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My Starcraft Woes

Blogs > JMave
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JMave
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
Singapore1806 Posts
January 04 2010 13:03 GMT
#1
There is something in Starcraft that I have never been able to do.. and that is to break D+. Everyone says that getting from D+ to C- is a piece of cake and any average decent player should be able to hit it no problemo. Well, not for me and it saddens me x(((((((

This is pretty much my 4th season in the D+ ranks and I am really trying so hard to get to C-.

On the brighter side of things, I think my macro has improved alot more. I am making more use of my apm now and spamming less. I haven't dodged at all this entire season.. playing so many koreans lately and naturally losing alot but also learning alot.

Thing is, I find that korean D+ is kinda like foreigner C-.. which could be the main reason as to why I am losing alot. I guess its better to get better in my play than to win

****
火心 Jealous. I always loved that feeling when I was young. Embrace it.
SubtleArt
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
2710 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-01-04 13:09:28
January 04 2010 13:09 GMT
#2
I suck at SC too. I've been playing like 4 months and I'm still a lower tied D player lol.

Anyway my friend says C- = D+ w/ abuse? lol
Morrow on ZvP: "I'm not very confident in general vs Protoss because of the imbalance (Yes its imbalanced, get over it)."
meegrean
Profile Joined May 2008
Thailand7699 Posts
January 04 2010 13:35 GMT
#3
I've played Starcraft for 10 years and I'm still D+. Who cares?

Rank isn't important. It's whether you still have fun while playing Starcraft. At least for me anyway.
Brood War loyalist
BanZu
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
United States3329 Posts
January 04 2010 13:37 GMT
#4
As long as you're improving

If you posted that you're sad because you haven't improved at all then I'd be sad too
Sun Tzu once said, "Defiler becomes useless at the presences of a vessel."
haduken
Profile Blog Joined April 2003
Australia8267 Posts
January 04 2010 13:44 GMT
#5
C- and D+ is about equal.

Good players who make C- do not stay C- for long.

D+ to C tho is quite another level.
Rillanon.au
Mortician
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
Bulgaria2332 Posts
January 04 2010 13:52 GMT
#6
Yeah, been playing starcraft for 2 weeks (started last seasons last week and reached D+ ^^) but I am kinda lazy to play this season and do stupid shit mostly
"If anything, the skill cap in sc2 is higher [than sc1] because there are a lot more things you can do at one given time. " darmousseh
JMave
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
Singapore1806 Posts
January 04 2010 14:11 GMT
#7
To me, D+ to C- seems like a huge jump. Probably because in the D ranks you can get away with really sloppy mechanics because chances are your opponent also doesn't have the kind of timing sense and mechanics to play the race properly.

So this sloppiness goes with you and you aren't aware of it because you are winning.. then when you meet average players, you are doomed x(( This is what is happening to me now.
火心 Jealous. I always loved that feeling when I was young. Embrace it.
Roffles *
Profile Blog Joined April 2007
Pitcairn19291 Posts
January 04 2010 14:13 GMT
#8
Hey, at least you can get to D+. Keep it up! You'll get there some day. Maybe you should try asking for help, seeing what you can get better, and practicing your weak points.

You'll hit C- one day. I foresee it.
God Bless
hempLine
Profile Joined October 2009
Canada63 Posts
January 04 2010 14:22 GMT
#9
I think one of the biggest things to watch out for when playing Starcraft is rage and the will to not give up.

I don't know how many times I've raged and uninstalled the game only to reinstall it a month later and start playing again. To improve you need to have a good mind set, I think Morrow said it best when all he does is go into the game with a blank face, if he losses he finds out why and then moves on. Don't bitch or cry about lag or cheese or anything when you lose or even win. Just figure out why you lost or won and move on. Not saying that you rage or anything, just saying that having a good mindset is a main key in improving. Some people can have good days and win against people higher rank then them, but they can also have bad days and lose to people way below them, the key is to not have slumps :D Also practicing helps alot lol, playing 2-3 games a day wont really get you anywhere unless you really know how to improve from your mistakes.

Thats why some people can improve very easily and very fast while some people take a very long time. Take someone like Kolll for example. Guy played SC for like 6 months and got to C++ while I know people that have been playing for 6 years and can't break C-

All about the mind imo, any robot can practice a 2fac timing build till he gets it down cold, but only a good player can understand the purpose of the build, what he's trying to do with the build, how to respond to something like a DT rush, and how to learn from his mistakes.

Lol i've rambled off... But tbh I don't think D+ to C- is easy, imo its the hardest step for anyone. In the D ranks you can play ANYONE, any random person that has just downloaded the game and goes "lol gonna make 200 scv's" that's not an opponent thats a free meal. D+ players acctully know what there gonna do and why, of course you get the average cheeser and what not, but even people who cheese know how to respond to what build your doing and what to kill first most of the time.

I guess all I can say is practice and learn from your mistakes, I can't offer any real advice on reaching C- since I'm just a D+ myself but im just givving ya my 2cents ^^ I don't even ladder much, too many people carring too much about points, the best way to improve imo is to practice with other people in obs games, that way after the game you got like 5 people telling you what they say and what they think you did wrong or what you did right.

