him.

To be honest, I have trouble grasping/appreciating good play, even when it stabs me squarely in the back... That said, I am still left with an overwhelming sense that Rait is far and away the best player I've had the priviledge of meeting in a game on this site... The only other player that really stands out significantly to me is MarekP, I feel like he could eliminate me from a game in his sleep…

I like the sound of this uclabb, LJ TYLER DURDEN.

babak is probably the only one i can say has impressed me. maybe akroma and ghostie. rait is rather predictable imo - although we haven't really had a good game together yet... madmarx is annoying and i intend to squash him like a bug first chance i get =) (jk - you know i love you!) looking forward to playing against bartdogg

well, i guess i could say edi has impressed me as well even though i haven't played him. i went through his games and in virtually every one he either purposely missed moves or purposefully made stupid moves in the beginning i assume to make himself look like less of a threat. incredible...I don't think I have the stones to do that.

oh, i forgot ivo and dingleberryjones. they have both impressed me.

i'll throw my ball into the ring... I have not played enough games with most of the top palyers yet to judge, but of those I feel comfortable, I'd put Jacob, MadMarx, and ivo_ivanov in a class all their own. MM in particular has a silver tongue which is unmatched on the site I think, while Jacob I find has the most brilliant strategic mind.

there are many other players who are impressive including djbent, Centurian, Julien (though I havn't seen him lately), Rait, and fortknox... but the 3 above truly stand out I think.

Avinoam and Babak for tactical excellence!

Top 10 so far:
1. MadMarx 7
2. EdiBirsan 6
2. babak 6
4. djbent 5
5. bartdogg 4
6. TheMasterGamer 3
6. perry6006 3
6. Ivo_ivanov 3
6. longaiden 3
6. Centurian 3

Rait and MarekP stand out from the crowd for me....

Madmarx talks a lot id give him that

Has no one mentioned the above two guys? Because Braveheart and sean are no slouches.

Can I say that I don't really deserve to be on that list, I'm not even sure if ag was complimenting me. He sounded a little angry.

As for Edi, he plays like no else, but the only game I've been in with him, (the only one where he was eliminated) he failed to fundamentally understand the tournament dynamic, which was really his downfall, so the jury is still out on what I think of the old master.

@Centurian: No it was a compliment! Making me pissed for pulling a totally awesome move set is definitely a compliment. :) I was pissed at myself for being duped. haha, I will never forget that.

Jacob: Edi took over alot of CD positions.

LOL - well, that makes a lot more sense then! =)

There are several players on the above list that I haven't had the pleasure to play with. Everyone on the above list deserves to be there, I'm sure. Just some others that I have enjoyed playing with are:

Kiv
MJT123
V+
TheWizard
Jefe
gryncat
el maestro
BoG75

I have never been able to convince BESM to ally with me ever in the 4-5 games we have played....so I am looking forward to that day :)

I've quite some respect for Jacob, mainly due to one game we played(from which I have gained totally undue respect from him).

Withnail has impressed me quite a bit too when we played, and MarekP about 1 year and a couple of months ago was unstoppable (haven't played him since, but the ratings suggest he fell somewhat from that high point)

Can't believe I forgot Jacob... and I agree with Babak in that Jac, MM, and Ivo are in a class of their own... I think that DJBent is an up and comer, but those three are tops in my book.

Granted, a lot of people on those lists I haven't played with. Granted, a lot of people are on the list that I'm either currently in a game with (want the game to finish before I give my two cents), haven't played with, or played long enough ago that I simply forgot (hey, I'm gettin old!) :)

The tourneys and leagues are great places to find some great players... I would say there has only been a handful or two of players that I'd say flat out stink (mostly those that either don't want to communicate, or have a tough time with the language). This site definitely has some great players in it, though!

I have been impressed with a few players so far, more often than not because they made the game fun, were great allies/ enemies and kept the messages coming the 4 best for me are Crazyter, LanGaiden, PallasAthena and Onar. I haven't seen Pallas around much which is a shame as he really was a great ally...

Dj and Ivo i have played once and enjoyed alot and ill be looking to play the others that appear numerous times on this list. Hopefully the Masters tourney will allow me to do that. I will add Draugnar for pure comedy and the ability to really flavour his opinion!

Ok i've been following this thread and unfortunately i haven't played with most of the people mentioned so far. As i play this gam for fun rather than a magnificent intellectual buzz i'm going to mention some guys which may not have so far been stratigically amazing but have made my diplomacy life more enjoyable and those are:

gjdip
alderian
djbent
onar
xapi
chrispminis

and these are purely because they are funa dn easy to play with, don't take gaming too seriously and don't ridicule me just cos i talk stupid and seem different. They accept everyone and are completely happy to continue playing with comedy values til the bitter end.

*game rather than gam, * who or whom instead of which, *Strategically, *fun and - rather than funa dn, *because rather than cos, *until rather than til - that's all i can find in my drunken state, feel free to correct me further

Gryncat is pretty good, I agree with Spell of Wheels there.

And I'm in a game with Spell of Wheels now so I'll let you know if I'm impressed ;)

Girl by the name and Game ID of Jenny. She's finished two games so far and won both of them. One of which was as Italy. I give props.

a few that run through my mind
LanGaidin
airborne (i have stabbed you too many times my friend haha)
Hibiskiss - hate you cause you always beat me, but your good
Steven C. - always been a good partner
ag7433 - again, hate ya cause you kept me out of the B league but apparently you can convince others to your will
RiffArt

sorry if i missed a few, havent had a chance to play with as many of the big dogs as i would like

In one of the first games I played the Austria sent two if his units to Budapest so that they'd bounce to counter a supported invasion and he could still build there. At the time it seemed like such a brilliant and crafty move to make. It would be a hell of a lot of trouble to search through my games for whoever it was who did it, but I'd like to say it really impressed me. It kinda showed me that you could manipulate the rules to get the outcome you want. Very helpful, even though I'm pretty sure he eliminated my Italy later in the game.

So props to you, whoever you are!

Hmm...

1) Rait- haven't played with you but you are just brillliant from the games I saw in your profile.
2) djbent- a skillful diplomat and precise stabber.
3) Centurian- very good player.
4) Edi- plays like a true diplomat.
5) Sayjo the Lion Hearted- not a quitter.
6) Poseidon- always fun to play with.
7) Onar- very good a persuasion( Especially when we are playing FTF games) >-<
8) Bonotow- very thouroughly killed me in our last game.
9) zscheck- doesn't finalize very often but a very good sign of a player who thouroughly thinks out his moves.
10) Flashman- interesting fellow. Managed to stall me as Russia, he was Germany. He got France to help him.

I have yet to engrain myself into the community here but at least I was mentioned...once. :P