archive by month
Skip to content

AIIDE 2021 - McRave versus BananaBrain

McRave and BananaBrain both recorded all 157 of their mutual games. I chose to put McRave down the left side of the strategy cross, because its longer strategy names make the table hard to read otherwise. I also trimmed off the “PvZ_” and “Z_” prefixes from BananaBrain’s strategy names for compactness.

Blue is good for McRave, red is good for BananaBrain.

mcrave strategies versus bananabrain strategies

overall10/12gate1basespeedzeal2basespeedzeal4gate2archon5gategoon9/9gate9/9proxygatebisuneobisusairdtsairgoonsairreaverstove
overall28/157 18%8/54 15%1/3 33%1/5 20%1/1 100%1/1 100%1/1 100%2/8 25%1/5 20%1/4 25%1/3 33%2/12 17%1/1 100%7/59 12%
HatchPool,12Hatch,2HatchMuta16/86 19%3/28 11%1/1 100%1/3 33%1/1 100%1/1 100%1/1 100%0/1 0%-1/4 25%0/2 0%2/10 20%1/1 100%4/33 12%
HatchPool,12Hatch,2HatchSpeedling0/1 0%------0/1 0%------
HatchPool,9Pool,2HatchSpeedling2/2 100%------2/2 100%------
PoolHatch,9Pool,2HatchMuta3/15 20%0/2 0%------0/3 0%----3/10 30%
PoolHatch,9Pool,2HatchSpeedling0/3 0%------0/3 0%------
PoolHatch,9Pool,3HatchMuta4/19 21%4/13 31%-0/1 0%----0/1 0%----0/4 0%
PoolHatch,9Pool,6HatchHydra0/2 0%----------0/1 0%-0/1 0%
PoolHatch,Overpool,2HatchMuta0/4 0%0/2 0%0/1 0%--------0/1 0%--
PoolHatch,Overpool,2HatchSpeedling0/1 0%------0/1 0%------
PoolHatch,Overpool,3HatchMuta3/14 21%1/9 11%0/1 0%-----1/1 100%-1/1 100%--0/2 0%
PoolHatch,Overpool,6HatchHydra0/10 0%--0/1 0%---------0/9 0%

There we have the explanation for the 2 lonely HatchPool,9Pool,2HatchSpeedling games: The strategy was a successful reaction to proxy gates. I read it as meaning that the build is 9 hatch, 9 pool, and gas soon for the zergling speed upgrade.

BananaBrain split its effort between 10-12 gate and the Stove (a scout into dark templar build), very different builds. McRave answered both mostly with 12 hatch into 2 hatch muta. A hydralisk opening would have been a more natural way to counter both, but play what you’re good at.

mcrave as seen by bananabrain

mcrave played#bananabrain recognized
HatchPool,12Hatch,2HatchMuta8684 12hatch | 2 unknown
HatchPool,12Hatch,2HatchSpeedling11 unknown
HatchPool,9Pool,2HatchSpeedling22 12pool
PoolHatch,9Pool,2HatchMuta158 9pool | 7 overpool
PoolHatch,9Pool,2HatchSpeedling32 overpool | 1 9pool
PoolHatch,9Pool,3HatchMuta1913 9pool | 6 overpool
PoolHatch,9Pool,6HatchHydra21 overpool | 1 9pool
PoolHatch,Overpool,2HatchMuta44 overpool
PoolHatch,Overpool,2HatchSpeedling11 overpool
PoolHatch,Overpool,3HatchMuta1414 overpool
PoolHatch,Overpool,6HatchHydra1010 overpool

BananaBrain was accurate in recognizing 12 hatch and overpool, but had trouble with 9 pool. It did not try to narrow the build down any further than that.

bananabrain as seen by mcrave

bananabrain played#mcrave recognized
10/12gate5431 2Gate,10/12,Corsair | 8 2Gate,10/12,DT | 4 2Gate,10/12,ZealotRush | 3 2Gate,10/17,Corsair | 2 2Gate,Unknown,Corsair | 2 2Gate,9/9,DT | 2 2Gate,9/9,Corsair | 1 2Gate,10/17,4Gate | 1 2Gate,10/17,DT
1basespeedzeal32 1GateCore,2Zealot,DT | 1 1GateCore,2Zealot,Corsair
2basespeedzeal53 FFE,Forge,Speedlot | 1 FFE,Nexus,Speedlot | 1 FFE,Nexus,5GateGoon
4gate2archon11 FFE,Forge,5GateGoon
5gategoon11 FFE,Nexus,5GateGoon
9/9gate11 2Gate,9/9,Corsair
9/9proxygate87 2Gate,Proxy,ZealotRush | 1 2Gate,9/9,Unknown
bisu52 FFE,Forge,Unknown | 2 FFE,Forge,5GateGoon | 1 FFE,Nexus,Unknown
neobisu44 FFE,Forge,Speedlot
sairdt33 1GateCore,2Zealot,Corsair
sairgoon126 FFE,Forge,5GateGoon | 2 FFE,Nexus,5GateGoon | 2 FFE,Forge,Unknown | 1 FFE,Gateway,5GateGoon | 1 FFE,Gateway,Unknown
sairreaver11 FFE,Forge,Unknown
stove5927 1GateCore,2Zealot,Corsair | 10 1GateCore,Unknown,Corsair | 6 1GateCore,Unknown,DT | 6 1GateCore,2Zealot,DT | 3 2Gate,10/12,DT | 3 2Gate,10/12,ZealotRush | 2 2Gate,10/17,4Gate | 1 2Gate,10/17,DT | 1 2Gate,10/12,4Gate

In 1-base protoss plays, McRave tried to distinguish when the gates were made, and often got it right but had some trouble. It seems like something you can’t do perfectly, even if you combine direct scouting of the gates with inferences based on the enemy army. Recognizing the enemy build precisely doesn’t seem possible in general, though you can usually get close.

Trackbacks

No Trackbacks

Comments

No comments

Add Comment

E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications.

To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.
CAPTCHA

Form options

Submitted comments will be subject to moderation before being displayed.