• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 06:58
CEST 12:58
KST 19:58
  • 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
TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting & Ladder Map Selection4Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview5[ASL21] Finals Preview: Two Legacies21Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO12 Preview2herO wins GSL Code S Season 1 (2026)7
Community News
[BSL22] Non-Korean Championship from 13 to 28 June0Weekly Cups (May 25-31): Clem doubles, 2v2 circuit heads toward finale0StarCraft II 5.0.16 PTR Patch Notes may 26th151Weekly Cups (May 18-24): MaxPax wins doubles0Crank Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League6
StarCraft 2
General
My starcraft 2 changes Glyco Honey Review 2026: Real Customer Experiences SCFusion - WoL, HotS & LotV Build Order Optimizer TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting & Ladder Map Selection TL Poll: How do you feel about the 5.0.16 PTR balance changes?
Tourneys
Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule ! Crank Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League GSL Code S Season 2 (2026) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament RSL Revival: Season 5 - Qualifiers and Main Event
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 # 528 Infection Detected Welcome to the External Content forum Mutation # 527 Hell Train
Brood War
General
Tesagi Viewer - A new era of replay watching 14k games analyzed: Cross Spawn Nexus first good? FlaSh's ASL S21 Finals Review BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ VPN experiences
Tourneys
[ASL21] Grand Finals [BSL22] Grand Finals - Sunday 21:00 CEST [Megathread] Daily Proleagues Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2
Strategy
Why doesn't anyone use restoration? Any training maps people recommend? Muta micro map competition [G] Hydra ZvZ: An Introduction
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Path of Exile ZeroSpace Megathread
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 Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Trading/Investing Thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread How cold is too cold to be outdoors? Dating: How's your luck?
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread
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
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Facing Challenges in Mobile App Development
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Gauntlet SC2: A Retrospectiv…
Ctone23
Esportsmanship: How to NOT B…
TrAiDoS
Why RTS gamers make better f…
gosubay
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 5734 users

Unranked pro players?

Blogs > archonOOid
Post a Reply
archonOOid
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
1983 Posts
March 23 2013 09:35 GMT
#1
At last the third blog of mine is done after many failed attempts to so. In this blog I will setup a couple of arguments why pros should play unranked instead of ranked play in Heart of the Swarm.

A) With the prevalence of barcode players who seek anonymous laddering, unranked play adds an extra layer of secrecy.

B) Some semi-pros and pros do play very gimmicky on the ladder and unranked play would help them to elevate their play beyond simple timings and builds.

C) The ladder ranking is not meaningful. Both in relation to tournament play and how the ladder itself is constructed.


I'm Quotable (IQ)
mcmartini
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Australia1972 Posts
March 23 2013 09:38 GMT
#2
I have thought on this myself and was surprised to see any pros in GM I thought they would all be playing unranked making it easier to hide their builds. You can always find top gm and search their recent games. I expect within the year most pros won't play ranked and custom games will be the norm similar to BW.
I just want to say I have 370 APM - Liquid'Tyler SotG 14-12-2011 "I mean it's too bad you can't be paid to be, you know, a chicken shit fucking whiny bitch on the internet or we would have lots of rich community members" Nick "Tasteless" Plott
archonOOid
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
1983 Posts
March 23 2013 10:58 GMT
#3
I share your vision but you aren't completely shielded as an unranked player. Opponents can still check your match history after a defeat to see what build you have been using. It does though leave you out of the sc2ranks.com and does not reveal the stats in the statistics tab in starcraft.
I'm Quotable (IQ)
damahammer
Profile Joined May 2010
Germany111 Posts
March 23 2013 13:34 GMT
#4
On March 23 2013 19:58 archonOOid wrote:
I share your vision but you aren't completely shielded as an unranked player. Opponents can still check your match history after a defeat to see what build you have been using. It does though leave you out of the sc2ranks.com and does not reveal the stats in the statistics tab in starcraft.

you can chose to hide your build order tab. Not in unranked play i think, but in custom games you can
GaNgStaRR.ElV
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Canada535 Posts
March 23 2013 15:48 GMT
#5
They should make it so you can hide your BO any game mode except that your opponent would be Able to see it.

