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Hello TL.
To put it simply, I'm going through a terrible time in my life. I have pretty much no purpose for the next 3-4 months while uni's down, and just got my life decimated by those lovely things called females. I don't want to waste my time being a directionless moron, so I decided that I'll knuckle down for a few months and play SC2 full-time.
I'm completely terrible currently. I'm in Platinum as a Protoss player, I understand this game well having watched so much more than my fair share of it, and I figured I might as well get good.
Unlike the stuff I see way too often (people saying "I'm going to be a progamer, I talked to my family and I'm gonna make it happen"), I'm not planning on going pro or anything. The chances of me getting anywhere near that good are extraordinarily slim (read: none). My life needs a challenge, so this might as well be it.
So, I thought this maybe would interest people, I'm planning on writing from time to time how things are going. I don't normally blog, but I thought that having months and months of time to be able to dedicate to this game isn't something that some people have access to, and maybe people might wanna hear about it, let me know.
Instead of doing something, y'know, productive, I've decided to play SC2 primarily to work on my work ethic. I've always been naturally smart and coasted through life and my first year at uni by doing things at the last minute and such. It occurs the same with SC2, I'm never motivated to play a lot and get good and I end up dicking around instead. Well, no longer! Being able to make the most of my time and put it to good use is something I should have done a long time ago and I'm starting it now, so I can apply it in the 'real world'.
So, let me know what you think! Should I set a schedule for each day? With this type of "mass gaming", I should start getting way better really fast, so is there anything else to improvement aside from watching replays and such?
Wish me luck!
EDIT: Thanks for all the nice responses. I'm planning on doing my daily workout stuff as well. Already getting matched against Diamonds  progress :-/
 
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Good luck! 
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Sorry to hear about your relationship troubles man. you have the right idea, stay busy!
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sounds like what i have planned for the summer other than having had my soul destroyed by a woman..good luck, and if you want to custom vs a plat zerg, pm me
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United Kingdom20344 Posts
Id strongly suggest resetting your openers first, the main thing i notice between ~silver and masters is opening smoothness.
Played a 2v2 yesterday with my plat friend, him and the enemy terran went marine tank (PT vs TZ), at a certain timing my friend had 3 marines and some buildings coming up while the masters terran on the other team had 9 marines and a tank - this happens with every kind of opening, every matchup, but most pre-masters players just dont realise it.
If you are doing FFE vs zerg, rally your 8'th probe to build pylon below ramp, scout, rally 12'th probe to build forge, scout the other way, and then after 2 chronos on nexus total (no more) go 17nexus cannon gateway pylon, double gas with the money buildup before making a 19'th probe, put probes on gas when they come up, start +1 attack and warpgate as you get the gas (will have just enough), build probes constantly from 2 nexus, double chrono once or twice, build 1-2 zealots and make sure he took his third with them (run past units to third base) at 5-6 minutes and then go from there. Build sentries constantly out of your 1gate if you can, 2-4 of them before warpgate, and keep them behind your wall, if he gets a third you need only 1 cannon, if he is 2basing id get 2 and then maaaaybe a third depending on the exact situation.
If he has speed for his lings he got gas before third hatch, is likely 2basing, if he got roaches, again same thing, 2basing almost certainly, if he didnt take even his natural, you have 2 probes outside of your base, you should know with 100% certainty if he takes his nat or not.
I like to go 7gate blink vs a 2 basing zerg, and a dozen other things vs fast third base, whatever you do, vs fast third, dont let his economy get out of check. Theres a 5gate +robo zealot timing i do a lot which ive killed zerg with while they had less than 45 drones on 3 base, if you dont threaten an attack before 9:30-10:00 he will drone too much and you will loose.
Thats my basic summary of FFE vs zerg and understand that it is exactly that, a basic summary, i could write a 50'000 word essay on forge fast expands and while that is over the top, you need to understand openings in depth to do well in masters+ in this game.
Know when to get stuff, why you are getting it and what the purpose of getting it is, if you dont know, look it up.
