• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 07:51
CEST 13:51
KST 20:51
  • 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] Ro16 Preview Pt2: All Star10Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists14[ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt1: Fresh Flow9[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash10[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0
Community News
2026 GSL Season 1 Qualifiers12Maestros of the Game 2 announced52026 GSL Tour plans announced14Weekly Cups (April 6-12): herO doubles, "Villains" prevail1MaNa leaves Team Liquid23
StarCraft 2
General
MaNa leaves Team Liquid Maestros of the Game 2 announced 2026 GSL Tour plans announced Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists
Tourneys
2026 GSL Season 1 Qualifiers GSL CK: More events planned pending crowdfunding RSL Revival: Season 5 - Qualifiers and Main Event Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2)
Strategy
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3 [A] Nemrods 1/4 players [M] (2) Frigid Storage
External Content
Mutation # 522 Flip My Base The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 521 Memorable Boss Mutation # 520 Moving Fees
Brood War
General
ASL21 Strategy, Pimpest Plays Discussions [ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt2: All Star Data needed BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ RepMastered™: replay sharing and analyzer site
Tourneys
[ASL21] Ro16 Group D [ASL21] Ro16 Group C [ASL21] Ro16 Group B [Megathread] Daily Proleagues
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers What's the deal with APM & what's its true value Any training maps people recommend? Fighting Spirit mining rates
Other Games
General Games
Dawn of War IV Starcraft Tabletop Miniature Game Nintendo Switch Thread General RTS Discussion Thread Battle Aces/David Kim RTS Megathread
Dota 2
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
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread YouTube Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books Movie Discussion!
Sports
Formula 1 Discussion 2024 - 2026 Football Thread McBoner: A hockey love story Cricket [SPORT]
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
[G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Sexual Health Of Gamers
TrAiDoS
lurker extra damage testi…
StaticNine
Broowar part 2
qwaykee
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1249 users

Why you shouldnt be playing random on ladder. - Page 11

Forum Index > SC2 General
Post a Reply
Prev 1 9 10 11 12 13 24 Next All
Natespank
Profile Joined November 2011
Canada449 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-23 23:55:25
August 23 2012 23:53 GMT
#201
Random is a legitimate race choice, with its advantages and disadvantages. You're basically telling the random players to gimp themselves for you so that you have a better chance against them, nullifying the ONLY advantage they get in their matches.

You know that random players have to learn 12 different matchups, if you include random as a race selection? You might as well trouble yourself to learn a 4th... if random was so hard to beat, why isn't masters full of them? Stop complaining so much.

Enough with these threads! Stop whining. People like you are just weaker that those who can withstand a fair challenge.
Penecks
Profile Joined August 2010
United States600 Posts
August 23 2012 23:58 GMT
#202
On August 24 2012 08:50 diddLY wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 24 2012 08:40 Penecks wrote:
Sure no one can stop you from picking random, but it is just a very selfish way of playing all the races, when one could just use some dice or random generator to pick a concrete race for each game. You are negatively affecting the fun/practice of your opponents. But I guess if you solely play to win, you'll take any advantage you can get, huh.


That's why there are so many top tier random players? Ever go on 20+ game losing streaks? Random is random, it's good for ladder and good for the game. Adapt.

When everyone is practicing 8+ hours (assuming this is what you mean by top tier) then of course the guy who only gets a third of that playtime as any one race is going to suffer. But in a ladder environment (aka, most people here) you will find opponents who play 3 games a day all the way up to people who play for hours. It's just not a valid comparison, or a good argument simply due to the differences there.

20 games losing streak? Maybe not that severe, but I've certainly come close
straight poppin
diddLY
Profile Joined August 2010
United States215 Posts
August 24 2012 00:09 GMT
#203
Man I've hit 20+ losing streaks more than once as random. But then I come back with a 15 game win streak. All depends on what matchups I get. That's why I love playing random.
jmertelj
Profile Joined March 2011
Slovenia84 Posts
August 24 2012 00:12 GMT
#204
fuckin tell ur race at the start.
If I was a wizard, this wouldn't be happening.
BreakfastBurrito
Profile Joined November 2011
United States893 Posts
August 24 2012 00:16 GMT
#205
didnt oz 1 gate FE and beat stephano 4-1
"normal metagame" is so dumb
you can play against random THE EXACT SAME as you go against other races
twitch.tv/jaytherey | Yapper891 if you are reading this, PM me. its Twisty.
Valikyr
Profile Joined June 2010
Sweden2653 Posts
August 24 2012 00:21 GMT
#206
On August 24 2012 09:16 BreakfastBurrito wrote:
didnt oz 1 gate FE and beat stephano 4-1
"normal metagame" is so dumb
you can play against random THE EXACT SAME as you go against other races

