List some of the things that you do before, during, or after an sc2 match that you do either out of sheer habbit or because you think it helps with your sc2 performance.
Before a match I'll drink a glass of water and do pushups and pullups to get my blood running as well as stretch out my hands.
During a match I'll alternate crossing my legs from my left to my right.
After a match I'll do more pushups and pullups to keep my blood flowing (I swear it helps me think more clearly, but maybe that's just me).
i play only 4v4s, so I think..hmmm mass blue flamed helions..yummy drones, probes and scvs. in general in 4 v4 my goal is only to harass the worker line!! and when they line em up!!!!! yummy roasted drones :D
actually its better to take a deep breath and relax your muscles and just think about hitting ur build order perfectly. All of this extra stuff is only going to hurt you.
On August 27 2011 02:22 cydial wrote: Hello my fellow TL goers!
List some of the things that you do before, during, or after an sc2 match that you do either out of sheer habbit or because you think it helps with your sc2 performance.
Before a match I'll drink a glass of water and do pushups and pullups to get my blood running as well as stretch out my hands.
During a match I'll alternate crossing my legs from my left to my right.
After a match I'll do more pushups and pullups to keep my blood flowing (I swear it helps me think more clearly, but maybe that's just me).
On August 27 2011 02:23 Sega92 wrote: I just stare at my wall paper that says "masters, the few, the proud" and realize I really need to focus and that usually helps me win games (i feel)
Can you link me that wallpaper?^^ Myself, get a drink orso, nothing to warm up orso
pee, drink some water, leave more water next to the keyboard, turn off the phone.
take care of anything that will give me an excuse to delay pressing the "search game" button a little longer. i would even kill the internetzz if i could still play the game.
im constantly going alt+tab to f5 teamliquid and such :|.
but once i get to play one, i keep pressing the damn button
before i click find match i put a big dip of copenhagen long cut in. it keeps me focused until i got to grab my bottle to spit in. sometime i do it at the wrong times and lose a huge battle
and remind myself that points dont matter because its just practice after all because if u get too into it u get a bad mindset and doing gimmicky / stupid things
Before each session I do about 10 minutes of wrist stretches. Then I set up my play area and make sure that my keyboard, mouse, and mousing surface are positioned correctly. Then I smoke a cigarette, and hit the ladder.
Everyone in this thread who isn't listing wrist stretches, absolutely should be! Don't wait until you start to have wrist problems! You don't want to have to get surgery.
This message brought to you by the Stephen Colbert WristStrong® campaign.
On August 27 2011 02:42 itiswhatitis wrote: Everyone in this thread who isn't listing wrist stretches, absolutely should be! Don't wait until you start to have wrist problems! You don't want to have to get surgery.
This message brought to you by the Stephen Colbert WristStrong® campaign.
What kind of wrist stretches are good? I usually stretch but I do just regular stuff.
On August 27 2011 02:42 itiswhatitis wrote: Everyone in this thread who isn't listing wrist stretches, absolutely should be! Don't wait until you start to have wrist problems! You don't want to have to get surgery.
This message brought to you by the Stephen Colbert WristStrong® campaign.
What kind of wrist stretches are good? I usually stretch but I do just regular stuff.
I do different ones from this list, depending. I do the first ones on the list in between games sometimes for shorter periods, and I do the more intense ones before a longer session.
Start up sc2gears and think if it's time to up apm alert. Helps to not get lazy even if first when you set new apm barrier 50% of the increased apm is spam to not get the alert going, it's also the other 50% more useful actions Then when searching for a match I remind myself to ask critical question during the game to not end up playing too much like a robot.
Before playing Starcraft 2 I ALWAYS wash my hands in hot water. I feel it helps my hands get warmed up and makes me always have the same feel for my keyboard and mouse. More importantly I can spend up to 3 or more hours playing Starcraft and after months of playing with the same keyboard and mouse it gets really gross. I also love listening to Skrillex while playing.
I read from my list of Chinese proverbs, to give me the wisdom I need to cope with losing, and winning. Like a boss.
I also do various stretches, make sure the room temperature is right (so I don't get cold hands). Make sure i'm sitting comfortably, with my legs crossed (yoga position) in my chair. Then I start spamming really hard (once I get in game that is )
In fact, I temporarily broke my "4" key once, because in the early game I hotkeyed my Nexus to four, and basically spammed that over and over and over again. Now I do NaDa-style and hotkey everything to nexus, so I can get more buttons to spam TT;;
Close everything, even music. Then I play a 5min game against a bot in custom game just to check things out, hotkey etc. After that I go ladder/practice
after about 3 or so matches of getting stomped i get depressed and ask myself "its like I'm trying to play bad." then i go eat ice cream out of the carton.
