EPT![[image loading]](http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs178.snc4/38228_427350098928_513623928_4727803_8033283_n.jpg)
Good evening TL,
Sorry about the crappiness of the image above, it's kind of my temporary header.
So I haven't gotten to play today but for my day two update, I figured I'd put out some back story, do some retrospective analysis, and I'll edit this post if I get some matches in later tonight.
First off, as I'm writing this, I'm on a train from New York City to Stamford, Connecticut, my home town. I mentioned in the last post that I'm on New York University's CSL team so that means I'm a student at NYU. I kind of got into SC2 by accident during the beta. I never thought I'd get so hooked that I'd want to compete and get better at playing but something clicked the day I got my beta key. That said, I'm not too good at the game, but I'm trying to get better.
The purpose of this blog is for me to track my progress and help other people who want to grow in skill as well. I hope to cast some of my games in the future (I've just gotten my setup ready for that) and I hope that will be a useful tool for us noobs still trying to figure out what's wrong with our play. I'm a film major so putting out video content is something I'm good at.
As for Tech Spec's I've been playing on a mac since beta. Not exactly optimal but it does its job.
Current Machine:
24” iMac
4 GB RAM
750 GB internal HD
2TB External HD space
Core 2 Duo Processor (unsure of speed atm)
Blue Yeti Mic for ingame chat/ Casting
Apple Bluetooth Keyboard (I don't recommend using this in game but it's all I've got)
And a mouse with TWO buttons :D
BUT here's something cool. I'm starting a project. I call it Operation: Upgrade. Why? Well here's a story.
Like any good New York SC2 fan/player I was at IEM during New York Comic Con. Before the quarter/semi-final set between Fenix and KiwiKaki, I put in for raffle but I had no idea what it was for. Basically people put tickets in a box for who ever they thought would win and I chose Fenix. So I won the raffle and left Comic Con that day with an Intel Core i7 Extreme edition processor. Now I have to build a machine around it. I've got a more-than-elementary knowledge about putting PC's together but I'm still trying to figure out which parts to get, cases, etc. Any suggestions and input are welcome for that. Oh and I also met Day[9], so that was awesome.
![[image loading]](http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs054.ash2/36074_453822548928_513623928_5343633_1617496_n.jpg)
So now for some retro-analysis. I don't have my replays with me but I know I've been losing to very early Terran aggression like proxy rax and lately my macro has sucked enough so that when my base is getting bombarded with marines, I've got like a zealot, 5 stalkers and a sentry out max. Talking to RailGun, NYUCSL's organizer, I learned that both my micro and macro need to improve and I figured out what was going on.
First off, when it comes to my macro, my “mental checklist” wasn't cutting it. I was fumbling with my early game way too much, miss-clicking, and just sitting around when I should've been producing units. I think I was way too concerned about my APM as well because I spammed early on to increase it and just wasn't focusing. So now I've fixed that because it wasn't a problem before.
Micro-wise, I need the following: better reaction time when I see the waves of red dots at my front and better view of my front. From what I've read on the boards here on TL one of the best ways to deny the proxy rax is to spot it first off, and when I do, that's not a problem. But in the worst case scenarios, when I've got 'rines knocking down my door the idea is to hold them off at a choke with a FF until I have enough units (or even cannons) to deal with the pressure. So I guess this is what I'm going to work on. I've been freaking out when I see the enemies but I need to keep my cool and step it up right?
So for tonight, I think that's it. I'll see if I can get in a few matches, make more observations, learn a few more things. I'll update if that's the case. Until then, g'night. Oh, and if you want, feel free to add me in game: Sireph.444 . I'm still looking for Zerg and Toss practice partners.
