• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 07:07
CET 13:07
KST 21:07
  • 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
SC2 All-Star Invitational: Tournament Preview5RSL Revival - 2025 Season Finals Preview8RSL Season 3 - Playoffs Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups C & D Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups A & B Preview2
Community News
Weekly Cups (Jan 12-18): herO, MaxPax, Solar win0BSL Season 2025 - Full Overview and Conclusion7Weekly Cups (Jan 5-11): Clem wins big offline, Trigger upsets4$21,000 Rongyi Cup Season 3 announced (Jan 22-Feb 7)16Weekly Cups (Dec 29-Jan 4): Protoss rolls, 2v2 returns7
StarCraft 2
General
PhD study /w SC2 - help with a survey! When will we find out if there are more tournament Weekly Cups (Jan 12-18): herO, MaxPax, Solar win I am looking for StarCraft 2 Beta Patch files Stellar Fest "01" Jersey Charity Auction
Tourneys
$70 Prize Pool Ladder Legends Academy Weekly Open! SC2 All-Star Invitational: Jan 17-18 Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament SC2 AI Tournament 2026 $21,000 Rongyi Cup Season 3 announced (Jan 22-Feb 7)
Strategy
Simple Questions Simple Answers
Custom Maps
Map Editor closed ?
External Content
Mutation # 509 Doomsday Report Mutation # 508 Violent Night Mutation # 507 Well Trained Mutation # 506 Warp Zone
Brood War
General
BSL Season 2025 - Full Overview and Conclusion [ASL21] Potential Map Candidates Gypsy to Korea Video Footage from 2005: The Birth of G2 in Spain BW General Discussion
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL21] Non-Korean Championship - Starts Jan 10 Small VOD Thread 2.0 Azhi's Colosseum - Season 2
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2 Game Theory for Starcraft Current Meta
Other Games
General Games
Battle Aces/David Kim RTS Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Beyond All Reason Awesome Games Done Quick 2026!
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
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread NASA and the Private Sector Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club! The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Navigating the Risks and Rew…
TrAiDoS
My 2025 Magic: The Gathering…
DARKING
Life Update and thoughts.
FuDDx
How do archons sleep?
8882
James Bond movies ranking - pa…
Topin
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1845 users

[G] TheStaircase - An Alternative Improvement Method - Pag…

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
Post a Reply
Prev 1 64 65 66 67 68 78 Next
Andinel
Profile Joined August 2014
United States7 Posts
August 22 2014 00:32 GMT
#1301
I'm on Step 2 (or Step 3 revised) and mining gas and minerals with Protoss, but other than upgrades and Observers and Warp Prisms, I can't figure out what to do with it. I've been ending up with a lot of extra gas at the end of each game. Any thoughts as to how I should spend my gas?
Andinel
JaKaTaKSc2
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States2787 Posts
August 22 2014 00:34 GMT
#1302
Learn to take only the gas you need. This is a skill that will serve you in standard play as well.
Commentatorhttps://www.youtube.com/JaKaTaKtv
Destrae
Profile Joined August 2014
1 Post
Last Edited: 2014-08-22 18:46:00
August 22 2014 17:38 GMT
#1303
TheStaircase is really amazing. I've spent 40 hours this week working my way through it and when I faced my more experienced friend I managed to win in under eight minutes! If you want to work on your mechanics, this is the way to go.
MoonFan
Profile Joined July 2013
Vietnam55 Posts
September 01 2014 12:32 GMT
#1304
why is it under 8 mins? Just curious
mGGNoRe
Profile Blog Joined November 2011
Australia124 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-09-04 17:34:32
September 04 2014 13:58 GMT
#1305
Hey I'm doing the zerg staircase and I'm struggling to consistently hit the master level saturation speed (main base only) for Zerg against Terran. My spending skill is GM so I'm not delaying making the drones but somehow I can't seem to hit master level timings on the saturation for my main. Is there a specific build to do to get to 16 drones mining + spawning pool & expo by 3:38?

