• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 11:27
CEST 17:27
KST 00:27
  • 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
[ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall9HomeStory Cup 27 - Info & Preview18Classic wins Code S Season 2 (2025)16Code S RO4 & Finals Preview: herO, Rogue, Classic, GuMiho0TL Team Map Contest #5: Presented by Monster Energy6
Community News
Weekly Cups (June 30 - July 6): Classic Doubles2[BSL20] Non-Korean Championship 4x BSL + 4x China8Flash Announces Hiatus From ASL65Weekly Cups (June 23-29): Reynor in world title form?14FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $8000 live event22
StarCraft 2
General
The SCII GOAT: A statistical Evaluation The GOAT ranking of GOAT rankings Weekly Cups (June 23-29): Reynor in world title form? Weekly Cups (June 30 - July 6): Classic Doubles Program: SC2 / XSplit / OBS Scene Switcher
Tourneys
RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $8000 live event Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament WardiTV Mondays Korean Starcraft League Week 77
Strategy
How did i lose this ZvP, whats the proper response Simple Questions Simple Answers
Custom Maps
[UMS] Zillion Zerglings
External Content
Mutation # 481 Fear and Lava Mutation # 480 Moths to the Flame Mutation # 479 Worn Out Welcome Mutation # 478 Instant Karma
Brood War
General
Flash Announces Hiatus From ASL SC uni coach streams logging into betting site BW General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ ASL20 Preliminary Maps
Tourneys
CSL Xiamen International Invitational [BSL20] Non-Korean Championship 4x BSL + 4x China [BSL20] Grand Finals - Sunday 20:00 CET The Casual Games of the Week Thread
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers I am doing this better than progamers do.
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Path of Exile What do you want from future RTS games? Beyond All Reason
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
Russo-Ukrainian War Thread US Politics Mega-thread Stop Killing Games - European Citizens Initiative Summer Games Done Quick 2024! Summer Games Done Quick 2025!
Fan Clubs
SKT1 Classic Fan Club! Maru Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread
Sports
Formula 1 Discussion 2024 - 2025 Football Thread NBA General Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 NHL Playoffs 2024
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Culture Clash in Video Games…
TrAiDoS
from making sc maps to makin…
Husyelt
Blog #2
tankgirl
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Trip to the Zoo
micronesia
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 709 users

The Terran Help Me Thread - Page 63

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
Post a Reply
Prev 1 61 62 63 64 65 460 Next
Make sure you read the OP before asking a question. Asking a question already addressed in the OP will result in moderation action. Also, please put some effort into your questions.
NevenGaming
Profile Joined August 2011
Norway29 Posts
November 07 2011 20:28 GMT
#1241
Does anybody have a good mech style TvT build they could share with me? Just started out as terran.
http://www.youtube.com/nevengaming
Waah
Profile Joined February 2011
United States120 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-11-07 20:47:33
November 07 2011 20:37 GMT
#1242
On November 08 2011 03:31 MasonosaM wrote:
For TvZ I go reactor hellion getting out 2 hellion if small map, 4 if big. My question is what is the best follow up in terms of denying/ killing the third? I throw down two more barrack after the swap and add tech and reactor to them, then grab combat shield. I push at around 3-4 tanks with my marines and combat shield. Should I be getting stim first? or should I wait for medivac? How do high level terrans follow up the hellions?

Pushing with tanks and combat shield marines is fine. Stim is a big risk if you don't have medivacs out, since good Zergs will just dance back and forth until marines run out of stim and then attack, possibly saving the third as well. Don't know about how high level Terrans go about it. They can certainly do the same thing with stim because of their better micro though, I'm sure.
On November 08 2011 03:31 MasonosaM wrote:
Also, what should I do if the zerg is staying on two base for a really long time? I feel leery about venturing out when this happens and usually wait for a heavier push and for his third to go up instead of just moving out at the standard time. Should I still attempt to apply pressure in some way at around the 9-10 minute mark? Perhaps just taking the watch towers and back?

