• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 19:07
CEST 01:07
KST 08:07
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL22] Ro4 Preview: Mirror Mirror4[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: Within Reach5[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: In A Tizzy11[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Holy Diver5[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Rough Waters10
Community News
Weekly Cups Results (Sep 28-Oct 4)0SC4ALL: II SC2 Complete Invited Player Lineup10StarCraft II 5.0.17 PTR Patch Notes (Sept 30, 2026)77Weekly Cups (Sept 21-27): herO and ByuN double2Weekly Cups (Sep 13-20): herO scores triple3
StarCraft 2
General
How do you feel about the mass reverts in the 5.0.17 PTR? [Old] StarCraft 3 Reportedly in Development StarCraft II 5.0.17 PTR Patch Notes (Sept 30, 2026) Weekly Cups Results (Sep 28-Oct 4) SC4ALL: II SC2 Complete Invited Player Lineup
Tourneys
Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20) ISSL (IntoTheTV x SOOP SC2 League): Premier Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament 2026 GSTL Grand Finals Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond)
Strategy
[H] ZvP Mid-Late Game: Stalkers Collossi HT
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Sweltering Sands [M] (2) Frigid Storage
External Content
Mutation # 546 Catch the Train The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 545 And Drops and Rifts Mutation # 544 Double Trouble
Brood War
General
Sagi.gg Launcher Released BW General Discussion SC4ALL II Brood War Complete Invited Player Lineup 20-year-old Valorant player starting StarCraft Bot on ladder
Tourneys
[ASL22] Semifinal B [ASL22] Semifinal A [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL22] Ro8 Day 4
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Cliff Jump Revisited (1 in a 1000 strategy) Replay Review Process - What do you do?
Other Games
General Games
General RTS Discussion Thread Nintendo Switch Thread Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Total Annihilation Zero
Dota 2
Dota 2 Champions League Season 3 Begins April 25! Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
Artificial Intelligence Thread US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread Dating: How's your luck?
Fan Clubs
Serral Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion! Diablo Animated Series on Netflix
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
Recent Gifted Posts
Blogs
[ASL22] Ro4 Day1 Ticket Giv…
bITt.mAN
Escaping Into Video Games: G…
TrAiDoS
38 yo Retired SWE loo…
PurE)Rabbit-SF
Can Bots Beat Pros?? Starcr…
namkraft
[meme] I finally understa…
LUCKY_NOOB
Regacy Esports:Our Goa…
regacyesports
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 7944 users

Exceeding pros — Vol. I: Preparations

Blogs > Hildegard
Post a Reply
Hildegard
Profile Blog Joined November 2012
Germany348 Posts
January 04 2024 11:40 GMT
#1
Obviously, yes, and yes and yes. To state the obviously obvious — if you think this is an attempt to explain how to win against actual pros, you are right and wrong. But first, let me write some limitations to limit limitless embarrassment.

This is a blog entry about preparations and does not cover gameplay at all.


[image loading]

However, depending on your computer setup, it might take considerable time and effort to mimic the necessary steps. Most pros didn’t start out by executing a meticulous plan to become professional Starcraft players. Only a few players who did and did not enjoy a formal StarCraft education in team houses are still active, especially in SC2. This is why we can exceed some of the more lazy pro players regarding preparations (not gameplay).

My perhaps most important point is — do nothing in and around StarCraft, that you don’t genuinely enjoy. Unless you are getting paid, it’s not worth it. You might start and give up in an awkward moment, too early to benefit and too late to not feel regret about not implementing something that might improve your gameplay. So, unless you are sure that you want to take this step, I advise you to stop reading.

Hotkey preparations

If you are playing on a computer designed to forward emails, watch YouTube and purchase things you don’t need, this just might help you.

Remapping the Windows key:
After trying different tools (Microsoft PowerToys and AutoHotkey) I found a software called https://sharpkeys.de.softonic.com/download ]Sharpkeys[/url] (more information on randyrants.com) which I used during my World of Warcraft days. While PowerToys worked to exchange alt+F4 with alt+F12 and AutoHotkey offers a huge number of options, Sharpkeys worked by simply editing the registry. Important to me wasn’t the key I ended up with, but the option to choose and to make sure accidentally hitting the Windows key wouldn’t start up Edge.

