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Could (never) have been a contender

Blogs > Fugue
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Fugue
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Australia253 Posts
April 12 2012 12:33 GMT
#1
I retired from Vanilla Starcraft with a perfect 50-0 record. Played against my high school buddies, modem to modem, I was unbeatable. But by the time Brood War had come out and the competitive scene was forming, I had moved on to smashing all comers at Quake 3 Arena (demo) at the university LAN. Again though, despite such natural talent, I was never going to go pro. No, even when a CS:S clan saw me tearing it up on pub servers and begged me to be a ringer for a match they had coming up, a match in which I carried the entire side to victory, I was never going to join up. I don't have the killer instinct, the passion, the drive to be the best. So, when I logged on to my first SC2 1v1 match after hours of practice against the AI and study of exactly what was considered good play, and destroyed my opponent, he may have expressed surprise, even telling me I would hit diamond for sure. But I was not surprised. It was an affirmation.

Of course I jest. I could never be a champion at any of these games. I am not one to commit to gruelling repetition to perfect an activity beyond all others. I love watching the best, but near enough is good enough for me, even when near enough is nowhere near enough.

[image loading]
Diamond league - 4v4. NA Server (I'm only Plat on SEA).


Like most scrubs who will never be anything but average at best, I started playing 4v4 because playing 1v1 meant my failure was mine alone, and that feeling sucks. I got over that, though. No, I now play 4v4 because it's just plain hilarious. TL seems to hold it in low regard, but TL also seems to be filled to the brim with players wanting to be the best, or at least the best they can be. And 4v4 is strictly for warming up, chilling out, or hiding from the harsh reality that is how much of a scrub you are.

I decided to start this blog when I realised I will never have anything of value to contribute to TL, and there's really not other place for my crap. My meagre post count is a tally of the bad ideas I typed out and forgot to think twice about before posting. I read in depth strategy guides, nod my head, and understand that I've probably got an hour or 2 every few nights to play games and I'll be damned if I'm practicing fundamentals on YABOT.

So, in the spirit of being utterly honest, I decided to do what I always do after a game of Starcraft 2 nowadays - spend an inordinate amount of time contemplating on how much I screwed up in that game. Only now I'll share the results with TL.

[image loading]
Off to a good start this season.


I've never properly analysed a replay via SC2Gears, but based on the data for this game I can say with certainty that I screwed up my opening, my injects, my larvae management, and whatever you might deem "timings". Deadalus found success with his hellion -> tank build, and was also the only player on our team to ping or make any effort to inform allies as to what he was scouting. I could pat myself on the back for spotting a double 10 pool, but I did nothing about it. I kind of assumed the others would be watching, because if I'm not microing my scout worker, I've got bugger all else to do in my opening (besides correctly assigning my workers to mineral patches, but those bastards never do what I tell them to anyway) so I watch what someone else's scout worker is doing.

Fortunately, our 10 pooling zerg opponents decided that 6 lings coming about a minute apart was a good strategy, and the best thing to do with them is nibble at neonova's nexus. There was also a spinecrawler rush attempt. After I'd cleaned up the lings. Weird.

Now, generally when someone messes up a rush like that, there's the expectation of a counter attack. Which is why that is exactly what I stopped doing not too long ago. A lot of people seem to think 4v4 is about knocking out one player with a coordinated timing as soon as possible, and while it's true that it's much easier to co-ordinate an attack than it is a defense, it's even easier to macro while your opponents wait for the inevitable counter push.

[image loading]
Unfortunately, I somehow fail to gain a drone lead over the 10 poolers just a few minutes after the failed rush.


I did, however, get to 2-base, and once I'm on 2 base I like to keep my opponents on 1. To that end what I love to do is deny the expansions by keeping so active with lings I miss injects and further screw up my ability to maintain a respectable economy. Deadalus goes further and roasts dozens of enemy probes (probably sans the horrible macro part), so maybe taking opponents down to half base play would have made up for my inability to manage my economy.

[image loading]
Double evo when you're floating minerals on 1 gas. These upgrades aren't starting any time soon.


