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Episode 2, in which I learn to slow my tech

Blogs > KingOctavious
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KingOctavious
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States324 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-01-19 19:46:56
January 19 2011 15:35 GMT
#1
In this match, I rolled Terran against a Protoss player. I started off strong, with a good marauder+concussive attack against his zealots, though I messed up my micro once or twice and took more losses than I should have. After that first push, I decided to tech up to be more powerful than whatever he decided to hit me with.

That is where the problems started. With my first army being so marauder-heavy, he naturally went for stalkers. Since I got way, way too zealous with my tech, I went straight for two starports when I should have gone for 3 factories and started pumping siege tanks. From there on, the match is predictable. He easily takes out my air and adds some dark templar harass. point, I'm screwed. I've wasted all my money on starports, banshees, and then trying to catch up with my factories, at which point it's too late.

Check out the video here:

Starcraft 2 n00b - episode 2

Lessons learned:

1. Don’t tech so fast! Instead, tech at a pace that allows me to continue producing units.

2. Anticipate the opponent’s counter. This is taking it the next step past the main lesson from the previous SC2 n00b episode. Know that a reasonable opponent is likely going to respond with a good counter for what I lead with. Be prepared for that. (IOW, don’t go banshees when the other guy’s probably getting stalkers.)

3. Always put a turret (or observer, or overseer) near the mineral line to ward off cloaked harasses.

4. Quit trying to hide my expansion by putting it somewhere other than my natural. It hasn’t worked yet, and it’s probably not going to.

Check out my book, The Year in StarCraft II: 2011, http://yearinsc2.com/ :D:D
BuuGhost
Profile Joined December 2010
Netherlands340 Posts
January 19 2011 16:42 GMT
#2
1.
Thats what about everyone does unless going for a banshee build, For example.
2. Well, Thats probably more common sense.
I dont get a 9mm handgun to fight a Helicopter with two mini guns and rockets. Do i. Instead you get a RPG or some AutoLockon anti air weapon.
3. That my friend is a wise thing to do. But my advice is to get your timings right. If he has a large MM army you can probably delay that turret by 30ish seconds if you scouted a port. (Unless you have a trust fund.)
4. Rarely you can get away with it. But if you do. your in big time (think of metalopis close position zerg ninja expand (double possibly))

Good luck with your n00b series ;D.
"Kinda like this thing but there’s something you should know, I just came to say hello."
KingOctavious
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States324 Posts
January 19 2011 16:45 GMT
#3
On January 20 2011 01:42 BuuGhost wrote:

Good luck with your n00b series ;D.


Thanks, BuuGhost.
Check out my book, The Year in StarCraft II: 2011, http://yearinsc2.com/ :D:D
Altar
Profile Joined May 2008
United States577 Posts
January 19 2011 16:52 GMT
#4
Your over thinking why you lost that game, you just didn't have enough stuff. Watch a pro replay and go to a specific time in the replay and look at the supply then look at your game at the same time, I'm pretty sure your supply is going to be a lot lower.

Work on macro and don't worry about countering what he's making after you make something. Probes and Pylons, or in this case SCVs and Supply Depots, you master those two things and you'll get 100% better.

I did enjoy the video but your really beating yourself up over the small stuff when you really should be beating yourself up over the big stuff.

Heavens to Betsy
KingOctavious
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States324 Posts
January 19 2011 16:57 GMT
#5
On January 20 2011 01:52 Altar wrote:
Your over thinking why you lost that game, you just didn't have enough stuff. Watch a pro replay and go to a specific time in the replay and look at the supply then look at your game at the same time, I'm pretty sure your supply is going to be a lot lower.

Work on macro and don't worry about countering what he's making after you make something. Probes and Pylons, or in this case SCVs and Supply Depots, you master those two things and you'll get 100% better.

I did enjoy the video but your really beating yourself up over the small stuff when you really should be beating yourself up over the big stuff.



Thanks, Altar. I think, though, that I pretty much said what you said but in a different way. I said not to tech so fast, while you said to focus more on units. My point -- which may not have been clear -- was that if I had not teched so fast, I would have been able to produce more units (specifically tanks).

As always, keep the ideas comin'. Everything helps.
Check out my book, The Year in StarCraft II: 2011, http://yearinsc2.com/ :D:D
Asha
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United Kingdom38257 Posts
January 19 2011 18:15 GMT
#6
Take your natural, it's far safer and you don't need to be gambling on a hidden expo, particularly not when you are competitieve economically.

Don't be afraid to commit to rallying new troops in as back up if you attack (you can always snag them before they arrive and send them home if you're sure it's going wrong), by the time your first push ends he's left with 3 very battered zealots while you've already got another 4 marauders and 2 marines back at your base.

Marauders actually do better vs Stalkers 1 on 1 damage wise (not to mention having more hp), they cost less, and build faster too. Rather than trying to tech up quite so far behind your wall in and early aggression,if you had just kept pumping out M&M's from those 3 rax you'd have probably been able to roll right over him there. Altar already covered the "just make more stuff" point, and I think you know that too from your first point so I won't really ramble on there =)

Preemptive detection can save you a lot, if you scout a possible early indicator like a twilight council or starport with tech lab, then throwing down an engineering bay at that point in time isn't a bad idea. That way you've got the ability to build turrets if they are going for cloaked tech, and even if not you can upgrade your infantry off it.

For general suggestions on future vids, turn on your in game clock (it's a pain having to look across to the replay timer =p) and toggle between a few of the information tabs (Production, Units, and Army/Supply (always have one of them up)) at regular points in the replays.

best of luck
KingOctavious
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States324 Posts
January 19 2011 18:25 GMT
#7
On January 20 2011 03:15 Asha` wrote:
Take your natural, it's far safer and you don't need to be gambling on a hidden expo, particularly not when you are competitieve economically.

