Another semi-update from BabyToss, on her quest to Diamond league. This time, I decided to upload my second coaching session with iNcontroL on my youtube account. Why? Well, maybe some other Bronze players may enjoy it. Why not to share the experience if I can do it? I may be just inexperienced player, but if there's any way I can help to fellow SC2'ers, hell I will do it.
About the session PvZ for the dummies!
This coaching session happened slightly over a month ago, when me and iNcontroL picked off where we left the previous, very first session. (Might upload it as well, but it was 2 hours long, plus the video quality is as awful as this one, I'm sorry about that, by the way, I was doing that recording stuff for the first time...)
I admit when I rewatched this one, I kind of cringed, but hey, that's how I learn and it's a mindset I grip hard in my mind to avoid any negative thinking and ending up slumping into that one of 'I suck' attitude. Since the blog about me asking for help when it comes to mindset, it's been main thing I've been working on and I believe that I'm making steady progress in that regard.
PvZ? I want more!
Yes, that's how I feel about my PvZ right now. I am working on uploading my another PvZ session with iNcontroL, the one, which is like two weeks old. But, I have to say, that if I have confidence in certain matchup now, then it's PvZ. Of course, there's a room for improvement, but I truly enjoy my PvZ's since I started taking lessons with iNcontroL.
As a side note, I'll be having another session with iNcontroL this Friday, although due to my problems with Terrans, it'll be most likely PvT. Will upload it for other people to see with hopes it'll help at least someone!
Now onto something different... My first PvZ on US ladder!
The other day, I decided to try my luck in the ladder and had one of the shortest and funniest games ever. Well, funny in a way, that I really had to laugh hard once I finished it. I mean, it was the first time I faced something like that on the ladder and I know if that happened to me say... two weeks ago, I'd completelly lose my cool, freak out and lose. So, I am kinda patting myself on my shoulder for remaining calm and handling the situation at hand. On the other side, when I saw PvZ loading up, I was so so so overjoying, because I wanted to have some...which only adds up to the funny outcome of the game. :D
Why it was so funny? Well, I don't know about you, but ever got 6Pooled & worker-rushed at the same time? I also made a short commentary video, partially for my own amusement to keep the spirits high - Yes, I felt really great after that game, with knowledge that, like I said, it'd totally throw me off two weeks ago. Now? Not really - and also, because I simply felt like sharing it.
Random shoutout to
Geoff 'iNcontroL' - Keep being awesome coach and funny person, it also helps my spirits big time! <3 Jason 'Loophole'- You too! Keep being the good man! Hopefully you'll not lose your cool over my sometimes.. erm, stubborness and my ability to try to justify what I do, even if I do it wrong... *hides* <3
Small Bonus: Coaching with iNcontroL #3 - PvZ for Dummies II
After some struggles with it, I decided to upload my most recent coaching session with iNcontroL. It's like three weeks old. Disregard the fact I was getting stomped so hard, my Zerg friend who I asked to play me during the session is 'officially' in Platinum, although if he bothered to play the 1v1 ladder, he'd be easily mid-Diamond player as he was eating my friends of this ranking so so easily..Random shoutout to Noobert - I'll kill your Zergness one day, don't wory!
Please note that the audio is aut of sync and I am sorry for that. The good news is, that I know where the problem was, so next time I record my sessions it won't be a problem anymore. Took me some time to make all adjustments while learning how to record and then publish my stuff, and I finally got a hang of it.
On January 21 2011 01:31 ondik wrote: good luck with your endeavours, will definitely watch. With Incontrol as personal coach it shouldn't take much before you're owning it up in diamond
Haha, thanks man. Though, it's not like getting coached is some miracle potion which would turn me into super uber SC2 player in matter of mere hours. I expect this to be still rather difficult path, given my inexperience with RTS. As I mentioned in my earlier blog entries, this happen to be first RTS I am taking so seriously.
On January 21 2011 09:48 FakeSteve[TPR] wrote: these are great posts, thanks
Thank you. Trying to always make my entries somewhat good to read.
On January 21 2011 12:34 Altar wrote: Enjoyed watching that, didn't learn anything I can use but it was entertaining to watch.
