• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 18:37
CET 00:37
KST 08:37
  • 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
ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT29Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book19Clem wins HomeStory Cup 289HomeStory Cup 28 - Info & Preview13Rongyi Cup S3 - Preview & Info8
Community News
Team Liquid Map Contest - Preparation Notice6Weekly Cups (Feb 23-Mar 1): herO doubles, 2v2 bonanza1Weekly Cups (Feb 16-22): MaxPax doubles0Weekly Cups (Feb 9-15): herO doubles up2ACS replaced by "ASL Season Open" - Starts 21/0258
StarCraft 2
General
How do you think the 5.0.15 balance patch (Oct 2025) for StarCraft II has affected the game? Team Liquid Map Contest - Preparation Notice ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT Nexon's StarCraft game could be FPS, led by UMS maker Weekly Cups (Feb 23-Mar 1): herO doubles, 2v2 bonanza
Tourneys
Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament $5,000 WardiTV Winter Championship 2026 RSL Season 4 announced for March-April Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond) PIG STY FESTIVAL 7.0! (19 Feb - 1 Mar)
Strategy
Custom Maps
Publishing has been re-enabled! [Feb 24th 2026] Map Editor closed ?
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 515 Together Forever Mutation # 514 Ulnar New Year Mutation # 513 Attrition Warfare
Brood War
General
Effort misses out on ASL S21 BW General Discussion Gypsy to Korea BSL 22 Map Contest — Submissions OPEN to March 10 BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/
Tourneys
[BSL22] Open Qualifier #1 - Sunday 21:00 CET [Megathread] Daily Proleagues Small VOD Thread 2.0 BWCL Season 64 Announcement
Strategy
Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2 Fighting Spirit mining rates Simple Questions, Simple Answers Zealot bombing is no longer popular?
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Battle Aces/David Kim RTS Megathread Diablo 2 thread Path of Exile
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion The Story of Wings Gaming
League of Legends
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 Vanilla Mini Mafia TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
Russo-Ukrainian War Thread US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine YouTube Thread UK Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books [Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion TL MMA Pick'em Pool 2013
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Laptop capable of using Photoshop Lightroom?
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Shocked by a laser…
Spydermine0240
Gaming-Related Deaths
TrAiDoS
ONE GREAT AMERICAN MARINE…
XenOsky
Unintentional protectionism…
Uldridge
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1982 users

SC ICCUP Built-up in 6 months: Setup

Blogs > ionize
Post a Reply
ionize
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Ireland399 Posts
June 26 2010 15:13 GMT
#1
Ok, a lot of people gave me some nice advice and I thank you for that.

This one was backed up by several people and reflects my idea how I should work my way around this:

On June 26 2010 23:20 NuKedUFirst wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 26 2010 23:15 ionize wrote:
Hey there, it's me again and today I got one simple question: If a player, who just knows the basic of SCBW, decides to go for ICCUP and learn the game within 6 months, what would be your advice? Or do you even have some kind of step by step plan in mind?

Cheers
ionize

-Mass games-
-Watch your replays, see your mistakes
-Don't play if you are getting tired
-Learn buildorders


Current situation
- I haven't played proper SC for almost 10 years and back then it was only LAN, you can guess at what level I am. :D
- I attend university and got to cope with my schedule and workload besides gaming. So I have to get a gaming schedule I think.
- I also play amateur Unreal Tournament still (there is no professional UT anymore, but amateur is not to be taken lightly). This way I also have to keep in shape by playing at least 2h per day.

Immediate plans
- I will follow these four simple rules, starting tomorrow morning
- Depending on my workload/schedule/2h UT I will mass as many games as possible and reflect upon them individually
- I will conclude every game(s) session with watching some particularly striking games to figure out what I did wrong and work on that
- I will post a daily review as long as I spent some time playing SCBW that day. This way I hope to get feedback, advice and encouragement.

I hope this works out, as I know that I can be a damn bi**h when I don't want to do things. So I have to get myself super motivated to keep going. At the moment I am motivated as I like to take a challenge. Let's see how far I can get. You'll here more from me tomorrow.

Cheers
ionize

I just love video games, what's your excuse?
Lightwip
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States5497 Posts
June 26 2010 15:28 GMT
#2
Good luck. You'll probably lose at least 30 games before you actually get wins.
If you are not Bisu, chances are I hate you.
aeroH
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
United States1034 Posts
June 26 2010 15:33 GMT
#3
keep a water bottle next to you, and drink always after every game. you get more tired then you'd imagine
Misrah
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
United States1695 Posts
June 26 2010 15:34 GMT
#4
i would stop mass gaming, and attempt to learn a few thing first. sounds like you don't know anything about competitive bw- and frankly going on icup will discourage you quite quickly. What i would suggest would be looking at liquidpedia. Learn and memorize the 'standard' build order for each of your 3 match ups. play against a computer opponent and make sure that you drill each build into your head. You need to memorize this build, and make sure that you can follow it to the letter.

Going on iccup before you have some builds memorized, or at leas have some grasp on how a match up is going to work is simply going to be counter productive. You have not played the game long enough or have enough understanding to 'look back on your games.' that will come with time, and frankly this is the wrong time.

