• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 01:07
CEST 07:07
KST 14:07
  • 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
Classic Games #3: Rogue vs Serral at BlizzCon9[ASL20] Ro16 Preview Pt1: Ascent10Maestros of the Game: Week 1/Play-in Preview12[ASL20] Ro24 Preview Pt2: Take-Off7[ASL20] Ro24 Preview Pt1: Runway13
Community News
SC4ALL $6,000 Open LAN in Philadelphia7Weekly Cups (Sept 1-7): MaxPax rebounds & Clem saga continues24LiuLi Cup - September 2025 Tournaments3Weekly Cups (August 25-31): Clem's Last Straw?39Weekly Cups (Aug 18-24): herO dethrones MaxPax6
StarCraft 2
General
#1: Maru - Greatest Players of All Time Weekly Cups (Sept 1-7): MaxPax rebounds & Clem saga continues Team Liquid Map Contest #21 - Presented by Monster Energy Classic Games #3: Rogue vs Serral at BlizzCon What happened to Singapore/Brazil servers?
Tourneys
RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament SC4ALL $6,000 Open LAN in Philadelphia LANified! 37: Groundswell, BYOC LAN, Nov 28-30 2025 LiuLi Cup - September 2025 Tournaments
Strategy
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 490 Masters of Midnight Mutation # 489 Bannable Offense Mutation # 488 What Goes Around Mutation # 487 Think Fast
Brood War
General
BW General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BSL Team Wars - Bonyth, Dewalt, Hawk & Sziky teams ASL20 General Discussion alas... i aint gon' lie to u bruh...
Tourneys
[ASL20] Ro16 Group B SC4ALL $1,500 Open Bracket LAN CPL12 SIGN UP are open!!! [Megathread] Daily Proleagues
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Muta micro map competition Fighting Spirit mining rates [G] Mineral Boosting
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile General RTS Discussion Thread Borderlands 3
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
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
Effective ED Solutions for Better Relationships US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread The Games Industry And ATVI
Fan Clubs
The Happy Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023 TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Linksys AE2500 USB WIFI keeps disconnecting Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread High temperatures on bridge(s)
TL Community
BarCraft in Tokyo Japan for ASL Season5 Final The Automated Ban List
Blogs
The Personality of a Spender…
TrAiDoS
A very expensive lesson on ma…
Garnet
hello world
radishsoup
Lemme tell you a thing o…
JoinTheRain
RTS Design in Hypercoven
a11
Evil Gacha Games and the…
ffswowsucks
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1544 users

Why protoss always underperforms on pro level? - Page 2

Forum Index > BW General
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 20 21 22 Next All
XenOsky
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Chile2277 Posts
December 02 2024 00:44 GMT
#21
On December 01 2024 13:37 G5 wrote:
I think historically Protoss has had the least stable build orders in the game and is the easiest race to take advantage of if you play whatever the current text-book standard is for the meta. Because of this, there is inherently more variance in build orders for Protoss players than other races and Protoss players inherently take more risks than Zergs and Terrans from within the meta game because of how the race is designed.

Although taking these risks can yield decent win rates in overall games, it's a hard thing to place bets on different build orders and be correct against the best players in the world enough times to win an ASL.

The top Zerg players have also denied the best Protoss players from potential titles many times. Due to the match up design, it's almost impossible to be ahead of Zerg in whatever the current meta is. Zerg is typically setting the meta and Protoss is trying to come up with solutions to whatever the current meta is of Zerg.

Once you get past the mechanics and execution of Starcraft, it mostly just comes down to decision making which usually involves understanding the current meta and what the probability is of what the opponent is doing or going to do and what is the risk assessment involved with what your response is going to be. Protoss players' decision making involves higher amounts of risk imo. Which again, makes it hard to run through an entire tournament like ASL and come out on top.



Basically
StarCraft & Audax Italiano.
M3t4PhYzX
Profile Joined March 2019
Poland4201 Posts
December 02 2024 09:30 GMT
#22
On December 01 2024 13:37 G5 wrote:
I think historically Protoss has had the least stable build orders in the game and is the easiest race to take advantage of if you play whatever the current text-book standard is for the meta. Because of this, there is inherently more variance in build orders for Protoss players than other races and Protoss players inherently take more risks than Zergs and Terrans from within the meta game because of how the race is designed.

Although taking these risks can yield decent win rates in overall games, it's a hard thing to place bets on different build orders and be correct against the best players in the world enough times to win an ASL.

The top Zerg players have also denied the best Protoss players from potential titles many times. Due to the match up design, it's almost impossible to be ahead of Zerg in whatever the current meta is. Zerg is typically setting the meta and Protoss is trying to come up with solutions to whatever the current meta is of Zerg.

