• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 12:20
CEST 18:20
KST 01:20
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2915Serral wins Maestros of the Game 243ByuL, and the Limitations of Standard Play3Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12
Community News
Weekly Cups (Aug 3-9): Protoss get shut out2RSL goes to London! 2026 Offline Finals Nov 21-2212Weekly Cups (July 27-Aug 2): SHIN's big week0SC4ALL II: Brood War - $2500 - Dec 5-69SC4ALL II announced - $10,000 prize pool, Dec 5-64
StarCraft 2
General
Weekly Cups (Aug 3-9): Protoss get shut out SC4ALL: II Talent Announcement! Protoss AoE skill expression August World Ranking: Clem climbs to #2 Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16)
Tourneys
PIG STY FESTIVAL 8.0! (13 - 23 August) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament RSL goes to London! 2026 Offline Finals Nov 21-22 RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event Tasteless Time Warp: SC Evo Showmatch (May 25)
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
Nexus Wars 2021 GUIDE [M] (2) Industrial Park
External Content
Mutation # 538 Media Blackout The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 537 Hostile Territory Mutation # 536 Railroad Switch
Brood War
General
BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion ASL22 General Discussion Are you ready for ASL 22? NEW HYPE VIDEO How FlaSh Nearly Forfeited MSL Finals being late
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues 2v2v2v2 Tournament KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3 Escore Tournament - Season 3
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation Any training maps people recommend? Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread General RTS Discussion Thread EVE Corporation Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Diablo 2 thread
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish TSM pausing esports and CLG Dead
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Power Rank TL Mafia Community Thread NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread The Letting Off Steam Thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Iain M Banks Says He Has Cancer And Months To Live European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
MarineLorD Fan Club The ShoWTimE Fan Club The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread Series you have seen recently... [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread NBA General Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Simple Questions Simple Answers FPS when play League Of Legend on laptop
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Northern Ireland Global Starcraft
Blogs
Are High-Level Gamers more A…
TrAiDoS
Cathedral Of CS And NY pizza a…
FuDDx
Please support my new stand…
Peanutsc
Hello guys!
LIN1s
ASL S22 English Commentary…
namkraft
Poker (part 2)
Nebuchad
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 4957 users

Why can't I enjoy 1v1 games?

Blogs > mAgixWTF
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
mAgixWTF
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Germany103 Posts
March 18 2011 13:39 GMT
#1
Hey there everybody,

I was wondering lately why I do not enjoy playing 1v1 matches in Starcraft2. Everytime I think about laddering my body hurts and I dont feel like having fun.

Coming from a FPS community (Unreal Tournament) I was pretty competitive, playing hours and hours every day. And as far as I remember it never felt like practice to me, but fun. As soon as I began playing duels (1v1) I had no fun at all. It felt like hard work, draining all my power, and was very exhausting. Even back then I had the idea in my head to practice my a** off to get better, as I always thought of myself to be a top teamplayer, to get a very good dueler too. But my emotions stood in the way. And I dont get why?

One thing that comes to my mind is that in teamgames it isnt as bad to lose, since it might not be my fault.
Or maybe I just hate to admit that my high-skill picture of myself isnt true at all. Competing internationally in teamgames (TDM) successfully, I just needed me to be skilled enough to be a good dueler, too. But I sucked at it, and I always hated playing crappy versus what I thought at that time to be BAD players.
In Starcraft 2 I watch alot of streams, I read quite some threads on TL, I watch my little brother Daumen getting better and better steadily (winning his first minor cup, yay!). So I feel like I know a lot, but I cant even spit larvae continuously, control more than one controlgroup, etc.

On the other hand I just recently joined some pickup TDM-games on irc, and had a lot of fun again.


How can I love SC2 so much, but hate playing 1v1, and suffer when playing 1v1 generally so much at the same time?


I would really like to enjoy this game!

