• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 02:32
CEST 08:32
KST 15:32
  • 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
[ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt2: All Star10Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists16[ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt1: Fresh Flow9[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash10[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0
Community News
2026 GSL Season 1 Qualifiers15Maestros of the Game 2 announced92026 GSL Tour plans announced15Weekly Cups (April 6-12): herO doubles, "Villains" prevail1MaNa leaves Team Liquid24
StarCraft 2
General
Maestros of the Game 2 announced 2026 GSL Tour plans announced Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists MaNa leaves Team Liquid Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool
Tourneys
2026 GSL Season 1 Qualifiers Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament GSL CK: More events planned pending crowdfunding RSL Revival: Season 5 - Qualifiers and Main Event Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2)
Strategy
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3 [A] Nemrods 1/4 players [M] (2) Frigid Storage
External Content
Mutation # 522 Flip My Base The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 521 Memorable Boss Mutation # 520 Moving Fees
Brood War
General
ASL21 General Discussion Data needed ASL21 Strategy, Pimpest Plays Discussions Pros React To: ASL S21, Ro.16 Group C BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/
Tourneys
[ASL21] Ro16 Group C Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2 [ASL21] Ro16 Group D [Megathread] Daily Proleagues
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers What's the deal with APM & what's its true value Any training maps people recommend? Fighting Spirit mining rates
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Total Annihilation Server - TAForever Diablo IV Dawn of War IV Starcraft Tabletop Miniature Game
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming
League of Legends
G2 just beat GenG in First stand
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Canadian Politics Mega-thread YouTube Thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books Movie Discussion!
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread McBoner: A hockey love story Formula 1 Discussion Cricket [SPORT]
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
[G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Sexual Health Of Gamers
TrAiDoS
lurker extra damage testi…
StaticNine
Broowar part 2
qwaykee
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1664 users

Slowly progressing - Welcome to Gold League

Blogs > silverhand
Post a Reply
silverhand
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States91 Posts
July 27 2011 16:42 GMT
#1
So it appears as if I am advancing a league per season. I started playing about 3 weeks before season 1 locked and once they fixed the promotion bug shortly after season 2 began I was promoted to silver. Between having a newborn and finishing up chiropractic school, consistency of practice has been spotty. I acknowledge that I probably will only ever have a good 5-6 hours per week max to dedicate to actual playing time, so lately it's just been trying to maximize that time to improve my game.

I have finally locked down 2 standard builds per matchup, and while I know that most people advise you to focus on one per matchup until you can execute the builds, I've had trouble finding one build that fits each matchup that is applicable across all maps/spawn situations. As such, I have pretty much focused on the following builds:

PvP
1) 4gate can apply to almost any map, but still seems required on maps like Taldarim

2) Tyler/Day9's anti 4-gate for maps with a narrow ramp

I find myself going 4gate mostly because my execution is not crisp as evidenced by getting roflstomped against Masters Protoss players in the Geforce ProAm in 4gate situations. I'm sure I could anti-4gate more often, but that build leaves even less margin for error and requires some solid micro which I still have some ways to go and haven't really focused on yet based on multiple sources advising to focus on mastering builds and macro before worrying about micro; that doing this can get me to diamond without trouble.

PvT
1) I have a 3 gate stalker/zealot/sentry early aggression build that hits around 6:00-6:30 that works well for me in most situations to delay the Terran expansion, or to do some initial damage to a 1-base strat, if not just flat winning the game on this push. It is not tough to transition out of and the only thing I have struggled with is fast siege tanks if I am a little late on my initial push.

2) Warp Prism 4gate - This one is just fun to use and doesn't always outright win the game, but almost always does some significant econ damage to the terran player unless I'm hit early by 2rax rush and have to delay my drop...still catches a ton of terrans off-guard and I've had more than a few responses of "WTF" when they see 4 zealots and 4 stalkers hit their main mineral line

PvZ
1) Fake 3gate sentry expand into 5gate zealot/sentry push. Kiwikaki uses this quite a bit and while I'm certain at silver/gold and even plat level not all of my zerg opponents will scout my front and react "properly to a 3 gate sentry expand" - which is what this build is designed to abuse, but because zergs at this level rarely execute their builds and timings crisply, my push is usually strong. Poor FF usage and army positioning is usually what loses this for me.