Once you get past the mechanics and execution of Starcraft, it mostly just comes down to decision making which usually involves understanding the current meta and what the probability is of what the opponent is doing or going to do and what is the risk assessment involved with what your response is going to be. Protoss players' decision making involves higher amounts of risk imo. Which again, makes it hard to run through an entire tournament like ASL and come out on top.

Summed up things perfectly.
odi profanum vulgus et arceo
iopq
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
United States948 Posts
December 02 2024 09:45 GMT
#23
On November 30 2024 04:47 TMNT wrote:
Although it's nearly impossible to have a map that balances all 3 matchups, it's very easy to have matchup-specific maps, and it affects nothing with regards to the integrity of tournaments.


I don't know why people keep saying this, a lot of current maps are very close to 50% balance in all matchups, like Radeon

your favorite Protoss player didn't lose because Radeon has 51% ZvP win rate or whatever, he lost because Soulkey is just so much better than everyone else right now
SiarX
Profile Joined December 2021
104 Posts
December 02 2024 12:11 GMT
#24
By the way, there was an interesting statistics posted in other thread here (https://tl.net/forum/brood-war/632651-is-soulkey-a-bonjwa-some-stats-and-graphs).

I wonder how Snow and Mini manage to maintain extremely high PvP win ratio, if that matchup (violatile protoss build orders x 2) is so random?
MapleLeafSirup
Profile Joined July 2009
Germany950 Posts
December 02 2024 12:41 GMT
#25
Soulkey is currently the best player, but there is a structural issue with the ZvP matchup, which will forever make it hard for Protoss players to win a series against a Zerg.
Peeano
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Netherlands5091 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-12-02 15:42:46
December 02 2024 15:40 GMT
#26
Because Bisu never peaked again, Jangbi stopped playing, Snow kept choking and Mini never got emotional support.

Also because Hero kept hydra busting every Protoss in ASL.
FBH #1!
ThunderJunk
Profile Joined December 2015
United States693 Posts
December 02 2024 17:59 GMT
#27
In terms of offline results - the booths are see-through, so Zerg players like Hero and Soulkey can look at the crowd and suss out what's happening. It's really quite unfair. They need one-way glass or to have the players facing away from the crowd or something. That's sc1.

Idk about sc2. I've been out of the loop for a while.
I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.
Biff The Understudy
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
France7901 Posts
December 02 2024 19:36 GMT
#28
Seems to me pro level isn’t imbalanced.

For some reason it looks like it’s harder to absolutely dominate everything and everyone as a Protoss. The closest we have had was Bisu.

Hard to say why. The winrate at pro level are pretty damn close to 50% in all matchups.
The fellow who is out to burn things up is the counterpart of the fool who thinks he can save the world. The world needs neither to be burned up nor to be saved. The world is, we are. Transients, if we buck it; here to stay if we accept it. ~H.Miller
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland25610 Posts
December 02 2024 23:14 GMT
#29
On December 03 2024 04:36 Biff The Understudy wrote:
Seems to me pro level isn’t imbalanced.

For some reason it looks like it’s harder to absolutely dominate everything and everyone as a Protoss. The closest we have had was Bisu.

Hard to say why. The winrate at pro level are pretty damn close to 50% in all matchups.

I think because it somewhat evens out when you have expert PvTers who struggle a bit in PvZ, or a Bisu who is no mug at PvT but earned his biggest reputation as a PvZ god.

So overall, the balance isn’t too bad, but individually it makes Toss players less likely to be consistently at the business end of tournaments.

I’m curious as to why that is, Zerg and Terran seem to have more players who are well-rounded across matchups, but hey my intuition may be off, I’m far from a BW expert!

Completely arbitrary numbers but say if you have 2 equally sized groups of tournament Toss players, one has a 70% win vT, and 30% vZ, the other the opposite. You’ll still get an even overall win rate, but to actually win tournaments you’re kind of relying on kind brackets.
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
Kyle8
Profile Joined October 2024
28 Posts
December 03 2024 02:27 GMT
#30
because zerg always has options of hydra busts & protoss can't really scout it at all, so the entire early game is a freaking minefield where protoss can lose & zerg really cant
iopq
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
United States948 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-12-03 08:13:49
December 03 2024 08:13 GMT
#31
On December 03 2024 11:27 Kyle8 wrote:
because zerg always has options of hydra busts & protoss can't really scout it at all, so the entire early game is a freaking minefield where protoss can lose & zerg really cant


Just make more maps that have high ground naturals. Protosses complained that it makes turtle four base Zerg too strong, so make it a three player map where far natural is too hard to hold (same distance from you and your enemy)

It has the added benefit of easier defense vs. m&m busts. Then just add a lot of overlord hiding places that Protoss can clear out with corsairs and Terran can't clear until valkyries.

