• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 20:24
CEST 02:24
KST 09:24
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting & Ladder Map Selection7Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview7[ASL21] Finals Preview: Two Legacies21
Community News
Weekly Cups (June 8-14): Clem and Solar double, PTR tested0RSL: S6 Finals played at BlizzCon 202611Douyu Cup 2026: $20,000 Legends Event (June 26-28)10[BSL22] Non-Korean Championship from 13 to 28 June4Weekly Cups (May 25-31): Clem doubles, 2v2 circuit heads toward finale0
StarCraft 2
General
Daily SC2 Player Grid - feedback wanted StarCraft II 5.0.16 PTR Patch Notes may 26th TL Poll: How do you feel about the 5.0.16 PTR balance changes? Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview Updates to The Core/Core Lite for v5.0.16?
Tourneys
Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2) GSL CK #4 20-21th June Crank Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League Douyu Cup 2026: $20,000 Legends Event (June 26-28) Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule !
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
Work In Progress Melee Maps [D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3
External Content
Mutation # 530 One For All The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 529 Opportunities Unleashed Mutation # 528 Infection Detected
Brood War
General
BW General Discussion vespene.gg — BW replays in browser Where is EffOrt? BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Quality of life changes in BW that you will like ?
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL21] Grand Finals [BSL22] Grand Finals - Sunday 21:00 CEST Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Relatively freeroll strategies Creating a full chart of Zerg builds Why doesn't anyone use restoration?
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread ZeroSpace Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Beyond All Reason Total War: Warhammer 40K
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread The Games Industry And ATVI UK Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread [H]Internet/Gaming Cafe Tips and Tricks
Fan Clubs
The HerO Fan Club! The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books [TV/BOOK] *SPOILERS* Game of Thrones Discussion [Manga] One Piece
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion Cricket [SPORT] NBA General Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Facing Challenges in Mobile App Development
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Does Workplace Frustration D…
TrAiDoS
An Exploration of th…
waywardstrategy
I'm an arrogant trash talke…
FlaShFTW
Gauntlet SC2: A Retrospectiv…
Ctone23
Why RTS gamers make better f…
gosubay
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 26312 users

[Q] Mechanics or Strategy First? - Page 3

Forum Index > Brood War Strategy
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 Next All
AttackZerg
Profile Blog Joined January 2003
United States7577 Posts
July 26 2009 08:37 GMT
#41
I think playing very low eco strategys is a great way to first start playing and building skill.

2 hat hydra-3hathydra-2hat muta-3hat ling all in 5 pool into macro ect .... then you learn micro mechanics and are forced to execute them well on a mechanical level for the strategys to even have a chance of paying off.

Macro mechanics are more important then any strategy at this phase of broodwar imo.
Batibot
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
Philippines348 Posts
July 26 2009 09:10 GMT
#42
It's better to play standard because you only need to study one build though it's a more complex build than 5pool or 2 hat hydra at least, you get to have a good shot even your opponent is good in defending low-econ play. + There's a difference between low-econ play and all-in. Imo, 2 hat hydra is all-in and 5pool too. Because, you have to rely on your opponent not knowing what you're doing. And it's hard to deal enough damage if your opponent already scouted. Going standard involves micro/multitasking too. You have to keep your scout alive, try to scout for proxies while killing your opponent's scout.
Jaedong has to be a Bonjwa. Tired of of rooting for July.
Saikyun
Profile Joined July 2009
Sweden20 Posts
July 26 2009 12:31 GMT
#43
I think both are rather important. Without mechanics, you're screwed, since you lose whatever you do, but if you don't know how to respond to different things (which can be quite a lot of different things) you're also screwed. I think it's a good idea to know why you lost a game though. If you don't, try to figure it out, and then try not losing that way again.
Batibot
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
Philippines348 Posts
July 26 2009 12:45 GMT
#44
The point here is that if you're starting to play Starcraft, you should focus on strategy, which entails: watching vods of pros and reading guides and whatnot. You have to know what you're doing first before you practice doing it. You have to learn the basics of addition first before you try practicing your addition skills. YOU HAVE TO KNOW THE GAME FIRST BEFORE TRYING TO MASTER IT.
Jaedong has to be a Bonjwa. Tired of of rooting for July.
Metallingus
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
Philippines468 Posts
July 26 2009 14:44 GMT
#45
On July 26 2009 21:45 Batibot323 wrote:
The point here is that if you're starting to play Starcraft, you should focus on strategy, which entails: watching vods of pros and reading guides and whatnot. You have to know what you're doing first before you practice doing it. You have to learn the basics of addition first before you try practicing your addition skills. YOU HAVE TO KNOW THE GAME FIRST BEFORE TRYING TO MASTER IT.