[EDIT]
After going into custom games and straightening out my initial b/o I've been able to hit the saturation benchmark for the main quite consistently with 14 pool/15 hatch. I'm now moving on to step 2! :D
Bold Elf
Profile Joined August 2014
England6 Posts
September 06 2014 14:41 GMT
#1306
I think GG tracker is slightly off. I just played a game and hit an income of 640 at 4:22 against a terran this became constant about 4:33 at around 680 etc but the site says I hit it at 6 minutes giving me a bronze speed when it should have been gm. the site also states it counts it when you 1st hit 640 income so is something wrong here? another issue I think there is with the saturation speed counter is if you get attacked or harassed et you time is going to be off and that isn't taken into consideration I know you can't really program that in but if your practicing against people its not always going to be X time. Iv got up to stage 3 atm and I am really tempted to skip ahead a bit
E.P.G
mGGNoRe
Profile Blog Joined November 2011
Australia124 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-09-06 18:13:11
September 06 2014 18:12 GMT
#1307
On September 06 2014 23:41 Bold Elf wrote:
I think GG tracker is slightly off. I just played a game and hit an income of 640 at 4:22 against a terran this became constant about 4:33 at around 680 etc but the site says I hit it at 6 minutes giving me a bronze speed when it should have been gm. the site also states it counts it when you 1st hit 640 income so is something wrong here?


I'm pretty certain that it just counts the workers on each base rather than the actual income you have globally. It always measures the time it takes to get atleast 16 workers mining at a base after it has completed construction. For the 1st base (main) just work out a build order. As zerg I've found you can hit the timings with a variety of openings.

On September 06 2014 23:41 Bold Elf wrote:
another issue I think there is with the saturation speed counter is if you get attacked or harassed et you time is going to be off and that isn't taken into consideration I know you can't really program that in but if your practicing against people its not always going to be X time. Iv got up to stage 3 atm and I am really tempted to skip ahead a bit


I've faced this in a lot of games too and lately I've realised that if I dont care about winning I can usually keep up with the saturation speeds at the master level. The important lesson is to get us to keep paying attention to macro in every situation.
ShadowTrainer
Profile Joined September 2014
1 Post
September 16 2014 01:05 GMT
#1308
I have a question, I just started the game a few days ago and I happened upon this topic. I'm trying to reach at least gold on my Spending Skill as a Zerg and I really have no idea what to spend it on. I'm still on Step 1 and I can get low Platinum on saturation on the first base and low Silver on the second base. I reach 3 bases by about 5 minutes in and I just have too much money piling up once I get the Queens up and running.

With me just producing Zerglings and the minimum workers, I still have a surplus of about 3k-4k around 10 minutes where I start to attack with a Zergling army of about 80 or so. In that timeframe, what could I have spend money on to improve my spending skill? Does this mean just purchasing Spawning Pools and other buildings for the sake of spending?
JaKaTaKSc2
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States2787 Posts
September 16 2014 02:22 GMT
#1309
No need to purchase extra spawning pools, but extra hatches are a way to go. Check your larva. 9/10 the issue is you don't have enough larva (lings and drones are both larva heavy). To start you will need extra hatches, but in time you will get better with your injects and will need less and less hatches
Commentatorhttps://www.youtube.com/JaKaTaKtv
Garsecg
Profile Joined September 2014
United States129 Posts
September 18 2014 16:24 GMT
#1310
It's stunning how well this works. STUNNING. I had a blast last night and just wanted to record a few thoughts here.

Before last night I had never done the staircase. I was skeptical because although I am (and have been) in the top 8 of gold league, I feel like I have an above-average level of understanding of the game. True or not (most likely false hehe), this made me skeptical of the staircase. I mean, before, my general strategy that I practiced was always going roaches, then transitioning into roach/hydra or transitioning into swarmhosts, turtling up a bit, and going for a muta switch.

I want to improve and I'm a deliberate practice, quality-over-quantity kind of guy, so I gave it a try.

I played a few games of creep or die at the highest level and at my best, got halfway across the map. I played a few games with slow lings only... and then I decided I would skip up to the level where you can get gas and ONE other unit. And I started playing game after game with nothing but zerglings and banelings.