Radeon is already close to perfect because you have to hydra bust up and down which favors cannon range (sometimes you can't even get the forge without committing on cannons) and it has good overlord hiding spots and an undroppable ring around the main to make elevators harder

But three player version of Tempest would be the best
TMNT
Profile Joined January 2021
2808 Posts
December 03 2024 10:55 GMT
#32
On December 02 2024 18:45 iopq wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 30 2024 04:47 TMNT wrote:
Although it's nearly impossible to have a map that balances all 3 matchups, it's very easy to have matchup-specific maps, and it affects nothing with regards to the integrity of tournaments.


I don't know why people keep saying this, a lot of current maps are very close to 50% balance in all matchups, like Radeon

your favorite Protoss player didn't lose because Radeon has 51% ZvP win rate or whatever, he lost because Soulkey is just so much better than everyone else right now

"Current" though. But we're talking about 25 years.

The most played maps in the modern era is Polypoid and it reads 46.9% PvZ and 48.3% PvT.
The second most is Vermeer and it's 47.8% PvZ and 44.0% PvT.
Fighting Spirit is 46.2% PvZ and 48.3% PvT by the way.

Radeon is now standing at 49.3% PvZ and 47.9% PvT. We can say it's an improved Vermeer. But keep in mind that Soma being in the military is probably the reason PvZ on Radeon is close to 50%.

The common denominator here is that on all those maps Protoss has a sub 50% win rate in all matchups (with some actually closer to 45%). It also makes no sense for the supposedly strong matchup of Protoss (PvT) being less than 50% on the most standard maps.

You can say every map is "close to 50%" but it doesn't mean much if it's always 52 for one race and 48 for the other.
[sc1f]eonzerg
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Belgium6626 Posts
December 03 2024 15:18 GMT
#33
On December 03 2024 19:55 TMNT wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 02 2024 18:45 iopq wrote:
On November 30 2024 04:47 TMNT wrote:
Although it's nearly impossible to have a map that balances all 3 matchups, it's very easy to have matchup-specific maps, and it affects nothing with regards to the integrity of tournaments.


I don't know why people keep saying this, a lot of current maps are very close to 50% balance in all matchups, like Radeon

your favorite Protoss player didn't lose because Radeon has 51% ZvP win rate or whatever, he lost because Soulkey is just so much better than everyone else right now

"Current" though. But we're talking about 25 years.

The most played maps in the modern era is Polypoid and it reads 46.9% PvZ and 48.3% PvT.
The second most is Vermeer and it's 47.8% PvZ and 44.0% PvT.
Fighting Spirit is 46.2% PvZ and 48.3% PvT by the way.

Radeon is now standing at 49.3% PvZ and 47.9% PvT. We can say it's an improved Vermeer. But keep in mind that Soma being in the military is probably the reason PvZ on Radeon is close to 50%.

The common denominator here is that on all those maps Protoss has a sub 50% win rate in all matchups (with some actually closer to 45%). It also makes no sense for the supposedly strong matchup of Protoss (PvT) being less than 50% on the most standard maps.

You can say every map is "close to 50%" but it doesn't mean much if it's always 52 for one race and 48 for the other.

IDK man to me 49 50 51 just speaks about Player performance in general. Those maps u mention Poly Fs and Veermer are really good map for pvz. You can ask any protoss. Gotta be careful with those metrics anyway. Look at Blitz Y. 38% win rate for zerg yet Soulkey clean the floor with Snow and Mini. I wasnt around in the Island maps era but i imagine the win rate for zvp was pretty low also. And you asking for such maps is kinda weird. There has been maps totally standard that favored pvz like central plains. Crossing field etc.

now Radeon is actually a fantastic map for protoss. Very easy to defend your expos. Very easy to attack your opponent third and put pressure into his fourth. Saying it is only that close cuz of Soma is playing the game of if if. Well if Jangbi . Kal and Much didnt retire maybe Zerg will not be so dominant.

And the reality is that the maps last seasons are really bad for zerg. Specially for those that arent as good as Soulkey.

Nirli
Profile Joined February 2023
Bulgaria372 Posts
December 03 2024 15:57 GMT
#34
Cuz hydra good unit, don't you watch jinjin vids?
kidcrash
Profile Joined September 2009
United States620 Posts
December 03 2024 17:03 GMT
#35
I wish the community wasn't so stubborn when it comes to the idea of a balance patch. Protoss has been underperforming for way too long now.
WGT-Baal
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
France3392 Posts
December 03 2024 17:15 GMT
#36
On December 04 2024 02:03 kidcrash wrote:
I wish the community wasn't so stubborn when it comes to the idea of a balance patch. Protoss has been underperforming for way too long now.


There will never be (and should never be) a balance patch. Maps are enough.

Assuming there is, who decides? Who tests it? Do you want to end up like sc2 with patches every other day? And P is broken there too. No easy amswer to such basic questions means no patch can be made.

