• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 01:42
CEST 07:42
KST 14:42
  • 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
Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2914Serral wins Maestros of the Game 243ByuL, and the Limitations of Standard Play3Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12
Community News
Weekly Cups (July 27-Aug 2): SHIN's big week0SC4ALL II: Brood War - $2500 - Dec 5-66SC4ALL II announced - $10,000 prize pool, Dec 5-64PIG STY FESTIVAL 8.0! (13 - 23 August)11Neeb returns to progaming; rejoins ONSYDE15
StarCraft 2
General
SC4ALL II: StarCraft 2 Player Announcement 2/8 Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16) August World Ranking: Clem climbs to #2 Daily SC2 Player Grid - feedback wanted Weekly Cups (July 27-Aug 2): SHIN's big week
Tourneys
SC4ALL II announced - $10,000 prize pool, Dec 5-6 Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament PIG STY FESTIVAL 8.0! (13 - 23 August) RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event INu's Battles #19 2-Days Event
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
Nexus Wars 2021 GUIDE [M] (2) Industrial Park
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 537 Hostile Territory Mutation # 536 Railroad Switch Mutation # 535 Assembly of Vengeance
Brood War
General
[Personal Project Share] Terran Defense v0.60 BW Drama: Terror's Debt Incident + C9 disbanding BW General Discussion Recent recommended BW games ASL22 General Discussion
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues 2v2v2v2 Tournament SC4ALL II: Brood War - $2500 - Dec 5-6 Escore Tournament - Season 3
Strategy
Any training maps people recommend? Fighting Spirit mining rates Simple Questions, Simple Answers Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation
Other Games
General Games
General RTS Discussion Thread ZeroSpace Early Access is Now Live! Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Beyond All Reason
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish TSM pausing esports and CLG Dead
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Power Rank TL Mafia Community Thread NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Artificial Intelligence Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine
Fan Clubs
The Clem Fan Club INnoVation Fan Club The Scarlett Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! Series you have seen recently... [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023 McBoner: A hockey love story
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Simple Questions Simple Answers FPS when play League Of Legend on laptop
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Northern Ireland Global Starcraft
Blogs
Please support my new stand…
Peanutsc
What is a Gamer?
TrAiDoS
Hello guys!
LIN1s
ASL S22 English Commentary…
namkraft
Poker (part 2)
Nebuchad
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 6317 users

Is it better to practice a BO or fundamentals? - Page 2

Blogs > visual77
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 All
Nytefish
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United Kingdom4282 Posts
October 07 2010 22:18 GMT
#21
Actually I'm a bit confused as to what people are referring to when they say a BO.

I mean something like 14 gas, 14 pool is hardly a BO, to me it's just an opening that can transition into many things, of course you should memorise and practice those.

But something like 4 warpgate all-in I would regard as a build order that you could practice lots and get a good win-rate with, but really limits your ability and understanding if it's the only thing you can do well.
No I'm never serious.
kingcoyote
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States546 Posts
October 07 2010 22:26 GMT
#22
On October 08 2010 07:18 Nytefish wrote:
Actually I'm a bit confused as to what people are referring to when they say a BO.

I mean something like 14 gas, 14 pool is hardly a BO, to me it's just an opening that can transition into many things, of course you should memorise and practice those.

But something like 4 warpgate all-in I would regard as a build order that you could practice lots and get a good win-rate with, but really limits your ability and understanding if it's the only thing you can do well.


When I say BO, I mean I picked something in YABOT and practiced that for awhile. I ended up using the 3 gate robo the most, because I was under the impression that it was a stable, flexible build order that would do fine in all matchups in the lower leagues.

I would rigidly build a 9 Pylon, 13 Gateway, 14 Assimilator, etc. This led to me getting up to about 35 supply with great efficiency, and then locking up after that. I would forget my chronoboosts, float, forget to tech up, forget to expand and all that. I was good in the early game, but not because I had skill, merely because I had a sequence of buttons trained.