Never before has the inadequacy of my play been laid out before me in such a clear way. The most telling example is when I went against a protoss with only ling bane, against colossus, stalker and immortal, and WON. I kept him on two bases with harass and speelings, but as the game went on, I couldn't help but think "I'm so fucked". He had 5 colossus, a few dozen stalkers, and an immortal or two. Turns out that, while that's a good composition... it's not good enough to beat 60 banelings. I mean... I knew mechanics were important in theory, but HOLY SHIT!

The ONLY game I lost out of 5 last night... was against a masters level protoss (somehow got matched up against dragon streaming on NA last night). I felt like I was doing well and I was bummed with my loss, but I was SHOCKED after the game to see that he was masters level. I mean, looking at his stream after, his mechanics are CLEARLY better than mine. And I felt like the game was closer than it would have been had I employed any other strategy.

Practicing is more fun than it's ever been. Losses are easy to shrug off (limited units//practicing) and wins feel more glorious than ever (they are based in a trackable skill improving, not on 'intuition' or other things I would chalk wins up to before).

I'm a complete believer and sharing this with everyone I know who enjoys Starcraft and wants to learn more about it. It really, really helps you UNDERSTAND what is important in the game by having you just do it.

Thank you!
WigFlipper
Profile Joined September 2014
United States1 Post
September 18 2014 17:22 GMT
#1311
I'm finding that it's much easier to hit my benchmarks in step 1 when fighting humans than AI, but that's mostly because the games are much, much shorter (that is, I'm getting cheesed instantly). When I have to juggle my spending for more than 10 minutes, I start losing the race against my saturation. Should I focus on AI games, then?
JaKaTaKSc2
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States2787 Posts
September 18 2014 18:17 GMT
#1312
@garsecg
that's awesome! any good games of the slow ling only w/ micro I could use for the next video?

@wigflipper
human opponents are better IMO, but more importantly - do what is most fun for you long term your improvement is greatly affected by your ability to find what way to play the game you enjoy most. So w/e is clever
Commentatorhttps://www.youtube.com/JaKaTaKtv
sherifusa1988
Profile Joined August 2014
Egypt6 Posts
September 20 2014 19:10 GMT
#1313
I am on Step 1 Zerg, and I can't seem to get a high spending quotient, I get 3 bases and saturate them master level, but I get a bronze spending skill, I get queens right from the start of each base, and my inject is 80%, and I create with all the larvae I have zerglings to attk the enemy base, so I don't know what to do, it's very frustrating, tried 8 games and still no luck, I tried using macro hatches and in one game I got diamond spending skill, but that was only one game and I had 3 macro bases, any help on how to get my spending skill higher with just 3 bases, even if with a building order, or a replay of a game of successful master spending skill, or better even grandmaster :D....
Thx
JaKaTaKSc2
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States2787 Posts
September 20 2014 20:24 GMT
#1314
more hatches, better injects. You'll get it!
Commentatorhttps://www.youtube.com/JaKaTaKtv
sherifusa1988
Profile Joined August 2014
Egypt6 Posts
September 20 2014 21:05 GMT
#1315
more hatches like 6-7?
sherifusa1988
Profile Joined August 2014
Egypt6 Posts
September 20 2014 23:00 GMT
#1316
Does anybody have a master or grandmaster spending skill step 1 zerg replay file or video that he/she would share with me
mGGNoRe
Profile Blog Joined November 2011
Australia124 Posts
September 21 2014 00:44 GMT
#1317
On September 21 2014 08:00 sherifusa1988 wrote:
Does anybody have a master or grandmaster spending skill step 1 zerg replay file or video that he/she would share with me


http://ggtracker.com/matches/5398462

Here is a GM level spending ZvP with only slow lings. It also has Master level Saturation Speed. Hope it helps.
sherifusa1988
Profile Joined August 2014
Egypt6 Posts
September 21 2014 06:05 GMT
#1318
Awesome, thx a lot mGGNoRe, but is it ok to build spine and spore crawlers in zerg step 1?
JaKaTaKSc2
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States2787 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-09-21 12:44:40
September 21 2014 12:44 GMT
#1319
more hatches as in the # doesn't matter. Spend your larva, then spend your extra money. Spending fuels everything, to think about how many hatches is backwards. Go from the source
Commentatorhttps://www.youtube.com/JaKaTaKtv
AgamemnonSC2
Profile Joined October 2012
Canada254 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-09-21 16:03:50
September 21 2014 16:01 GMT
#1320
Thanks for the Staircase Jak, I am having a lot of fun. :D

One question: As a Protoss player moving on to Step 4 on the spreadsheet, what unit would you recommend? (not just a question for Jak, like to hear people's choices)

And, to graduate must I use that same unit for all 4 of 5 games? I imagine that would be best.

