Omg sick strategy, Hiya not able to block it in time. Lurkers in Hiya's main, and right into the min line, scvs scatter quickly. ACE coach with a small smile on his face
How does that work? Hiya definitely expected a lurker bust and he definitely expected one to come through the back door. Yet he did nothing to prevent it from happening (one marine barely counters).
finally we see some anti-terran maps it seems :D and thes flash-inspired builds became such a pin in the ass that anyone got angry at them and I hope found the way to counter
Oh, Hiya wtf? why so bad? I guess Hiya is quite a shaky personality, just lacks character to stop slumping, everybody knows he can do better than that.
On November 08 2010 20:24 _Quasar_ wrote: finally we see some anti-terran maps it seems :D and thes flash-inspired builds became such a pin in the ass that anyone got angry at them and I hope found the way to counter
On November 08 2010 20:24 _Quasar_ wrote: finally we see some anti-terran maps it seems :D and thes flash-inspired builds became such a pin in the ass that anyone got angry at them and I hope found the way to counter
about commercials - lets agree it's not entertaining BUT REMEMBER that this "shit" is what helps proleague to happen - and probably will allow to reach agreement with that evil Blizzard. So for me, these commercials not evil
jd 12pool ggaemo 12hatch predictable builds (jd wants to play it safe against a scrub so he 12pools, scrub knows this and picks the best build against 12pool in 12hatch) jd prolly gonna win anyways
On November 08 2010 20:31 Crunchums wrote: jd 12pool ggaemo 12hatch predictable builds (jd wants to play it safe against a scrub so he 12pools, scrub knows this and picks the best build against 12pool in 12hatch) jd prolly gonna win anyways
On November 08 2010 20:29 _Quasar_ wrote: about commercials - lets agree it's not entertaining BUT REMEMBER that this "shit" is what helps proleague to happen - and probably will allow to reach agreement with that evil Blizzard. So for me, these commercials not evil
The commercials suck, though =T They definitely don't make me want to play the games.
Lol is it PerfectMan vs firebathero ??? Does ACE even have a coach? Even I could see PerfectMan coming from miles away, which would instantly make me re-think the decision of sending FBH.
On November 08 2010 20:52 Metalwing wrote: Lol is it PerfectMan vs firebathero ??? Does ACE even have a coach? Even I could see PerfectMan coming from miles away, which would instantly make me re-think the decision of sending FBH.
A normal year, I'd trust even FBH to win against PerfectMan.
Well, it was clearly experience from that game against jaehoon that prevented him to rally everything at the contain. I'm really happy to see FBH win against protoss =)
On November 08 2010 21:07 One Page Memory wrote: results anyone?
3-1 ACE leading.
On November 08 2010 21:07 Sufficiency wrote: I actually thought Perfectman played well during the last a few days... but losing to FBH in this fashion...
EDIT: who are left for OZ? I sense another victory for ACE :D
Literally no one but Killer and some other scrub like Princess.
On November 08 2010 21:07 Sufficiency wrote: I actually thought Perfectman played well during the last a few days... but losing to FBH in this fashion...
EDIT: who are left for OZ? I sense another victory for ACE :D
His loss to Great wasn't fantastic. Basically just died to drops.
On November 08 2010 21:18 Womwomwom wrote: He'll win by doing some sort of all in, its all he can do to be honest.
If Killer does win, does Oz have another protoss or terran to send out so take down Ruby?
It's funny that you slagged Princess and then said "protoss or terran" here. Princess 2-0ed Ruby last summer.
Yeah I can grab figures off TLPD too! The fact that Ruby loses 2-0 to guys like Hyuk doesn't diminish the fact that sending a zerg against him isn't the smartest idea (esp Oz since they've lost like two or three times because they keep sending zergs against Ruby) because he's still fantastic at the matchup.
On November 08 2010 21:18 Womwomwom wrote: He'll win by doing some sort of all in, its all he can do to be honest.
If Killer does win, does Oz have another protoss or terran to send out so take down Ruby?
It's funny that you slagged Princess and then said "protoss or terran" here. Princess 2-0ed Ruby last summer.
Yeah I can grab figures off TLPD too! The fact that Ruby loses 2-0 to guys like Hyuk doesn't diminish the fact that sending a zerg against him isn't the smartest idea (esp Oz since they've lost like two or three times because they keep sending zergs against Ruby) because he's still fantastic at the matchup.
There's a difference between "he might not be the best choice" and "he's a scrub who can't win".
First of all, welcome to 2025. This year is going to be amazing. I finally got the courage to move out of my comfort zone, refresh and rebuild the BSL you’ve known for 20 seasons. To be clear, I wasn’t afraid of making changes, nor was I facing a lack of ideas - I was just afraid you guys were not going to read them and assume it's the same as usual. Kappa Let me share plans for the year 2025 with you. As I said, I want to refresh the format of BSL this year, so there will be a lot of changes and new things. From the very beginning BSL had a goal to keep the scene active and alive, I feel like the simple battle.net ladder stage is no longer serving its purpose, so we implemented a number of changes to keep this season exciting.
