SC Training for Cash

On October 15 2009 17:20 CaucasianAsian wrote:
Yeah the last game I was more quiet because my roommate and his friend came in and just took some lines so they were like talking a ton like "omg i didn't know people's hands could move that fast" So they were talking about how good they were feeling for getting some powder etc... Also a little shy/nervous when I'm talking with someone whose talent and skill far surpasses my own.

Something I'd like to add is that Geoff really gets into detail about how to make you a better player. He really went into depth about how miniscule mistakes can cost you a game which i probably should have brought over from poker. His knowledge on the meta game, as well as his experience playing is just amazing.

Another thing that surprised me was G5 and Machine's readiness to step in and help as well. From my past experience with a few other top players, is that they seemingly look down on those who are not of their caliber. This completely changed my opinion on them, and made me realize that they literally are your average people who enjoy playing a game and are willing to help others who are striving to be better.

Even though I have been playing since 1999, I realized just how much there is left to learn, and the skill gap between a C player, such as myself, and an A ranked player is probably larger than the difference between a C player and a D/D- one.

On October 14 2009 15:20 Response wrote:
I just want to say that for anyone interested this is definitely worth the price and if you're looking to improve your game its worth every penny. Inc was totally professional about it and was quite manner and helped me quite a bit in my PvZ as we talked about the timings and other such things while he watched me play games. I'm definitely looking to do it again ! :-D <3 inc and shout out to LZGAMER FOR BEING AWESOME

On October 15 2009 14:04 CaucasianAsian wrote:
i just finished a session with geoff, and i must say, $20 which although may not be much for me is definitely worth it. We practiced PvZ and I learned a lot about timings and neat little tricks that can be used to get a small advantage against a zerg user, which included a few timings and map positioning. G5 and Machine stopped in and gave me a bit of advice as well. Overall it's great for any aspiring player, and I highly recommend him.

Good luck Geoff and have fun at the poker tables.

On October 17 2009 09:49 NvG.ShyToSs wrote:
There is really only one way to describe the way iNc teaches...and that is amazing! He is a very good teacher. He explained everything that I did right,explained everything I didn't why why I have to do it. All in all it is a great help. iNc is a really cool and chill guy. He takes the training session at your pace and doesn't really force you to do stuff. He tells you what you should do and then explains why and how you should go about doing it. I had a good time, iNc is very friendly and knows a lot about the game and has a ton of knowledge to share with you. I am def going to have to do this some more :D

On October 19 2009 10:13 iSiN wrote:
I just finished doing this training with iNcontroL and he asked me to write a review so, I will :D.

First off I only did this because he's reputable and I knew he wouldn't steal my cash etc etc so if you're worried about that don't be.

I'm currently a D+/C-(on a good day) zerg and at first while we were playing I really thought this wasn't going to help me at all. It's a bit overwhelming because he's much much better than me and I just felt like I paid 20$ to get noob bashed by incontrol which while cool,(I can brag to my friends I got beat by the bear that can't DDR) I really didn't think it was going to help me. Then when we got to watching replays is where I got my money's worth. He will go over in detail the things that you fuck up during the game. No overlord here didn't take your 4th gas fast enough etc etc etc. A lot of the things that he told me were things I knew but he elaborated why it's important. I know it's important to have ovys across the map but I didn't really understand that it was so I could setup my army for flanks etc I knew I had to scout his gateway count but I wasn't really sure what the difference between 4 gateways and 6 gateways meant. It's the elaboration on the subtle things that are important. For me I think we both realized quickly that I can become flustered easily and just go straight into panic mode.

Overall it was worth 20$ and I'll probably continue once I've worked on my absolute terrible points that we discovered together.

Pros: He will help you even if he tells you all things you know he will elaborate and explain different reasons, that you may not even be aware of, for why you should do different things. On top of that he will relate the things you do well to how you can improve the things you do poorly(for me this was drone saturation and most of my building timings)

Cons: It's a bit discouraging and you're not going to beat him unless you're already pretty capable of competing with him and it may frustrate you but he won't just let you win to make you feel better.

On October 23 2009 06:11 category wrote:
I just got my first lesson from Geoff. Overall, the session was definitely worth the money. We played some games in the matchup and on the map of my choice, and after each game we watched the replay and he talked about my mistakes. I'm only a D level player, so he was probably taking it a little easy on me in the games, but at the same time he made sure to punish me for big mistakes, especially my poor map control. That way it was really strong reinforcement, because I could see pretty clearly the consequences of my mistakes.

I think he's a good teacher. He was really patient with me when I wasn't understanding the things that he was saying (he would repeat or rephrase as needed). Another big plus for me was his flexibility with scheduling and his promptness with starting the session on time.

