|
I originally was going to post this in SC2 General but I decided I was looking for input from people in similar situations as me. I'm 28, married have a real job and try to play 2 hours a day. I generally have one build per matchup excluding TvT which I have no set build for other than opening 111. I'm a mid-high diamond Terran that had some RTS experience before playing SC2.
When I started SC2 I found Trumps stream where he was teaching the basic 3-rax opener. Thats all I needed for all matchups to get myself into platinum before I realized that I was approaching the ceiling with the build. (I highly recommend Trump for new Terrans)
After spending some time watching many pro player replays I found a few builds which I decided to use.
For Zerg, I adopted a Reactored Rax, FE into blue flame hellions which I saw Jinro do against Boxer. After some refining I managed to turn it into a early game hellion harass with a nice timing attack with siege mode. This build did REALLY well for me for a long time but lately it seems like zergs are blindly dropping 2 - a billion spine crawlers so there hardly is any opportunity for me to harass with hellions. I supposed I am being meta gamed?
For Protoss, I recently adopted LzGamers 3 factory timing push which isn't perfect but has helped me win more games than usual but I am still struggling with void ray builds and 3 gate robo which is kinda standard.
I know I am heavy on the Mech for both matchups but I like that partially because no one else is using that but I also feel that I may be making things harder on myself.
The learning process which I take for learning a new build goes something like this:
Research - Find a replay of the build I am looking for
Yabot - Work on actually doing the build.
Comp Stomp - Put it to use
Practice Partner - 3-5 games
Ladder.
It takes me about 6 hours (3 days) to feel confident enough to use a new build on the ladder.
How often do you end up changing your builds? Do you have more than one build per matchup that you feel confident in? Do you have any special learning process for adopting new builds?
|
Changing builds when I hit a wall on the ladder has enabled me to climb past the wall several times and increase my ladder rankings. Once you start feeling that your builds are being ineffective or people's builds directly or indirectly counter you, its a good time to start thinking about switching it up.
|
Honestly, I have only ever changed builds a few times in all of my time playing SC2, Mostly in PvZ. The one time I switched my PvP build was when the Korean 4gate started losing its effectiveness. I switched to the 5z8s, and still to this day it is winning me plenty of games.
PvZ however i've gone from an immortal timing attack to blink stalkers to DTs to even 4gate.
You just need to find a build that gives you a good success rate and use it until it is being countered more often/made unusable due to a patch.
|
I think if it's just laddering, as long as you feel comfortable with one build and confident that you can with it, I don't see a reason to switch until it feels uncomfortable rather frequently. (This is assuming also that you like to win  )
For something like tournament play, I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to have at least 2-3 build per matchup, in order to give you enough variability within a series, or the ability to switch based on opponent's style.
Since it seems as though you don't play in many tournaments, I'd stick with the one as long as it works, and if you see a build that looks really cool then try and maybe add it to your own repertoire if it works out. Best of luck!
|
I'm in about the same boat. I'm high diamond, starting to hit walls with builds. Although to be honest just getting one build really good and understanding the intricacies of it should get you/me into diamond.
|
On April 28 2011 00:51 Froadac wrote:
I'm in about the same boat. I'm high diamond, starting to hit walls with builds. Although to be honest just getting one build really good and understanding the intricacies of it should get you/me into diamond.
I'm guessing you mean into masters?
|
i free style every single game, mid masters -_-
i decide on the build in the middle of the game, though i usually 1 rax fe in every match up and then go from there
|
On April 28 2011 01:06 OutlaW- wrote:
i free style every single game, mid masters -_-
i decide on the build in the middle of the game, though i usually 1 rax fe in every match up and then go from there
Well, if you have the mechanics you can do that ^^
|
On April 28 2011 01:16 Froadac wrote:Show nested quote +On April 28 2011 01:06 OutlaW- wrote:
i free style every single game, mid masters -_-
i decide on the build in the middle of the game, though i usually 1 rax fe in every match up and then go from there Well, if you have the mechanics you can do that ^^
i hit a pretty hard road block, though, and i dont know what to do now :p
|
On April 28 2011 07:34 OutlaW- wrote:Show nested quote +On April 28 2011 01:16 Froadac wrote:On April 28 2011 01:06 OutlaW- wrote:
i free style every single game, mid masters -_-
i decide on the build in the middle of the game, though i usually 1 rax fe in every match up and then go from there Well, if you have the mechanics you can do that ^^ i hit a pretty hard road block, though, and i dont know what to do now :p
I used to freestyle college tests and get As... then I had to start studying -.-
|
On April 28 2011 07:48 EsX_Raptor wrote:Show nested quote +On April 28 2011 07:34 OutlaW- wrote:On April 28 2011 01:16 Froadac wrote:On April 28 2011 01:06 OutlaW- wrote:
i free style every single game, mid masters -_-
i decide on the build in the middle of the game, though i usually 1 rax fe in every match up and then go from there Well, if you have the mechanics you can do that ^^ i hit a pretty hard road block, though, and i dont know what to do now :p I used to freestyle college tests and get As... then I had to start studying -.-
well, i dont believe that a build order is skill, so ive been focusing on my mechanics and game decision.. sure, i could learn builds, and it would make me a better player, but everyone can do that easily, so i thought it wasnt really skill ..
|
I don't think you really ever need to change builds. What's most important is scouting and keeping your idea's the same. Let me give you an example.
Lets say you want to do a marine pressure build into expand but scout the zerg 1basing roaches. You can still continue through with your expansion, you just need to adjust based on what you see, in this case 1base roach. I don't play T but I assume a response would consist of dropping bunkers and pulling scvs to repair.
In doing so, you can still make your cc and continue pumping the marines. If you hold his pressure/all in, you have an expansion ready to go, and the marines for the pressure.
The reason you are seeing a lot of spine crawlers is that many zergs have adapted the spanishiwa style of not getting gasses early and using queens/spines to hold early pressure. In order to deal with this, you justneed to scout better, realize what they are doing and adapt.
I play standard in all my matchups and just adapt, as I have since the launch, and I know its rare as a protoss, I actually learned how to 4gate last week. So it's very do-able. I am a high masters protoss and can say with confidence that playing safe, even if you only use a 1 build for every matchup is perfectly fine, as long as you can scout well and adapt.
Sure some builds will simply counter build yours and you will lose, but don't take this as reason to change your build, simply learn how to scout it and figure out ways to defend.
The only time you really need multiple builds/openers is in tournement situations where you encounter bo3/bo5/bo7 situations. Other than that, I see no reason to switch builds unless you just want to experiment with styles.
Goodluck mate  If you'd like some help just pm me
|
|
|
|
|
|
EPT