I d rather blizzard/Microsoft worka on delivering what was promised, maybe a remaster 2.0 for the anniversary is in the works like war3 reforged just got.

Overall I agree with eon, losing jangbi, kal (much possibly) and having snow struggle a bit offline, combined with soulkey peaking makes it look dire. Overall P a bit lower in matchup balance too but realistically we haven't had a lot of good P since the 6 dragon era.
Horang2 fan
LUCKY_NOOB
Profile Blog Joined June 2013
Bulgaria1459 Posts
December 03 2024 23:14 GMT
#37
Maps. Also I think the obsession of one map that must be ok in multiple matches is unnecessary.
#ForceMapsToMatches! I guess players having ability to veto a map is kind of that but I don't think it goes far enough.

For patch dreamers consider this:

A map IS a patch already!
ko-fi.com/luckynoob
Volka
Profile Joined December 2010
Argentina410 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-12-04 04:57:23
December 04 2024 04:57 GMT
#38
Well first off it's not like Protoss hasn't won any ASLs. It's just that the potentials (Mini, Rain, Snow, Bisu) often choke under critical tough situations. Game is hard.
http://www.starsite.com.ar
Bonyth
Profile Joined August 2010
Poland569 Posts
December 04 2024 06:48 GMT
#39
Yes, yes, it just so happens that the biggest offline chokers are protoss players. Pure luck, nothing else.
We can also assume that map creators have bad intentions for protoss, since the balance can be solved with maps, but protoss underperforms, right?
There is over 40% of unique protoss players on ladder, however only less than 30% protosses on S rank. With such big protoss population you could expect to see the most protoss winners / bonjwas, however reality is different.

Since I am a protoss player, my vision could be fogged though.
RJBTVYOUTUBE
Profile Joined December 2023
Netherlands943 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-12-04 13:47:59
December 04 2024 13:47 GMT
#40
On December 04 2024 15:48 Bonyth wrote:
Yes, yes, it just so happens that the biggest offline chokers are protoss players. Pure luck, nothing else.
We can also assume that map creators have bad intentions for protoss, since the balance can be solved with maps, but protoss underperforms, right?
There is over 40% of unique protoss players on ladder, however only less than 30% protosses on S rank. With such big protoss population you could expect to see the most protoss winners / bonjwas, however reality is different.

Since I am a protoss player, my vision could be fogged though.

They tried to nerf terran with maps but it ended up affecting toss the most. They tried to nerf zerg but ended up nerfing protoss the most. Map makers and map selection for each season tends to end up hurting protoss the most. protoss is bad on gimmick maps. protoss needs standard maps or two player maps. Monty Hall and kickback ruined it for toss this season.
JDON MY SOUL!
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 20 21 22 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 4h 53m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Nina 180
Livibee 42
StarCraft: Brood War
Sea 7678
sSak 97
ToSsGirL 62
Noble 54
Dota 2
LuMiX1
League of Legends
JimRising 646
Counter-Strike
Stewie2K566
Coldzera 245
semphis_35
Other Games
summit1g7105
shahzam658
C9.Mang0354
WinterStarcraft296
XaKoH 185
ViBE73
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick1210
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH206
• practicex 33
• Sammyuel 9
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• Diggity5
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Lourlo1152
• Stunt488
Upcoming Events
RSL Revival
4h 53m
Maestros of the Game
8h 53m
ShoWTimE vs Classic
Clem vs herO
Serral vs Bunny
Reynor vs Zoun
Cosmonarchy
10h 53m
Bonyth vs Dewalt
[BSL 2025] Weekly
12h 53m
RSL Revival
1d 4h
Maestros of the Game
1d 11h
BSL Team Wars
1d 13h
Afreeca Starleague
2 days
Snow vs Sharp
Jaedong vs Mini
Wardi Open
2 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
3 days
[ Show More ]
Afreeca Starleague
3 days
Light vs Speed
Larva vs Soma
LiuLi Cup
4 days
The PondCast
5 days
Korean StarCraft League
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2025-09-10
SEL Season 2 Championship
HCC Europe

Ongoing

BSL 20 Team Wars
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 3
BSL 21 Points
ASL Season 20
CSL 2025 AUTUMN (S18)
LASL Season 20
RSL Revival: Season 2
Maestros of the Game
Chzzk MurlocKing SC1 vs SC2 Cup #2
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1

Upcoming

2025 Chongqing Offline CUP
BSL Polish World Championship 2025
BSL Season 21
SC4ALL: Brood War
BSL 21 Team A
SC4ALL: StarCraft II
EC S1
SL Budapest Major 2025
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
MESA Nomadic Masters Fall
Thunderpick World Champ.
CS Asia Championships 2025
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 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.