GL HF, add me on iccup for some games if you want ^^ same name.
MBC T_T Ret for TSL2!!
Elite00fm
Profile Joined January 2008
United States548 Posts
January 04 2010 15:17 GMT
#10
1v1 a computer and work purely on your mechanics. Don't let your minerals get higher than 300 all game (except for obvious times such as saving for 9 mutas or building a nexus, etc.) and don't let your apm fall below 300. After doing this a bunch of times do this same exercise a bunch of times 1v1 with a friend. After 20+ games of doing this go play iccup, easy C- with 200+ apm and solid macro.
GreEny K
Profile Joined February 2008
Germany7312 Posts
January 04 2010 15:24 GMT
#11
The fact that you are playing D+ koreans is a good thing, you will improve faster as long as you watch those replays. Also, the key to get to D+/C- is to pick a build and perfect it, which in turn will improve your macro since you will know when to cut probes, save for rounds ect.
Why would you ever choose failure, when success is an option.
GreEny K
Profile Joined February 2008
Germany7312 Posts
January 04 2010 15:28 GMT
#12
On January 04 2010 22:44 haduken wrote:
C- and D+ is about equal.

Good players who make C- do not stay C- for long.

D+ to C tho is quite another level.



There are threads that talk about the difficulties in ranks and most people agree that + to - is the hardest. The difference between D+ to C- is greater than C- to C. Do you have trouble getting from D to D+? Most people don't but going from D+ to C- is harder. Also I don't see what you are talkiing about when you say D+ to C... That is a huge gap, the skill difference will be huge, like saying C+ to B...
Why would you ever choose failure, when success is an option.
JMave
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
Singapore1806 Posts
January 04 2010 15:38 GMT
#13
I think D+ to C- is a really good way to filter the players who just play aimlessly and the players who know what they are doing. D to D+ is a piece of cake :D
火心 Jealous. I always loved that feeling when I was young. Embrace it.
haduken
Profile Blog Joined April 2003
Australia8267 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-01-04 15:40:58
January 04 2010 15:39 GMT
#14
What I'm saying is that C- players are definately winnable when you are D+.

Their mechanics are not the same as C. C players just need to enter mid game and it's over. The D+ can not match their multi-tasking and macro (most of the times).

At D+ level, unless you play all your games vs Koreans (lol), then you should hit C- in about few weeks. (Iccup takes less points from losing than giving winning).

I think your biggest issue is Korean D+. They are a different bred, I have more trouble playing them than playing C/C- foreigners.

The Korean D+ are all at least C-/C with omfg amazing timing.
Rillanon.au
JMave
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
Singapore1806 Posts
January 04 2010 16:03 GMT
#15
Well, 90% of my opponents are koreans because I live in asia so the lag isn't that bad so they join my games all the time. They are good lol.
火心 Jealous. I always loved that feeling when I was young. Embrace it.
konadora *
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
Singapore66363 Posts
January 04 2010 16:40 GMT
#16
Try to play the game with a VOD you watched recently in mind.

I recently played a 47 minute long TvZ on Fighting Spirit, and the entire time, I was thinking about Flash vs Calm.

I ended up having quite good macro, as well as average APM of 241.
POGGERS
spinesheath
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Germany8679 Posts
January 04 2010 17:24 GMT
#17
Every rank jump is hard, and the ones from D+ to C-, C+ to B- etc. are harder because you suddenly lose more points in case of defeat. So even if you maintain your win ratio once you hit C-, it can very well happen that you don't win enough to keep that rank. The people who are solid C- thus have a better win ratio than people who slowly climb up D+.
If you have a good reason to disagree with the above, please tell me. Thank you.
Zoler
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
Sweden6339 Posts
January 04 2010 17:26 GMT
#18
On January 05 2010 01:40 konadora wrote:
Try to play the game with a VOD you watched recently in mind.

I recently played a 47 minute long TvZ on Fighting Spirit, and the entire time, I was thinking about Flash vs Calm.

I ended up having quite good macro, as well as average APM of 241.


Flash had 330 Not impressed
Lim Yo Hwan forever!
Chef
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
10810 Posts
January 04 2010 17:27 GMT
#19
Can't you just play enough games and slowly grind up? You literally have to be losing more than 3/4 times not to climb...
LEGEND!! LEGEND!!
konadora *
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
Singapore66363 Posts
January 04 2010 17:27 GMT
#20
On January 05 2010 02:26 Zoler wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 05 2010 01:40 konadora wrote:
Try to play the game with a VOD you watched recently in mind.

I recently played a 47 minute long TvZ on Fighting Spirit, and the entire time, I was thinking about Flash vs Calm.

I ended up having quite good macro, as well as average APM of 241.


Flash had 330 Not impressed

consider my usual AAPM in a 20 minute game is 180, I think it's a huge improvement :p
POGGERS
Zoler
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
Sweden6339 Posts
January 04 2010 17:30 GMT
#21
On January 05 2010 02:27 konadora wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 05 2010 02:26 Zoler wrote:
On January 05 2010 01:40 konadora wrote:
Try to play the game with a VOD you watched recently in mind.

I recently played a 47 minute long TvZ on Fighting Spirit, and the entire time, I was thinking about Flash vs Calm.

I ended up having quite good macro, as well as average APM of 241.


Flash had 330 Not impressed

consider my usual AAPM in a 20 minute game is 180, I think it's a huge improvement :p


Yeah just messing with you, 241 apm in a 47 min long game is actually quite impressive! Wanna play a game? XD
Lim Yo Hwan forever!
Zoler
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
Sweden6339 Posts
January 04 2010 17:31 GMT
#22
On January 05 2010 02:27 Chef wrote:
Can't you just play enough games and slowly grind up? You literally have to be losing more than 3/4 times not to climb...


Actually it's true, you don't need to win much to get to like C+. Just play a lot.
Lim Yo Hwan forever!
Welmu
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
Finland3295 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-01-04 19:01:44
January 04 2010 19:00 GMT
#23
Stork under 300 apm allways ;/... APM is not the thing. Timing, scouting, game reading, mind games, units, buildings and positions are.
Progamertwitter.com/welmu1 | twitch.com/Welmu1
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