• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 23:33
CEST 05:33
KST 12:33
  • 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
[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: In A Tizzy9[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Holy Diver5[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Rough Waters10[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Siren's Call8[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Summer's End9
Community News
Weekly Cups (Sep 13-20): herO scores triple1BSL Season 235Weekly Cups (Sep 7-12): SHIN, ByuN, MaxPax double down1StarCraft open world shooter announced at BlizzCon101Weekly Cups (Aug 30-Sep 7): herO thrives amid growing schism10
StarCraft 2
General
Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16) Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool How do you feel about the StarCraft shooter announcement at BlizzCon 2026? The Death of Cheese: From a Professional Cheeser Weekly Cups (Sep 13-20): herO scores triple
Tourneys
Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament 2026 GSTL Announcement RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event RSL goes to London! 2026 Offline Finals Nov 21-22
Strategy
[H] ZvP Mid-Late Game: Stalkers Collossi HT
Custom Maps
Nexus Wars 2021 GUIDE [M] (2) Industrial Park
External Content
Mutation # 544 Double Trouble The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 543 Enhanced Defenses Mutation # 542 The Ascended
Brood War
General
an AI researcher's take on the ladder bot BW General Discussion screpdb: new Starcraft reporting tool Bot on ladder [ASL22] Ro8 Preview: In A Tizzy
Tourneys
[ASL22] Ro8 Day 2 [ASL22] Ro16 Group D [ASL22] Ro8 Day 1 [IPSL] IPSL is Back With Winter 26-27!
Strategy
Cliff Jump Revisited (1 in a 1000 strategy) Replay Review Process - What do you do? Simple Questions, Simple Answers Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation
Other Games
General Games
Diablo IV Nintendo Switch Thread Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread EVE Corporation
Dota 2
Dota 2 Champions League Season 3 Begins April 25! Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
Russo-Ukrainian War Thread US Politics Mega-thread Artificial Intelligence Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine All you football fans (soccer)!
Fan Clubs
MarineLorD Fan Club The Creator Fan Club The ShoWTimE Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Diablo Animated Series on Netflix
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
Recent Gifted Posts
Blogs
Gaming Intensity, Problemati…
TrAiDoS
38 yo Retired SWE loo…
PurE)Rabbit-SF
Can Bots Beat Pros?? Starcr…
namkraft
[meme] I finally understa…
LUCKY_NOOB
Regacy Esports:Our Goa…
regacyesports
Dreaming of BW patches (mod…
c3rberUs
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 7644 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
Canada2057 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
PiGosaur Cup
00:00
#100
PiGStarcraft702
SteadfastSC94
CranKy Ducklings84
davetesta18
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
PiGStarcraft702
SteadfastSC 94
-ZergGirl 63
Nina 7
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 7777
Rain 1970
GuemChi 1345
Dewaltoss 213
Hyun 77
yabsab 3
Dota 2
monkeys_forever519
LuMiX1
League of Legends
JimRising 861
Counter-Strike
taco 516
Super Smash Bros
hungrybox546
Other Games
summit1g11145
Coldzera 780
C9.Mang0373
Livibee228
Maynarde150
ViBE142
Sick140
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick651
[ Show 15 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 81
• EnkiAlexander 65
• CranKy Ducklings SOOP44
• mYiSmile112
• Letter148
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• Pr0nogo 5
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Stunt280
Upcoming Events
Kung Fu Cup
7h 27m
The PondCast
1d 6h
Replay Cast
1d 20h
Korean StarCraft League
2 days
CranKy Ducklings
3 days
GSL
4 days
Yamato Cup
4 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Afreeca Starleague
5 days
WardiTV Weekly
5 days
[ Show More ]
Sparkling Tuna Cup
6 days
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
PiGosaur Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Super Anchor Qualifying S3
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Big Dog Cup 2026 Div 1

Ongoing

ASL Season 22
CSL 2026 AUTUMN (S22)
Acropolis #5
Acropolis #5 - GSA
Calamity Invitational
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026

Upcoming

Acropolis #5 - GSB
Acropolis #5 - GSC
BSL Season 23
SC4ALL II: Brood War
BSL 23: Non-Korean Championship
HSC XXX
Stellar Fest 2: Lunar Cup
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
Custodian Cup
Copium Cup
PGL Major Singapore 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 6
BLAST Rivals Fall 2026
IEM Beijing 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
1win Private Club #2
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
1win Private Club #1
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.