Take a third, if it's long enough that he doesn't scout it and pressure before you benefit from the expo. Turtle up and he'll feel reluctant to attack into it, even if he scouts it later.
Try drops if you still want to apply pressure; around 9~10 minutes mutas won't be out yet most of the time. Pushing out to kill a few tumors then retreating may also force units from Zerg, so I guess that works in the sense that it indirectly impacts his economy. Clearing the watchtowers does the same thing, but you can usually deny creep at the same time without a huge risk--send a few marines forward to do it.
On November 08 2011 03:31 MasonosaM wrote:
For TvP, I usually can macro just fine and do drops dealing damage without losing them, and I can be ahead in every way all game but when it comes to the big maxed engagements I somehow manage to fuck up more than 70% of the time. How should I go about attacking a maxed protoss army? I have the jist for the unit comps I need but my control of the maxed army just isn't up to par. If someone could give me a series of actions they do when attempting to engage that would be great or just describe it that would be awesome.

I wouldn't attack a maxed Protoss army unless I had superior upgrades and micro to pull it off. I'm sure everyone has a good idea of how to engage a maxed Protoss army, but there's a lot more to it when you have to actually pull it off, so I'd play safe and start trading earlier.
MyLastSerenade
Profile Joined February 2010
Germany710 Posts
November 07 2011 20:39 GMT
#1243




+ Show Spoiler +
On November 08 2011 05:27 TheDwf wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 08 2011 04:36 MyLastSerenade wrote:
can maybe someone watch my replay and tell me what timing i should hit for a push in that game? feels like i loose every tvz the same way, my timing is too late and then he crushes my initial force with some sling / bling and then just overruns me......
when i try to hit earlier i stay in front of his spine wall and cant do much. when i see a spire i tend to not drop because mutas are a threat even when i see they are out of position, often reinforcing mutas kill my drop or he sees it and places some zerglints to counter it.
i know my macro isnt the best but i think it is quite ok for my skilllevel and dont think that this an big issue in this game.

http://drop.sc/54442

Hi,

Some comments about the game :

a) You should stay in front of his natural with your Hellions, especially as you see the Roach Warren (you may need the few extra seconds to set up your defence in case he decides to attack straightaway with Roaches);

b) About the push, there was no real reason to do it. The primary goal should be to get rid of the third, but given your respective spawn positions you can't really do that without risking being flanked, surrounded or simply countered (as you did not wall your natural before leaving out, something you absolutely need). This kind of 10' push should have a purpose, and here it had none. You sat in front of his base for two minuts doing nothing, so he got all the time he needed to make units and crush it. The proper way would have been to use the cliff; with an earlier Medivac, you may elevator some Marines to harass his mineral line while using Siege tanks to cover them. This way, there is a real threat with your push.

c) From this point, he should be ahead, but thanks to his bad macro you could have still won... Problem is, at 14'30 you have 30 SCVs at your natural and 14 at your first base (meaning 6 of your SCVs are wasted). You have too much gas because you did not make a second Factory (which means you have a low Tank count since you lost some of them at your first push) and did not make a Reactor for your Starport. Then...

d) For some reason, you feel the need to go and sit near the Xel'Naga Tower that he was holding (giving him full sight of your small army). You have only 3 tanks, so you will never be able to deal with all his lings/banelings at this point. Logically enough, your exposed army get swept away, because once again he got all the time he needed to make units and engage.

In short, you are unnecessarily agressive (without actually being agressive, because there is no real threat in your pushes). You did not know it, but you had superior economy (because your opponent's macro is terrible) ; there was no need to go, you should have simply built a second Factory and a Sensor Tower to see the path leading to your third, waited for a higher Tank count and then try to go his natural.

Be careful with those 10' pushes. They are not a "standard" thing, you should aim at something precise with them (not winning the game straightaway, unless the Zerg is bad; most of the time, it's simply a way to punish the Zerg player if he took too quickly his third). If you lose them without doing much damage, you will likely lose the game.


On November 08 2011 05:18 Willzzz wrote:
lol, you are so BM, learn to chill.

Did you really need 2 bunkers when you had the xel'naga towers locked down with your hellions? I guess you were scared of roaches but they take a long time to cross the map with no real creep spread and you were making tanks anyway.

Your push was kinda late and weak, when you saw you couldn't push into his base you should have either re-inforced or much safer just retreated back to base. Leaving such a small army in a vulnerable position is asking for trouble. No idea why you wasted a scan just to take a few pot shots on buildings with 1 tank.

Later on you don't have enough production, I would recommend getting 2 factories myself. Tanks are so good in big numbers.

