EPTMy thoughts on build orders that should be used for the purpose of improving at SC2 may be a little outside the box. Basically eveything from here on will be my opinion, and should be taken as such. I have not gotten a wealth of information from the community to aid my opinions as the topic does not seem to receive a lot of high level discussion. That makes a lot of sense, because everyone worth listening to likely already good, and does not need to improve in the same way as the rest of us.
My first though is that the build must represent some form of standard play. You want to be able to get very honest, uncorrupted information from your games, and using a wild strategy that only 1% of players use is not a good way to get an accurate read on your ability. The build can and should certainly have some twists, but thinking you are good because you can proxy a thor or rush a mothership is not something that is helpful. This also means no cheese, which often relies more on an opponent's mistake than your own skill.
The next important factor is that the build must have a clear progression into the late game. You want to be able to experience all parts of play and have a definite understanding of what to do in each stage. This is absolutely vital, and there is no excuse for not having a basic understanding of your early, mid, and late game composition, given the ridiculous number of pro games we can all observe.
My third thought is that these build orders should be suited to your style of play, at least at first. There will be a way that you like to play. Find it. I enjoy being aggressive, and utilizing the mobility of a terran bio army. The three builds that I am working with now all use these concepts, suited to their appropriate matchups. What you want to do is most improtant here. Doing something you truly enjoy will help keep you from becoming dismayed when things aren't working out. This makes it easier to keep going, which is obviously important when trying to improve quickly.
The last idea that I'm applying to my build orders is that you must work on one at a time until it is consistent. Depth of skill first. Using a bio force is very different from using a mech one. Do you really want to be learning a whole new kind of micro and army control when you still haven't mastered constantly making SCVs, supply depots, and units? No. You don't. Period. Anyone who thinks they are good enough that they can learn all of these things at the same time and actually improve faster is welcome to try, but anyone off the street could tell you you're a fool. Focus is vital to improvement, and multiple build orders per matchup will impede your progress.
Tomorrow I'll be showing you how I've applied these concepts to selecting my build orders. Keep in mind that this is all intended for low level, basic improvement, basically anyone until mid master league or so.
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