[D] Macro Cycle List and Guidelines

On July 02 2012 01:44 Demonhunter04 wrote:
Interesting. I don't follow a specific cycle, I just do whatever is almost done (queue units if they're almost done, get ready to continue upgrades, etc)

On July 02 2012 02:00 HeeroFX wrote:



Lol same here. I just keep in mind what i want to do and just do it.

On July 02 2012 01:44 Demonhunter04 wrote:
Interesting. I don't follow a specific cycle, I just do whatever is almost done (queue units if they're almost done, get ready to continue upgrades, etc)

On July 03 2012 02:56 Fairchild wrote:
What's with you guys and your 15 point cycles. That's kinda missing the point, I thought something short and sweet was the entire purpose of it because it's something you repeat many times a minute. As in:

Minimap (check for drops/movement)
Money (spending)
Supply (never get blocked)

-and that's it O_o

Isn't going up to 7 or 8 points kind of pointless because you'll be interrupted often; as it takes more than 2 second go through?

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the point was to have something so quick you squeeze it in between everything else and can be done completely every time in a matter of seconds. Keeps you on top of your basic needs, and keeps you from falling off plan or getting blocked.

On July 03 2012 02:56 Fairchild wrote:
What's with you guys and your 15 point cycles. That's kinda missing the point, I thought something short and sweet was the entire purpose of it because it's something you repeat many times a minute.

On July 03 2012 22:17 KalWarkov wrote:


same here, i dont have cycles, i dont even use exact builds or watch the clock too much.
i just do whatever i feel has to be done, i feel when a certain timing might come and i somehow always build probes when the last one is at 90ish%, same with cronoboost @ upgrades. i almost everytime hit the right time when the last boost expired.
like its obviously not nearly as sick as stephanos spider sense, but i do pretty well with it.
i litterlally dont even know at what supply to add gates and stuff, i just do it :D

On July 07 2012 04:10 saaaa wrote:
At what steps of my cycle i should watch at the minimap?
Should i build my production facilities after the supply depot step or nearly at the end?
When should i check my energy for scan/mules?
Do i miss any important steps?

On July 07 2012 04:28 Crypdos wrote:
High master EU Z here.
IMO a good macro cycle should be really dynamic; prioritizing whatever is most important at that moment, rather than having a static list of things you constantly check.

On July 07 2012 04:31 padfoota wrote:
To be honest, I think this actually isnt that great. I dont like it when people force themselves to follow very specific things rather than focus on feeling out the game. You are playing a list, not the game itself when you do this. When soldiers are out in the battle field, they dont "check a list" and follow the "list". Nobody is going to give you that luxury, and especially as terran, you cant give yourself that luxury either.

I really really hate how the old TL ideal on sc2 of "macro" has become so entrenched into many peoples minds that they prioritize macro over everything and forget that macro is only a small part of the game.

Back then, and probably still now, "Macro better" has been the "plaster answer" that became almost the same as how religions will say "God is the answer", and lets face it, its rather backwards.

From a terran perspective, it is a very horrible ideal if his priority is to "macro". He cannot sit there and macro and hope to win against protoss and zerg. He cannot sit there and macro and not die to multiple drops from terran. There are simply too many things to do for any terran to simply sit there and macro even when he is meching. He will need to constantly retake map control, be aggressive with a squad at all times and possibly still do multi-pronged attacks.
If he is meching, he is constantly scouting and reacting to what the opponent is doing. He is moving and unsieging his very expensive and hard to replace fragile as fuck army to protect his very fragile as fuck bases. If he had simply focused on macro, he would lose to a sudden unforseen drop. He would lose to a huge ass army rolling him over. He would lose to an unending swarm of enemy units until he dies.

If he is a good player, then he would prioritize map control, attacking and being aggresive. His priority would be to control the game, and if he comes back from a battle and realizes he has no army at his rally point, and he dies from the resulting counter attack, he will remember the lesson and the rage, and each time he does a drop, engaging the enemy, or is defending a drop, he will remember the pain of losing because of no backup army, and he will macro like his life depended on it during engagement each time he can find an opening to do so.

If he had simply chose to prioritize macro, and manages to make it through the lower leagues simply with a big army, he will then realize that in the upper leagues, his big army does squat, and he'll have to relearn the entire fucking race over again in the lower leagues, because he does not have the habit of being aggressive, or controlling the game, and he certainly doesnt have the habit of macroing while doing these things.




1. You should always be glancing at the minimap. Including it into a "step" is going to make you really bad at map awareness. You have to be aware of it all the time.

2. Production facilities vs making more ccs.

This is a rather personal topic and I will answer it in a very personal matter, so take it with a grain of salt - In the current maps, most of the time, you will not be easily expanding past 3 bases, and as terran, sometimes it is very hard to get past 2 bases already. If it is a two base build, there should be a build order that is followed to the detail, and this question should not be needed.

However after your 3rd base is running, when I start to pool money, even tho I am not supply blocked or limited, my scv is still constant, my army production is relatively constant, then I throw down extra production facilities. Say on 2 base you have 3-4 rax, 1 starport. On 3 base, since you will be maintaining pressure, your macro will slip a bit, so after the third base I would like to immediately pop it up to 6 rax before the 3rd base has finished running, and add 7 and 8, plus 1 or 2 more starports if macro is still slipping hard.

After that, if I see still money being pooled (by this time itll easily pool to 800-1000), Ill throw down expansions.

3. You should check energy each time you make an scv. Its a very nice habit to have.





Exactly. I believe that there shouldnt be a macro cycle anyone needs to discuss about, but simply as a personal skill that you develop as you understand the game and your own playstyle more, and that the "macro cycle", should it even exist, would be different in each game you play.

On July 07 2012 07:35 saaaa wrote:


As for mine:

Production (watch minimap)
Overlords (watch minimap)
Army movement
Injects (watch minimap)
Tech/gas etc
Creep
Overlord spread (watch minimap)
Saturation check


with watch at the minimap i mean more like at what actions i should at the map minimap like this macro cycle of a zerg. I really like your idea with to check engery if i build a SCV.