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So one day before the S4-S5 ladder lock I secured a promotion to master league as Zerg. Wooooo! I had gone on a crazy winning streak, 14 games in a row against master players as high as 700 points; this, from someone who just two days before was losing to mid-high diamond players. I have no clue what happened but it felt GREAT. I wasn't cheesing, I was just playing well. Clean, solid, fun StarCraft II.
I'm now diamond again. Funny, I'm actually lower level diamond than I was before my promotion! At first I blamed my music -- I had been listening to techno and I thought maybe I was better off with something with a slower tempo (I'm just as big a fan of classical, folk, etc.,) so I switched that. No luck, still losing. Then I blamed stress from finals. I waited until my finals were done so I could relax (I aced all of them) and now I'm totally free. Still nothing.
So I took a more analytical approach, fired up SC2Gears and did some searching. Now, it's undeniable that on that 14 game winning streak I came across a good number of Zergs. I beat them handily, but they were the closest games of the streak. But recently my number of ZvZ's has been increasing, presumably just by chance (or maybe my new MMR is more heavily populated by Zergs.) Turns out the number of ZvZ's I play is directly correlated with my decrease in MMR.
Looking a little further, it would seem that if I never had any ZvZ's I'd be at a mid-master level because I easily beat mid-master Protoss and Terrans regularly. If I only played ZvZ's, I'd be no better than platinum. In fact, I know some platinum Zerg players who regularly whoop my ass in ZvZ's!
I'm now considering quitting SC2 because I don't enjoy playing as Protoss or Terran and I'd rather not play than have to play ZvZ's because I haven't been improving at ZvZ even slightly. It hurts to be playing lesser Terrans and Protoss' (it's not, but I want it to be Protossi) on ladder because I'm lesser in ZvZ. It's boring winning all of my ZvP and ZvT and losing all of my ZvZ, and never seeing ANY improvement.
I wonder if I'll really manage to quit.
 
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Don't let ego ruin you.
Take a step back, objectively find the holes in your play, and patch them.
You only have to work on one matchup, it's easy.
Find a practice partner, grind out 20 games today.
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Keep practicing and learn to win or 8pool every zvz. Both will probably gain you similiar win rate.
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On December 23 2011 09:22 FaZe wrote:
Don't let ego ruin you.
Take a step back, objectively find the holes in your play, and patch them.
You only have to work on one matchup, it's easy.
Find a practice partner, grind out 20 games today.
But that's just the thing! I've done that and I don't improve, every single game I lose to something different. I've asked better players than I how to do it, including a GM level player. He told me to "feel it out."
I am not a Jedi. I cannot win ZvZ like you!
On December 23 2011 09:23 NEgroidZerg wrote:
Keep practicing and learn to win or 8pool every zvz. Both will probably gain you similiar win rate.
I can't practice, it doesn't help; In fact, I may be getting worse. 8 pool... I've seriously considered it. I think I'm too proud.
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On December 23 2011 09:59 ReketSomething wrote:
play for fun!!!
Haha, is that all you say in these blogs?
Nothing wrong with that, just funny.
I think the point is, I can't play for fun when I have to play ZvZ because ZvZ is not fun 
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You want to stop playing Starcraft because you don't like/you're bad at ZvZ? Sorry, you will never be a good player with that attitude, in fact, I'm surprised you even got past bronze with that thinking.
Figure out your problems in the matchup, analyze your losses and what you could have done better, how you typically lose, find out the typical timings and stop making excuses for your losses. With every win streak is a loss streak but you're mentality is terrible.
ZvZ is quite fun for alot of people, however you don't find it fun because you don't know how to play it well.
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I know the feeling OP. I love all the mixed match-ups and hate the mirrors (in terms of playing them.) Although in my case, I'm just kind of resigned when I get PvP so loosing there doesn't bother me anymore. The only thing stopping me from switching to Zerg or Terran are the mirrors though... there is no way in hell I'm ever going to play ZvZ or TvT.
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There should be a "Morrow" race, with the number of people that dislike playing/suck at ZvZ.
Since you don't want to play it, then quit. It's a very valid choice. Go ahead, just stop playing. Go play Skyrim or SWTOR or those hundreds of games on Steam sale.
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On December 23 2011 09:18 UmiNotsuki wrote:
I'm now considering quitting SC2 because I don't enjoy playing as Protoss or Terran and I'd rather not play than have to play ZvZ's because I haven't been improving at ZvZ even slightly. It hurts to be playing lesser Terrans and Protoss' (it's not, but I want it to be Protossi) on ladder because I'm lesser in ZvZ. It's boring winning all of my ZvP and ZvT and losing all of my ZvZ, and never seeing ANY improvement.
I wonder if I'll really manage to quit.
