• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 10:19
CEST 16:19
KST 23:19
  • 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
Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview4[ASL21] Finals Preview: Two Legacies21Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO12 Preview2herO wins GSL Code S Season 1 (2026)7Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO4 & Finals Preview5
Community News
Weekly Cups (May 18-25): MaxPax wins doubles0Crank Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League4Weekly Cups (May 11-17): Classic wins double0Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO8 Results2Weekly Cups (May 4-10): Clem, MaxPax, herO win1
StarCraft 2
General
herO wins GSL Code S Season 1 (2026) Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview Weekly Cups (May 18-25): MaxPax wins doubles Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO12 Preview Weekly Cups (May 11-17): Classic wins double
Tourneys
GSL Code S Season 2 (2026) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Crank Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League GSL Code S Season 1 (2026) Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule !
Strategy
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3 [A] Nemrods 1/4 players
External Content
Welcome to the External Content forum Mutation # 527 Hell Train The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 526 Rubber and Glue
Brood War
General
Pros React To: ASL S21 Finals Every Matchup's Top 5 Winrates (all ASLs & KSLs) BW General Discussion Very long shot - StarCraft x A7X video Pros React to: TvT Masterclass in FlaSh vs Light
Tourneys
[ASL21] Grand Finals Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2 [BSL22] WB Final & LB Semis - Saturday 21:00 CEST [Megathread] Daily Proleagues
Strategy
Any training maps people recommend? Muta micro map competition [G] Hydra ZvZ: An Introduction Fighting Spirit mining rates
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread ZeroSpace Megathread Path of Exile Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Dawn of War IV
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 Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Trading/Investing Thread Dating: How's your luck? European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread McBoner: A hockey love story TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Facing Challenges in Mobile App Development streaming software
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Customization Drives Loyalty…
TrAiDoS
Why RTS gamers make better f…
gosubay
ramps on octagon
StaticNine
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1843 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
WardiTV Spring Champion…
12:00
Group Stage 1 - Group C
Ryung vs Strange
Lambo vs Ryung
WardiTV788
TKL 204
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Ryung 387
TKL 207
elazer 69
ProTech67
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 42289
Calm 5880
EffOrt 1163
Jaedong 995
Mini 829
Horang2 590
ggaemo 444
Light 293
actioN 263
BeSt 250
[ Show more ]
Soulkey 232
firebathero 205
Leta 113
Last 87
hero 80
Mind 80
Sharp 75
Rush 67
Pusan 64
Barracks 62
ToSsGirL 47
Aegong 43
Sea.KH 42
Rock 31
Terrorterran 26
Movie 24
Shinee 23
soO 22
zelot 21
GoRush 18
Sacsri 18
ajuk12(nOOB) 15
IntoTheRainbow 13
Sexy 11
Shine 10
Noble 9
Icarus 6
Dota 2
qojqva1273
Dendi1258
Heroes of the Storm
XaKoH 105
Other Games
B2W.Neo895
hiko734
Lowko478
Mlord448
DeMusliM287
Hui .238
Mew2King96
Beastyqt65
ArmadaUGS55
Organizations
Counter-Strike
PGL313
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 14 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• poizon28 7
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Nemesis1992
• Jankos1763
• TFBlade694
Upcoming Events
OSC
4h 41m
Cham vs Percival
ShoWTimE vs Lambo
Krystianer vs sebesdes
Cure vs Babymarine
SKillous vs Arrogfire
Gerald vs MindelVK
goblin vs TBD
Jumy vs HonMonO
Replay Cast
9h 41m
Maestros of the Game
22h 41m
Big Brain Bouts
1d 1h
Shino vs Scarlett
Bly vs DnS
Serral vs ByuN
Replay Cast
1d 9h
RSL Revival
1d 16h
Lambo vs SHIN
Solar vs Rogue
herO vs Clem
Maestros of the Game
1d 20h
IPSL
2 days
ZZZero vs WorsT
Julia vs eOnzErG
BSL
2 days
TerrOr vs Dewalt
Bonyth vs eOnzErG
Replay Cast
2 days
[ Show More ]
RSL Revival
2 days
Maestros of the Game
2 days
OSC
2 days
IPSL
3 days
Dragon vs Artosis
dxtr13 vs Hawk
BSL
3 days
Wardi Open
3 days
Monday Night Weeklies
4 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
WardiTV Spring Champion…
4 days
Maestros of the Game
5 days
The PondCast
5 days
Maestros of the Game
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
WardiTV Spring Champion…
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

ASL Season 21
2026 GSL S1
Heroes Pulsing #1

Ongoing

2026 KK StarCraft Pro League
BSL Season 22
IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
KK 2v2 League Season 1
Acropolis #4
CSCL: Masked Kings S4
SCTL 2026 Spring
WardiTV Spring 2026
2026 GSL S2
RSL Revival: Season 5
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
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S2: King of Kings
YSL S3
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Maestros of the Game 2
Bounty Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 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.