-Disclaimer: I was torn on whether or not to put this post under the mechanical keyboard section, but this is more of an analysis on the makeup and how to match specific player types with the right equipment. This topic is NOT discussed on that forum so I felt it necessary for a new topic.
Overview: ascpraiise here bringing you PraiiseTV where we discuss all things Protoss and all the latest topics of interest in starcraft 2 for gamers. I couldn't be happier to bring you all my latest episode: "The Perfect Keyboards For Every Gamer: Everything You'll Ever Need to Know." This is a topic that you see a million videos on but they are all sectioned out and hard to get all the gritty details in one place!
I’ve been through a lot when it comes to keyboard shopping. I want to help every gamer get the best keyboard for their specific interest & needs. Listen, I truly believe there are quality options for EVERY gamer in need of a keyboard that will improve their game play and excite them. I will put perspective on what you want to look for in a great keyboard of all price points, types, and how to know what will work best for your game play experience. Pardon the video being long, I want to prevent gamers from having to hunt all over the planet for guides on keyboard information. It's all here- I Promise!
Goal: Provide a helpful refresher course as well as an enlightening perspective into some things you may have NEVER considered when buying a keyboard.The Starcraft scene brought me back into the gaming world and I simply want to give back.
As Usual I am creating this content to help Players with their gaming experience and revitalize the community with relevant content for Starcraft 2. I'm working hard for you guys!
ascpraiise- "The Perfect Keyboards For Every Gamer: Everything You'll Ever Need to Know":
Show Breakdowns: -Why Mechanical Keyboards? -Picking the Perfect Keyboard for You -My Keyboard Journey -Recommendations -Bonus: The Broke Gamer "Do I have any Options?" YES!!!! -My Favorite Keyboard in 2016
Find this video helpful? Subscribe, Comment, and Share this video with others. Lets bring back the Hype to the Greatest game ever made!
my first mech keyboard was a filco majestouch 2 ninja tkl w/ brown switches. eventually bought another one with blue switches, which i absolutely love playing on (more than the browns). also bought a red switch version to see if i liked it. ended up using it at work (with o-ring sound dampers). 3 filcos currently.
one time i bought a cm storm blue switch quikfire. a few keys starting registering only 98~% of the time (not 100%). sold it. stick to quality brands like filco. not fancy LED lit "for gamers" keyboards. theyre trash
going to build my own pretty soon. bought a soldering station and everything. before going mech for starcraft i was using the stock dell keyboard which i didnt mind. but now, i can never go back. its not even just perfect for sc2. its great to use for everything and also makes a fantastic hobby for the nerd in me.
@PinoKotsBeer that's crazy you can mix your switches on that keyboard? Seems like it would feel super weird.
@sc2chronic its interesting how personal experience shapes how we recommend keyboards. Something happens to us and we automatically steer people from brands and keyboards, lol.
@Next_SC2 IDK where you got that factoid but I would love to see a source for that
As sad as this may sound, I've been PC gaming for years and don't know a damn thing about keyboards. I bought Razer Blackwidow because it was popular and supposedly a good quality. I bought mine back in 2008 and it's still going strong with no issues. After watching this though, I may need to go keyboard shopping and see if there's something I like better. Don't get me wrong, love my Blackwidow it was a great purchase. But surely something's come out in the past 8 years that's better!
I have a normal CMStorm QuickFire Stealth with brown switches but I use SA profile keycaps because they just feel better to me. Never had any problems with it regardless of what elitists may say about CMStorm. It feels as solid as any of the Ducky or Filco keyboards I've ever used. I've yet to see any other SC2 player with SA keycaps though so I think that I'm probably a weirdo but that's OK.
Edit: At work I use a Ducky Shine 4 with brown and clear switches mixed with cherry profile PBT keycaps. I needed a keyboard with a numpad so I ordered it specifically for work. I think I'm going to get SA keycaps for it someday when Penumbra comes out again.
@n3p You have a ton of options man. Honestly we all fall in love with our first mechanical keyboards so I don't blame you, as you can see it took me about 15 keyboards to even figure out what was truly best for me. I Could've learned sooner but oh well.
@zealos Thats funny man looks cool though.
@chronic if your into rubber domes at all, the keytronic I recommend is cool very stealthy, but had a pressure muffled click like a blue switch. Loookup a video on it.
