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So, I'm in Platinum now. I know Platinum is no big deal, but it does tell me this: I don’t suck too bad anymore. Now, I have plenty of trouble competing in Plat (lately I’ve been winning less than half my games against other platinum players, but I do beat 100% of gold players, and I recently beat a diamond as well), so I’ve got a long way to go before I can say I’m “good,” but for me this is a step up. This is especially surprising when you go back and look at some of my matches like the one in StarCraft 2 n00b episode 3, where I have 17 supply and 450 minerals at the 5:30 mark in a ZvZ, skip both roaches and banelings, and try to go speedling/hydra against all speedlings.
So what’s my point? First of all, it’s that anyone can stop sucking at this game if they try hard enough. Second, now that I’m okay at SC2, I might start using this space to try to show specific builds, etc., that I use in various situations, along with the usual loss analyses, since my play actually comes with some degree of competence now. At some point, I also hope to revisit earlier SC2 n00b episodes and see if my assessments of certain losses were accurate. Hopefully this blog will evolve in some way along with my evolving play.
Sorry that it’s been a little while between episodes. I actually recorded one yesterday, then watched it only to learn that my mic apparently felt like muffling my voice, boosting the bass, and adding an echo. So I won’t be uploading that one, but hopefully I’ll have it worked out soon.
In the meantime, I’ll be fighting the good (and surely lengthy) fight for Diamond. Wish me gl!
  
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United States843 Posts
GL, I'll be shooting for diamond myself next season, hopefully both of us can make the goal! Although I haven't really been playing enough lately. Don't know if you practice with anyone or work on specific things but if you need a Protoss drop me a line if you see me online: Battleaxe.283
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I hope this motivates players who are struggling. GL on your road to Diamond!
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Thanks Battle and edc! Luckily I hit platinum the day before the ladder freeze. I felt like I was close, as I was being pitted mostly against platinum and winning roughly half (or maybe a little more) of those matches. When I saw that the ladder freeze was coming, I tried kicking my play into overdrive to avoid having to wait two weeks before I could advance. Luckily, it worked out!
Battle, I'll def add you to my friends list, and we'll play whenever I see you on. I do spend more non-ladder practice time than I used to, as it doesn't really work out trying new stuff against other players in ladder games in Platinum league (this worked well enough in silver ... not anymore).
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Gratz, KO. I finished Season 2 in the Gold League, but I thought I might get to Plat. Just out of curiosity, what do you actually do during you non-ladder practice time. My friends and I all suspect we need to spend less time laddering (and more time practicing) but I'm not 100% sure what to do instead of laddering.
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nice dude...
Im starting to play sc2... so whish me luck!!
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On July 08 2011 21:38 KingOctavious wrote:
First of all, it’s that anyone can stop sucking at this game if they try hard enough.
A long time ago someone told me "No one is born a winner in life. A winner is just a loser that got pissed off and tried harder". I think I'm going to start linking that sentence to all the complaint threads about cheese, the time needed to improve, and people who suck deluding themselves into thinking they're good.
I'm gold league now, but I have the same Diamond dream as you! Hopefully the next season is nice that way (though, I'm pushing for mid-late August to reach the goal!). Good luck!
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On July 08 2011 22:54 JDittert wrote:
Gratz, KO. I finished Season 2 in the Gold League, but I thought I might get to Plat. Just out of curiosity, what do you actually do during you non-ladder practice time. My friends and I all suspect we need to spend less time laddering (and more time practicing) but I'm not 100% sure what to do instead of laddering.
I do a few things. Mostly what I'll do is play a warmup match (or two) before I hit the ladder. I'm often glad I did, as my macro can occasionally be horrible before I've gotten warmed up. I think this has helped me keep more losses off of my ladder play.
Aside from that, I'll practice matchups that I'm having trouble with, and I'll practice builds that I haven't tried out yet (whether they're a common build that I haven't tried out yet, or something I came up with on my own). For instance, I recently started using a single banshee (sometimes cloaked, sometimes not) opening in TvT. I practiced this first off the ladder, and I was very glad I did. While it's not very difficult to pull off, I wasn't used to the specific multitasking involved in keeping that one banshee alive while harassing and keeping up with basic macro (supply depots, production facilities, worker production, etc.). So, I failed horribly on my first try, but I picked it up fairly quickly after that. It was another loss I kept off of my record.
So, short answer is to try to play your first match of the day off the ladder, and then go off-ladder if there's something specific you want to practice or want to try out for the first time.
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On July 08 2011 23:18 sexy_Pretor wrote:
nice dude...
Im starting to play sc2... so whish me luck!!
GLHF!
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On July 08 2011 23:36 Servius_Fulvius wrote:
A long time ago someone told me "No one is born a winner in life. A winner is just a loser that got pissed off and tried harder". I think I'm going to start linking that sentence to all the complaint threads about cheese, the time needed to improve, and people who suck deluding themselves into thinking they're good.
That actually sounds a lot like me. I get so pissed when I lose, not because I'm angry at my opponent for using a particular strategy but simply because I know that every time I lose, that means there's something I could have done differently to give me the win. Maybe that has helped me, actually, because whenever this happens, I can't stop thinking about the game until I figure out what I should have done differently. Then I use that going in to subsequent matches. Obviously it still takes time for me to refine my play, but my approach is to correct my play after every match. Until now, I never really consciously thought of that.
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nice dude. I remember I was placed in bronze in like September and I hit diamond in april. I yelled and got really giddy when i got diamond , but then i shut up when i realized it was 3AM lol.
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On July 09 2011 00:51 Jimbooo wrote:
nice dude. I remember I was placed in bronze in like September and I hit diamond in april. I yelled and got really giddy when i got diamond , but then i shut up when i realized it was 3AM lol.
Haha, nice. I will probably do the same thing. I started playing late December, so my progress has been a little slower than yours. Maybe that means I'll yell louder 
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Im silver and since the season lock ive been laddering alot, and my zerg play finally 'clicked' the other day. Im now getting matched against (and sometimes beating) diamonds! I totally completely sucked less than 2 weeks ago, and now I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere!
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EPT