And if anyone cares, here is my experience with the staircase so far:

Currently I am in platinum league, which is the best I have ever done. I got into plat by using All-in build orders for each match up. So, I am only in plat because of the strong timing attacks, not because of my mechanics/macro. I know my macro is not great.

So, after losing a few games because I have no idea what to do after my build doesn't end the game, I decided to give the staircase a try.

Over the last 3 days, I have been practicing vs. the Ai, and am currently beating the Elite Ai easily with only upgraded zealots (Step 3). Which is really fun. Replay here if anyone wants: http://drop.sc/386375

EDIT: I have NEVER beat the Elite Ai before the staircase. I could only beat the Very Hard if my all-in was perfect.

My spending skill is consistantly GM level and my saturation speed is Masters. My goal is to get into Masters, although I think that is a long way away.

Thanks also to GGTraker for giving us a way to benchmark our Macro. Otherwise, it is so hard to know if your mechanics are good or not.
Co-Founder of SC2 Mistakes
Prev 1 64 65 66 67 68 78 Next
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
OSC
11:00
Season 13 World Championship
Nicoract vs PercivalLIVE!
Solar vs TBD
Krystianer vs Shameless
WardiTV470
TKL 123
IndyStarCraft 117
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
TKL 123
IndyStarCraft 117
RotterdaM 110
StarCraft: Brood War
Sea 7580
Calm 2961
Rain 2091
Hyuk 735
Horang2 676
Soma 649
Stork 522
firebathero 366
BeSt 356
Zeus 331
[ Show more ]
Larva 325
EffOrt 321
Aegong 283
Mini 233
Snow 176
ggaemo 155
ZerO 138
Hyun 135
Sharp 122
Mong 113
Pusan 103
ToSsGirL 103
hero 99
Hm[arnc] 82
Mind 76
Killer 68
soO 54
Noble 45
Shuttle 43
ajuk12(nOOB) 31
Barracks 29
Movie 29
Terrorterran 19
Icarus 19
scan(afreeca) 19
zelot 16
HiyA 14
GoRush 14
ivOry 9
NaDa 8
Dota 2
Gorgc2942
singsing2155
NeuroSwarm87
XcaliburYe85
Counter-Strike
olofmeister1985
shoxiejesuss1151
x6flipin591
byalli218
Other Games
B2W.Neo1067
Sick248
Pyrionflax220
KnowMe48
QueenE14
ZerO(Twitch)7
Organizations
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 19 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• LUISG 30
• naamasc217
• iHatsuTV 10
• IndyKCrew
• sooper7s
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• Migwel
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Laughngamez YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
• iopq 6
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
League of Legends
• Nemesis3939
• Lourlo979
• TFBlade550
• Stunt473
Upcoming Events
PiGosaur Monday
12h 53m
The PondCast
21h 53m
OSC
22h 53m
Big Brain Bouts
3 days
Serral vs TBD
BSL 21
4 days
BSL 21
5 days
Wardi Open
6 days
Monday Night Weeklies
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-01-19
SC2 All-Star Inv. 2025
NA Kuram Kup

Ongoing

C-Race Season 1
BSL 21 Non-Korean Championship
CSL 2025 WINTER (S19)
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 1
OSC Championship Season 13
Underdog Cup #3
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual
eXTREMESLAND 2025
SL Budapest Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S1: W5
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
Bellum Gens Elite Stara Zagora 2026
HSC XXVIII
Rongyi Cup S3
Nations Cup 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League Season 23
ESL Pro League Season 23
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
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 © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.