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Attempting to play Starcraft 2 professionally? Is real life limiting your ability to practice long hours on a daily basis like the Korean gods? There's still hope to make your dreams a reality. In-fact if you ask almost any professional player at this time I'm pretty sure they will tell you they started out casually before making this a career. Starcraft is a very hard game and it's true, You do need to put in full days of practice in order to be the best, But for most people you can't do that until you're at a high enough skill level to be noticed by a team and given that opportunity. So how does one go about improving while holding down a real life? If it's because of a job, Because of school, Because of strict parents that limit your gaming time, YOU can still work towards your goal, Even with little hours to put into it. Starting today, And every Sunday I'll be adding an additional blog covering variables that will help you in your pursuit of gosuness. In this blog I'll start with mentality and how it can affect you and hinder your improvements. Especially when you don't have 12 hours a day to devote.
So first off let me start by explaining why your mentality is such a big issue, and get into what I mean when I say "Mentality". So my description of your mentality is how you approach the game, How you take loses, How you think when you win, When you lose, When you are frustrated, Or when you're happy. To me having a "good mentality" would include not raging and going on tilt after loses, Not BMing players and blaming the game because you lost, Not being lazy and procrastinating practice, etc. Mentality is something you have control over and it's something you can change. Either for better or worse. Your mind set while playing, And not playing has a huge toll on your improvement. If you're constantly blaming the game or being imbalanced you'll never find your weaknesses to work on. You'll write off the loss as Mutas being to broken and there was nothing you could do instead of watching the replay and picking apart every mistake you made. BMing players and blaming your loss on their cheese, Or because they play the better race will 1. Not make you ANY friends to practice with or give you advice on how to improve, 2. Once again you'll be writing off losses to something you have no control over instead of fixing your errors. It's a bad habit to fall into, and something that is hard to break, Almost impossible for some. If you can't find reasons to improve then you wont't. Simple as that.
Steps you can take to fixing this.
1. GG WP every opponent you lose to. No matter how cheesy, Not matter how lucky, Or how BM he was. Simply GG WP and leave the game. If you don't give yourself the chance to get worked up over a loss, You'll have a much easier brushing it off and watching the replay effectively. If you start BMing someone calling him a lucky idiot and he only won because he plays Terran than he's most likely to defend himself, Which is most cases escalates your anger and continues to drive you into tilt. The next game you'll still be thinking about the lucky kid you just played instead of the game you're in. You'll make mistakes because you're not focused, You'll lose again, And continue to BM/Be angry from another loss that is a result of the game before. It's a viscous circle. I cannot stress this enough. GG WP, leave the game. If you're really worked up and mad take a break and calm down, Watch the replay, And continue forward.
2. Realise the game INS'T broken. I don't care how many professional tournaments Innovation wins, I don't care how many probes a single widowmine can kill. The game is BALANCED. This drives me nuts when kids complain about balance. Even if there was such a thing, There is NOTHING you can do about it. How will complaining about it help you improve? It won't. Stop blaming the game and fix your mistakes. You can't call David Kim and tell him to fix hellbats because they made you lose a game. There is always something you can improve on. The trick is not letting other ideas cloud your mind and get in the way of your positive mind set.
3. Make friends not enemies. If you want to feel good about a game, Even after a loss. Make a friend with a stranger online. Compliment his play if he makes a good move. Say GL HF and actually mean it. GG WP someone and mean it. If you're nice to people they will more than likely be nice back. If you can make friends to practice with you can go a long way. Having a second set of eyes to watch replays with and give a second opinion on helps you sort out problems. Try it. It works.
Now being able to "go pro while being a casual" is a bit of an understatement. If you want to be the next sOs you're going to have to get recognised, And to do that you need to improve, And to do that you need to practise efficiently, and to do that you need to have good mentality, but before all this you need to make the time to play SC2. I mean every second you can spare. You should be practising. If you want this to be your future you need to skip going out with your friends. Stop drinking on the weekend, Stay in and practice. This is what gets a lot of people. They want to be a PROFESSIONAL gamer but they aren't willing to commit. I'll use myself for an example. I work 45 hours a week. I work from 7AM to 4:30 every day. My schedule after that is to come home, Shower, Eat, Starcraft, Sleep. I can squeeze in 4-5 good hours of practice. I do this every day. On weekend I put in full days. 10+ hour days with focused practise. You need to make the time to practice. If you can't then real life has to be a priority. If you can't improve casually then there isn't much of a chance to do it professionally. I'm sorry to break it to you, But you can't do this while being lazy. You need to sacrifice for what you want in life, and if this is what you want then you need to chase it. Not wait for it to come too you. That won't happen.
