• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 08:55
CEST 14:55
KST 21:55
  • 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 Maestros of the Game 225ByuL, and the Limitations of Standard Play3Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting & Ladder Map Selection7
Community News
MC vs IdrA, Boxer vs Nal_rA to be Legacy Matches @ BlizzCon325.0.16 Hotfix (June 30) - Balance + Bug Fixes38Weekly Cups (June 22-28): Zergs thrive in new patch5[TLMC] Summer 2026 Ladder Map Rotation05.0.16 patch for SC2 goes live (8 worker start)99
StarCraft 2
General
ZOWIE DIVINA preview MC vs IdrA, Boxer vs Nal_rA to be Legacy Matches @ BlizzCon Serral wins Maestros of the Game 2 TL Poll: How do you feel about the 5.0.16 PTR balance changes? Server Blocker
Tourneys
RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event HomeStory Cup 29 Vespene Cup #1 — $300+ USD, July 10 Douyu Cup 2026: $20,000 Legends Event (June 26-28) Crank Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
New Map Maker - Looking for Advice - Love or Hate Work In Progress Melee Maps [D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3
External Content
Mutation # 533 Die Together The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 532 Nuclear Family Mutation # 531 Experimental Artillery
Brood War
General
Snow On New ASL S22 Map, Zerg Nerf ASL 22 Proposed Map Pool Farewell Beloved Starcraft (Youtube Videos) BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion
Tourneys
CSLAN 4 is Coming! Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2 The Casual Games of the Week Thread [Megathread] Daily Proleagues
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Creating a full chart of Zerg builds Relatively freeroll strategies Why doesn't anyone use restoration?
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Dawn of War IV Summer Games Done Quick 2026! Nintendo Switch Thread ZeroSpace at Steam NextFest - Last free demo
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor 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
TL Mafia
Five o'clock TL Mafia NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance TL Mafia Community Thread TL Mafia Power Rank Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread YouTube Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread The Games Industry And ATVI
Fan Clubs
The HerO Fan Club! The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! Series you have seen recently... [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books [TV/BOOK] *SPOILERS* Game of Thrones Discussion
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion McBoner: A hockey love story TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Cricket [SPORT]
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
How to clean a TTe Thermaltake keyboard? Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Major Shifts in the Gaming I…
TrAiDoS
An Exploration of th…
waywardstrategy
I'm an arrogant trash talke…
FlaShFTW
Gauntlet SC2: A Retrospectiv…
Ctone23
ramps on octagon
StaticNine
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 5962 users

Ladder analysis - release edition

Forum Index > SC2 General
Post a Reply
Tamerlane
Profile Joined July 2009
Canada426 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-08-04 12:11:31
August 04 2010 00:00 GMT
#1
Big thanks to Arcalious that built SC2 Player Finder http://www.sc2pf.com/ as I am again able to run the stats I did a couple times during the beta on the race-specific population of the worldwide top SC2 players.

You can find the results over here : https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AvtPWMS53wIgdGNINlVjQXZfc1NIVGxTV2czamVESHc&hl=fr&authkey=CKy89ogO

(again, I used google documents for practical reasons)

Please note that so far, the number of players being displayed is limited to 10 000 players, and that the sorting by region feature is not yet implemented. As soon as that's available, I will run the stats for all 7 regions...well, until I get bored or there's a consensus that it's useless.

So far, here's what I've noted (besides captain obvious observations):

- Much closer race distribution than during the beta for the top20.

- Terran still dominates the pool in the top50-200 range.

- Total race distribution is very similar to the beta (less randoms, difference almost all goes to protoss)

- Winrates and games played for Top20 Terrans is far worse than Protoxons (Day[9]-style) and Zergs, while the discrepancy almost disappear as soon as Top50. My own opinion on this : it's caused only by the 3 best win rates in the top20, IdrA's sick 88.9%, HuK's 79.6% and KiWiKaKi's slumping 75.7%.


These observations lead me to think that - in the current state of game experience/knowledge - SC2 seems rather balanced at the top level, but the huge number of Terrans at the "sub-top" level indicates that the race is easier to win with vs non-Top opponents. Despite win rates being similar, there's roughly 50% more Terrans in those ranking levels (Top50-200) than the near-total diamond population, there as to be a reason for that.

Actually, when you think about it, the fact that the win rates are almost the same at, say, the Top50 is perfectly normal : the players with the better win rates would rank higher (and inversely) than just the Top50 given that they play enough games and since the average number of games played at Top20 and Top50 is exactly the same for Terrans, it's just that there is a lot more Terrans able to reach the "Top 50 level of win rate" compared to protoxons or zergs. The observation is almost the same for the Top100, with an average number of games played slightly lower.

