• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 10:53
CEST 16:53
KST 23:53
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt2: All Star10Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists16[ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt1: Fresh Flow9[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash10[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0
Community News
2026 GSL Season 1 Qualifiers19Maestros of the Game 2 announced92026 GSL Tour plans announced15Weekly Cups (April 6-12): herO doubles, "Villains" prevail1MaNa leaves Team Liquid25
StarCraft 2
General
MaNa leaves Team Liquid Maestros of the Game 2 announced 2026 GSL Tour plans announced Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool
Tourneys
Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament 2026 GSL Season 1 Qualifiers INu's Battles#14 <BO.9 2Matches> GSL CK: More events planned pending crowdfunding RSL Revival: Season 5 - Qualifiers and Main Event
Strategy
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3 [A] Nemrods 1/4 players [M] (2) Frigid Storage
External Content
Mutation # 522 Flip My Base The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 521 Memorable Boss Mutation # 520 Moving Fees
Brood War
General
Leta's ASL S21 Ro.16 review FlaSh: This Will Be My Final ASL【ASL S21 Ro.16】 BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ ASL21 General Discussion BW General Discussion
Tourneys
[ASL21] Ro16 Group D [Megathread] Daily Proleagues Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2 [ASL21] Ro16 Group C
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers What's the deal with APM & what's its true value Any training maps people recommend? Fighting Spirit mining rates
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Dawn of War IV Diablo IV Total Annihilation Server - TAForever Starcraft Tabletop Miniature Game
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming
League of Legends
G2 just beat GenG in First stand
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread YouTube Thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books Movie Discussion!
Sports
Formula 1 Discussion 2024 - 2026 Football Thread McBoner: A hockey love story
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Strange computer issues (software) [G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Sexual Health Of Gamers
TrAiDoS
lurker extra damage testi…
StaticNine
Broowar part 2
qwaykee
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1845 users

imbalances and playing percentages

Blogs > esla_sol
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
esla_sol
Profile Blog Joined September 2008
United States756 Posts
December 12 2009 18:54 GMT
#1
please note: this post is about warcraft 3.

orc vs ud on temple is the most imbalanced matchup in the game. im guessing if someone were to compile statistics the orc winning % would probably be around 80%. most undeads just thumb the map down. i have a different view on things.

over the last few months, ive been toying with high risk openings in order to try and solve the imbalance through probability. the goal is to give myself the greatest chance to win the game, even if the odds are against me.

my high risk strategy of choice: dreadlord fast expand. if you are not familiar with war3, this type of opening can be extremely vulnerable. its not neccessairly hit or miss if scouted, although i would prefer to remain unscouted, the strategy is vulnerable if a few things which i can not control happen. summed up, these are:

1. position
2. item drops

position. if the orc spawns close to the expo when im at the 6 or 12 o clock positions, i can safely assume i will lose 90% of the time to a demo/tower push.

item drops. if the orc creeps the middle, and book of the dead drops, i will lose 99% of the time if close positions as detailed above. if positions in my favor, then i would say my chances increase to about 70%. this is still very bad.

as you can see, if a few random things happen during the game, all i can do is say gg and move on. however, more often than not, the orc does not get an advantaged spawn, and book of the dead does not drop (i'd love to dwelve deeper into these numbers, but that extends beyond the scope of the post). in this case, my chances of winning have literally skyrocketed. without getting into detail of how the games tend to play out, i estimate my odds of winning these games at 7 to 3 or 8 to 2. pretty huge difference.

essentially what i have done is taken a sure thing for the orc and created volatility. i dont expect to take every game, but by rolling the dice, ive increased my chances greatly. using this principle, ive begun using this strategy on more and more maps. on my most recent ladder account, this has increased my undead vs orc % to close to 66%, greater than any previous accounts ive had (my other stats are 66 v hu, 71 v ud, 85 v ne).

in short: adding high risk and volatile moves can greatly increase your chances of winning against imbalances. one should always be looking out for situations to find these.