The same goes for alt+F4:
I like to use alt+F1-F3, and not having to worry about fat-fingering onto alt+F4 goes a long way. With all three of these tools plus two thumb buttons on my mouse, I am prepared to start working on keybinds. For example, Windows could be used as an additional modifier key (control + alt + SomeThing).

The laptop FN keys
I managed to switch the FN keys to only use their F1-F12 functions as default. I was considering switching the FN key to a barely used key and using it for the Base Camera hotkey in SC2. So far, that seems impossible. Having the option to quickly turn off the sound, for example, is useful outside SC2.
I’d appreciate it if someone explained or linked a method to remap the FN laptop key on Windows 11.

So, how did we exceed pros and why should we do so?
SC2 is a game in which the slightest difference can have a tremendous impact. Instead of telling you which hotkeys to use, I linked three tools. Instead of insulting your intellect with a step-by-step instruction, I kept the blog short.

Pro-players use gear intended to work perfect with a game, but we learned a method today. ByuN is an example of one of the best players having a bad hotkey setup (armour upgrades started over attack upgrades mistakenly) causing him to lose games. ByuN started out playing from home and won BlizzCon without being on a team roster. This is why me, and you, can exceed a player who single-handedly was the reason for a nerf to Reapers in a small, but important area.

Reading a poll among pro-players about how happy they are with their hotkeys would be compelling and stimulating.

Remember not to take the time to implement this method if you don’t enjoy it.


Some links about me:
  • Tobias Clemens Häcker on YouTube Music
  • Tobias Clemens Häcker on Facebook (as Franz Bieberkopf)
  • Tobias Clemens Häcker on LinkedIn
  • Tobias Clemens Häcker on X (Twitter)
  • Tobias Clemens Häcker on Reddit
  • Tobias Clemens Häcker on Instagram (barely used)
  • Tobias Clemens Häcker on TikTok (using only German so far)
You are welcome.




tl.net humour: https://www.kurtvonmeier.com/blog-1/2018/1/14/on-audio-alan-watts-and-g-spencer-brown-discuss-laws-of-form
Infested.rine
Profile Joined March 2018
33 Posts
January 04 2024 13:31 GMT
#2
This is a genuine question, haven't you just moved to playing against humans? If that is the case, I don't think it is the best idea to start giving advise, as much as I like the goal of helping out ofc. Also, as much as I like the general idea of people having unlimited potential, I don't think I will ever be able to play like any pro player, and I do prefer being real instead of playing with the idea that I "could" become anything that I want to.
Hildegard
Profile Blog Joined November 2012
Germany348 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-01-04 13:55:08
January 04 2024 13:51 GMT
#3
On January 04 2024 22:31 Infested.rine wrote:
This is a genuine question, haven't you just moved to playing against humans? If that is the case, I don't think it is the best idea to start giving advise, as much as I like the goal of helping out ofc. Also, as much as I like the general idea of people having unlimited potential, I don't think I will ever be able to play like any pro player, and I do prefer being real instead of playing with the idea that I "could" become anything that I want to.


Yes, I started playing a bit against humans, but that's not all that interesting for now. My skill-set is far too low, except for sharing my ideas about how to actually start as a new player. In addition, there are some areas in which I actually know what I'm talking about. These include AI, some philosophical topics like the Systemtheorie or Laws of Form, strategic communication and hotkeys.

I exceeded World Champions in World of Warcraft in my knowledge of key bindings, macros, and interface techniques and the UI I helped Vadrak with, the ArenaLive [UnitFrames], was used by Blizzard, retrogressive, for many years. If you have a look at the Rogue Guide (link in the original post) you can clearly see that I have extensive experience of writing guides for competitive gameplay.