You end the game with about 7 MULEs worth of energy on just 2 OC, that could have been a whole army of extra marines.



thanks for the feedback, i will work on this, maybe i am just too frustrated atm~~
u just opened my eyes how bad i played there...
when i see a roach warren i tend do overdefend because the allin with roach ling is so hard to hold, so i try to be safe as fast as possible....
kYem
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United Kingdom412 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-11-07 20:51:32
November 07 2011 20:43 GMT
#1244
On November 08 2011 05:28 NevenGaming wrote:
Does anybody have a good mech style TvT build they could share with me? Just started out as terran.


MVP Build From MLG, before hellions were nerfed. It's still solid, however it really hard to defend against properly executed all-ins.

========== MVP Mech ==========
0:56 Supply
1:34 Barracks
2:36 OB
2:45 Refinery
Marine
2:55 Supply Depot
3:40 Command Center
3:55 Refinery <<< ?
Marine
4:12 Factory
Marine
4:52 Tech Lab (Rax)
5:20 Starport
5:22 Orbital
(swap factory with rax for tech lab)
5:26 Hellion+++++ (swap factory with rax for tech lab)
5:30 Infernal
5:34 Supply Depot
Build reactor on rax
Viking

If you suspect Cloak Banshee, save scans ( usual cloak timing 7:10-7:30).
After second viking, switch with factory and get raven
Should have 3 factories by 9mins mark / 1 reactor ( from rax ) 2 tech lab )



Timings of what you should have at :

5min

CC & Factory 5:10
Marine 5:08
3Marines
290M 180G
20scv

6 min
Blue 21/110
Starport 52/60
Hellion 15/30
Reactor 20/50
4 Marines
90M 90G

7 min
Blue 80/110
3 Hellion 10/30
6 Marines
150M 169G
28 SCV

8 min
Ravem 18/60
4-5 Hellion 10/30
6 Marines
130M 105G
32 SCV
2 Factory 13/60

9 min
Raven
8-9 Hellion 10/30
6 Marines
100M 337G
32 SCV

It's very specific build and very good as well, you will need to do a lot of practise ultil you can execute it right, but once you do, you will have huge advantage over your opponents.

Good Luck
Hell
TheDwf
Profile Joined November 2011
France19747 Posts
November 07 2011 20:55 GMT
#1245
On November 08 2011 05:39 MyLastSerenade wrote:
thanks for the feedback, i will work on this, maybe i am just too frustrated atm~~
u just opened my eyes how bad i played there...
when i see a roach warren i tend do overdefend because the allin with roach ling is so hard to hold, so i try to be safe as fast as possible....

It was unlikely for the Zerg to roach all-in you because he used his Roach Warren as part of his wall. If he was to all-in you, he would have rather hidden his Roach Warren.
MyLastSerenade
Profile Joined February 2010
Germany710 Posts
November 07 2011 20:57 GMT
#1246
On November 08 2011 05:55 TheDwf wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 08 2011 05:39 MyLastSerenade wrote:
thanks for the feedback, i will work on this, maybe i am just too frustrated atm~~
u just opened my eyes how bad i played there...
when i see a roach warren i tend do overdefend because the allin with roach ling is so hard to hold, so i try to be safe as fast as possible....

It was unlikely for the Zerg to roach all-in you because he used his Roach Warren as part of his wall. If he was to all-in you, he would have rather hidden his Roach Warren.



diamond zerg dont care i u scout their tech or not ~~
Willzzz
Profile Joined December 2010
United Kingdom774 Posts
November 07 2011 21:03 GMT
#1247
If you are getting frustrated it's usually a good idea to take a break.

Diamond players are often all about secrecy and surprise because they are desperate for the all-in to work, you know because it is all-in.

A nice depot wall at the front combined with your hellions at the towers should enable you to buy enough time to defend such an all-in anyway. It's only really a big deal if you are going a really greedy play like 3 OC.
Barbeques
Profile Joined October 2011
United States3 Posts
November 07 2011 22:29 GMT
#1248
****I don't mean to be obnoxious by posting this again, however I feel that my post went unseen in the midst of other posts****.

Hello fellow Terran players! This is my first post on TL after lurking for a few months. I'm a gold Terran player and am recently having massive trouble against Protoss. I recently went on a 6 win streak, and immediately afterwards went on a 6 loss streak, 4 of which were to Protoss. Here is one replay for you to analyze. I do know that my build order that game was poor, mostly because I was winging it.

http://drop.sc/53722

Thanks for your time.
Willzzz
Profile Joined December 2010
United Kingdom774 Posts
November 07 2011 23:08 GMT
#1249
OK, difficult to know where do start.