0. BSL 2025 Points
Players participating in BSL events in 2025 will earn BSL 2025 Points.
There will be several ways of earning them:
1. BSL 2025 Weekly Tournaments
2.. BSL 20 and 21 Open Qualifier Tours
3. BSL 2025 Ladder Stages on ShieldBattery (6x)
4. BSL Season 20 and 21 changes
5. BSL 20 and 21 Gosu, Hasu and Chobo Leagues changes (big)
6. BSL Nation Wars Season 2 (start soon)
7. BSL A-Team On Tour
8. BSL Team Wars
9. BSL LAN Parties (3x)
You will be able to earn points through BSL A-Team On Tour maand in BSL Team wars
1. BSL 2025 Weekly tournaments
Each Saturday of February, March, 2nd half of June, July, August and September we will host BSL 2025 Weekly. This will be short, regular, one day event, open for everyone.
Rules: - Double elimination: WB bo1, LB bo1, bo3 from WB semi finals onwards and in LB finals - You have to play on your real nickname and be online on BSL discord - Giving w/o bans you from next tournament - Maps will be pre-set for first match (in bo3 winner bans one, loser picks) - Prizepool: $20/$15/$10/$5 + BSL 2025 Weekly Points - Winnings from first 8 Weekly Tours will be paid at once after the qualification tours before BSL20 (#1-8) will be finished (29 march). Schedule:
2 weekends will be canceled - reserved for the LANs (March and June/July)
2. BSL20 Open Qualifier Tours
Format: DE: WB bo3, WB final bo5, LB bo1, bo3 from 3rd round, LB Finals bo5 Prizepool: 2 spots in BSL20 ProLeague + BSL 2025 Points
#1 - Wednesday 20:00 EST, 02 April #2 - Thursday, 20:00 EST, 03 April, #3 - Saturday, 20:00 CEST, 05 April, #4 - Sunday, 20:00 CEST, 06 April,
3. BSL 2025 Ladder Stages on ShieldBattery
Two months of ladder before BSL20 and four months of ladder before BSL21, in total we will launch SIX ladder stages on ShieldBattery, each lasting a calendar month. TOP15 players at the end of each month will earn BSL 2025 Points. Ladder stages will include all the maps from the BSL20/21. I think SB is great and it would be wonderful to easily find a game over there, I've always considered playing on SB as more chill b.net ladder - where you can only meet foreigner players. Easier to make friends.
Rules: - Ladder stages will be launched on: February, March, June, July, August and September - You have to play on your real nickname and be responsive on BSL Discord. - You can have only one account, no resets available.
On top of qualifying to BSL20, BSL 2025 points earned through weekly tournaments and the SB ladder in February and March will serve as a seeding pool for the additional events hosted after BSL Season 20 and before BSL Season 21 (in June, July, August and September). Points earned to qualify for BSL20 will be reduced by 50% in order to qualify for BSL21.
4. BSL Season 20 and 21
Biggest changes planned in BSL20 and 21: - Change ProLeague to 32 players and format from RO16(bo3) to RO20 (bo1) ProLeague: - BIG changes in GosuLeague, Hasu and Chobo (below)
RO20: Zhanhun, Mihu, Bonyth, Dewalt + TOP2 from RO32 groups RO32: - TOP3 of BSL19 Gosuleague: Hawk, UltrA, Julian - TOP11 of BSL 2025 Points - TOP10 of BSL20 Ladder on Battle.net - 8 spots from 4 Open Qualifier Tours (TOP2 from each)
Here we will have the BIG CHANGES: I think the tournament format for lower level players is uncomfortable. Players are not treating the tournaments as a serious competition, but more as a fun and casual event, that's why I’ve decided to implement changes where we divide players into smaller groups and make groups Swiss style, where players need to play one bo3 a week - it's going to be easier to coordinate from our side and players side. Players will be allowed to play matches in advance as well.
To avoid large MMR gaps we will create tiers in each division with 16 players each - one big swiss group
Format:
Each Division will play in a Swiss Group Stage - one bo3 a week (5 rounds will be enough).
After swiss is done, the TOP4 of each division go into the second round of the SE bracket, while the next 7 players (rank 5-12) go into the first round of the bracket
Promotions:
TOP4 players from GosuLeague tier 1 will have a seed into ProLeague next season
TOP4 players from GosuLeague tier 2 will have a seed in GosuLeague tier 1
TOP4 players from HasuLeague tier 1 will have a seed in GosuLeague tier 2
TOP4 players from HasuLeague tier 2 will have a seed in HasuLeague tier 1
Same thing for ChoboLeague, but number of tiers will depend on the number of sign ups
5. BSL Nation Wars Season 2
BSL mid-season event - will be launched soon/now. + Show Spoiler +
Confirmed teams: Poland - cpt. Bonyth USA - cpt. Razz Russia - cpt. Dewalt + Defi LatAm - cpt. UltrA Europe - cpt. LML Canada ? cpt. DragOn - they have 3 active and willing to play players (dragon, crossy and doodle) - maybe we will add Thailand with Jumper to their roster?