Don't be afraid to commit to rallying new troops in as back up if you attack (you can always snag them before they arrive and send them home if you're sure it's going wrong), by the time your first push ends he's left with 3 very battered zealots while you've already got another 4 marauders and 2 marines back at your base.

Marauders actually do better vs Stalkers 1 on 1 damage wise (not to mention having more hp), they cost less, and build faster too. Rather than trying to tech up quite so far behind your wall in and early aggression,if you had just kept pumping out M&M's from those 3 rax you'd have probably been able to roll right over him there. Altar already covered the "just make more stuff" point, and I think you know that too from your first point so I won't really ramble on there =)

Preemptive detection can save you a lot, if you scout a possible early indicator like a twilight council or starport with tech lab, then throwing down an engineering bay at that point in time isn't a bad idea. That way you've got the ability to build turrets if they are going for cloaked tech, and even if not you can upgrade your infantry off it.

For general suggestions on future vids, turn on your in game clock (it's a pain having to look across to the replay timer =p) and toggle between a few of the information tabs (Production, Units, and Army/Supply (always have one of them up)) at regular points in the replays.

best of luck


Thanks for the advice, Asha, especially concerning the production tab, etc. ... How do I turn on the in-game clock?
Check out my book, The Year in StarCraft II: 2011, http://yearinsc2.com/ :D:D
Asha
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United Kingdom38257 Posts
January 19 2011 18:28 GMT
#8
On January 20 2011 03:25 KingOctavious wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 20 2011 03:15 Asha` wrote:
Take your natural, it's far safer and you don't need to be gambling on a hidden expo, particularly not when you are competitieve economically.

Don't be afraid to commit to rallying new troops in as back up if you attack (you can always snag them before they arrive and send them home if you're sure it's going wrong), by the time your first push ends he's left with 3 very battered zealots while you've already got another 4 marauders and 2 marines back at your base.

Marauders actually do better vs Stalkers 1 on 1 damage wise (not to mention having more hp), they cost less, and build faster too. Rather than trying to tech up quite so far behind your wall in and early aggression,if you had just kept pumping out M&M's from those 3 rax you'd have probably been able to roll right over him there. Altar already covered the "just make more stuff" point, and I think you know that too from your first point so I won't really ramble on there =)

Preemptive detection can save you a lot, if you scout a possible early indicator like a twilight council or starport with tech lab, then throwing down an engineering bay at that point in time isn't a bad idea. That way you've got the ability to build turrets if they are going for cloaked tech, and even if not you can upgrade your infantry off it.

For general suggestions on future vids, turn on your in game clock (it's a pain having to look across to the replay timer =p) and toggle between a few of the information tabs (Production, Units, and Army/Supply (always have one of them up)) at regular points in the replays.

best of luck


Thanks for the advice, Asha, especially concerning the production tab, etc. ... How do I turn on the in-game clock?


Menu -> Options -> Gameplay -> Show Game Timer (checkbox halfway down right side)
KingOctavious
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States324 Posts
January 20 2011 13:49 GMT
#9
On January 20 2011 03:28 Asha` wrote:

Menu -> Options -> Gameplay -> Show Game Timer (checkbox halfway down right side)


Well what do you know. This whole time when I've been hearing Day[9] and others say, "At the 8 minute mark do so and so," I was always like, "How do I know it's been 8 minutes?"
Check out my book, The Year in StarCraft II: 2011, http://yearinsc2.com/ :D:D
Count9
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
China10928 Posts
January 20 2011 14:01 GMT
#10
With my first army being so marauder-heavy, he naturally went for stalkers

I'm so confused, I still can't get past reading this sentence. Why would he get stalkers for your marauders? That's like countering into your army.
shannn
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Netherlands2891 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-01-20 14:15:51
January 20 2011 14:11 GMT
#11
As a P/T player I can give you as a general advice that you should concentrate more on macro first.
Refining your build order and constant production facilities is the main focus for any beginner up till the very top. Actually this is for all skill levels but the very top usually already does this already.

Your scouting on the other hand is also what u need to learn to do. This is a natural process as you will learn where to focus when you play more ladder games. A high level player teaching you will be able to speed things up obviously.

Main important thing against a Protoss is always look how much energy he has. The amount of energy usually gives a good indication whether a Protoss is rushing you or going for an economic build.

Other examples to look for is how many pylons does he have (it'd suspicious if he has 1 pylon with over 16 probes and other units) compared to the probes/army units. You don't need to specifically count them but just do a quick glance. This is also a good indication if he has proxied a pylon for cheese or for warping in units.

Main important thing is to always have production going (like an endless factory making components) and scan every 3 times u have 50 energy.
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewpost.php?post_id=6321864 Epic post.
KingOctavious
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States324 Posts
January 20 2011 17:47 GMT
#12
On January 20 2011 23:01 Count9 wrote:
Show nested quote +
With my first army being so marauder-heavy, he naturally went for stalkers

I'm so confused, I still can't get past reading this sentence. Why would he get stalkers for your marauders? That's like countering into your army.


I thought stalkers countered marauders. No?
Check out my book, The Year in StarCraft II: 2011, http://yearinsc2.com/ :D:D
drooL
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United Kingdom2108 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-01-20 19:40:35
January 20 2011 19:40 GMT
#13
not exactly, no. in fact, marauders are very efficient against stalkers (only). an efficient gateway counter to marauders would be a well balanced combo of zealots to tank damage/concussion, sentries to let the zealots get into the face of marauders (and actually deal their damage) and stalkers to constantly deal damage from behind.
@nowSimon
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