Can't think of anyone to add except DanZeal, for starting jjnet and hosting dedicated servers for so many years, completely changing what playing jj2 was like. In the past, you had to ask tons of people on msn before you could play a game and one of them had to be able to host. Clan activity was also very low and had been so for a couple of years except around the very few tournaments before the ladder started.

Too lazy to argue with Treylina's supply-side theories of the growth of the competitive scene, but I'd like to add that I doubt anyone is receiving a lot of appreciation for any JJ2 accomplishment outside of the Jj2 community whether it's winning a tournament, creating a popular level or being able to keep a computer running around the clock and occasionally restarting crashed software. I guess it's slightly different if you make fan art, as the art as such can interest a wider audience?