Glad you liked. I guess that you are more experienced player than me, these things are aimed at newbies, who can hopefully gather something from my stuff. As a newbie, I certainly don't even dare to make some knowledgeable posts, but if these videos apart of helping me help someone else, then the goal I set for them was fuilfilled and I am happy.
Nearly 5 am, guess this is my good night post to you, dear TL community.
On January 21 2011 13:38 Zidane wrote: Well its good to see you're improving. Can I ask how old you are?
I don't see why would someone ask me my age tbh. But, if you really need to know, I'm 26. Although, the age is completelly unrelated to StarCraft 2 My main aim is to improve as a player which is why I am writting down these blogs, to share my thoughts which eventually may help other lower-league players like me.
On January 21 2011 14:58 Noob3rt wrote: I hate the fact that you posted my humiliation against Incontrol. I was too nervous to even remotely not fail as hard as I did. Good god. Shame..
You will never defeat me, BabyToss. I shall always defeat you. <3 xD
Play more ladder, you need to do this. Do it. Do it now. Do it before the world explodes. Go Go!
Awh, come on Noobert, you got me back so hard in the last session. Don't worry... I won't forget these Forcefields next time and eventually, one day, you'll be defeated by Protoss might. Long way to go, but I'm not letting you get easy from it!
On January 21 2011 16:44 Loophole wrote: Pretty interesting to watch and listen to inc coaching you. =) Can I ask what program you use to record?
You've come a long way since the first recording here.
I use Fraps, then have to compress the files and slap it up all into one file. For Youtube purposes, I usually have to cut the video into more parts, as Youtube only allows you to upload 15 mins long video.
As for the recordings, well, all these coaching sessions are older than my first self-analysis commentary, as I was trying to get the optimal settings for that stuff. I finally managed to find the ideal way, so further coaching sessions should be without any glitches and in decent quality as well.
No nečekal jsem, že se v ČR najde nějakej blázen co by platil za hodiny starcrafta, ale zmýlil jsem se. Ty chceš snad vyhrávat nějaký turnaje nebo hraješ jen pro zábavu? Navíc incontrol...toho člověka fakt nemusím. Raději bych se to naučil hrát sám, než někomu platit - přijde mi to pod úroveň. Hry jsou od toho, aby si na to člověk přišel sám a pro zábavu. Pak máš taky kámoše se kterýma se učíš navzájem. Podporovat americkýho vysteroidovanýho maňase vystřiženýho z teleshoppingu fakt ne.
No nečekal jsem, že se v ČR najde nějakej blázen co by platil za hodiny starcrafta, ale zmýlil jsem se. Ty chceš snad vyhrávat nějaký turnaje nebo hraješ jen pro zábavu? Navíc incontrol...toho člověka fakt nemusím. Raději bych se to naučil hrát sám, než někomu platit - přijde mi to pod úroveň. Hry jsou od toho, aby si na to člověk přišel sám a pro zábavu. Pak máš taky kámoše se kterýma se učíš navzájem. Podporovat americkýho vysteroidovanýho maňase vystřiženýho z teleshoppingu fakt ne.
Hele, takovyhle nazoru uz jsem slysela. A uprimne, reknu ti jedno - je to moje volba. Pokud bych v tom nevidela zadny prinos, tak to nedelam. Lidi si plati za ruzne veci. Treba kdyz nekdo rad kresli, zaplati si kurz, aby kreslil lepe. To je taky pod uroven? Taky by si to podle Tebe meli objevovat sami? Muj konicek je StarCraft2, chci se v nem zlepsit a byt dobra. A tvoji antipatii vuci inControLovi si prosim nechej. Neni to zadny arogantni hajzl. Dela to, co ho bavi a jeste ho to zivi. Takze vlastne dokazal neco, o cem si ty i ja muzeme nechat jenom zdat. Nebo jsi jeden z tech, co si mysli, ze 'spravne' proziti zivota spociva v tom delat beznou praci, nechat si zaplatit, nechat na sebe rvat jak hovado od sefa, prijit domu totalne ztrhany a nemit na nic dalsiho naladu? Asi bych na Tvuj post ani nereagovala, ale tvoje kritika vuci nekomu, koho ani neznas mne proste zvedla zluc. A pokud k tomu mas co dalsiho rici, tak prosim pis anglicky a nebo PM, ma se tu psat anglicky a nerada bych mela banana.