This time around, I started playing it from the other perspective. I'm not ultra concerned about dropping my pool on 13 or anything like that, but much more concerned with thinking about supply and minerals and larva. When I worked that BO, I never got supply capped before 35 and would often get supply capped afterwards. The same goes with money - I kept it ultra low, until I was out of my comfort zone.
Nytefish
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United Kingdom4282 Posts
October 07 2010 22:31 GMT
#23
I think you pretty much understand what each style of learning does for you already.
No I'm never serious.
kingcoyote
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States546 Posts
October 07 2010 22:32 GMT
#24
On October 08 2010 07:31 Nytefish wrote:
I think you pretty much understand what each style of learning does for you already.


Yeah, I do, which is why I put this in blogs rather than any of the forums. I was just curious as to the thoughts of others on these different practice styles. The general opinion seems to be focus on BOs, and I'm not sure if they just assume everyone on TL has fundamentals or what, but it definitely didn't work for me.
chongu
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
Malaysia2600 Posts
October 07 2010 22:49 GMT
#25
u'll have more fun practicing fundamentals.... BOs can come later and more naturally (u just need a 2/3 root builds that reaches 25/30 supply imo)
SC2 is to BW, what coke is to wine.
Ethelis
Profile Blog Joined September 2008
United States2400 Posts
October 07 2010 22:54 GMT
#26
Fundamentals ((T)Flash)

vs

BO ((T)Fantasy)

That's the gist of it. The choice is dependent on the desired possibility of play-style(s).
Disabled gamer - Diamond 3 (LoL) D+ Rank scrublord on BW. Bisu doesnt need DTs, He uses probes. just ask Flash.
koreasilver
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
9109 Posts
October 07 2010 23:18 GMT
#27
You can't really practice one without the other. In a way, this is a false question because builds aren't some kind of super rigid down-to-the-supply formulas. They are a large overarching scheme.

I would rigidly build a 9 Pylon, 13 Gateway, 14 Assimilator, etc. This led to me getting up to about 35 supply with great efficiency, and then locking up after that. I would forget my chronoboosts, float, forget to tech up, forget to expand and all that. I was good in the early game, but not because I had skill, merely because I had a sequence of buttons trained.

The opening of 9pylon 13gate 14gas is merely an opening. This by itself isn't a build order at all. Just this by itself doesn't have any kind of plan. Now you falling apart after the early game is because you don't know what you should be doing because you're going into a game without having a game scheme in your mind. So you can't blame your lack of coherency later on in the game to builds because well, you're not even going into the game with a build in mind.

A build won't work to any good sense without the ability to understand the fundamentals of the build. If you understand the fundamentals of the game then you will naturally plan out builds. The two can't be separated at all.
JohannesH
Profile Joined September 2009
Finland1364 Posts
October 07 2010 23:26 GMT
#28
On October 08 2010 07:02 Nytefish wrote:The better players in the end were simply the ones who had played more.

If that is true, isn't it pretty boring? Just compare practice times, and you'll know who's better... Would you say that Jaedong loses to Flash repeatedly just because he's slacking on practice
If you have to ask, you don't know.
Piy
Profile Blog Joined January 2008
Scotland3152 Posts
October 08 2010 00:19 GMT
#29
They're pretty much the same thing. Have a good bo and you don't forget depots or scvs since its part of your build order, but people call these things fundamentals.