Since you don't have much time to dedicate to practice. You really need to make sure that you're practising effectively. This means not being on tilt before you even start. Everyone has those days, Where you just can't seem to win. It happens don't freak out about it. Take these days to watch vods/replays/tournaments/streams instead of punishing yourself by forcing games that you aren't 100% focused on. To try and cut down the chances of having a tilted day. Make sure you're as stress free as possible. When dealing with real life that can sometimes be impossible but you need to find a way to deal with it, and not let it sit in the back of your mind. Take a walk before you play, have a hot shower, Listen to some good music that puts you in a good mood. Everyone is different, Everyone will have their own way of controlling themselves. Stretch, Eat something healthy, and make sure that you start on a good note. Go into your first game prepared and happy. For some. Your first game will have a large impact on how you play for the rest of the day. If you have a terrible loss, It can tilt you early on. If you have a good game and walk over your opponent it gives you confidence going forward. Make sure you're ready to play before you start to give yourself the best odds. Stretch your wrists, Adjust your eyes to your screen, Make sure you're actually ready for the game.
I'm going to cut part 1 here. I'll do part 2 on Sunday evening. There's a lot to cover and I don't want people to get bored ready the already large wall of text.
If you want to know when I post the blog follow me on twitter @FXOkarmy and make sure the check back on my TL page Sunday evening around 8:00 PM EST
 
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I agree with a lot of this, the biggest being make friends not enemies. Once you get to the top or even close, you're going to be playing with the same people over & over. You want to be on good terms with those people so you can get better feedback.
Can't wait to read part 2.
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If you want to be the next sOs you're going to have to get recognised
I couldn't help but laugh. The guy's been around for ages and I'm pretty sure you said this in jest, but I think people are taking the whole casual thing with sHy a bit too far.
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On June 13 2013 12:40 StarStruck wrote:I couldn't help but laugh. The guy's been around for ages and I'm pretty sure you said this in jest, but I think people are taking the whole casual thing with sHy a bit too far.
I think casual for kespa pros is still 8-10 hours a day -___-
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On June 13 2013 14:05 Emzeeshady wrote:Show nested quote +On June 13 2013 12:40 StarStruck wrote:If you want to be the next sOs you're going to have to get recognised I couldn't help but laugh. The guy's been around for ages and I'm pretty sure you said this in jest, but I think people are taking the whole casual thing with sHy a bit too far. Ya, I would assume when they say casual they mean he actually does something else in his spare time :p
I thought Stork was the original, "Well.. He kinda plays... sometimes... maybe like 4 hours a day... on the weekends... sometimes..." Is sOs the new Stork haha.
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On June 13 2013 14:26 docvoc wrote:Show nested quote +On June 13 2013 14:05 Emzeeshady wrote:On June 13 2013 12:40 StarStruck wrote:If you want to be the next sOs you're going to have to get recognised I couldn't help but laugh. The guy's been around for ages and I'm pretty sure you said this in jest, but I think people are taking the whole casual thing with sHy a bit too far. Ya, I would assume when they say casual they mean he actually does something else in his spare time :p I thought Stork was the original, "Well.. He kinda plays... sometimes... maybe like 4 hours a day... on the weekends... sometimes..." Is sOs the new Stork haha.
The gf and WoW were separate. It's funny because at that time you could tell his attention was elsewhere with how poor he was doing in PL.
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On June 13 2013 15:38 StarStruck wrote:Show nested quote +On June 13 2013 14:26 docvoc wrote:On June 13 2013 14:05 Emzeeshady wrote:On June 13 2013 12:40 StarStruck wrote:If you want to be the next sOs you're going to have to get recognised I couldn't help but laugh. The guy's been around for ages and I'm pretty sure you said this in jest, but I think people are taking the whole casual thing with sHy a bit too far. Ya, I would assume when they say casual they mean he actually does something else in his spare time :p I thought Stork was the original, "Well.. He kinda plays... sometimes... maybe like 4 hours a day... on the weekends... sometimes..." Is sOs the new Stork haha. The gf and WoW were separate. It's funny because at that time you could tell his attention was elsewhere with how poor he was doing in PL.