For English: (the guy basically said that paying for SC2 lessons is below any level, so I just answered; literal translation
Listen, I've heard this so many times. And honestly, I'll tell you something. It's my choice. If I wasn't benefitting from the lessons I wouldn't do it. People pay for many things. For example, someone enjoys drawing. So they go and pay for lessons to become better artist. Is that below decent level as well? Should they also be discovering all these things on their own? StarCraft2 is my hobby, I truly want to get better and to be good at it. Also, your disdain for iNcontroL, shove it. He;s no arrogant bastard. He does what he enjoys which even provides him for living. That's something you and me can only dream about. Or, aren't you one of these, who thinks that the 'right' way of living a life is to have a common job, get paid, have your boss yell at you, come home totally exhausted with no mood for anything else? I'd not even react to your post but your critism towards person you absolutely do not know kind of pissed me off. Also, if you have any more to be said regarding this, use either english or PM, this is english-speaking place and I'd not appreciate to get a banana.
No nečekal jsem, že se v ČR najde nějakej blázen co by platil za hodiny starcrafta, ale zmýlil jsem se. Ty chceš snad vyhrávat nějaký turnaje nebo hraješ jen pro zábavu? Navíc incontrol...toho člověka fakt nemusím. Raději bych se to naučil hrát sám, než někomu platit - přijde mi to pod úroveň. Hry jsou od toho, aby si na to člověk přišel sám a pro zábavu. Pak máš taky kámoše se kterýma se učíš navzájem. Podporovat americkýho vysteroidovanýho maňase vystřiženýho z teleshoppingu fakt ne.
Hele, takovyhle nazoru uz jsem slysela. A uprimne, reknu ti jedno - je to moje volba. Pokud bych v tom nevidela zadny prinos, tak to nedelam. Lidi si plati za ruzne veci. Treba kdyz nekdo rad kresli, zaplati si kurz, aby kreslil lepe. To je taky pod uroven? Taky by si to podle Tebe meli objevovat sami? Muj konicek je StarCraft2, chci se v nem zlepsit a byt dobra. A tvoji antipatii vuci inControLovi si prosim nechej. Neni to zadny arogantni hajzl. Dela to, co ho bavi a jeste ho to zivi. Takze vlastne dokazal neco, o cem si ty i ja muzeme nechat jenom zdat. Nebo jsi jeden z tech, co si mysli, ze 'spravne' proziti zivota spociva v tom delat beznou praci, nechat si zaplatit, nechat na sebe rvat jak hovado od sefa, prijit domu totalne ztrhany a nemit na nic dalsiho naladu? Asi bych na Tvuj post ani nereagovala, ale tvoje kritika vuci nekomu, koho ani neznas mne proste zvedla zluc. A pokud k tomu mas co dalsiho rici, tak prosim pis anglicky a nebo PM, ma se tu psat anglicky a nerada bych mela banana.
For English: (the guy basically said that paying for SC2 lessons is below any level, so I just answered; literal translation
Listen, I've heard this so many times. And honestly, I'll tell you something. It's my choice. If I wasn't benefitting from the lessons I wouldn't do it. People pay for many things. For example, someone enjoys drawing. So they go and pay for lessons to become better artist. Is that below decent level as well? Should they also be discovering all these things on their own? StarCraft2 is my hobby, I truly want to get better and to be good at it. Also, your disdain for iNcontroL, shove it. He;s no arrogant bastard. He does what he enjoys which even provides him for living. That's something you and me can only dream about. Or, aren't you one of these, who thinks that the 'right' way of living a life is to have a common job, get paid, have your boss yell at you, come home totally exhausted with no mood for anything else? I'd not even react to your post but your critism towards person you absolutely do not know kind of pissed me off. Also, if you have any more to be said regarding this, use either english or PM, this is english-speaking place and I'd not appreciate to get a banana.
