In the most recent patch for warcraft 3 Breath of Fire got some significant changes. The spell saw a fairly dramatic reduction in its initial and maximum area of effect in addition to some "compensatory" increases in damage values. While I have seen streamers try to do a “visual test” comparing the old and the new breath of fire in-game. I have not yet seen a detailed breakdown in what these changes actual entail in terms of pure numbers. As such, this is an attempt to do just that.
To many creative souls - which I believe most of us are to some extend -, the idea of making whacky, off-meta strategies work is the epitome of strategy games. Surprising others with our home-made concoction or trying your hand at mimicking some obscure build, you saw an old replay of; taking the opponent to unknown territory and out of their comfort zone.
However, many players I talk to seem to have an mental block from deviating from their own comfort-zone. We are creatures of habit and we like to play how we always play and how we see the pro players play. I think this one of the main hindrances for improvement among intermediate players.
The TP league rebranded to Warcraft 3 All-Star League, but this is the only change - same rules, same bracket, same legendary players. The group stage already happened, but let's talk about it. Afterwards we will head into the playoffs.
I did a quick prediction for myself (at the same time as the first group gamesplayed out, but it did not influence any of my choices). I got almost everything wrong in terms of matchups. The only upside are the qualified players, which I almost nailed it.
With another year having passed that we can look back at, Helpstone has decided to do exactly that. Specifically by looking at the matchups' statistical bias, calculated with the data from W3Champions' season 12 and 13.
The entirety of the article below - including tables/plots - are created by Helpstone. It is a delightful read!
I hope y'all had a pleasant take-off to 2023. Happy reading!
The first Gameday of the Warcraft3.info-League has wrapped up smoothly and, in most cases, the favorites prevailed. We have seen interesting matchups in most Groups, with some already established powerhouses, as well as new hopes, emerging already. Let’s get to the bottom of it!
Last week, W3Champions released a new matchmaking system that affected all modes, but in particular team games! Today members of the data science team, Toxi and Helpstone would like to share some information on what was changed, and how it should improve matchmaking in future. For those who like to know about the nuts and bolts of how this platform works, you've come to the right place.
Blizzard has announced the release date of patch 1.30.2 for December 1st.
This patch will make history as it will completely change the way we play Warcraft III on Battle.net. As excited as we are of heading closer towards Reforged, this patch is awaited with nervousness by any admin involved behind the scenes.
Custom games, FFA, 4v4 and the esports scene will all be negatively impacted. Let's explain why and try to suggest a few ways to reduce the damage for our communities.
We will not get into the balance changes here, there were a few that we can discuss in a later article.
There is debate raging on Reddit about whether or not it is fair for Grubby to play extensive reruns on Twitch, and whether this affects smaller channels negatively.
Even though this is just a minor aspect of a much larger topic -- We hope to provide some commentary and analysis on the matter. The question remains: how will current major Warcraft III streamers adapt to new competition from larger channels that are now seeing a resurgence into the game?
How can smaller channels thrive and grow with Reforged?
For this analysis, I have chosen to focus on purely English speaking streams.
There are several ways to measure success in games. Who won the most premier tournaments? Who peaked the highest? Who has revolutionised the game the most? Sources of error are to be found in every single method used. The arguably most popular way is to look at prize money won, since it is a very tangible method. This is exactly what we are going to do in this article!
