• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 05:41
CET 10:41
KST 18:41
  • 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 Energy7ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT30Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book19Clem wins HomeStory Cup 289
Community News
Weekly Cups (March 16-22): herO doubles, Cure surprises3Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool48Weekly Cups (March 9-15): herO, Clem, ByuN win42026 KungFu Cup Announcement6BGE Stara Zagora 2026 cancelled12
StarCraft 2
General
What mix of new & old maps do you want in the next ladder pool? (SC2) Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool Weekly Cups (March 16-22): herO doubles, Cure surprises Weekly Cups (August 25-31): Clem's Last Straw? Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy
Tourneys
Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament World University TeamLeague (500$+) | Signups Open RSL Season 4 announced for March-April WardiTV Team League Season 10 KSL Week 87
Strategy
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Frigid Storage Publishing has been re-enabled! [Feb 24th 2026]
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 518 Radiation Zone Mutation # 517 Distant Threat Mutation # 516 Specter of Death
Brood War
General
RepMastered™: replay sharing and analyzer site mca64Launcher - New Version with StarCraft: Remast ASL21 General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Soulkey's decision to leave C9
Tourneys
[ASL21] Ro24 Group B [ASL21] Ro24 Group C 2026 Changsha Offline Cup [ASL21] Ro24 Group A
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates Simple Questions, Simple Answers Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread General RTS Discussion Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread 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 Russo-Ukrainian War Thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine YouTube 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
The Automated Ban List
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: 4762 users

How to rank a Starcraft player?

Blogs > Ej_
Post a Reply
Normal
Ej_
Profile Blog Joined January 2013
47656 Posts
August 10 2017 11:40 GMT
#1
Recently, reading one of Letmelose's blogs, I stumbled upon MyStarcraft, it's an old Korean BW team manager, a progaming team sim if you will.
One of the most interesting things about it, one that Letmelose also used and highlighted, was the way it ranked its players:
+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]
source: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/brood-war/145049-guide-mystarcraft

As you can see, it uses 8 separated critera to judge each player's skill. These are:
Sense, Control, Attack, Harassment, Strategy, Macro, Defense, Scouting
It is very interesting for 2 reasons:
-it's an unusually high number of statistics (old radar charts made by OGN for SC2 usually had 6)
-it divides the skills into decision-making-related and strategic abilities instead of mostly mechanical prowess
Now, both of these can be explained simply by ease of using these statistics in a simulator; certain of these stats are map-dependant and some of them have better matches vs other (attack vs defense, etc.) which creates interesting dynamics between players, making it more into a rock<paper<scissor<rock affair instead of just a Gwent-like game where you have distribute your power players properly.

However, I began to think that this actually might be a better method of judging players' skills than simply ranking their macro, micro, strategy and preperation. How do you rate a player's ability to deal with harassment? Is it multitasking? Then why does Nerchio fall apart to drops versus top Korean Terrans and then whacks down Protoss players with 3-pronged attacks? What about micro then? How does it come that ByuN has excellent target firing, but he can't split his marines for shit?

I thought about these things and came up with this radar chart:
[image loading]
As you can see, it divides the skills involved in a competitive starcraft game into 8 categories:
-micro - player's mechanical prowess in controlling their units
-macro - player's mechnical prowess when it comes to executing their build order, spending money, etc.
-offence - how much damage a player does relative to how few units he uses, the ability to cause damage and chaos
-defence - how well a player can stop any harassment or timings coming their way, the ability to respond to aggression
-tactics - a player's ability to find way for their offence to go through, be it through smart army positioning, approaching enemy's units on the map or well thought out multipronged attacks
-strategy - how well the player choses their build orders, if he keeps up with the metagame, how well they recognize and respond to the opponent's build order and playstyle
-preparation - how well player can come up with new build orders for important matches, change up their playstyle, surprise their opponent
-game sense - the x factor of this chart, the ability to respond to strategies not seen before, make bold calls, read the game at a level beyond the usual metagame and normal strategies. The broader meaning of star sense.

You probably noticed that I used only SC2 players as examples in this blog. That is because I considered SC2 when designing this chart, as it is the Starcraft I have the most competitive experience watching and the one game where I feel people need to obsessively rank players and argue about.
As a closure, I decided to try and draw radar charts in this system for some of the players in last SC2 power rank (which obviously was very very hard as most of the progamers break 40 out of 50 in at least half of the criteria and it takes an expert to judge them precisely):
+ Show Spoiler +

INNOVATION [image loading]
SOLAR [image loading]
STATS [image loading]
ROGUE [image loading]
HERO [image loading]
BYUN [image loading]

I feel like these above were horribly misjudged by myself, but they were only examples and I believe this system has some merit. I think radar charts are a tad more interesting and a billion times more precise than normal power ranks.


