• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 13:43
CEST 19:43
KST 02:43
  • 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
Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2915Serral wins Maestros of the Game 243ByuL, and the Limitations of Standard Play3Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12
Community News
Weekly Cups (Aug 3-9): Protoss get shut out7RSL goes to London! 2026 Offline Finals Nov 21-2212Weekly Cups (July 27-Aug 2): SHIN's big week0SC4ALL II: Brood War - $2500 - Dec 5-69SC4ALL II announced - $10,000 prize pool, Dec 5-64
StarCraft 2
General
Protoss AoE skill expression Weekly Cups (Aug 3-9): Protoss get shut out SC4ALL: II Talent Announcement! SC4ALL II: StarCraft 2 Player Announcement 5/8 August World Ranking: Clem climbs to #2
Tourneys
2026 KungFu Cup Announcement PIG STY FESTIVAL 8.0! (13 - 23 August) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament RSL goes to London! 2026 Offline Finals Nov 21-22 RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
Nexus Wars 2021 GUIDE [M] (2) Industrial Park
External Content
Mutation # 538 Media Blackout The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 537 Hostile Territory Mutation # 536 Railroad Switch
Brood War
General
ASL22 General Discussion [Personal Project Share] Terran Defense v0.60 BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ StarCraft 64 is coming to Philly at SC4ALL II Data needed
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3 2v2v2v2 Tournament Escore Tournament - Season 3
Strategy
Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation Fighting Spirit mining rates Any training maps people recommend? Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
General RTS Discussion Thread EVE Corporation Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Diablo 2 thread
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish TSM pausing esports and CLG Dead
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Power Rank TL Mafia Community Thread NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread The Letting Off Steam Thread Iain M Banks Says He Has Cancer And Months To Live Russo-Ukrainian War Thread
Fan Clubs
MarineLorD Fan Club The ShoWTimE Fan Club The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread Series you have seen recently... [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Football (Soccer) Thread NBA General Discussion Formula 1 Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Simple Questions Simple Answers FPS when play League Of Legend on laptop
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Northern Ireland Global Starcraft
Blogs
Are High-Level Gamers more A…
TrAiDoS
Cathedral Of CS And NY pizza a…
FuDDx
Please support my new stand…
Peanutsc
Hello guys!
LIN1s
ASL S22 English Commentary…
namkraft
Poker (part 2)
Nebuchad
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 3716 users

BW racepicking competitively, frustrations - Page 2

Blogs > FyRe_DragOn
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 All
Liquid`Drone
Profile Joined September 2002
Norway28875 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-10-27 10:48:16
October 26 2017 23:48 GMT
#21
To my knowledge it's been more than 10 years since you had anyone remotely competitive outside korea playing either of those combos though. (Trek did play tvz, pvt and zvp.) Most race pickers are zergs who play tvz or pvz instead of zvz, then the rest are terrans (who usually play pvt instead of tvt) or protoss (who usually play zvp instead of pvp). The whole 'what do you do if two players who race pick different, non-matching combos' really isn't a real problem because it only occurs like 1/10000 games. I'm confident every single race picker prefers having to choose a matchup they have no experience with 0.01% of the games rather than 33% of the time.

Not actually saying you were saying it's a big issue, sundersoft. I'm just clarifying this for everybody else. It's a made up problem which doesn't need a solution.
Moderator
AManHasNoName
Profile Joined September 2017
United States165 Posts
October 27 2017 03:29 GMT
#22
So, hypothetically, in a tournament situation where two race pickers go up against each other.

Player 1: ZvP TvZ PvT
Player 2: ZvP TvZ TvT (or PvT)

What race does each person play?
“To love the journey is to accept no such end. I have found, through painful experience, that the most important step a person can take is always the next one.”
ZigguratOfUr
Profile Blog Joined April 2012
Iraq16955 Posts
October 27 2017 04:00 GMT
#23
On October 27 2017 12:29 AManHasNoName wrote:
So, hypothetically, in a tournament situation where two race pickers go up against each other.

