This set of 50 games went much better than the last set, with me getting as many wins as my earlier sets combined. I'm still having some troubles though, and sometimes run into players that are vastly better than me. Protoss is infuriating as always. Anyway, the stats:
Protoss (1 game) PvZ (1 game) 0-1 APM 132
As I was gaming one night, I seemed to only run into zerg players, so after like 5 ZvZs I just chose protoss.
Average APM of opponent 156 Average APM of opponent when I won 128 I'm 15-35 in the last 50 games I'm 5-20 in the last 25 games
Thoughts:
ZvT: 12hatch standard. My general gameplan is Lair:Ling Speed:Mutas:Lurkers:Hive:Defilers, adding in 1 or 2 evos when mutas are hatching, depending on how much gas I've got. Personally, I love seeing marines with +1 attack, because that means my first push out with lurkerling is going to melt them. I believe the idea behind getting +1 atk instead of +1 armor is to help deal with mutas easier, but I never engage marines with mutas anyway, so a few stray shots is the best they can hope for. Still, I've got a lot of holes in my game. I'm really bad at scourging vessels, I've only used defilers a couple times (because the game is over by then usually), and I'm still trying to work out the right ling:hydra ratio when I macro. I also need to work on building my overlords BEFORE I need them, so I don't have to sit and wait for them to finish to build my next force. And I'm having a bit of trouble keeping my 3rd against good Terrans. They always send SCVs or scan. I just need to remember to send 2 or 3 hydras to morph on the ramp.
ZvP: I'm getting better at ZvP, though I always feel like Protoss has an inherent advantage. Especially with the freedom ramps afford them, with 2 zealots they can do whatever infuriating strategy they want with basically no risk; reaver/sair, +1speed, DTsair, etc. Meanwhile, I pretty much have to do the same thing every time. I've changed to 12hatch standard from 12pool, unless we're on close positions (assuming python) and I scout 2gate. Something like 12hatch:evo:den:lair:lurkers:hive:ultracrackdrops. I need to work a spire into regular play to deal with shuttles however. The popular build I've been running into as of late has been fast corsair with 2 zeals to block ramp, into +1 speed and expand. I think the most depressing way to lose is to a couple corsairs killing your ovies when you have no way to defend them, so fast sair has that going for it, and I've only played 1 or 2 games ever where the protoss didn't get a stargate as soon as their cyber was done. I'm getting better at having a couple hydras/maybe a couple spores to stop the harass, and I tend to build more sunkens at my nat to stop the impending +1 speed attack, while teching to lurkers, which usually aren't done in time to stop the attack otherwise. I'm having trouble knowing when to expand after that, because until I have lurkers, I can't compete with his +1speedzeal/goon army, and so I can't defend any expos. Then the protoss ends up out-expanding me, and will eventually just run me over, usually.
ZvZ: I actually got to play a few of these this set, and I even won a few. I 12gas11pool standard now, and go straight for mutas while pumping as many lings as I can to block my ramp. After playing a couple games with CharlieMurphy, he told me that ZvZ is moving toward a 2-base standard now. Though I'm really unsure as to how I'll be able to defend both my ramp and my nat, I'll give this some consideration and probably try it in my next set.
Questions: [General] 1.Why are there so many games in a non-English language and so many players that don't type English on USWest?
[ZvT] 1. Are there any other 1rax builds besides 1rax:cc? Can I safely assume that the Terran is going to expand if he only builds one rax? 2. How viable is it for me to take my 3rd gas immediately when scouting 1rax:cc? I mean taking a third as if I scouted an FE Protoss. Is this something I should be doing? 3. Watching the Savior v Flash Allstar Skins games, I noticed that Savior takes his 3rd right before muta harass, then harasses for quite a while, while massing up a large lurkerling force and teching to defiler. Most importantly, he doesn't move out with his lurkerling until he has dark swarm. Is this the standard play? I generally try to attack Terran's front with a medium-sized lurkerling force (6-7 lurkers, 2-3 dozen lings) while part of his mnm force is distracted by my muta harass. Should I just wait and get defilers asap?
[ZvP] 1. When should I get a spire to scourge shuttles? 2. Going muta rather than lurker doesn't seem like a viable option because Protoss always goes for sairs, but very often I notice that the Protoss has no cannons protecting his main, and I'd like to punish him. A force of muta/scourge may be able to deal with a couple sairs, but if he has cannons, there's basically no way I can get any probe kills. Is there any way to know if he's cannoned up his main BEFORE risking so many resources? Is this even a viable strategy, or is it only an option against Protoss who don't go for fast sairs (basically nobody)?
