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Hello everyone. Rather than retyping my previous post or telling you to visit a closed thread I'll quote it, or atleast the important stuff:
Hi everyone. Amidst the boredom that is living on an island with little more than a derelict foodmart as entertainment, I decided I should make a blog about starcraft. My goal is to give people who wish to get better at starcraft myself as a sort of guinea pig. I will be testing a number of different strategies on how to improve one's gameplay, as well as making articles on some subjects which I feel are very important, or haven't been adressed.
Here's a couple of things to keep in mind about my blog:
-I am not a high level player at all. Once I find the time, I intend to ladder quite a bit to see what rank on iccup I actually am. My impression is that I'm about D+, but until I reach that rank I'm not convinced. Atleast I know that I'm not D-. I fully realise that I'm a "noob" so I don't need anyone to tell me so.
-This blog is not intended for seasoned players of starcraft for the most part. There is a few important strategical things I wish to cover, but aside from that it's mostly just proper ways to practice, and general game strategies.
-I babble like crazy when I type. This is mostly due to the fact that in "real life" I am usually quite untalkative. Typing about topics is a lot like a release for the constant flow of mental drivel eminating from my brain.
-I may not be the best player by any means, but I do know a lot about starcraft. Just as an announcer might not be able to play football, it does not mean he doesn't know anything about it.
-Most importantly, I am a pure protoss player. A majority of the content will be centered towards the protoss race, however there will be other things which are universally important to all races.
Upon request I've reposted to the blog section. Sorry for not doing this before, I didn't realise that having a TL blog would help to organize things better.
Thanks to Petered for the feedback and encouragement. I've taken what you said into consideration, so I'll write more about practice routines and techniques, and less about large scale sort of strategies. Some of the articles I wrote came directly from me, and seemed to have little use or importance to others. I want to remind people that the things I write are things that I have used to make my play style better, and they may either not work for you, or they may be incorrect. That is for you to decide. Also keep in mind that some of the things I write are largely paraphrased versions of other techniques or strategies, namely the article on Meta-Game. I didn't intentionally make it like that, but it happend regardless.
If you have any other practice strategies that you would like me to try, please let me know. If you've read my posts you probably know that I've started BlueIris' macro/apm training. I'll update that very soon.
Note:
-If you see something I've written which is incorrect, please let me know and I will write a corrrection. However, if you don't provide a reasonable basis, (i.e. just writing "You don't know anything noob") then I won't respond. I'm not here to argue with people, I'm here to help people to the best of my abilities.
-Disregard what I said before. This is the best place to post comments and questions.
-Read the first blog post before any others please.
Thanks,
~Rad301
P.S. One person seemed to think that there was something wrong with me signing my posts. I do this out of etiquette and habit and no other reason 
Once again, I forgot to post the link. Here it is:
http://rad301sc.blogspot.com/
 
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Good luck! Above all, enjoy the game.
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Upon request I've changed the text colour. Please let me know if this one is good.
~Thanks,
Rad301
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the color is good.
When you practice, do you generally go for the same build every time? Like, lets say you are trying to improve you PvT, do you then practice 10/15 gate over and over to get better at it, or do you just free style and trust that you will improve with time?
I am a T player hovering above D- (still haven't gone below D yet thank goodness) and I usually just play standard over and over. Would it be helpful to experiment with some different builds to improve game sense or is repetetive practice better?
you can add me on Iccup, although I don't play that often during the week(and you will probably crush me)
petered0518 is what I usually ladder with, occasionally might play with [UM]petered.
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United States4796 Posts
Enjoy the game and welcome.
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On February 05 2010 15:22 petered wrote:
the color is good.
When you practice, do you generally go for the same build every time? Like, lets say you are trying to improve you PvT, do you then practice 10/15 gate over and over to get better at it, or do you just free style and trust that you will improve with time?
I am a T player hovering above D- (still haven't gone below D yet thank goodness) and I usually just play standard over and over. Would it be helpful to experiment with some different builds to improve game sense or is repetetive practice better?
you can add me on Iccup, although I don't play that often during the week(and you will probably crush me)
petered0518 is what I usually ladder with, occasionally might play with [UM]petered.
What I generally do is have two builds available for each match-up. I try to have one build centered towards macro, and one centered towards harass. For example, in PvT when I play someone with a higher rank I often opt for a harass style build. Since I know that my opponent likely has better mechanics, I use the harass to level the playing field. If I play someone with a lower rank than me, I usually go for a 13 nexus, because I assume my mechanics are better. Either way play to what your advantage is. Try to stay away from any build that puts you in an all-in situation, but don't be afraid to mix it up a bit. I wish I could give you a good example of a fairly safe terran harass build, but I know more about the theory of T and Z builds, and much less about their practice.
As for actually practicing the builds, I play against the computer until I have my timings down fairly well. In general depending on the build order, I play about 10 games against the computer over a couple days before bringing it to iccup. Sometimes builds require less practice. I found that the 13 nexus only took about 4 games before I had the early timings down well. Practice against the computer until the build is comfortable, and always try to have atleast two builds ready when you go to iccup.