SCHEDULE for PLAYDAYS: Round 1: Roster on: 20.01 - deadline 25.01 Round 2: Roster on: 27.01 - deadline 01.02 Round 3: Roster on: 03.02 - deadline 08.02 Round 4: Roster on: 10.02 - deadline 15.02 Round 5: Roster on: 17.02 - deadline 22.02 Round 6: Roster on: 24.02 - deadline 01.03 Round 7: Roster on: 03.02 - deadline 08.03
Broadcast schedule: Each Friday and Sunday 21:00 CET from January 31
For each game win players will gain 10 BSL 2025 points!
6. BSL A-TEAM ON TOUR (July-August) After season 20 is done, TOP8 players from ProLeague outside China will be invited to join the BSL Team / Representation. - Each month (June, July, August, September) TOP5 players from the ladder stage will have the option to challenge players from the BSL team for their spot on the BSL A-Team. Challenger has to win 2x bo5, representant has to win one bo5 - Every team member can be challenged once a month - Team members who are higher in the monthly ladder than the challenger can’t be challenged - BSL representation will play matches vs Koreans and Chinese players / teams as well as monthly one day tournaments within themselves (after each months’ challenges); - Players who will remain in the BSL Team at the end of September will have a seed into BSL Season 21.
7. BSL Team Wars (July-August) I want to create BSL team wars in July/August, with TOP4 players being able to pick players to their teams. Teams would have Pro, Gosu, Hasu and Chobo players
With 3x 1v1 Pro vs Pro, 2x 1v1 Gosu vs Gosu, 1x 1v1 Hasu vs Hasu and 1x 1v1 Chobo vs Chobo and 1x 2v2
Example match: 1. Pro vs Pro 2. Pro vs Pro 3. Pro vs Pro 4. Gosu vs Gosu 5. Gosu vs Gosu 6. Hasu vs Hasu 7. Chobo vs Chobo 8. 2v2
8. BSL LAN Parties Despite being hyped about all those events above, LAN parties are what you play StarCraft for, that’s why, same as last year, we will make 3 LANs in Poland in 2025. And same as last year, we have a prize pool of 1 ETH sponsored by Adun.
Plan: LAN #1 - World Championship of Poland - March/April - 0.25 ETH LAN #2 - OPEN - June/July - 0.25 ETH LAN #3 Final - OPEN - October/November - 0.5 ETH
We would need ~4000 PLN three times to rent the venues for the LANs. It’s possible that one of them will be at Adun’s home.
9. Funding of prize pools - Thanks to the donations for BSL20 Goal during BSL Season 19, we are missing only $1500 for BSL Season 20 full prize pool - Mr. Rus_Brain supported this year with $2700 for prize pools
Tournament:
prize pool
Covered
by
Missing
ProLeague Season 20
$5000
$3500
GOAL donors
$1500
GosuLeague Season 20
$200
$200
GOAL donors
-
ProLeague Season 21
$5000
-
?
$5000
GosuLeague Season 21
$200
-
?
$200
Nation Wars Season 2
$1000
$500
Rus_Brain
$500
Team Wars Season 1
$1000
$500
Rus_Brain
$500
BSL A-Team on Tour inside Tours
$400
$200
Rus_Brain
$200
BSL A-Team on Tour vs Korea
$400
$400
Rus_Brain
$400
BSL A-Team on Tour vs China
$400
-
?
-
Weekly $50 x 22
$1100
$1100
Rus_Brain
-
Weekly $100 x 22
$1100
-
?
$1100
LAN #1
0.25 ETH
0.25 ETH
Adun
-
LAN #2
0.25 ETH
0.25 ETH
Adun
-
LAN #3
0.5 ETH
0.5 ETH
Adun
-
Total:
$13800 + 1 ETH (~$3600)
$6400 + 1 ETH (~$3600)
You ?
$9400
Those are my plans for 2025. I hope you like those ideas and will play, watch, follow and support. Feel free to support a event you love - PM on discord if you want to become sponsor of particular event or for entire season.
We will start BSL Nation Wars Season 2 asap.
If you want to help us spread the news that BSL Season 19 started, feel free to use all the graphics from here during your stream or on your social media. Thank you <3
Starting out with some mutas is fine because it only cut him down to 4hatch and mutas help defend and give some map control. But staying with muta/scourge like that is weird since this isn't a map like Outsider.
Due to ever increasing number of threads where people are interested in trying out StarCraft: Brood War (BW from now on), it became obvious that we need a one stop post where they can begin their wondrous adventure. This thread will serve as an introductory post into the world of BW, a place where all the inquiring minds can find the answers they seek. Please note that A LOT of things one needs to know to get into BW has already been said on this very forums. I will simply try to gather all the information into one place, reiterating it in my own words (though I'll just quote some posts too) . As I will use this thread to try to "sell" BW to the people who don't have much experience with it, please excuse me for being biased at some parts where there are two schools of thought.