Nothing. I don't play tournaments or anything so I don't care. I don't get how people can be so try hard about ladder and playing warmup games against AI and check their APM afterwards and see if they are ready to hit the ladder and things like that lol.
Also it's kinda funny to think about this when a korean player (don't remember who it was tho) said that a big difference between korean players and foreigners are that koreans just play the game while foreigners always find excuses not to like "I need warmup" "I feel a little tired" "My hands are cold".
crack my joints, especially my neck. MMM. so good and so bad.
I do a little wrist stretching, but stretching my wrist is something I do normally now, even when I'm not playing starcraft. Wish Day9 or some other pros would share some other stretching, the only one I really like is the arms straight out and fists down, and the good old palm to the wall, which is very intuitive.
I'll sometimes do 10-20 bicep curls with a 10 pound dumbbell.
Do 5 push ups realllly slowly.
I also use a powerball for a few minutes. Would be REALLY interested to see if anyone else uses one of these.
Most of my days start with some acoustic guitar. I play fingerstyle (Andy Mckee, Antoine dufour) so I feel like that really helps me warm up my fingers.
I guess you all already know by now that drinking water is really important. Other than that I don't have any habit except maybe washing hands from time to time because I HATE so much having dirty or sweaty keyboards. Been playing starcraft a lot but never got any wrist problems probably because i play tennis? Having a comfortable chair does help too especially the ones where you can lay down your elbows. I also used to play with the powerball, so yeah I guess my wrist are perfectly safe
I spend a week trying to figure out a new build order, then realise it only changed my timings by like 5 seconds and that I would have rolled the guy anyway because he thought macro meant not expanding until 15 minutes. I'm my own worst enemy.
On August 27 2011 18:36 Zdrastochye wrote: I like to take a shit if I can. Not being lewd, it honestly helps. Makes me feel emptied out and ready to fill myself with win.
I thought i was the only one! I can absolutely not start a ladder session unless i'm all done in the bathroom.
windsupernova I scream and Build up my power level
CharlieBrownsc I click the search for a match button and wait patiently
HomicidaL somtimes I pretend that I am a pro player, their I said it.......
nexitustl1 after about 3 or so matches of getting stomped i get depressed and ask myself "its like I'm trying to play bad." then i go eat ice cream out of the carton.
Mikkerthebhu Strecthing and put some heart pumping music on! Scream: "GOGOGOOGOGOGOGO".
Bourneq The best way to get your blood flowing is pain. So I slap myself as hard as I can in the face. Also I watch 1-2 vods to get me thinking about sc2.
A compilation of my favorites this far, i will incorporate all of them to make me a better gamer .
usually i go to the gym before i start laddering, take a shower, get a snack of some sort, or dinner w/e the time of day is. Grab a 2 liter bottle of water, and put on my music playlist, then im in da zone.
I set up my play list to Iron Maiden, lock the door, turn off the phone put random beatifull girls to rotate on the monitor and just hit the damn button and hope he will line em up
Start up SC2, put some music, drink coke and fail at first game while waiting for sugar rush to hit,then my apm and decision making doubles (really I cant play without drinking coke).
EDIT: some replies I read in this thread..really guys just play the game if you used the time for "warm up" to actually play you would improve much more.
I rip a kitten in half and drink its blood and then go fuck people up. Inside and outside of starcraft. Just joking I usually watch a replay or two from the previous day or matches before just to get some strategy thoughts going through my mind.
Then I create a mental image of my opponent, an unpopular teenager with social issues, sneering at me with uber-nerd disdain. I tell the image, "I do not hate you, but I will destroy you."
Next I drink a concoction of raw eggs and wheatgrass, not for health reasons, just because it tastes awful.
Then I punch myself in the face again.
I watch a rapid fire video collage of badassitude: Skateboarders breaking their bones, motorcycles going 200 mph, heavy metal music videos. Then I tone it down a bit by reciting "Part of Your World" from the Little Mermaid.