I never like to freestyle unless I am comfortable and not going out on a limb. PvP has always been a great match-up of mine because I've always known when and what to adapt to naturally. In a recent game, my opponent opted for a 4 gate powergoon. I scouted this and immediately dropped all plans in favour of a dt rush. Although he put some really good pressure on me, I cleaned up his probes and goons without losing to many of my own, and it was gg. I'm not sure if TvT is like that, so hopefully one of TL's senior terran players can help out with that.
Lastly, I know it's hard but try not to care too much about your rank. If playing better players lowers you do d-, then don't be disheartened. One of my smurf accounts was below d- at one point, because I kept playing my korean friend on that account. It hurts to lose a lot, but see playing a high level player as a learning experience.
You can add me as well. my Iccup ID is of course "rad301". I won't be going on iccup very much for the next week or two, as I'm doing Macro/APM practice by BlueIris. I don't even want to think about playing anyone until my macro has gotten better. Afterwards I'll ladder quite a bit, so feel free to ask me for a few practice games.
Thanks for the question,
Rad301
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I'd like to ask everyone who reads my blog/answers if you enjoy me going really indepth, or you think my posts are too long winded and philisophical. I enjoy typing quite a bit, but personally I have a fairly short attention span for reading long articles, so if you would like me to try and condense things I will.
Thanks,
~Rad301
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Lastly, I know it's hard but try not to care too much about your rank. If playing better players lowers you do d-, then don't be disheartened. One of my smurf accounts was below d- at one point, because I kept playing my korean friend on that account. It hurts to lose a lot, but see playing a high level player as a learning experience.
Yeah, I actually don't care about record to much, so much as it is a general indication of how I am doing(and I like to see improvement). I have played a fair number of higher D/D+ and even a C- player on the ladder because my policy is to never dodge, despite the pounding I might take. It is also satisfying to give them a good game every once in a while.
Yeah, I think I am naturally going for the one or two build philosophy. The only match where I am utterly lost most games is TvT. I have noticed when playing with friends that having a starting build order and an end game plan is really the most important thing. I have beaten friends with similar skill just based on those two things.
That could actually be a good post is talking about optimal late game strategies. Like, no matter how the game starts you want to work your way towards x factories(gateways) and y army composition etc. because many times as a beginner I just forget what I am supposed to be doing next once the action gets going.
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That's great to hear. I'll definately consider that subject as a post. Unfortunately it may have to come later, as I myself am poor in that area, and I wouldn't feel right giving people advice unless I have some amount of success.
Anyway, I think a good summation of build order usage goes as follows:
Poor players do not adapt
Strong players adapt to situations they've seen before
Great players adapt to things completely new
A good example of this is a game I watched recently of kolll against Stork on outsider. Stork essentially stoved (built a stargate then scout) Kolll, and while normally building a scout at almost any point in the game can be easily punishable when delt with properly, kolll didn't manage to adapt and lost the game. Of course the fact that Stork is korean and kolll isn't plays into the outcome, but at that level it doesn't take much to turn a game upside down.
While following a strict build order can often give you a mechanical advantage, sometimes deviation and adaptation is exactly what you need to win.
By the way, I realise that the stove can be effective on rare occasions so I don't want anyone flaming me about it.
~Rad301
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Quick update: I'm going to be writing a long article called "Starcraft for the absolute beginner." Hopefully this will provide a useful resource.
Thanks,
~Rad301
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Hi Everyone.
Here is a summary on how my Macro/Apm practice routine by BlueIris went.
Before:
Apm = 150-170
EApm = 100
Macro habits: terrible
Apm min = 50
*Apm Distribution: 50-60% move 5-20% hotkey
Average Expos per game: 2
**Mineral accumulation cap: approx 4000
After:
Apm = 250-300
EApm = 180 - 250
Macro habits: Much better
Apm min = 180
*Apm distribution: 40-50% hotkey 20-30% move
Average expos Per game: 4
**Mineral accumulation cap: approx 1500
* Apm distribution is a feature built into BWChart which allows you to see what percent of your actions go where. To get an idea of what a good balanced apm looks like, load up a couple high level game replays and look at the percentages.
** This is approxamately the highest amount of minerals accumulated during a game. Remember your friend bragging about how he has accumulated 7000 Minerals? In actuallity this is terible, as this money should be spent immediately unless you have a reason to save (i.e. making an expo, expensive unit production etc.) This value is highly variant depending on the map, game length, and many other variables.
I have to say that I have never improved so quickly. It took me about a year to get my apm from 30 when I started playing, to 170ish. In two weeks I've made my apm faster, more effective, and properly distributed, as well as greatly improving my macro. I recommend this training regime to anyone who suffers from either slow apm or bad macro. In a few days I'm going to do some laddering, and once I get a good rep, I'll post it as well as a replay of mine before the training so you guys can laugh at me .
If you would like to suggest training regimes, techniques, or schedules for me to try out please do. In using these methods, I not only increase my abilities, but I hope that I can make other people's starcraft practice run smoother and with greater effect.
Thanks,
Rad301
P.S. Special thanks to BlueIris for posting this practice routine. I owe him so much now. Please show your appreciation and thank him as well.
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EPT