Even though I'll try to write this post with having all BW beginners in mind, we can't neglect the fact that most of the new players getting into BW at the moment are SC2 players who have little to no experience with BW, and now they are curious as to what's all the fuss about BW. So with that in mind, the tone of this post might be like I'm talking directly to them at some parts, even drawing parallels between two games (only factual things mind you ). Let this be a welcoming post for SC2 players, so please leave all the tedious BW vs SC2 discussion out of this thread.
This is the question that confuses me the most when I see it on forums. I mean, what kind of answer are you expecting to get. You're asking if you should start playing a game, to have fun probably, it's not a career choice. If the game already interested you enough to even ask this question, then I see no reason why you shouldn't try it out. You have nothing to lose, and you might even have fun (that's a guarantee in 99% of the cases - scientifically proven!). Even though my advice is for everyone who's at least bit interested in BW to try it out, I still must warn you that you don't play it for wrong reasons. One of the wrong reasons to play BW is if you only want to play it to get better at SC2. If you want to get better at SC2 then you should play SC2 (you can still try out BW though -.-). Other wrong reason is money. Although I'm pretty sure that everyone knows that there isn't any money to make a living out of in BW (excluding Korea ^^), I still feel the need to explicitly mention it. On the other hand, if you're looking to have fun, play casually, play competitively, meet new interesting people or all in all generally have a good time, then you should definitely try out BW!
Here's what mahnini has to say on why you should play BW:
On June 05 2009 18:54 mahnini wrote: Is there not enough to choose from? Replayability, balance, distinctiveness, and extremely deep strategic thought. Though all these aside, the thing that makes StarCraft so special is because each game is not so much you against someone else, but you against yourself. What else could keep hundreds of thousands of players interested after a decade of StarCraft? The road to being a great StarCraft player is long and arduous, but many enjoy the journey whether or not they reach their destination.
Basically, what I’m saying is, we play because it’s fun!
Current State of the BW Scene
I'll write a few words on what I think of the current BW scene so you know just what you're getting yourself into. We can't neglect the fact that SC2 hurt the BW scene a lot, especially the foreign scene. By my own estimation, the player pool got roughly halved when SC2 was released. But since then I haven't noticed any decline in activity whatsoever, I dare to say even a slight increase! The good thing about BW is that it has reached its cult classic status long time ago and there will always be people of all skill level playing it. One of the biggest misconceptions about the current state of BW is that there are only "gosus" playing the game now, thus discouraging new players from trying it out. Now I don't have any numbers on this, but I can assure you that there are A LOT of newbie BW players and finding a player your own skill level shouldn't be hard at all (make a blog, or post in this thread ^^). And if you're a really competitive player looking to improve as much as possible, you're in for a real treat. The best way to improve is to play players better than you, and they are a plenty. And if you rise enough to compete on equal footing with best foreigner players and your hunger for competition doesn't wither, you can try your luck against Koreans on their own Korean servers!
In the conclusion, the BW community is much smaller than some of other more popular games, but that's not the necessarily a bad thing. With smaller numbers, that feeling of family is much more expressed because you feel closer with your fellow BW players (at least true in my case ).
BW Basics
I feel inclined to write a few words about something that's been bothering me every time I would read it somewhere. And that is all the hate that BW's Interface, Graphics, Unit AI and Pathing get. Especially in Getting into BW kind of threads, there will be numerous posts of people who will discourage the new players interested in BW by saying that BW is too hard, graphics outdated, unit AI retarded etc. Not to say they are completely wrong, but the word which I like to use to describe all these technical aspects of BW is - unique.
When I played BW as a newbie many moons ago, I wasn't thinking "oh, this game is hard" or "this graphics suck", I just played it for what it is and with time all these aspects became a personality of BW which I grew to appreciate on many levels. I see graphics as crystal clear where I can see everything that's happening on the battlefield with clarity, I don't see it as outdated. I don't think this game is hard, I think it's just right. I don't think unit AI is retarded, I think it's "demanding" .
What I'm trying to say is, you should try out all these things to see for yourself, because I'm pretty sure even all those people who are saying such things, love it in one way or another. I mean, what's there not to love?
Mechanics in BW refer to non strategical aspects of game such as Micro, Macro and Multitasking. BW is definitely a game where mechanics play a big part, it's what separates coaches from players. Even though some might argue that BW's mechanics are too demanding, especially for beginners, I say that it's necessary. I don't want to go too deep into this discussion, but let me explain it with one simple analogy. Imagine that you never played basketball and then one night you caught a glimpse of NBA game and decided you want to be good at basketball. You start practicing, but one thing you notice is that hitting a hoop is not actually that easy as those NBA players make it seem. So you spend day and night shooting hoops in front of your garage even though it sounds dull and repetitive, before you even begin to think about high level strategy of NBA games. BW is like that. You first gotta practice the mechanics (micro, macro, multitasking) and as your muscle memory gets better and better at that you'll notice that your skill increases as well. Not to say strategical aspect of game should be ignored when beginning, but let's just say that mechanics play a much bigger role. It's like this in every other sport if you think about it (except for Chess perhaps -.-).
