• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 14:45
CEST 20:45
KST 03:45
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash8[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy13ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT30Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book20
Community News
Weekly Cups (March 23-29): herO takes triple6Aligulac acquired by REPLAYMAN.com/Stego Research7Weekly Cups (March 16-22): herO doubles, Cure surprises3Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool49Weekly Cups (March 9-15): herO, Clem, ByuN win4
StarCraft 2
General
Aligulac acquired by REPLAYMAN.com/Stego Research Weekly Cups (March 23-29): herO takes triple Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy What mix of new & old maps do you want in the next ladder pool? (SC2) herO wins SC2 All-Star Invitational
Tourneys
Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament RSL Season 4 announced for March-April StarCraft Evolution League (SC Evo Biweekly) WardiTV Mondays World University TeamLeague (500$+) | Signups Open
Strategy
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Frigid Storage Publishing has been re-enabled! [Feb 24th 2026]
External Content
Mutation # 519 Inner Power The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 518 Radiation Zone Mutation # 517 Distant Threat
Brood War
General
BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Build Order Practice Maps BW General Discussion Pros React To: SoulKey vs Ample [ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash
Tourneys
Azhi's Colosseum - Foreign KCM [ASL21] Ro24 Group F [ASL21] Ro24 Group E [ASL21] Ro24 Group D
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates What's the deal with APM & what's its true value Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Starcraft Tabletop Miniature Game Nintendo Switch Thread General RTS Discussion Thread Darkest Dungeon
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
G2 just beat GenG in First stand
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine The Games Industry And ATVI European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books Movie Discussion!
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion Cricket [SPORT] Tokyo Olympics 2021 Thread General nutrition recommendations
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
[G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Money Laundering In Video Ga…
TrAiDoS
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
FS++
Kraekkling
Shocked by a laser…
Spydermine0240
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1607 users

Reaching that next level of skill

Blogs > omgCRAZY
Post a Reply
omgCRAZY
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
Canada551 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-05-02 12:30:21
May 02 2010 10:10 GMT
#1
I play Protoss and after consistently placing in Gold for the past few resets I still cannot break into the Platinum League while others seem to have no problem getting into Platinum every time.

Now I feel as though my standard play is quite good, I have pretty good macro and my timings are usually spot on. The issue I seem to have is dealing with cheese and all-ins. Some of this can be accounted for with bad scouting but usually I scout fairly early (send probe after building 9 pylon) and get the information I need.

I was just wondering if anyone else has troubles dealing with all-ins and cheese rather than standard play

Is being able to deal with cheese and less standard play show that you have reached the next level of skill required to move up?

What do you feel are key components to reaching Platinum?

-Macro (Good)
-Micro (Average)
-Variety of builds (Average)
-Dealing with cheese (Poor)
-Recognizing builds from scouting info (Average)
-Understanding unit relationships (Good)
-Multitasking (Poor)

Anything thing else I am missing? From what I have heard and seen, so many players less skilled than me have gotten into Platinum (most likely by cheesing) that do not deserve it. I am currently top 8 gold in my division and I play a lot of Platinum players and most of the time I can just walk over them unless they cheese (happens a lot).

EDIT: CharlieMurphy pointed out multitasking and Efficient APM. Now that I think about it I do tend to get tunnel vision in the sense that once I start using my army I begin to let my macro slip a little. This could also be the reason I have such a poor time dealing with cheese.

Maybe I just need to play more games, not sure. Just seems like I float around top 8 gold play some higher skilled Platinum players and barely lose then have to work my way from playing Gold players all over again.

Note: I am not really looking for people to break down my game specifically. Just want to start a discussion on skill sets that players should be looking for to reach the next plateau in skill.