On July 03 2016 07:46 Zealos wrote: I'm rolling in with my realforce 87u, you guys should try to get on my level :p
that looks sick. never tried topres out. the rubber domes pushes away my interest but who knows, maybe i might like them.
honestly its probably not worth the money :p it's really nice for sure, but so are a lot of the cherry switches really. if you have money to spare and you like the feel, its a winner, and it feels sturdy as hell too, but its not gonna change your life or anything
they don't really feel anything like normal rubber domes, although they're certainly closer to them than they are to mechanical switches
I've had two mechanical keyboard, one Black Widow Tournament edition with the blue keys and I'm currently using a Quick Fire no ten key with Brown Switches.
I miss the blue switches because they just feel tactile and amazing but damn they are fucking LOUD if your trying to play in your house in the late night or early morning (with your girlfriend in the bed trying to sleep it's no bueno)
The brown switches are great, decently quiet with great tactile feel.
I did start off with a Razer Blackwidow, but the blue switches were too heavy, therefore I agree with your point about people with smaller and may be weaker hands wanting to go with red or brown switches. A couple years ago i bought a Corsair k70 with red switches, put o-rings on it, and I couldn't be happer. I might get a brown TKL sometime though, since of lot of SC players seem to like those more.
On July 04 2016 02:02 Beelzebub1 wrote: I've had two mechanical keyboard, one Black Widow Tournament edition with the blue keys and I'M currently using a Quick Fire no ten key with Brown Switches.
I MisS the blue switches because they just feel tactile and amazing but damn they are fucking LOUD if your trying to play in your house in the late night or early morning (with your girlfriend in the bed trying to Sleep it's no bueno)
The Brown switches are Great, decently Quiet with Great tactile feel.
Are you kidding me ? Man, I could have write every single word in your post ! just, I want to clarify something, Razer blackwidow with green switches. Actually, I play with both of them, I can't make a choice between both. Maybe I prefer the Blackwidow but as you said, with the GF in the room, it is no way ! green switches are very loud. Once I wanted to buy her an headphone, she bit me ( she doesn't like SC2 at all !)
After that, the Cooler Master Quick Fire has a better quality. I have troubles with keycaps of the Blackwidow, letters fade away.
i have a razor deathstalker which is not mechanical but has flat keys so they are very fast to press (as far as i know)
the problem with this keyboard is the handrest is wide and has a sharp edge so you need to put something over it or it cuts into or grinds into your wristbone
On July 04 2016 02:02 Beelzebub1 wrote: I've had two mechanical keyboard, one Black Widow Tournament edition with the blue keys and I'M currently using a Quick Fire no ten key with Brown Switches.
I MisS the blue switches because they just feel tactile and amazing but damn they are fucking LOUD if your trying to play in your house in the late night or early morning (with your girlfriend in the bed trying to Sleep it's no bueno)
The Brown switches are Great, decently Quiet with Great tactile feel.
Are you kidding me ? Man, I could have write every single word in your post ! just, I want to clarify something, Razer blackwidow with green switches. Actually, I play with both of them, I can't make a choice between both. Maybe I prefer the Blackwidow but as you said, with the GF in the room, it is no way ! green switches are very loud. Once I wanted to buy her an headphone, she bit me ( she doesn't like SC2 at all !)
After that, the Cooler Master Quick Fire has a better quality. I have troubles with keycaps of the Blackwidow, letters fade away.
My girlfriend has watched/seen me play so much SC2 I wouldn't say she hates it, she's actually pretty good at undestanding the game and knows like 95% of the units in the game so props to her xD
There is one thing I cannot comprehend -- and that is why virtually all keyboards have the gap between Esc and the F-keys. Since the area is so easily accessible, it's just upsetting to me.
For that reason, with full seriousness, I'm using Apple Magic Keyboard. My hand is small and F1-5 keys for locations are much easier to press compared to gaming keyboards.
This can of course be solved by playing more in the middle of the keyboard (or core), but somehow I never got used to it.
Also it is very flat, which imo makes it easier to be faster -- i.e I can do 120/600 words/keystrokes per minute when writing, which I cannot do using normal keyboards.
On July 04 2016 03:00 seopthi wrote: There is one thing I cannot comprehend -- and that is why virtually all keyboards have the gap between Esc and the F-keys. Since the area is so easily accessible, it's just upsetting to me.
I think it's to prevent accidental misclicks on Escape when you intend to press F1. Interestingly, the gap varies between keyboards. On mine it's about one key wide, when on my old keyboard it was around 2 keylengths wide.
^ Yeah, on the Razer it's rather wide which took some time getting used to.
