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Active: 1866 users

Getting demoted is hard

Blogs > visual77
Post a Reply
kingcoyote
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States546 Posts
October 05 2010 05:16 GMT
#1
To summarize my situation: I want to find what race is good for me, but am stuck in Platinum and am waiting on a demotion.

To explain a bit further, I've played Protoss since vanilla StarCraft and only in the past few months have I really considered that maybe Protoss isn't right for me. I got SC on launch, and picked Protoss because I liked the look of them. I was just a kid and had no concept of the strengths and weaknesses, and my fear of multiplayer didn't help much.

Fast forward 12 years and I get into SC2 beta, where I am forced to either grow a pair or play against the moronic Very Easy AI that is simply not fun. I chose the former and wish I had done it 12 years ago, because once that fear is gone I have a lot of fun in multiplayer.

Now, I'm looking at my race selection and wondering if Protoss really fits me. I chose it because it looks cool, and stuck with it because of familiarity. I manage to fight my way up to Platinum league before deciding to take a good look at Zerg and Terran, and now I expect to be demoted soon, but I'm still not.

In my last 30 or so games, I've had a pretty poor win rate and have increasingly found myself against Gold and even Silver league players. After every game that I lose (which is most, since I'm not used to Zerg or Terran at all), I expect to see the demotion, but I'm just not getting it.

As a Protoss, I might still be Platinum, but even then I think my skill has slid enough to not warrant that league. As Zerg, I'm probably high Silver. I'm still just working the fundamentals and trying to keep my money low, my supply uncapped and my spawn larva flowing.

I hope I get the demotion soon. Even though I don't care about my win/loss record, I would like to be matched against people that are at my current skill, not my skill a month ago in another race.

***
Reborn8u
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
United States1761 Posts
October 05 2010 05:48 GMT
#2
I play toss, im diamond. I played vanilla and never got into starcraft like I am now.

I suggest you learn 1 solid standard opener for each matchup and get them as tight as you can, and learn how to adapt to a wide variety of situations from them.

Then learn a few strategies that can work in every matchup. There are cheeses, like cannon rush, dts, or voids. More standard style like 4 gate or 3 gate robo. That way you can master the opener for them sooner.

Play 10 games as zerg/terran vs ai and just learn theyre tech tree/timings/strengts and weaknesses. Learn what to look for when you scout.

WATCH EVERY DAY9 DAILY sun through thursday at 10 pm eastern us
http://www.ustream.tv/day9tv
I'm pm'ing you my sc2 info, friend me and I'll help as best as I can
:)
FC.Strike
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States621 Posts
October 05 2010 05:51 GMT
#3
Join -> F10 > N
Repeat x5

Play a few games. If you win then keep playing. If you get stomped every time, repeat the above steps.

Your win/loss ratio needs to stabilize before you get demoted. I had to lose over 40 games in a row before I got demoted directly from diamond to bronze (was testing something)
--------------------------> My Smiley Face Disagrees, Your Argument is Invalid -------------------------->
Scarecrow
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
Korea (South)9172 Posts
October 05 2010 06:35 GMT
#4
You're still being matched against people at roughly your current skill level. League is irrelevant.
Yhamm is the god of predictions
shannn
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Netherlands2891 Posts
October 05 2010 07:14 GMT
#5
On October 05 2010 15:35 Scarecrow wrote:
You're still being matched against people at roughly your current skill level. League is irrelevant.

This.
The division you are in and the rating u have does not say anything about your skill.
Your hidden MMR however does. It matches against opponents with the same MMR regardless of division and rating.
That's why you see people from silver division playing gold/platinum sometimes or even diamonds.
The more you lose the lower your MMR becomes and will get you matched with even worse players than you are currently facing.

And besides. The best way to learn a game is to get crushed heartlessly by a way better opponent.
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewpost.php?post_id=6321864 Epic post.
CooDu
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Australia899 Posts
October 05 2010 07:20 GMT
#6
I do agree with the above comment regarding your league being irrelevant. I've found struggling against a harder opponent to not only be rewarding win or lose, but a good learning experience.

I used to find it really hard to lose, and get pretty riled up about it - but it just opens your mind to smarter, better play. I swear when I first got smashed by my opponent I watched the replay in a dream, lol.
Just a simple guy, going wherever this journey takes me.
shannn
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Netherlands2891 Posts
October 05 2010 07:54 GMT
#7
Most beginners don't like to play vs better opponents which they'll 99% of the times will lose from.
They hate losing which is understandable. However you learn more when you lose thus if you play an opponent that is pro you will improve much faster and will be faster to indicate where the weak points of strong players are which you would also get by playing vs equal or lesser skilled but on a slower pace.

That's why it's always better to play against better players than yourself since those players will punish every mistake you do unlike equal/lesser skilled players.
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewpost.php?post_id=6321864 Epic post.
kingcoyote
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States546 Posts
October 05 2010 16:20 GMT
#8
On October 05 2010 15:35 Scarecrow wrote:
You're still being matched against people at roughly your current skill level. League is irrelevant.


True, my league is irrelevant, but I'm pretty sure I'm still not being matched at my current skill level. Using completely arbitrary numbers, let's say I worked my way up to a rating of 800 as Protoss, and then switched to Zerg. My rating will immediately start to slip, but my actual skill isn't slipping, it plummeted.

My first match as Zerg, I might really be only a 200, but I'm going against an 800. The next match I might be 210 against a 780, etc. I still think I have awhile to go before I'm playing people at my level, because the matchmaking is taking my Protoss skill into account, which is fairly irrelevant since I'm playing Zerg now.
SONE
Profile Joined May 2010
Canada839 Posts
October 05 2010 21:37 GMT
#9
On October 05 2010 16:54 shannn wrote:
They hate losing which is understandable. However you learn more when you lose


this only applies if you are smart enough to figure out why you lost, not just because "x" is a better player than "y"
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