Player 1: ZvP TvZ PvT
Player 2: ZvP TvZ TvT (or PvT)

What race does each person play?


If that ever happened in a tournament setting they'd probably just end up having to blind pick their races.
lazersnipe
Profile Joined November 2016
Canada219 Posts
October 27 2017 08:33 GMT
#24
I don't really see an issue involving race-picking. In the case of the ladder, maybe it makes things slightly more complicated for Blizzard? But I can't see it being a real issue.

I figure the point of these leagues and tournaments is to provide good quality/entertaining games. In DragOn's case that would mean ZvP instead of PvP, I don't really see why he should be penalized now, and offer the community lower quality games (in a MU he's 12 years behind in), especially when this was never an issue before. I saw this mentioned earlier, but I also think the viewers would prefer to watch non-mirror's to mirror's more often anyway (of course we'd still have mirror match-ups for those who enjoy them more).

As for the ladder, I'd be happy if they allowed race-picking as suggested. I personally don't race-pick, but I'm tired of getting a lot of mirror MU's on ladder. I don't mind playing it every once in awhile, but I feel like I get PvP more than anything (and I've heard Zergs say the same about getting a lot of ZvZ). Allowing race-picking on ladder would cut down on the number of mirror matches in general. I think race-pickers and even a lot of non-race pickers would be happy about that.
Liquid`Drone
Profile Joined September 2002
Norway28875 Posts
October 27 2017 08:44 GMT
#25
On October 27 2017 12:29 AManHasNoName wrote:
So, hypothetically, in a tournament situation where two race pickers go up against each other.

Player 1: ZvP TvZ PvT
Player 2: ZvP TvZ TvT (or PvT)

What race does each person play?


Honestly, I'd guess both end up randoming.
Moderator
ninazerg
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
United States7291 Posts
October 27 2017 08:46 GMT
#26
On October 27 2017 12:29 AManHasNoName wrote:
So, hypothetically, in a tournament situation where two race pickers go up against each other.

Player 1: ZvP TvZ PvT
Player 2: ZvP TvZ TvT (or PvT)

What race does each person play?


I'll tell you why that's a bad example. Nearly every race-picker, including Dragon, does not play their mirror match-up. Dragon plays PvT PvZ, but not PvP. He plays ZvP instead. Ret also used to do this, and played TvZ instead of ZvZ. I've seen race-pickers play each other in tournaments without much trouble. They just decide who is playing what. If they cannot, then it will become necessary to write a simple rule set to resolve the issue.

Anyone who runs a tournament and doesn't write their rules down in clear, concise terms beforehand is being lazy and sloppy. Most people don't want to sit down and write a rule-set because they're too lazy. They'd rather just go "Competitive rules, here's the maps, bo3, go play", then if any issues arise, they just rule by decree. For small tournaments, this is fine. For a league with money involved, this is not okay. If there is no clear rule-set, then the tournament organizer has no standard to go by, and can do ridiculous things like advancing their friends and teammates over people who should've advanced.

The reason I bring up rules is because nobody wants to write a set of rules for race-picking. Not because it's extremely difficult, but because it's easier to be lazy and go "Don't race-pick." So, here's a template I thought of for tournament organizers to borrow:

1. If there is a disagreement among two race-picker players about which match-up will be played in a Bo1 series, and cannot reach an agreement within a reasonable amount of time, a referee will pick who will play which match-up.

2. In any BoX greater than 1, the same procedure will be followed as dictated in rule 1. The LOSER of each match will pick the match-up in the next game. For example:

Player 1 and Player 2 both play ZvP ZvT and PvZ. There is a disagreement about who will play Zerg and who will play Protoss.

map 1: p1 v p2 <- ref picks
map 2: p1 v p2 <- player 2 lost game 1, so he or she wants to be the Zerg player for match number 2
map 3: p1 v p2 <- player 2 lost game 2, but he or she wants to go back to playing Protoss versus Zerg.