If RT 2v2 wasnt filled with bad mannered flamers I might have given it a chance, just so much until my mechanics were good enough to have fun in 1v1. (But maybe having the mechanics down is not what is missing for me to have fun in 1v1, in UT i had very good "mechanics", but 1on1 wasnt fun to play at all for me)
I guess a good coach would be a fun way to play the game, but with my small salary is not going to happen

I'd like to hear your thoughts!

Sayle
Profile Joined October 2010
United Kingdom3685 Posts
March 18 2011 13:43 GMT
#2
On March 18 2011 22:39 mAgixWTF wrote:
One thing that comes to my mind is that in teamgames it isnt as bad to lose, since it might not be my fault.


This is probably a huge factor, and is a big reason why a lot of people play team games rather than 1v1. It's much easier to blame someone else for your loss rather than admit how bad you are.
brafix
Profile Joined August 2010
United States37 Posts
March 18 2011 13:43 GMT
#3
Isn't this a question you need to answer for yourself?
Elegy
Profile Blog Joined September 2009
United States1629 Posts
March 18 2011 13:44 GMT
#4
It's a game dude, if you don't actually enjoy yourself playing it, then why do it in the first place?

It sounds like you're trying too hard to improve instead of remembering of why you wanted to play in the first place.
gongryong
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Korea (South)1430 Posts
March 18 2011 13:44 GMT
#5
On March 18 2011 22:43 Sayle wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 18 2011 22:39 mAgixWTF wrote:
One thing that comes to my mind is that in teamgames it isnt as bad to lose, since it might not be my fault.


This is probably a huge factor, and is a big reason why a lot of people play team games rather than 1v1. It's much easier to blame someone else for your loss rather than admit how bad you are.


Right on the money.
No one enjoys losing, especially if there is no one else to blame for it than yourself.
JAEDONG ÜBERBONJWA!
mAgixWTF
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Germany103 Posts
March 18 2011 13:47 GMT
#6
On March 18 2011 22:44 gongryong wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 18 2011 22:43 Sayle wrote:
On March 18 2011 22:39 mAgixWTF wrote:
One thing that comes to my mind is that in teamgames it isnt as bad to lose, since it might not be my fault.


This is probably a huge factor, and is a big reason why a lot of people play team games rather than 1v1. It's much easier to blame someone else for your loss rather than admit how bad you are.


Right on the money.
No one enjoys losing, especially if there is no one else to blame for it than yourself.


Does that mean that some people like winning more than hate losing, and that others, like me, hate losing more than like winning?
HellGreen
Profile Joined September 2010
Denmark1146 Posts
March 18 2011 13:49 GMT
#7
I personally believe it's just easier to cope with defeat when it is a shared experience. I prefer 2v2's and 3v3's over 1v1's for that very reason. I don't feel the need to rage or blame anyone. But sharing the defeat and talking about the game, what went right and wrong, helps me get into the next game.

I recently forced myself to play some 1v1's and I went 7-3 but then I lost 8 matches in a row. Suddenly I didn't want to play SC2 at all! Gave it three days rest before opening SC2 again
Free to do whatever I want!
DarkMizra
Profile Joined February 2010
United States9 Posts
March 18 2011 13:51 GMT
#8
On March 18 2011 22:47 mAgixWTF wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 18 2011 22:44 gongryong wrote:
On March 18 2011 22:43 Sayle wrote:
On March 18 2011 22:39 mAgixWTF wrote:
One thing that comes to my mind is that in teamgames it isnt as bad to lose, since it might not be my fault.


This is probably a huge factor, and is a big reason why a lot of people play team games rather than 1v1. It's much easier to blame someone else for your loss rather than admit how bad you are.


Right on the money.
No one enjoys losing, especially if there is no one else to blame for it than yourself.


Does that mean that some people like winning more than hate losing, and that others, like me, hate losing more than like winning?


Exactly how I am. Hate losing more than I like winning. I think its a bad thing TBH. Probably why I don't ladder 1v1 as much.
ChaseR
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
Norway1004 Posts
March 18 2011 13:52 GMT
#9
On March 18 2011 22:43 Sayle wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 18 2011 22:39 mAgixWTF wrote:
One thing that comes to my mind is that in teamgames it isnt as bad to lose, since it might not be my fault.


