EPT![[image loading]](http://i52.tinypic.com/2f06k2w.jpg)
and dance!
Yet another ladder blog from one of the newer SC2 zergs on the block. The tl;dr version is that I'm on my way up to Diamond now after just about about a month of playing.
The Story So Far
+ Show Spoiler +
I started playing SC2 around August 15th - the first time I got paid after getting my new, finally-able-to-run-SC2 laptop. I'd spent the previous few days playing around in single-player on the starter edition - TvT vs the easy AI, the first campaign mission - just to get used to the interface. I'd been playing DotA for the past 2-3 years, so the blizzard RTS interface was familiar, but I hadn't played BW seriously in about five years, so my macro and so on needed serious work.
I decided to play Zerg over the other races, mainly because I like the macro mechanic better. I like being on more bases than my opponent, I like soft contains based on mobility and map control, I like having a choice that I can make between economy and army size instead of having to work on both at once constantly. I'm still very happy with my choice - and I still have only cheesed twice, in two seven pools when I felt like playing some starcraft but didn't have enough time for a macro game. I do my best to play standard whenever I can, because it seems like the best way to improve - I get plenty of micro practice applying pressure and getting all-ined.
Thanks to invaluable help from Liquipedia, I managed to win one of my placement matches and get placed into Silver rather than Gold. Thanks to more help from Liquipedia and quite a bit from TL, I was in gold about four days later, and then plat about a week after that. I was playing about 7-8 games a day and loving it - I got completely stoked every time I won, I would even jump out of my chair and pump my fists after about half of them. The losses more or less rolled off my back. I was new to the game, I knew I was doing well to even be at the level I was, and I wasn't expected to win, so I had fun with it.
Once I was in plat I started feeling a bit more pressure. My winrate dropped below 60% for the first time and leaks in my play started becoming a lot more obvious and serious. I even posted a blog here about a "slump", which was ridiculous. I was just up against opponents good enough that I had to actually have decent mechanics. I watched Day[9], I read various improvement guides, I played game after game. I had a bit of a comeback at first, then lost a lot of games to the point where I was playing high golds instead of low plats. But then the practice started paying off.
I decided to play Zerg over the other races, mainly because I like the macro mechanic better. I like being on more bases than my opponent, I like soft contains based on mobility and map control, I like having a choice that I can make between economy and army size instead of having to work on both at once constantly. I'm still very happy with my choice - and I still have only cheesed twice, in two seven pools when I felt like playing some starcraft but didn't have enough time for a macro game. I do my best to play standard whenever I can, because it seems like the best way to improve - I get plenty of micro practice applying pressure and getting all-ined.
Thanks to invaluable help from Liquipedia, I managed to win one of my placement matches and get placed into Silver rather than Gold. Thanks to more help from Liquipedia and quite a bit from TL, I was in gold about four days later, and then plat about a week after that. I was playing about 7-8 games a day and loving it - I got completely stoked every time I won, I would even jump out of my chair and pump my fists after about half of them. The losses more or less rolled off my back. I was new to the game, I knew I was doing well to even be at the level I was, and I wasn't expected to win, so I had fun with it.
Once I was in plat I started feeling a bit more pressure. My winrate dropped below 60% for the first time and leaks in my play started becoming a lot more obvious and serious. I even posted a blog here about a "slump", which was ridiculous. I was just up against opponents good enough that I had to actually have decent mechanics. I watched Day[9], I read various improvement guides, I played game after game. I had a bit of a comeback at first, then lost a lot of games to the point where I was playing high golds instead of low plats. But then the practice started paying off.
My mechanics have gotten a lot better. My macro, according to the formula in the "do you macro like a pro" thread, is, at its worst, average for Diamond (and at its best, above average for Masters). My game sense and reactions have gotten a lot better - I don't lose to mass drops anymore, or to mass air, or to early all-ins. My leaks, apart from the poor creep spread that's haunted me the entire time I've played, are more or less stopped up, and I'm getting to the point where I can work on improving my play as opposed to fixing it. And apparently that's the definition of a Diamond player, because I'm second in my division and climbing fast (just under 700 points) and I just played, and beat, my first Diamond. If I work hard, I should be up there myself within a week.
I'm having a ton of fun with this game, even though I've started playing a little less recently - I blame that on my girlfriend getting and sharing Mass Effect 2. Every win still makes me feel great, and even though I'm trying to focus on getting into Master's by the end of the year, it might be even more important not to lose that feeling.
Keep on chugging!