"If two pregnant women get into a fist fight, it's like a mecha-battle between two unborn babies." - Fyodor Dostoevsky
Liquid`Drone
Profile Joined September 2002
Norway28875 Posts
October 27 2017 09:02 GMT
#27
two players both play zvt zvp pvz is something that does happen. Usually that leads to whomever picks zerg first in the game lobby getting to be zerg. I played a tourney vs fuNny, the russian guy, a couple weeks ago, and I knew that he was a zvp pvz player. I felt like playing zvp, so I just immediately picked zerg when joining the lobby, and then he went protoss. If he had picked zerg before I joined the first game, I would have just went with p instead. Sometimes I don't actually have that much of an opinion on which matchup I prefer, and I just flat out ask 'you wanna play pvz or zvp?' and then I go with the other one.

Never really seen an argument arise over this, race pickers are fine with playing all three matchups they have decided to specialize on. Having rules in place to deal with a possible conflict is nice, though, but I'd still be surprised if they ever had to be enforced.
Moderator
GeckoXp
Profile Blog Joined June 2013
Germany2016 Posts
October 27 2017 10:22 GMT
#28
On October 27 2017 18:02 Liquid`Drone wrote:
Never really seen an argument arise over this, race pickers are fine with playing all three matchups they have decided to specialize on. Having rules in place to deal with a possible conflict is nice, though, but I'd still be surprised if they ever had to be enforced.


I've seen race pickers complaining a lot in clan leagues and tournaments back in the day, especially in the lower ranks. you have all kinds of weird people having the weirdest picks. the problem evens out, once people are better than - let's say - a high D-Rank. Never experienced any problems with competitive rules, however.
at some point i do understand why an organizer is tempted to just get rid of race picking and/or random, but personally, i wouldn't enforce it. then again, i'd prolly don't complain about it in a league with only a small prize pool, i simply wouldn't attend.
Liquid`Drone
Profile Joined September 2002
Norway28875 Posts
October 27 2017 10:47 GMT
#29
yeah I've never participated in any of the D rank or yellow rank leagues or whatever, so I can't comment on those. But I've played in hundreds of tournaments as a race picker, I've met other race pickers on many occasions, and I don't think we've ever spent more than 10 seconds figuring out the match up.
Moderator
GeckoXp
Profile Blog Joined June 2013
Germany2016 Posts
October 27 2017 10:55 GMT
#30
On October 27 2017 19:47 Liquid`Drone wrote:
yeah I've never participated in any of the D rank or yellow rank leagues or whatever, so I can't comment on those. But I've played in hundreds of tournaments as a race picker, I've met other race pickers on many occasions, and I don't think we've ever spent more than 10 seconds figuring out the match up.


It depends a lot on the league itself and what goals the organisers have in mind. if it is a larger league, you might have divisions with lower ranked players, and those come with their own problems, such as complaining about smurfing, random and race picking. same goes for tournaments, it just eats time to not set up a ruling in this case, e.g. "then both pick random". never underestimate the authority and willingness people show when it comes to just get to the next round without actually having to play. sometimes users are assholes. therefore, i do like brain's approach of saying "go and host your own tournament if you don't like mine". people should always act like that.
Liquid`Drone
Profile Joined September 2002
Norway28875 Posts
October 27 2017 11:15 GMT
#31
yeah I mean so far I've had no issues. Only two tournaments ban race-picking - PATL, and this SK clan league. I'm not part of any team that currently participates in leagues, and PATL i'd be ineligible for either way. But I'd be really sad and dismayed if this was gonna start a trend, I'm loving playing tournaments, but I'm not playing in a tourney that does not allow for race picking.