This is probably a huge factor, and is a big reason why a lot of people play team games rather than 1v1. It's much easier to blame someone else for your loss rather than admit how bad you are.

Or because it's fun to own 3-4 people when you are superior, if I lose and know it's because of my mistakes I blame only myself and proceed to be pissed off
Life is not Fucking Fair and Society is not Fucking Logical - "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn"
MasterOfChaos
Profile Blog Joined April 2007
Germany2896 Posts
March 18 2011 13:57 GMT
#10
For me it's the lack of teamspeak. I don't enjoy simply playing SC that much. When talking with friends while playing it's much more fun.
LiquipediaOne eye to kill. Two eyes to live.
mAgixWTF
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Germany103 Posts
March 18 2011 14:02 GMT
#11
When I was playing teamgames I always had to schedule the practice dates. And I had to play, or my teammates would be missing one player.

So i guess teamgames have a lot of built-in motivations to go on playing, and that I got accustomed to them, and now lack the cheering of my teammates, the "scheduling pressure", the good feeling I got when playing for the team, not the frags, etc. I just need new motivations!
whaty0uwant
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
New Zealand346 Posts
March 18 2011 14:16 GMT
#12
Dude.. I feel the same, I hate laddering,I don't enjoy it, but I love playing 1v1's... such a weird situation..... I get to angry when I lose. I know it's just a game but what the hell.
Dismantlethethroat
Profile Joined March 2011
114 Posts
March 18 2011 14:20 GMT
#13
I play FPS like Crysis but with me I think the 1v1 duels are most important which is why I destroy in those. 1v1 in SC2 is the same for me. However, I stopped playing 1v1 because all I face is lame bronze players who 6pool or cannon rush, so I moved to custom game where I face masters league players or diamond, and if I'm lucky, gold
lazerwizz
Profile Joined July 2010
Hungary53 Posts
March 18 2011 14:21 GMT
#14
On March 18 2011 22:44 gongryong wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 18 2011 22:43 Sayle wrote:
On March 18 2011 22:39 mAgixWTF wrote:
One thing that comes to my mind is that in teamgames it isnt as bad to lose, since it might not be my fault.


This is probably a huge factor, and is a big reason why a lot of people play team games rather than 1v1. It's much easier to blame someone else for your loss rather than admit how bad you are.


Right on the money.
No one enjoys losing, especially if there is no one else to blame for it than yourself.


You can always blame the opponent for doing something dumb but it caught you off-guard so you lost

On a more serious note IMO you can cope with a loss better if you learn from the mistakes you made during games
"Apparently a product doesn't need to be perfect just good enough."
Alejandrisha
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States6565 Posts
March 18 2011 14:22 GMT
#15
i've been enjoying 1;1 games less and less myself. it just is getting really stressful for me with how easy it is to lose to stupid stuff and these days i'm a full time student with 2 jobs so i don't have that much time to play. i used to play 1;1 in the spare time that i had but now it kind of annoys me. trying to get back on the horse though -.-
get rich or die mining
TL+ Member
Sethronu
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
United Kingdom450 Posts
March 18 2011 14:48 GMT
#16
For me, it's the lack of 'social aspect' that makes 1v1 generally much less fun than team games. Even if you barely exchange half a dozen words over the course of a game, there is still a different feel to a team match. On that note, playing 1v1 with someone I know and can discuss games afterwards tends to be a much better experience than just laddering vs randoms.
mAgixWTF
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Germany103 Posts
March 18 2011 15:02 GMT
#17
My first step will be to step down from my too high expectations to more realistic ones. At first even to not have expectations at all and just observe what happens when I play. No need to win, no need to learn from every mistake i make, no pressure. Just pretend im a scientist in a new enviroment and observe! thats a little advice i just found on this website. Too bad its easier said than done
turdburgler
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
England6749 Posts
March 18 2011 15:09 GMT
#18
i hugely prefer team games over 1v1. not just because its easy to blame the team, but because we are normally on skype etc while playing, a much more social experience
tek_ger
Profile Joined March 2011
Germany140 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-18 15:34:22
March 18 2011 15:33 GMT
#19
i would just like to have the option that a friend could obersve me playing ladder while being skype...

that way laddering would make more fun!!


