EPTSo the PTR came out pretty recently, and chat rooms are awesome. I've wanted to get a 1v1play/obs group going for so long, but it's practically impossible without chat rooms. In fact, as soon as I logged onto the PTR, that's what I did. In fact, I eventually played a Bo5 against a Terran named Sultanico that was great practice, and the 5th game may be the best game of SC2 I've played thus far. I've posted it below in the replays section.
Onto the analysis:
1v1 analysis:
Zerg(56 games)
(16)ZvZ: 7- 9 43.8%
(17)ZvP:11- 6 64.7%
(23)ZvT:10-13 43.5%
28-28 50.0%
This Season:
Zerg(200 games)
(74)ZvZ: 36-38 48.6%
(59)ZvP: 36-23 61.0%
(67)ZvT: 37-30 55.2%
109-91 54.5%
So I went 50/50 this session over 56 games. I'm starting to match up against players that are really close to my skill level. I have to say the auto-matchmaking is awesome.
ZvZ:
In ZvZ I've been a bit too greedy, and I've also been a bit lax in keeping up scouting for tech switches to muta. Other than that, my play still hasn't been too great. As I said I've been too greedy. The problem is when my opponent gets their first larva inject, are they making ling/baneling? roaches? or are they making drones? I've been making drones, and this creates a specific timing window where my opponent could potentially have a much larger army than myself. If maps were larger I don't think this would be a problem, but on smaller maps/closer positions I think I need to learn to be the aggressive one, because that timing window can often be game.
ZvP:
ZvP is certainly my best matchup, and the matchup I'm most comfortable in. My general build order is the same:
+ Show Spoiler +
Hatch-Pool
Ling Speed
Lair
Hydra Den-2 evos
Roach Warren-carapace/range ups
once 2/2 ups start, get Infestor Mound-Hive
once Hive done, Ultra/Crack +3carapace +1melee
I've actually played a few really close ZvPs this month, oddly enough, all on Steppes of War. I've also noticed a general trend away from colossus and toward psi storm, which I think is a great idea for struggling Protosses. Colossus isn't bad by any means, but I think Zergs are getting a lot better at dealing with colossus-based armies, and also scouting colossus tech generally means you aren't moving out for a while (who attacks with one colossus? I mean other than some 1base colossus rush build), which gives the Zerg ample time to prepare a countering unit composition. Well placed psi storms are brutal.
ZvT:
2rax rine-SCV was the flavor of the month, and it honestly hurt my confidence. It got to the point where I stopped going hatch first in this matchup (that lasted about 5 games). I haven't exactly come up with a solution to this attack, but my next idea to try is diligent scouting: my scout drone is gonna stand just outside the Terran base, just out of sight, and if I see marines rallying toward me, I gotta have my drones ready to fight at my nat. I think that's gonna play a big role in fending this off. You can't send down your drones after the rines are already there and there's a bunker or two building; you need to know about it and be ready before they get there.
Again, I dunno if that'll work, but that's what I'm trying next. Oh and one more thing: It seems like every ZvT I watch, when Zerg goes muta/ling/bling and the armies engage, the Zerg player doesn't pull back his banelings after the marines are gone. This is something I've started doing. You need to pull back your banelings and save them for the next encounter rather than blowing them up on marauders which are gonna get mopped up by muta/ling anyway.
Questions:
ZvZ:
1. If you play Zerg, what do you usually make with your first larva inject? If you make lings/roaches, how successful are you with your timing attacks? Any advice?
ZvP:
Nothing I guess. The biggest thing I need to work on in this matchup is dealing with cannon rushes better. I guess I'm not used to the fact that they have a whopping 300 life now. Between that and the fact that you can only get a few drones to attack well placed cannons, this is a much stronger attack than it was in BW.
ZvT:
1. I've had quite a bit of trouble winning against Terran on Xel'Naga Caverns. If the Terran manages to get a PF at the gold, it allows them a safe forward army position that is only 5 seconds from defending or attacking any expo on the map. How can I win from there?
2. What is the best way to fend off a quick blue flame hellion + marauder timing attack? I have quite a bit of trouble with this attack.
Reps:
http://www.sc2replayed.com/replays/114892-1v1-protoss-zerg-steppes-of-war
41 minute ZvP on Steppes. Pretty good game.
http://www.sc2replayed.com/replays/114893-1v1-protoss-zerg-steppes-of-war
http://www.sc2replayed.com/replays/114894-1v1-protoss-zerg-steppes-of-war
two aggressive ZvPs on Steppes.
http://www.sc2replayed.com/replays/114891-1v1-zerg-shakuras-plateau#rd:dna
A ZvZ that seemed one-sided at the time, but was actually much closer than I thought for a minute there. Interesting open by my opponent.
+ Show Spoiler +
http://rapidshare.com/#!download|782l32|436319407|Great_ZvT_on_Metal.SC2Replay|152
game 5 of the Bo5 against Sultanico. Probably the best game I've ever played. Was played on PTR when fungal didn't hit air, but if you double-click the replay, it opens fine. Apparently sc2replayed and star2 can't host PRT replays, so I put it on megaupload. edit: megaupload isn't working either, so I went with rapidshare.
game 5 of the Bo5 against Sultanico. Probably the best game I've ever played. Was played on PTR when fungal didn't hit air, but if you double-click the replay, it opens fine. Apparently sc2replayed and star2 can't host PRT replays, so I put it on megaupload. edit: megaupload isn't working either, so I went with rapidshare.
edit2: ok, apparently you can't watch replays of old patches of PTR games. It crashes my computer when I try to watch
. Sorry if this crashed any of your computers.As always, comments and constructive criticism welcome.
