• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 12:16
CET 17:16
KST 01:16
  • 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] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy5ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT30Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book19Clem wins HomeStory Cup 289
Community News
Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool40Weekly Cups (March 9-15): herO, Clem, ByuN win42026 KungFu Cup Announcement6BGE Stara Zagora 2026 cancelled12Blizzard Classic Cup - Tastosis announced as captains18
StarCraft 2
General
Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool Potential Updates Coming to the SC2 CN Server Weekly Cups (March 2-8): ByuN overcomes PvT block Weekly Cups (August 25-31): Clem's Last Straw? Weekly Cups (March 9-15): herO, Clem, ByuN win
Tourneys
World University TeamLeague (500$+) | Signups Open RSL Season 4 announced for March-April Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament WardiTV Team League Season 10 KSL Week 87
Strategy
Custom Maps
Publishing has been re-enabled! [Feb 24th 2026]
External Content
Mutation # 518 Radiation Zone The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 517 Distant Threat Mutation # 516 Specter of Death
Brood War
General
Soulkey's decision to leave C9 JaeDong's form before ASL BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ [ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos ASL21 General Discussion
Tourneys
[ASL21] Ro24 Group A [Megathread] Daily Proleagues ASL Season 21 LIVESTREAM with English Commentary [BSL22] Open Qualifiers & Ladder Tours
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates Simple Questions, Simple Answers Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2
Other Games
General Games
General RTS Discussion Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile Dawn of War IV
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion The Story of Wings Gaming
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
TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine YouTube Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Cricket [SPORT] Formula 1 Discussion Tokyo Olympics 2021 Thread General nutrition recommendations
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Laptop capable of using Photoshop Lightroom?
TL Community
U4GM Tips Counter Enemy Gadgets Fast in Black Ops rsvsr How to Keep Reward Chains Rolling in Monopol u4gm What to Do First in MLB The Show 26 Spring
Blogs
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Money Laundering In Video Ga…
TrAiDoS
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
FS++
Kraekkling
Shocked by a laser…
Spydermine0240
Unintentional protectionism…
Uldridge
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1416 users

Protoss Is Unplayable

Blogs > YokoKano
Post a Reply
1 2 3 Next All
YokoKano
Profile Blog Joined July 2012
United States612 Posts
March 30 2015 19:45 GMT
#1
There is no reason to play Starcraft II: Heart. With more than 30,000 hours of RTS play and design experience spanning under 20 years, I will not constrain my games to one race. I have reached the mentor level and have nothing to share as a competitive gamer.

The reality is that Starcraft: Brood War is a study and exercise in choice. Starcraft II on the other hand is a game characterized by simple decision procedures. A smart opponent will surprise you. That means to be a good player requires specific knowledge of certain builds. But suppose you are Protoss and I opt to cannon rush you. You can't drop a few probes to make up for a gap between your general knowledge of cannon rush openings but imperfect responses to variation on the build.

This emphasis on Puritanical counters takes the fundamentally artistic Starcraft genre called Protoss and transforms the experience into a long series of present-value calculations.

Suppose I identify three different win-certain rushes. Win-certain refers to rushes that win with 100% certainty against all defenses except those that mirror an optimal response within a 5% margin (One can think of defenses as trees. Earlier branches receive more weight.) Now suppose the three win-certain rushes in question are: x = Cannon Rush, y = Proxy 2-Gate, z = 4-Gate. Suppose the number of degrees in a circle represents all the reasonably fine responses to some set of attacks. Protoss's position is like a chiliagon. It looks like it should be possible for the interior and exterior vertices of a chiliagon to each fit inside the same circle. In reality this isn't possible.

Veteran players show their strength in the mid and late game with positional play and the ability to make sharp decisions on a general level. When veteran styles are incompatible with an RTS game's capacity for robust, defensive, early game openings, the result is inelegant equilibria.