****
"Technically the dictionary has zero authority on the meaning or words" - Rodya
Charoisaur
Profile Joined August 2014
Germany16061 Posts
August 10 2017 11:55 GMT
#2
Inno's micro better than ByuN's?
But ByuN is the greatest micro player of all times of all RTS games how can someone be better than him???
Many of the coolest moments in sc2 happen due to worker harassment
The_Red_Viper
Profile Blog Joined August 2013
19533 Posts
August 10 2017 14:24 GMT
#3
I like the idea but imo you should change the scale of these to make it easier to see differences between players.
IU | Sohyang || There is no God and we are his prophets | For if ‘Thou mayest’—it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.” | Ignorance is the parent of fear |
ZigguratOfUr
Profile Blog Joined April 2012
Iraq16955 Posts
August 10 2017 15:09 GMT
#4
I really disagree with Stats's chart. He's struck me as a master of defending early harassment who is good in late game situations, but with only mediocre adaptability in the face of the unexpected. So I guess that would translate into a better defense and worse game sense.

Either way finding any sort of consensus on a radar chart (even in the case of players who aren't unexpectedly hard to represent by it due to a quirk in one match-up) would be amazing. I'm also not sure how these charts capture player quirks. If a player always drops and never pushes does that mean they have bad tactics/strategy or is it just that only dropping is their 'style'?

I do agree with The_Red_Viper that you should just represent a subsection of the radar chart (like the 30-50 range) to make things more visible. Also adding the numbers would be nice.
EndingLife
Profile Blog Joined December 2002
United States1599 Posts
August 10 2017 20:11 GMT
#5
What about multitasking?
Th1rdEye
Profile Blog Joined December 2006
United States1074 Posts
August 11 2017 05:41 GMT
#6
Diet, amount of sleep before big competition, ability to handle pressure, etc Such a hard thing to rank all of em!
from the days of: TheMarine [NC]...YellOw [H.O.T.]-Forever99 OgOgO [_MuMyung_] ChRh PlayGrrrr.... SlayerS_`BoxeR` [Oops]Reach [ReD]NaDa [DF]zergboy..!! Pusan[S.G] Nal_rA GARIMTO SSamJJang ChoJJa JinSu Silent_Control iloveoov H_PauL_WII JulyZerg [DaK]JoYo
ZigguratOfUr
Profile Blog Joined April 2012
Iraq16955 Posts
August 11 2017 06:12 GMT
#7
On August 11 2017 14:41 Th1rdEye wrote:
Diet, amount of sleep before big competition, ability to handle pressure, etc Such a hard thing to rank all of em!


A perfect radar chart would have a single axis: "jet-lag resistance".
TelecoM
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
United States10700 Posts
August 11 2017 06:31 GMT
#8
Pretty interesting way to go about it, I like it. Multitasking should also be a trait as well I agree.
AKA: TelecoM[WHITE] Protoss fighting
Piste
Profile Blog Joined July 2006
6183 Posts
August 11 2017 06:34 GMT
#9
On August 11 2017 05:11 EndingLife wrote:
What about multitasking?

One could estimate the multitasking abilities from the combination of macro and micro in the chart, if they're both at good level I would assume that the players multitasking abilities would be on good level as well.
FFW_Rude
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
France10201 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-08-11 06:43:33
August 11 2017 06:42 GMT
#10
#1 KT Rolster fanboy. KT BEST KT ! Hail to KT playoffs Zergs ! Unofficial french translator for SlayerS_`Boxer` biography "Crazy as me".
Ej_
Profile Blog Joined January 2013
47656 Posts
August 11 2017 07:31 GMT
#11
I explained the thought process behind cutting multitasking as an inefficient metric and replacing it with defence and offence
"Technically the dictionary has zero authority on the meaning or words" - Rodya
CrymeaTerran
Profile Joined May 2017
149 Posts
August 11 2017 14:03 GMT
#12
This is so nice, we need something like this for televised matches
Sziky = Love
evilEye_
Profile Joined October 2014
United States91 Posts
August 11 2017 19:14 GMT
#13
On August 11 2017 05:11 EndingLife wrote:
What about multitasking?



Huh...? It's sc2 bro..
Real Eyes Realize Real Lies.
evilEye_
Profile Joined October 2014
United States91 Posts
August 11 2017 19:16 GMT
#14
On August 10 2017 20:55 Charoisaur wrote:
Inno's micro better than ByuN's?
But ByuN is the greatest micro player of all times of all RTS games how can someone be better than him???



Greatest of all-time would be a BW player obviously....i.e. Flash.

So to correct your statement:

But FlaSh is the greatest micro player of all times of all RTS games how can someone be better than him???

You're welcome.
Real Eyes Realize Real Lies.
The_Red_Viper
Profile Blog Joined August 2013
19533 Posts
August 11 2017 20:04 GMT
#15
On August 12 2017 04:16 evilEye_ wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 10 2017 20:55 Charoisaur wrote:
Inno's micro better than ByuN's?
But ByuN is the greatest micro player of all times of all RTS games how can someone be better than him???



Greatest of all-time would be a BW player obviously....i.e. Flash.

So to correct your statement:

But FlaSh is the greatest micro player of all times of all RTS games how can someone be better than him???

You're welcome.