"It hurts to be playing lesser terrans and protoss'" Seriously? I agree with above poster, quitting is perfectly valid option.
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On December 23 2011 10:32 Toppp wrote:
You want to stop playing Starcraft because you don't like/you're bad at ZvZ? Sorry, you will never be a good player with that attitude, in fact, I'm surprised you even got past bronze with that thinking.
Figure out your problems in the matchup, analyze your losses and what you could have done better, how you typically lose, find out the typical timings and stop making excuses for your losses. With every win streak is a loss streak but you're mentality is terrible.
ZvZ is quite fun for alot of people, however you don't find it fun because you don't know how to play it well.
I think what hes tried to express is that he has tried these things and is still unable to fix the holes in his ZvZ, hence his overwhelming frustration. So the bronze league poke is a bit unnecessary, that having been said your right, ythe mentality is wrong
Personally I struggle in matchups and then just have a eureka game where I just figured it out. I dont analyze ladder toto much because I usually know where I made my mistakes I just dont execute properly. Ofcourse that doesnt happen to everyone and its alot more mind game game oriented and at a much quicker pace than other matchups, so it tends to be something you just have to "get" Zerg seems to be the IN race these days at mid diamond to masters level on NA in my experience atleast thats the matchup I hit most frequently aswell, hence the reason your probably hitting alot of zergs. (they figured out how to make spine crawlers only took them a year trololol).
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i personally leave over half the zvzs i get on ladder. still mid masters.
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No need to quit SC2 man :<
But, you are always welcome to play more HoN with us. All the heroes are 10$ to unlock till the 26th, get on it!
Also jkrabbit can probably help you with zvz...
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I don't understand. Do a nestea roach ling timing every game. Learn something specialized, like a muta build. Or do a lot of 8 pool/10 pool whatever. ZvZ is dynamic and volatile, I find it hard to believe you can't make it fun. Play in a way that is fun for you. And practice it enough and you will win just because you have superior mechanics.
Personally, I haven't had fun in a 1v1 ladder game in a long time. I like to beat people. I like to improve at something challenging. The more I lose, the more motivated I become to suceed. I tell myself I am going to quit all the time but I think deep down I know I never will. I have to imagine that most people who play starcraft II, including you, feel the same way.
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I think if some matchup is not fun or too hard to play, why not to not to play it? I insta quit many PvZ because they are too hard and not fun to play. I don't understand the matchup, so losing is a bit frustrating. And then I don't have the right mentality to play it. Eventually I will have to work with my pvz, but only when I feel that's going to be a fun thing to do.
Well, should I just try to practice my pvz? But it's better to keep playing what feels fun than trying to play something that doesn't, and the not to play that much after all, I think. This works for me, but maybe because I don't care about my league. I like it where I am now.
If there are any diamond-master level protoss here who would like to help me with pvz, that would be much appreciated...
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Haha have the same problem vs zerg only I'm terran. I can steamroll terrans and protosses at my level but I lose every tvz that enters the macro game.
You gotta drill the weaknesses. Get practice partners man! And maybe even some coaching, which probably isn't too much of a waste if you're winning vs masters. Someday it'll click with enough games, hopefully.
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I felt the same when I played sc2, It requires alot of practice and a really thoughtout plan & close to perfection in some matchups, sadly enough I couldn't handle it and now I play dota2 fulltime 
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ZvZ is much more simple that you seem to realize. You don't need to quit, and you don't need to rethink your game. You need to get a friend or a coach who plays at a high level to explain to you the intricacies of ZvZ.
It is absolutely a matchup that relies entirely around understanding what you can and cannot do.
Your problem is a very common one at that level, and it is very easily fixed.
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On December 23 2011 15:21 Vansetsu wrote:
No need to quit SC2 man :<
But, you are always welcome to play more HoN with us. All the heroes are 10$ to unlock till the 26th, get on it!
Also jkrabbit can probably help you with zvz...
"Don't quit SC2!"
"Here's a great option for something else to do if you quit SC2!"
"Here's a reason not to quit SC2"
You're so unhelpful, man
On December 23 2011 21:28 MrBitter wrote:
ZvZ is much more simple that you seem to realize. You don't need to quit, and you don't need to rethink your game. You need to get a friend or a coach who plays at a high level to explain to you the intricacies of ZvZ.
It is absolutely a matchup that relies entirely around understanding what you can and cannot do.
Your problem is a very common one at that level, and it is very easily fixed.
If someone at your level says so, I'm inclined to believe it. Still, it's disheartening to swallow a demotion...!
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honestly it isn't even like you were bound to be promoted. <800 masters are basically just high diamonds in terms of both the system (almost basically just used up bonus pool) as well as their skill level. just keep playing and improving, you're actually a lot worse than you think
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EPT
