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What you might want to do is create a 1on1 game with a comp, start the game countdown, and close the computer slot. Click continue playing and then play from there to get your BO down. Keep it written down so you can look at it and sooner or later you'll have it memorized.
Know what the objective of your BO is, what you're trying to accomplish and know what they'll try and do to stop you, know what to look for. That takes games and replays.
How does someone get better? It's not just about playing a lot of games, nor is there a certain amount (i.e. 2 years) of time until you get there, why? Because the Principle of Individuality would say everyone is different. Now to bring me back to the former, one could play golf for 20 years and never break 90, again the answer being because one doesn't improve just by practice. One improves by practice (with the correct goals) with proper feedback.
When you lose, you've got to learn why, and work on correcting it. The same mistake you make in game 1 shouldn't happen in game 40.
When you play and work on learning your BO and timing, do it in non-fatigued conditions. Why? "Skills and tactical elements are learned faster and retained better when learning occurs in non-fatigued states. All learning should precede (be before) any occurrence of fatigue in a training session... it has been shown that techniques and tactics learned in non-fatigued states produce better performances in fatigued states than do skills that have been learned in the persence of fatigue (Barnett, Ross, Schmidt, & Todd, 1973; Williams, McEwan, Watkins, Gillespie, & Boyd, 1979)." - The Science and Art of Baseball Pitching
The coach's complete handbook to scientific pitching by Dick Mills and Dr. Brent S. Rushall, Ph.D., R. Psy
Having someone around providing positive and correct feedback should put you on the fast track of improvement.
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If you're trying to get better, you need to do the standard builds instead of 4pools. 4pooling might get you wins but it won't train your mechanics. Keep playing a lot and remember that other players had to go through or are going through the same thing you are.
PM me if you want some help. I wouldn't mind playing a few games and giving you pointers.
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On July 29 2009 14:50 DrLefTy wrote:Just curious... how many games do I have to lose before I get any good? Almost all of the games I've won are 4pools, and trying to play standard always ends horribly. I don't feel like I'm making any progress at getting anywhere in SC. http://www.iccup.com/starcraft/gamingprofile/dr_left.htmlFor reference, I was in the top 500 in Kane's Wrath and played TF2 competitively, so its not like I've never seen a computer before. Granted, I've played SC for probably two months now, but I feel like I'm not making any progress. Any advice? Depends on the person. Personally I went from d- to a c in like a year and a half, but with only 100 games in that span. I didn't [and dont] play often. But I DID watch a LOT of vods, and was constantly thinking about starcraft strategy, mechanics, etc. It honestly did help, and even if I hadn't played starcraft in a few weeks, I would still see improvement match by match. So yeah mines a rare case, most people just cant get in that mechanical skill unless they do constant repetition. But I wouldn't be saying this if I thought I couldn't help any: Maybe you will have to play a lot more games then I did to go anywhere in the ranks, but watching a lot of vods, thinking about starcraft strategy when your not playing, and really understanding why every decision was made is immensely helpful. Mechanics [especially really good mechanics] just take time and force of will. But you truly can boost yourself up a rank just by understanding what your doing and why.
Edit: And dont pigeon hole yourself into a particular style of play. When I first started playing on iccup I tried to take top players advice and play a very macro based style. Yeah thats good to get good macro, but if its not your thing it just wont work out for you. You will be less enthusiastic, and you just wont learn as quickly. If you like a harras oriented game, or a game with constant pressure just find a pro gamer who is stylistically similar and attempt to emulate him.
edit2: By the way another thing that is very useful is knowing how to adapt your build order or make it more efficient. I was once using a 1 gate tech build by stork in order to get fast obs and expand. But with fickling around with probe timing, range timing or whatever, I was able to do what I wanted and make the build a lot more of a flexible opener. I mean, that didn't improve my play drastically but just being able to tick with your build really helps with the concept of timing, which is [honestly] what macro is all about.
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On July 29 2009 15:02 Artosis wrote:
takes about 2 years to get good at sc.start progressing
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On July 29 2009 16:20 Dazed_Spy wrote:
Depends on the person. Personally I went from d- to a c in like a year and a half, but with only 100 games in that span. I didn't [and dont] play often.
