• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 21:25
CEST 03:25
KST 10:25
  • 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
TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting & Ladder Map Selection3Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview5[ASL21] Finals Preview: Two Legacies21Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO12 Preview2herO wins GSL Code S Season 1 (2026)7
Community News
[BSL22] Non-Korean Championship from 13 to 28 June0Weekly Cups (May 25-31): Clem doubles, 2v2 circuit heads toward finale0StarCraft II 5.0.16 PTR Patch Notes may 26th151Weekly Cups (May 18-24): MaxPax wins doubles0Crank Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League6
StarCraft 2
General
My starcraft 2 changes TL Poll: How do you feel about the 5.0.16 PTR balance changes? StarCraft II 5.0.16 PTR Patch Notes may 26th The Death of Cheese: From a Professional Cheeser TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting & Ladder Map Selection
Tourneys
Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule ! Crank Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League GSL Code S Season 2 (2026) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament RSL Revival: Season 5 - Qualifiers and Main Event
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 528 Infection Detected Welcome to the External Content forum Mutation # 527 Hell Train
Brood War
General
Cara Penghapusan Annual Fee Kartu Kredit DBS 14k games analyzed: Cross Spawn Nexus first good? Tesagi Viewer - A new era of replay watching FlaSh's ASL S21 Finals Review BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/
Tourneys
[ASL21] Grand Finals [BSL22] Grand Finals - Sunday 21:00 CEST [Megathread] Daily Proleagues Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2
Strategy
Why doesn't anyone use restoration? Any training maps people recommend? Muta micro map competition [G] Hydra ZvZ: An Introduction
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Path of Exile ZeroSpace Megathread
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
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 Trading/Investing Thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread How cold is too cold to be outdoors? Dating: How's your luck?
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread McBoner: A hockey love story TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Facing Challenges in Mobile App Development
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Esportsmanship: How to NOT B…
TrAiDoS
Why RTS gamers make better f…
gosubay
ramps on octagon
StaticNine
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 4442 users

Getting Rusty: Need WD-40

Blogs > Whole
Post a Reply
Whole
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States6046 Posts
August 12 2011 04:38 GMT
#1
Over the summer, I played a shit load of Starcraft. I started off really bad because I was in Diamond even though I haven't played in ages. So I nuked my rank down to Platnium, and I finally started playing people my level. I went into the game with a philosophy of taking every loss as a chance to improve and taking every win with dancing and cheering to make the game fun and keep me motivated. I was doing excellent. I had times where I would get 5 win streaks and my loss streaks would never exceed 3.

Then school came along. School is no big deal. I actually have a very easy semester, and I want to capitalize on it. But when I have work and school, I have literally 3 hours of free time assuming 6 hours of sleep. So usually, I use the free time on homework and going to bed early. Then I have random bullshit like being forced to go to religion class every other Sunday, mowing lawns, doing chores, ect. ect. On the up side, since my semester is so easy (I doubt it'll be next semester >_>), every day I have off is literally a day to myself (excluding school). The point I'm trying to get at is that my free time is inconsistent. Sometimes I have work three days in a row, sometimes I would have off 3 days in a row, sometimes work is every other day, ect.

Well due to this, I've been trying to squeeze SC2 into every ounce of free time I have. But recently, I've been kind of busy, so the 2 hours (1 of my 3 hours of time is spent for homework/facebooking/watching SC2 if anything) a night thing is kind of detrimental to my ladder rank because I would lose a few games because I'm warming up, then win back my ladder points because I'm finally "in the zone", then it'd be time to go to sleep. And it'd just feel like I wasted my time because all of my loses were from stupid mistakes. (miss a scouting timing, misplace an overlord to lose to a drop, ect.)

So I'd like to see if TL has any solutions to my [b]two major problems[b]. I need some kind of way to warm up without losing ladder points. 2v2's would seem good, but the strategies are unorthodox, sometimes completely cheesy, and I don't want to bother MonsieurGrimm everyday just to 2v2. 1v1 Practice Partners would seem good, but I don't have any, and I'll need enough to always have one on. However, the benefits outside of warming up would be extremely useful. I guess I'll go try to find some tomorrow. Lol, answering my own problem in my own help me blog. If anyone has any other ideas for my warming up problem, or would like to be my practice partner, just say so in the comments I suppose.

