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If I'm really bad with the Search Engine, please let me know.
I've been wondering about this for a while.
I'll start by telling you guys about me.
So I realized that I used to just zone out when I played, and everything I did was done out of instinct.
After a while, I realized that I was making some pretty dumb decisions, so I taught myself to have everything mechanic-wise done subconsciously, and then free up space in my brain to think about what he's doing and what I'm doing and who's ahead/behind and what my next step is.
So to do this, I made someone talk to me nonstop while I played Build Order Testers and stuff while I played around with my units, and forced my eyes to stay glued to the minimap.
So now when I play, I can see everything (thanks to the minimap), my macro is decent, and I'm microing decent, and I have enough handspeed (thanks to piano) to do most of the things that I want.
And what's going on in my head are the following things:
1. Who's ahead/behind right now?
2. What advantage does he have? Economy? Tech? Army? Upgrades? Production?
3. What is he doing right now?
4. What is my next step?
5. How's our positioning compared to each other?
6. Can I take map control from him? (Only if I don't have it)
And occasionally I'd think about building placements and stuff (as the SCV is heading to the location, I might spend a split second thinking about placement, but usually I already have it planned out).
And some other times, I don't think at all, especially during intense multitasking situations, since I really like multi-pronged attacks.
One thing I've noticed about a lot of high-tier players is that they can talk while they play (some streamers are on Skype calls with their friends and are having conversations while they play and stuff. So I'm guessing they play all zoned out)
So enough about me. What goes on in your head while you play?
EDIT: Whoops, meant to make a [D] tag. :/
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I almost always go on auto-pilot, and just go through the motions of making drones and hoping to not get attacked, although I find I play a lot better when I'm actively concentrating on specific aspects, like injects, scouting opponent's army size and composition, reacting to cheese/tech, misc. harassment.
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I like to think:
Whats my APM?
Is this what MarineKing would do?
Is there a timing I can execute?
Does he have collosi?
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Does he have collosi?
Lololololololol
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Make worker
Make unit
Make supply depot
Is it safe to expand
Upgrade (repeat for eternity)
Jokes aside. I don't really have time to think during the game. Most stuff is automatic, unless it's a stalemate TvT, or a weird late game position.
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I love this post.
Day[J] taught me the most important advice I've ever heard.
He told me this thought process order and to repeat it every 10 seconds:
-What's my overall game plan?
-How am I going to get there?
-Scout my opponent
-Upgrades
-Do I feel safe?
-If yes make drones, if no make units
-Scout my opponent again
-How can I transition into late game?
-Should I be preparing a timing attack?
-Scout again
If I am doing something cheesy, like a 6 pool, 7 roach rush, 2 base hydra all in, 1 base Nydus all in, ninja expansion, or proxy hatchery. It's:
-I HOPE HE DOESN'T SCOUT
-This is going to cause so much damage if I can get away with it
-Oh God, was that a worker scout? I hope he doesn't check that area
-If he scouts it: F10 + 'N'
-If he doesn't: http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/4475/fuyeah.jpg
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Do I have 10 colossus?
No
Do I have 10 colossus?
Yes - Go end the game.
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Instead of early game apm spam, i think through on my game plan. If my goal is to experiment on the effectiveness of different builds, i will decide on what builds i want to use. Refine the build best tailored for a certain map? Choose to test out the limits of other builds that are sub-optimal for that certain map? For zerg, you can also choose to spend some games trying to push the limits on how much you can drone. If my goal is to win, i will prepare the best possible build made for that map/positions and depending on opponents' playing style, while doing adjustments in the mid-game depending on his builds.
Other in-game decisions include:
-How far ahead/behind in terms of strength of army(tech/upgrades included in here) and economy.
-I don't just think on how to get more ahead when i'm already ahead. My first priority is always how to protect this lead before getting more ahead (toss = dts, terran = drops) Is it possible to use this lead to punish him or put more pressure.
-If i'm behind, how do i get back into game? Burrow? Counterattacks? Step up attempts to pin enemy back into base while buying time for my tech/economy?
-Forced to play blind, make calculated risks to defend against most possible aggressions while still not behind in economy that much.
-Again make calculated risks on how to get ahead right from the start depending on scouting info.
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If I am focused this is what goes through my head repeatedly.
1. What am I currently planning to do?
2. Am I scouting well enough to know what he is doing/planning?
3. Are my hatcheries injected?
4. Do I have too much resource buildup?
5. Are my overlords spread out and positioned well?
6. What should I use my larva for based on what I scouted?
7. What tech/upgrades should I also get based on what I scouted/have planned?
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1. Remember to look at the minimap
2. Remember to look at the minimap
3. Remember to look at the minimap
4. Remember to look at the minimap
5. Remember to look at the minimap
6. Remember to look at the minimap
7. Remember to look at the minimap
8. Remember to look at the minimap
9. Remember to look at the minimap
10. Remember to look at the minimap
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Depends if its Zerg then its mostly something along the lines of ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit AAARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHH. And bloody Supply Depots.
Terran just supply again but im a bit more composed so im thinking about tank positioning and building more Tanks 
Against protoss it tends to be alot about scouting for collosi and templar and macroing while i harass.
