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Intro
Ever since I was in middle school I wanted to be the next GARIMTO (nostalgic, no?) But I had always had something holding me back, whether it be my dad for whipping me after I played too much, the five AP classes that I took, me getting incredibly discouraged after losing 10 games in a row, etc.
All that has changed. I don't expect to be the next BeSt or anything, but I have set my goal to becoming at least a "B" on iCCup by September. Lofty? Yes. But would it be better for me if I lowered my goal to a C? I don't think so. With enough effective/efficient practice I feel that getting a B within two months time can be attainable. Feel free to bash/discourage and tell me that I won't be able to do it, that's cool, if by the end of this whole thing you're right, then we had a good laugh, if by the end of this whole thing you're wrong, then maybe through this blog I can make something of value for people of the future who are in my current situation.
I want to blog the experiences that I go through so that if I become a good StarCraft player, that people can have a closer look at what exactly it took to get there. It will be a good reference tool for anybody that wants to move up the ranks really quickly, and proof that people don't just become good because they were "meant" to be good. The road to success isn't an easy one, but maybe that's a good thing. Teachers often times have a hard time figuring out how to help their students because they forget the experiences they had to go through in order to achieve success in their discipline, but if I blog my experiences as they are happening, then I feel this might become an invaluable resource.
Without further ado.
Week One
I started the previous week with 0-0 on iCCup and I dropped down to D- three times due to immense rust, but after playing fifty-ish games I have stayed pretty stagnant between 1000-1500.
My OTHER Life Goal Accomplished
Looking at the trajectory at which I am improving I will definitely need to play way more than fifty games a week if I want to accomplish my goal by the intended time.
What I Learned This Past Week
APM matters
I used to think that through playing a lot that your hand speed would naturally get better. While that may still hold true, I am trying a new approach. I am going to force myself to multitask as much as possible and see if by pushing myself to my limits that I will make it come second nature to me. Thus, even though I am having a harder time thinking about strategical aspects of the game, I am hoping that in a few weeks time when I get used to the higher speed that I will be able to think as clearly as I used to with 100APM. It was almost impossible to get everything I needed to get done in the Mid/Late game with only 100APM, my macro was atrocious when I was microing a big battle, and my units died as I took too much time warping structures from Aiur.
I lost many of my first games with this approach to increasing my APM, as I lost sight of many strategical aspects since I was so busy, but after the twentieth game or so, I started thinking much more clearly, and I started thinking ahead. Many people seem to believe in the notion that
Expanded Thought About Strategy ---> Faster APM
and while this may be true, I think that a more effective and efficient approach is
Faster APM ---> Expanded Thought about Strategy
This is only my theory (it may change as I play more) but feel free to criticize it since I can already hear the critics.
Gaining faster APM was like putting lead weights on myself. I needed to be very critical of myself. It used to be that I was "okay" with not having much to do other than sitting at home making zealots. NOW I get really antsy when I have nothing to do, thus my mind is always questioning "What can I do now??? so that things aren't going so slowly" I used to be okay with letting my scouting probe die when it reaches the enemy base, NOW I do everything I can to keep it alive so that I won't have to just sit at home doing nothing but teching up. I'm trying to find more and more things to do, and am disgruntled with my current APM, hopefully I can get 300 by the time I reach my intended goal
Things I Will Be Working On
1) Knowing where I want to spend my money AHEAD of time.
2) Thinking ahead of the game better.
3) Early game micro against Protoss and Zergs who attack my probes.
4) Being able to storm like [Oops]Reach (in his 2004 form)
5) Constantly scouting
6) Knowing the best GAME PLAN
7) How to not get stomped by three hatch Zergs when I go Fast Expand.
8) etc.
So yeah, there you have it, I'll try to make the next blog better, this one was short since it's the first one and I just played fifty games. Hopefully I'll learn some newer aspects of the game so that I can blog them here!
 
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GL!! im also trying to make it to at least a c+.
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United States43300 Posts
You're Protoss. There is no reason at all why you can't be B rank with 100 apm. I am.
In my opinion the most important thing to learn is to play a logical game. Rather than do stuff because the pros do, or because you think you ought to be, or because you have spare minerals learn to analyse the situation.
