Match-up discussion and "numbers".

[Juushichi]

So yeah, guess who's here with a new thread to bring up a topic that no one really cares about?

Thaaaat's right, it's me. So yeah, originally I got, stole, was inspired by the idea that the Samus boards (later adopted by the Sheik boards) had in reference to listing a formal title on matchups in MU discussion. Both boards have matchups listed on a seven level scale:

Heavy Advantage
Advantage
Slight Advantage
Even
Slight Disadvantage
Disadvantage
Heavy Disadvantage

I think it's a good idea. Now, I can already imagine a response to this: "___ already looks like 50:50 (45:55, 35:65 or whatever)! and "We already have a number system that works!" but ultimately, I don't think that it works very well.

- In terms of the former complaint/issue, I've run into a problem on multiple boards discussing matchups where people don't think 6:4 is a bad thing and other sort of disagreements of severity. I think this mitigates this a bit.-
-The latter complaint admittedly, I think it lazy and is pretty much debunked if you go into any MU thread or the universal one people are working on.-​

However, I want to take it a bit further (well, not really) and use this scale to incorporate people opinions of how the matchup changes when opponent's counterpicks come into play. I personally have been doing it in our matchup discussions. And example would be for what I put for MK:

That's cool, but it's not Nado that makes this MU horrible.

Don't care about the number, it's:

Starter: Disadv.
Mario CP: Disadv.
MK CP: Heavy Disadv.

And I would explain my reasoning as this, in a nutshell: When striking from a stage list of any variety (but let's just say a 7-stage list), starting out on the most even stage in the MU, we're at a disadvantage here. On our own counterpick, which I believe should be something like FD or (cringe) Battlefield, I firmly believe that we still lose about the same as we do on the "neutral" starter. If we somehow manage to win a match and are still staying Mario, the stage selection and Metaknight's personal tools tilt the advantage we have heavily in his own favor.

This is just an example of course and by no means has to be the norm, but I think that considering the three categories in the matchup would/should give us a fairly accurate version of what the matchup is like. I think too many people don't incorporate counterpicks into their MU's. Or at least it's not focused on.

Anyway, hopefully this can get some good discussion/is good enough to be implemented.

 

[Dooms]

Juu I like this suggestion a lot. The number system in general can be confusing to anyone thats new to matchups, and they could wonder how big the advantage/disadvantage is if it's something like 40-60 compared to 35-65 and things as such.

I hope it goes well for you and the mario boards

 

[Calebyte]

I noticed this on the Samus boards, wasn't sure if it was a new thing or not, but I definitely like the idea. I'd be willing to have it implemented, but I'd like to get more input from the other Marios.

 

[Jimmyfosho]

I fully support this though I think we need to start getting more active in our MU discussions.

 

[Urlon]

i like it. it'll make the new comers understand the MUs a whole lot easier. i say lets use it.

 

[~ Gheb ~]

I think the most practical way to apply numbers to a match-up is by using a "out of ten" ratio. Assuming both players know how the match-up is played, the amount of wins you'll get as Mario out of 10 games is the match-up ratio. That's how I always do it.