Ehy has achieved mythical legend status in Red Alert. Seen as some sort of Michael Jordan-esque GOAT. Was he really the goliath and behemoth everyone says he was? The answer is a combination of yes and no. I'll try to explain and offer my honest perspective on this much debated topic. I've been around on-and-off for the last decade in Red Alert online competitive play and have faced all of the top dogs so I feel like I can offer some valuable insight on this topic for the history archives. Here's my 2 cents...
Ehy dominated a time in Red Alert (approx 2009-2015) when there wasn't much competition in terms of 1v1 play. The narrative is true that his top potential opponents of the time such as NastyNate and At0m1 actively avoided him (Basically they knew he had surpassed them and didn't want it proven - this is the truth. Trust me). Ehy was left playing players such as Robskate, Smash, Yuzgen, Katsh and myself. He definitely had a huge edge on us at that time. It has become apparent however that he was privy to certain advantages that no one else knew. The most notable of these was GQ. Players have studied his historical games and notice that he was actively using the powerful GQ concept. This is how he was able to defeat pretty much everyone (including NastyNate in 2v2s) with relative ease in tank fights.
I would say that his skills in terms of building (especially soviet 10+ cy play on P4) were on another level to everyone else past or present. In terms of that side of the game he would still remain above everyone. However I think were he playing in the current era the gap in 1v1 play would not be so dramatic. The competition has caught up somewhat. You have players such as Ford, Beast, Faust, Jacob and others who are now really very good. Players like myself and Robskate are playing at a higher level than we were in the doldrums of Ehy's peak 2012-2013 era. I do however feel that Ehy was definitely stronger than all of these guys. I played against every top player in the last decade 100s of games and I can say with 99% certainty that Ehy was better than them all. He just had a more hungry "need to win" psyche. He took defeat as a personal insult and he was savage in his search for revenge or retribution. I think he had a more killer instinct. It was extremely hard to win games against Ehy. These other guys I mentioned, while phenomenal players, just lack a little bit of that viper demon that Ehy had. I think it's possible to get wins far more often against these guys than it was against Ehy. Ehy was a different beast. I am sure fellow players such as Robskate and RC1985 would agree with me on this consensus as they played against them all as well. He didn't just want to win a series. He wanted to dominate. He wanted the opponents' blood and to not have a single loss on his resume.
A side note on Milo - Milo was obviously old and past prime when he returned in Summer 2020. He showed he was still a match for anyone on a tanking game, however the best version of Milo I played was not on the same level of Ehy. Ehy was far superior at defending rushes than Milo ever was. Lordy/Croboy type light tank rushes just simply wouldn't work against Ehy - on the other hand, Milo probably had an overall losing record on maps such as P4 and Money Map 2. Additionally, I can say with absolute confidence that Ehy would annihilate Milo in a soviet 1v1 scenario or in 2v2 format. All round peak Ehy was a far stronger player than peak Milo as he was more accomplished in more aspects of the game. Sure in straight up tanking Milo maybe even had an edge, but Ehy was ticking more boxes. I love Milo to bits and he is a legend of the game but this is my honest opinion.
There is one major edge Ehy had over everyone else which is often overlooked - mistake mitigation. Ehy simply made far fewer mistakes than other players. He was more robotic and game theory optimal play. Ford for example has a tendency to sometimes goof play, Jacob can do bad build orders on certain maps. Beast sometimes neglects production and Faust is liable to getting cheesed or rushed from time to time. These are all aspects which Ehy obsessively worked at in his game to iron out. He trained hard and desired to play mistake free Red Alert. You could describe him as the Novak Djokovic of Red Alert. Winning with consistency and no unforced errors. It is hard to recall Ehy having any real weaknesses as he had perfected every detail of his game. This is the major reason I place him above the rest of my opponents. I hope this makes sense.
The scary thing is we maybe never really saw peak Ehy, as he would often troll in games (especially 2v2s - which would annoy his partners! I had a few angry run ins with him). He also did not have someone really unlocking the best in him in an intense 1v1 rivalry as he dominated most of his 1v1 match ups. Imagine a world where we got to see Ehy vs Ford or Ehy vs Faust for example. You would get to see Ehy in his final form. I would absolutely bet on Ehy to win either matchup.
So yes, Ehy really does deserve the plaudits for his play in Red Alert. He stepped up to the plate and dominated his era of the game. I wasn't the biggest fan of him personality wise and we often clashed but I realise in hindsight he was just extremely competitive and I have nothing but respect for his play. His legend will live on through all ages for as long as this classic game survives. We hold out hope that one day he will return to CnCNet and put the new kids on the block in their place!
Hope you enjoyed reading.
Crushyboo