EPTHaving played a lot of team games I tough I had a basic understanding of game mechanics and that I would be able get into a nice groove after a reasonable amount of games. Before actually starting to play I set my eyes on a league I believe I could realistically achieve in a somewhat short amount of time.
I had seen a few of my friend playing at the Diamond level, mostly terran. After a few game, I understood that they went mostly for the same build over, harassing their opponent with a little micro thrown in, just enough to let their macro slip up and then have them A-move their armies straight into their opponent’s base to either win or lose.
Basing my understanding of the skill level of Diamond players on this experience I told myself the Platinum was a league that I should be able to get to without having to spend months on months of practice and I hoped that I could eventually get to Diamond after a few hundred games(hopefully).
I played around 30 games so far, I’ve won a little more than half or those (surprise surprise). Interestingly, it is much easier to sit down and play game after game when you’re playing 1v1, since there is no one you have to wait for, no long drawn out game where you have no hope of winning but a teammate of mine insists on staying in the game. No more invites to play some random flavor of the day custom games which I have no interest in playing. Just me and a random dude picked by Blizzard that should play at around the same level as me.
After playing two games I got promoted from silver league to gold league:
BALLIN’
I could feel that my experience in team game was helping me somewhat reasonably macroing and micro in a way that might be a little superior to what a complete noob would do.
From there I managed to win some games, mostly by 10pooling zergs, 7 roach rushing Protoss and I would lose to Terran pretty consistently unless I could somehow get into their base. I made a point out of ending the game quickly, since I did not feel comfortable sitting back and macroing waiting for the other player to attack me.
Winning felt pretty good, much more rewarding than winning a team game, since I felt that the win was all mine and that I wasn’t splitting credit between 3 or 4 players. So I got on skype and talked to a player whom I would play team games with a lot and tell him
how excited I felt about winning those few games, he then answered instantly so you like crushing NOOBS.
Suddenly I didn’t feel as good about myself, I started understanding that anyone who would be crushed by me was the biggest noob ever and that it this game wasn’t so much of a victory for me as it was a defeat for my opponent.
And after having had this conversation, I started realizing the huge mistakes my opponents we’re making. Almost handing me the victory on a silver platter. Having their units on move command, letting my banes come all the way up into their base to connect with their workers, walking straight into my banelings with a bio ball and having the worst force field timing I’ve ever seen(this is a quick rundown of some of the most common mistakes that had me take the lead inf the few games I’ve played).
After those few initial victories, I started getting matched against higher level Gold players and Platinum players and I quickly realized that those mistakes I could capitalize on were becoming less and less frequent, also I went on a few losing streaks.
From there I had a nice reality check, the sum of my experience in team games got me up to gold easily and from there, I had to change my approach to win more consistently and get out of the gold league
The satisfaction that I found in crushing noobs in leagues lower than gold was now a thing of the past and I became someone else toy to play with.
I became their very own noob to crush.
TLDR: Won some game, I felt good about it. Lost some games, I feel like shit. I need to play more
N.B. I’ll be at providence this week-end, can’t wait to seep in all the awesomeness emanating from all those awesome players.
So excited!
and have fun at MLG!!!!