This, end of discussion. Can't shoot that fadeaway if you can't make a jumpshot in the first place. Strategy comes with what you can and cannot do based on mechanics. No use flanking an M&M blob if your micro is crap or you don't have the units to do it in the first place because of bad macro.
Overcome all. Especially plateaus.
csfield
Profile Joined October 2008
United States206 Posts
July 27 2009 00:56 GMT
#46
You don't have to choose between working on mechanics or strategy. That's a false dichotomy. Why argue about whether your heart or lungs are more important? You need both.

The best way to improve is to play the same solid BO over and over.

Your skill in handling your units will improve along with your understanding on how to adapt to what your opponent does.
I know that I have never once considered how my TV viewing habits impact the progression of civilization. --Bibbit
doubleupgradeobbies!
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
Australia1306 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-07-27 02:35:48
July 27 2009 02:25 GMT
#47
If your already at D/D+ then I assume you have a baseline of mechanics and strategic knowledge to work with.

In which case play a few games until you have a few losses. Then analyse the primary reason for those losses and determine whether strategic or mechanical failure is leading to more losses. Work on your weak point until they other one is causing more of your losses and switch over etc.

Seems pretty obvious to me. Everyone is going to have different weaknesses so there is no blanket answer or which one is more useful as you obviously need both of them. Switching periodically between both would insure you mature into a well rounded player. Being weak in either department is going to hold you back significantly.

If you can't determine which is holding you back more, just work on strategy, since you said you'll be doing it via mass gaming, in which case your mechanics should improve anyway. Once you start losing lots of games primarily due to not being able to execute strategies then you can switch over.
MSL, 2003-2011, RIP. OSL, 2000-2012, RIP. Proleague, 2003-2012, RIP. And then there was none... Even good things must come to an end.
Batibot
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
Philippines348 Posts
July 27 2009 04:43 GMT
#48
On July 27 2009 09:56 csfield wrote:
You don't have to choose between working on mechanics or strategy. That's a false dichotomy. Why argue about whether your heart or lungs are more important? You need both.

The best way to improve is to play the same solid BO over and over.

Your skill in handling your units will improve along with your understanding on how to adapt to what your opponent does.

You can choose on what to focus on first. If you choose, strategy first: you read guides, watch vods, then play. If you choose mechanics first, you do micro maps, you play and play.

What I want to convey to you is that if you don't know what you're doing, don't know what to build, which unit counters which, you should focus on strategy first. You read guides first (focus on strategy first) and apply it to your game then, you play and play and practice in micro maps (mechanics). That way, you can have the BASE knowledge of the game, you know why you do this. You know the art of war, flanking, positional advantage, strategical advantage, tactical advantage etc. You should read this. http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=60601 especially this.

http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=36778
Jaedong has to be a Bonjwa. Tired of of rooting for July.
Foucault
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Sweden2826 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-07-30 15:25:21
July 30 2009 15:24 GMT
#49
On July 26 2009 02:10 JoMal wrote:
When your mechanics are good, you can execute any strategy.


THIS.

Many foreigners are totally inadequate when it comes to mechanics, which results in them getting dominated by more mechanically sound koreans.


