• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 11:55
CEST 17:55
KST 00:55
  • 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
Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners6Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting & Ladder Map Selection7Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview5[ASL21] Finals Preview: Two Legacies21
Community News
Douyu Cup 2026: $20,000 Legends Event (June 26-28)8[BSL22] Non-Korean Championship from 13 to 28 June4Weekly Cups (May 25-31): Clem doubles, 2v2 circuit heads toward finale0StarCraft II 5.0.16 PTR Patch Notes may 26th153Weekly Cups (May 18-24): MaxPax wins doubles0
StarCraft 2
General
High level ptr replays? where can I find them? StarCraft II 5.0.16 PTR Patch Notes may 26th Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners TL Poll: How do you feel about the 5.0.16 PTR balance changes? TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting & Ladder Map Selection
Tourneys
Douyu Cup 2026: $20,000 Legends Event (June 26-28) Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule ! Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond) GSL Code S Season 2 (2026)
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 529 Opportunities Unleashed Mutation # 528 Infection Detected Welcome to the External Content forum
Brood War
General
Quality of life changes in BW that you will like ? [BSL22] Non-Korean Championship from 13 to 28 June BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ vespene.gg — BW replays in browser The Korean Terminology Thread
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL21] Grand Finals [BSL22] Grand Finals - Sunday 21:00 CEST Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2
Strategy
Creating a full chart of Zerg builds Relatively freeroll strategies Why doesn't anyone use restoration? Any training maps people recommend?
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread PC Games Sales Thread ZeroSpace Megathread Summer Games Done Quick 2026!
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
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
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Trading/Investing Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books [TV/BOOK] *SPOILERS* Game of Thrones Discussion [Manga] One Piece
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Cricket [SPORT] TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 NBA General Discussion McBoner: A hockey love story
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Facing Challenges in Mobile App Development
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
How Streaming Impacts Game P…
TrAiDoS
An Exploration of th…
waywardstrategy
I'm an arrogant trash talke…
FlaShFTW
Gauntlet SC2: A Retrospectiv…
Ctone23
Why RTS gamers make better f…
gosubay
ramps on octagon
StaticNine
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 6654 users

PvP: A Game of Poker

Blogs > zeratultassadar
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
zeratultassadar
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Australia30 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-05-05 02:34:35
May 05 2010 02:33 GMT
#1
I believe that toss vs toss is, moreso than any other mirror matchup, similar to a game of poker. What's difficult about it is the difficulty of scouting, especially in the early game but also when observers come into play.

Lemme give you an example.

You go 2 gate. You scout the opponent. He has 2 zealots blocking his ramp and he brings in maybe 2 goons after that. You have no way of knowing for sure whether he will go dark templar, shuttle/reaver or simply play standard - going for goons/zealots.

Let's say you go observatory or cannons to defend against dts. But let's suppose your opponent skipped dts altogether, instead opting for mass goons. This puts you at a disadvantage. Or he might have gone shuttle/reaver, in which case all your probes might disappear in the next 10 seconds unless you defend against it. This also leaves your front door slightly more vulnerable though. Once observers pop out, you either see the guy's 200/200 army (at which point it's too late to do anything), or your observer gets sniped by cannons or enemy observes.

Basically, you always need to guess whether your opponent is teching or massing units. And that's a pretty darn difficult choice to make, especially in an rts game.

Of course, this runs both ways. Neither toss player knows exactly what the other guy is up to. At this point it becomes almost like a game of poker, where you can only make an educated guess as to what hand your opponent has and "bluffing" becomes a part of the game.


EDIT: LOL I'm not sure why poker is underlined...

*
Kezzer
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
United States1268 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-05-05 02:34:44
May 05 2010 02:34 GMT
#2
On May 05 2010 11:33 zeratultassadar wrote:
I believe that toss vs toss is, moreso than any other mirror matchup, similar to a game of poker. What's difficult about it is the difficulty of scouting, especially in the early game but also when observers come into play.

Lemme give you an example.

You go 2 gate. You scout the opponent. He has 2 zealots blocking his ramp and he brings in maybe 2 goons after that. You have no way of knowing for sure whether he will go dark templar, reaver/shuttle or simplay play standard - going for goons/zealots.