Pros should be able to play the ladder without thinking its hindering them. I am also a fan of using the ladder as a qualifier for tournaments although I realize that this happened before with that dude who got caught cheating right b4 blizzard was going to fly him to either IPL or MLG if I recall correctly.
blabber
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States4448 Posts
March 23 2013 15:52 GMT
#6
On March 23 2013 18:38 mcmartini wrote:
I have thought on this myself and was surprised to see any pros in GM I thought they would all be playing unranked making it easier to hide their builds. You can always find top gm and search their recent games. I expect within the year most pros won't play ranked and custom games will be the norm similar to BW.

ranked in BW didn't exist lol.

well maybe there's iccup, but there was no ability to spy on people's games and builds in BW anyway. Still not sure why Blizzard still even has the build order + match history in the game
blabberrrrr
HeeroFX
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States2704 Posts
March 23 2013 19:21 GMT
#7
1. Sure that makes sense, but the barcode thing is really only on korea, and maybe people actually take pride in being in Top 50 of GM. Maybe it serves as a motivating tool to play. Maybe desrow sees that idra is playing a lot and he wants to overtake him. I don't know. But if you look at it Foreign players don't seem to want to hide that they are playing a lot.
B. I don't see how this matters you are playing the same people unranked or ranked. It is all based on MMR anyway. I think your B is pretty dumb.
C. Sure the ladder ranking is not meaningful because you aren't winning tournaments. But lets take casual players. We don't have anything else but ladder ranking. You want SC II to suceed then you need people who play the game. BLizzard cares about $$$ so ladder will always exist because it keeps non pro players playing for something. But again ladder ranking could be a motivating factor to a player. It could be totally mental, but if you see you have a better record than Huk you might feel good about yourself and keep wanting to play.


In grand scheme of things players will play it doesn't matter to them if you play ranked on unranked they are going to play a lot of games and they are going to try play there best and improve. But ranked play can serve as a motivating factor. It is not going to help non koreans play better by playing unranked. The only thing non koreans can do is just practice hard and improve as much as they can.
MysteryMeat1
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United States3292 Posts
March 23 2013 19:39 GMT
#8
The problem is that with unranked you can still get matched up with people who are in bronze
"Cause ya know, Style before victory." -The greatest mafia player alive
kafkaesque
Profile Blog Joined November 2011
Germany2006 Posts
March 23 2013 20:32 GMT
#9
On March 24 2013 04:39 MysteryMeat1 wrote:
The problem is that with unranked you can still get matched up with people who are in bronze


You have an mmr just as you have in ranked play...
| (• ◡•)|╯ ╰(❍ᴥ❍ʋ)
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Replay Cast
09:00
SEL Masters #6
Solar vs Classic
LiquipediaDiscussion
The PiG Daily
21:30
GSL Ro8 Group B Replay Cast
Maru vs SHIN
Rogue vs Zoun
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
SortOf 128
BRAT_OK 0
StarCraft: Brood War
Calm 9951
firebathero 556
Horang2 355
Soma 247
BeSt 245
Larva 205
Leta 146
EffOrt 138
Zeus 124
Last 117
[ Show more ]
Hyun 113
Light 97
scan(afreeca) 85
ZerO 74
Rush 55
910 53
Mind 34
yabsab 21
Bale 18
Mong 15
sorry 15
Sacsri 11
Barracks 8
Liquid`Ret 1
Dota 2
Gorgc2982
XcaliburYe98
Counter-Strike
fl0m2837
byalli582
zeus192
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King83
Heroes of the Storm
Khaldor85
Other Games
singsing2323
B2W.Neo719
Sick155
Pyrionflax152
KnowMe110
MindelVK14
ZerO(Twitch)13
OptimusSC28
Lowko8
Organizations
StarCraft: Brood War
lovetv 16
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 12 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Nemesis1976
• Jankos1368
Upcoming Events
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
4h 2m
Grudge Match
5h 2m
FlaShFTW vs A.Alm
OSC
10h 2m
MaxPax vs YoungYakov
Krystianer vs Shameless
GgMaChine vs Creature
LetaleX vs MiniZergUA
ReBellioN vs TBD
ArT vs HiGhDrA
Nicoract vs Azura
GSL
21h 2m
herO vs Rogue
Maru vs Cure
Patches Events
1d 2h
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
1d 4h
BSL
1d 8h
Bonyth vs Dewalt
OSC
1d 13h
Monday Night Weeklies
2 days
Replay Cast
2 days
[ Show More ]
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
Replay Cast
3 days
Kung Fu Cup
4 days
Maestros of the Game
4 days
Classic vs Lambo
Clem vs Maru
Replay Cast
4 days
The PondCast
4 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
CranKy Ducklings
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

KK 2v2 League Season 1
RSL Revival: Season 5
Heroes Pulsing #1

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
Acropolis #4
CSCL: Masked Kings S4
YSL S3
SCTL 2026 Spring
WardiTV Spring 2026
Maestros of the Game 2
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
2026 GSL S2
Murky Cup 2026
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
BLAST Open Spring 2026

Upcoming

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
Heroes Pulsing #3
Heroes Pulsing #2
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.