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Disclaimer: I don't claim to be good and understand high level SC2 or how to improve. I'm only mid-diamond and have plenty of holes in my play; this is only speculation.
Whenever someone starts blogging about how he's going to get better at SC2, whether the goal is getting to a league or "going pro", the method always seems to grind out 239749 practice games, whether it be ladder or against practice partners. While this method definitely has shown to be effective, after I read that Stephano practices 4 hours a day consistently, I wondered if the average gamer could do this too and his achieve goals (or perhaps Stephano is just a freak of nature). What if I only could practice 2 hours a day? What'd I spend that time on?
For a lowbie like me, I think the best use of time would be specifically practicing macro. This doesn't mean start playing games and focus on macroing, I mean playing multitask trainer UMS's or opening up a 1vAI and trying to get my SQ as high as possible while following a build. Of course, practicing against practice partners and/or laddering is irreplaceable - applying what you practice is necessary.
Here's a quick analogy: Say I want to be amazing at boxing.
- If I start fighting/sparring people every day, I'd definitely get good at boxing. (Grind out a billion ladder games)
- But wait! People say to reflect on your fighting. I'd benefit more from watching my fights and analyzing what I'm doing; then, when sparring, I would focus on trying to set up a specific counter or combo. (Watch your replays, see what you're doing wrong, focus on improving one aspect of your game)
- However, not even pro boxers spar every day. Most new boxers don't even get to start sparring until a couple months have passed because they need to build up their strength and conditioning. Practice consists of strength training, running/conditioning drills, practicing combos. This method is FAR superior than just aimlessly fighting every day.
This doesn't necessarily only apply to macro practice - I'm sure it applies to other aspects, including micro. For example, if I was having a particularly hard time with ling/bling micro in ZvZ, instead of asking a practice partner to go lings/bling builds against me, what if I first asked him to play a ling/bling micro map against me? Once comfortable controlling my lings, THEN play practice games?
So, what do you think? Is it possible to achieve goals with a small amount of practice? If you only could practice 2-4 hours a day to achieve your goal, what would you spend that time on?
 
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In order to spar (especially for longer periods of time), you must be physically fit. It's a prerequisite.
There's no such prerequisite for sc2 (apart from being able to click and stuff), so the analogy doesn't really apply.
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On December 18 2011 03:12 thesideshow wrote:
In order to spar (especially for longer periods of time), you must be physically fit. It's a prerequisite.
There's no such prerequisite for sc2 (apart from being able to click and stuff), so the analogy doesn't really apply.
Although I do partially agree, there is a similarity between the mental ability to be able to just crack down and practice for hours at a time to improve. It's very taxing on the mind in both scenarios.
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On December 18 2011 03:49 Fruscainte wrote:Show nested quote +On December 18 2011 03:12 thesideshow wrote:
In order to spar (especially for longer periods of time), you must be physically fit. It's a prerequisite.
There's no such prerequisite for sc2 (apart from being able to click and stuff), so the analogy doesn't really apply. Although I do partially agree, there is a similarity between the mental ability to be able to just crack down and practice for hours at a time to improve. It's very taxing on the mind in both scenarios.
True, mentally there is probably not much difference. You just can't spar for hours at a time. You can however, play sc2 for hours at a time. Whether or not that is the best way to improve is a different question though, and i'm not very qualified to comment on that :p
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When people say grind that includes watching ur replays, at least when you lose. Micro maps and such can be helpful at first but after a few go arounds you should get the basic concept down and shouldn't need them. The problem with practicing these specific tasks is that fundamentally starcraft is a game of multitasking and practicing macro or micro alone won't help you improve that.
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On December 18 2011 04:03 thesideshow wrote:Show nested quote +On December 18 2011 03:49 Fruscainte wrote:On December 18 2011 03:12 thesideshow wrote:
In order to spar (especially for longer periods of time), you must be physically fit. It's a prerequisite.
There's no such prerequisite for sc2 (apart from being able to click and stuff), so the analogy doesn't really apply. Although I do partially agree, there is a similarity between the mental ability to be able to just crack down and practice for hours at a time to improve. It's very taxing on the mind in both scenarios. True, mentally there is probably not much difference. You just can't spar for hours at a time. You can however, play sc2 for hours at a time. Whether or not that is the best way to improve is a different question though, and i'm not very qualified to comment on that :p
You can play it for hours but not on a high level without the prior training.
Playing and reflection about your game needs to be in balance to improve. Usually people dont improve because they dont get over the ego/mind part and stuck with just playing more.
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On December 18 2011 02:51 affinity wrote:
Practice consists of strength training, running/conditioning drills, practicing combos. This method is FAR superior than just aimlessly fighting every day.
When people suggest that you play a ton of games, they don't mean just aimlessly playing every day. Nobody with half a brain thinks that's a good idea. Practicing anything doesn't count unless it's deliberate practice. You play a ton of games, and have something specific in mind that you're working on at all times. Those conditioning and training drills you mentioned... What do you think the analog of those are? Playing UMS micro maps? Why not just practice those same skills in a game, since that's where they actually occur. You should be playing as much as you can, and some games focus on never getting supply blocked, some games focus on always making units, some games focus on always hitting your injects, some games focus on your upgrade timings, etc.
DO NOT just sit there, hit the find match button, go on autopilot and "try to play better", rinse and repeat. That would be aimlessly fighting every day. I think you're missing the point of the "play a ton of games" advice, much the same way that tons of people missed the point of Destiny's mass queen experiment, or that mass stalker thread on reddit, etc.
Also, I thought this thread was going to be about the practice of philosophy, not the philosophy of practice.
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Definitely, but you need to have very high quality to compensate for the lack on quantity.
Additionally, you should also be that kind of a fine player who can learn fast and improve on it.
Otherwise, the lack of experience and exposure will realy show
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Well, with constant practice comes muscle memory. That is a big part of the mechanics, where the game becomes instinctive. If you sacrifice that, you have to compensate a lot on other areas.
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EPT