It is possible that such a discrepancy is caused by a greater number of skilled Terrans? If skill in SC2 is a correlation of the number of games played, it is highly unlikely, unless the skilled Terrans are (magically) able to find equally good practice partners that don't perform well in ladder (or do not put up the volume of games)!
Arcalious
Profile Joined March 2010
United States213 Posts
August 04 2010 03:49 GMT
#2
On August 04 2010 09:00 Tamerlane wrote:
Big thanks to the guy (I don't even know his nickname!) that built SC2 Player Finder http://www.sc2pf.com/ as I am again able to run the stats I did a couple times during the beta on the race-specific population of the worldwide top SC2 players.


That would be me. Arcalious. I will add a filter by region before I go to bed.

Nice job processing the data. Let me know if you need anything else.
InfiniteIce
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States794 Posts
August 04 2010 03:53 GMT
#3
On August 04 2010 12:49 Arcalious wrote:
Show nested quote +
On August 04 2010 09:00 Tamerlane wrote:
Big thanks to the guy (I don't even know his nickname!) that built SC2 Player Finder http://www.sc2pf.com/ as I am again able to run the stats I did a couple times during the beta on the race-specific population of the worldwide top SC2 players.


That would be me. Arcalious. I will add a filter by region before I go to bed.

Nice job processing the data. Let me know if you need anything else.


you sir are a hero
i keep going back to my response to chill's fake PM and laughing, then immediately getting a feeling that i assume i'd get if i had an orgasm and the girl said "hahaha guess what i have a dick" -FakeSteve
Sixes
Profile Joined July 2010
Canada1123 Posts
August 04 2010 03:56 GMT
#4
Nice job though people like Idra are obviously a large influence on the stats when the sample size gets low.
NuKedUFirst
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
Canada3139 Posts
August 04 2010 04:15 GMT
#5
^
Well done, a player search would be nice though^^
FrostedMiniWeet wrote: I like winning because it validates all the bloody time I waste playing SC2.
Arcalious
Profile Joined March 2010
United States213 Posts
August 04 2010 06:58 GMT
#6
On August 04 2010 13:15 NuKedUFirst wrote:
^
Well done, a player search would be nice though^^


You talking to me or Tamerline?

If me, then... I'll be adding Player search soon. Just added filtering by region and I'll be adding filtering by race tomorrow. Also need to build indexes for both searches to make them faster. Right now the best way to player search is set the page size to 15000, then use ctrl-f to find the players you want.
Disposition
Profile Joined June 2010
Canada77 Posts
August 04 2010 07:24 GMT
#7
Do you guys think its bad to have the identifier (the 3 digit number) available freely to anyone? Do the top players get harassed by randoms all day long? Lol
Looc
Profile Joined May 2010
Canada21 Posts
August 04 2010 08:53 GMT
#8
The skill cap for terran is a lot lower than it is for protos and zerg. Zerg having the highest skill cap and the highest skill bar.
Tamerlane
Profile Joined July 2009
Canada426 Posts
August 04 2010 12:14 GMT
#9
On August 04 2010 16:24 Disposition wrote:
Do you guys think its bad to have the identifier (the 3 digit number) available freely to anyone? Do the top players get harassed by randoms all day long? Lol


Well, I bet that one of the reasons for smurfing by top players in previous installments was to avoid being harassed, now that it is no longer possible, I guess that some of them are getting some level of harassment with which they would have to deal anyway.

And since you can add players by simply browsing the various ladders or looking at match history, having the character code available to everyone doesn't change things so much...
ghettohobbit2
Profile Joined April 2010
United States93 Posts
August 04 2010 12:35 GMT
#10
Just nobody tell Blizzard that Zerg have the best win ratios at the highest levels, or we may have 3 food Hydras *shudders*

anyway, thanks for the info!
?
Piski
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Finland3461 Posts
August 04 2010 12:50 GMT
#11
Well done thans. Always nice to find stuff like this
Jhax
Profile Joined July 2010
Ireland201 Posts
August 04 2010 12:52 GMT
#12
All the top 100 are smart and picking terran.
Fast and Free
Tamerlane
Profile Joined July 2009
Canada426 Posts
August 05 2010 02:21 GMT
#13
On August 04 2010 21:35 ghettohobbit2 wrote:
Just nobody tell Blizzard that Zerg have the best win ratios at the highest levels, or we may have 3 food Hydras *shudders*

anyway, thanks for the info!


remove IdrA and that win rate would pretty much equalize
infuzer
Profile Joined May 2010
Sweden30 Posts
August 05 2010 21:17 GMT
#14
On August 04 2010 17:53 Looc wrote:
The skill cap for terran is a lot lower than it is for protos and zerg. Zerg having the highest skill cap and the highest skill bar.