What is going to be holding you back the most is simply mechanics. You will probably play around 40-60 apm- and this is nowhere near where you need to be. Mechanics will come with muscle memory and time. Once again i would like to suggest that you start off your SC career by playing the computer, and perfect a build order order for each match up. I feel that this type of environment is the most conducive for learning, and is the best way to improve. If you would like i can always play a few games with you. Just give me a PM and i can help you out with any zerg match. pvz, zvp, zvt, tvz, zvz.

Anyway gl, hf, gg, and don't get discouraged when you fall to e rank on icup- and have a record of 0-12341234.
A thread vaguely bashing SC2? SWARM ON, LOW POST COUNT BRETHREN! DEFEND THE GLORIOUS GAME THAT IS OUR LIVELIHOOD
wrags
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
United States379 Posts
June 26 2010 15:38 GMT
#5
try to form a small "hypothesis" before you go into watching replays. often times your suspicions will be confirmed, but since you were looking for that anyway you'll catch something that you would have missed otherwise.
Diamond
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
United States10796 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-06-26 16:29:02
June 26 2010 15:48 GMT
#6
This is how I started (mind you I had a working knowledge of BW, just not of the competitive type):

1: Watched ALOT of pro games
2: Read Liquipedia
3: Picked ONE build to learn first (10/15 Gate)
4: Picked ONE map to learn that build on (Neo Medusa)
5: Played about 20-25 games vs the comp until I was sure I had it memorized.
6: Started on iCCup
7: ???
8: Profit
Ballistix Gaming Global Gaming/Esports Marketing Manager - twitter.com/esvdiamond
KasPra
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Estonia983 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-06-26 16:04:54
June 26 2010 16:02 GMT
#7
If you want to get better fast just play one matchup and one build order over and on only one map over again for days and days. Also, you have to play a lot and always try to play correctly, people tend to overvalue learning and watching starcraft because actually all the skill comes from mass gaming. Also, watching your replays helps a lot but only the ones you lose. Sometimes you may get the feeling that you dont need to watch the replay because you know what you did wrong but watching it still clears up a lot and helps you analyze your mistakes.

Its harder to do it like this but at least you will get D+ and even C- quite fast so you dont have to be a part of the "i have been following sc for years and im still D in iccup" dudes.
Count9
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
China10928 Posts
June 26 2010 17:34 GMT
#8
Change don't play when you're feeling tired to, get up out of your chair and run around a bit to get blood flowing every 3+ games and keep playing.

Or you can just make lurkers.
CheAse
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
Canada919 Posts
June 26 2010 19:01 GMT
#9
You should consider playing by your self before to get the basic build orders down. Once you have it locked down you can get some real practice in.
SCV good to go sir
Sadistx
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
Zimbabwe5568 Posts
June 26 2010 19:39 GMT
#10
On June 27 2010 00:28 Lightwip wrote:
Good luck. You'll probably lose at least 30 games before you actually get wins.

Not if he plays protoss.
FyRe_DragOn
Profile Blog Joined November 2006
Canada2056 Posts
June 26 2010 19:47 GMT
#11
i suggest you watch progamer vods (or even better, replays) when you need a break, and before playing, in addition to those 4 other things on your list. This will help you learn faster and give you more motivation as well. GL
aka DragOn[NaS]
ms291052
Profile Joined April 2008
United States24 Posts
June 26 2010 20:33 GMT
#12
On June 27 2010 00:13 ionize wrote:
you can guess at what level I am. :D


I see what you did there
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 23m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Liquid`TLO 326
ProTech143
SteadfastSC 86
StarCraft: Brood War
Sea 13910
Shuttle 531
ggaemo 113
ajuk12(nOOB) 19
Dota 2
monkeys_forever255
Counter-Strike
Fnx 3086
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King83
PPMD42
Heroes of the Storm
Khaldor131
Other Games
summit1g10102
shahzam577
Artosis178
C9.Mang0174
capcasts37
ViBE34
Chillindude15
minikerr4
Liquid`Ken4
Organizations
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 17 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 86
• musti20045 28
• Reevou 3
• Response 1
• IndyKCrew
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• sooper7s
• intothetv
• Kozan
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota2879
Other Games
• imaqtpie659
• Scarra196
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
23m
Ultimate Battle
12h 23m
Light vs ZerO
WardiTV Winter Champion…
12h 23m
MaxPax vs Spirit
Rogue vs Bunny
Cure vs SHIN
Solar vs Zoun
OSC
18h 23m
Replay Cast
1d
CranKy Ducklings
1d 10h
WardiTV Winter Champion…
1d 12h
Replay Cast
2 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
WardiTV Winter Champion…
2 days
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
3 days
Replay Cast
3 days
Monday Night Weeklies
3 days
OSC
4 days
Replay Cast
6 days
The PondCast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-03-04
PiG Sty Festival 7.0
Underdog Cup #3

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 1
Jeongseon Sooper Cup
Spring Cup 2026
WardiTV Winter 2026
Nations Cup 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual
eXTREMESLAND 2025

Upcoming

ASL Season 21: Qualifier #1
ASL Season 21: Qualifier #2
ASL Season 21
Acropolis #4 - TS6
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
CSLAN 4
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Bellum Gens Elite Stara Zagora 2026
RSL Revival: Season 4
NationLESS Cup
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
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.