Confessions of a DT Rusher

Confessions of a DT Rusher

Dear readers and fellow Teamliquiders:

I've been bottling up some guilty feelings inside for quite some time that I simply cannot hold in any longer. Some of the things I share here may offend some BW players and I realize I may make some enemies because of it. Nevertheless, the truth must out!

This past week, I began to play with some ideas for my 100th post and first blog post. Perhaps some of my initial thoughts of the SC2 beta? Or some comments on MIT's recent fall from the CSL playoffs? I laid awake a few nights ago racking my brain for a good idea for a post. When I fell asleep, I dreamed I had made a post so good that it was followed by page after page of "5/5"s and witty one-liners and relevant lolcats images. But every now and then, my dream was punctuated by a very familiar sound: the sound of SCVs dying. You know the sound. It's the squeal of the Terran worker right before it explodes into (what I considered) a pretty fireball. I woke up in a sweat, realizing what I had to do next. I took this vision as a sign of what my post ought to be about.

You see, before the SC2 beta, when I laddered iCCup much more than I do now, I came to enjoy that SCV death noise because I heard it so much. My PvT build (yes, my ONE PvT build) was a proxy DT rush -> expand, and because of this, I came to kill a lot of SCVs with DTs. I did this build every PvT, any map, any rank (except for a few proxy 2gate zeals on Desti, HBR, etc.). For those who want the details:

+ Show Spoiler [Proxy DT Expand BO] +

8 pylon
10 gateway -> scout
11 gas -> proxy probe
13 core
14 proxy pylon
16 proxy citadel
17 goon
20 gateway
20 proxy templar archives
22 pylon
23 2x DTs :D
29 nexus

Yes, I can recite this build from memory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmdoXLf6VR0&feature=related
Woohoo DTs!

When I first crafted this build, I felt like I had broken PvT. It was so sneaky yet so strong! I lol'd at Terrans who saw my spinning core and thought they had me all figured out. I lol'd as they lifted their rax to do some cute push with a tank and some marines, letting my DTs run in and have their orgy in the T mineral line. Or even if they played pussy Terran and camped their wall, I quickly realized that 2 DTs kill a supply depot soooo fast! I lol'd as vultures scrambled to lay mines around their CC, only to have the DTs run up and snipe them, or else drag them right into the SCVs. Oh the joy of having a mine kill 10293809 SCVs, leaving the DT only half damaged! And the best part: the "you noob" or "wow so gay" that inevitably followed! (Or in the case of koreans, the disconnect.) I'm not gonna lie, I felt pretty pro with my perfectly executed build (not to mention my awesome hotkey spam). I could climb to C with PvT with great win rates, and I did so multiple times (after rank resets/making new accounts obviously), just to show how pro I really was. Of course, I necessarily had to dodge PvP unless it was a 2player map (so I could proxy 2gate), and LOL of course I just booted any Zs.

Whenever I heard a T complain about how easy P was, I'd shrug it off, keeping in mind that my PvT had its own set of difficulties as well! Just consider how much mining time I had to lose to send my 11 probe out to proxy! :O And think about all the time I needed to put into practicing PvT: whenever a new map came out, I rushed to single player mode to find the perfect proxy locations. Sometimes I amazed myself at how gosu my building placements could be (you should see my Python 12/6 oclock ones, they're soooo good). While Terrans practiced their "timings" and such, I practiced DT vs vulture mine micro and when to fake +1 air.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFZugJfMqdY&feature=related
Don't ever say that DTs don't require micro.

I held this mentality of PvT (and BW in general, I guess) for a long time. I knew that, for most players, even some blue ranked, I could do serious damage with the DTs and followup with a big ass 2base 6gate hanbang (assuming I didn't win outright with the DTs, which also happened a lot). I also knew, however, that there were those players that could just read me like a book, cut a few corners, get that turret up faster, and enter the midgame ahead. (Or for the Koreans, just 2fac vulture...) I was close-minded, though: I found something that worked a lot and I wanted to make it work 100% of the time.

It wasn't until the CSL that I realized I couldn't rely on these gimmicks outside of the ladder (especially since my replays were made available for the next rounds T_T). For example, though my proxy gates PvP worked 3/3 times this season, I'll inevitably come across someone who will simply outclass me and stop it. And I'd hate that. Though I did pick up a good build or two for PvP and PvZ just for CSL, I knew this was nowhere near enough to get me out of the niche I had put myself in and that I would definitely never get to B-/B unless I reworked my WHOLE game.