On October 28 2009 05:03 Julmust wrote:
I just had my session with incontrol and holy crap was it worth the money.

I have problems with zerg vs. bionic terran so that's what we focused on. What I learned was really helpful and will definatly push me up a notch. Inc asked me to write this with pros and cons but I can't actually think of any cons. The cost is really low (I mean come an 20 bucks? I'm a studen and can afford that, no probs) and it's not just what he's saying it's how he says it. I never felt like he was a pompous asshole (which some better players can become while teaching). And he also pointed out to me what I was doing well and shouldn't really worry about right now.

This was absolutely worth the money, and I'll come back once I get to stable D+.

(good luck with the interview)

On November 09 2009 13:24 DeuS wrote:
incontrol is an amazing teacher.
we played a couple zvt's and he showed me what my strengths and weaknesses were
can't think of any cons, the entire thing was very beneficial to me
will definitely do again

On November 30 2009 09:20 battsmasta wrote:
I just had my first lesson with Inc and it was solid :D

I'm currently at D- with a record of 1-9, but after playing a few games and watching the reps, Inc found the major leaks in my game. He gave me some things to work on and think about while I play games. By the time we finished I was way more confident and think I can achieve some sort of C rank with more lessons and practice.

I recommend Incontrol's coaching to anyone with a little money to spare and a desire to learn Definitely a positive experience!

On November 30 2009 12:10 Xnoss wrote:
Il say this in 3 letters... WOW!

Im really satisfy whit incontroL's class. Very professional and strait forward.

Pros:
I felt no pressure playing whit hem and I even think I played at my best while playing whit hem because he gets that out of u... so that was pretty nice. There was no theory and no chit chat!... we went straight to the game... i liked the method... play a game and watch the replay...what you did wrong and let's do it again.

Cons: two hours go fast!!

Thought : I believe I'll be doing this class once a week until I get a good hold of the game...knowledge wise.

gg IncontroL
Your the Man!

On December 02 2009 13:44 TheAntZ wrote:
I just finished a lesson with inc and dear god...not to be cliche but it feels like opening my eyes for the first time. I'm not gonna go into the details of the session but I'll tell you this, I went in with doubts that I would get much out of this experience, seeing that I'm a terrible player with lots of obvious flaws that even I can see, but I came out of it brimming with confidence and awe. Instead of pointing those flaws out, inc pointed out the ROOTS of those flaws. Lots of people have said this, but he really helps you get a grasp of how to improve your game by pointing out what matters most, simple things that you think you know but don't REALLY.
Again, for anyone going 'is this really gonna help...?'
yes
yes it is.
DO IT.
<3 inc

On December 04 2009 09:15 tYsopz wrote:
I just finished my first session with INC and I must say I'm pleasantly surprised.

As a toss player who recently switched to playing terran I've had large problems dealing with zerg since I have no experience at all in the matchup, and as a result been dodging it and focusing on my protoss and terran matchups instead. I decided to take a shortcut and take a session with Incontrol in order to get the basics laid down for me.

Even though his main race isn't terran he was able to give me a good introduction and helped me lay down a solid build order, explained timings and how to effectively deal with muta harass among other things. He would also point out minor but important issues in my game, like which paths to take with SCVs and vults when scouting, errors that I wouldn't discover easily through replays or online.

As a D/D+ terran player I was suspecting I'd have limited benefit from his advice, but it turned out I gained quite a lot of knowledge from the 2 hours and 20 bucks I spent with him. Actually, we kept going for well over 2 hours and finished what we were doing even though time ran out. I can imagine a better player than me would have even greater benefit from his advice, as it is harder to give advice when I miss crucial timings and screw up on macro and build orders like I did in several of our games.

On December 05 2009 10:16 zekie wrote:
I just had my first lesson with incontrol and i feel like i'm already going to be able to play more solid Starcraft. All the other "help" i've gotten has been things that I already know, but with incontrol he pointed out things that i didn't even know to think about.

we focused on the matchup i wanted so it helps me be a more complete player.

i'm horrible at writing things, so i want to end this by saying that incontrol's lesson was amazing and that i can't wait for our 2nd lesson.

On December 08 2009 23:38 leftykill wrote:
Had a lesson last night with incontrol. Felt like I was able to learn a lot of simple information that makes a lot of sense when you think about it. With some practice I will be able to apply the information he taught me to make myself become a better player in the long run. Yeah 20 bucks might sound like a lot, but if you are serious about becoming better that is just a small price you have to pay. I would recommend getting some lessons if you have the money and time to put into your game. As long as I have enough time and money I most likely will get a lesson once a week from him.