Now my other problem is if I should play during all of my free time or just in a few long sessions. Well I think the fewer and longer session solution is the obvious answer, but what if I get screwed one week and can't do a long session. My extended periods of free time are so random, that I might just not have enough free days to play SC2 to at least maintain my skill. My goal is to at least very slowly improve and maintain my skill from the summer. I could use holidays and stuff to improve, so as long as I have a plan to keep the skill I have when I'm busy. Would it even be possible to do such a thing since the nature of SC2 requires so much time to be even decent at? Should I lower my expectations when laddering? I'm really lost on this. I would like an answer before I would have to stop playing SC2 because I would be declining in skill instead of improving.

Anyway, thanks in advance for all of those who might help me get out of this dilemma. If anything is unclear in my blog, just ask. I wrote it in a stream of conscience style, and edited the format to ask questions instead of ranting. I'll answer tomorrow because I'm off to sleep!

*
Lmui
Profile Joined November 2010
Canada6223 Posts
August 12 2011 04:42 GMT
#2
1v1 metalopolis observer mode. It's inconsistent in terms of player quality but generally, you get to practice mechanics/builds and that's what really matters on ladder in plat/diamond.
fezvez
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
France3021 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-08-12 17:04:00
August 12 2011 17:02 GMT
#3
Honestly, I feel that there's no such thing as warming. Rather, there's a creeping fear of losing that you fight of by convincing yourself that ,yes, your level hasn't dropped. (this is indeed what "warming" is for)

The important point is that you shouldn't fear losing ladder points. Try to get this out of your head. If need be, lose 20 games in a row (you can still practice rather than disconnecting right at the beginning. Mass raven is possible option, storm drops another one, mass queen a third)

It's simply ladder fear.

+ Show Spoiler +
Though if you strictly can't do it, go on the channels "Looking for a custom game". At diamond level, there are always a bunch of players available)
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
PSISTORM Gaming Misc
00:00
FSL S11 TeamLeague: ASH vs ST
Freeedom27
Liquipedia
Replay Cast
00:00
WardiTV Mondays #84
CranKy Ducklings89
LiquipediaDiscussion
The PiG Daily
21:30
GSL Ro8 Group B Replay Cast
Maru vs SHIN
Rogue vs Zoun
PiGStarcraft687
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
PiGStarcraft687
ProTech103
Temp0 24
StarCraft: Brood War
Calm 1719
yabsab 49
League of Legends
Doublelift4771
JimRising 540
Counter-Strike
taco 460
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King48
Other Games
summit1g7080
shahzam644
C9.Mang0402
monkeys_forever203
ViBE45
fpsfer 4
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick956
BasetradeTV170
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 14 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• CranKy Ducklings SOOP47
• davetesta34
• EnkiAlexander 13
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Stunt111
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
7h 35m
Solar vs Classic
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
13h 35m
Grudge Match
14h 35m
FlaShFTW vs A.Alm
OSC
19h 35m
MaxPax vs YoungYakov
Krystianer vs Shameless
GgMaChine vs Creature
LetaleX vs MiniZergUA
ReBellioN vs TBD
ArT vs HiGhDrA
Nicoract vs Azura
GSL
1d 6h
herO vs Rogue
Maru vs Cure
Patches Events
1d 11h
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
1d 13h
BSL
1d 17h
OSC
1d 22h
Monday Night Weeklies
2 days
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
2 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
3 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Kung Fu Cup
4 days
Maestros of the Game
4 days
Replay Cast
4 days
The PondCast
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

KK 2v2 League Season 1
RSL Revival: Season 5
Heroes Pulsing #1

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
Acropolis #4
CSCL: Masked Kings S4
YSL S3
SCTL 2026 Spring
WardiTV Spring 2026
Maestros of the Game 2
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
2026 GSL S2
Murky Cup 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026

Upcoming

BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
HSC XXIX
Heroes Pulsing #3
Heroes Pulsing #2
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 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.