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Hello everyone,
I’m making this blog to announce my plans in regards to StarCraft 2 for this coming year.
About Me:
First things first, since I’m fairly unknown, I’d like to start this blog off by telling you a little bit about me, and my life. My name is Stephen Schnieder, I’m a Protoss player and my handle is sWs. I am 20 years old, living in the Bay Area of California and I just finished the first two years of my Bachelors degree at a local community college. Currently, my plan is to transfer as a junior to San Jose State University in the fall. This gives me roughly 7 months off. With this time I initially planned to work a job and basically hangout at my parents’ house until August, but with the recent WCS changes I've decided to take this time to pursue professional StarCraft.
StarCraft 2:
Now I’ll talk about who I am as a StarCraft player, and what I’ve managed to accomplish while being a full time student. For the past year or so I have played 3-4 days a week, 5-10 games a day and on ladder I’ve been consistently in the top 50 GM of the North American server. In LAN tournaments and online qualifiers I’ve upset pros such as Demuslim, Illusion, Puck, Suppy, and most of the ‘Semi-Pro’ Na players.
Goals:
Currently my main goal for these next few months is to qualify for WCS NA challenger league, I think this is a very realistic goal seeing how there are now 12 spots region locked for NA players. On top of this I will be competing in any/all NA based open bracket tournaments, and playing in every online qualifier that I manage to find.
Logistics:
The best approach I believe for improving is to grind games, analyze replays, and study pros. This is how I managed to take myself from Bronze to Masters and from Masters to GM. Starting on the first of January I’m aiming to be playing 5-6 days a week and looking to hit 20-30 games per day. I’m not going to be streaming, I’m not going to be posting replay packs, I’m going to focus on improving, and I’ll be laddering on a barcode. My mindset for the most part has always been really good in the sense that I've never really blamed my losses or shortcomings on the balance or design of the game; I think this is key in being a successful StarCraft player.
As for my living arrangements, I’m lucky enough to have my parents support financially, and simply without them it wouldn't be possible for me to take a shot at this.
If you are interested in following me on my journey over the next couple of months feel free to follow me @sWsc2, and my team @teamDuSt.
More information about me:
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/sWs
More information about my team:
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/DuSt_Gaming
Thanks for reading, and have a happy new year!
  
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Yea, you have similar goals as mine, but you have more time and are protoss. Oh and good luck, it seems like a lot of that is required in order to have a "breakout performance".
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United Kingdom1381 Posts
You should have titled it "sWs going sRs"... good luck in 2014!
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even though you were a bm douchebag i still believe in you anyway so gl, maybe you'll get less rude as your play level improves.
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Finally one of these blogs were someone is actually in decent standing already and now wants to try rather than the usual....
"Well guys Im bronze, buttttttttttt i have the next 8 months off so I think im going to go pro."
Good luck,
If i was in your position I would also get a notebook and log your days.
W/L ratio
MU struggles
ladder rank
etc...
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26 Posts
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On January 01 2014 09:59 XXXSmOke wrote:
Finally one of these blogs were someone is actually in decent standing already and now wants to try rather than the usual....
"Well guys Im bronze, buttttttttttt i have the next 8 months off so I think im going to go pro."
Good luck,
If i was in your position I would also get a notebook and log your days.
W/L ratio
MU struggles
ladder rank
etc...
This is a really good idea.
On January 01 2014 09:31 iHirO wrote:
You should have titled it "sWs going sRs"... good luck in 2014!
i totally should have, damn
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Given that you made top 50 GM playing casually and play protoss, you probably have enough talent to get a good shot at being among the top NA pros. Hopefully you can come up with good practice schedules and match preperation strategies. Good luck in your endeavours.
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How do you pronounce your handle? "Ess-double you-ess" or "swiss" or "sswwsss" or something?
Seems important of you are planning on getting well known.  I'll look for you in wcs this year!
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I enjoy the modesty that the OP displays, and I want to see more North American talent get some spotlight.
Let me ask you this, however... Do you think you have no trouble competing with Thousands of pairs of eyes looking at a stream that you are on? I remember being casted live twice and my heart was pounding both times.
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Ha, a going pro in SC2 blog. What is this, 2011?
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You're really good already, so I can't wait to see you get into WCS and show what you're made of. gogogo gl hf
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The one thing I commend the WCS system for is the streamlining of "break outs." I wish you luck, and also a fun time SJSU, the girls there are the most ridiculous people I've ever met. Was in the bay area as a highschool senior during Mardi Gras time, and they were trashed everywhere lol.
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On January 01 2014 15:27 BreAKerTV wrote:
I enjoy the modesty that the OP displays, and I want to see more North American talent get some spotlight.
Let me ask you this, however... Do you think you have no trouble competing with Thousands of pairs of eyes looking at a stream that you are on? I remember being casted live twice and my heart was pounding both times.
I have been casted in a bunch of online qualifiers and it got to me the first few times, but I've been fine with it ever since. As for LAN events I was lucky enough to go to MLG raleigh in 2012, and MLG anahiem in 2013, as well as IEM ny a couple of months ago. I've been on side streams and that was a little nerve inducing, but it also managed to subside in only a minute or two in to the game. Never been on a main-stage though, and I'd imagine that'd give me a run for my money.
On January 01 2014 13:23 Kommatiazo wrote:How do you pronounce your handle? "Ess-double you-ess" or "swiss" or "sswwsss" or something? Seems important of you are planning on getting well known. I'll look for you in wcs this year!
It's my initials so just the letter sounds, s w s. or "Ess-double you-ess" as you said.
Thanks everyone for the feedback/well-wishes
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Happy New Year and best of luck for your endeavours! Fresh blood is always needed.
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Removed, not feeling like destroying dream....
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good luck man, as long as you persevere i think it will be a great experience you can do it!
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On January 03 2014 01:21 Superiorwolf wrote:good luck man, as long as you persevere i think it will be a great experience you can do it!
I will do my best, thanks!
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Small-Update: Didn't qualify for WCS, although i'm dissapointed I'm not defeated. Realistically I didn't have much practice leading up to the qualifiers as I had only been playing full-time for less than a week.
Current practice is going really well and i'm hitting 30-40 games a day, as well as studying tons and tons of starcraft. I'm in the top 16 gm of NA, and this is a nice, albeit small accomplishment.
In the upcoming weeks I am trying to qualify for Breaking out season 2, as well as MLG Ender's game on Blu-Ray tournament. You can vote for me on gameon.gg/vote
Lastly for anyone that is interested i'm doing an AMA over on reddit.com/r/starcraft/new in hopes to gain me some exposure and boost my vote count for the MLG tournament. If you are interested feel free to take a look.
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EPT
