Power Rank 04/10/2009 - Page 12

On April 17 2009 17:03 latent wrote:
Ok ok, I think with regards to Fantasy's series against Bisu a little logical contemplation is in order. I was as shocked and disappointed as any Bisu fan when Bisu lost 3-0, but any Starcraft BoX series has to be taken with a grain of salt. The reason for this is the nature of *positive feedback* in Starcraft. It is this trait which makes Starcraft different from pretty much all national and international sports out there. What I mean by positive feedback is that when a player gains an advantage during a match, that player will be able to reinforce that advantage and over time it will grow. For example, if a player manages to harrass a player's economy by kililng a probe or 2, they will instantly have a small advantage in economy. But each of their extra probe or 2 will bring in a few extra minerals per mining trip, which will allow them to build probes and units faster than their opponent, which will lead to them being able to gain an even larger economic lead over their opponent. This is the problematic nature of Starcraft. Every little advantage counts, because it reinforces itself and builds up (in some cases exponentially, in fact) over time.

Compare this to a sport without significant positive feedback, like basketball for example. An analogy to starcraft would be that if team A's score dropped to say 10 points below the other team's (team B) score, then team A would be required to pull a player off the court and play 4 vs. 5. This would naturally put them at an even further disadvantage. Of course this doesn't happen in basketball. If a team is down by 10, or even 50 points, they have the same chance to score as they did when they started the game.

My point here is, in 2 out of 3 games Bisu found himself at a disadvantage early on (failed reaver Game 1, failed 2 shuttle harrass Game 3), and as time went on it became harder and harder for him to overcome that disadvantage because of the nature of the game. That's not necessarily a sign of inferior skill. It simply means Fantasy didn't make a large enough mistake for Bisu to capitalize on it and give himself an opportunity to get himself back into the game.

That's why you need to take every series with a grain of salt. It's why Fantasy *shouldn't* be ranked over Bisu, since he historically has performed poorly in the pro leagues (below .500 average), even in the normal Pro League where matches and maps are decided long in advance, giving players plenty of time to practice.