Dude, if you look at the stats it says the exact opposite of what you are saying!
Ill explain; among the best players there are most terrans, which means if you are really good at sc2 terran is favored and thus have the higher skillcap...
Seltsam
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States343 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-08-05 21:45:27
August 05 2010 21:39 GMT
#15
Woops. Meant to edit this post, not make a new one.

M'bad D:

We now return you to our regularly-scheduled posts.
Team Limited ftw! www.teamltd.net
Seltsam
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States343 Posts
August 05 2010 21:43 GMT
#16
I don't think there is enough context to start talking about skill caps. This is all raw data, and it's all very interesting, but the game is still in its infancy. We won't be able to apply a lot of this data to anything meaningful until after the game is out and there are people with wins/losses in the thousands. And even then, there are a lot of factors to take into account before we start saying things like "most of the best players play Terran; therefore Terran must have a higher skill cap."

Again, it's very good to have access to this data and it's definitely very interesting. But it's important to remember that correlation does not necessarily imply causation.

One of the main reasons I didn't immediately dismiss the main post is that he used phrases like "these observations lead me to think that," or "It is possible that," or "The observation is" rather than things like "this means that" or "therefore we can conclude that" or anything of that nature.

Tamerlane clearly realizes that his findings are just raw data, and can only really be used to formulate hypotheses.

And to me, that just makes it much more respectable.

Good for you, Tamerlane, for being systematic and using the scientific process to avoid coming to false conclusions
Team Limited ftw! www.teamltd.net
infuzer
Profile Joined May 2010
Sweden30 Posts
August 05 2010 21:56 GMT
#17
On August 06 2010 06:39 Seltsam wrote:
I don't think there is enough context to start talking about skill caps. This is all raw data, and it's all very interesting, but the game is still in its infancy. We won't be able to apply a lot of this data to anything meaningful until after the game is out and there are people with wins/losses in the thousands. And even then, there are a lot of factors to take into account before we start saying things like "most of the best players play Terran; therefore Terran must have a higher skill cap."

Again, it's very good to have access to this data and it's definitely very interesting. But it's important to remember that correlation does not necessarily imply causation.


I was just pointing out what the statistics actually said.

I agree with you that the statistics validity is questionable in many ways. Cheers!
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
GSL
11:00
GSL CK #5 - Day 1
Ryung 363
SHIN 126
Classic110
CranKy Ducklings SOOP94
herO (SOOP)86
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Lowko440
Ryung 363
SHIN 126
Classic 110
herO (SOOP) 86
Rex 58
StarCraft: Brood War
Hyuk 1840
Shuttle 1632
Jaedong 1553
Soulkey 588
firebathero 496
BeSt 484
Soma 453
EffOrt 304
Light 293
Mini 272
[ Show more ]
Larva 268
actioN 215
Snow 199
Zeus 177
ggaemo 134
Rush 110
Pusan 104
Sharp 66
hero 64
ZerO 62
[sc1f]eonzerg 58
Sea.KH 53
ToSsGirL 52
soO 40
Free 37
scan(afreeca) 29
910 29
Bale 28
Aegong 25
Yoon 17
sorry 15
Movie 14
Terrorterran 14
HiyA 12
Barracks 10
Noble 9
Icarus 3
Dota 2
Gorgc3346
Dendi1358
XaKoH 742
Counter-Strike
olofmeister2026
kRYSTAL_50
Other Games
singsing1887
B2W.Neo680
Pyrionflax259
Liquid`VortiX117
ZerO(Twitch)9
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick25132
StarCraft: Brood War
UltimateBattle 1145
StarCraft 2
IntoTheiNu 1108
TaKeTV260
Other Games
BasetradeTV214
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream142
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 12 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• lizZardDota2135
League of Legends
• Nemesis1235
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
11h 5m
WardiTV Weekly
22h 5m
PiGosaur Cup
1d 11h
The PondCast
1d 21h
Replay Cast
2 days
CrankTV Team League
2 days
Replay Cast
3 days
Replay Cast
3 days
CrankTV Team League
3 days
Replay Cast
4 days
[ Show More ]
RSL Revival
4 days
CranKy Ducklings
4 days
Afreeca Starleague
4 days
Snow vs Jaedong
YSC vs hero
RSL Revival
5 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
GSL
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

CSL Season 21: Qualifier 2
HSC XXIX
Eternal Conflict S2 E1

Ongoing

IPSL Spring 2026
Acropolis #4
YSL S3
CSL 2026 Summer (S21)
SCTL 2026 Spring
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S3: W2
ASL Season 22:Wild Card Qualifier
CSLAN 4
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Revival: Season 6
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
Light Tournament 2026
Eternal Conflict S2 Finale
Eternal Conflict S2 E3
Eternal Conflict S2 E2
Heroes Pulsing #3
Logitech G Connect 2026
StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #5
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
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.