Let's say you go observatory or cannons to defend against dts. But let's suppose your opponent skipped dts altogether, instead opting for mass goons. This puts you at a disadvantage. Or he might have gone shuttle/reaver, in which case all your probes might disappear in the next 10 seconds unless you defend against it. This also leaves your front door slightly more vulnerable though. Once observers pop out, you either see the guy's 200/200 army (at which point it's too late to do anything), or your observer gets sniped by cannons or enemy observes.

Basically, you always need to guess whether your opponent is teching or massing units. And that's a pretty darn difficult choice to make, especially in an rts game.

Of course, this runs both ways. Neither toss player knows exactly what the other guy is up to. At this point it becomes almost like a game of poker, where you can only make an educated guess as to what hand your opponent has and "bluffing" becomes a part of the game.


EDIT: LOL I'm not sure why poker is underlined...


because of liquid poker, i believe it auto links it

edit: or not, because mine's not linked lol
exalted
Profile Blog Joined March 2004
United States3612 Posts
May 05 2010 02:36 GMT
#3
i'm allin!
too easy
Rekrul
Profile Blog Joined November 2002
Korea (South)17174 Posts
May 05 2010 02:37 GMT
#4
rock paper scissors would be a much better comparison than poker
why so 진지해?
Rodiel
Profile Joined August 2006
France573 Posts
May 05 2010 02:38 GMT
#5
rock paper scissors is poker.
Carthac
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
United States393 Posts
May 05 2010 02:41 GMT
#6
On May 05 2010 11:38 Rodiel wrote:
rock paper scissors is poker.


Easily the most ignorant statement of the day today.

Don't comment on things you don't understand please
blahman3344
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
United States2015 Posts
May 05 2010 02:45 GMT
#7
i have to say, of all my matchups, i find PvP to be the most annoying for me. I usually find that i can keep my scout alive long enough to see smaller things like core timings and whatnot, but i usually depend on observers to tell me what build my opponent is going.
I like haikus and / I can not lie. You other / brothers can't deny
floor exercise
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
Canada5847 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-05-05 02:48:07
May 05 2010 02:47 GMT
#8
I would say it's more like horseshoes.

lemme give you an example.

You go 2 gate, and you throw zealots at your opponents base. This is very similar to throwing a horseshoe at a metal rod, just like in the game horseshoes. Sometimes your throw hits and you win the game, other times you miss and have to throw again (this would be like switching tech) other times your opponent is a huge faggot and force fields his ramp so your perfectly tossed horseshoe bounces in some random ass direction and ends up in the neighbors yard because the AI fucking sucks fuck this game I hate horses
Rekrul
Profile Blog Joined November 2002
Korea (South)17174 Posts
May 05 2010 02:48 GMT
#9
On May 05 2010 11:47 floor exercise wrote:
I would say it's more like horseshoes.

lemme give you an example.

You go 2 gate, and you throw zealots at your opponents base. This is very similar to throwing a horseshoe at a metal rod, just like in the game horseshoes. Sometimes your throw hits and you win the game, other times you miss and have to throw again (this would be like switching tech) other times your opponent is a huge faggot and force fields his ramp so your perfectly tossed horseshoe bounces in some random ass direction and ends up in the neighbors yard because the AI fucking sucks fuck this game I hate horses


LMAO u have a good point
why so 진지해?
Ftrunkz
Profile Blog Joined April 2007
Australia2474 Posts
May 05 2010 02:54 GMT
#10
On May 05 2010 11:41 Carthac wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 05 2010 11:38 Rodiel wrote:
rock paper scissors is poker.


Easily the most ignorant statement of the day today.

Don't comment on things you don't understand please

He was more pointing out that if you're going to simplify PvP that much, you might as well simplify poker that much as well... I assume ;P
@NvPinder on twitter | Member of Gamecom Nv | http://www.clan-ta.com | http://www.youtube.com/user/ftrunkz | http://www.twitchtv.com/xghpinder
shinjin
Profile Joined January 2010
United States398 Posts
May 05 2010 03:24 GMT
#11
On May 05 2010 11:47 floor exercise wrote:
I would say it's more like horseshoes.

lemme give you an example.