At every point you need to be thinking
1. What does he have?
2. What can he do with that?
3. What do I have?
4. What can I do with what I have against what he could be doing?
When you start doing this then you will find yourself playing a much solider game. Take PvT. The biggest problem a lot of people have in PvT is making units when you can't use them (terrans camping) and making expansions when you can't hold them. If they thought more about the situation they'd learn when to do what. All the strategical stuff you'll find you already know, even if you don't know it. Most of it is just common sense or extrapolation from the basics.
If you have trouble juggling all your information and analysis in your mind while trying to play a game then start playing friendlies with a partner who is better than you and just ask to pause every now and then so you can think the game through. For example in a PvP on Python where you scouted a 1 gate, 1 zealot, range opening but then accidently lost your scout to the zealot. You know he could cancel range and dark rush, he could add a gateway and mass goon, he could cancel range and fast reaver, he could go slower dark rush or slower reaver rush. When you consider these possibilities you find out it's actually pretty easy to play safe against that.
Go 1 gate, range, robo, 2nd gate, shuttle, observer, reaver with constant goon production. Put a probe outside his ramp so if he moves out with massgoon or tries to expand you know immediately. Put 2 goons walled on the ramp, one behind the other, so if he dark rushes you get a warning and an extra 20 seconds. Put the other goons in anti reaver drop spots. If he moves out with a lot of dragoons your scout probe will warn you and you can then abandon the antireaver position and hold the ramp because you know what you're dealing with.
Just a basic example of how to read a situation and counter a range of options which far too many players fail to do.
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A sad fact of this game is not every player can help themselves. Make sure your improving in the correct way. You need to compare yourself to better B players and find all the differences, then play games with the intention of erasing those differences. Become a clone first.
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On July 09 2008 00:06 Kwark wrote:
You're Protoss. There is no reason at all why you can't be B rank with 100 apm. I am.
lol! haha...
but gl!, really i think C is a more realistic goal, going from B- to B can be TOUGH, little room for micro screw ups...
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FUckFuckFuck!
I need my D+!!
Kwark, "Evan D rank is inflatory!"
Evan, "Oh gee thx I rly rly suck"
T_T
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United States24744 Posts
Kwark's post is very good. Honestly, you can go by what he said and nothing else and be on the right track for months.
My pvt is undergoing a transformation now because I've started trying to play it logically rather than automatically/mechanically. People always told me to send a certain obs to his factories to see what he's making, and I used to feel like I was too preoccupied with other stuff to look at and take advantage of the intel... but I've since come to realize that knowing how many facts he has, how many addons, etc, is extremely important and helps answer a lot of other questions I tend to have. I never knew when to get third, fourth, etc, and relied on luck and conservative play. By adjusting my mindset/plan (rather than my mechanics/apm) I learned how to play more effectively. Of course, I now have to do what you are planning, and play a lot and try out different things vs real opponents before I see the results in ladder play or matches vs skilled opponents.
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Kwark you helped me loads, and I am not op!
But I am not smart enough to do that....
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United States24744 Posts
On July 09 2008 01:37 DamageControL wrote:
Kwark you helped me loads, and I am not op!
But I am not smart enough to do that....
Lol Bullshit. Maybe you can't play smart unrehearsed? But certainly you can learn from experience, thinking about replays, and talking with other players, what you should be looking for, and what to do depending on what you see etc... take my example.
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Calgary25989 Posts
On July 09 2008 00:06 Kwark wrote:
You're Protoss. There is no reason at all why you can't be B rank with 100 apm. I am.
Inflated B is B nonetheless I suppose. How much do you love yourself Kwark? Like on a 1-10 can you quantify it?
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100 apm is just too low regardless of the matchup
you will be missing alot of stuff and you wont be able to multitask or macro for shit while at the same time fighting battles, just doesnt cut it
get up to the 200 range and you should be able to hold your own easier at least in PvT/PvP
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United States24744 Posts
On July 09 2008 02:06 Holylight wrote:
100 apm is just too low regardless of the matchup
you will be missing alot of stuff and you wont be able to multitask or macro for shit while at the same time fighting battles, just doesnt cut it
get up to the 200 range and you should be able to hold your own easier at least in PvT/PvP
I don't think that's really necessary. While 100 is a bit low, 150 is more than enough for the OP to go up a rank, or even two.