I should win the lottery and start hosting tourneys with the rule 'you are not allowed to pick the same race twice in a row'. I'd enjoy that.
Moderator
AManHasNoName
Profile Joined September 2017
United States165 Posts
October 27 2017 11:31 GMT
#32
Thanks for the infos everyone! Appreciate you indulging my hypothetical :D Quite an interesting conversation here.
“To love the journey is to accept no such end. I have found, through painful experience, that the most important step a person can take is always the next one.”
JieXian
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
Malaysia4677 Posts
October 28 2017 19:28 GMT
#33
On October 27 2017 18:02 Liquid`Drone wrote:
two players both play zvt zvp pvz is something that does happen. Usually that leads to whomever picks zerg first in the game lobby getting to be zerg. I played a tourney vs fuNny, the russian guy, a couple weeks ago, and I knew that he was a zvp pvz player. I felt like playing zvp, so I just immediately picked zerg when joining the lobby, and then he went protoss. If he had picked zerg before I joined the first game, I would have just went with p instead. Sometimes I don't actually have that much of an opinion on which matchup I prefer, and I just flat out ask 'you wanna play pvz or zvp?' and then I go with the other one.

Never really seen an argument arise over this, race pickers are fine with playing all three matchups they have decided to specialize on. Having rules in place to deal with a possible conflict is nice, though, but I'd still be surprised if they ever had to be enforced.


Yep, I play ZvP ZvT and PvZ too, and did so in a TL D Rank tournament a few years ago
Please send me a PM of any song you like that I most probably never heard of! I am looking for people to chat about writing and producing music | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noD-bsOcxuU |
endy
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Switzerland8970 Posts
October 28 2017 22:44 GMT
#34
Racepicking should be allowed as long as you play against the 3 races. That sucks and I hope organizers will realize it's a mistake to ban racepicking.
ॐ
Prev 1 2 All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 6h 18m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
UpATreeSC 115
BRAT_OK 71
ProTech57
MindelVK 21
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 26040
Shuttle 1647
Mini 710
Soulkey 469
actioN 293
Rush 168
Dewaltoss 107
Sharp 65
Free 46
Sexy 35
[ Show more ]
sSak 23
yabsab 18
Rock 17
HiyA 13
Dota 2
qojqva3957
XBOCT1214
Counter-Strike
fl0m5789
Heroes of the Storm
Liquid`Hasu209
Other Games
gofns11207
Grubby1222
FrodaN1097
Beastyqt333
elazer220
Hui .134
TKL 131
uThermal112
C9.Mang0105
KnowMe94
Mew2King68
Trikslyr52
CosmosSc2 18
Organizations
Other Games
BasetradeTV46
[ Show 18 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• mYiSmile143
• Reevou 1
• intothetv
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• Migwel
• IndyKCrew
• Kozan
StarCraft: Brood War
• HerbMon 21
• Azhi_Dahaki12
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• C_a_k_e 2635
• WagamamaTV760
League of Legends
• Nemesis2411
• imaqtpie820
• TFBlade666
• Shiphtur660
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
6h 18m
The PondCast
16h 18m
PiG Sty Festival
18h 18m
Serral vs Lambo
SHIN vs Rogue
OSC
19h 18m
Replay Cast
1d 6h
Escore
1d 16h
PiG Sty Festival
1d 18h
ByuN vs HeRoMaRinE
ShoWTimE vs Zoun
CranKy Ducklings
2 days
PiG Sty Festival
2 days
herO vs Krystianer
Solar vs Cure
Sparkling Tuna Cup
3 days
[ Show More ]
PiG Sty Festival
3 days
Maru vs Shameless
Reynor vs TriGGeR
OSC
4 days
Afreeca Starleague
4 days
Rush vs Hm
Bisu vs Shuttle
WardiTV Weekly
4 days
The Patches Monday
4 days
Afreeca Starleague
5 days
Sharp vs Shinee
Action vs Shine
PiGosaur Cup
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
BeSt vs Paralyze
Jaedong vs Speed
Kung Fu Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-08-11
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
Eternal Conflict S2 Finale

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
K-JUNGMAN
Acropolis #5
RSL Revival: Season 6
Esports World Cup 2026
Esports World Cup 2026: LCQ
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S3: W7
CSLAN 4
ASL Season 22
Escore Tournament S3: W8
Acropolis #5 - TRS
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Acropolis #5 - GSA
HSC XXX
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
PiG Sty Festival 8.0
Big Dog Cup 2026 Div 1
META DYMY #4
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
Thunderpick World Champ.
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
Logitech G Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #5
BLAST Open Fall 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.