EPTStarcraft 2 is my first RTS. Well, actually, I did play Starcraft Broodwar and Vanilla, but only the campaign and custom games against the AI (with a plethora of cheat codes ^^). So when I got a key to enter the beta (thanks to a YouTube comment on Crota’s channel), all I could do was to play against real people. It was the first time I had ever played a real player. And it was terrifying. It felt like public speaking, I was really nervous and I felt like: “God, why do I have to do this?” My heart rate was through the roof and far high up in the sky. Bluntly put, I was scared shitless to ladder.
There have always been a lot of resources on this topic but I felt like it was a journey for me to take on my own. I wanted to do it alone because it was interesting to see how something objectively worthless (a ladder game) could have such an impact upon myself and I had that arrogant confidence that I could prevail without any exterior help.
In September 2011, I decided I wanted to ladder again and I just switched from protoss to terran. Something kept pulling me back into the game, it’s not an addiction, I can go for a week without playing a single minute without a flinch, but after playing ladder I always feel witty, as if all my blood was in my brain, and I am really snappy during that moment.
At the same time I started doing cardio and bought myself that kind of bra that you strap around your chest so you can monitor your heart rate on the included wristwatch. I know I know, many of you will say that just monitoring one’s heart rate is not enough but it’s the only thing that is really easy to do and quite inexpensive.
I got that one for €50 I think:
[Amazon link]
Then, I made myself a schedule: play only 2 ladder games a day and analyze the replay.
Why 2 games you may ask? Well, it was a time constraint and I needed to be as consistent as possible. So, analyzing my 2 games from the previous day, warm-up and 2 new ladder games would take me about 1 hour every day.
Then I took a piece of paper and wrote down every time, my heart rate when queuing, max and average during the game.
It looks like this: I have about 7 pages of this
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/H1XrS.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ioicb.jpg)
Here are my first page and one of my latest one.
If you look closely you may find that I skipped several days on the first page (one page should last around 15 days if you are consistent). I’ll admit, it was mentally strenuous and I was a wuss. If you also take a look at the first game (it was the first I had played in 3 months), you may see that my heart rate peaked at 170bpm. That is huge, that’s 85% of my heart capacity, equivalent to when I’m doing my cardio.
But as time went, it became easier and I think it was because of my daily 2 games restriction. If I lose the second game to a stupid thing, then I would not play another game because my quota was met. It left me 24 hours to reflect on that loss before I could see the replay. I was losing one game out of two and it left me craving for more game.
30 days later, fear became excitement.
I want that too! How can I have it? Here is a step by step for your first time.
1. Warm-up, if you already have a routine that takes less than 15 min, go ahead. If you don’t, I would recommend a BO tester or a marine split exercise. Don’t spend much time on it. I mean it. 10 min top.
2. That one is optional but I would recommend having that chest strap thingy. If you don’t want to shell out the dough, it’s completely understandable. You can use smartphone’s apps even though they won’t give you as much information.
3. Take a piece of paper and write down the columns, here is a template if you don’t want to write it down [Link to Google doc for a template-pdf]. That step, you only have to do it every 15 days if you write it down. + Show Spoiler [explanation of columns] +
Game nb is usually 1 or 2 the first or second of your daily games. HR queue is your heart rate when you hear the beep telling you an opponent was found. W/L is the result of the game. The rest I think is quite obvious.
4. Put your device on. Wait a bit. And queue. Watch you hear rate going berserk.
5. Now, you are most likely nervous. So, sit straight, gently stroke your hands to keep them warm and stare at your f5 key (anything would do).
6. Once you hear the dreaded beep, write down your bpm (beats per minute) on your sheet of paper.
7. Now that you are in the game, try to play as precisely as possible, don’t go crazy on spamming, just play slowly and feel the pressure rise. That’s important; enjoy that mild anxiety because it won’t stick.
8. Ok, GG, the game is done; its outcome doesn’t matter much. Now onto the second one. Then you’re done for the day. Like every workout it is only difficult the first days.
Try doing this every day, if you can’t play a certain day it’s okay to plan in advance to play those games a day before or after but don’t stockpile them. It will be very stressful to see that you’ve imposed yourself to catch up 30 games when you are nervous just playing one.
+ Show Spoiler [thoughts on pauses] +
I took a hiatus of a couple of weeks for studying purposes (basically I did nothing for the whole semester and was left with 2 weeks to plough through hundreds of pages). The first game after the hiatus, I noticed mild nervousness. But it quickly faded away.
I just want to emphasize that consistency in the first months is key to long-term resistance to ladder fear.
I just want to emphasize that consistency in the first months is key to long-term resistance to ladder fear.
Here are for motivational purposes the number of games played in function of seasons. I’m not sure how to do it. So, those numbers are from SC2 gears, but I don’t think I have every replay.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/PhKUz.png)
Okay, I think I’m done =]
Go make your routine and own some noobs!
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/wNyme.png)