I am fairly bad though and tend to panic if anything happens
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Playing random, i sometimes have too many things to thing aout which sometimes distracts me.
1. What is my race and my opponent race?
2 what map is this that i can utilize for my race against his?
3 is he going to cheese me because my name is cheeserocka (i ten to macro and never cheese).
4. What position is he in this map?
5. Would a macro play or early aggression play be better on this map and positions?
6. Is cheese a viable option if i see a weakness on his play?
7. What is my unit composition goal, and how do i plan to adapt it to his?
8. knowing people tend to think random players are weaker late game, should i prolong this game to my advantage?
9. Is the player favored? If so, how can i macro better than him since my micro is most likely weaker than his
10. Why am i thinking toommuch (this one is a joke)
After the first 2-3 mins developing a plan, my thinking mechanics kick in:
Protoss: probes, look at supply, make pylon, check warpgates, upgrade, scout
Terran: make scv, look t supply, make depo, check buildings, upgrade, scout
Zerg: make drones, look at supply, how many overlords then make, watch creep, look at injects, upgrade, scout
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Oshit I forgot to [blank].
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hi master terran here
probably somthing like
- what is my overall plan?
- make scvs make units make depots look at minimap
- what is my opponent doing? should i change my plan to counter it?
- make scvs make units make depots look at mini map
- what is my opp doing.... repeat endlessly
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Hello,
my build is totally on auto pilot up to ~15 minutes (including expanding up to three bases and setting up the fourth, after that I have to think again about some stuff because I haven't experienced that superlategame often enough).
Regarding questions I like to keep it simple so there are two alternating thoughts in my head
1. What can I do right now to maximize the efficiency of my units? (Can I blink in somewhere, can I scout something, is there space for a HT-Drop, is there a weak point in the enemies defense, etc.)
2. What do I need to win aka where does my money go right now? (Expansion/Tech/Units?)
So its basically tactics and how long do I have until a fight will go on so I can decide if I rather put my money in long term stuff or need something right here, right now to fend off his next wave. (Easy example about that: I like to stay low on units in PvT up to the 10 minutes mark because thats when most pushes arrive. Because of that I stay on ~10 units mostly consisting of Sentries and a couple of stalkers while throwing up 6 Gates, a robo and all the tech I need - if I then sense that the terran is coming to me I'm able to pump out units obscenely quick - but if the terran is going for an quicker attack my 3 Gates will be used and I can't put up that much infrastructure).
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Primarily this:
- What is he doing?
This information is obtained by scouting various things, such as:
- his opening
- his expansion timing
- unit count
- etc...
Based on obtained information, I react accordingly. I feel this is by far the most important thing to do during the game.
Of course you shouldn't forget to build workers and supply depots and whatnot, but that's something which will be second nature quickly enough and doesn't require a lot of mental activity in my opinion. Trying to predict his next move does and is extremely important to be able to get ahead.
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"Ok, which cheese will i not scout this game and die to?"
"That again. Why didn't i scout it?"
"Right, because i fail too much to scout properly"
"gg"
Thats about it... and yes, i'm a Zerg player 
Oh, and ZvZ thoughts:
"Ok, will he 6pool, 8pool, 10pool or 14pool ling/bling all-in?"
"Well, i'll FE anyways, maybe i get lucky"
"Oh, it's an 8pool ling/spinecrawler/drone all-in again"
"gg"
Yes, i have a very positive attitude in my games... maybe thats why i'm stuck in diamond :p
EDIT: Just to note, everything else runs on auto-pilot, i decide the strategy mostly on the loading screen when i see the race.
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When I play as Z then it's something like
1. Can I make Drones?
2. Do I have enough OLs to spend my larva if I scout something?
3. Will I have infestors when he attack? (makes me scout a lot)
4. Where can I expand
5. Larva!
6. Larva!
7. Damn I forgot creep spread again
8. Larva!
9. Go To 3, Then Go To 1
When I play as T (I tend to play very aggressive, micro/harrassement heavy)
1. SCVs
2. What is my opponent doing, how can I exploit that NOW
3. Don't lose my Banshees, Reapers, Helions
4. Keep him buisy, get him off track
5. Has he overcommitted to defend my harrasement yet?
6. if yes -> ATTACK his front; If no -> Go to 1
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I pretty much just zone out, With just a little thought to things such as are dts coming? Are they expanding? Etc. But thats only when I am unable to scout anything. Except in games where I want to work on a single mechanic such as Injects, My injects where looking pretty bad so I got on ladder and my primary concern was keep Queens low on energy, I may have lost a few games but I now keep Queens energy low without having to think about it.
I always played passive, Drone drone drone, So recently I decided to make my primary concern to pressure my enemy, Attack as much as I can, Instead of droning to hard and dieing now, I have started winning again vs Protoss.
So currently in ZvP
+ Show Spoiler +1. Is he open to a early Roach/ling all in, or a Bling bust?
2. Is he to spread out can I drop?
3. Does he have detection?
4. Does he have full vision of his base?
5. Can I nydus anywhere?
6. Pressure an expo.
7. Drone/Expand while attacking.
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EPT
