• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 10:33
CET 16:33
KST 00:33
  • 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
RSL Revival - 2025 Season Finals Preview1RSL Season 3 - Playoffs Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups C & D Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups A & B Preview2TL.net Map Contest #21: Winners12
Community News
Weekly Cups (Dec 1-7): Clem doubles, Solar gets over the hump1Weekly Cups (Nov 24-30): MaxPax, Clem, herO win2BGE Stara Zagora 2026 announced15[BSL21] Ro.16 Group Stage (C->B->A->D)4Weekly Cups (Nov 17-23): Solar, MaxPax, Clem win3
StarCraft 2
General
RSL Revival - 2025 Season Finals Preview Weekly Cups (Dec 1-7): Clem doubles, Solar gets over the hump Chinese SC2 server to reopen; live all-star event in Hangzhou Maestros of the Game: Live Finals Preview (RO4) BGE Stara Zagora 2026 announced
Tourneys
Tenacious Turtle Tussle 2025 RSL Offline Finals Dates + Ticket Sales! Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament StarCraft2.fi 15th Anniversary Cup RSL Offline Finals Info - Dec 13 and 14!
Strategy
Custom Maps
Map Editor closed ?
External Content
Mutation # 503 Fowl Play Mutation # 502 Negative Reinforcement Mutation # 501 Price of Progress Mutation # 500 Fright night
Brood War
General
[BSL21] RO8 Bracket & Prediction Contest BW General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Let's talk about Metropolis Foreign Brood War
Tourneys
[ASL20] Grand Finals Small VOD Thread 2.0 [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL21] RO16 Group D - Sunday 21:00 CET
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Fighting Spirit mining rates Current Meta Game Theory for Starcraft
Other Games
General Games
Awesome Games Done Quick 2026! Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread EVE Corporation Path of Exile
Dota 2
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
Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas Survivor II: The Amazon Sengoku Mafia TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine YouTube Thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
White-Ra Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion!
Sports
Formula 1 Discussion 2024 - 2026 Football Thread
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
TL+ Announced Where to ask questions and add stream?
Blogs
How Sleep Deprivation Affect…
TrAiDoS
I decided to write a webnov…
DjKniteX
James Bond movies ranking - pa…
Topin
Thanks for the RSL
Hildegard
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 978 users

ZvP is imbalanced - Page 33

Forum Index > BW General
Post a Reply
Prev 1 31 32 33 34 35 47 Next All
Elite00fm
Profile Joined January 2008
United States548 Posts
October 20 2009 05:46 GMT
#641
also, there is a very high chance you miscalculated the standard deviation
motbob
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
United States12546 Posts
October 20 2009 05:47 GMT
#642
On October 20 2009 14:46 Elite00fm wrote:
also, there is a very high chance you miscalculated the standard deviation

OK

tell me what it actually is and how you got it, please.
ModeratorGood content always wins.
Elite00fm
Profile Joined January 2008
United States548 Posts
October 20 2009 05:48 GMT
#643
On October 20 2009 14:46 motbob wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 20 2009 14:44 Elite00fm wrote:
set null hypothesis to the winrate zerg had for the past 5 years or so before march 1st of this year

Getting that data would be pure hell. No thanks.


Yeah good point, I guess we could estimate it at like 53-55% though
zulu_nation8
Profile Blog Joined May 2005
China26351 Posts
October 20 2009 05:48 GMT
#644
On October 20 2009 14:44 Elite00fm wrote:
set null hypothesis to the winrate zerg had for the past 5 years or so before march 1st of this year


should it be that or the average of the zvp stats over every 7 month period ever in progaming? Since it should be the same sample sizes?
zulu_nation8
Profile Blog Joined May 2005
China26351 Posts
October 20 2009 05:54 GMT
#645
or the same amount of games, not time.
motbob
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
United States12546 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-10-20 05:55:33
October 20 2009 05:55 GMT
#646
On October 20 2009 14:48 zulu_nation8 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 20 2009 14:44 Elite00fm wrote:
set null hypothesis to the winrate zerg had for the past 5 years or so before march 1st of this year


should it be that or the average of the zvp stats over every 7 month period ever in progaming? Since it should be the same sample sizes?

