• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 07:05
CET 13:05
KST 21:05
  • 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
ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT28Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book19Clem wins HomeStory Cup 289HomeStory Cup 28 - Info & Preview13Rongyi Cup S3 - Preview & Info8
Community News
Weekly Cups (Feb 16-22): MaxPax doubles0Weekly Cups (Feb 9-15): herO doubles up2ACS replaced by "ASL Season Open" - Starts 21/0247LiuLi Cup: 2025 Grand Finals (Feb 10-16)46Weekly Cups (Feb 2-8): Classic, Solar, MaxPax win2
StarCraft 2
General
How do you think the 5.0.15 balance patch (Oct 2025) for StarCraft II has affected the game? Nexon's StarCraft game could be FPS, led by UMS maker ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT Oliveira Would Have Returned If EWC Continued Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book
Tourneys
PIG STY FESTIVAL 7.0! (19 Feb - 1 Mar) SEL Doubles (SC Evo Bimonthly) WardiTV Team League Season 10 RSL Season 4 announced for March-April The Dave Testa Open #11
Strategy
Custom Maps
Publishing has been re-enabled! [Feb 24th 2026] Map Editor closed ?
External Content
Mutation # 514 Ulnar New Year The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 513 Attrition Warfare Mutation # 512 Overclocked
Brood War
General
BW General Discussion TvZ is the most complete match up Soma Explains: JD's Unrelenting Aggro vs FlaSh CasterMuse Youtube ACS replaced by "ASL Season Open" - Starts 21/02
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues Small VOD Thread 2.0 Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 1 [LIVE] [S:21] ASL Season Open Day 1
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates Simple Questions, Simple Answers Zealot bombing is no longer popular?
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Battle Aces/David Kim RTS Megathread Path of Exile Beyond All Reason New broswer game : STG-World
Dota 2
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 Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
UK Politics Mega-thread US Politics Mega-thread YouTube Thread Mexico's Drug War Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
[Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books [Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion TL MMA Pick'em Pool 2013
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Laptop capable of using Photoshop Lightroom?
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
YOUTUBE VIDEO
XenOsky
Unintentional protectionism…
Uldridge
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Inside the Communication of …
TrAiDoS
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1692 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)9172 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
PiG Sty Festival
09:00
PiGFest 7 Playoffs Day 1
Serral vs MaruLIVE!
herO vs Solar
PiGStarcraft1812
ComeBackTV 1045
Rex197
IndyStarCraft 196
BRAT_OK 188
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
PiGStarcraft1812
Rex 197
IndyStarCraft 196
BRAT_OK 183
Lowko151
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 37980
Calm 8272
Sea 3802
Rain 1933
Horang2 1678
Jaedong 827
Stork 387
Snow 228
Soma 179
Light 149
[ Show more ]
ZerO 121
hero 114
Rush 100
Larva 92
Dewaltoss 89
Pusan 65
ToSsGirL 59
Shine 54
JulyZerg 47
JYJ 42
Backho 39
Killer 33
Barracks 31
Mind 30
EffOrt 29
Sharp 23
yabsab 23
Icarus 22
Movie 21
sorry 20
Bale 15
IntoTheRainbow 14
Hm[arnc] 13
ivOry 5
Dota 2
Gorgc2834
XcaliburYe74
Counter-Strike
olofmeister2123
pashabiceps1379
Other Games
singsing2809
B2W.Neo530
crisheroes332
Fuzer 144
Happy137
Mew2King62
QueenE49
NeuroSwarm39
ZerO(Twitch)12
Organizations
Counter-Strike
PGL357
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 11 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Stunt661
Upcoming Events
Big Brain Bouts
4h 55m
Shino vs DnS
SpeCial vs Mixu
TriGGeR vs Cure
Korean StarCraft League
14h 55m
PiG Sty Festival
20h 55m
Reynor vs Clem
ShowTime vs SHIN
CranKy Ducklings
21h 55m
OSC
22h 55m
SC Evo Complete
1d 1h
DaveTesta Events
1d 6h
AI Arena Tournament
1d 7h
Replay Cast
1d 11h
PiG Sty Festival
1d 20h
[ Show More ]
Sparkling Tuna Cup
1d 21h
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
2 days
Replay Cast
2 days
Wardi Open
2 days
Monday Night Weeklies
3 days
Replay Cast
3 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Replay Cast
5 days
The PondCast
5 days
KCM Race Survival
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-02-26
LiuLi Cup: 2025 Grand Finals
Underdog Cup #3

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 1
Acropolis #4 - TS5
Jeongseon Sooper Cup
Spring Cup 2026
WardiTV Winter 2026
PiG Sty Festival 7.0
Nations Cup 2026
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual
eXTREMESLAND 2025

Upcoming

[S:21] ASL SEASON OPEN 2nd Round
[S:21] ASL SEASON OPEN 2nd Round Qualifier
ASL Season 21: Qualifier #1
ASL Season 21: Qualifier #2
ASL Season 21
Acropolis #4 - TS6
Acropolis #4
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Bellum Gens Elite Stara Zagora 2026
RSL Revival: Season 4
NationLESS Cup
IEM Atlanta 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
FISSURE Playground #3
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
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.