I entirely agree with you that me giving gameplay advice would be inappropriate. However, the example of ByuN, including reasoning why he still hasn't addressed this issue, despite Lambo talking to him about that, feels appropriate. This blog was about building the foundation of SC2 gameplay in a way that gives options. Nothing more, nothing less. If you find that inappropriate — please let me know why. Critique is always welcome if the intention is improvement.
tl.net humour: https://www.kurtvonmeier.com/blog-1/2018/1/14/on-audio-alan-watts-and-g-spencer-brown-discuss-laws-of-form
Poopi
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
France13022 Posts
January 04 2024 14:52 GMT
#4
Pro-players use gear intended to work perfect with a game, but we learned a method today. ByuN is an example of one of the best players having a bad hotkey setup (armour upgrades started over attack upgrades mistakenly) causing him to lose games.

What hotkey setup does ByuN use? Don't most pros use the normal hotkey setup, maybe with some minor modifications here and there (such as lift key for terrans)?
WriterMaru
Hildegard
Profile Blog Joined November 2012
Germany348 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-01-04 20:20:53
January 04 2024 20:20 GMT
#5
On January 04 2024 23:52 Poopi wrote:
Show nested quote +
Pro-players use gear intended to work perfect with a game, but we learned a method today. ByuN is an example of one of the best players having a bad hotkey setup (armour upgrades started over attack upgrades mistakenly) causing him to lose games.

What hotkey setup does ByuN use? Don't most pros use the normal hotkey setup, maybe with some minor modifications here and there (such as lift key for terrans)?


That I don't know. Lambo mentioned, during a tournament cast, ByuN's recurring mistake and talking to him about it. According to Lambo ByuN said that it was difficult to resolve that issue.

It would be great having pros like Lambo reading tl.net and responding occasionally. What can we do to draw the pros back to tl.net?
tl.net humour: https://www.kurtvonmeier.com/blog-1/2018/1/14/on-audio-alan-watts-and-g-spencer-brown-discuss-laws-of-form
Nirli
Profile Joined February 2023
Bulgaria387 Posts
January 05 2024 13:55 GMT
#6
Dude, that's some serious "reminds me of me when I was without a PC in the countryside for the summer and when I was 13 years old" theorycrafting right there.
Akio
Profile Blog Joined January 2019
Finland1838 Posts
January 06 2024 19:11 GMT
#7
It's been bugging me for a while how a lot of beginner tutorials and such on Youtube focus so much on hotkey setups and technicalities. Your hotkey setup does not matter if you can't do an unharassed 7-8 minute max out. Also what is rhetoric about ByuN being some player from home who won without a team? He was a part of a team until the previous year of his insane run and was teamless in the first place because Prime disbanded.
Mine gas, build tanks.
Hildegard
Profile Blog Joined November 2012
Germany348 Posts
January 08 2024 13:03 GMT
#8
On January 07 2024 04:11 Akio wrote:
It's been bugging me for a while how a lot of beginner tutorials and such on Youtube focus so much on hotkey setups and technicalities. Your hotkey setup does not matter if you can't do an unharassed 7-8 minute max out. Also what is rhetoric about ByuN being some player from home who won without a team? He was a part of a team until the previous year of his insane run and was teamless in the first place because Prime disbanded.


When ByuN won the BlizzCon in 2015, (?) everyone was talking about how for the first time someone from outside the team houses won that tournament. At this time, the Proleague still existed and most, at that time mainly Korean, competitors lived in team houses. ByuN's hotkey issue would likely have been fixed because a coach would have told him to. This not a remark about teams or team houses, but rather to showcase the different backgrounds of players that make Starcraft so special.

And what matters is to be seen. I'm still far away from using my games to say if a training strategy is successful. I do, what I like to do and what I perceive as fun. Likewise, I'm not learning build orders from other players, but I sometimes use custom games on slowest speed to try things out.
tl.net humour: https://www.kurtvonmeier.com/blog-1/2018/1/14/on-audio-alan-watts-and-g-spencer-brown-discuss-laws-of-form
Mizenhauer
Profile Blog Joined February 2015
United States1967 Posts
January 08 2024 14:49 GMT
#9
On January 08 2024 22:03 Hildegard wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 07 2024 04:11 Akio wrote:
It's been bugging me for a while how a lot of beginner tutorials and such on Youtube focus so much on hotkey setups and technicalities. Your hotkey setup does not matter if you can't do an unharassed 7-8 minute max out. Also what is rhetoric about ByuN being some player from home who won without a team? He was a part of a team until the previous year of his insane run and was teamless in the first place because Prime disbanded.