Finally, while waiting for a match, I stare at a poster of Shia LaBoeuf and remember that moment when he was chased by that hive of giant ants in the best Indiana Jones movie ever and I think to myself, "That was a real pickle, and if Shia LaBoeuf managed to escape that incredibly well-animated hive of army ants then I can handle any nerd on Battlenet."
Then, while I play, I punch myself in the face to keep the heat up.
When I laddered alot I would move my wrists around in a circular motion, stretch some fingers, play a game or 2 practicing and spam as much as possible to warm up my hands. I was steadily improving despite never using a BO. But I got tilted pretty heavily (not mentioning how) and never really recovered. Got too much anxiety every time I tried laddering after, so i stopped. Still play against AI alot, so my hand speed is ok, but dont plan on ever playing on ladder.
On August 28 2011 11:39 DyEnasTy wrote: When I laddered alot I would move my wrists around in a circular motion, stretch some fingers, play a game or 2 practicing and spam as much as possible to warm up my hands. I was steadily improving despite never using a BO. But I got tilted pretty heavily (not mentioning how) and never really recovered. Got too much anxiety every time I tried laddering after, so i stopped. Still play against AI alot, so my hand speed is ok, but dont plan on ever playing on ladder.
oh that AI is a badass.
get back on ladder, theres nothing to be afraid of and it is the onlyyyyyy way to get better.
On August 28 2011 10:09 Beastyqt wrote: Start up SC2, put some music, drink coke and fail at first game while waiting for sugar rush to hit,then my apm and decision making doubles (really I cant play without drinking coke).
EDIT: some replies I read in this thread..really guys just play the game if you used the time for "warm up" to actually play you would improve much more.
On August 27 2011 02:25 Molten-elmnt wrote: I do some mouse accuracy games online to get my mouse hand going. I like to watch a replay or two before I start as well to get into the mindset.
i do this but i always end up watching replay after replay after replay
Green tea (coffee makes me too jittery), loud heavy metal, maybe watch a pro replay or two and willful suppression of the existence of certain builds, heh. For laddering.
For team games with friends I just smoke a bowl, fight with my microphone to stay in just the right position and more music.
I fucking love some of these answers so far :D
edit: I should add for laddering when victory seems unattainable, I try to stay in the mindset that whoever I'm playing is just barely keeping it together mentally and will make a critical mistake I'll exploit. This helps to stop rage quitting .
If I have pot, I usually smoke before I start playing, and a cigarette. I also make sure to have music playing unless it's real late because then I start to drift off and lack focus because of the music.
On August 28 2011 11:39 DyEnasTy wrote: When I laddered alot I would move my wrists around in a circular motion, stretch some fingers, play a game or 2 practicing and spam as much as possible to warm up my hands. I was steadily improving despite never using a BO. But I got tilted pretty heavily (not mentioning how) and never really recovered. Got too much anxiety every time I tried laddering after, so i stopped. Still play against AI alot, so my hand speed is ok, but dont plan on ever playing on ladder.
oh that AI is a badass.
get back on ladder, theres nothing to be afraid of and it is the onlyyyyyy way to get better.
Well theres outside influences that have caused an increase in anxiety, not just laddering itself. But to add on that I have issues with how laddering works on top of all that. Not worth working myself up negatively. I have/had no plans on ever going pro or becoming awesome at this game. Im perfectly fine with watching people who have the means to play this game full time duke it out at a level I wont reach
If you want to warm up your left hand on the keyboard before a game, you can type "starcraft" with your left hand. All the letters are easily accessible with the left hand and can get the blood flowing to the region.
On August 28 2011 11:31 _Search_ wrote: First I punch myself in the face.
Then I create a mental image of my opponent, an unpopular teenager with social issues, sneering at me with uber-nerd disdain. I tell the image, "I do not hate you, but I will destroy you."
Next I drink a concoction of raw eggs and wheatgrass, not for health reasons, just because it tastes awful.
Then I punch myself in the face again.
I watch a rapid fire video collage of badassitude: Skateboarders breaking their bones, motorcycles going 200 mph, heavy metal music videos. Then I tone it down a bit by reciting "Part of Your World" from the Little Mermaid.
Finally, while waiting for a match, I stare at a poster of Shia LaBoeuf and remember that moment when he was chased by that hive of giant ants in the best Indiana Jones movie ever and I think to myself, "That was a real pickle, and if Shia LaBoeuf managed to escape that incredibly well-animated hive of army ants then I can handle any nerd on Battlenet."
Then, while I play, I punch myself in the face to keep the heat up.