You do a really weird opening, you are clearly setting up to expand, but your CC goes down pretty late. Have you tried doing a 1 rax expand?

You scan his base at around 7 mins and see he is clearly 1 basing, that shouldn't trigger you to attack, but you do anyway. If he is on 1 base and you are on 2, you should prepare to defend and build up your army. If you are going to attack regardless then don't scan and use the MULE instead, you will find out what he has when your army gets there!

When his prism comes in and your army is just outside his choke, I think you should just have a-moved up his ramp. You don't know what is up there, but it can't be that much if he has a full prism at your base. Ideally you should be able to multi-task, but even if your micro isn't up to that I think you will do OK.

After you deal with the Prism you attack and do pretty well, but you run from his pathetic 4 stalker army, you should have killed them off with your marines. Marines are pretty good vs stalkers.

You seem pretty surprised that he goes collosii, but surely that is pretty standard at gold? You have problems with your add-ons, tech-lab on factory for no reason, starport lands wrong. You are quite marine heavy which obv isn't great vs collosii.

One thing to bear in mind is that collosii aren't great in small numbers and on open terrain. If you had held the watchtower you could have tried to surround and destroy the toss ball even without viking support. @ 16min when he only had 1 collosus in the middle I think you could have owned him with a nice surround.
Barbeques
Profile Joined October 2011
United States3 Posts
November 07 2011 23:37 GMT
#1250
Yeah I realize that I could have destroyed his army before he got up to 4+ colossi. I usually do a 1 rax gasless expand against protoss, however once I realized that he was one basing I became afraid of an all-in of some sort so I opted to add in more barracks instead of expanding. Perhaps my problem is that I should just stick with a game plan instead of altering my build so drastically in order to respond to what I'm scouting.
KurtistheTurtle
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
United States1966 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-11-08 06:03:47
November 08 2011 06:03 GMT
#1251
I'm high plat, consistently 1 in my division. I'll go on a winning streak until I reach high diamond opponents, then I'll lose to them.

Most of the time I can identify my mistakes & such, I've improved dramatically over the past couple of weeks (steamrolling friends who I couldn't hold a candle to before)

but every now and then I'll go on a losing streak, lose to a 4 gate, or just something stupid. I desire better than this. But I feel like I've hit a plateau. I'm going to exceed, but the how eludes me

What have you done that's greatly benefited you/what do you suggest I focus on more than anything else?

Also, usually in games (especially tvz on metalopolis), if I just focus on macro, the opponent auto-wins. but when I try to do everything, I have a crappy push to zerg 3rd or a great push with awful macro. What's the most effective way of improving?

focusing solely, completely 100% on macro & then throwing in micro when I can while disregarding the short-term game, or just mass-gaming at this "everything" state?
“Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears."
NevenGaming
Profile Joined August 2011
Norway29 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-11-08 07:20:01
November 08 2011 07:18 GMT
#1252
Quote in spoilers
+ Show Spoiler +
On November 08 2011 05:43 kYem wrote:
On November 08 2011 05:28 NevenGaming wrote:
Does anybody have a good mech style TvT build they could share with me? Just started out as terran.


MVP Build From MLG, before hellions were nerfed. It's still solid, however it really hard to defend against properly executed all-ins.

========== MVP Mech ==========
0:56 Supply
1:34 Barracks
2:36 OB
2:45 Refinery
Marine
2:55 Supply Depot
3:40 Command Center
3:55 Refinery <<< ?
Marine
4:12 Factory
Marine
4:52 Tech Lab (Rax)
5:20 Starport
5:22 Orbital
(swap factory with rax for tech lab)
5:26 Hellion+++++ (swap factory with rax for tech lab)
5:30 Infernal
5:34 Supply Depot
Build reactor on rax
Viking

If you suspect Cloak Banshee, save scans ( usual cloak timing 7:10-7:30).
After second viking, switch with factory and get raven
Should have 3 factories by 9mins mark / 1 reactor ( from rax ) 2 tech lab )



Timings of what you should have at :

5min

CC & Factory 5:10
Marine 5:08
3Marines
290M 180G
20scv

6 min
Blue 21/110
Starport 52/60
Hellion 15/30
Reactor 20/50
4 Marines
90M 90G

7 min
Blue 80/110
3 Hellion 10/30
6 Marines
150M 169G
28 SCV

8 min
Ravem 18/60
4-5 Hellion 10/30
6 Marines
130M 105G
32 SCV
2 Factory 13/60

9 min
Raven
8-9 Hellion 10/30
6 Marines
100M 337G
32 SCV

It's very specific build and very good as well, you will need to do a lot of practise ultil you can execute it right, but once you do, you will have huge advantage over your opponents.

