I know it says "based on results" in the thread title so I guess it's justified, but I feel there's waaaaay too much emphasis being put on tournament placings.
This game is brand fucking new. Most of the matches I see at majors are just a clusterfuck of players who don't know the matchup they are playing. People are getting hit by gimmicks and broken shit that will eventually be removed from the game (*cough* +27 hat spin), and half of the unsafe garbage that people are doing is going unpunished even in top 8 matches.
Let's not forget that Jwong & Arturo were landing top 8's while barely knowing how to play Raiden at all because people weren't even punishing b2 for fuck's sake.
Everyone is still learning. A year from now, comparing tournament results might actually hold some weight. Until then, we should be judging people based on the skill they exhibit while they play.
That being said, the players that have truly impressed me from a fighting game perspective regardless of tournament placings are:
Fox
DJT
MIT
Honeybee
Gross
Saltface
REO
Forever King <-- he's acting like an arrogant little fucker in this thread but his tournament placings are honestly not representative of how good this guy is. I've learned a ton about this game from watching him play, he's godlike.