No. Elite's suggestion is OK because it compares the recent win rate to the historical ZvP winrate, which might actually serve the purposes of this thread better. My method compares the recent winrate to a rate of 50%. But your suggestion doesn't make that much sense... a rate is a rate.
ModeratorGood content always wins.
Heyoka
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Katowice25012 Posts
October 20 2009 05:59 GMT
#647
Is a rate still a rate when you estimate the average at 50% but then go on to say your expected variance is from 1% to 99%?
@RealHeyoka | ESL / DreamHack StarCraft Lead
motbob
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
United States12546 Posts
October 20 2009 06:02 GMT
#648
On October 20 2009 14:59 heyoka wrote:
Is a rate still a rate when you estimate the average at 50% but then go on to say your expected variance is from 1% to 99%?

Uh, yeah, that's the nature of binary data.
ModeratorGood content always wins.
zulu_nation8
Profile Blog Joined May 2005
China26351 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-10-20 06:26:24
October 20 2009 06:22 GMT
#649
Standard deviation means how far the mean % from other samples of 800 games in the history of progaming can deviate from the null hypothesis. Which should be something like .05 or .1. What your test proved was that basically your numbers are wrong.
Elite00fm
Profile Joined January 2008
United States548 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-10-20 06:29:59
October 20 2009 06:27 GMT
#650
Wouldn't you solve this by finding the standard deviation of win % between these games, then find the z score using this value?

edit: i'm a little rusty when it comes to stats rofl
motbob
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
United States12546 Posts
October 20 2009 06:33 GMT
#651
On October 20 2009 15:22 zulu_nation8 wrote:
Standard deviation means how far the mean % from other samples of 800 games in the history of progaming can deviate from the null hypothesis. Which should be something like .05 or .1. What your test proved was that basically your numbers are wrong.

Go into excel and use the command stdev on a bunch of numbers. That's the standard deviation I'm talking about. You plug that into this equation (for omega):

[image loading]


Please don't criticize my methods again until you do a statistical test of your own. After all, you said you would.
ModeratorGood content always wins.
Matrijs
Profile Joined May 2009
United States147 Posts
October 20 2009 06:44 GMT
#652
If the purpose is to prove that Zergs have had the advantage over Protoss players the last 3 months or whatever time period, why isn't a null hypothesis of winrate = 50% ideal for that purpose?

If we use the historical average, we invite the argument that Zergs have had a historical advantage over Protoss players, which would corrupt our test. The goal for mapmakers should be 50% winrates over time for each race in all three matchups - why shouldn't we measure their results against that goal?
Elite00fm
Profile Joined January 2008
United States548 Posts
October 20 2009 06:51 GMT
#653
On October 20 2009 15:44 Matrijs wrote:
If the purpose is to prove that Zergs have had the advantage over Protoss players the last 3 months or whatever time period, why isn't a null hypothesis of winrate = 50% ideal for that purpose?

If we use the historical average, we invite the argument that Zergs have had a historical advantage over Protoss players, which would corrupt our test. The goal for mapmakers should be 50% winrates over time for each race in all three matchups - why shouldn't we measure their results against that goal?


Because the game has always been slightly T>Z>P>T, and this sort of equilibrium has been deemed balanced. It is already assumed that zergs have had a historical advantage over protoss, what we are trying to determine is if in the past 7 months is if this increased winrate of the zergs is so much more than the historical figure that the probability of this occurring to do variance is very small, and if infact an imbalance has emerged in the matchup.
Matrijs
Profile Joined May 2009
United States147 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-10-20 07:19:00
October 20 2009 07:08 GMT
#654
On October 20 2009 15:51 Elite00fm wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 20 2009 15:44 Matrijs wrote:
If the purpose is to prove that Zergs have had the advantage over Protoss players the last 3 months or whatever time period, why isn't a null hypothesis of winrate = 50% ideal for that purpose?

If we use the historical average, we invite the argument that Zergs have had a historical advantage over Protoss players, which would corrupt our test. The goal for mapmakers should be 50% winrates over time for each race in all three matchups - why shouldn't we measure their results against that goal?


Because the game has always been slightly T>Z>P>T, and this sort of equilibrium has been deemed balanced. It is already assumed that zergs have had a historical advantage over protoss, what we are trying to determine is if in the past 7 months is if this increased winrate of the zergs is so much more than the historical figure that the probability of this occurring to do variance is very small, and if infact an imbalance has emerged in the matchup.


I don't see this as a particularly compelling argument. If maps are sufficient to significantly alter, and even reverse, the T>Z>P>T historical pattern of imbalance, why should we accept that imbalance? Why shouldn't we aim for T=Z=P=T?