Its just the same as he would sit at my table, so i dont see why it is not implemented. even more firends could obersve me laddering, so after the games they can tell me what i did wrong etc...

it is a function, i guess, would improve the laddering experience for quite a few people out there!
ninini
Profile Joined June 2010
Sweden1204 Posts
March 18 2011 15:35 GMT
#20
I used to be like that. The first Strategy-games I played online fairly regularly were RA2 and WC3. I hated 1v1 on both games. When I later on picked up BW again, playing 1v1 was the only natural option, so I got over it eventually.

The problem for me was that I was what I would call a "best case scenario" player. What I mean with that is that I always had a lot of holes in my defense. In WC3 I only played 3v3, and I would always play like this: no scouting, into fast tech, into expand, into mass units. Sure, I would always produce units fairly regularly, but I would always build tech buildings as fast as possible, and I would expand basically with no units to defend it. I relied entirely on my teammates to protect me. When I played under this mindset it lead to very random games, where I would lose most of the time to rushing, and win most of the time against passive players. In 1v1 things would be even more extreme, and I would feel very paranoid when playing.

One thing I had to learn when playing 1v1 BW is the ability to play safe, and as I learned this little by little, I realized that 1v1 isn't as random as it seems. If I just protect myself from any early aggression, I can actually feel in control.

So, it's very likely that you don't like 1v1 because you don't feel in control. You rely too much on hiding behind your teammates for protection, and you need to learn to play more responsively, and dealing with things by adjusting yourself.
1 2 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 7h 41m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
PiGStarcraft674
mouzHeroMarine 426
BRAT_OK 4
StarCraft: Brood War
Shuttle 1243
Soulkey 829
firebathero 739
actioN 186
hero 129
Barracks 127
Sharp 82
soO 45
Sexy 17
HiyA 16
[ Show more ]
Rock 13
IntoTheRainbow 12
zelot 7
Dota 2
qojqva3084
Counter-Strike
ScreaM1687
fl0m1438
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King49
Other Games
singsing1899
FrodaN1258
hiko834
Beastyqt697
Mlord414
ceh9363
Liquid`VortiX156
TKL 144
DeMusliM143
KnowMe92
Livibee81
QueenE71
Trikslyr49
ToD3
Organizations
StarCraft: Brood War
lovetv 8
[ Show 12 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• mYiSmile117
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• WagamamaTV666
League of Legends
• Nemesis2418
• Shiphtur471
Upcoming Events
PiGosaur Cup
7h 41m
Replay Cast
16h 41m
Kung Fu Cup
18h 41m
Replay Cast
1d 7h
The PondCast
1d 17h
OSC
1d 20h
Replay Cast
2 days
Escore
2 days
CranKy Ducklings
3 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
[ Show More ]
OSC
5 days
Afreeca Starleague
5 days
Rush vs Hm
Bisu vs Shuttle
WardiTV Weekly
5 days
The Patches Monday
5 days
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
Sharp vs Shinee
Action vs Shine
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-08-10
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
Eternal Conflict S2 Finale

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
K-JUNGMAN
Acropolis #5
RSL Revival: Season 6
Esports World Cup 2026: LCQ
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S3: W7
CSLAN 4
ASL Season 22
Escore Tournament S3: W8
Acropolis #5 - TRS
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Acropolis #5 - GSA
HSC XXX
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
PiG Sty Festival 8.0
Big Dog Cup 2026 Div 1
META DYMY #4
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
Thunderpick World Champ.
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
Logitech G Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #5
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.