What's that? We need an overcoming ladder fear blog? Kk
Focusing on getting my SQ up has helped me overcome my ladder fears b/c it's not about winning anymore, it's about getting my SQ up as high as possible (while remaining viable). I threw out all games under ten minutes of my matches since season start and I have...
Avg Unspent: 585.416 Avg Income: 1137.5 Avg SQ: 73 Best SQ: 90.35 Worst SQ: 60.8 (A PvT where I messed up when he rushed with all his marines/SCVs)
Now that I have my macro up to a decent level, time to work on my forcefield micro, which if I can get down should help me win SOOOOOO many more games. Seriously, every fuckin time I go look at my base there's an army of zerglings or stimmed marines runnin up on me goin supsupsup and I miss my FFs :<
This is like something that Day9 likes to preach. Don't worry about winning or losing, just focus on one thing, then once that is strong, add something to it until both are strong, then add something else. Good luck man!
On November 04 2011 14:18 Thaniri wrote: "70" good macro???? I'm averaging mid 80's on my SQ and Im kicking myself for having bad macro. o.O
Post replays? Grats on your impending Grandmaster promotion!
Edit: For reference this means you're avg income and avg unspent in games looks something like 750/1500. Very impressive. Maybe you won't be Grandmaster soon, but you macro like one. Maybe you need to work on your micro like me
Double Edit: Terrans and Zergs also tend to have higher SQs than protoss (probably due to the nature of cycling expensive units as opposed to constant production of small resource value units and being able to que). So maybe your SQ is where most high masters/GM players are but you just need to, as I said earlier, work on micro
On November 04 2011 14:35 Thaniri wrote: Its not that hard.
And I'm low master. Very, low, master.
Just go through my match history every time I check it out it avg's 80 here is a free replay.
Notice my minerals actually hit 1500 in this game, I wanted to die after it.
You say that, but when you're at a lower level supply blocks tend to be the #1 contributing factor to lowering SQ, something masters players of any level have no trouble with. But yeah if you're in the 80s you're amongst good company like DDE and Kas. Now just work on your micro! Why did you feel your macro was bad? O_0
You should also realize that it is hard to compare the SQ of pros and non-pros. In the highest level of play there is going to be a lot more multitasking going on, between harass and constant fights. While in non-pro games it is quite common to have games with pure macro, followed by one big battle that determines the winner.
70s isn't too bad for protoss. I think my average SQ with toss is in the 80s, whereas my offraces are actually close to 100... with wide variance depending on how well or not I stop harass, i.e. if I do it badly I might hit 80s, but if I totally shut down all harass I even hit 110s quite frequently.
On November 04 2011 14:18 Thaniri wrote: "70" good macro???? I'm averaging mid 80's on my SQ and Im kicking myself for having bad macro. o.O
Post replays? Grats on your impending Grandmaster promotion!
Edit: For reference this means you're avg income and avg unspent in games looks something like 750/1500. Very impressive. Maybe you won't be Grandmaster soon, but you macro like one. Maybe you need to work on your micro like me
Double Edit: Terrans and Zergs also tend to have higher SQs than protoss (probably due to the nature of cycling expensive units as opposed to constant production of small resource value units and being able to que). So maybe your SQ is where most high masters/GM players are but you just need to, as I said earlier, work on micro
Once you get to Masters its less about who can macro better and more about who has better decision making. I have an average SQ of 85 or so and I'm still pretty low Masters. Sometimes I get up to ~93 and I play Protoss. It just doesn't matter when you're not as good at decision making and strategy.
I realize I'm a little late to the party, but it's nice to hear that SQ is helping your training. I think focusing on one aspect of play at a time is indeed a very productive approach. Good luck getting to Diamond!
SQ has also been extremely helpul in my game play. The number of harvesters that GMs' have at 15 minutes and 20 minutes really highlighted the importance of expanding and harvester production...
In sport pyschology we commonly refer to measures like SQ as a form of process goals or performance goals (depending how you choose to look at it). A focus on executing a build, hitting all your larva injects, building all your supply depots, or keeping your money down would be examples of process goals (goals you have the most control of). Focusing on SQ would be an example of a performance goal (i.e if you constantly build workers, keeping hitting your supply depots, keep expanding, and keep your money down, your SQ should go up). Typically if you focus on and achieve my process goals (assuming they the correct goals) you should also achieve your performance goals. Winning or getting promoted to the next league would be an example of outcome goals; something you have relatively little control over. The concept behind focusing on performance goals rather than outcome goals is that it allows the competitor to focus on what they need to do instead of the end result. Focusing on process rather than outcome tends to lower a competitors arousal and anxiety level, which in turn allows them to compete at a more optimal level.
For example: I am an upper gold level player who had horrible maco (surprise surprise) until I learned about and focused on the things I needed to achieve higher SQs. Unfortunately, I was having master and grand master level SQs and still getting rolled by toss. In nearly every case I maxed sooner, had more bases, and more SCVs than they had probes. By fixing my macro it highlighted the flaws in my strategy and my unit compositions (and possible unit control).
Focusing on process and performance are great for two reasons: 1) tends to lower arousal/ anxiety and 2) it allows you to focus on something you can control and provides measurable feedback regarding the strengths and weaknesses of your play.
Anyways....I love SQ. Its a great tool and I keep track of it for every game now.
EPT