Ignoring that, it seems to me that the proper test is a one-tailed one-proportion z-test:
http://www.acastat.com/Statbook/ztest1.htm

The null hypothesis would be that the Zerg winrate over the sampled period equals the historical rate, which we will approximate conservatively as 55%.

The alternative hypothesis would be that the Zerg winrate over the sampled period exceeds the historical rate.

By my calculation, that test gives us a z-value around 2.5, which is easily high enough to conclude that the current Zerg winrate exceeds the historical rate, even given the conservative assumption of a 55% historical winrate.

Edit: Including my calculations so others can check my work:
Standard error = sqrt((.55)(.45)/855) ~ .01701
Z-value = (.5921-.55)/.01701 ~ 2.475
Elite00fm
Profile Joined January 2008
United States548 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-10-20 07:22:56
October 20 2009 07:21 GMT
#655
How did you get that standard error? The formula is stdev/sqrt(n) isn't it?
Matrijs
Profile Joined May 2009
United States147 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-10-20 07:45:25
October 20 2009 07:24 GMT
#656
On October 20 2009 16:21 Elite00fm wrote:
How did you get that standard error?


The formula's in the link I posted.

SE = square root (p(q)/n)

where p = population proportion (here, the estimated historical Zerg winrate, .55),
q = (p-1)
and n = sample size (855 games sampled)

So, it seems to me that, yes, something has changed recently. I see several possibilities:
1) Metagame shift. Protoss players may be struggling to find a good counter for the current popular 3 hatch spire to 5 hatch hydra build. This could be either a temporary effect, which will disappear or reverse itself once Protoss players discover an effective counter, or it could be a permanent effect, if the matchup is sufficiently "played out" strategically.
2) Maps. The new maps may be more Zerg-favored in this matchup than previous maps.
3) Mechanics. No one denies that the mechanics of modern pro players are vastly superior to those in the past. It may be that improved mechanics have more of a positive impact on a Zerg's effectiveness than they do on that of a Protoss.

The bottom line, it seems to me, is that unless we see a reversal of the trend over the next few months, tournament and league organizers should start looking at ways to tweak the existing map pool to bring the matchup back into balance, regardless of the cause. A 60% win rate for one race over another is just bad for the game at the competitive level.
zulu_nation8
Profile Blog Joined May 2005
China26351 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-10-20 16:15:58
October 20 2009 16:14 GMT
#657
On October 20 2009 15:33 motbob wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 20 2009 15:22 zulu_nation8 wrote:
Standard deviation means how far the mean % from other samples of 800 games in the history of progaming can deviate from the null hypothesis. Which should be something like .05 or .1. What your test proved was that basically your numbers are wrong.

Go into excel and use the command stdev on a bunch of numbers. That's the standard deviation I'm talking about. You plug that into this equation (for omega):

[image loading]


Please don't criticize my methods again until you do a statistical test of your own. After all, you said you would.


motbob i think its pretty obvious a standard deviation of 50% is wrong, the sooner you realize this and drop the im an econ major i know stats attitude, the faster we can move on.

A win is not 100%, and a loss is not 0%, that would be the standard deviation if brood war had like 80% half wins or something, even then that would not make sense since there would be no statistical significance since EVERYTHING would fall under the range of 0 and 1, thats why your numbers are so messed up.
Black Gun
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
Germany4482 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-10-20 16:35:56
October 20 2009 16:29 GMT
#658
On October 20 2009 13:26 motbob wrote:
OK I just found a much easier way to compile map matchup data! So when I get access to Stata, I'll have better data. I'll do this for all stats since March 1st, 2009.

Byzantium 3: 25-13
Byzantium 2: 30-11
Tears of the Moon: 1-0
New Autumn Wind: 3-1
Medusa: 34-23
Tau Cross: 7-7
Carthage 2: 2-4
Carthage: 0-1
Battle Royale: 4-5
Holy World: 4-3
Shades of Twilight: 1-3
Colosseum II: 2-4
Andromeda: 7-19 (?????)
Neo Harmony: 5-0
God's Garden: 56-44
Carthage 3: 1-0
Outsider: 41-27
Neo Medusa: 34-25
Return of the King: 47-22
Eye of the Storm: 1-1
El Niño: 1-1
Destination: 110-72 (this changed significantly since the time of the OP... EVER OSL prelims used it)
Tornado: 5-1
Outsider SE: 2-0
Moon Glaive: 2-3
Match Point: 3-4
Heartbreak Ridge: 90-64
Fighting Spirit: 6-3

