EPT
Hello, everyone. I'm going to start with a bit of an introduction to myself, my experiences in Starcraft and where I am in Starcraft 2 now.
I'm relatively new to TeamLiquid.net. The discovery of this wonderful community was a result of Starcraft 2's beta, as I'm sure it was for many others. I hope to be a quality poster here and keep this blog updated with interesting and educational experiences!
In the strictest sense, I can definitely be called a Starcraft noob. I started playing the first game when I was about 9 years old or so and, I suppose unlike many others, used the hotkeys from the get go *gasp*! However, Brood War never enticed me...by the time I finished the Starcraft campaign, the new units threw off everything I knew.
As such, I never played competitively or even attempted. I laddered only a handful of times and actually managed to win several of them, but it just didn't appeal to me. Thus, I became a UMS player...Turret and Sunken Defense mostly. I also enjoyed pitting myself against multiple computers on BGH as Protoss or Terran and wiping them all out with Battlecruisers and Carriers. Yeah, you all know what I'm talking about. Damn good stuff!
Anyways, years later, Starcraft 2 was announced. Even later, the beta finally came out and I got a key almost from the beginning. I immediately...started watching livestreams and researching. I hardly played at all...
Yeah, I know. What could I be thinking? Well, I wanted to jump in with the right attitude and the correct tools. I learned about APM, timing, maynarding, etc. Mostly importantly, I discovered the tug-of-war known as micro and macro.
I began playing some 2v2 random games and recorded a few of my matches, which I posted on my youtube. Don't feel like you need to watch them. They're not particularly good, though the DT stuff is still fun. Anyway, when I finally finished my 1v1 placement matches (I lost one straight up and one because I accidentally picked Terran...oops), I was placed pretty low. Bronze, I think. I was certainly not happy. Unfortunately, I didn't start winning over and over. I kept losing to Protoss rushes and ling-muta containment. I remember once apologizing dearly for using Void Rays on Desert Oasis, too.
Shortly after all of this, I moved halfway across the US and didn't have time to play the beta at all. When the game was released, it took a month before I could afford it. This time, I immediately...didn't play at all. Wtf, you say? I was, like before, afraid to ladder. My brother and I recently started trying to knock out some of the achievements a few at a time and I'm crawling through the campaign a mission or two at a time. I simply just don't have much time to play between work and the lady.
So I finally get to where I am now. I just now completed my placement matches. I played the first 3 as random and, after losing one as Terran, decided I would just stick with Protoss until I had a practice partner for the other two. With 4 wins, I am now ranked at the default of 100 in Gold with around 700 bonus points to use. I would like to share my last two games and present them as my initial skill level with Starcraft 2. As I play an develop, I plan to update this blog with additional replays, and possibly videos, of my most crucial milestones.
As a quick Disclaimer, my laptop is almost three years old and was subpar even then. As you can imagine, I run the game at the lowest settings and it's a bit choppy at times, even then. Fortunately, I'm quite savvy with computers and keep it running at tip-top shape. After my most recent maintenance, it's running the game almost perfectly, but I still notice a big difference between mine and my brother's on his computer. (low resolution also sucks...)
Replay - PvZ - Xel'naga Caverns
I really didn't play very well in this matchup. I scouted a lot better than normal and saw a late pool with no expansion, so I felt pretty safe. When I lost my probe at the Xel'naga tower, I probably should have retaken one or both with a single zealot.
I fully intended to use a four gate build in this matchup, so got hallucinate the moment my warpgate tech researched and it was a great idea. I really love the Pheonix as a scout over the Observer if you don't need detection. The speed is just amazing. Once I scouted, I knew it was mass mutalisk, with an unfortunate (for him) amount of zerglings. I probably should have put up a few cannons before moving out, but I was ready to take the advice of a recent guide on ling-muta builds here on TL -- when the mutas hit me, I hit him hard.
It worked like a charm. The Mutalisks came back and all died to Sentries and a few stalkers.
I could have improved majorly on a few things: My building placement was pretty poor. I meant to use my initial gate way to choke off one side of my nexus, but forgot to. I also let my macro die once my expansion came up...my probing stopped and I didn't build enough production buildings to sustain two bases. Then I forgot to hotkey my Robo Bay. When I finally got everything pulled together, I finished the match quickly and smoothly.
I do think I performed other tasks very well: My scouting was good, although I wish I had managed to find the large group of mutalisks before they were in my base. I also chose my timing and made tactical decisions well that, frankly, resulted in an overall very easy win.
Replay - PvT - Blistering Sands
I'm very satisfied with this game and, at the same time, extremely disappointed. I tend to get jittery and, oddly, cold when playing against players, so that may account for my mistakes in this match. Regardless, I forgot many of the basics which I used to practice and hammer into myself for the early game. My first gas came a little late and I completely forgot to put three probes into the second one until I began wondering why I couldn't build my Stargate yet.
Yes, I decided to Stargate this one and practice my multitasking. Needless to say, I failed to multitask. My micro was respectable. I didn't lose any Phoenix during harassment, although I could have microed better to save the health bar on one of my Phoenix when I sniped a tank.
Unfortunately, my macro went completely to hell. I hit 5000 minerals at one point. What the...? My expansion was very late and I forgot to gas it, so I ended up with a huge gas shortage. When I realized this, I gased up and dropped some much needed production buildings.
What really held me back, though, was my tendency to forget pylons. I don't think I ever went over 100 supply in this match. I won due to the simple fact that I completely outplayed my opponent during engagements and, literally, harassed him into submission.
What I could have improved on: Don't forget gas! Don't forget pylons! Build more production buildings. My forward pylon could have come earlier, too. My third expansion could have come much earlier and would have almost secured a victory, should I have hit a very unfortunate situations with his tanks.
What I did well: My scouting was pretty good this time. I checked for proxy structures and discovered the Barracks he hid behind the grass in his base. My harassment allowed for excellent map control, which resulted in near perfect positioning against his marines and tanks.