So they're isn't really a difference.
My. Copy. Is. Here.
Terranesque
Profile Joined September 2007
119 Posts
October 08 2010 00:33 GMT
#30
Hand in hand.
Angra
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
United States2652 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-08 00:48:21
October 08 2010 00:47 GMT
#31
It doesn't matter how good your build order is if you can't macro, manage economy, remember workers/depots, etc. Fundamentals are much more important for starting out at improving.
Navi
Profile Joined November 2009
5286 Posts
October 08 2010 00:51 GMT
#32
On October 08 2010 07:54 xMiragex wrote:
Fundamentals ((T)Flash)

vs

BO ((T)Fantasy)

That's the gist of it. The choice is dependent on the desired possibility of play-style(s).


i think that's a pretty horrible comparison as you picked perhaps the two terrans with the most flexible playstyles out there

fantasy has some kinky BO's from boxer and co, but so does flash
flash has some excellent mechanics, but fantasy's is not shabby at all either (the difference only really starts showing late game)

i'd say that instead of starting out with solid BO's (especially because the game is still developing!) trying to keep low money and adapting through scouting and game sense until you feel very comfortable with the race will be quite beneficial, and then trying to apply all that you learned to a couple of your favorite BO's.
Hey! Listen!
Thoreezhea1
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States532 Posts
October 08 2010 01:01 GMT
#33
As terran I just know a BO for an early mm push. I practiced that a lot, i got better, MUCH better, and i lost late game. got out macroed.

tpi I think having a good.... general.... bo for many things is good. you'll go far.
What the Fu- REAPERS?!
N3rV[Green]
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
United States1935 Posts
October 08 2010 01:39 GMT
#34
People really tend to focus in on details far too much. And I believe that people really do think that there is a "if I do X it will beat Y" situation. The game is not like that, so I would not recommend just playing 1 build over and over and over, that seems like a horrible thing to do to your learning.

Also just focusing on your fundamentals (ex: not supply blocked, money low, building workers) is not going to really help you. The only time I do a "fundamentals game" its my first game in a while and im just playing a custom to get my hands going.

What I suggest is very simple in concept but leads to far more understanding than any other method and this is how I play.

You start with a PLAN. and plan in not a "Build order". It is a plan. An idea that you will try to bring into the game. A plan for me as protoss, could be as simple as, 1. I want 2 bases, 6-8 gateways, and (Insert power unit of choice here). Now that there is a plan, PRACTICE is required to learn what routes there are, which are safer depending on different situations and many other things that can only be gained through practicing this PLAN.

Now you aren't bound by any sort of I do XYZ everygame fuck whatever he's doing mindset, and you will learn more from every game through trial and error.
Never fear the darkness, Bran. The strongest trees are rooted in the dark places of the earth. Darkness will be your cloak, your shield, your mother's milk. Darkness will make you strong.
Carefoot
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
Canada410 Posts
October 08 2010 09:52 GMT
#35
On October 08 2010 06:31 Borked wrote:
Since beta, I didn't really memorized any BO's , yes I know BO's but I always practiced for my fundamentals, when your fundamentals are good enough you can do any BO or tweak them as you like.

So I'm in favor of practicing fundamentals.


aka everyone should be super flexible and freestyle, use a build if you see fit.

♥
The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars http://twitch.tv/NickCarefoot
Treva
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
United States535 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-11 00:59:10
October 11 2010 00:57 GMT
#36
Honestly I would practice fundamentals first. BOs are important but if you don't have the fundamentals down then there really is a huge issue getting BOs down. I don't think better players are those you simply play more, that is true to an extent but that's why you see a lot of people who have 500+ ladder games played and are still in gold. My point is fundamentals are what you need to start you off, then BOs can come in.
Live it up.
standalone
Profile Joined May 2010
Norway73 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-11 01:52:05
October 11 2010 01:51 GMT
#37
Thank you for making this thread and to everyone who contributed to the discussion. I feel that I learnt a lot just from reading this thread.
Fuck my overlord life
Zergneedsfood
Profile Blog Joined September 2008
United States10671 Posts
October 11 2010 01:56 GMT
#38
1. SC2 doesn't have concrete BOs as far as I know. The ones that are standard at the moment are also incredibly flexible during the game so that's also not the great thing to practice. With SC1 you had the Pros giving out BOs that were perfectly made and timed. At this point, SC2 has yet to see something similar.