Good Luck
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Dont forget to get physical excersize, a good cardio will keep you more focused and sharper, plus the hazard of starting to accumulate body fat always lurks around the corner.
Other than that, good luck and have fun
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At your level ladder will be an ok way of continuing to improve, but I would suggest starting to look for some people who are online regularly that you can practise with (ideally around the skill level that you are at). It can be so much more productive to practise a specific situation multiple times than to just play random ladder games if you have something you are stuck with. Even when you go laddering, have a specific goal in mind for each matchup. For example to learn to execute a new build order or to try and improve your multitasking using multiple drops or something like that. That way you don't get caught up caring too much about individual wins and losses and you have an external way of knowing that you are improving without getting promoted.
Watching your replays is good, but make sure you are actually picking out the right things that went wrong. It might look like you lost because you didn't quite have the right unit composition, but often it will be a more mechanics related issue like being supply blocked and floating loads of minerals. Make sure to always blame your losses on your mistakes rather than imbalance or cheese. I think too many people kid themselves into thinking that the loss wasn't their fault and don't improve as a result.
Also make sure that you are using hotkeys and control groups for everything before you do anything else. It might not seem like a problem now, but clicking on unit portraits and stuff will hold you back later on if you are really trying to improve, and it will be much easy to relearn now rather than when you have 1000 extra games of reinforced bad habits to overcome.
Remember that you won't miraculously improve over night and that you will have bad days where you play like shit. It can become incredibly frustrating to play hour after hour if it feels like you are playing like shit or worse than you think you can play. If you start to feel like you are tilting and playing worse then stop laddering until you have calmed down. Either take a break completely (probably a good idea if you are playing all day) or obs some customs or something like that (don't get lazy and just give up for the day though :p).
I don't think you necessarily need a schedule for each day, but I guess you can make one if you think it will help motivate you. Just make sure that when you get online you are actually playing games: chatting to friends or reading teamliquid does not count as practise time! Finally, make time each day to go outside at least for a little while. Good luck!
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Kentor
United States5784 Posts
On November 20 2011 19:09 Ruscour wrote:
I don't want to waste my time being a directionless moron, so I decided that I'll knuckle down for a few months and play SC2 full-time.
I don't get it.
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On November 20 2011 19:52 Kentor wrote:Show nested quote +On November 20 2011 19:09 Ruscour wrote:
I don't want to waste my time being a directionless moron, so I decided that I'll knuckle down for a few months and play SC2 full-time. I don't get it.
haha. even if the direction is pointless, at least it's a direction, right?
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fuck bitches, get points on ladder
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play online poker instead and earn money instead of laddering in a game that you probably would not likely get world-class in?
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On November 20 2011 20:59 GunSec wrote:
play online poker and earn money instead of laddering in a game that you probably would not likely be world-class in?
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If you give up on this one, try lifting weights.
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On November 20 2011 19:54 Ruscour wrote:Show nested quote +On November 20 2011 19:52 Kentor wrote:On November 20 2011 19:09 Ruscour wrote:
I don't want to waste my time being a directionless moron, so I decided that I'll knuckle down for a few months and play SC2 full-time. I don't get it. haha. even if the direction is pointless, at least it's a direction, right?
Indeed, brother! We play games, not girls.
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You lucky bastard, i still have 2 exams in the next week, FUUUU MLG!
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On November 20 2011 21:00 GunSec wrote:Show nested quote +On November 20 2011 20:59 GunSec wrote:
play online poker and earn money instead of laddering in a game that you probably would not likely be world-class in?
Just because you think you have a good point, doesnt mean you need to point it out twice
Besides, theres no risk of losing all your money in sc2, and for most college students money is tight
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United Kingdom20344 Posts
On November 20 2011 21:01 Cambium wrote:
If you give up on this one, try lifting weights.
I did that shit for 3 months, but if you push yourself really hard (why half-ass it?), you will constantly ache and wake up feeling dead unable to move your upper body every day, and require 30-50% more sleep. I gave it up because i cant control a mouse @800dpi with lifting every day, just didnt have the same hand/arm precision, not even close. Lost half my APM
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EPT