*
THIS NEEDS FACE!
CharlieMurphy
Profile Blog Joined March 2006
United States22895 Posts
May 02 2010 10:16 GMT
#2
I'd say the next big step besides macro and scouting, is to try and see where you can squeeze out extra econ or tech when you know your opponent isn't going to attack.

you forgot 2 major factors, efficient apm and multitasking.
..and then I would, ya know, check em'. (Aka SpoR)
omgCRAZY
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
Canada551 Posts
May 02 2010 10:29 GMT
#3
Thanks that actually helps a lot. Multitasking actually seems to be one of the biggest issues I can see with moving onto the next step. APM seems to be an issue but I think that is something that will naturally come while working on your multitasking skills.
THIS NEEDS FACE!
iD.NicKy
Profile Blog Joined October 2003
France767 Posts
May 02 2010 10:43 GMT
#4
scout, macro and you'll be in platinium
Reuental
Profile Joined July 2009
United States457 Posts
May 02 2010 10:43 GMT
#5
In all seriousness, dealing with cheese will most likely take you to the next level. Mainly because it will help you stay cool in high pressure situations and not to freak out. It will also help you judge what you can get away with because when you hold off cheese your trying to hold it off and still have an advantage. I often found when I get cheesed I would screw up and my opponent will have the advantage even though I held off the cheese.
I'm a Crab made of men.
Abenson
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
Canada4122 Posts
May 02 2010 11:41 GMT
#6
When you're microing, all you have to do is spam "sd" and the drones will start working because of automine. I think it is important to develope the habit of making stuff/army/drones regularily, and that's all you need to know, really.

btw Dealing with cheese is probably the thing holding you back in Gold

P.S.: replace the zerg vocabulary with Protoss ones
KwarK
Profile Blog Joined July 2006
United States43783 Posts
May 02 2010 12:22 GMT
#7
My apm has dropped down to about 80 for sc2 and I've never been below plat so I don't think that's a factor. I think they key is just general awareness. You need to scout, know what they're trying to do and know how to counter it. Right now the beta isn't very worked out so a lot of players try shit which simply doesn't work. Your job is to demonstrate why.
Watch some reps/vods, scout intensively and think about your game. All that extra macro micro stuff is less important with MBS and autosurround.
ModeratorThe angels have the phone box
JohannesH
Profile Joined September 2009
Finland1364 Posts
May 02 2010 12:26 GMT
#8
I wouldnt consider apm to be a factor of its own, since you already included micro/macro/multitasking. APM itself is nothing if it doesnt contribute towards those.
If you have to ask, you don't know.
ggrrg
Profile Blog Joined September 2009
Bulgaria2716 Posts
May 02 2010 12:54 GMT
#9
Right now in the beta stage all you need to do in order to reach plat is:
- cheese/rush your opponent every game
or
- decent macro (just spend you resources on units and a-move at some point)
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 5h 15m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
mouzHeroMarine 427
OGKoka 209
elazer 172
UpATreeSC 142
trigger 122
TKL 102
BRAT_OK 40
JuggernautJason36
LamboSC2 27
MindelVK 21
Railgan 4
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 21619
Calm 2785
EffOrt 903
Soulkey 253
firebathero 245
ggaemo 193
Mini 161
Rush 147
Dewaltoss 123
hero 96
[ Show more ]
actioN 74
Aegong 41
Mind 32
Movie 12
Hm[arnc] 12
ajuk12(nOOB) 10
Sexy 10
NaDa 8
Dota 2
capcasts73
LuMiX3
Counter-Strike
pashabiceps3106
fl0m1545
byalli811
Heroes of the Storm
Liquid`Hasu110
Other Games
Grubby2856
FrodaN2741
Beastyqt829
B2W.Neo359
KnowMe134
ProTech121
QueenE91
Trikslyr46
Organizations
StarCraft 2
ComeBackTV 319
Other Games
BasetradeTV64
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 19 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Reevou 6
• intothetv
• IndyKCrew
• sooper7s
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• Migwel
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Kozan
StarCraft: Brood War
• 80smullet 12
• Michael_bg 1
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• C_a_k_e 2663
• WagamamaTV881
League of Legends
• Nemesis3145
• TFBlade1221
Other Games
• imaqtpie864
• Shiphtur200
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
5h 15m
The PondCast
15h 15m
OSC
1d 5h
RSL Revival
1d 15h
TriGGeR vs Cure
ByuN vs Rogue
Replay Cast
2 days
RSL Revival
2 days
Maru vs MaxPax
BSL
3 days
RSL Revival
3 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
3 days
BSL
4 days
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
5 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-03-31
WardiTV Winter 2026
NationLESS Cup

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
CSL Elite League 2026
CSL Season 20: Qualifier 1
ASL Season 21
RSL Revival: Season 4
Nations Cup 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual

Upcoming

CSL Season 20: Qualifier 2
Escore Tournament S2: W1
CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
StarCraft2 Community Team League 2026 Spring
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.