2) FFE into Stargate - MC style - Of course I'm no where near as good at executing this, but on some maps this is more favorable than the fake 3gate sentry expand due to longer rush distances, ease of taking a 3rd as zerg, and it's ability to hold roach/ling all-ins quite nicely. My biggest issue with this build is incorporating phoenix play into this as my micro with them sucks to be honest and it is a pretty big part of MC's execution of this strategy. When I am able to prevent the 3rd from getting up, I can usually time my tech switch to colossi nicely, but it's when I lose all my voids and fail to take down the 3rd that I find that switch very hard to get before hydras reach critical mass.

So I logged in last night to play my placement match and see which league I landed in. Season 2, I thought I would possibly skip silver league and go to gold because I was playing mostly gold leaguers at the time and I was crushed when I lost my placement match against a gold zerg to be placed into silver league. I wonder to this day if I had won that match if it would have still placed me in silver or not.

So I click Find Match last night and realize I have not downvoted any maps, nor have I played any of the new maps at all....CANCEL CANCEL CANCEL!!!...whew, made it in time and was able to select my 3 downvotes which ended up being Typhon Peaks (never liked this map, never gave it a chance), and two of the new maps...Searing Crater and Nerazim Crypts. Was really hoping my placement match was on something I knew, but as the loading screen pops up I see Abyssal Caverns.

It's PvT and I go with my aggressive push...show up with 3 zealots, 3 sentries, and 6 stalkers a little later than planned and he went marine/tank mixture. I did some army damage but took more losses than I wanted to - retreated and took my expansion and stupidly went Stargate thinking voids to take out the tanks not realizing that the mass marines would cut them down easily. This is what happens when you play unprepared and tired. After attempting to take the south expansion as my 3rd (again stupid as I should have gone for the gold instead based on spawn positions and my need for minerals at the time) and attempting to switch to templar for storms (more because I'm trying to get better at using them than because it was the best tech path) since I already had a council up for chargelots, he hits me with a crapload of siege tanks and marines with medivacs. Even though my chargelots are 1-2 upgraded and his marines are 0-0, the tanks in addition to medivac support ripped them up in no time. The chokes in the attack path put my army in such bad position and I lost not only my 3rd, but was pretty much losing my natural when I GG'd thinking "Great another season of silver."

Game finished and I get my nice shiny GOLD badge promotion! One step closer. This season I plan on getting to the point where my builds are crisp in hitting their timings and I have mastered the builds to the point where I no longer need my cheat sheets handy. In addition to this, my goals include:

1) incorporating more templar into my game
2) keeping my money low after my first push - I tend to focus on the battle without properly continuing to macro
3) Improving FF use and engaging the enemy in more favorable terrain

Things I recognize have really helped me improve over Season 2:

1) Finding builds that fit my playstyle and skill level
2) Playing fewer but longer sessions instead of 2-3 games here and there
3) Playing against Masters/Diamond league players in the Geforce Tournament - mostly helped me see where my 4gate needed work
4) Messing around with worker splits at beginning of game - realized some of my builds hit their timings easier when I had my workers mining 2 to a close mineral patch before sending one to the far mineral patches - seems to help getting that first pylon out 3-4 seconds sooner that I was which is a huge timeframe in a 4-gate scenario. Once the gateway goes down I stop paying attention to microing my workers as it is counterproductive to my scouting and build execution.
5) Finally made the correlation to number of gateways/production facilities and how often a new pylon would be needed with constant unit production. Still get supply blocked occasionally, but far less often than before.

So, here's to hoping I can reach platinum before Season 4. For now...it's time to dominate the gold league

/me ponders
Cycle
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States300 Posts
July 27 2011 17:00 GMT
#2
Super congratulations! Looks like you'll have to rename yourself goldhand

I remember when I was in gold league, I had to have a piece of paper from that sc2 notebook that came with the game where I wrote down the build order and referenced it many many times during the first 5 minutes of the game. If you ever want to practice against me at any time hit me up, info in the sig. <3
| chKCycle.551 | NA | Master League Random | Checkmate Gaming |
silverhand
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States91 Posts
July 27 2011 18:05 GMT
#3
Sounds great! I'll definitely add you to my friends list and hit you up for a game if you're available.