Once you realize that mechanics are very important part of the game, you need to learn some things that make BW special in the RTS genre. Compared to the newer games, BW came out in 1998 and with it came a lot of bugs that make BW special. In order to have good mechanics you need to know these bugs by heart and master them. Sure you can take an easy way out and say "why would I play a game with buggy AI", but if you're seriously interested in learning to play BW (and thus reading this guide), you'll have to get over these facts and just accept them as they are. For example, BW's pathing algorithm is less than ideal, but it's very important to know how the units behave if you wish to micro them in most efficient way. In a way BW created its own laws of physics and apparently in those laws it's perfectly normal for units to go on a strike and simply refuse to move or a unit dealing massive amount of damage in one moment, while completely shooting a dud in next. Sure it might be frustrating at times to deal with these things when you're in game, but I can assure you after all is over you'll laugh about it and you're gonna love it. You'll also notice that as your mechanics get better and better, you'll handle these situations with much more ease.
Now for the players coming from SC2 specifically here are the few words on Micro, Macro, Multitasking and in which way they're different from SC2.
Micro - Micro in BW is worlds apart from it's newer counterpart. Two main reasons for this is unit pathing and hotkeying. As I already mentioned, unit pathing plays a big role in your army management. You can't just send your units to attack without controlling them carefully, because then your units will go in a single line which is not an optimal way to attack. Hotkeys are very important too, because unlike SC2, in BW you can only select maximum of 12 units. So you have to spread your units into multiple groups and keep them under separated hotkeys. Even though this sounds like a flaw, it's actually pretty useful because you can spread your units more easily and you can attack from different angles which is very important in big fights.
Macro - Macro is also very different than it is in SC2 and there is one huge reason for this. MBS, or Multiple Building Selection, is nonexistent in BW and while at first thought this might sound like a big flaw, it's actually not that big of a deal. Having a decent macro is all part of muscle memory that comes with practice. After a while you'll notice that macroing has its own rhythm and your hands will move automatically across the screen in a circular manner. Just like with micro, hotkeys are crucial in having an efficient macro. Besides numeric hotkeys (0-9), there are additional three screen hotkeys (F2-F4). You set these by pressing Shift (as opposed to Ctrl for normal hotkeys) and then F2-F4.
While it certainly makes things considerably harder since you can only select one building at a time it also adds another layer of depth to the game. Since now you have to leave your units unattended while you go to your base and circle through buildings to make new units, you are left with a choice and depending on your ability to function under the pressure that choice may very well be crucial in outcome of the game. Fights in BW can last for relatively long time and it's important to know when to choose macro over micro in fast paced games.
Multitasking -
Hotkeys
As described above, hotkeys play a huge part in BW. With limited unit selection and no MBS (Multiple Building Selection), each hotkey on your keyboard becomes a special commodity.
Build Orders
This will be a short chapter because obviously, I'm not gonna list here every Build Order in BW.
Getting Started
No matter howmanystories I hear of peoplereminiscing about their BW beginnings, one peculiar thing I noticed is, they're almost never the same. It seems as if every BW player has some sort of unique and personal tale to tell when you ask him about BW. And this is exactly the reason why I wanted to write this guide without telling you specifically what to do if you want to start playing BW. I tried to write it in a way where I would list all the possible options and it's up to you to experiment. Just remember, there are no wrong choices here!
Campaigns - If you're a new player who has never played BW before, playing the campaigns from original StarCraft and Expansion (BW) would be a good idea before embarking on bigger things. Campaigns are great way for you to learn all the units, get used to the interface and just generally get a good grip on BW. Plus, the story is AMAZING!
AI - If you want to play a normal game of BW, but you're just not up for the challenge to play against human opponents yet, playing against the Computer(s) might boost your confidence. Same as in Campaigns, you can experiment A LOT against a computer which will give you better understanding of BW units, interface and even a basic gameplay. You can also set yourself various challenges when playing against AI, which will make things more interesting.
Battle.net - When you graduate in beating Computers in all the ways possible, you'll probably want to test your skills against a human opponent. But if you're terrified of all the horror stories told about the ICCup ladder, you'd might want to try playing on official Battle.net Gateways where skill ceiling is just... not that high. I'll talk more about the Battle.net later, but I still must warn you that it could be frustrating to find a proper game. Anyways, it could still be fun to test your skills in not so serious environment.
Fun Maps - I think if we conduct a poll and ask each BW player what was the first map he played in his life, I'm pretty sure that at least 80% of them would answer some fun map. To clarify, by fun maps I mean all the maps that are not played in competitive 1v1 setting. That includes maps like eternal BGH (Big Game Hunters), regular Hunters, FMP (Fastest Map Possible), BB (Blood Bath) or any map from wide variety of UMS (Use Map Settings) maps. Fun maps are definition of a casual BW gamer. So if you're not a competitive type of player, you might wanna play on some of these maps casually to just have some fun.
Alone - By playing alone, I mean that you start a Melee game against a Computer and when countdown starts, you boot the Computer. You might be wondering what's the point of being alone in the game? Well, it's a good way to practice Build Orders and Mechanics in peace. This is for people willing to put more time into their practice and willing to improve. You can write a Build Order on piece of paper or memorize it and then practice it alone until it imprints in your muscle memory.
