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I think I'm stuck.

Blogs > Jakesully
Post a Reply
Jakesully
Profile Blog Joined September 2011
United States24 Posts
October 10 2011 20:56 GMT
#1
Lauren here.

Well guys, I can't tell if I just suck at RTS or need to change what I'm doing. I was number six about a week and a half ago in my league in Bronze. It's been my goal to break into the top five, and for a while, I had the second lowest number of wins with the highest score in the top eight.

I've since fallen to ninth. Then eleventh. Now, apparently (as I just checked), thirteenth.

I've been focusing on my macro, because everything I've read has said that the macro is, largely, what makes the difference between Bronze/Silver/Gold/Plat. I've been working with the "strategy" employed by that guy who did nothing but macro stalkers all the way to diamond, and for a while, things felt good. I was easily out-macroing my opponents, and the wins that I did make didn't even feel close. Then, I started losing. Not by a little, but a lot. Against huge armies with mass Thors, zealot rushes, everything in between. I've played a few silver leaguers lately, but since I'm losing, I don't think that that means I'm getting any better.

Everything I've read has told me that getting the basics down will win me matches. I'm out of bonus pool and just feel like I'm scraping by - badly, at that.

This feels like a lot of whining over something that can be fixed, and part of why I enjoy this game is because you can figure out your weaknesses and adapt. I just don't feel like I'm adapting, and I'm trying to improve. I'm at a loss. Should I just keep working at my macro, or start being more concerned with strategy?

Whine, complain, etc. Nothing to see here.. but advice would be good.

In other news, I'm thinking about buying a place. /news that has nothing to do with Starcraft

***
Plexa
Profile Blog Joined October 2005
Aotearoa39261 Posts
October 10 2011 21:03 GMT
#2
Post a replay!
Administrator~ Spirit will set you free ~
hawliet
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
Mexico112 Posts
October 10 2011 21:03 GMT
#3
post a replay, so we can see what you are doing wrong...
1.There is always something to do while playing starcraft 2. Making probes,pylons,army, map vision, scouting.
2. Always Be Safe.
3. Assume that every player in ladder will cheese you.
4. Watch your replay (even though it hurts if you know why you loose)
5.Micro your units.
6. Practice FF (if your protoss, this can save you )
7. GLHF
If you think you are good enough, you should presume what you want.- Naniwa
acgFork
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
Canada397 Posts
October 10 2011 21:06 GMT
#4
I know how you feel, I was bronze for a long time.. Takes lots of dedication to get out of it.

Epic name bro, Avatar is my fave movie EVAR!!
acgFork 208
Plexa
Profile Blog Joined October 2005
Aotearoa39261 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-10-10 21:08:01
October 10 2011 21:07 GMT
#5
On October 11 2011 06:06 acgFork wrote:
Epic name bro, Avatar is my fave movie EVAR!!
Doh. And here I was thinking it was this guy:

[image loading]
Administrator~ Spirit will set you free ~
green.at
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
Austria1459 Posts
October 10 2011 21:10 GMT
#6
no that guy is called sullivan ^^
Inputting special characters into chat should no longer cause the game to crash.
JingleHell
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States11308 Posts
October 10 2011 21:11 GMT
#7
On October 11 2011 06:10 green.at wrote:
no that guy is called sullivan ^^


Correction: Kitty!
Thienan567
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States670 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-10-10 21:13:40
October 10 2011 21:13 GMT
#8
On October 11 2011 06:03 hawliet wrote:
post a replay, so we can see what you are doing wrong...
1.There is always something to do while playing starcraft 2. Making probes,pylons,army, map vision, scouting.
2. Always Be Safe.
3. Assume that every player in ladder will cheese you.
4. Watch your replay (even though it hurts if you know why you loose)
5.Micro your units.
6. Practice FF (if your protoss, this can save you )
7. GLHF


Points 1, 3, and 4 are all you really need in order to advance out of bronze, silver, and gold at the very least. Oh, and 7
Asha
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United Kingdom38257 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-10-10 21:17:32
October 10 2011 21:16 GMT
#9
I've played a few silver leaguers lately, but since I'm losing, I don't think that that means I'm getting any better.


On the contrary, this very much means you have been getting better!

It can feel counter intuitive but your division rank doesn't actually affect the calibre of player you are meeting, instead matchmaking is done by a hidden matchmaking ratio. If you are playing silver leaguers this means your MMR has gone high enough that you are starting to get towards the boundary between bronze/silver, if you are losing it is just because you are playing better players than you were before.

I would suggest you do learn a bit about basic strategy though; better macro will answer almost all your questions but starting out with a solid build order in each match up will serve you much better in the short term than just getting by on pure mechanics and you'll learn more along the way.

Feel free to post up some replays and I'm sure there'll be a few people willing to watch and offer advice.

ed: lol apparently I'm todays slowpoke.jpg
dotEXE
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
Netherlands41 Posts
October 10 2011 21:21 GMT
#10
Hey, this may sound overly harsh but; Rank 1 Bronze or rank 13, skillwise it really doesn't matter at all. Don't set goals that just aim to reach a certain position on the ladder, set goals that directly influence your gameplay. Focus on the games rather than the outcome.

A blink stalker only build might be pushing the limits of you are really trying to learn the game in my opinion and I'd urge you to mix in more units and maybe try a different build for each matchup. This way you get to familiarise yourself a lot better with your race then with pure blink stalker. Losing to variety should only make you aware of how stale your play has become by using just one build

It's been said a hundred times, and I'll gladly say it again now: Focus on the macro part of the game. Make sure you have ample workers, expand when needed and always make sure you don't get supply-blocked. The more that is ingrained in your mind and hands the easier and faster you will be able to get a big army up. for a little reference to the order of importance use this link.