*
IQ 155.905638752
Ej_
Profile Blog Joined January 2013
47656 Posts
March 30 2015 19:50 GMT
#2
tl;dr OP can't hold off cheese
"Technically the dictionary has zero authority on the meaning or words" - Rodya
Bojas
Profile Joined December 2010
Netherlands2397 Posts
March 30 2015 20:08 GMT
#3
I'm curious, what league is your account if I may ask?
y0su
Profile Blog Joined September 2011
Finland7871 Posts
March 30 2015 20:09 GMT
#4
try scouting?
ZigguratOfUr
Profile Blog Joined April 2012
Iraq16955 Posts
March 30 2015 20:19 GMT
#5
For all your fancy words (which add nothing to your argument), you're just not good at holding cheese despite your immoderate opinion of your own skills.
EsportsJohn
Profile Blog Joined June 2012
United States4883 Posts
March 30 2015 20:38 GMT
#6
No, I think he just actually scientifically disproved Protoss's existence.

I mean, other than the fact that it exists.
StrategyAllyssa Grey <3<3
Kommatiazo
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
United States579 Posts
March 30 2015 20:47 GMT
#7
I wonder if the time it took to write this was dedicated to asking someone who is decent at cannon rushing to practice with you what might have come of it.

you're just not good at holding cheese despite your immoderate opinion of your own skills.


This. Your argument makes me think of a teenager in speech and debate telling the adult world that it shouldn't exist because high school is hard and the girl you like said no to you for prom.
"You must enemy don't know, and very good micro" - Bosstoss #Wet4Ret
ninazerg
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
United States7291 Posts
March 30 2015 21:49 GMT
#8
On March 31 2015 05:47 Kommatiazo wrote:
I wonder if the time it took to write this was dedicated to asking someone who is decent at cannon rushing to practice with you what might have come of it.

Show nested quote +
you're just not good at holding cheese despite your immoderate opinion of your own skills.


This. Your argument makes me think of a teenager in speech and debate telling the adult world that it shouldn't exist because high school is hard and the girl you like said no to you for prom.


Even though I find the original post to be comically obtuse, this is a really poor analogy. I mean REALLY poor.
"If two pregnant women get into a fist fight, it's like a mecha-battle between two unborn babies." - Fyodor Dostoevsky
EatThePath
Profile Blog Joined September 2009
United States3943 Posts
March 30 2015 21:51 GMT
#9
lol at all the people who come in here to bitch about the style and have no response for the message. congrats on being dull.

@op if you're trying to play sc2 through a BW lens it'll never satisfy you. there is a lot of depth to be had out of protoss, even including early game. but it's different. and the parts that are similar, it does in a different way. mostly it's about dictating the game or feinting thereof, with recall / forcefield / storm determining how you can leverage your presentation of threats.
Comprehensive strategic intention: DNE
TelecoM
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
United States10700 Posts
March 30 2015 22:29 GMT
#10
To disprove your scientific study, I would like to provide my own counter statement.

Protoss.
AKA: TelecoM[WHITE] Protoss fighting
FlaShFTW
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
United States10342 Posts
March 30 2015 23:03 GMT
#11
On March 31 2015 07:29 GGzerG wrote:
To disprove your scientific study, I would like to provide my own counter statement.

Protoss.

/thread.

maybe sending a scout out will help you. c:
Writer#1 KT and FlaSh Fanboy || Woo Jung Ho Never Forget || Teamliquid Political Decision Desk
TL+ Member
LuckyFool
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States9015 Posts
March 30 2015 23:31 GMT
#12
this blog reminds me of myself.
ObviousOne
Profile Joined April 2012
United States3704 Posts
March 30 2015 23:40 GMT
#13
THEN WE GET A FUCKING BUILDING. WHICH, HALF THE TIME ISNT ENOUGH: WE HAVE TO PAY MOREE FUCKING MONEY TO GET IT TO DO SOME SHIT LIKE DICK THE GROUND OR SPRAY PISS IN THE AIR

Lol that incontrol quote
Fear is the only darkness. ~Destiny Fan Club operator~
KelsierSC
Profile Blog Joined March 2013
United Kingdom10443 Posts
March 31 2015 00:13 GMT
#14
I don't understand any of this shit
Zerg for Life
Chill
Profile Blog Joined January 2005
Calgary25996 Posts
March 31 2015 00:26 GMT
#15
So many questions.