***
arb
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
Noobville17922 Posts
December 12 2009 19:00 GMT
#2
this is a quality post i think but can you give some of us non wc3 players some insight on what book of the dead and some of the other things you talk about mean?

liek what is a tower/demo push?
Artillery spawned from the forges of Hell
maga33
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
United States247 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-12-12 19:05:31
December 12 2009 19:01 GMT
#3
wait this is talking about lost temple right?

Ya orc is way op on lost temple. I've seen my friend creep it with a level 2 blademaster and 3 grunts.

EDIT: When you kill creeps, the stronger ones drop items. The book of the dead is a powerful weapon that raises skeletal warriors and archers for a limited time to fight for you. I believe the total number is something like 8 or 12. In warcraft you rarely push pass 50 food early so having an extra 8/12 units is a huge plus.

Tower rush is pretty much like cannon rushes in BW. Its just that you usually need a lumber mill to get it so you usually rush at tier 2. You also usually rush to contain you opponent in order for you to be able to creep/level up hero/expo instead of rushing to kill.
The victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.
esla_sol
Profile Blog Joined September 2008
United States756 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-12-12 19:06:45
December 12 2009 19:04 GMT
#4
On December 13 2009 04:00 arb wrote:
this is a quality post i think but can you give some of us non wc3 players some insight on what book of the dead and some of the other things you talk about mean?

liek what is a tower/demo push?


book of the dead is an item that can drop from the middle gnolls on lost temple. it spawns a bunch of skeletons, melee and ranged. it is especially deadly because all orc units are large sized, and thus with proper sim city can not attack acoltyes (your workers) at your expansion or main. if an orc uses the book of the dead, however, the skeletons are small enough to fit in the cracks and attack your acolytes, making it very difficult to defend.
IceCube
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Croatia1403 Posts
December 12 2009 19:28 GMT
#5
On December 13 2009 04:04 esla_sol wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 13 2009 04:00 arb wrote:
this is a quality post i think but can you give some of us non wc3 players some insight on what book of the dead and some of the other things you talk about mean?

liek what is a tower/demo push?


book of the dead is an item that can drop from the middle gnolls on lost temple. it spawns a bunch of skeletons, melee and ranged. it is especially deadly because all orc units are large sized, and thus with proper sim city can not attack acoltyes (your workers) at your expansion or main. if an orc uses the book of the dead, however, the skeletons are small enough to fit in the cracks and attack your acolytes, making it very difficult to defend.

Just use siege tanks then and pop a vulture or two.
Great post, if you play WC3 that is...
Forever Vulture.. :(
maga33
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
United States247 Posts
December 12 2009 19:36 GMT
#6
I started with wc3 but then i transitioned into sc.

Imo sc is more interesting. wc3 has had the same maps for like 4 years. Its just a competition of who can do the same thing better where as sc there is more adaptation.
The victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.
NFL2368
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
United States112 Posts
December 12 2009 19:40 GMT
#7
lol orc is the protoss and the terran of war3 at the same time

easiest to learn

easiest to play at the highest level
Tuke
Profile Joined January 2009
Finland1666 Posts
December 12 2009 20:45 GMT
#8
On December 13 2009 04:40 NFL2368 wrote:
lol orc is the protoss and the terran of war3 at the same time

easiest to learn

easiest to play at the highest level

Only to learn and play on low levels, definitely not on high level
TeamLiquid CJ Entusman #42
Severedevil
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States4839 Posts
December 12 2009 21:01 GMT
#9
If this Book of the Dead is a huge problem for you, can you steal the item with a potion of invisibility? (Consider disabling the Blademaster with Sleep, so he 100% cannot beat you to the item.)