When ByuN won the BlizzCon in 2015, (?) everyone was talking about how for the first time someone from outside the team houses won that tournament. At this time, the Proleague still existed and most, at that time mainly Korean, competitors lived in team houses. ByuN's hotkey issue would likely have been fixed because a coach would have told him to. This not a remark about teams or team houses, but rather to showcase the different backgrounds of players that make Starcraft so special.

And what matters is to be seen. I'm still far away from using my games to say if a training strategy is successful. I do, what I like to do and what I perceive as fun. Likewise, I'm not learning build orders from other players, but I sometimes use custom games on slowest speed to try things out.



Wrong, wrong, wrong. First off, ByuN won in 2016. Secondly, ByuN winning Code S without a team was a big deal (Rain had previously won GSL on a foreign team, but no one had done it teamless), but by the time the WCS Finals rolled around, all the Proleague teams were disbanded (the players knew months ahead of time, so it's not like this suddenly happened and everyone had a massive advantage over ByuN until the last mignute) and, while a few players were still sponsored by KeSPA teams, it was in name only. Also the pros talk to each other all the time. They know all the "cool secret keybinds" and all the tricks you can do to give yourself an edge.
┗|∵|┓Second Place in LB 28, Third Place in LB 29 and Destined to Be a Kong
MJG
Profile Joined May 2018
United Kingdom1451 Posts
January 11 2024 16:37 GMT
#10
On January 07 2024 04:11 Akio wrote:
It's been bugging me for a while how a lot of beginner tutorials and such on Youtube focus so much on hotkey setups and technicalities. Your hotkey setup does not matter if you can't do an unharassed 7-8 minute max out.

It's because fixing bad habits is harder when you've kept them up for over a decade.

(I still don't use camera location hotkeys even though I've reached GM...)
puking up frothing vitriolic sarcastic spittle
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 10h 53m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
NeuroSwarm 207
Nina 141
SpeCial 85
ViBE76
Nathanias 51
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 12211
Artosis 581
NaDa 30
Bale 13
Dota 2
monkeys_forever255
Super Smash Bros
hungrybox470
Mew2King93
Other Games
summit1g6682
Grubby2680
Liquid`RaSZi1984
shahzam673
WinterStarcraft454
C9.Mang0315
JimRising 282
Trikslyr34
JuggernautJason9
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick275
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream37
[ Show 12 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 82
• musti20045 28
• davetesta3
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Other Games
• imaqtpie773
Upcoming Events
The PondCast
10h 53m
INu's Battles
11h 53m
Percival vs SHIN
Zoun vs herO
OSC
13h 53m
OSC
23h 8m
Replay Cast
23h 53m
OSC
1d 23h
Big Brain Bouts
2 days
Rex vs INexorable
GgMaChine vs HeRoMaRinE
Reynor vs herO
AI Arena Tournament
2 days
BSL: Ladder Tournament
2 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
3 days
[ Show More ]
Patches Events
3 days
BSL Open Qualifier
3 days
BSL Open Qualifier
3 days
WardiTV Weekly
5 days
PiGosaur Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

CSL 2026 AUTUMN (S22)
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Copium Cup

Ongoing

ASL Season 22
Super Anchor Qualifying S3
Acropolis #5
Acropolis #5 - GSB
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
1win Private Club #1
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual

Upcoming

Acropolis #5 - GSC
BSL Season 23
SC4ALL II: Brood War
BSL 23: Non-Korean Championship
HSC XXX
Stellar Fest 2: Lunar Cup
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
HCC Season 3
eXTREMESLAND 2026
PGL Major Singapore 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 6
BLAST Rivals Fall 2026
IEM Beijing 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
1win Private Club #2
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.