Ye I'll just FFE and hope I face a zerg.
FabledIntegral
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States9232 Posts
August 24 2012 00:53 GMT
#207
On August 24 2012 09:21 Valikyr wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 24 2012 09:16 BreakfastBurrito wrote:
didnt oz 1 gate FE and beat stephano 4-1
"normal metagame" is so dumb
you can play against random THE EXACT SAME as you go against other races

Ye I'll just FFE and hope I face a zerg.


Nearly a third of Protosses still Forge FE anyways. Some build their first pylon as if they were going to forge FE, and if their opponent is Terran, they go Nexus first instead. The majority however build their pylon arbitrarily for the first one, scout that you're Zerg, drop a second pylon down at the bottom of the ramp, then go forge nexus cannon. The second pylon does not significantly hurt you, as you can continue to produce probes whereas otherwise if you did not build the second pylon, you'd cut probes. And let's be honest, how many Protosses use a pylon to block a Zerg's natural anyways, and let it finish, while the Zerg simply takes a third instead?

Please, it's not a major difference. It's a minor, minor drawback.
Fujikura
Profile Joined April 2007
United States337 Posts
August 24 2012 00:55 GMT
#208
you get cheesed more as random
https://twitter.com/SouLFujikura
envisioN .
Profile Joined February 2011
United States552 Posts
August 24 2012 00:58 GMT
#209
I dislike the idea of how people perceive matchups with random in it. Many people say that random is dumb/unfair when the random rolls Z vs P because they can't FFE. For one, just because you can't FFE does not mean that you auto-lose or are incredibly far behind by any means.

People should be considering vs R as a 4th matchup with its own meta game. In RvP, the metagame is a gateway first opening because of the uncertainty of the opponents race. This metagame also develops at a much slower pace relative to the metagame of other MUs, because of the smaller portion of random players on ladder.
"Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works" -Martin Luther ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
BlazeFury01
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States1460 Posts
August 24 2012 01:00 GMT
#210
Dude, playing random on the ladder is ones personal preference. I cannot believe you wrote a thread about this lol
Gimpb
Profile Joined August 2010
293 Posts
August 24 2012 01:00 GMT
#211
As you said, you have to treat a zerg differently from a terran differently from a protoss. It's no different with a random, you have to treat a random as its own race with its own capabilities. What you're saying seems like complaining that people can build cloaking units like DTs or banshees. Yes, they can, and you can't know without scouting, but it's not broken or a problem, it's just something you have to account for.

Random has some pretty strong disadvantages as well: distributed practice means slow progression and you don't get to veto maps based on racial advantages.
jdseemoreglass
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States3773 Posts
August 24 2012 01:05 GMT
#212
On August 23 2012 06:58 BloodNinja wrote:
I play random because its fun and I play to have fun. So why shouldn't I play random and have fun? Why exactly should I care about the metagame? Its not like I plan on going pro (or even hitting GM on ladder).

What this guy said, 100%. I play to have fun, and random is fun. That's pretty much it. And it's starting to make it even more fun for me knowing that random pisses so many people off.
"If you want this forum to be full of half-baked philosophy discussions between pompous faggots like yourself forever, stay the course captain vanilla" - FakeSteve[TPR], 2006
rd
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States2586 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-24 01:10:10
August 24 2012 01:09 GMT
#213
On August 24 2012 08:40 Penecks wrote:
Sure no one can stop you from picking random, but it is just a very selfish way of playing all the races, when one could just use some dice or random generator to pick a concrete race for each game. You are negatively affecting the fun/practice of your opponents. But I guess if you solely play to win, you'll take any advantage you can get, huh.


lol, i hope this was sarcasm and ive been trolled

Who are you to declare what someone wants to play as selfish? Sounds kinda selfish to declare any random player themselves selfish just because in your own personal opinion it ruins your fun. Good thing the ladder wasn't made for fun, let alone yours.

