EPTI have always liked a wide open game and tried to knock out my opponent with a checkmate as quickly as possible. I subscribe to the old belief that offense is the best form of defense.
Starcraft II is the most thrilling part of my life right now. There is nothing that gets me as excited as playing a back and forth match with little micro tricks to try and gain an edge in multiple engagements that are extremely close.
I go for the macro game, but not the passive game. I will get my expansion up, then hit a timing, and regardless of whether or not it is succesful I will keep attacking to increase or gain an advantage. Relentlessly.
The reason that this is so amazing to me is that I get to play with other people who also dedicate countless hours of time training this game, who wish nothing but to kill me in cut-throat competition.
Simply knowing how much effort is put in to every game, the knowledge that everyone started as noobs and worked their way up to this level, and then playing a game where I can't keep up, and they can't either is enough to get my heart racing.
Throughout the game, being on the cusp of victory is equal to being on the brink of defeat. One wrong move with your precariously placed units and suddenly the battle is wrenched in to the opponents favour, just barely beyond your hand speed to catch up.
One moment you are in a commanding position with no perceivable opportunity for your opponent to get back in to the game, and then one of your defences gets busted.
A snap call is made, which units to take, and which to leave behind. Take too many and he retreats and brings his position forward, take too few and you fail to defend your flank or base. The best decision is to capitalize on the fact that a significant portion of his army is incapable of defending and to gain ground with your own while sending the least amount of units possible back home to defend with.
At this point my heart would be beating out of my chest, my hands would feel as though they are ethereal, my mind is extremely acute to my breathing and every detail of every thing that would normally be subconscious. THIS is what I play this game for.
I don't play so that I use unbeatable strategy X, or to defend until the right opportunity to attack. I like to break my opponents defences down, bust down flanks, walls with impunity and to keep gaining ground.
The hardest thing in chess is to win a won game.
Walking on the fine line of victory and defeat, with no other thought than what is happening RIGHT NOW. There is no past, future, there is only the present and you must be able to make snap calls and be able to know your boundaries.
Victory comes out of the jaws of defeat. Just as you are going to be defeated, you swindle your opponent, catching him unaware of a corner of his army in a poor position, or throwing a base trade that you know you can not lose. You pull out your god micro and the inferior army breaks through the enemy line and decimates him.
When you are winning, you are closest to defeat. When you are losing, the opportunities to win are countless and are the perfect opportunity to get the adrenaline flowing through your veins and do inhuman things in the game.
A bit about Frank Marshall (my quotes).
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Marshall was from an earlier era in Chess history than Petrosian, the so-called romantic era. Marshall, like all romantics, lived for the brilliant combination and the fiery excitement of battle. He played for complicated positions with little regard for defense so he could pull out an amazing brilliancy for the win. His ability to trick his way out of troubles on board earned him the title “the Great Swindler.” He played at least as much for the crowd and for the thrill of the attack as for actually winning. Marshall held the US Championship from 1909 to 1935. (Written by David Sirlin in his book Playing to Win)
I really need to learn to cite properly.
Much less interesting, the way I would play CoD:4
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I used the P90 as my weapon of choice. My secondary was the M9. My strategy was to kill fucking everyone.
I wasn't the guy who would take his time to snipe an opponent, or to find the best angle to break in to a bomb room during Search and Destroy.
I would be the first to throw my stun grenades, throw a frag to get them out of position and rush in to the room to kill everyone or die trying.
I played for the thrill of getting multiple people within a span of a few seconds and my favourite matchups were FFA and TDM for this specifically.
When I learned how much more competitive Search and Destroy was I began to play that with the same principles.
I needed to aim even faster, learn the camping spots, and know how to destroy a position before the enemy could say 'wha-' and often was the ace of my team when everyone else was dead.
The replay that inspired me to write this.. This is not the first time I have gotten emotional over a game, but it is the highest level one, beating a grandmaster terran while I am low master NA, diamond on KR. Also, I rarely get this excited in TvP, it is most common in TvT and fairly in TvZ.
TvP is just business, no fun. Drop or die with no wiggle room to bring yourself back in to the game. When an advantage is taken, it is removed by a large warp-in and nothing you do will give you the thrill of fighting back and forth, tooth and nail, to the last man.
Interestingly, I am the least bit angry over a loss, or a death when I am playing like this. The result doesn't matter, the fact that I am so overjoyed at playing such an exciting game is enough to keep me happy.