It might also help if I actually stick to the whole "deny expansions" thing I just talked about, because I proceed to not scout expansions for the next 8 minutes, at which point I put down my 3rd. This felt like possibly the earliest 3rd I've made in recent memory, which is somewhat depressing. On the plus side, I was the first to actually proceed to 3 bases. That's something, right?

Deadalus decides he's had enough playing around, and sieges up, blasting away Shauddi's 2nd base. There's little they can do about the slow push since everyone but me gets in on the action and actually supports him (I'm pretty sure I had no idea this was going on because of the muta attack at my shiny new 3rd base).

One thing I'm proud of is my ability to use fungal growth. I used to click ON the air units. Now I know to click on the little ground indicators. Has anyone else made this mistake? I thought I was just terrible with infestors, and stopped using them altogether for months.

[image loading]
You don't know how much easier mass void rays are to handle now.


Completely oblivious to the fact that my 3 allies have just crushed the enemy, I decide I have 3/3 and adrenal glands on the way, and it's time to get a spire. I could just go ultras, I usually go ultras at that point, but I have realised that having infestors as my only anti air isn't always the best idea, and a late muta switch (or just broodlord corruptors) really hurts an opponent who doesn't have anti air themselves.

Usually my 3/3 adrenal lings clean house, but the upgrades aren't even anywhere near done as Deadalus, unknown and neonova hollow out one opponent after another. I felt like I did a good job keeping those 2 zerg players down, but in retrospect I think I can say my biggest contribution to this game was not dying. This is good, because it's better than the times when your biggest contribution is dying early and making it easier for your teammates to expand.

My broodlords arrive in time to go home, but building them kept my money low. More points for me! So to wrap things up, it's awards time!

Deadalus gets the Scoutmaster Trophy for being diligent with the pings as previously mentioned. I particularly liked that he noted Shauddi was going mass rine, though at the time I didn't realise that's what he meant.

[image loading]
What? I thought you were going Hellions, it's too late to sw... oh.


I'm going to give the Best and Fairest Trophy to unknown, because he seemed to always be there to support Deadalus. Deadalus BMed the other team unfortunately. Bad form, man, I looked up to you.

The Amazing Effort trophy goes to Neonova, who managed to get through the game having the least APM, without using a single control group, and yet topping the score tables for units (why does that so heavily favour structures destroyed?)


Link to the Replay


**
iamperfection
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
United States9643 Posts
April 12 2012 13:03 GMT
#2
1st paragraph made me think this blog was gonna lead to some great responses but then you talk about some random 4v4 game? WTF
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=406168&currentpage=78#1551
Grovbolle
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
Denmark3806 Posts
April 12 2012 13:29 GMT
#3
Good laugh.
Lies, damned lies and statistics: http://aligulac.com
Recognizable
Profile Blog Joined December 2011
Netherlands1552 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-04-12 13:54:51
April 12 2012 13:54 GMT
#4
This reminds me I still have to memorize 200 translated lines of Latin literature.

Fuck
znag
Profile Joined March 2011
Germany32 Posts
April 12 2012 14:28 GMT
#5
What the fuck did I just read? This was not interesting. My opinion, though...
Th1rdEye
Profile Blog Joined December 2006
United States1074 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-04-12 15:18:01
April 12 2012 15:15 GMT
#6
-.- sigh, why do people think that people care about 4v4 games and silly battle reports.. sorry, but this is just stupid. and you're awarding fake trophies too? lol..

sry, i just woke up when i posted that.. but seriously, tho.. why take all the time to take pictures, talk about a 4v4 game? if that's what you play starcraft for , more power to you, but you do realize that 4v4 is just a shitstorm of non-strategy and 1a's...
from the days of: TheMarine [NC]...YellOw [H.O.T.]-Forever99 OgOgO [_MuMyung_] ChRh PlayGrrrr.... SlayerS_`BoxeR` [Oops]Reach [ReD]NaDa [DF]zergboy..!! Pusan[S.G] Nal_rA GARIMTO SSamJJang ChoJJa JinSu Silent_Control iloveoov H_PauL_WII JulyZerg [DaK]JoYo
sertas
Profile Joined April 2012
Sweden888 Posts
April 12 2012 15:24 GMT
#7
why 4v4... dissapointing wanted to see 1v1
TheArtOfFugue
Profile Joined September 2010
Canada187 Posts
April 12 2012 15:59 GMT
#8
I enjoyed your name, that is all.
74% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
Th1rdEye
Profile Blog Joined December 2006
United States1074 Posts
April 12 2012 16:02 GMT
#9
On April 13 2012 00:59 TheArtOfFugue wrote:
I enjoyed your name, that is all.