Focus on the part that is important for you to strengthen, use builds that you feel are fun (even if they aren't the most effective ones) and whenever you feel bad about your play cheese every opponent you can find. They may rage at you, but you can take those silly games to relieve some stress and have a few laughs. Team games are perfect for this, and you really shouldn't worry about wins, losses and ranking at all right about now.

Good luck and HAVE FUN dangit
I couldn't make up a funny quote...
isleyofthenorth
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Austria894 Posts
October 10 2011 21:25 GMT
#11
On October 11 2011 06:06 acgFork wrote:
Avatar is my fave movie EVAR!!


god i hope youre being sarcrastic
The_Templar
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
your Country52798 Posts
October 10 2011 21:45 GMT
#12
On October 11 2011 05:56 Jakesully wrote:
Lauren here.

Well guys, I can't tell if I just suck at RTS or need to change what I'm doing. I was number six about a week and a half ago in my league in Bronze. It's been my goal to break into the top five, and for a while, I had the second lowest number of wins with the highest score in the top eight.

I've since fallen to ninth. Then eleventh. Now, apparently (as I just checked), thirteenth.

I've been focusing on my macro, because everything I've read has said that the macro is, largely, what makes the difference between Bronze/Silver/Gold/Plat. I've been working with the "strategy" employed by that guy who did nothing but macro stalkers all the way to diamond, and for a while, things felt good. I was easily out-macroing my opponents, and the wins that I did make didn't even feel close. Then, I started losing. Not by a little, but a lot. Against huge armies with mass Thors, zealot rushes, everything in between. I've played a few silver leaguers lately, but since I'm losing, I don't think that that means I'm getting any better.

Everything I've read has told me that getting the basics down will win me matches. I'm out of bonus pool and just feel like I'm scraping by - badly, at that.

This feels like a lot of whining over something that can be fixed, and part of why I enjoy this game is because you can figure out your weaknesses and adapt. I just don't feel like I'm adapting, and I'm trying to improve. I'm at a loss. Should I just keep working at my macro, or start being more concerned with strategy?

Whine, complain, etc. Nothing to see here.. but advice would be good.

In other news, I'm thinking about buying a place. /news that has nothing to do with Starcraft

Rank doesn't always matter. There can be a rank 1 bronze that is constantly facing mid-high bronze and breaking even, or a rank 17 bronze facing mid-silver and winning most of them.
Just focus on macro, and learn unit counters so you don't go something like mass stalker vs mass marauder.
ModeratorI am still alive, somehow
TL+ Member
The_Templar
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
your Country52798 Posts
October 10 2011 21:46 GMT
#13
On October 11 2011 06:13 Thienan567 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 11 2011 06:03 hawliet wrote:
post a replay, so we can see what you are doing wrong...
1.There is always something to do while playing starcraft 2. Making probes,pylons,army, map vision, scouting.
2. Always Be Safe.
3. Assume that every player in ladder will cheese you.
4. Watch your replay (even though it hurts if you know why you loose)
5.Micro your units.
6. Practice FF (if your protoss, this can save you )
7. GLHF


Points 1, 3, and 4 are all you really need in order to advance out of bronze, silver, and gold at the very least. Oh, and 7

This is also correct ^^
Although I never expected cheese...
Cannon rush
ModeratorI am still alive, somehow
TL+ Member
Kangbao
Profile Blog Joined August 2011
United States34 Posts
October 10 2011 21:51 GMT
#14
I started out in bronze, and I've just recently entered Diamond. There are a few things you need to do to get out of bronze. Macro is important, but at first in bronze, tightening up your opening is needed, that way you can at least knock out loses from 6pools (even high level people will lose to these, but bronze cheesers are worse at it), etc. After you stop the stupid loses, you can work on your macro.

Depending on your race, you have to learn a few things to macro. In general, build workers and try to minimize supply blocks (you probably won't stop them all, even qxc has admitted to still have supply block difficulties). After that, produce. This is what people mean when they say macro will make you win. As long as you're producing constantly and not getting supply blocked, you'll just have so much more stuff than your opponent that it won't matter what they build.

Don't get discouraged. Keep playing. If you ever want some help or anything, Kangbao.644 on NA server. Send me a message or something and I'll see if I can't help you out.
"Were you born stupid or did you have to work to get that way?" - Detwiler
reneg
Profile Joined September 2010
United States859 Posts
October 10 2011 22:25 GMT
#15
On October 11 2011 06:51 Kangbao wrote:
I started out in bronze, and I've just recently entered Diamond. There are a few things you need to do to get out of bronze. Macro is important, but at first in bronze, tightening up your opening is needed, that way you can at least knock out loses from 6pools (even high level people will lose to these, but bronze cheesers are worse at it), etc. After you stop the stupid loses, you can work on your macro.

Depending on your race, you have to learn a few things to macro. In general, build workers and try to minimize supply blocks (you probably won't stop them all, even qxc has admitted to still have supply block difficulties). After that, produce. This is what people mean when they say macro will make you win. As long as you're producing constantly and not getting supply blocked, you'll just have so much more stuff than your opponent that it won't matter what they build.

Don't get discouraged. Keep playing. If you ever want some help or anything, Kangbao.644 on NA server. Send me a message or something and I'll see if I can't help you out.


I feel like this is a lot of really great advice. I know my play started to take off from bronze level when i started paying attention to my openings, and just doing what pros were doing again and again and again.

14/14, hatch first, etc just got better and better. So i'd start getting speed a lot earlier. And then i'd have more gas for other things, and as everything tightened up, i was suddenly rolling people in bronze league like it was nothing.

But yea! Like everyone else is saying, post some replays! We'd all love to help!
moose...indian
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