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So I got promoted into mid-Diamond after they unlocked ladder promotion/demotion almost instantly. That gave me a lot more motivation to get to laddering again. I've played about a dozen or so games since I've been promoted, and I kind of like where I am now. I'm currently still winning more games than I'm losing, so I guess I'll be getting steamrolled soon until my MMR stabilizes again.
TvT is still my best matchup by far, which shocks me. I've actually been watching a lot more TvTs lately, and I've been trying to get into a more Marine-heavy playstyle that's a bit more movement-oriented and aggressive. The whole tank positioning/repositioning/freaking out every time a drop comes thing was getting old and its weakness was really starting to show. More than anything, so much of your supply ends up getting locked up in tanks to cover every possible area of attack that you really don't end up with many options.
TvZ is my second best matchup. As long as I can get my expansion up and running, I tend to win games through sheer macro. I tend to not pressure often despite opening with 2 rax expand every game. Most Zs I've run into tend to open pool first. I don't like trying anything funny unless I see the hatch first. My first Tank/Marine push (usually when I get three or four tanks) tends to get completely steamrolled just as it always has, but I try to expand to my third behind it, so I end up in a position where I can just continue pressuring with wave after wave of units even if my Marine vs Baneling micro is complete garbage. I still don't understand the concept.
It seems like at higher levels, Zs tend to play much more riskily, pushing out more drones and going minimalist in unit count. It always feels like the Zs I push out against have many, many more lings and banelings than they should at that time. They also tend to take thirds very late, in my opinion, so that's probably the case.
I do need to get better at dropping in this matchup. Unfortunately, I just never feel comfortable enough not having those marines with my main army until I get my three base economy going and can comfortably pump from like five or six reactor'd rax. I'll work on it.
TvP is still the bane of my existence. It still fascinates me that Blizzard has somehow managed to make P the exact same annoying faggy race it was back in BW. I guess leaving in DTs for the most part guaranteed that. Adding in Colossi, Warp Gates, and Zealot Charge sealed the deal if there was any doubt at all.
I still really don't know how to deal with Zealot-heavy compositions. Marauders are just terrible against them. After watching some of TLO's stream, it looked like my main problem was just my control, though. Keeping my entire army in one large, circular, deliciously stormable clump is really not good, even if it's 200/200.
There have been a ton of assholes opening with DTs, though. This has forced me to start putting down my ebay much earlier than I usually do. That may be a good thing, though. Having an earlier +1 is always nice. Also, the Archon buff last balance patch has made my life hell. They're stupid strong now when backed up by Zealots.
I still haven't figured out a comfortable timing to get ghosts. It's really annoying to scan a robo and support bay, then find out later that the P has switched tech to high templar after getting like two Colossi. I really don't like Ghosts in general in this matchup, as great as EMP is. I should probably work on getting them earlier. The thought of EMP'ing clumps of Zealots before they charge is pretty enticing.
I played some games of BW with my brother the other night. Man, I miss that game. Some of the UI limitations reared their ugly head, though, which I don't miss at all. The most annoying is by far the 1a2a3a issue where if you hit the buttons too quickly in succession, it wouldn't register the later actions, meaning your first control group would go attack move, but the rest would just sit there, having not received the order.
What annoyed me only a little bit less were the terrible hotkeys Blizzard went with for BW. They're actually not all that bad. It's only Probes being on "p" that eats at my soul. The default hotkey setup for SC2 is better, hands down. I'm not even counting added conveniences like having two different keys for cloak/decloak and siege/unsiege and whatnot, it's just having Probes on "e" is a much better choice than all the way across the fucking keyboard...
I really do wish SC2's units didn't clump like they do. I also wish there were a selection cap. I still play with four hotkeys for units in SC2 just because I was so used to it from BW. Most players I've seen use one or two. lol. I just hate seeing 200/200 Protoss deathballs rolling around and losing to them because P knows how to hit the "a" key, then right click just behind where your army is.
Also, not being able to smart cast made using casters so much more fun, yet frustrating. I don't know. Controlling Defilers was one of my favorite things back in BW. I miss that unit more than anything. Even more than the lurker. Controlling High Templar was fucking horrible, though.
I also miss there not being MBS. Macro was so much more fun and engaging when you had to actually flip back and go through all of your rax or gateways or whatever. It's really really boring and easy now. It makes me very, very angry when I don't macro properly and miss a round of workers or units now with how stupid easy it is. I'm actually ok with there being MBS, I just don't think you should be able to macro behind it.
I don't know. I'm going to see if I can get myself to play up to Masters after exams are over. That will be interesting.
