• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 16:08
CEST 22:08
KST 05:08
  • 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 Pt1: Fresh Flow1[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash10[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy21ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT30
Community News
$5,000 WardiTV TLMC tournament - Presented by Monster Energy4GSL CK: More events planned pending crowdfunding7Weekly Cups (May 30-Apr 5): herO, Clem, SHIN win0[BSL22] RO32 Group Stage5Weekly Cups (March 23-29): herO takes triple6
StarCraft 2
General
MaNa leaves Team Liquid Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy Quebec Clan still alive ? BGE Stara Zagora 2026 cancelled Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool
Tourneys
$5,000 WardiTV TLMC tournament - Presented by Monster Energy Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament RSL Revival: Season 5 - Qualifiers and Main Event GSL CK: More events planned pending crowdfunding Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond)
Strategy
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3 [A] Nemrods 1/4 players [M] (2) Frigid Storage
External Content
Mutation # 521 Memorable Boss The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 520 Moving Fees Mutation # 519 Inner Power
Brood War
General
The Korean Terminology Thread so ive been playing broodwar for a week straight. [ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt1: Fresh Flow ASL21 General Discussion BW General Discussion
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2 [ASL21] Ro24 Group F [BSL22] RO32 Group B - Sunday 21:00 CEST
Strategy
Any training maps people recommend? Fighting Spirit mining rates Muta micro map competition What's the deal with APM & what's its true value
Other Games
General Games
Battle Aces/David Kim RTS Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread General RTS Discussion Thread Starcraft Tabletop Miniature Game
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
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
European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread The China Politics Thread Trading/Investing Thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books Movie Discussion!
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion Cricket [SPORT] Tokyo Olympics 2021 Thread
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
[G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
lurker extra damage testi…
StaticNine
How Streamers Inspire Gamers…
TrAiDoS
Broowar part 2
qwaykee
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1696 users

He thinks it is the worst race? Why play it?

Blogs > Docta Spaceman
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
Docta Spaceman
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States74 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-05-04 23:56:58
May 04 2011 18:38 GMT
#1
Contrary to what many responses to this have been, this blog is NOT 'Why does Idra play Zerg?' I didn't ask that, as not only does it not matter to the question I pose, and we already know the answer.
Last night, I was watching the State of The Game, thoroughly enjoying Idra being his typical self. I think he's a great addition to the show- his knowledge and opinions bring something extra to the table that I don't think anyone else could match. But while he was talking to Sean about balance and whatnot (which I enjoyed for the first 3 minutes or so before it got a little less friendly and less productive), my girlfriend asked me something. I think she normally doesn't really know what they're talking about, but sometimes pays attention to the discussion. But the importance of this question shouldn't take that into account.

Her: "What does he [Idra] play?"
Me: "Zerg."
Her: "Why does he play it if he thinks it's the worst one?"
Me: "He... well, it's like.... He, umm... I couldn't tell you."

Such a simple question, and yet it requires such a complex answer.

So the question I'm asking is not why does Idra play Zerg, but rather what causes a progamer, even perhaps one of the best professionals in the world, to think that their race is the weakest one? I remember watching Huk's stream at one point, perhaps a month ago, and he was talking to Dayvie Kim about professionals and balance whining. Kim told him that his theory was that every professional will gradually start to think that their race is the most UP the longer they play it. Huk responded to this by saying "But I don't think that," and if I remember correctly, Kim said that he would, eventually, if his theory held true. There are certainly many professionals that don't cry UP about their race, but a lot do.

I've got a couple theories, but I want to know what you guys think. One is that they just only want to play the race that they love, but it shouldn't really apply to professionals, as they are trying to win tournaments and love for a particular race shouldn't factor into what race they play. Another is that they become hyper-aware of the weaknesses of their race and less aware of the weaknesses of other races that they have much less experience with- making their race appear to have the most weaknesses and even flaws.