I usually turn on a Frank Sinatra playlist, maybe some Grizzly Bear, close my browsers, get a cup of water, and just go for it. I usually have to start a quickmatch and sit on my hands to avoid stopping the search.
I do several stretches because I have some issues with my ulnar nerve, but I also try to consume as much caffeine, nicotine, and either dnb or dubstep before I start laddering.
Get home from school do homework so i know all that is left is SC2 Drink a Mtn. Dew for caffeine and have water by my desk (also never play when im tired and always stay in a positive mind set)
Before turning on SC2 I always get my music going (usually use di.fm so I don't have to worry about any sort of playlist). From there I log in and IMMEDIATELY hit the Find Game button before I lose the will to do it (first game of day is always the hardest ;3). After that I compulsively clap and rub my hands together at high speeds as well as stretch while waiting for a match. Match starts and spamming begins just to get warmed up.
I don't have any nerves about laddering. Not sure why... I did in TFT.
I open up Pandora, make sure my mouse/keyboard are positioned correctly and cords aren't in the way, clear off my desk top (my real, physical desk... clutter makes it harder for me to focus), and hit find match. While waiting for a match to find, I always stretch my fingers or do figure 8s with my cursor... less to do with SC2 and more to do with habit of keeping hands warm when playing in the winter.
I just say well I need to spend my bonus pool >_< Also, because I've been playing more FPSes (Halo: Reach) with my friends because they suck at SC2, i have to ladder a lot to make up for the lack of time generally I have to spend to play. I just need to play more, so thats what I do. Practice for me is performance. Idk, having a base in sports and stuff, I treat practice like game day, so yea... :/ D: (?)
EDIT: I also pray to the heathen Starcraft gods to grant me the wish of fewer ZvPs and my ZvZs (the vast majority of my games) to have some variety D:
- Setup my playlist - Grab a drink : water / orange juice / beer / rhum-based cocktail - Stretch a bit my wrists and hands - Play an offrace 2v2 - Ladder !
I usually just take deep breaths in and out to calm my nerves as best as i can. Think about what build orders i want to do against which races. Also keep my hands warm by rubbing them or breathing on them and pop my fingers/stretch them out good.
On August 27 2011 02:22 cydial wrote: Hello my fellow TL goers!
List some of the things that you do before, during, or after an sc2 match that you do either out of sheer habbit or because you think it helps with your sc2 performance.
Before a match I'll drink a glass of water and do pushups and pullups to get my blood running as well as stretch out my hands.
During a match I'll alternate crossing my legs from my left to my right.
After a match I'll do more pushups and pullups to keep my blood flowing (I swear it helps me think more clearly, but maybe that's just me).
Your turn!
Do you do push and pull-ups after and before EACH game? If so you can't be playing a lot of games :b. And no i don't have any habits before or after playing sc2.
I play Bowser (final stage) in Tetris Attack for SNES to get my hands moving. Also, trying to formulate all the combos you have to do to beat him gets me thinking.
I sacrifice some tobacco to the great zerg fog god, then whine a little about balance, and when i'm done I try to focus my mind-powers on bending the game rules to my will, making zergs imbalanced in the eye of other players.
Then I whine a little about how people can find us zergies imbalanced.
Then I get serious and play because the game is indeed balanced and the winner is always the better player (at least it's better to think this when you play). Lost to +1 attack 4gate with zealot-only and at 11 minute mark? "Good +1 timing attack, gg", punch a whole in a wall and go again! :D
I drink an FRS, and then stretch my fingers, wrists and arms. Everyone should do this! I learned the hard way and got tendonitis. It will help prevent that and carpal tunnel and it feels really good, too.
My playlist of Fruitdealer tribute, "When I'm Grandmaster" BoxeR beating Rain at Anaheim, HuK beating Moon at Dreamhack, and the StarNation MLG Anaheim vid.
Do some yoga stretchs, meditate, then dispurse myself in a room full of scented smoke. But, most importantly i put this song and look out my window with fist raised high as i smile knowing the upper leagues are upon me.
I have to restart my computer and prepare a cooling-bag for "advanced" cpu cooling during the games. Since I am on an old MacBook with a broken cooling-system.
Before a game and during a game, I drink. Beer, water, coke, juice, tea, hot chocolate, whatever. After a win I do 20 push ups, after a loss I do 20 sit ups. I also usually have to piss like every other game because I drink so much.
EPT
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