For example, learn how to fucking build units while you're attacking. Don't come back after the fight to find 2k minerals that you could have used while fighting.
I know that deep inside of you there's a humongous set of testicles just waiting to pop out. Let 'em pop bro. //////////////////// AKA JensOfSweden // Lee Yoon Yeol forever.
azndsh
Profile Blog Joined August 2006
United States4447 Posts
July 30 2009 15:34 GMT
#50
fastest way to improve is mechanics first... strategy can be learned later, but mechanics is just lots and lots of practice
nttea
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
Sweden4353 Posts
July 30 2009 16:28 GMT
#51
easy! first learn basic strategy, but don't delve very far into it. Then learn basic>advanced mechanics. This is if you want to enjoy a reasonably fast skill improvement curve. If you want to become the best you can possibly be at a point in the future but don't want to have much fun on the way you should focus purely on the mechanics.
wok
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
United States504 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-07-30 22:14:48
July 30 2009 18:24 GMT
#52
I have a ridiculously high apm (relative to my win rate)when I'm paying attention, and in such cases, I can safely say my mechanics are passable. I still lose 80% of my games though.
I'll race you to defeatism... you win.
Kyadytim
Profile Joined March 2009
United States886 Posts
July 30 2009 18:51 GMT
#53
Mechanics first. If you focus on strategy first, you'll practice those strategies with wrong mechanics and build wrong habits, which you then need to break to improve your mechanics.
Bad strategic decisions made in a game while learning mechanics will be directly punished in that game, so they're less likely to become habits.

Additionally, it's far easier to find help on improving strategy than on improving mechanics, because other people can look directly at your strategy.
DarkSaieden
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
South Africa254 Posts
July 31 2009 07:41 GMT
#54
first memorize the bo against comp on and learn the standard flows of common variatons. then you can work on mechanics and pick up the nuances with experience
DarkSaieden
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
South Africa254 Posts
July 31 2009 07:43 GMT
#55
first memorize the bo against comp on and learn the standard flows of common variatons. then you can work on mechanics and pick up the nuances with experience
Stimpacked
Profile Joined June 2008
Philippines368 Posts
July 31 2009 08:27 GMT
#56
choose p, build a lot of gateways and 1a2a3a4a5a.. thats it.
live and let live...
FirstBorn
Profile Blog Joined March 2007
Romania3955 Posts
July 31 2009 09:32 GMT
#57
If you're a terran user then you should bassically choose 1-2 build orders for each much practice your mechanics a lot. Once you're mechanincs are solid you will be able to execute crazy shit and improvise better.

Same applies to the other races, but to a lesser extent.
SonuvBob: Yes, the majority of TL is college-aged, and thus clearly stupid.
ReCharge
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Philippines505 Posts
July 31 2009 10:30 GMT
#58
On July 26 2009 02:14 trickser wrote:
I think you should focus on mechanics. On D/D+ Level one solid build with good mechanics can beat almoast anything that is executed with bad mechanics.

So for example for zvp you can play
9overpool speed into 3hatch scourge into 5 hatch hyds, and just practise getting the timing right, not having larva overflow, not missing overloards and microing big amounts of hydras.
Since this build is really robust and gives you alot of map control and gets scouting done easily you dont have to worry about strategy too much.

Same for zvt and zvz. Choose a very solid buildorder and just practise your micro, macro, timing and multitasking.


As long as the build doesn't involve cheese .
David Kim for Bonjwa!
Batibot
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
Philippines348 Posts
July 31 2009 10:36 GMT
#59
On July 31 2009 03:51 Kyadytim wrote:
Mechanics first. If you focus on strategy first, you'll practice those strategies with wrong mechanics and build wrong habits, which you then need to break to improve your mechanics.
Bad strategic decisions made in a game while learning mechanics will be directly punished in that game, so they're less likely to become habits.

Additionally, it's far easier to find help on improving strategy than on improving mechanics, because other people can look directly at your strategy.

No, you're wrong. Like what others said, you practice, practice, practice to get your mechanics right. If you learned how to do the things the wrong way, you're gonna suck hard.