You go 2 gate, and you throw zealots at your opponents base. This is very similar to throwing a horseshoe at a metal rod, just like in the game horseshoes. Sometimes your throw hits and you win the game, other times you miss and have to throw again (this would be like switching tech) other times your opponent is a huge faggot and force fields his ramp so your perfectly tossed horseshoe bounces in some random ass direction and ends up in the neighbors yard because the AI fucking sucks fuck this game I hate horses


lol oh my god this is classic
give it one more try because the best things in life dont come free.
Carthac
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
United States393 Posts
May 05 2010 03:24 GMT
#12
On May 05 2010 11:54 Ftrunkz wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 05 2010 11:41 Carthac wrote:
On May 05 2010 11:38 Rodiel wrote:
rock paper scissors is poker.


Easily the most ignorant statement of the day today.

Don't comment on things you don't understand please

He was more pointing out that if you're going to simplify PvP that much, you might as well simplify poker that much as well... I assume ;P


I'm pretty sure that he said poker is rock paper scissors, which is a game of chance, unless you play like rock paper scissors tournaments on ESPN lolol
zobz
Profile Joined November 2005
Canada2175 Posts
May 05 2010 03:37 GMT
#13
On May 05 2010 11:34 BDF92 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 05 2010 11:33 zeratultassadar wrote:
I believe that toss vs toss is, moreso than any other mirror matchup, similar to a game of poker. What's difficult about it is the difficulty of scouting, especially in the early game but also when observers come into play.

Lemme give you an example.

You go 2 gate. You scout the opponent. He has 2 zealots blocking his ramp and he brings in maybe 2 goons after that. You have no way of knowing for sure whether he will go dark templar, reaver/shuttle or simplay play standard - going for goons/zealots.

Let's say you go observatory or cannons to defend against dts. But let's suppose your opponent skipped dts altogether, instead opting for mass goons. This puts you at a disadvantage. Or he might have gone shuttle/reaver, in which case all your probes might disappear in the next 10 seconds unless you defend against it. This also leaves your front door slightly more vulnerable though. Once observers pop out, you either see the guy's 200/200 army (at which point it's too late to do anything), or your observer gets sniped by cannons or enemy observes.

Basically, you always need to guess whether your opponent is teching or massing units. And that's a pretty darn difficult choice to make, especially in an rts game.

Of course, this runs both ways. Neither toss player knows exactly what the other guy is up to. At this point it becomes almost like a game of poker, where you can only make an educated guess as to what hand your opponent has and "bluffing" becomes a part of the game.


EDIT: LOL I'm not sure why poker is underlined...


because of liquid poker, i believe it auto links it

edit: or not, because mine's not linked lol
God dammit stop quoting the entire OP just to post a two-liner immediately after. Chances are, you don't even need to quote anything because it's obvious what you're responding to. People's memories certainly don't need to be refreshed as to what that guy way above your head had said. It's not like it's a post buried under two pages of other stuff.
"That's not gonna be good for business." "That's not gonna be good for anybody."
FraCuS
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
United States1072 Posts
May 05 2010 03:38 GMT
#14
The World Series of RPS 2020

RPS = Rock Paper Scissors.
Apink/Girl's Day/miss A/IU/Crayon Pop/Sistar/Exo K :D l Kpop and Kdrama Enthusiast
Whiplash
Profile Blog Joined October 2008
United States2929 Posts
May 05 2010 04:53 GMT
#15
Ya me and my clanmates refer to PvP as a rock paper scissors match, blizz should do something about that imo.
Cinematographer / Steadicam Operator. Former Starcraft commentator/player
lazz
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Australia3119 Posts
May 05 2010 05:17 GMT
#16
if you think pvp is simply rock paper scissors you dont play enough starcraft
Methos
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
United States206 Posts
May 05 2010 05:33 GMT
#17
As a Z player, I hated ZvZ BO advantage so bad that I switched to Protoss. Little did I know that PvP is equally, if not more BO advantage
Scarecrow
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
Korea (South)9174 Posts
May 05 2010 05:34 GMT
#18
On May 05 2010 11:47 floor exercise wrote:
I would say it's more like horseshoes.

lemme give you an example.