Hardcore - Hardcore gamer is a type of gamer who will enter the world of BW with a mindset of a winner. First, you have to forget about it (winning that is). Even if you're the most competitive player in world and want to improve as much as possible in as little time as possible, you'll still have to get used to... losing. Once you accept your losses and are willing to learn from them, you'll be ready for some hardcore training. The best place to practice BW competitively for beginners is ICCup. It's an English spoken server where it's much easier to find practice partners and people willing to help, compared to the other Korean servers which are more suitable for mass gaming.
What Race Should I Choose?
This is the question that has no real answer. Choosing your race is something that you'll have to do yourself and is kinda personal. There is a general notion that the best race for beginners is Protoss, so if you really have no clue which one to pick first, go with that. After playing some time with the race you choose, you'll get a nice feeling of that race and see if it fits you. I still encourage you to try out all races sooner or later. Even people who are trying to improve as much as possible with one race, you should try the remaining two races as well. You'll get a whole new perspective on how to play your main race, trust me.
I encounter a lot of people on TL forums, streams and ICCup, asking the questions like "How can I improve?", "What do I need to do to get better?" etc. They expect some kind of magical answer that will immediately make them better. One cold truth about BW is, there are no shortcuts in improving. You will have to put a lot of time and effort if you wish to see the results. Once you realize that and are willing to put in time and effort to get better, here are some tips that can help you:
Ver's How To Improve guide - This guide is a MUST read for every BW player looking to improve. I'm serious, a MUST read!
Liquipedia - an encyclopedia of everything Starcraft? Can't get better than that. It's a great resource to learn all the Build Orders and Strategy involving them.
BW Strategy forum - This is a great place when you have a specific question or just looking for feedback on your play. Just make sure to read Strategy Forum Guidelines before opening a new thread.
Practice makes perfect - Don't forget this, ever! If you're looking to improve one aspect of your play, practice only that for a while (eg. one matchup or one build order).
Play with friends - You might be thinking "oh that's an excellent advice, only thing is I'm new and I don't have any friends". Well, find some! By looking around the TL forums in similar threads, you can find plenty of people asking for the same thing, a practice partners. There are even wholethreadsdedicated to finding people to play with.
Search - I'm actually pretty sure that 99% of the information I wrote in this thread has already been said on this very forums (damn, I just realized my thread is pointless ). A simple search can answer most of your questions so don't be afraid to use it.
Be a Part of the BW Community!
I know that most of your prefer to stay lurkers while dabbling with the BW, but by participating in the BW community your experience will be much more enjoyable. As a matter of fact, you can be involved with BW community while still being a lurker. Simply reading the BW forums, following professional BW leagues, following foreigner BW events (no matter how scarce they are) will increase your experience of enjoying BW, guaranteed!
Installing Anti-Hack launcher is pretty straight forward and while installing, it will automatically add a new Gateway to your server list - The Abyss (ICCup). When you click on that, simply log in with an account which you created on their website and you're set to play. (Un)fortunately in BW, there's no Match Making System so you're gonna have to find your games manually, either by hosting a game or joining one. Some basic outlines on how the ICCup ladder works: - ICCup rating system. - Play people around the same rank as you. - Playing on MoTW (Maps of The Week) gives you extra points (type /motw on Battle.net to see current MoTW). - To gain points in 1v1, game type must be One on One. - To gain points in 2v2, game type must be Top vs Bottom. - Other game types (Melee, UMS) can be used for practice as they don't influence your points. - Few more things.
There are 2 servers that are mostly played by Korean players and are really popular. They are Fish server and BrainClan server. The average skill level on them is considerably higher than on ICCup so they're not really a friendly playground for beginners. Although it might be fun to try them out sometimes. And instead of copying on how to set up Fish and BrainClan servers, I'll just link you to a thread where it's explained perfectly: [G] Connect to Korean Gateways If that guide seems too complicated (it includes a lot of unnecessary things), then you can read a simplified version on how to play on Fish server here: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=236263¤tpage=18#347
In case you're just wondering why should you even bother with those servers, here's a quote from the author of that thread:
On February 23 2011 05:32 1a2a3aPro wrote: With the foreigner scene moving more and more towards SC2, it is becoming difficult to find decent games on iCCup, especially at C+ and up. Korea still has a very strong Brood War community that one can tap into and practice with. Terms like "practicing with Koreans" exist because, in general, they often have more refined builds and play. iCCup is a prime example, play during Korean hours and see how much more difficult the average skill level becomes.They are better mechanically, and at the lower levels you will quickly realize strategies which are only working because you are playing poorer opponents. If you are ready for the challenge, and feel that stronger opponents will increase your skill level more rapidly, or if you're a higher level foreigner struggling to get games on iCCup, the Korean servers may be your best answer.
Besides all of the above, there are a few more choices for you to play. Since I haven't played on these servers, I can't provide you with a guide on how to play there. But just so you're aware of them here's a quote that explains them nicely:
On May 02 2011 16:57 _Quasar_ wrote: Besides BNet (where there's REALLY hard to find a game), and ICCup (that might be hard for newbies) there are also 2 options that I know...
