EPT![[image loading]](http://www.denis.in/images/be_yourself.gif)
Imitation often destroys inovation.
Often will people give you advice to imitate or mimic actions of other more "successfuly" people so you can get same results as they do. How many times did you hear that your boos at your new job suggest you to imitate senior employee so you can be more "cost and work effective"? Are they just trying to play safe to make another "clone" of successful worker? By doing so ther are effectively shutting down anypossibilty of you making innovativeactions that can make benefits for you or company that you work for.
That can vary from business deals, work routines and in our gaming world - Starcraft gameplay. I am not saying that watching good players and implementing some of their play into your own is bad, but everything must have it's borders and by that I mean everything has to has it's limits. I just can't understand why people can't get two best things of two worlds, for example: You can implement part of other players play just enough so you can start being inovative yourself and try to build up your strategy that deviate from his own and by that making your own style that can be deadly and uknown to other players? Why don't use "imitation" just as platform for your longer imagination run that cooks some new bright ideas in your brain?
With only imitating you also limit your improvement and by doing so you potentially limit us all because you may in fact be the person that has destiny to change course of how is this game played or you are person that has destiny to make breakthrough in some company that will give us new and better technologies and etc.
![[image loading]](http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/5853/imitationforofstupidity.jpg)
How to improve enough via imitation as your improvement is limited by the one that is set by person you are trying to mimic?
It's natrual for human being to try be sucessful and great at something soon as possible. You can freely reffer to this topic and comparation of real life urge to be "good as fast as possible" with Starcraft gameplay here. But you should really supress this urge and try to be smart before being clockwise 9 till' 4 person just doing something that will in fact produce REGULAR content, sucess or gameplay...but what is it worth if it's not better then other or it's not something that improves us as gamers, players and human beings? Don't suicide your potentials by listening to suggestions that only represent need for constant result that is not improvement but only to get result in it's raw form to feed a need of someone else or maybe just tiny bit of you that wants to get in mass of thousands clones.
Let's bring up Starcraft example of imitation 10/15 Gateway on Medusa/Neo Meudsa. After prominent progamers and then likes like Nony (ex progamer from USA) starte to use it and copy it from it bottom to its up every game - many Protoss gamers done this just abot every game too. This build was very good and strong against Terrans and I did use it with much sucess and won 80% of my games with it. But Terrans started to adopt and my win percentage started to drop and drop using this strategy - it was iminent time to change strategy or be more inovative and implement my "niche" to it. So I started that I needed to do long before being a "clone" - implementing my stuff like going fast Robotics Facility (proxy or not depending on position of my scouting probe) as his scout seen 10/15 gateway and doing fast Reaver drop as he expects mass Ranged Dragoons attack. Often I would even let my Terran opponent scout freely my 10/15 with Cybernatic Core upgrading Air Weapons and then killing his scout and going Dark Templars if he didn't wall in, fast Reaver drop or just hop Dark Templars using probe via Temple that is backdoor to his base.
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/images/2/26/2gateob.png)
Notorious Protoss 10/15 was one of "killer strategies" on Medusa and NeoMedusa that many Protoss players copy to destroy Terrans...until they started to adopt
.Another example can be taken in sports where coach is referring to better players and their actions on field so that can not so good players try to incorporate part of their play to make themself better. That is just fine and if new player dosage it good enough to make good start of "path to improvement" and in just right timing try to be innovative and make their decisions based on their thinking and plans to further develop as players. They should not in any circumstance try to full mimic their teammates because we get "clone" effect again, and in other way we get bloody good and deadly lineup that is made from unique "soldiers" - own with his unique skills and good sides that are very potent to destroy anything in their path via their unified skills that are so diffrent. We should also here take in case that team should be in good organization so their unique skills can work together in great manner but about that in another article and another time as it's very interesting subject too.
Do not let that mistakes you do while you experiment with your uniqueness bring you down or justify your imitation because of lose or not succeeding as you are and we are all in form of some greater better or worse - potential for something new and better then is now standard way of doing people know it. Do a favor to yourself and others by trying your best, also you will have more fun by trying it hardest to make your best trough something that is not known until you discover it. Feeling of being proud is very good stimulator that can run another set of events that will unavoidably be something significant in your life.
![[image loading]](http://teo.esuper.ro/wp-content/images/poster01.jpg)
Being unique dosen't mean you are "broken". Let it be your platform that will make simbioze with already "known" things and produce new innovative product.
Sun Tzu is saying that "Suprise is sharper then sharpest blade", and how to suprise the enemy if you are only identical copy of another one who is possibly already been opponent of your opponent? There is no way to long time success without being unique and innovative, also these way of "work" are harder then sole mimic and that means you will try harder and more stronger and you know... what dosen't kills you or slow you down it will make you more stronger, better and faster. So try to not imitate good (and God forbid someone bad) but only to take note of his mistakes or his good sides and build your own style and way of working things in real life but also in Starcraft.
Take care and sorry for late blog article, I have lot of work and also I started to write news for ICCup website.
Thanks on comments that were very interesting and insightful.
Till next time,
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![[image loading]](http://www.iccup.com/upload/images/race/protoss.gif)