[ZvZ] How could I have won this game? 139 Dromar v SpoR I feel I had an advantage around the time I destroyed his main, but his nat was so well defended with sunks and spores that I couldn't kill him, and he got spire and a shitload of scourge and turned the game around.
Constructive criticism, questions, and comments are welcome.
Sounds like you're at about the same place I am, skillwise. I'm also a zerg player. I haven't been playing as many games as you, but I've been playing on ICCup where the players are better than on US west, and the lag is lower. The lower lag made a huuuuge difference, for example, muta harass is about 10x easier now.
I can answer a few questions... let's see.
"1.Why are there so many games in a non-English language and so many players that don't type English on USWest?" That language is Korean... it is the language of starcraft. There's also players from all over the rest of the world playing, too.
"3. Watching the Savior v Flash Allstar Skins games, I noticed that Savior takes his 3rd right before muta harass, then harasses for quite a while, while massing up a large lurkerling force and teching to defiler. Most importantly, he doesn't move out with his lurkerling until he has dark swarm. Is this the standard play? " He doesn't always do this. And, if you want to copy Savior's play, you should probably be copying his play from last year or the year before, not now. However, I personally have a lot more success if I just turtle with lurkers until I get dark swarm, which I get as fast as possible.
"1. When should I get a spire to scourge shuttles?" I've seen players that are successful with an early spire like in zvt, and I've seen people put it off a long time, and i've seen some who don't build it at all. I think the biggest thing is to try and take the toss player by surprise with your spire timing.
On April 09 2008 12:54 Luddite wrote: "1.Why are there so many games in a non-English language and so many players that don't type English on USWest?" That language is Korean... it is the language of starcraft. There's also players from all over the rest of the world playing, too.
Well, yeah, but why are they on West? Don't they have a closer server, like Asia?
On April 09 2008 12:54 Luddite wrote: "1.Why are there so many games in a non-English language and so many players that don't type English on USWest?" That language is Korean... it is the language of starcraft. There's also players from all over the rest of the world playing, too.
Well, yeah, but why are they on West? Don't they have a closer server, like Asia?
Heh, this is actually a good question. There are so many Korean teams on West (are there a ton on Asia also?) and i've always known this but never thought about why.
ZvT 1. 1 rax could mean a tech build. The most common one I've seen in progaming is 3 vulture harass into wraiths. I read that you can gas the terran to force the cc.
2. Trying to take it is risky and if scouted, will usually result in it dying and you being behind.
Zvp 2. If you are lucky, you can sneak an ovy into his main and check but that will be pretty hard. If you can't scout and went mutas you can still do some damage with some good scourge micro. A great example is Jaedong vs Stork on Katrina.
ZvZ:
4:50- You are saving larva for mutalisks which wasn't a good idea. You had ovies at both his bases and he didn't even have a lair. He didn't have many drones so this could only mean one thing, lings. You needed those 6 larva for lings and shouldn't have saved them.
Ok I was watching the whole game and then realized you could have pretty much taken it at 6:50 or so. You attacked the spore with 4 mutas and failed miserbly while trying to run 10 or so lings in his base. You should have used those lings to help kill the spore. His nat would be shut down and you would be free to kill the hatch with your mutas. Instead of continuing with mutas, start pumping lings and use your mutas to harass a little. He would be forced to spore his line and your incoming lings will crush his main soon after. By continuing with your slow production 1 gas mutas, you allowed him to get back in the game.
Zvp 2. If you are lucky, you can sneak an ovy into his main and check but that will be pretty hard. If you can't scout and went mutas you can still do some damage with some good scourge micro. A great example is Jaedong vs Stork on Katrina.
That first ZvZ we played was just absurd,the rep is lol. Anyways, The best thing you can do to get better at this point is just mass game maybe team games, watch the reps to see where you made mistakes and improve upon them. If you are unsure what to do maybe you should watch some of the TSL or other top 'foriegn' player's reps to see the general idea of builds.
Just like anything you learn you have to go step by step. I can think of skateboarding as an example; You can just go out there and practice every trick you can think of one after another all day (which can be fun) , but you probably won't get good at any one trick. The best thing to do is to practice one trick over and over until you get it right, then move on to the next trick (meanwhile still doing the old tricks sometimes so you don't forget them). Interchange 'trick' with 'BO' or 'strat' and it applies to BW as well.
PS - as far as winning that game, you probably should have built a volley of drones at every hatch and maybe expanded to a mineral only or something, then proceeded to mass (crack)lings into me. counters for ZvZ mass towers = Hydralisk, crack/swarm, guards, etc.
EPT