- Podolsk server. It's a russian server that's joked about in russian community (like, if u play bad, they call you "podolsk noob" XDDDD ). That's an exaggeration, but yeah, there's much lower level than on Iccup. You can get your first 1v1 win there
- Garena. Need to install garena launcher, then enter garena system, choose the room, run the game and play in the menu option of "UDP game" (as Garena emulates LAN). Probably the place with the lowest skill of players, not all have even 1.16.1 version... so there're probably many people like you, who just started SC or play veeery casually. If you want to have fun with just your present level, you can go there
And besides those two servers, you can still play over hamachi with your friends. Usually when ICCup is between seasons, there will be several people from Teamliquid who will create rooms on Hamachi to play while ICCup is down. And here's a guide on how to use BW over hamachi in case you can't figure it out on your own.
It's amazing when I still, after 12 years, encounter a person on battle.net who says "I can't host", like it's some kind of magical force stopping him from being able to host a game in StarCraft. While undoubtedly a lot of people think computers work by magic, you should have no excuse for being unable to host games, especially since it's so simple to make it work. Without going into too much details, the only thing you need to do is to forward the 6112 port on your router. Now if only there was some website which explains how to do exactly that specifically for your router, preferably with pictures! Oh but there is! Simply head on to the http://portforward.com/ , choose your router model (Skip the advertisement that pops up), choose StarCraft and follow the instructions with pretty pictures! So unless you have no access to your router for any reason, you don't have an excuse anymore for being unable to host StarCraft games on Battle.net!
(Disclaimer: This is a dumbed down version explaining how to host games. If you need additional help with port forwarding, feel free to PM me or post in this thread and I'll help as much as I can.)
StarCraft: Brood War on Windows 7
It's no secret that Windows 7 doesn't like BW. Corrupting colors and freezing your PC, Windows 7 has certainly made it a lot harder to play BW carelessly like we did for years. Note that there isn't a definitive fix for this issue YET, only workarounds. For example, playing in Windows Mode with Chaoslauncher (or ICCup Launcher) fixes the problem completely, but then you're stuck playing in a small window, not in Fullscreen. Without going into too much technical details, if you're having a problem playing BW on Windows 7 (constant freezing), here are some tips on how to make it bearable: -Restart computer before playing BW and run as few programs as possible. This should reduce the chances of freezing happening. -Untested by me, but supposedly disabling "Color Cycling" in Video Options of BW helps reducing the chances of freezing as well.
If you're planning on becoming a hardcore BW player (and you WILL be), here's a good workaround to play BW in "Fullscreen" without any color or freezing problems. Since we know that Windows Mode of Chaoslauncher fixes that problem completely, we're gonna use it here, but also lower your desktop resolution to 640x480 (which BW uses) so that Window Mode gives you an illusion of Fullscreen. Doing this is very simple following this few steps:
1. Right click on your Chaoslauncher (or ICCup launcher) icon -> Properties.
2. Select "Run in 640x480 screen resolution" under Compatibility tab.
3. Run Chaoslauncher (or ICCup launcher) in Window Mode.
4. Position your StarCraft window perfectly so it aligns on all 4 sides of your screen (it takes little practice to position the top of the window, but it's pretty simple. Click on the red line and pull it up until you don't see red line anymore. If the sides are not aligned perfectly you won't be able to scroll with mouse in one or more direction while in game).
5. Use Alt + F1 to lock your cursor inside StarCraft window, so you can scroll normally in game. (you only have to do this once).
With this workaround your desktop resolution will change to 640x480 everytime you start Chaoslauncher. That is also the resolution on which the BW is played so the game will appear to be in fullscreen, even though it's in window mode. (After you exit Chaoslauncher, your Desktop Resolution will revert to your original one without messing up your icons!).
(Disclaimer: This subject is still being researched and some people are even working on a definitive fix to this problem, so keep an eye for updates. If you need additional help with this, feel free to PM me or post in this thread and I'll help as much as I can.)
Watching BW
To give you some perspective, when I started writing this guide, there was still OSL, MSL and Proleague going on in Korean scene. MBCGame departed us a while ago with OSL and Proleague following in it's footsteps soon enough. For this reason I even thought of removing this section altogether, but that would be great injustice to a guide that's about Brood War.
Conclusion
As I said already, this guide is only an introduction to the world of BW. It's pretty impossible to cover all the things in great detail, because then I'd come up with a book. So I treated this guide as a FAQ where I gathered most of the questions from other "New to BW" kind of threads. But as with any other FAQ, there will for sure be questions left unasked. Please don't hesitate asking anything that you want to know, no matter how basic the question might seem to you. I'm sure there will be plenty of people willing to help, because TL BW community is just awesome like that.
Further Reading
I tried including as many as possible references and links to other sources in this guide, so you'd get all the information available. There is also a downside to this as you might feel overwhelmed by the amount of information when you simply just want to try out a game. I guess my main purpose was to try to hype you up to play some BW! So don't get sidetracked by clicking endlessly on links and reading for hours. Instead just fire up that game and try it out and when you see some things for yourself, come back here and read the things that interest you. Here I will just list all other New to BW kind of threads so you can see advices from other people as well. I will try to sort them out by the quality of information in them, which is pretty subjective but anyways...