Good Luck


Thank you very much, looks interesting gonna try it out :D
http://www.youtube.com/nevengaming
Blazinghand *
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States25551 Posts
November 08 2011 18:05 GMT
#1253
On November 08 2011 15:03 KurtistheTurtle wrote:
What have you done that's greatly benefited you/what do you suggest I focus on more than anything else?

Also, usually in games (especially tvz on metalopolis), if I just focus on macro, the opponent auto-wins. but when I try to do everything, I have a crappy push to zerg 3rd or a great push with awful macro. What's the most effective way of improving?

focusing solely, completely 100% on macro & then throwing in micro when I can while disregarding the short-term game, or just mass-gaming at this "everything" state?



It varies from person to person, but to improve, I did a number of things:

1) Spend a few games focusing on 1 element of your play: I focused on one element of my gameplay at a time, rather than trying to do something broad and difficult like "Macro Better" (which obviously you want to do but is hard). I'd do something like say "Next game, I literally will not get supply blocked for the first 100 food" and I'd keep on trying until I was finally able to go up to the mid-game without getting supply blocked at all. Something like "Micro" or "Macro" is far too broad. Other 1-element goals I had included "Expand every 6 minutes", "never let my resource count go above 800 minerals" "always be producing scvs" "don't cut upgrades" and others. Eventually, I was able to do all of these at once and THEN I had good macro. Take time to break down what macro's made up of rather than just trying to "macro better"-- like how a basketball player spends a lot of time practicing form, jumping, doing free throws, doing layups, etc, rather than just trying to "shoot better": do it in pieces.

2) Watch your losing replays: I watch all the replays in which I lose, even if it's obvious that I just got surprised by a 4gate. I usually wait until the end of my ladder session, though sometimes I'll watch it right away if I'm confused how I lost. The important part is to realize exactly how you lost, look through your own eyes and see what you scouted, etc. I keep a little notepad open to track what went wrong and what I will do better next time. Sometimes the notes for a match go "No expo at 5:00, but I scouted only 1 gas. This is probably 4gate, need to make bunkers in this situation" EVEN if I already know that. I'm a crappy learner and this is how I make myself learn. Stop to review losing replays-- even obvious ones can teach you how to avoid losing situations.

3) Identify and work on your weaknesses: If you find yourself losing macro games against Z on metalopolis, grab a zerg practice partner or friend and spam macro games against him until you can win, or until you improve. Try to do this with someone at or around your level. Better than you is OK, but worse than you won't teach you much. You won't become better at certain playstyles without giving them a try.
When you stare into the iCCup, the iCCup stares back.
TL+ Member
S_SienZ
Profile Joined September 2011
1878 Posts
November 08 2011 18:44 GMT
#1254
Hey guys, I was wondering if any of you rebinded your patrol key, and if so, please share.

With the P key so far away, I always struggle to find it in panic mode to split vs Banelings. Tried rebinding it to F which works fine but this means my ghosts are incapable of holding fire to spam snipes. Both of these are vital in TvZ so it's not like I can pause for a few secs at the beginning of each game to readjust.

Any key suggestions that won't affect other keys? I play every other key on default.
NevenGaming
Profile Joined August 2011
Norway29 Posts
November 08 2011 18:48 GMT
#1255
On November 09 2011 03:44 S_SienZ wrote:
Hey guys, I was wondering if any of you rebinded your patrol key, and if so, please share.

With the P key so far away, I always struggle to find it in panic mode to split vs Banelings. Tried rebinding it to F which works fine but this means my ghosts are incapable of holding fire to spam snipes. Both of these are vital in TvZ so it's not like I can pause for a few secs at the beginning of each game to readjust.

Any key suggestions that won't affect other keys? I play every other key on default.


Do you use spacebar? It may be good, havent tried it tough. But i dont use space bar for recent events.. idk if you do.
http://www.youtube.com/nevengaming
Blazinghand *
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States25551 Posts
November 08 2011 18:50 GMT
#1256
On November 09 2011 03:44 S_SienZ wrote:
Hey guys, I was wondering if any of you rebinded your patrol key, and if so, please share.