Unfortunately/fortunately (take your pick), the SC2 beta has stolen the limelight, so it would be a little late for me to learn proper play in BW. Instead, I'm committing myself to being a solid SC2 player. Before I had a key, I played some games against the AI, and within minutes I had a roach rush and a marine/marauder rush that could beat it 100% of the time. I didn't even bother exploring the tech tree, I just did the same build over and over, faster and faster. Though I've now had decent success with these builds on the ladder, I don't want to repeat my BW mistakes. Especially since SC2 is still in its infancy, I feel like I should be stepping out of my comfort zone, trying new builds/units, etc..

Put simply, I don't want to be the SC2 equivalent of "that cheesy protoss" in BW.

So where does that leave me? Well, as TL steps into this brave new land of SC2, I don't want to push my BW PvT transgressions under the rug. I don't want to leave BW with these skeletons in my closet. With that said, to all the Terrans of Broodwar, I ask you to forgive my poor nooby Protoss self. I'm sure there are plenty of you who have been been the victim of a DT rush TvP... hell I might have done it to you at some point! :O To you people especially, I'm sorry for the thousands of SCVs I ever killed with a DT. I'm sorry for the hundreds of probes I pulled away from mining to do the lesser deed of proxying templar tech.

I sincerely hope that, somewhere in their heavy metal, 3/3 hearts, the Terrans will be able to forgive me.

-FiBsTeR

TL/DR:

Poll: Pick the phrase that you most agree with.

I'm Terran. Fuck you. (65)

40%

I'm Protoss and your play seems solid to me. (43)

27%

I'm Zerg and I could care less. (26)

16%

I'm Protoss and you are a disgrace to all Protoss players. (22)

14%

I'm Terran and I accept your apology. (5)

3%

161 total votes

Your vote: Pick the phrase that you most agree with.

(Vote): I'm Protoss and your play seems solid to me.
(Vote): I'm Protoss and you are a disgrace to all Protoss players.
(Vote): I'm Terran. Fuck you.
(Vote): I'm Terran and I accept your apology.
(Vote): I'm Zerg and I could care less.

PS:

They say pictures speak a thousand words. I've tried to convey what kind of BW player I am through my little letter above, but that may not be enough. Below I've compiled a montage of images that I hope help to show my true self. Hey, maybe one of these players is you! (I've blurred out the names to save embarrassment.

)

+ Show Spoiler [BWChart] +

And this is just my Autoreplay folder... and not even counting my smurf names... :S

+ Show Spoiler [Proxy Locations] +

You have to admit this is pretty clever. Not only does the SCV not see the tech via any standard scouting path, but I now know exactly where the scouting SCV is, which will help me time the fake +1 air! Amazing!

+ Show Spoiler [PvT Python 1] +

The standard response when the DTs are first ~~seen~~ heard.

[image loading]

Note the 38/80 health. This means the DT has survived a mine... whereas plenty of SCVs did not.

+ Show Spoiler [PvT Python 2] +

Once the SCVs stop trying to run away, you know the T is typing something at you.

[image loading]

He keeps talking and talking but I don't feel like taking more screenshots so I'll skip to the end...

[image loading]

He really does wait until his buildings all die.

[image loading]

+ Show Spoiler [PvT HBR 1] +

IIRC this was on USEast (don't judge me) and this guy was just randomly in whatever channel I was in. And before the game we were chatting about some stuff and I think we were even talking about high school or something (this was years ago), just talking. Then we play a game and I DT rush...

[image loading]

Needless to say I never heard from him again. Maybe this is why my /f l is empty...

+ Show Spoiler [PvT HBR 2] +

This was definitely on USEast because this T did his own BBS: bunker bunker supply. I kinda felt bad with my DTs walking into his base and half his SCVs were just sitting next to the patches not even mining. But anyway I eventually kill him/chase down his floating buildings, when he starts calling me a hacker and saying I rigged the map and such. This was probably his most memorable line:

[image loading]

+ Show Spoiler [PvT HBR 3] +

This was on iccup and he had a pretty 14-0 stat, or some other undefeated record. Which of course made it that much harder to believe I'd be putting him at 14-1.

[image loading]

He was korean if you couldn't tell.

+ Show Spoiler [PvP Matchpoint] +

I did my proxy 2gate. The other guy started making a shit ton of gateways and shield batteries so I just decided to run my zeals around and go DTs.

As he continues to comment on my bad play, my DTs run across the map.

[image loading]

After I kill his cannons/nexus, he ships all his shit to my base hoping for an elimination race...

[image loading]

Oh and btw, I checked after and it turns out he was B last season. Go figure.

+ Show Spoiler [PvZ Desti] +

This is one of those RARE PvZs I had to play in order to practice for CSL. And even then I do a really gay sair/reaver -> zeal/reaver hanbang.

[image loading]

If the other guy says 'gg' but doesn't leave for a while, you can tell he's typing something. True story.

[image loading]

I'll never learn starcraftr, indeed.

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