2. Without fundamentals you can't execute BOs. A lot of the times, BOs are fundamental intensive. You need to keep track of supply, money count, etc, in order to time your BO just right. Without fundamentals, you're going to be late and get owned later.

3. Fundamentals and BOs are not mutually exclusive. In all honesty, BOs are fundamentals.

Therefore: Practice fundamentals in terms of looking at the mini-map, standard micro management, keeping track of food, constant use of MULEs, chrono boost, larva inject. Do all of that before you practice actual BOs.
/人◕ ‿‿ ◕人\ Make a contract with me and join TLADT | Onodera isn't actually a girl, she's just a doormat you walk over to get to the girl. - Numy 2015
RageOverdose
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
United States690 Posts
October 11 2010 02:12 GMT
#39
Fundamentals are more important for consistent success in many things.

BO's in Brood War pretty much map all the fundamentals down to a certain point, then you need to pick it up after the last building mapped for you and you have to know when to expo, when to engage, when to poke, etc.

BO's in SC2 are flimsy because the game is still in its learning stages and because maps still need improvement, so things can change anytime.

While you need good BO's, you must first have the fundamentals to not only follow up the execution, but to also know how/when to tweak your BO's and to even understand WHY you are doing a certain BO.

So work on the fundamentals always. But, also try to balance it with learning BO's too, because they do work together. And really your basics can always be improved over time I think, so never stop thinking about them.

kingcoyote
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States546 Posts
November 10 2010 01:30 GMT
#40
It's now been a month since I posted this, and I think my work on fundamentals has helped me out very well. I go into every game just thinking "saturate multiple bases, don't get supply capped, spend all money, don't miss a spawn larva". I got promoted back into platinum and am wrecking through it. The only time I lose is if I play someone who puts pressure on me early.

I know that I'll start stalling out once most of my opponents can macro well, but I still think this practice style has done wonders. As the games proceed, I don't forget my spawn larvas, I don't forget to spend my money, and I don't get supply capped. Working the fundamentals has drilled that timing into me so much better than any BO did with Protoss.

All in all, I'm very pleased with this practice method. I'm exciting for diamond league when I start facing people who force me to focus other areas, because when that time comes, my fundamentals will still be subconscious.
Prev 1 2 All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 3h 18m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Nina 109
Ketroc 37
StarCraft: Brood War
Rain 4156
GuemChi 2540
Calm 939
Leta 462
Tasteless 181
Bale 34
Noble 16
Icarus 12
ZergMaN 10
League of Legends
JimRising 679
Counter-Strike
summit1g6459
Coldzera 1335
m0e_tv300
Other Games
C9.Mang0371
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick754
StarCraft: Brood War
UltimateBattle 72
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 17 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• practicex 21
• Kozan
• sooper7s
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Migwel
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
StarCraft: Brood War
• Mapu57
• Azhi_Dahaki26
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota21302
• lizZardDota2125
League of Legends
• Lourlo1106
• Stunt383
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
3h 18m
Kung Fu Cup
5h 18m
Replay Cast
18h 18m
The PondCast
1d 4h
OSC
1d 4h
INu's Battles
1d 5h
Percival vs Cure
Classic vs Clem
Replay Cast
1d 18h
Escore
2 days
IntoTheTV X SOOP
2 days
RSL Revival
3 days
herO vs SHIN
Clem vs Solar
Serral vs Rogue
[ Show More ]
RSL Revival
4 days
WardiTV Weekly
5 days
The Patches Monday
5 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
6 days
PiG Sty Festival
6 days
PiGosaur Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-08-03
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
Eternal Conflict S2 Finale

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
K-JUNGMAN
Acropolis #5
RSL Revival: Season 6
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S3: W6
Escore Tournament S3: W7
CSLAN 4
ASL Season 22
Escore Tournament S3: W8
Acropolis #5 - TRS
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
HSC XXX
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
PiG Sty Festival 8.0
Big Dog Cup 2026 Div 1
Thunderpick World Champ.
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
Logitech G Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #5
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 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.