**
Diglett
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
600 Posts
May 04 2011 18:39 GMT
#2
he practices zerg. not terran and toss. his terran and toss are worse than his zerg.
green.at
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
Austria1459 Posts
May 04 2011 18:47 GMT
#3
On May 05 2011 03:39 Diglett wrote:
he practices zerg. not terran and toss. his terran and toss are worse than his zerg.

never thought about it like that. so he does not practice protoss because he practices zerg, thats why he doesnt switch.

i think he just cant switch, he has toi much self respect. he switches -> everyone bashing on idra ^^
Inputting special characters into chat should no longer cause the game to crash.
Bibdy
Profile Joined March 2010
United States3481 Posts
May 04 2011 18:49 GMT
#4
Ego?
ReketSomething
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States6012 Posts
May 04 2011 18:53 GMT
#5
If you play a race a lot, you will feel like there are certain things that you can't deal with and those linger in your mind. This causes you to believe your race is weak. Thats what Dayvie is saying.
Jaedong :3
xLethargicax
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States469 Posts
May 04 2011 18:54 GMT
#6
In my opinion it's just pride. He is proud to always be an underdog to himself. Switching races would go against everything he's been saying for ages.
bonifaceviii
Profile Joined May 2010
Canada2890 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-05-04 18:55:10
May 04 2011 18:54 GMT
#7
Because he still thinks Zerg are awesome?

It's like somebody who plays Skaven in Warhammer fantasy; he knows they're weak but doesn't care because they're awesome. Sure you could play High Elves or Lizardmen or something boring like that, but where's the fun?
Stay a while and listen || http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=354018
Imbu
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
United States903 Posts
May 04 2011 18:54 GMT
#8
When you play a certain race, you become more aware of the things that will kill you. For example, as a Protoss player, I get shit scared thinking about how to deal with baneling drops combined with multiple attack paths from a Zerg player would probably destroy me. I can also see how from the Zerg point of view, and endless maze of force fields would be extremely annoying, making your units feel useless.

I guess my answer would be that as you play your race more, you'll start to really become aware of when you feel the weakest, knowing that if your opponent chose that moment to attack it would be game over.
@DreamingBird
bITt.mAN
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Switzerland3693 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-05-04 18:58:57
May 04 2011 18:58 GMT
#9
EDIT: Whoops wrong thread.

Go and check out "NaDa's Body" in BW General and the Most Sexyful one in SC2 while you're at it
BW4LYF . . . . . . PM me, I LOVE PMs. . . . . . Long live "NaDa's Body" . . . . . . Fantasy | Bisu/Best | Jaedong . . . . .
vectorix108
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States4633 Posts
May 04 2011 19:06 GMT
#10
Nice name. 30 rock reference? Yeah you raise some
interesting points. I guess Zerg just felt the most comfortable to him. That's why I chose the race I play.
Aka XephyR/Shaneyesss
illsick
Profile Joined March 2011
United States1770 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-05-04 19:09:50
May 04 2011 19:08 GMT
#11
He's been making comments about balance, how would it look if he switched race. You have fans that are connected to the race you play. Most zerg players will root for other zerg players and so on; they have somewhat of a connection with one another just as other races do.

Switching would mean to a lot of people, backstabbing. All the time he would be so vocal about other races advantages and then switching to those races would make him seem very hypocritical. Like comments where he would say something like the person won because of their race, not by skill. He would look dumb if he decided to switch to protoss after making comments like that.

edit: Pride has a lot to do with it too
you live and you learn
VIB
Profile Blog Joined November 2007
Brazil3567 Posts
May 04 2011 19:11 GMT
#12
1) The game will always be unbalanced
2) Takes a lot of time to get good with a different race

So can either choose to:
a) play catch up by playing the flavor of the month race. And be always bad due lack of practice
b) gamble that someday the one race you're practicing will be balanced "enough", and you'll be competitive

Most people choose the gamble and pick option b).
Great people talk about ideas. Average people talk about things. Small people talk about other people.
piroko139
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States261 Posts
May 04 2011 19:15 GMT
#13
It could simply be answered as he has the most fun playing Zerg. In the end, only IdrA really knows the answer.
Snaiil
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Sweden312 Posts
May 04 2011 19:19 GMT
#14
I assume people want to play the race they actually enjoy, despite them feeling it may be underpowered. The motivation to improve is probably less if you don't even enjoy the race you're playing, but only play it because you consider it overpowered.