There's a sweet band I came in contact with trying to trade shows in our area called Fugue.. check em out, Experimental/Ambient type. like Explosions in The Sky, etc. ^^
from the days of: TheMarine [NC]...YellOw [H.O.T.]-Forever99 OgOgO [_MuMyung_] ChRh PlayGrrrr.... SlayerS_`BoxeR` [Oops]Reach [ReD]NaDa [DF]zergboy..!! Pusan[S.G] Nal_rA GARIMTO SSamJJang ChoJJa JinSu Silent_Control iloveoov H_PauL_WII JulyZerg [DaK]JoYo
Renent
Profile Joined February 2011
Canada302 Posts
April 12 2012 16:22 GMT
#10
Well written, and gave me a chuckle.
Woof
DarkPlasmaBall
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States44585 Posts
April 12 2012 17:26 GMT
#11
You say you have nothing to contribute to TL, and yet you post a blog thread that makes me smile

Well done. Humility and humor. Hahahaha.
"There is nothing more satisfying than looking at a crowd of people and helping them get what I love." ~Day[9] Daily #100
MaV_gGSC
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Canada1345 Posts
April 12 2012 20:00 GMT
#12
On April 12 2012 22:03 iamperfection wrote:
1st paragraph made me think this blog was gonna lead to some great responses but then you talk about some random 4v4 game? WTF


I thought he was going to talk about how epic he is on ladder
Life's good :D
-Debaser-
Profile Blog Joined December 2011
United States329 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-04-12 20:06:22
April 12 2012 20:05 GMT
#13
On April 12 2012 22:03 iamperfection wrote:
1st paragraph made me think this blog was gonna lead to some great responses but then you talk about some random 4v4 game? WTF


haha me too I was expecting he got to GM in 50 wins or something, after i saw the 4v4 i just read the replies :D
TL+ Member
Fugue
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Australia253 Posts
April 12 2012 22:45 GMT
#14
On April 13 2012 00:15 Th1rdEye wrote:
-.- sigh, why do people think that people care about 4v4 games and silly battle reports.. sorry, but this is just stupid. and you're awarding fake trophies too? lol..

sry, i just woke up when i posted that.. but seriously, tho.. why take all the time to take pictures, talk about a 4v4 game? if that's what you play starcraft for , more power to you, but you do realize that 4v4 is just a shitstorm of non-strategy and 1a's...

Taking screenshots is actually easy. It takes about 15 actions, all done via hotkeys, so with my awesome 100APM the entire process is done rather quickly.
But what you say gets close to the point. I could play 1v1, and it would be a shitstorm of non-strategy and 1as, because I am not going to become a refined, high level player with the amount of hours I put in. I find it somewhat humorous that people will care about a low level 1v1 despite knowing both players are so fundentally bad that strategy isn't important.

This is a story that isn't told on TL too often. There are countless stories of plucky young kids full of dreams of making it big, and everyone cheering them on with platitudes about getting better and making it to masters or grand masters or winning an online tourbament. I have always strived to become better at games I play, but let's be honest here. I'm pushing 30, I'm married, I have a full time job, and even if I was good enough to actually consider some professional gaming career, I don't want to turn a pastime into a job.

You don't have to care, and if the content I put on here fails to entertain anyone, it'll go away. I have plenty of things to do. This will be a story of mediocrity that thrives in the only place it can, where everyone who is actually good either doesn't try or doesn't care, and all results are meaningless.

SCRUB LIFE!
castled
Profile Joined March 2011
United States322 Posts
April 13 2012 01:19 GMT
#15
I thought this was funny. In a deprecating, deadpan sort of way. Keep it up fugue, fuck the haters.
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