100 games is less then one season of iccup, since youve played it within 1.5 years means you never ranked as C( that would be about 60-80 games even with 50-60% winrate)
whatever, its bullshit
(orky)asmodey once said that you cant estimate whether you going to get good at sc or not until youve played 10k games, and this was literally years ago. I vouch for this
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On July 29 2009 16:33 food wrote:Show nested quote +On July 29 2009 16:20 Dazed_Spy wrote:
Depends on the person. Personally I went from d- to a c in like a year and a half, but with only 100 games in that span. I didn't [and dont] play often.
100 games is less then one season of iccup, since youve played it within 1.5 years means you never ranked as C( that would be about 60-80 games even with 50-60% winrate) whatever, its bullshit (orky)asmodey once said that you cant estimate whether you going to get good at sc or not until youve played 10k games, and this was literally years ago. I vouch for this Maybe I had a high win rate, ya douche? Getting to c is just about rolling over d players who don't know any strategy or macro, it aint impressive or difficult. 100 was only my estimate from my old auto replay folder, could be more seeing as how I uninstalled the game, but whatever.
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On July 29 2009 15:13 o3.power91 wrote:Not arguing or anything, but around what ICC level will 2 years of casual gaming get you to? I've been playing casually for around a year and a half now (including a long period of "UMSing") and I just got to D+ last season 
+ Show Spoiler +C protoss, C- zerg, D+ terran.
Besides being a dick I'll add that you can't estimate off of "2 years casual". The only way to know is to see for yourself. There are just way too many factors such as individual talent, what you define as "casual" and how you practice.
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Stop 4 pooling, practice more, but THINK. 1 hour of mental effort is better than 5 of brainless play. Analyze replays, if you need help get ppl to watch them with you, etc. Don't worry about your rank too much. I've been playing for 10 months and I'm still D. Sometimes I move up in rank then suddenly ppl with lower rank destroy me, sometimes I destroy ppl of higher rank - shit happens :D. Most important: stay POSITIVE and HAVE FUN. Having an optimistic attitude can often automatically improve your play, just pretend you're pro 
Also sometimes you may need to take 1 or 2 days off from Starcraft if you've been playing too much, kinda like with anything (like with an instrument). When you come back you'll feel more refreshed and get new perspectives on your gameplay.
Glhf
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On July 29 2009 14:58 BanZu wrote:
1. Stop doing cheesy/all-in strats
2. Exactly 1 billion games.
that's a stupid idea.
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games you 4pool dont count as games you played, sorry.
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On July 29 2009 15:02 Artosis wrote:
10.5 years and counting
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On July 29 2009 15:02 Artosis wrote:
takes about 2 years to get good at sc.
On July 29 2009 22:14 IdrA wrote:
Wow... I'm starstruck.
I appreciate all the advice. If anyone wants to give me some pointers or play a game or watch some of my replays, PM me please. Thanks again everyone
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is awesome32282 Posts
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On July 30 2009 13:14 DrLefTy wrote:Show nested quote +On July 29 2009 22:14 IdrA wrote:On July 29 2009 15:02 Artosis wrote:
10.5 years and counting Wow... I'm starstruck. I appreciate all the advice. If anyone wants to give me some pointers or play a game or watch some of my replays, PM me please. Thanks again everyone
No one mentioned channel OP IRC @ ICCUP yet. Have you been there?
What bos do you use currently btw?
edit: forgot to mention good motivation... I've played like 60-70 games on iccup total gonna get serious little more this season... and if by any good you mean D+ it should be soon imo.
Favourite MU?
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On July 30 2009 14:20 beetlelisk wrote:No one mentioned channel OP IRC @ ICCUP yet. Have you been there? What bos do you use currently btw? edit: forgot to mention good motivation... I've played like 60-70 games on iccup total gonna get serious little more this season... and if by any good you mean D+ it should be soon imo. Favourite MU?
ZvZ i do 1hatch ling speed into mutas, expanding if my opponent does, ZvT I try to 12hatch into 3hatch muta into lurkers, ZvP I try 3base spire into 5hatch hydra (this always goes horribly), and I don't know what to do if toss 1bases, I usually get rolled.
I will look into that IRC Team. I don't really have a favorite matchup,but I can say my least favorite is ZvP. I get rolled by the toss ball every time.
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EPT