Besides, if it actually is imbalanced and it gets fixed in future patches, all that time learning a new race and ALL the timings will be pretty much wasted as you will probably switch back to the race you actually enjoy.
puppykiller
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
United States3137 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-05-04 19:26:32
May 04 2011 19:26 GMT
#15
I'm pretty sure when he was first panning through races to use he chose zerg becuase he thought it played torwards the macro oriented strengths he developed during BW.
Why would I play sctoo when I can play BW?
Rinrun
Profile Joined April 2010
Canada3509 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-05-04 19:33:03
May 04 2011 19:32 GMT
#16
Ego seems like a big one. I'd do it, say that its the worst race and then play it and destroy people-
means balance is nothing to your skill level. Or its just him not wanting to look like a turncoat (also another valid reason lol).
MBC/Liquid/TSM always.
Roe
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
Canada6002 Posts
May 04 2011 19:36 GMT
#17
why did Artosis switch to Protoss?
Imerej
Profile Joined March 2011
Canada291 Posts
May 04 2011 19:38 GMT
#18
IdrA has honestly answered this question a million times.... Go do some research before making a thread about it.

Blizzard will eventually patch zerg, so why would he switch races and have to put a TON of time into learning this new race? He's waiting it out, it's better.

This is what idrA has stated multiple times
/thread
Falcon_NL
Profile Joined September 2010
Netherlands236 Posts
May 04 2011 19:44 GMT
#19
If hes switches right now, he wont be ever as good in protoss or terran as he is now as zerg. Its too late for him. Artosis sucks after he switched races and will prolly never come back.
and its a BLACK HOLE !! OH MY GOD BLACK HOOOOLEEE - Tobi Wan
mooose
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Japan200 Posts
May 04 2011 19:49 GMT
#20
He's already stated before that the reason he doesn't bother switching race is because he's spent so much time practising zerg that it would take ages for him to get to the same level with T or P. Then also the fact that Blizzard is still patching the game so it's possible that zerg won't be the worst race (in idra's opinion) at some point in the future; making all the time he spent trying to learn another race a complete waste of time.
www.teamyao.com @TeamYAO
1 2 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
IPSL
19:00
Ro24 Group B
Artosis vs TBD
Napoleon vs TBD
Liquipedia
BSL
19:00
RO32 Group B
Sterling vs Azhi_Dahaki
Napoleon vs Mazur
Jimin vs Nesh
spx vs Strudel
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
mouzHeroMarine 514
Liquid`TLO 240
Railgan 57
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 19013
Calm 2727
ZZZero.O 155
Dewaltoss 114
Aegong 111
Killer 56
Sexy 23
Hm[arnc] 17
Dota 2
Gorgc8228
Fuzer 153
capcasts86
canceldota17
League of Legends
JimRising 63
Counter-Strike
pashabiceps3270
Heroes of the Storm
Liquid`Hasu400
Khaldor175
MindelVK8
Other Games
summit1g8350
Grubby3109
Liquid`RaSZi1683
B2W.Neo918
fl0m781
ToD129
Hui .97
Mew2King35
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick766
Counter-Strike
PGL516
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 17 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Adnapsc2 20
• Reevou 2
• intothetv
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• sooper7s
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• Migwel
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
StarCraft: Brood War
• Airneanach104
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
League of Legends
• TFBlade2104
Other Games
• Scarra1605
• imaqtpie1000
• Shiphtur235
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
12h 52m
Wardi Open
13h 52m
Afreeca Starleague
13h 52m
Soma vs YSC
Sharp vs sSak
Monday Night Weeklies
19h 52m
OSC
1d 3h
Afreeca Starleague
1d 13h
Snow vs PianO
hero vs Rain
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
1d 13h
GSL
1d 15h
Replay Cast
2 days
Kung Fu Cup
2 days
[ Show More ]
The PondCast
3 days
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
3 days
Escore
4 days
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
4 days
Korean StarCraft League
5 days
CranKy Ducklings
5 days
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
5 days
IPSL
5 days
WolFix vs nOmaD
dxtr13 vs Razz
BSL
5 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
6 days
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
6 days
Ladder Legends
6 days
BSL
6 days
IPSL
6 days
JDConan vs TBD
Aegong vs rasowy
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Escore Tournament S2: W2
RSL Revival: Season 4
NationLESS Cup

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
ASL Season 21
CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
IPSL Spring 2026
StarCraft2 Community Team League 2026 Spring
Nations Cup 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
IEM Kraków 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S2: W3
Acropolis #4
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
RSL Revival: Season 5
WardiTV TLMC #16
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
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
IEM Rio 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.