Flash isn't even the greatest micro player in bw
IU | Sohyang || There is no God and we are his prophets | For if ‘Thou mayest’—it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.” | Ignorance is the parent of fear |
EndingLife
Profile Blog Joined December 2002
United States1599 Posts
August 11 2017 20:14 GMT
#16
On August 12 2017 04:14 evilEye_ wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 11 2017 05:11 EndingLife wrote:
What about multitasking?



Huh...? It's sc2 bro..

I'm blind. I thought the title said Starcraft, not SC2. Hehehehe
Poly_Optimize
Profile Joined March 2016
Canada156 Posts
August 11 2017 23:47 GMT
#17
This is a very fun way to rank pro gamers. How do you put a score on each category? Do you use external statistics to analyze the criteria or you simply put a score with your common sense?

Did you used advanced analyzing replay tools/softwares to support your index score?
Charoisaur
Profile Joined August 2014
Germany16061 Posts
August 12 2017 11:17 GMT
#18
On August 12 2017 04:16 evilEye_ wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 10 2017 20:55 Charoisaur wrote:
Inno's micro better than ByuN's?
But ByuN is the greatest micro player of all times of all RTS games how can someone be better than him???



Greatest of all-time would be a BW player obviously....i.e. Flash.

So to correct your statement:

But FlaSh is the greatest micro player of all times of all RTS games how can someone be better than him???

You're welcome.

I like how you're so focused on bashing sc2 that you didn't even get the sarcasm
Many of the coolest moments in sc2 happen due to worker harassment
Poopi
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
France12911 Posts
August 12 2017 18:50 GMT
#19
How can ByuN micro be so low?
He basically won GSL and Blizzcon off of his micro.
WriterMaru
Bastinian
Profile Joined October 2014
Serbia177 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-08-12 22:13:53
August 12 2017 22:12 GMT
#20
How big difference is between strategy and tactics? Also you could make opposite things on chart on cross sides from each other, like offense being on west side of chart and defense being on east side of chart for example.
Tryhard, road to pro-gamer! :) | twitter.com/bastiniansc2 | twitch.tv/bastinian |
Ej_
Profile Blog Joined January 2013
47656 Posts
August 13 2017 07:41 GMT
#21
On August 12 2017 08:47 Poly_Optimize wrote:
Did you used advanced analyzing replay tools/softwares to support your index score?

Guesstimation, I don't think any computer program will ever be able to read Starcraft well enough to do it. I believe OGN used expert panels/casters opinion.
On August 13 2017 07:12 Bastinian wrote:
How big difference is between strategy and tactics? Also you could make opposite things on chart on cross sides from each other, like offense being on west side of chart and defense being on east side of chart for example.

On August 10 2017 20:40 Ej_ wrote:
-tactics - a player's ability to find way for their offence to go through, be it through smart army positioning, approaching enemy's units on the map or well thought out multipronged attacks
-strategy - how well the player choses their build orders, if he keeps up with the metagame, how well they recognize and respond to the opponent's build order and playstyle
"Technically the dictionary has zero authority on the meaning or words" - Rodya
Normal
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Replay Cast
09:00
KungFu Cup 2026 Week 1
CranKy Ducklings64
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
ProTech150
SortOf 106
StarCraft: Brood War
Mini 544
Zeus 526
ggaemo 170
actioN 166
EffOrt 150
ToSsGirL 90
Leta 81
ZerO 77
Aegong 75
Rush 68
[ Show more ]
Backho 61
Sharp 60
Pusan 40
NotJumperer 25
Bale 22
sorry 22
ajuk12(nOOB) 17
GoRush 14
Sacsri 13
Terrorterran 9
Dota 2
XaKoH 442
BananaSlamJamma189
febbydoto8
Counter-Strike
shoxiejesuss1164
olofmeister786
Other Games
singsing803
ceh9587
Liquid`RaSZi504
Livibee117
Fuzer 113
crisheroes103
Sick34
ZerO(Twitch)5
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick772
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream64
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 14 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH258
• LUISG 24
• CranKy Ducklings SOOP3
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• iopq 2
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Upcoming Events
Afreeca Starleague
19m
hero vs YSC
Larva vs Shine
Kung Fu Cup
1h 19m
Replay Cast
14h 19m
KCM Race Survival
23h 19m
The PondCast
1d
WardiTV Team League
1d 2h
OSC
1d 2h
Replay Cast
1d 14h
WardiTV Team League
2 days
RSL Revival
3 days
Cure vs Zoun
herO vs Rogue
[ Show More ]
WardiTV Team League
3 days
Platinum Heroes Events
3 days
BSL
3 days
RSL Revival
4 days
ByuN vs Maru
MaxPax vs TriGGeR
WardiTV Team League
4 days
BSL
4 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Afreeca Starleague
5 days
Light vs Calm
Royal vs Mind
Wardi Open
5 days
Monday Night Weeklies
5 days
OSC
5 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
6 days
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
Rush vs PianO
Flash vs Speed
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-03-23
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
IEM Atlanta 2026
Asian Champions League 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.