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Dude we should totally add each other on SC2. I faintly recall perhaps playing a game on iccup with you? Dunno but I recall we were around same skill level and I recently got into sc2 as well so I'd say we'd be good practice partners. Just upgrading my comp atm and going to start playing again so if you want to add lemme know and I will pm you my friend code thing.
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vs Toss..
Annoy them back.
200/200 ball is nothing when you're dropping in three places at once sniping probes and nexii.
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i fyou drop at three places at once thats 12 marauders and 3 medivacs missing from your army. what makes you think a 200/200 toss army won't just push through your main army and win the game?
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On June 01 2011 19:39 mustache wrote:
i fyou drop at three places at once thats 12 marauders and 3 medivacs missing from your army. what makes you think a 200/200 toss army won't just push through your main army and win the game?
This can happen of course but before you do such drops you have to make defenses and also I always (when doing drop style mid to late game) make sure that there army isn't past the mid area of the map, which in my experience ensures they go back to stop your one drop and your other drops (tbh I normally just use two not three I'm not pro enough to control 3 precisely). Not many people will base trade with you if there close enough to defend and unless your dropping all 3 at once, which might make them do a counter attack and rather do one and wait until you scan them to see there running to kill it then drop your others. I hate base trades so I never do large drop play if there in a position that's passed the half way mark unless its only one drop.
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On June 01 2011 19:39 mustache wrote:
i fyou drop at three places at once thats 12 marauders and 3 medivacs missing from your army. what makes you think a 200/200 toss army won't just push through your main army and win the game?
Maybe there's more to Starcraft than both players waiting until they're maxed and slamming a pair of 200 supply armies into each other.
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Waiting until 200/200 max is the safest way to play TvP, sadly.
Transitioning from the early game to the early-midgame when you first expand is always a difficult phase. You never seem to have enough income to support the production you need to get up asap for the inevitable battles to come.
While on two bases and still squeezing out workers without pause, T needs to get up a Starport with reactor, start on upgrades, while continuing production from three rax. Sustaining Marauder production is quite costly and annoys the hell out of me seeing as how they're only really effective against Stalkers.
It's probably just me, but it feels like every engagement is a tossup unless the P screws up and decides to not spend his money.
This isn't a one-sided problem. P macro is just as odd in that transition phase, but at mid-Diamond, I'm finding that the P players I'm matched up against are getting better and better at handling it while I'm still struggling.
Dropping is something I've admitted I need to work on. If there's one thing I absolutely despise in this game, though, it's the whole 200/200 thing. It feels like if I'm missing anything in my main army, even just a few Marauders and Medivacs needed to drop, I set myself back considerably against the inevitable counter with the 5-6 Colossus initial deathball.
Even if I end up managing to beat it back, Ps just remax so quickly when they realize that all they really need are lots and lots of Zealots to win against Marauders. They really just need to take both Marauders and Colossi out of the game lol.
On June 01 2011 17:40 Zapdos_Smithh wrote:
Dude we should totally add each other on SC2. I faintly recall perhaps playing a game on iccup with you? Dunno but I recall we were around same skill level and I recently got into sc2 as well so I'd say we'd be good practice partners. Just upgrading my comp atm and going to start playing again so if you want to add lemme know and I will pm you my friend code thing.
That sounds good (:
I don't have many friends who play SC2 at the same level I do. Actually, I really don't have any friends who do. They're all either struggling in Bronze/Silver, or just UMS or team game it up. I'd love to have a practice partner.
My iCCup ID was P_H if that rings any bells. Unfortunately, your TL ID doesn't immediately ring any of mine. I was like D+ level in BW, so I was quite bad. At my best, I gave some C/C+ ish level players a run for their money, but I was never good by any means, lol.
I'll keep an eye on my PMs (:
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I don't really understand the need to drop in this matchup. Seems to me the only purpose is to force the P army out of position. But of course before 200/200 this can backfire unless you have some number of bunkers up.
To me, the best harass seems to be hellions. So on 3+ base just run hellions around and kill probes. Probes are the most damaging/vulnerable thing that you have a tool to kill. You don't see protoss throwing away 8-20 food of units just to chip away at supply depots LOL.
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I really like dropping Marauders and sniping forges. Delaying upgrades helps out a ton -_-
Hellions are a great choice as well, though. I should definitely look into that instead of just lifting off my factory and floating it out somewhere where I hope I can catch movement or something, lol.
One thing I do want to try to do, though, is incorporate more late-game Reaper harass into my play. I've seen games where that's turned the tide (the one early TSL game comes to mind. I can't remember who the players were), and is just seriously awesome.
But you're right...dropping doesn't really do much against a P unless you actually do damage, which is unfortunate.
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EPT