1. How did you track these 30,000 hours? For reference, that is 3.5 years of non-stop play. I played a ridiculous amount of Brood War, like 3-8 hours a day for several years, and still barely scratched 10,000 hours.
2. What the hell does "under 20 years"? Is that 2 years? 18 years?
3. Which RTS games have you designed?
Moderator
IMR
Profile Joined May 2013
70 Posts
March 31 2015 00:29 GMT
#16
i agree
IMR
Profile Joined May 2013
70 Posts
March 31 2015 00:35 GMT
#17
oh, and i find it interesting that even protoss players aren't good at vs p as evidenced by vP elo peaks
Chef
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
10810 Posts
Last Edited: 2015-03-31 00:51:45
March 31 2015 00:51 GMT
#18
Most entertaining OP in like 4 years. I feel twice as smart and handsome after reading it. Thank you. 5 stars. 5 stars forever.
LEGEND!! LEGEND!!
Kazahk
Profile Blog Joined April 2012
United States385 Posts
March 31 2015 02:18 GMT
#19
Just saying there are Protosses (wtf what kind of plural is that?) that compete in top level tourneys so... I think they are quite playable.
Rngesus blessed me with a tooth half, then shunned me with a spinach roll.
Djzapz
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Canada10681 Posts
March 31 2015 02:34 GMT
#20
I think OP's analysis failed to account for the everything
"My incompetence with power tools had been increasing exponentially over the course of 20 years spent inhaling experimental oven cleaners"
1 2 3 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 44m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
ProTech143
Trikslyr49
StarCraft: Brood War
Calm 7992
Bisu 3107
Jaedong 2126
Shuttle 1024
Horang2 983
Hyuk 737
Stork 701
Larva 638
BeSt 562
Mini 521
[ Show more ]
Light 339
Soma 321
ggaemo 310
Leta 256
PianO 253
Rush 208
sorry 175
Dewaltoss 91
Shinee 41
Free 27
Nal_rA 25
910 23
Aegong 23
Shine 19
Hm[arnc] 19
Movie 18
soO 16
IntoTheRainbow 15
ajuk12(nOOB) 13
GoRush 13
Terrorterran 7
ivOry 4
Dota 2
Gorgc7055
Counter-Strike
fl0m3822
Fnx 2253
byalli1366
pashabiceps1068
shoxiejesuss970
oskar63
adren_tv5
Heroes of the Storm
MindelVK6
Other Games
singsing2019
B2W.Neo802
hiko740
Beastyqt588
FrodaN443
Lowko375
KnowMe99
Organizations
Other Games
WardiTV348
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream49
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 15 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• poizon28 68
• intothetv
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• WagamamaTV443
• lizZardDota286
League of Legends
• Nemesis3613
• Shiphtur109
Upcoming Events
Monday Night Weeklies
44m
Sparkling Tuna Cup
17h 44m
Afreeca Starleague
17h 44m
Soulkey vs Ample
JyJ vs sSak
Replay Cast
1d 16h
Afreeca Starleague
1d 17h
hero vs YSC
Larva vs Shine
Kung Fu Cup
1d 18h
Replay Cast
2 days
KCM Race Survival
2 days
The PondCast
2 days
WardiTV Team League
2 days
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
3 days
WardiTV Team League
3 days
RSL Revival
4 days
Cure vs Zoun
herO vs Rogue
WardiTV Team League
4 days
Platinum Heroes Events
4 days
BSL
5 days
RSL Revival
5 days
ByuN vs Maru
MaxPax vs TriGGeR
WardiTV Team League
5 days
BSL
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
Light vs Calm
Royal vs Mind
Wardi Open
6 days
Monday Night Weeklies
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-03-22
WardiTV Winter 2026
Underdog Cup #3

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 1
BSL Season 22
CSL Elite League 2026
CSL Season 20: Qualifier 1
ASL Season 21
Acropolis #4 - TS6
RSL Revival: Season 4
Nations Cup 2026
NationLESS Cup
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual

Upcoming

2026 Changsha Offline CUP
CSL Season 20: Qualifier 2
CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
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
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
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.