Overall: 524-361, or 59.21%



the variable we are discussing here is binary, hence the estimator of the mean is the proportion p = 524/(524+361) = 0.592. the sample size is large enough to use a normal approximation.

if we assume a null-hypothesis of a balanced winrate of p0 = 50%, then in the corresponding test we need to use this p0 and not p in the formula for the standard deviation!

the test statistic then is:

Z = sqrt(n)*(p - p0)/sqrt[p0*(1-p0)] = sqrt(885)*(0.5921 - 0.5)/sqrt(0.5*(1-0.5)) = 5.479 -> highly significant.


if we assume a null-hypothesis of p0 = 0.55, then we obtain a Z of 2.517 -> p-value of 0.0059, ie significant even on a confidence level of 99%.

so the ZvP-winrate during that timeframe significantly exceeds 55%.
"What am I supposed to do against this?" - "Lose!" :-]
zulu_nation8
Profile Blog Joined May 2005
China26351 Posts
October 20 2009 16:43 GMT
#659
can you explain to me why 1-P0 is the SD
Muirhead
Profile Blog Joined October 2007
United States556 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-10-20 16:45:00
October 20 2009 16:44 GMT
#660
If you guys still have trouble doubting the significance, ask yourself why we even need statistics in such a simple case. These numbers are small enough and the question simple enough that we don't need any fancy approximations or limits of the binomial distribution.

ZvP stats are 524-361

If you flip a coin 885 times, the chance of heads coming up 361 times or less is

(Sum(i=0 to 361) (885 C i))/(2^885)

If the coin has, say, a historical 47% chance of heads, then the chance of heads coming up 361 times or less is

Sum(i=0 to 361) (885 C i) * (.47)^i*(.53)^(885-i)

Someone can figure these out in 10 seconds with their TI-89 or Mathematica... unfortunately I can't right now. No need to hide behind fancy stats here!
starleague.mit.edu
Prev 1 31 32 33 34 35 47 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 1h 27m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Lowko414
Harstem 338
Fuzer 211
Dewaltoss 68
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 28375
Sea 4208
Calm 3822
Mini 1129
Jaedong 1018
Larva 927
EffOrt 606
Soma 470
Light 460
Snow 389
[ Show more ]
hero 318
firebathero 292
Sharp 227
BeSt 214
actioN 213
Rush 143
Aegong 43
Mind 38
Mong 36
Bale 36
Terrorterran 33
scan(afreeca) 24
sorry 23
Movie 18
soO 18
ajuk12(nOOB) 15
HiyA 11
Dota 2
Gorgc6603
qojqva2143
syndereN304
XcaliburYe155
Counter-Strike
fl0m211
zeus61
Other Games
FrodaN3315
B2W.Neo1037
hiko580
crisheroes365
Liquid`VortiX186
KnowMe131
QueenE57
Trikslyr39
nookyyy 32
ToD21
Organizations
StarCraft 2
WardiTV1002
Other Games
BasetradeTV15
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• poizon28 6
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• Michael_bg 2
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• Noizen35
League of Legends
• Jankos3535
• TFBlade1079
Other Games
• Scarra1040
Upcoming Events
Big Brain Bouts
1h 27m
RSL Revival
12h 57m
StarCraft2.fi
18h 27m
IPSL
1d 1h
Sziky vs JDConan
OSC
1d 1h
Solar vs Percival
Gerald vs Nicoract
Creator vs ByuN
RSL Revival
1d 12h
Classic vs TBD
herO vs Zoun
WardiTV 2025
1d 21h
herO vs ShoWTimE
SHIN vs herO
Clem vs herO
SHIN vs Clem
SHIN vs ShoWTimE
Clem vs ShoWTimE
IPSL
2 days
Tarson vs DragOn
Wardi Open
2 days
Monday Night Weeklies
3 days
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
3 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
3 days
The PondCast
5 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Acropolis #4 - TS3
RSL Revival: Season 3
Kuram Kup

Ongoing

IPSL Winter 2025-26
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 4
YSL S2
BSL Season 21
Slon Tour Season 2
WardiTV 2025
META Madness #9
SL Budapest Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
Thunderpick World Champ.
CS Asia Championships 2025
ESL Pro League S22

Upcoming

BSL 21 Non-Korean Championship
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
Bellum Gens Elite Stara Zagora 2026
HSC XXVIII
Big Gabe Cup #3
RSL Offline Finals
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual
eXTREMESLAND 2025
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 © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.