I dunno how to deal with positional imbalances, except to scout your opponent and skip the fast expand if positions make it non viable. (Or maybe expand to a different position than your natural.)
My strategy is to fork people.
CharlieMurphy
Profile Blog Joined March 2006
United States22895 Posts
December 12 2009 21:41 GMT
#10
On December 13 2009 06:01 Severedevil wrote:
If this Book of the Dead is a huge problem for you, can you steal the item with a potion of invisibility? (Consider disabling the Blademaster with Sleep, so he 100% cannot beat you to the item.)

I dunno how to deal with positional imbalances, except to scout your opponent and skip the fast expand if positions make it non viable. (Or maybe expand to a different position than your natural.)

what mobs drop the book exactly? The fountain? or the Ogres on the sides?
..and then I would, ya know, check em'. (Aka SpoR)
old times sake
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
165 Posts
December 12 2009 22:50 GMT
#11
You mean they still haven't finished War3? I quit playing because it was like this. SC is better. What are your thoughts on SC2? I would like to hear from more War3 players about this, maybe make a blog post about it if that's allowed.
Lol it's so funny watching the level of posting deteriorate so rapidly when supporters of this decision are confronted with such nefarious things as REASONS. --fanatacist
Lazzarrath
Profile Joined September 2009
United States1 Post
December 24 2009 04:57 GMT
#12
I usually leave it thumbs up, because its a fun map for every match up besides UDvOC
Out of curiosity why dreadlord? you can creep the natural on LT with 5 ghouls, so why DL over DK? I agree with you on the crazy strats vs imbalance idea though. I have like 80% vs orcs or something because I always use unusual builds(lich tower push, ghouls, fast expo, TeD fiends etc) and a lot of bnet orcs cant do anything but cookie cut.
wars begin when you will but they do not end when you please
TheAntZ
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Israel6248 Posts
December 24 2009 05:20 GMT
#13
please put it in simpler terms for us wc3 noobs if you have some time
43084 | Honeybadger: "So july, you're in the GSL finals. How do you feel?!" ~ July: "HUNGRY."
writer22816
Profile Blog Joined September 2008
United States5775 Posts
December 24 2009 08:48 GMT
#14
Does anyone know the TL-equivalent of War3? I'd like to get a little into the game.
8/4/12 never forget, never forgive.
Comeh
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
United States18919 Posts
December 24 2009 09:01 GMT
#15
On December 24 2009 17:48 writer22816 wrote:
Does anyone know the TL-equivalent of War3? I'd like to get a little into the game.

I can't help you too much in terms of forums, but if you would like to see some pro games, here is a good start (with some decent shout casting that is relatively humorous)
http://www.gomtv.net/videos/?page=7&cate=12&sort=regdate&keyfield=&key=
ヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(⌐■_■)ノDELETE ICEFROGヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(⌐■_■)ノヽ(
ArvickHero
Profile Blog Joined October 2007
10387 Posts
December 24 2009 09:14 GMT
#16
So how come Blizzard hasn't tried to balance this seemingly horribly imba MU?
Writerptrk
WheelOfTime
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
Canada331 Posts
December 24 2009 09:39 GMT
#17
On December 24 2009 18:14 ArvickHero wrote:
So how come Blizzard hasn't tried to balance this seemingly horribly imba MU?


Same reason why they left zvp the way it is
Intr3pid
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
Switzerland336 Posts
December 24 2009 12:49 GMT
#18
WC3 is just a horrible horrible game, shit like creeping and dropluck just has nothing to do in a competitive game IMO. Aside from that, would be nicer if you translated your finding into a SC or more general setting since like said, WC3 ist just a horrible game.
dijpak
Profile Joined December 2009
United States2 Posts
December 24 2009 12:53 GMT
#19
A few bits of info for those who don't play war3.

Book of the dead summons a group of skeletons for a limited time, and the item is consumed. Most races can dispel summons but Undead has to reach tier3 tech, get an upgrade, and have the proper unit to use dispel. On the other hand the Orc can clear out the creeps possibly holding the book with their hero and 3 grunts (the orc starting unit).