Well i was just curious and i got my answer, i won't go any further into discussion. All your choice, wish you many successful games in sc2.
Hey, thanks for posting this. I'm a plat Terran but I watched most of the vids anyway since Incontrol is just great to listen to. If I can offer my opinion, I would have suggested making sure you got the basics down solidly before booking lessons to get the maximum value out of them. It seems you don't set rally points sometimes from your nexus's and had idle workers a lot, and you didn't know F1 takes you to idle workers.
If you don't watch Day9's casts, you really should. He's very knowledgable and gives great advice on the game. After watching one of his casts on the basics (always build workers, never get supply blocked, keep your money low by spending it) I went from silver to platinum. That just shows that you don't need any crazy strategies or builds, you just need to make a load of units and you can win with brute force.
Just thought I would offer this advice, since these basics are really easy and fundamental to the whole game, and you can practice them yourself against the computer. I saw another video on here of inControl coaching a plat level protoss and that's where he really revealed some great insights into the game. At the beginner level there's not much he can say other than the very basics I just mentioned.
Anyway sorry for the long post and hope you are having fun playing this game, sounds like you have a real drive to improve.
Hey everyone, who replied. I'm very sorry for very late response. I've been fighting off a fever and slept through the day to get better. Still feeling very ill, although decided to sit down here to write this down.
On January 22 2011 15:39 [5th]Sybaris wrote: Wow, this was great to watch, thanks! I'd like to get a session with inControl sometime! I'm sure there'd be a lot for me to learn as well.
Thanks again, and keep it up. You're doing great!
Thank you for your input. And I'd definitelly recommend iNcontroL, he's an awesome coach. The thing si, he's really busy person and the waiting time for the lesson might be a little longer than you'd like. But, if you don't mind that, surely go for it, you'd have hard time in finding better teacher.
On January 22 2011 15:44 iamho wrote: sorry b/c this is slightly offtopic, but to you actually pay this guy money to teach you how to play starcraft???
Well yes. I've been explaining this to someone else earlier here. Look at this like that - you need to think about SC2 as a real hobby, not just some stupid game you bought for short amusement. Imagine, people pay for Chess courses, Art courses. Why? Because they love their hobbies and want to truly improve. That's how I feel about SC2. This is why I will happily pay some money to have a personal coach who'll look out for me, to help me improve. People pay for much more silly stuff than actually their beloved hobbies...Hope that clarifies my mindset regarding this.
On January 23 2011 10:15 RationalGaze wrote: Hey, thanks for posting this. I'm a plat Terran but I watched most of the vids anyway since Incontrol is just great to listen to. If I can offer my opinion, I would have suggested making sure you got the basics down solidly before booking lessons to get the maximum value out of them. It seems you don't set rally points sometimes from your nexus's and had idle workers a lot, and you didn't know F1 takes you to idle workers.
If you don't watch Day9's casts, you really should. He's very knowledgable and gives great advice on the game. After watching one of his casts on the basics (always build workers, never get supply blocked, keep your money low by spending it) I went from silver to platinum. That just shows that you don't need any crazy strategies or builds, you just need to make a load of units and you can win with brute force.
Just thought I would offer this advice, since these basics are really easy and fundamental to the whole game, and you can practice them yourself against the computer. I saw another video on here of inControl coaching a plat level protoss and that's where he really revealed some great insights into the game. At the beginner level there's not much he can say other than the very basics I just mentioned.
Anyway sorry for the long post and hope you are having fun playing this game, sounds like you have a real drive to improve.
Hey - thank you for your long post. I actually always enjoy constructive posts, as they are adding to my already tangled mess of thoughts, when it comes to SC2. I'm very glad you enjoyed the videos. To your points - I actually watched some of day9's stuff. Theoretically, I am aware of the very fundamentals, it's just sometimes hard to remember... And in fact, my fundamentals usually explode in later stage of the game, which is something I'm looking out to fix.
Also, yes, I do enjoy the game. Maybe too much. When I don't play, I at least have to think about it.
EPT
