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Before I start: Yes, I am fully aware that people simply might NOT CARE. Read this blog if you want. I'm not going to cry if you're not interested.
Previous RTS Experience:
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I played a lot of Brood War but only ever played Sunken/Turret defense online. My RTS experience is storied, but again, I never played anything online until SC2.
RTS games I have played in the past:
-Warcraft II
-StarCraft + Brood War
-Warcraft III
-Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds + Expansion
-Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars
RTS games I have played in the past:
-Warcraft II
-StarCraft + Brood War
-Warcraft III
-Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds + Expansion
-Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars
Playing 1v1:
It took me a while to start playing 1v1 because I was extremely nervous. Naturally, I started at the bottom of the barrel in Bronze League. Playing a game actually made my heart RACE and I'd even get the shakes. It was weird.
Choosing my race didn't take long. I wanted to be Zerg but realized that it requires some special thinking to play Zerg, and I am much more methodical in the way I do things. Terran and Zerg, while having more diverse play options, seem disorganized dull to me (HUMANS & PURPLE). So guess what, I'm Protoss with no secondary race.
Since sticking with one race I've done extensive planning with my build order. I've gone through the following builds since starting:
-Blink Stalker opening into an unplanned Mid-Game:
Usually involving Immortals but being extremely Gateway heavy. If I didn't win early this failed. I didn't know Stalkers were bad at the time.
-2-3 Gate opening into High Templars:
Was a lot more successful against Terran but failed miserably against Protoss. Realized after a while though that this build was too slow and left you vulnerable for too long.
-3 Gate Robo with Colossi on 2 bases into HTs on 3 bases:
This is now my standard build and I only make small changes from it in-game. It's pretty solid except against major cheese. I often get the HTs up pretty late now since the Gateway/Colossi mix is strong enough to win on its own. My play-style is very macro-based as I always try to outpace my opponent, which is how I win games. I'm also very focused on map control as opposed to killing my opponent, since it is easier to starve him by denying expansions and making him admit defeat. I will employ the 'just fucking kill him' idea when it is obvious that he is teching though.
Stuff that has helped me:
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-Learning all Warp Gates are auto-hotkeyed to 'w'.
-Hotkeying the Nexus to 4 and hitting '4e' to make probes CONSTANTLY.
-Trying to keep your money down by dumping it into units/upgrades/expansions.
-Scouting. This includes early game tech and late-game expansions.
-Keeping up pressure but always preserving your army - Protoss units are weak and expensive, but they have shields.
-Sentries are awesome - <3 FF.
-Hotkeying the Nexus to 4 and hitting '4e' to make probes CONSTANTLY.
-Trying to keep your money down by dumping it into units/upgrades/expansions.
-Scouting. This includes early game tech and late-game expansions.
-Keeping up pressure but always preserving your army - Protoss units are weak and expensive, but they have shields.
-Sentries are awesome - <3 FF.
Where I am now:
I am now rank 24 in my Silver league and moving on up. The matchmaking system has been pitting me against Gold players for quite a while now, and I believe a promotion is not far off. My low initial placement may have actually hurt me in the long run because who knows what my REAL skill level is now. Either way I'm pretty high up for having played so few games. Everyone else on my server has played ~300 games whereas I've only played half of that.