With the P key so far away, I always struggle to find it in panic mode to split vs Banelings. Tried rebinding it to F which works fine but this means my ghosts are incapable of holding fire to spam snipes. Both of these are vital in TvZ so it's not like I can pause for a few secs at the beginning of each game to readjust.

Any key suggestions that won't affect other keys? I play every other key on default.



I rebound it to Q initially, since I don't use Q for anything, but it can be awkward since it's near A.you could also consider moving it to like Y or something that's closer than P but not interfering with the main hotkey area.
When you stare into the iCCup, the iCCup stares back.
TL+ Member
S_SienZ
Profile Joined September 2011
1878 Posts
November 08 2011 18:55 GMT
#1257
Aight thanks for suggestions! Will definitely keep those in mind when when rebinding next time! At one point I was getting so desperate I contemplated removing EVERY key near P lol.
kORALIE
Profile Joined November 2011
Belgium16 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-11-08 19:18:05
November 08 2011 18:59 GMT
#1258
Is there any easy builds for rank 3 bronze terran newbie?

edit: I've been doing this build: http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/2_Rax_Pressure

It feels decent I guess.
KurtistheTurtle
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
United States1966 Posts
November 08 2011 19:50 GMT
#1259
On November 09 2011 03:05 Blazinghand wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 08 2011 15:03 KurtistheTurtle wrote:
What have you done that's greatly benefited you/what do you suggest I focus on more than anything else?

Also, usually in games (especially tvz on metalopolis), if I just focus on macro, the opponent auto-wins. but when I try to do everything, I have a crappy push to zerg 3rd or a great push with awful macro. What's the most effective way of improving?

focusing solely, completely 100% on macro & then throwing in micro when I can while disregarding the short-term game, or just mass-gaming at this "everything" state?



It varies from person to person, but to improve, I did a number of things:

1) Spend a few games focusing on 1 element of your play: I focused on one element of my gameplay at a time, rather than trying to do something broad and difficult like "Macro Better" (which obviously you want to do but is hard). I'd do something like say "Next game, I literally will not get supply blocked for the first 100 food" and I'd keep on trying until I was finally able to go up to the mid-game without getting supply blocked at all. Something like "Micro" or "Macro" is far too broad. Other 1-element goals I had included "Expand every 6 minutes", "never let my resource count go above 800 minerals" "always be producing scvs" "don't cut upgrades" and others. Eventually, I was able to do all of these at once and THEN I had good macro. Take time to break down what macro's made up of rather than just trying to "macro better"-- like how a basketball player spends a lot of time practicing form, jumping, doing free throws, doing layups, etc, rather than just trying to "shoot better": do it in pieces.

2) Watch your losing replays: I watch all the replays in which I lose, even if it's obvious that I just got surprised by a 4gate. I usually wait until the end of my ladder session, though sometimes I'll watch it right away if I'm confused how I lost. The important part is to realize exactly how you lost, look through your own eyes and see what you scouted, etc. I keep a little notepad open to track what went wrong and what I will do better next time. Sometimes the notes for a match go "No expo at 5:00, but I scouted only 1 gas. This is probably 4gate, need to make bunkers in this situation" EVEN if I already know that. I'm a crappy learner and this is how I make myself learn. Stop to review losing replays-- even obvious ones can teach you how to avoid losing situations.

3) Identify and work on your weaknesses: If you find yourself losing macro games against Z on metalopolis, grab a zerg practice partner or friend and spam macro games against him until you can win, or until you improve. Try to do this with someone at or around your level. Better than you is OK, but worse than you won't teach you much. You won't become better at certain playstyles without giving them a try.

thankyou for the insightful response! ill get to work
“Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears."
upperbound
Profile Joined September 2011
United States2300 Posts
November 08 2011 20:26 GMT
#1260
I don't think I've ever been more confused by a replay. I was ahead in literally every possible way that one could be ahead, and yet somehow I lost. What's more, my opponent only hit my army with 1 storm in the big engagement; I dodge the rest of them and they hit his zealots and stalkers.

I'm getting so frustrated by my inability to improve. I've been at plat for about 1000 ladder games and cannot improve, and many of my losses feel like this one where someone all ins me, fails, and then I still lose. I made harvesters conservatively during his push because it seemed like he was all-in. I followed the Artosis "When you're ahead, get more ahead" and took an easy gold while the toss turtled on 2 bases. I was 50 food ahead and ahead on upgrades in the final battle (even more ahead when you consider that attack upgrades are basically useless against terran) and got demolished. Like, he left the battle with 40 food in immortals and stalkers while I lost my whole 120 food army.