On December 22 2009 10:09 fAnTaCy wrote:
Just finished my first session with Inc..and it is a great way to train. I feel i've already improved a bit in 2 hours just looking at my small mistakes and fixing them. Inc is very understanding and patient and will go over any mistakes he sees and tell you. I'd strongly recommend this to people who are looking to get better ^^

On January 10 2010 11:20 Scarecrow wrote:
Just finished my first practice session with inc, T vs 3 hatch muta & lurker openings for a good 2 hours of play and replay analysis. There is a huge difference between reading build orders/strategy threads and a highly knowledgeable player actively going through your play and telling you how you can improve. If you feel like you're hitting a brick wall and not really improving Inc will give you easily implemented tips that will fundamentally improve your play. I can't recommend this enough to anyone who takes their starcraft hobby seriously, the value is staggering.

On January 09 2010 09:40 Red_Storm wrote:
Had a great session with Inc this evening, put in 2 hours and they just flew by. Very good at spotting the key problems in my play, such as timings, theories and strategy. It works as a great confidence builder too which certainly helps you play vs unknown iccup people. Sadly the first game I played after the session was a 300apm korean but that wont damper my ambition.

Next time I take some fish's stack on Fulltilt ill probably come back with a different matchup, cheers Inc!

On January 16 2010 08:59 Kyo Yuy wrote:
I decided to ask Incontrol for lessons because I wanted inspiration to play the game. To be honest, I only play Starcraft once every couple of months. I am very uncomfortable with the idea of playing against random strangers online, and so I was hoping to gain some inspiration from him after undergoing a coaching session with him.

The coaching session definitely helped. We played a few games and he helped me solidify my builds and understand a basic foundation of timing. He also helped me figure out PvZ better, which is a match up that originally made no sense to me but now makes a lot more sense.

He admitted to me that this was probably the hardest session he ever had. And I figured that it would be as such, as my primary goal was NOT to improve my Starcraft but to actually DESIRE playing Starcraft. Instilling enthusiasm is definitely a difficult goal for any teacher to do, as anyone who has taught classes at an education institution would know. What I didn't actually say during the session, was that by the fourth game I was actually getting bored and wanted to stop playing. It wasn't that I was tired of losing or anything, I just didn't feel like playing.

I don't want ANYONE to think this is Incontrol's fault at all. He is actually extremely fun to play with, and I honestly really enjoyed playing my first few games with him. The compliments he gave to me, whether they were genuine or motivational, did make me want to play some more and did give me a mild spark of interest (when he mentioned that he saw I had potential, that definitely made me happy to hear that from an A- level player ).

However, as Incontrol stated in his session, learning is something that takes time. He outright stated that I wasn't going to magically get better in one session (which I have IMMENSE admiration for, being humble enough to admit that) but that he was giving me the tools to develop my game and I would then apply those tools when I play with other people. Likewise, developing interest takes time. Especially for me - it took me an entire year to finally start to enjoy dancing and an entire year before I started to play DDR competitively.

Incontrol definitely had a difficult student on his hands, but I think what I really enjoyed about him was his passion for his students. He seemed VERY interested in helping me get better and making me enjoy Starcraft more. I think that is far more important in teaching than having the knowledge or having the skills to back it up. A teacher must be passionate about helping his students or they won't learn as well. And I respect Incontrol a lot for being so considerate and helpful to someone who isn't even sure if he wants to play the game.

Overall, Incontrol is an EXTREMELY good teacher. He knows what the most important aspects are to focus on, for a player of my level, and he only focuses on those things rather than try to bombard me with every little facet of a game as complicated as Starcraft.

Do I suddenly now have a burning desire to play Starcraft constantly and ladder on ICCUP? No. However, I do now have significantly more interest in the game than I used to, and now I am looking forward to participation in the CSL and I want to find a way to enjoy the game.

As someone who pays $40 weekly for dance lessons, I can say that Incontrol's lessons are DEFINITELY worth the price. He is very helpful and informative, and he tries his hardest to help his clients with what they specifically want. Most importantly, he understands HOW to teach and how to get people to understand things, which I feel are far more important than his rank or credentials.

On March 13 2010 12:42 Holyknight_127 wrote:
Just had a great session with Geoff. The 2 hours were definitely worth it.

We were practicing ZvT, and I feel alot more confident in my play now. He was able to touch on all of my major flaws (including ones I never thought about) and managed to break down the wall that stopped me from improving.

I highly recommend going to his training sessions. He stays at your pace and won't overflood you with information. I also have to admit he's a good teacher. You'll get the extra inch necessary to jump to the next rank.

I'll be back for ZvP ... now it's time to solidify all of that knowledge with mass gaming.