You go 2 gate, and you throw zealots at your opponents base. This is very similar to throwing a horseshoe at a metal rod, just like in the game horseshoes. Sometimes your throw hits and you win the game, other times you miss and have to throw again (this would be like switching tech) other times your opponent is a huge faggot and force fields his ramp so your perfectly tossed horseshoe bounces in some random ass direction and ends up in the neighbors yard because the AI fucking sucks fuck this game I hate horses


This is way better than the OP
Yhamm is the god of predictions
KH1031
Profile Blog Joined April 2003
United States862 Posts
May 05 2010 05:54 GMT
#19
From my experience:
1. You really need to keep your scout for as long as possible
2. There is a point that you simply cannot scout anymore. This is where A LOT of inference drawing comes up...I suppose better players smell foul play better...be it the position of the opponent's army, scout (or the lack thereof) timing.

If I'm not sure, I go 3 gate zlot rush and pray that my opponent's base has a short rush distance. Better to take luck in my own hands than to hope that my opponent doesn't do something gay.
Severedevil
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States4839 Posts
May 05 2010 06:52 GMT
#20
I usually don't even bother scouting my opponent's main unless it's a two player map. I'd rather have a clean, tight build order that squeezes the most out of my money, and then use the units which cannot mine minerals that I've paid for to find out what the opponent is up to. Trying to play a reactive game usually means everything you do is late.
My strategy is to fork people.
1 2 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
15:00
Season Finals: Group Stage 2
RotterdaM673
TaKeTV 336
SteadfastSC206
IndyStarCraft 162
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Serral 1835
uThermal 1257
RotterdaM 673
mouzHeroMarine 245
SteadfastSC 206
IndyStarCraft 162
LamboSC2 42
BRAT_OK 32
Classic 21
SpiritSC2 16
sc2solar 11
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 35032
EffOrt 1451
Shuttle 1282
actioN 305
BeSt 244
Leta 138
Mind 110
hero 109
ggaemo 70
Hyun 67
[ Show more ]
910 59
Barracks 49
Pusan 41
Movie 34
Rock 28
Terrorterran 22
GoRush 22
Sacsri 17
IntoTheRainbow 17
soO 17
ajuk12(nOOB) 13
NaDa 11
Dota 2
Dendi2234
syndereN496
LuMiX1
Counter-Strike
fl0m7774
Other Games
gofns41754
tarik_tv8379
singsing2821
Grubby815
Mlord546
B2W.Neo523
crisheroes266
Hui .220
SHIN 173
XaKoH 136
DeMusliM117
ArmadaUGS86
Mew2King60
KnowMe30
Trikslyr7
Organizations
Other Games
EGCTV839
BasetradeTV194
StarCraft 2
angryscii 20
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 18 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Shameless 31
• iHatsuTV 11
• Migwel
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• sooper7s
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
StarCraft: Brood War
• Michael_bg 11
• FirePhoenix9
• HerbMon 2
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
League of Legends
• Nemesis2671
Other Games
• WagamamaTV545
• Shiphtur146
Upcoming Events
BSL22 NKC (BSL vs China)
3h 5m
eOnzErG vs Mihu
Messiah vs XuanXuan
Jaystar vs TerrOr
Dewalt vs Bonyth
eOnzErG vs XuanXuan
Mihu vs TerrOr
Messiah vs Bonyth
Sparkling Tuna Cup
18h 5m
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
23h 5m
BSL22 NKC (BSL vs China)
1d 3h
Jaystar vs Dewalt
eOnzErG vs TerrOr
XuanXuan vs Bonyth
Mihu vs Dewalt
Messiah vs Jaystar
eOnzErG vs Bonyth
TerrOr vs Dewalt
Wardi Open
1d 19h
OSC
2 days
Replay Cast
3 days
The PondCast
4 days
Replay Cast
5 days
OSC
5 days
[ Show More ]
CranKy Ducklings
5 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Acropolis #4 - GSB
2026 GSL S2
Heroes Pulsing #1

Ongoing

IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
Acropolis #4
CSCL: Masked Kings S4
YSL S3
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
SCTL 2026 Spring
Maestros of the Game 2
WardiTV Spring 2026
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Murky Cup 2026
Heroes Pulsing #2
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1

Upcoming

CSLAN 4
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
HSC XXIX
Douyu Cup 2026
Heroes Pulsing #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 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.