Tips
Here are some of the tips that somehow weren't mentioned in any other section or they were, but just require more emphasis:
#teamliquidbw on QuakeNet - this is the unofficial BW IRC channel of TeamLiquid.net and is a good place to ask simple questions you might have about BW. It's also a convenient place to ask for a quick game, I'm sure there will be at least someone interested in willing to help you out! We're very helpful people, when we're not afk that is...
op Teamliquid on ICCup - this is the unofficial BW channel of TeamLiquid.net on ICCup gaming server and is a good place to meet with your fellow TL members and play games with them.
On November 08 2010 20:52 Metalwing wrote: Lol is it PerfectMan vs firebathero ??? Does ACE even have a coach? Even I could see PerfectMan coming from miles away, which would instantly make me re-think the decision of sending FBH.
Holy shit fbh !!! He said "In ya face coach, I'm da baws here. I run this place."..
On November 08 2010 21:51 Malinor wrote: Last week people were already talking about that Oz now is a solid team. We'll see about that.
I think it's more that ACE is a stronger team than Oz, even though Oz still is solid. If Hiya starts to play to his potential again, I'm sure they'll be fine, especially with Anytime back in the fray. Both Perfectman and Killer are hardworking, determined youngsters so if the team stays together they'll have the opportunity to get better and eventually become a real threat.
I think that Ace got the best fans here, in TL. Every match they win is a small moment of a joy for me. It will be very hard for me to root against them, when they will face SKT
On November 08 2010 23:59 hitthat wrote: I think that Ace got the best fans here, in TL. Every match they win is a small moment of a joy for me. It will be very hard for me to root against them, when they will face SKT
aaaaand... HELL YEAH FBH!!!
Being an ACE fan is fucking great. Every loss is just like "meh, expected outcome". The horrible losing streaks make every win a cause for celebration. And then we get to gloat over the losing team.
Of course, now that they've got a half decent team together, it seems we don't have to worry about them being in dead last anymore. ^^
Amazing what M18M is doing with regular playing time. Then again, against Jaedong Oz, as long as you don't get the pointy end, the rest is a fleshy underbelly.
On November 09 2010 02:19 _Quasar_ wrote: Killer now must be officially dubbed FacepalmZerg. T__T
Killer is not that bad actually, he's still better than HiyA or ButtHo. The reason behind OZ's ball-sucking is PerfectMan being 2nd best player this season.
On November 09 2010 02:19 _Quasar_ wrote: Killer now must be officially dubbed FacepalmZerg. T__T
Killer is not that bad actually, he's still better than HiyA or ButtHo. The reason behind OZ's ball-sucking is PerfectMan being 2nd best player this season.
Killer while not being bad has failed again and again while receiving huge credit whilst HiyA and BackHo both have co-carried team for a time. Remember f..e Hiyas monster streak in WL.
On November 09 2010 02:18 Graham wrote: I think Jaedong and Flash should create their own team and bend rules by playing multiple games since their team only has 2 players.
They should just both get their military service over with at the same time and get a better team in the process.
There were so many open areas for econ harassment for Killer's mutas, but he chose to make them chip away at the assimilator wtf. All he had to do was bring some scourge and start gobbling up probes--he had a ton of mutas at one point.
On November 09 2010 02:18 Graham wrote: I think Jaedong and Flash should create their own team and bend rules by playing multiple games since their team only has 2 players.
They should just both get their military service over with at the same time and get a better team in the process.
A progamer's dominant reign is short-lived so it's best to spend that time under the pay of a rich corporate sponsor. Why waste your peak years (in which you get the best contracts) playing for a team that would offer much less? (Sorry, I don't know how it is in ACE but are the players even payed or is it all just a part of their community service in the military?)
The benefits of being under a commercial giant should be more financially rewarding even if you do end up doing most of the lifting in the league.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the games:
What was up with Hiya's reaction to that lurker attack? Bad decisions all around I guess...
Killer performed worse than usual probably due to the pressure of a 3:1 score. Any reason why his simcity defense for that third was bad? It looked so open compared to what zerg usually does..
M18M is so awesome. 5 base vs 2, bad gg timing by Killer, scouts were pretty much necessary to finally push Killer out of the game. And when it comes to mass mutas vs P, Killer is certainly no Shine.
haha I just got up and checked my liquibet : 1. "wut, Oz lost again to Ace" 2. "damn , 0 / 2 liquibets last night" 3 . "lets check the results anyway" 4. "FBH > Perfectman" 5. lolololol
EPT
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Bonyth
Razz
Dewalt + 
UltrA
LML
DragOn - they have 3 active and willing to play players (dragon, crossy and doodle) - maybe we will add Thailand with Jumper to their roster?![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/Q1vTemI.png)
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). Let this be a welcoming post for SC2 players, so please leave all the tedious BW vs SC2 discussion out of this thread.
How to practice
