What Does It Take?

naventus

United States1337 Posts

June 21 2008 00:15 GMT

I've given some serious thought to playing B+ level (my understanding is that B+/A- is a pretty solid player).

Right now, I'm just another C- Terran scrub, maybe with the current training routine could get up to C/C+. What has been your experience on what it takes to get to B+? Is it really a ton of time (4h a day?) or is it possible with discipline and just 1h a day? Since I would guess it varies person to person, I'd like to read some of your experiences.

I have read that Aether, one of old school top WC3 players, used to play only 1 hour a day. I'm not sure that's true though - thoughts?

ahole-surprise

United States813 Posts

June 21 2008 00:35 GMT

I found it funny that you've been giving "serious thought to playing B+ level" like it's just a decision that you make and when you do you're B+. I know that's not what you meant by that's how it came off.

Obviously it varies from person to person, but generally the jump from lowest levels (and I consider D-, D, D+ and C- to be in that tier) to highest levels (B+, A-) takes at least a year or two of constant play.

And there's no guarantee, many players just plateau at some point and never get better.
Personally, it took me 2 years of on and off play to get from D level to C+.

skyglow1

New Zealand3962 Posts

June 21 2008 00:45 GMT

Improving in the D- to C- is nowhere near as difficult as going from C- to B+. You'll often here people who have hit a skill ceiling at around the C/C- level, even if getting to that point was not much trouble.

I think the reason for this is that up to C level, improving your mechanics has a large impact on your play. Having better macro, micro, scouting etc goes a long way in getting you up the ranks. The problem with advancing beyond C is that you HAVE to play smarter, not just with better mechanics, if you want to improve significantly. For some people this is very difficult as it requires alot of thought about what you are doing wrong in a strategical and tactical sense. It's much easier to point out obvious flaws in say your macro and fix them, than to identify that your timing was off in a game and what you should've done instead.

I get this from personal experience, so I don't know how well it applies to other people. What I found after getting to about C is that my mechanics were getting to pretty much as good as they'd ever be, but to go any further up the ranks I'd have to put much more thought into how I play the game.

ahole-surprise

United States813 Posts

June 21 2008 00:50 GMT

I agree with the above, essentially I'm a C player but I can get the points for a C+. I also think the rate of improvement may vary significantly by race and even matchup.

Personally, I found ZvP one of the hardest matchups to start from a D level because it requires so much strategical and tactical understanding, whereas ZvZ and ZvT were relatively easy starting off. But once ZvP clicked, it started getting fun, although I've run into B- level Protosses with perfect macro and it's getting annoying.

I also think TvP requires a really good strategical and tactical understanding, more than TvZ. TvT is just unique and I honestly cannot assess my own abilities in that matchup.

naventus

United States1337 Posts

June 21 2008 00:59 GMT

I wanted to figure out if it made sense for me to keep on playing - if it were even possible to improve at that rate (and it might not be) and get to a solid game.

It also may be the case that the only way I can find out is if I try it.

Wizard

Poland5055 Posts

June 21 2008 01:06 GMT

Just to note, to get to a certain level you will need to invest lots of time but once your at that level, it takes a lot less time to maintain your skill.

skyglow1

New Zealand3962 Posts

June 21 2008 01:16 GMT

On June 21 2008 09:59 naventus wrote:
I wanted to figure out if it made sense for me to keep on playing - if it were even possible to improve at that rate (and it might not be) and get to a solid game.

It also may be the case that the only way I can find out is if I try it.

When you say you're C-, do you mean when you play ICCup you level at out C- when you play alot of games? If you're C- with bad stats, it'll take you quite a long to get to B+. I'm just making big approximations but I'd say if you spent 4 hours a day for a year you might be able to do it. You'd have to put in like 100% all the time, and concentrating as hard as you can while not being put off by any losses etc. Whether or not that's worth it is up to you.

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