I also use that sc2 notebook for my build orders
/me ponders
Blazinghand *
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States25559 Posts
July 27 2011 19:24 GMT
#4
That's great to hear! Since I like your name so much, I invite you to stop by my practice group whenever you want to get in some games or watch some games. We're mostly master and diamond league, but there's still a lot you can learn even if there's a skill difference. You can find us in chat channel PEJ on the NA/LA server. I'm blazinghand.736
When you stare into the iCCup, the iCCup stares back.
TL+ Member
SpearWrit
Profile Joined February 2011
United States300 Posts
July 27 2011 21:09 GMT
#5
Hey! I'm basically the same way, I was Silver Season 1, Gold Season 2, Plat Season 3!

By the way, did you use to play Warcraft? Your name could be a reference to the Knights of the Silver Hand, a.k.a. Paladins.
"Special Tactics is...make surprise for your enemy, and also...eh, still work." -White-Ra
Blazinghand *
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States25559 Posts
July 27 2011 21:30 GMT
#6
Dude spearwrit you should stop by as well. Sorry about not really updating re: civ V, btw, it seems that our succession game fell apart after that initial one at least we got one through with a victory, though
When you stare into the iCCup, the iCCup stares back.
TL+ Member
silverhand
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States91 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-07-27 22:41:58
July 27 2011 22:38 GMT
#7
@blazinghand...thanks for the invite, as I have the time to play I will take you up on the offer. That is how I got good at war2 initially - by playing the top 100 on Katan's Lair repeatedly and just soaking up everything I could learn from them. Before long I was in the top 100.

@spearwrit...I did play warcraft, but this name came from before I discovered warcraft. It's the main charac ter in the Song of Albion trilogy by Stephen Lawhead. But as soon as I discovered the Knights of the Silver Hand, the name became even cooler.
/me ponders
SaLaYa
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States363 Posts
July 28 2011 04:56 GMT
#8
Congrats on getting to gold! One step closer.
While I never had problems with getting promotions etc (extensive competitive rts background) it doesn't mean I have some of the same problems as you!

I have build order cheat sheets everywhere, as I just switched to Terran for season 3, I am always forgetting my building timings!

Knowing how many production structures you need per base is really important! I was mid-masters Protoss last season (didn't play much) but I would always under produce the number of unit producing structures I needed.

University makes it really hard for my to play consistently, so I try and learn 2-3 solid builds per match-up, always one that is really cheesy.

I would suggest a big macro style against your opponents in lower leagues (obvious you have heard this advice before). Just always be checking their expo timing and try and stay ahead with better upgrades and tech. That's a pretty solid general gameplan.

That being said, scouting is everything! Towers, probe outside his ramp, extra obs, everything! With good enough scouting, you should be able to win every match (in theory).

Good luck this season!!
Cornell 2014 // eYe_am_SaSsY
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 3h 28m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Nina 168
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 55821
GuemChi 3512
Leta 213
soO 30
Icarus 7
Dota 2
monkeys_forever639
NeuroSwarm446
League of Legends
JimRising 719
Counter-Strike
Stewie2K1496
m0e_tv505
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King50
Heroes of the Storm
Trikslyr27
Other Games
C9.Mang0517
Livibee53
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick804
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream308
Other Games
BasetradeTV266
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 12 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• practicex 28
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Stunt612
Upcoming Events
Escore
3h 28m
RSL Revival
10h 28m
Big Brain Bouts
10h 28m
PiG vs DeMusliM
Reynor vs Bunny
Replay Cast
17h 28m
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
1d 4h
Classic vs SHIN
MaxPax vs Percival
herO vs Clem
ByuN vs Rogue
Ladder Legends
1d 8h
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
1d 8h
BSL
1d 12h
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
2 days
[ Show More ]
Ladder Legends
2 days
BSL
2 days
CranKy Ducklings
2 days
Replay Cast
3 days
Wardi Open
3 days
Afreeca Starleague
3 days
Soma vs hero
Monday Night Weeklies
3 days
Replay Cast
3 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Afreeca Starleague
4 days
Leta vs YSC
Replay Cast
5 days
The PondCast
6 days
KCM Race Survival
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-04-22
RSL Revival: Season 4
NationLESS Cup

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
ASL Season 21
CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
Escore Tournament S2: W4
StarCraft2 Community Team League 2026 Spring
WardiTV TLMC #16
Nations Cup 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S2: W5
Acropolis #4
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Maestros of the Game 2
2026 GSL S2
RSL Revival: Season 5
2026 GSL S1
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 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.