EPTWell, here we go
TL:DR : 1300 Points Master Terran (rank 1-3 division, top 20 GM mmr) offering Coaching on North American server for $20/hr - details read all of below (see what i did there? ^^)
First and foremost, please allow me to introduce myself in the most entertaining way I possibly can
Hello to all of Teamliquid.net, I am an aspiring individual struggling to walk into the realm of eSports. My name is Aaron Kim, which defaults me to a Korean (south no terrorist jokes pls). I am at the end of the line, which brings me to make my FINAL STANCE and appeal to the community that I so ardently desire to be a part of. Yes, the Starcraft community.
I began playing Starcraft one about the time it made its global debut, which was when I was around 7ish. I can still remember those mornings when I sat before my oversized behemoth of a computer while being intrigued by the pretty colours (CANADIAN) of archons and the rest of the Protoss race. I can piece together the memories of my afternoons being spent in the offices of my dad's co-workers who spent their breaks smoking and playing low-skilled starcraft. Then, I also remember my flight to Canada when I was 8, leaving my native country for a new chapter in life, and upon settling down, you guessed it, playing starcraft :D.
Fast forward a couple years. I grew up with great surroundings, lots of love, blessings, gifts, etc. and I continued to play games as a hobby. With the power of my inner Korean, I was able to reap the most out of RTS games - namely Starcraft and Warcraft 3. Through my teen years, I've invested hundreds of hours into playing Blizzard games (SC, Diablo2, Wc3/DotA), as well as crying lots of tears due to CDs breaking or family bringing down the iron judgment(asian parents mode), temporarily crushing my addictions.
As time never ceased to take breaks, neither did my childhood - this lead to my transition into a pseudo-adult, where I learned of a funny word, its called "responsibilities". As I followed the daily guidelines laid out to me by my surrounding institutions, I began diverging in a different path. My hobbies grew, my self-awareness picked up, and I started to make a turn from the societal norms. Perhaps it is my religion, perhaps it is my background, or perhaps maybe I'm just weird. But one thing is for sure; I want to help eSports grow, and I want to be at the center of it. I could not make up my mind as I hopped games - though I had potential talent through competitively playing DotA for a very short period of time, I felt it was not enough. Then along came Starcraft 2.
I'm still in a very sticky situation. If it was not for a very generous friend who donated me a free Nvidia 8800 GeForce (is that what its called, the gfx card that averages 80+C, is huge, and is a couple years old, just about qualifies to run SC2 on low specs), my 8 year old PC, formerly top of the line product back in 2003 while my dad's business was running, would not allow me to play my country's National sport. Yes, Starcraft is Korea's National Sport. I am limited by both equipment (pentium 4, 1gig DDR ram, windows XP) as well as time (began playing SC2 in the ides February) to going one step further in my gaming "career". For these reasons, I play SC2 on a buddy's account, who punishes me for it by forcing me to play under XxElitexX.650 - but call me Clairvoyance (lol). This is also the reason why I am playing Terran now and not Zerg, because staring at a mid-late game zerg army will bring my fps down to 1-3, and sometimes crash my computer. With that said, if any of you ever meet me on the ladder, if for some reason you can't kill me in 10 minutes, maxing vs me is almost autowin :3.
To those who would ridicule me for my inexperienced insights on life, I hope you believe me when I say I tried getting out of this. For the sake of not bore-ing (?) you readers, I'll just say that I've applied to many workplaces, worked at a few places, and have been laid off due to "oh the economy is bad and this is our slow time and we have no work for you". In the end, I feel most comfortable doing this anyway, and I believe I have talent for it, so my verdict is: well, lets give it a shot.
So here is where I told myself I'll draw the line.
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There. Now, some of you might be wondering why take coaching from me, someone with all these cons/ someone who is lacking so much? Well, once again there is a reason why I chose to stick with this, I feel that I have a lot to offer. As a latecomer, someone who's roughly in a 8-9 months lag into the game, I will admit that I do lack experience in the game pre-2011, though I have been intensely watching GSL games and whatnot since October. However, if you can't trust my Korean blood (lol) or my current rankings on the ladder with all my handicaps, allow me to say that I have made minor accomplishments by beating certain well-known pro gamers, such as but not exclusive to LiquidTyler and Grubby (these names are what I feel are the biggest/most known). I could not save my replay vs Mr Tyler due to limited computer space, it was on his stream you could probably find me in a VoD if it existed, but I do have a link for Grubby, it was for IPL qualifier #1.
http://www.z33k.com/starcraft2/tournaments/710-ign-pro-league-season-two-qualifier-1/matches/29901
I extend apologies to mentioned individuals if they are offended in any way, I'd like to say that this is not me saying I am a better player but simply a way to assert my credibility as a decent player who does try his best to compete at a high level.
If you do want to take me up on my offer on coaching, I have played random on the ladder until about the level of 1200pnt masters - which means that though my Terran is strongest, my understanding of Protoss and Zerg as well as their play transitions inside a game itself is not to be undermined. My preferred medium for communication is Ventrilo, but I do realize the popularity of Skype/Teamspeak and I am going to try learning Skype asap. For more needed detail, my coaching will consist of
- Replay analysis (have replays prepared)
- Unit testing (compositions n stuff)
- Lots of discussion
- Playing games together
- Possibly in game coaching, where I watch you play and guide you as you go vs a player you have prepared, presumably at your level - due to my computer limitations unfortunately I am unable to stream nor find you a reliable, on-the-go practice partner.
Not to fret though, I feel that the best way to improve other than straight grinding is by understanding - in a basketball practice, the coach tells you to run, because though he knows in the end that points are what will win the game, running and being able to maintain stamina will ultimately be your best bet at points in the long run. In the same way, even though I might be the only person available to play you / with you,
a) your goal should be to get to my level or better and there should be no penalties but only gains involved with playing someone at a higher level than you, and
b) as long as you are willing to learn, my analysis and insights into the current metagame and the mechanics, as well as analysis of your games will definitely assist you in working on the areas where you are lacking.
So, if you want coaching from a Korean individual with fluent English, likes to take long walks in the beach, doesn’t know how to say the “f” word to save his life, enjoys hip hop and raps (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rIoHLrBTFc), does nothing but eat, play basketball, watch animes, play starcraft 2, rage cuz TOSS OP and the occasional bathroom breaks, Aaron Kim is your man (no homo).
If you have any questions, feel free to Email me at aarroonn92@gmail.com, I promise I’ll read all your questions and give you the best reply I can within reason.
Thanks for your perusal and if there is a God, may he bless you all ^^
A.K
.