Most games, an Undead does not expand at all. A fast expansion at the beginning is a drastically different opening.

There are quite a few articles and such going around on pro sites about whether Orc is imbalanced, particularly against UD, and the current prevailing opinion in the community is that they are.

The best site for Warcraft 3 is www.wcreplays.com. There is a LOT of content to be viewed between the replay archive, audio commentaries, and forums.

There is truly no cure for the poor spawn position on LT. When you begin a game with UD you need to place your first buildings with a specific strategy in mind. It's a bit like rushing with 6 zerglings. At around the 1 minute mark you begin training your hero, and the dreadlord is good at fast expo but terrible at fighting a regular game versus orc.

You could theoretically follow the blademaster around while invis and steal the book, but the potion might not become available soon enough to you while the Orc can creep the middle very soon in the game. Besides you don't have any spare units to use for keeping tabs on either the orc or the fountain, the distances involved are far, and the blademaster is invisible himself much of the time making finding him not so easy.
Oh fudge!
MrHoon *
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
10183 Posts
December 24 2009 12:56 GMT
#20
Im serious, there has got to be better melee map makers in the War3 Community

Turtle Rock and Gnoll Woods make me rage whenever I see them play on those maps
OVER AND OVER

goddamnit get a better map pool
dats racist
1 2 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
11:00
Playoffs Day 4
Clem vs SHINLIVE!
MaxPax vs TBD
WardiTV1725
IntoTheiNu 812
TKL 604
Ryung 506
IndyStarCraft 330
Rex185
3DClanTV 131
EnkiAlexander 44
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
TKL 604
Ryung 506
IndyStarCraft 330
Rex 185
Railgan 127
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 42373
Calm 4277
Horang2 1777
EffOrt 1303
Mini 851
Light 460
firebathero 412
actioN 332
ggaemo 314
ZerO 210
[ Show more ]
Last 80
Hyun 70
Sharp 67
Sea.KH 61
Shinee 43
Sexy 39
NotJumperer 34
Killer 31
HiyA 27
Shine 21
Rock 18
IntoTheRainbow 17
Sacsri 16
Terrorterran 14
Hm[arnc] 14
SilentControl 10
GoRush 10
Dota 2
Gorgc7265
qojqva731
BananaSlamJamma120
Counter-Strike
byalli1676
allub341
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King98
Heroes of the Storm
Khaldor908
Liquid`Hasu340
Other Games
singsing2060
B2W.Neo1283
Beastyqt642
XBOCT237
XaKoH 147
RotterdaM117
QueenE116
KnowMe33
ZerO(Twitch)25
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream23992
StarCraft: Brood War
Kim Chul Min (afreeca) 10
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 14 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• C_a_k_e 1382
League of Legends
• Nemesis2945
• Jankos2095
Other Games
• WagamamaTV153
Upcoming Events
Ladder Legends
7m
Solar vs GgMaChine
Bunny vs Cham
ByuN vs MaxPax
BSL
4h 7m
CranKy Ducklings
9h 7m
Replay Cast
18h 7m
Wardi Open
19h 7m
Afreeca Starleague
19h 7m
Soma vs hero
Monday Night Weeklies
1d 1h
Replay Cast
1d 9h
Replay Cast
1d 18h
Afreeca Starleague
1d 19h
Leta vs YSC
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
3 days
The PondCast
3 days
KCM Race Survival
3 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Escore
4 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
IPSL
6 days
Ret vs Art_Of_Turtle
Radley vs TBD
BSL
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Escore Tournament S2: W4
RSL Revival: Season 4
NationLESS Cup

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
ASL Season 21
CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
StarCraft2 Community Team League 2026 Spring
WardiTV TLMC #16
Nations Cup 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S2: W5
Acropolis #4
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Maestros of the Game 2
2026 GSL S2
RSL Revival: Season 5
2026 GSL S1
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.