Let's say: You learned that Lurkers are a good counter to mech T. You always go Lurks on a mech T. You practiced it over and over again that you know the best way to micro them against mech. But, it's still wrong, you'd still lose to mech. If you KNOW (strategy) what you're doing and why you're doing it the right way. Battling mech with a hydramuta army, you get used to it. You always now use hydramuta against mech and therefore, you get adept at microing a hydra muta army while you can still macro. In SC, you can't just rely on only ONE bread-and-butter build. There's no such thing as that one solves-all build. Yes, you can master the 12 hatch opening. But, you have to deviate to get to your late-game depending on what your opponent is doing. You can't have ONE build order that still guides you to late-games because you have to ADAPT.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You're missing the point. As I see it, first years of SC/progaming: They're developing strategies. Now, it seems like mechanics is so important because, that's what separates the korean pros vs foreigner pros. But, we're not foreigner pros. We haven't really gone in-depth on the strategic part of SC. An extreme situation would be something like this. You learned as a child to walk with your arms. Yeah, it's a nice feat but, our legs are much stronger than our arms and should be used for walking because it's better used for walking than arms. You don't want to learn walking with your feet when you're already about 6 years old. You have to walk with your feet the first time you learned to walk because it's the right way.
Jaedong has to be a Bonjwa. Tired of of rooting for July.
Bifur
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
Russian Federation1208 Posts
July 31 2009 11:20 GMT
#60
Should you focus on your left hand or on your right hand?
Prev 1 2 3 4 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 9h 36m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
SpeCial 126
StarCraft: Brood War
GuemChi 3060
Rain 2721
Artosis 596
Sea 572
910 56
Dota 2
monkeys_forever934
League of Legends
Doublelift4987
Super Smash Bros
hungrybox549
Other Games
summit1g9427
Day[9].tv2106
shahzam755
C9.Mang0526
FrodaN456
PiGStarcraft411
ViBE129
JimRising 107
Livibee77
Maynarde68
ROOTCatZ64
Trikslyr52
Mew2King42
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick601
BasetradeTV154
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 15 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 124
• davetesta9
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Other Games
• Day9tv2106
• imaqtpie916
• Shiphtur165
Upcoming Events
The PondCast
9h 36m
WardiTV Spring Champion…
10h 36m
MaxPax vs SHIN
ByuN vs herO
Solar vs Zoun
OSC
12h 36m
OSC
23h 36m
CranKy Ducklings
1d 9h
WardiTV Spring Champion…
1d 10h
Cure vs SKillous
WardiTV Spring Champion…
2 days
GSL
2 days
Maru vs ShoWTimE
Classic vs Reynor
herO vs Lambo
Solar vs Clem
BSL22 NKC (BSL vs China)
2 days
XuanXuan vs Jaystar
Mihu vs Messiah
eOnzErG vs Dewalt
Bonyth vs Jaystar
TerrOr vs Messiah
XuanXuan vs Mihu
eOnzErG vs Jaystar
Replay Cast
2 days
[ Show More ]
WardiTV Spring Champion…
3 days
GSL
3 days
Patches Events
3 days
BSL22 NKC (BSL vs China)
3 days
Dewalt vs Messiah
Bonyth vs Mihu
TerrOr vs XuanXuan
eOnzErG vs Messiah
Jaystar vs Mihu
Dewalt vs XuanXuan
Bonyth vs TerrOr
Replay Cast
3 days
WardiTV Weekly
4 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-06-16
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Heroes Pulsing #1

Ongoing

IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
Acropolis #4
CSCL: Masked Kings S4
YSL S3
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
SCTL 2026 Spring
Maestros of the Game 2
WardiTV Spring 2026
Murky Cup 2026
Heroes Pulsing #2
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1

Upcoming

CSL 2026 Summer (S21)
CSLAN 4
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Revival: Season 6
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
HSC XXIX
Douyu Cup 2026
BCC 2026
Heroes Pulsing #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.