I'm really struggling and don't know what to do to get better. When I do drills on the side for my macro, I can match the pros' supply counts at each minute but somehow it doesn't seem to translate to wins. I really don't know what to do anymore and am considering quitting the game.

Here's the replay:
http://drop.sc/55059
Prev 1 61 62 63 64 65 460 Next
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Wardi Open
11:00
#43
WardiTV1602
OGKoka 527
Harstem484
IndyStarCraft 210
Rex157
CranKy Ducklings131
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
OGKoka 527
Harstem 484
mouzHeroMarine 308
Hui .253
IndyStarCraft 210
Rex 157
MaxPax 96
StarCraft: Brood War
Bisu 3317
Jaedong 2341
Flash 2281
EffOrt 952
Hyuk 614
Larva 412
Stork 410
ZerO 389
Soulkey 387
Snow 346
[ Show more ]
actioN 329
Soma 251
firebathero 226
GuemChi 200
Mind 169
sSak 75
TY 73
Barracks 60
JulyZerg 59
Sharp 50
PianO 45
Yoon 39
hero 37
Sea.KH 35
soO 29
HiyA 26
sorry 26
Terrorterran 24
JYJ23
Rock 22
Aegong 21
yabsab 19
GoRush 14
IntoTheRainbow 9
Shine 7
Dota 2
Gorgc5686
qojqva3443
League of Legends
singsing2394
Dendi1215
Counter-Strike
fl0m768
markeloff139
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King234
Other Games
hiko1718
B2W.Neo1045
Beastyqt738
crisheroes466
Lowko344
ArmadaUGS135
Liquid`VortiX130
Trikslyr48
ZerO(Twitch)21
KnowMe6
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick44639
StarCraft 2
IntoTheiNu 20
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 15 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Reevou 2
• intothetv
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• C_a_k_e 3221
• WagamamaTV572
League of Legends
• Nemesis6895
• TFBlade585
Upcoming Events
RotterdaM Event
34m
Replay Cast
8h 34m
Sparkling Tuna Cup
18h 34m
WardiTV European League
1d
MaNa vs sebesdes
Mixu vs Fjant
ByuN vs HeRoMaRinE
ShoWTimE vs goblin
Gerald vs Babymarine
Krystianer vs YoungYakov
PiGosaur Monday
1d 8h
The PondCast
1d 18h
WardiTV European League
1d 20h
Jumy vs NightPhoenix
Percival vs Nicoract
ArT vs HiGhDrA
MaxPax vs Harstem
Scarlett vs Shameless
SKillous vs uThermal
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
2 days
Replay Cast
2 days
RSL Revival
2 days
ByuN vs SHIN
Clem vs Reynor
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
3 days
RSL Revival
3 days
Classic vs Cure
FEL
4 days
RSL Revival
4 days
FEL
4 days
FEL
5 days
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
5 days
Bonyth vs QiaoGege
Dewalt vs Fengzi
Hawk vs Zhanhun
Sziky vs Mihu
Mihu vs QiaoGege
Zhanhun vs Sziky
Fengzi vs Hawk
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
RSL Revival
5 days
FEL
5 days
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
6 days
Bonyth vs Dewalt
QiaoGege vs Dewalt
Hawk vs Bonyth
Sziky vs Fengzi
Mihu vs Zhanhun
QiaoGege vs Zhanhun
Fengzi vs Mihu
Liquipedia Results

Completed

BSL Season 20
HSC XXVII
Heroes 10 EU

Ongoing

JPL Season 2
BSL 2v2 Season 3
Acropolis #3
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 2
CSL 17: 2025 SUMMER
Copa Latinoamericana 4
Jiahua Invitational
Championship of Russia 2025
RSL Revival: Season 1
Murky Cup #2
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025
Asian Champions League '25
BLAST Rivals Spring 2025
MESA Nomadic Masters
CCT Season 2 Global Finals
IEM Melbourne 2025

Upcoming

2025 ACS Season 2: Qualifier
CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
CSL Xiamen Invitational
2025 ACS Season 2
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
K-Championship
uThermal 2v2 Main Event
SEL Season 2 Championship
FEL Cracov 2025
Esports World Cup 2025
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
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 © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.