Daily Ladder-age #11 : Failing Drop Denial!

Starting up, the map is Neo Planet, the match up is PvT. Our cuddly little terran buddy opens up with a reaper first! Oh, the horror!


I'm so badass I can't even handle myself.

And so that badass reaper must have really wreaked havoc! Er, nope. My usual opener of getting out a fast stalker shuts down that reaper easy peasy, with only 1 probe falling at his diabolical hands.


Hahaha, I killed a probe! I killed a pro-

Scouting out the terran's natural with my probe, I notice his first bunker is not yet down... and I decide to try for some early pressure. I move out my first stalker and MSC, hoping to deny the bunker, and even throw down 3 more gateways.



My decision to try to get 3 gates fast wasn't very good, since I didn't fully commit to the pressure after losing my stalker. Had I put up a pylon in his face, then used Emily the MSC to draw some fire, I might have done better. For how it ended up, I was left with a late expo and unused gateways.


Damnit Emily you can't just fly away and watch me die every time.

Now the game gets to the point where both of us just sit back and macro for a while. I take 2 forges for quick 1/1 upgrades, trying to squeeze out a colossus asap as well. During his first small push (in which no medivacs were present), I managed to fuck up my micro on the colossus and lose it as well. Playing on low graphics, I couldn't tell that I was microing my stalker back instead of my colossus... and so it just sat there and died.


Stalker > Colossus

The terran decides it'd be fun to screw around with my lack of map awareness and begins to medivac drop. God do I hate medivac drops, with such a passion. It didn't help that I delayed my stargate a little bit this game either, so my main anti-drop utility was unavailable. A problem that I also had repeatedly was that I keep my army on 1 control group; when I move to attack a small attack, I end up sending all of my units. I realize how stupid this is and that I need to fix this problem, but in the heat of the moment it's often hard for me to think correctly and split as is needed.


This drop took out my +2 attack!

The same drop ship comes in again after my stupid unit control makes most of my units move in the general direction away from the drop.


ALL UNITS MOBILIZE 2 MARINES AT THE FRONT also there's a drop of 2 full medivacs.

The drops already are both psychologically and physically damaging me badly, with every drop taking out a good chunk of probes as well as my confidence.


Sprinkle in some drop here, some drop there...

At this point I began really feeling bad about the game... I was low in numbers on phoenixes (at least from where I'd like to be, 6), and my economy was extremely slowed. The terran's economy, on the other hand, was booming, and his supply quickly begins to overtake mine.


Just a fun, out of sequence picture. I really liked how those 2 deaths looked.

Although I'm sure a straight up battle could have been won by the terran anyways, the crushing blow came at the hands of indecision and terrible micro. A drop by 2 loaded medivacs drew my attention as his forces rolled out to my natural base.


The beginning of the end.

His frontal assult was quite strong in its self, and quickly smashed my nat away.


We're here to help! Oh damn, the other base is gone.

And so my last mining bases and most of my probes are taken out... sigh. My last units are taken away to go in our final attempt at a counter attack.


For Aiur!!!!

I actually felt victorious for a second after roasting away a great deal of his ground forces. Then i realized that his vikings were the only things left, and I had no anti air. So yeah, so much for that last ditch attack.


Bye bye tease of a victory!

And so the terran lived happily ever after. After crushing my face in with simple drops, that is.

Looking back at replays like this really help me reinforce what I need to work on. Today more than anything I was reminded of how I need to work on splitting my army up to deal with drops and multi pronged attacks. I also re-learned once again that I really shouldn't make gateways if I'm not going to be actually pressuring early.

Amidst the failure, however, there was one spotlight for a special someone.
The zealot, who bravely walked into the terran's 3rd base as my final attack commenced.


I am proud, to be an Americaaaaaan~... wait a second.

13 kills. Huzzah!