And with how emo he was about everything. Those were hard times to like Stork. 
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Hm, made it to paragraph 2, then I thought, better spend my limited time playing sc2...
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Good attitude. You're going places my friend.
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I dont think you can be a "professional" and have a real life Ive been trying to balance it myself.
In the eyes of casuals, most see you as professional from what I have experienced and to be honest I'll take what I can get, I dont think I have the time(nor do i ever want to) play full time, its just not a great long term career path unless you are on EG or Teamliquid.
But in the eyes of professionals you are just a causal, so you have to ask yourself what are you really?
Casual?
professional?
semi pro?
casual pro?
I go with semi pro as ROOTKane says, "youre not a professional till you spend all day doing something"
Yes I believe that you can be good at this game and have a real life, very possible and has been done by many players in the past ie Suppy, Kane etc.
What you are really depends on peoples perspective.
Some people will hate that you get called a "pro"
some people will call you a pro
but at the end of the day you got to remember, its just a video game and none of this mostly likely wont matter in the future.
So take what you get, thats what I do.
~EggY
your pro/semi-pro/casual/baddie
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I may have worded this wrong. I don't mean being a professional with a casual schedule. I ment becoming a professional on a casual schedule. Squeezing in as much practice time as you can while still balancing real life. Improve enough at the game to have the opportunity to get recognised by a professional organisation and play full time.
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I think you are over-valuing skill as a mechanic to becoming pro.
There are plenty of ways that you can support a full-time sc2 schedule, joining a team and getting a pitiful wage is hardly a method for success.
I don't want to gripe on Incontrol, Im a huge fan, if any body shows my point it is him. The skills that Jeff developed pre-SC2 with public speaking and debating have made him a great marketer and fan favorite, even with the degradation of his commitment to being a player he can still be an active member of global esports growth.
Now there are plenty of way to develop the public speaking skills and I think maybe the most important skill would be giving an interview, not only would a interesting interview make good rounds on reddit, we've seen it before. Giving a good interview will make you onto the list of people that news organizations WANT to interview. That my friends is ROI sponsors like that shit, organizations want it, and if you don't provide it in your few opportunities, someone else will, like Incontrol, or Rotterdam, or a multitude of other extraneous people in the scene.
TLDR; being good at the game isn't enough to make a living out of it. Not in NA anyway.
EDIT- Also, have something unique, if your game play is standard and you don't feel comfortable in that way, develop a shtick, you should consider yourself if not first then close to the top an entertainer. Examples, QXC- his bandana;
Huk- Canadian, his hair; Goody- Mech; Grubby- WC3 history.
Giving people a way to remember you is essential if you're only going to show up on the radar 3 or 4 times a year.
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On June 17 2013 02:15 Gofarman wrote:
I think you are over-valuing skill as a mechanic to becoming pro.
There are plenty of ways that you can support a full-time sc2 schedule, joining a team and getting a pitiful wage is hardly a method for success.
I don't want to gripe on Incontrol, Im a huge fan, if any body shows my point it is him. The skills that Jeff developed pre-SC2 with public speaking and debating have made him a great marketer and fan favorite, even with the degradation of his commitment to being a player he can still be an active member of global esports growth.
Now there are plenty of way to develop the public speaking skills and I think maybe the most important skill would be giving an interview, not only would a interesting interview make good rounds on reddit, we've seen it before. Giving a good interview will make you onto the list of people that news organizations WANT to interview. That my friends is ROI sponsors like that shit, organizations want it, and if you don't provide it in your few opportunities, someone else will, like Incontrol, or Rotterdam, or a multitude of other extraneous people in the scene.
TLDR; being good at the game isn't enough to make a living out of it. Not in NA anyway.
EDIT- Also, have something unique, if your game play is standard and you don't feel comfortable in that way, develop a shtick, you should consider yourself if not first then close to the top an entertainer. Examples, QXC- his bandana;
Huk- Canadian, his hair; Goody- Mech; Grubby- WC3 history.
Giving people a way to remember you is essential if you're only going to show up on the radar 3 or 4 times a year.
I completely agree. Being just a pro player without any personality won't do much for you, Unless you're winning tournaments. I'm going to cover this in a future blog. I plan on doing a series about improving and pursuing a dream of playing SC2 professionally, And working towards that without having all day every day to dedicate to it.
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EPT
