Simple Questions, Simple Answers - Page 68

On March 08 2012 19:09 ajmbek wrote:
usually when i look at a mine replay right after a game i alredy know where is the mistake, and i just desire to see it more clear so i will not forgot in future.
more generally i look at mine nexuses, had to blink non-stop, or to mine minerals to net get high, generally if i look it immidiately after the game i spend much time looking what mine opponent has done, and if mine scauting suppositions were wrong or not, looking at what better attack timing shoud have i done or somethink like this.

On March 08 2012 20:09 JMave wrote:


back when i used to play a whole lot, i would usually watch my replays twice. the first time i watch it, i would be focusing on my macro and the timing that i add my production facilities and match it to what he does. like if say he does a 3 hatch muta against me and i later died to a muta lurker ling attack, i would first see if i made my turrets and productions along with tecH(vessels and tanks) in time for me to hold it off.

the second time, i would focus on engagements and to see my decision making process. i would further refine it in my head and try to play better the next time.

On March 08 2012 20:59 Puyi wrote:
since you have high resources, i think it would be a good idea to focus other ur cc,nex, hatch, other production buildings, and see when and why do your macro slip. is it cuz of harrass, or ur gearing for an engage, or something and try to make a note that the next time you get harrassed or are engaging that you remember to go back to macro. also if i made a building late, like as Terran i usually make my starport after my 3rd but sometimes i 4get so i wanna see what i was doing at that time that made me 4get then try to make a note about it so i wont 4get again.

On March 08 2012 22:57 538 wrote:

It's most definitely useful to watch your own replays, especially of losses. Watching it right away has the added benefit of remembering your thought process during certain situations and decisions. Depending on what you mean by "nub", I think concentrating on the actual build orders is not that useful, you probably have holes in your basic mechanics to fill - try to find out which are the most important ones, and try to assess which ones are easily fixed.

Some typical things to look for:
- Do you over-micro your battles while your macro slips?
This has a lot of different solutions: you can take mental notes to leave the battle to macro up, add production buildings (and possibly an expo) just before you attack - so you can spend the minerals you built up while microing, hotkey your buildings so you can macro some without leaving the battlefield (the number of hotkeys will soon limit your macro, but producing from 5-6 buildings is still better than not producing at all). Good macro will get you surprisingly far on the lower levels.

- Do you ever stop worker production?
Don't. Your CC and Nexus should be flashing all the time, practically nobody is at a level where they are held back in their skill by overproducing workers. I recall Nony (aka Liquid'Tyler) mentions in a BW VOD of his that it's much better to just keep producing probes while microing a battle or harassing, it's okay if they idle by the Nexus for a while, just keep making them.

- Do you have units queued in your production buildings?
This is obviously bad. The money tied up in those queues could be used to make more units simultaneously. Either your macro slipped, or you don't have enough production facilities.
Let me compare macroing to driving a car in a busy city, where you have to maintain constant awareness, and you're taught to keep a constant mental cycle to achieve that - it's the same with macro. Remind yourself constantly that you need to make workers, make units, check the minimap, build tech/follow BO, scout, make workers, make units, check the minimap and so on...

- Do you scout, and utilize scouting information correctly?
Ask yourself these questions: What did I see? What conclusion did I draw - what should I have drawn instead? How did I react - how should I have reacted instead?
Don't just scout, pay conscious attention to matchup-specific indicators of his plans: How many workers does he have on gas? Does he take his natural gas? Which tech buildings did he get?
Do you have presence on the map? Do you scout his expansion timings, do you notice his army moving out? Does he sneak by a hidden expo? Could he?

There are a lot of things to watch and learn from. Most importantly on the lower levels, good macro and decision making can give you just as much of an advantage as a neat BO.