Also, isn't picking a single race taking an advantage to win since Random isn't viable at high levels anyways?
Zealot Lord
Profile Joined May 2010
Hong Kong747 Posts
August 24 2012 01:31 GMT
#214
I get the point he's trying to make - but I don't think he worded it that well imo..

eitherway, I really don't think it hurts you in anyway, playing in uncomfortable positions can help players improve in their split second decision making, being able to adjust on the fly is what makes the better players on top usually - superior mechanics tend to shine through in these situations. Sure being able to learn and play the metagame properly is nice and all, but at the same time, if you focus on it too much, it makes you incredibly vulnerable when your opponent plays an unorthodox style I think.


FortMonty
Profile Joined May 2012
United States63 Posts
August 24 2012 01:39 GMT
#215
The way I see it, if you're going to bitch, bitch about your own race, it's not Randoms fault that Protoss can't FFE because their OWN race punishes expansions so heavily.

Just another way to look at it, since we're on the topic.XD
Expect Nothing, Prepare for Anything.
fezvez
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
France3021 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-24 01:55:07
August 24 2012 01:42 GMT
#216
OP should read this article by David Sirlin.

Introducing...the Scrub

In the world of Street Fighter competition, there is a word for players who aren't good: "scrub." Everyone begins as a scrub---it takes time to learn the game to get to a point where you know what you're doing. There is the mistaken notion, though, that by merely continuing to play or "learn" the game, that one can become a top player. In reality, the "scrub" has many more mental obstacles to overcome than anything actually going on during the game. The scrub has lost the game even before it starts. He's lost the game before he's chosen his character. He's lost the game even before the decision of which game is to be played has been made. His problem? He does not play to win.

The scrub would take great issue with this statement for he usually believes that he is playing to win, but he is bound up by an intricate construct of fictitious rules that prevent him from ever truly competing. These made-up rules vary from game to game, of course, but their character remains constant. In Street Fighter, for example, the scrub labels a wide variety of tactics and situations "cheap." So-called "cheapness" is truly the mantra of the scrub.


I am sorry if this copy was harmful to its author, and I can remove it asap. However, I guess that this won't be a problem.
sc14s
Profile Joined March 2011
United States5052 Posts
August 24 2012 01:49 GMT
#217
nothing wrong with random.. its not like you have to follow the meta-game. you decide how to play out the game.. getting the other player off kilter isnt a bad thing either..
Divergence
Profile Joined July 2011
Canada363 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-24 02:06:23
August 24 2012 01:56 GMT
#218
What the author is saying that if you are playing Random for the purpose of learning all three races (so that you can race pick later on) you will be quite disappointed because the games that result from race-picking and the games that result from randoming tend to be VERY different.

If you are learning Random for the sake of playing Random in a tournament then that is totally fine. But you need to think about Random as a race of it's own, and not a way to learn all three races. The only way to actually learn all three races is to race-pick. Randoming causes you to face many different builds that you would never face in a race-pick scenario. You will be at a disadvantage when race-picking because, for example, you won't be used to playing against a FFE with ZvP.


To reiterate, Random is perfectly valid race choice, but there are certain aspects of the game you don't learn with Random. If you decide to start race-picking you will find yourself at a disadvantage because you will have ZERO experience playing against certain styles (FFE most notably, but CC first in ZvT to a lesser extent). Also, you will have spent a lot of time playing against people who use sub-optimal strategies (such as pool first in ZvT because they are afraid you might be P), so a lot of that practice will be wasted if you eventually switch to playing one race.
Divergence
Profile Joined July 2011
Canada363 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-08-24 02:02:30
August 24 2012 02:01 GMT
#219
On August 24 2012 10:42 fezvez wrote:
OP should read this article by David Sirlin.

Show nested quote +
Introducing...the Scrub

In the world of Street Fighter competition, there is a word for players who aren't good: "scrub." Everyone begins as a scrub---it takes time to learn the game to get to a point where you know what you're doing. There is the mistaken notion, though, that by merely continuing to play or "learn" the game, that one can become a top player. In reality, the "scrub" has many more mental obstacles to overcome than anything actually going on during the game. The scrub has lost the game even before it starts. He's lost the game before he's chosen his character. He's lost the game even before the decision of which game is to be played has been made. His problem? He does not play to win.