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On July 09 2008 02:07 micronesia wrote:Show nested quote +On July 09 2008 02:06 Holylight wrote:
100 apm is just too low regardless of the matchup
you will be missing alot of stuff and you wont be able to multitask or macro for shit while at the same time fighting battles, just doesnt cut it
get up to the 200 range and you should be able to hold your own easier at least in PvT/PvP
I don't think that's really necessary. While 100 is a bit low, 150 is more than enough for the OP to go up a rank, or even two.
Surely, 150 is not THAT bad for toss and you can probably win alot with 150 APM.
It's just that when the skill level goes up so does APM since you have to do less mistakes, macro more, harass more etc and its not humanly possible to play like maestro with 100 apm
However he might wanna be the best player he can be, and therefore should aim for higher speed along with reading the game better.
Theres a reason really good players dont have 100-150 apm
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I think I'm going to start iccuping again over the summer... :D
gogogo 120 apm terran!
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United States24744 Posts
On July 09 2008 02:10 Holylight wrote:Show nested quote +On July 09 2008 02:07 micronesia wrote:On July 09 2008 02:06 Holylight wrote:
100 apm is just too low regardless of the matchup
you will be missing alot of stuff and you wont be able to multitask or macro for shit while at the same time fighting battles, just doesnt cut it
get up to the 200 range and you should be able to hold your own easier at least in PvT/PvP
I don't think that's really necessary. While 100 is a bit low, 150 is more than enough for the OP to go up a rank, or even two. Surely, 150 is not THAT bad for toss and you can probably win alot with 150 APM. It's just that when the skill level goes up so does APM since you have to do less mistakes, macro more, harass more etc and its not humanly possible to play like maestro with 100 apm However he might wanna be the best player he can be, and therefore should aim for higher speed along with reading the game better. Theres a reason really good players dont have 100-150 apm
I don't disagree with you. I am just pointing out that a player who hasn't reached a high rank yet should focus on the ranks ahead of him, rather than distant goals. If I am currently a 130apm C-, and I feel like I'll need 150 apm to get to C+, I'll practice until I can play at C+ level with 150 apm. Sure, I'd love to be a 200 apm B... or a 400 apm progamer, but one step at a time.
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if you dont spam at all, like pressing move once, build only if the money is there etc. im sure 100 apm can get you quite far.
pumping goons out of 12 gates constantly requires 29 apm. 18 apm for pumping probes from 3 nexi + 9 apm for ordering them to the minerals.over an entire game you build hardly more than 5 buildings/min.
thats another 20 apm if you select a new drone every time and send it back mining afterwards.
so its 29+18+9+20=76 apm for macro. if you dont spam at all while microing, 24 orders per minute used effectivly are also quite mighty im sure.
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im 130 apm and im c- zerg
also, go play more games instead of posting stuff here. do that when u get to b.
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On July 09 2008 00:06 Kwark wrote:
You're Protoss. There is no reason at all why you can't be B rank with 100 apm. I am.
here we go again
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United States43300 Posts
On July 09 2008 02:42 YoUr_KiLLeR wrote:Show nested quote +On July 09 2008 00:06 Kwark wrote:
You're Protoss. There is no reason at all why you can't be B rank with 100 apm. I am. here we go again
Was there any doubt I'd do it? :D
In my defence I also put lots of helpful stuff there too and the apm=skill fallacy does need to be attacked.
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United States43300 Posts
On July 09 2008 01:51 Chill wrote:Show nested quote +On July 09 2008 00:06 Kwark wrote:
You're Protoss. There is no reason at all why you can't be B rank with 100 apm. I am.
Inflated B is B nonetheless I suppose. How much do you love yourself Kwark? Like on a 1-10 can you quantify it?
Lol. Obviously a 10. If I posted in this topic without saying that you'd all be like "wtf?" anyway. I've created a persona for myself. I have to stick to it.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/Jinwonee/leetScore.png)
