EPTWhen i started out with sc2, no experience at all with competitive gaming, i just went straight to my placement games, without touching singeplayer or even the practice league.
Pretty obviously i got placed into bronze.
Bronze league was pretty much retarded, i ended up 4gating in all MU`s into silver league.
In silver league i learned korean 4gate, i did 1base colosus pushes in PvT and 4gated zergs who had yet to discover spine crawlers.
It wasnt easy, but eventually i got into gold.
I then joined a clan, where i had to oppertunity to 1v1 against diamond players, it was so frustrating how they would take all the map while i was struggling taking my natural.
It was then that i started watching day9 all the time, spent lots of hours in Macro or die and multitask trainer. Eventually this clan`s EU section died and i didnt play for a long while.
But starcraft is a game that is very hard to permanently leave, so i came back. took up serious practice. There was alot of frustration, but at the same time, competing for something made me feel alive, how much i hated all the BM players laughing at my gold level skills, it gave purpose to trying harder and harder.
Eventually i became platinum league.
For a moment i felt like i was on top of the mountain..just to find out i was only halfway the mountain.
Platinum was a weird league, no obvious sense of knowing where to improve, like i knew in gold. And i have to admit i still cheesed alot, for example 4gate warp prism in PvT and korean 4gate wich few platinum player knew how to counter, let alone scout. I also joined team firelight, which is a great team, especially participating in tourneys became a drive to practice even more.
i spent 2 seasons in platinum, including alot of breaks from the game.
While being high platinum i engineered my own PvZ build, wich to this day even gets me wins against master players. Yes it is cheesy..knowing it involves 9gates, 1gas, 1 warp prism and a timing at 8 minutes. But i got insane winning streaks in my PvZ and eventually this got me into diamond. (i do spent alot of times practicing other openings and macro orientated builds, but lategame PvZ can be very frustrating)
Once in diamond, and the season nearly ending, i grinded up 70 games in 2days. I finnished 3th (rank 300 on sc2ranks 98th percentile)..but did not got master promotion unfortunatly.
But i am happy i can practice my macro in diamond now, perhaps next season or the season after
.All this in about 10 months of on and off playing, i got my promotion to diamond when i hit 500 1v1 games (i know there are people who do alot better, but for me this is a nice achievement)
Right now i am playing as much macro as i can, i am winning more and more of my macro games after initially losing alot.
Was it worth it? Perhaps. I could have spent time studying or doing other seemingly more important things. But trying to compete and becoming better in something gives alot of purpose in my personal life, and i will keep trying to become better.
and also, as last words, not to forget all the friends and practice buddies that i met. One thing i always try to remember is my priorities in real life, starcraft for me is like one big mountain, one day i want to reach the top of this mountain and look down on the journey. But never forget that others things are important too :-).
(Just wanted to share :D ...and excuse my bad english)