The scrub would take great issue with this statement for he usually believes that he is playing to win, but he is bound up by an intricate construct of fictitious rules that prevent him from ever truly competing. These made-up rules vary from game to game, of course, but their character remains constant. In Street Fighter, for example, the scrub labels a wide variety of tactics and situations "cheap." So-called "cheapness" is truly the mantra of the scrub.


I am sorry if this copy was harmful to its author, and I can remove it asap. However, I guess that this won't be a problem.


You should re-read the OP. He wasn't calling Random a "scrub" tactic so your Sirlin article is irrelevant (although it is a good article and very relevant to many aspects of Starcraft).

He was pointing out that randoming causes non-standard situations to arise, making Random not a good way to learn the individual races (for the purpose of race-picking). Playing Random teaches you how to play Random; it doesn't teach you how to play each race in a race-pick situation. OP's attitude is slightly flawed though because he assumes that people play Random in order to learn each race. Some people just want to play Random as a race of it's own, in which case randoming is the best way to play for them.
stuchiu
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
Fiddler's Green42661 Posts
August 24 2012 02:06 GMT
#220
I thought playing random was a pretty good way to learn, it got me all the way to mid-masters, and when I switched to race picking it was really easy to play against all of the normal standard matchups as well. Though it may have more to do with the way I was playing random.
Moderator
Prev 1 9 10 11 12 13 24 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Afreeca Starleague
10:00
Ro16 Group D
Barracks vs Leta
Royal vs Light
Afreeca ASL 16439
StarCastTV_EN386
Liquipedia
GSL
08:00
2026 Season 1: Qualifiers
herO vs Rogue
Maru vs SHINLIVE!
Solar vs Zoun
Cure vs TriGGeR
IntoTheiNu 426
CranKy Ducklings SOOP209
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Lowko219
TKL 137
Rex 0
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 25926
Calm 13089
Jaedong 5729
Sea 5616
BeSt 1455
Rush 1052
Horang2 864
Pusan 464
Mind 328
Zeus 265
[ Show more ]
Larva 226
JYJ 168
Hyuk 135
ToSsGirL 116
Sharp 104
ggaemo 96
Sexy 52
[sc1f]eonzerg 51
Sea.KH 45
Killer 30
Bale 28
Noble 26
Shine 22
Icarus 18
SilentControl 15
Sacsri 13
GoRush 10
JulyZerg 9
Movie 8
Terrorterran 4
eros_byul 1
Dota 2
Gorgc4162
League of Legends
Reynor49
Counter-Strike
zeus1131
x6flipin482
edward270
markeloff145
shoxiejesuss117
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King122
Heroes of the Storm
Trikslyr127
Other Games
singsing2010
B2W.Neo369
Happy247
crisheroes244
XaKoH 231
QueenE51
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Secondary Stream5702
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream5475
StarCraft: Brood War
UltimateBattle 278
StarCraft 2
WardiTV5
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 11 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• TFBlade1501
Upcoming Events
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
9m
herO vs Classic
SHIN vs Cure
Solar vs Percival
RSL Revival
22h 9m
Replay Cast
1d 12h
The PondCast
1d 22h
KCM Race Survival
1d 22h
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
1d 23h
Gerald vs TBD
Clem vs TBD
ByuN vs TBD
Rogue vs MaxPax
ShoWTimE vs TBD
CranKy Ducklings
2 days
Escore
2 days
RSL Revival
3 days
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
3 days
[ Show More ]
Universe Titan Cup
3 days
Rogue vs Percival
Ladder Legends
4 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
4 days
BSL
4 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
4 days
Ladder Legends
5 days
BSL
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Wardi Open
5 days
Monday Night Weeklies
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-04-20
RSL Revival: Season 4
NationLESS Cup

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
ASL Season 21
CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
StarCraft2 Community Team League 2026 Spring
WardiTV TLMC #16
Nations Cup 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S2: W4
Acropolis #4
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Maestros of the Game 2
2026 GSL S2
RSL Revival: Season 5
2026 GSL S1
XSE Pro League 2026
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
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.