I actually had an interesting experience with mechanical keyboards although I now support them 100% for gaming and especially SC2. I bought a Razer Blackwidow Chroma last year and started using it but hated every bit of the experience. In the end I ended up switching back to my membrane dome switches Logitech K800 Wireless Keyboard. But a month ago, I tried my Razer Blackwidow again and somehow I'm in love. I type faster on it and it's just so much better. After spending my whole life on membrane switches I guess I needed a bit of adjustment time. But I really wouldn't suggest people to force themselves to adjust to a mechanical keyboard, just set it aside if you feel it isn't right then come back to it later. But I can say mechanical keyboards are 100% better guaranteed.
On July 04 2016 02:02 Beelzebub1 wrote: I've had two mechanical keyboard, one Black Widow Tournament edition with the blue keys and I'M currently using a Quick Fire no ten key with Brown Switches.
I MisS the blue switches because they just feel tactile and amazing but damn they are fucking LOUD if your trying to play in your house in the late night or early morning (with your girlfriend in the bed trying to Sleep it's no bueno)
The Brown switches are Great, decently Quiet with Great tactile feel.
Are you kidding me ? Man, I could have write every single word in your post ! just, I want to clarify something, Razer blackwidow with green switches. Actually, I play with both of them, I can't make a choice between both. Maybe I prefer the Blackwidow but as you said, with the GF in the room, it is no way ! green switches are very loud. Once I wanted to buy her an headphone, she bit me ( she doesn't like SC2 at all !)
After that, the Cooler Master Quick Fire has a better quality. I have troubles with keycaps of the Blackwidow, letters fade away.
Dude I've always wanted to try Green switches :O
I don't understand. I thought every razer mechanical keyboards since 2014 were made with green switches. Mine has been made in 2014 and it is green switches (blackwidow TE US layout) I think green and blue are pretty identical, just green switch is a "razer thing"
On July 04 2016 02:02 Beelzebub1 wrote: I've had two mechanical keyboard, one Black Widow Tournament edition with the blue keys and I'M currently using a Quick Fire no ten key with Brown Switches.
I MisS the blue switches because they just feel tactile and amazing but damn they are fucking LOUD if your trying to play in your house in the late night or early morning (with your girlfriend in the bed trying to Sleep it's no bueno)
The Brown switches are Great, decently Quiet with Great tactile feel.
Are you kidding me ? Man, I could have write every single word in your post ! just, I want to clarify something, Razer blackwidow with green switches. Actually, I play with both of them, I can't make a choice between both. Maybe I prefer the Blackwidow but as you said, with the GF in the room, it is no way ! green switches are very loud. Once I wanted to buy her an headphone, she bit me ( she doesn't like SC2 at all !)
After that, the Cooler Master Quick Fire has a better quality. I have troubles with keycaps of the Blackwidow, letters fade away.
Dude I've always wanted to try Green switches :O
I don't understand. I thought every razer mechanical keyboards since 2014 were made with green switches. Mine has been made in 2014 and it is green switches (blackwidow TE US layout) I think green and blue are pretty identical, just green switch is a "razer thing"
green switches are different from blues in more than just colour.
There's two kinds of green switches that can be commonly found on the market: Cherry MX green RazerTM green switch
RazerTM green switches are unique to razer and ARE NOT THE SAME AS CHERRY MX GREEN. They are cheaply manufactured by Kailh. The quality is as a result arguably lower. They are a lot like blues, except they are lighter to press. Cherry MX green, are much like blues except they are much heavier to press.
@Punders you are phenomenal and I appreciate your support.
@FFGenerations. That write thing sucks. You might want to consider taking a pair of tube socks and cutting the ankle part up so you can custom make your own sleeves to prevent the cutting on your wrist.
@beelz Green switches are cool, They didn’t really feel like their own unique switch. It almost felt like a stealth blue switch without the click mechanism in the switches. Maybe they are different per keyboard though.
@Supah, thanks man I appreciate you a ton for watching. I would have included the model M on my video but because it is so close to the dell Quiet-key I didn’t want to extend the time of the video. In all honestly the original shooting of the video was 30 minutes long. I had to cut time in a lot of places to be as concise as I could. Model M is good though, can’t go wrong.
@MperorM1 Thanks for the insight man, we got some really experienced guys on this forum I appreciate it a ton. Great education for gamers/keyboard lovers.
On July 04 2016 02:02 Beelzebub1 wrote: I've had two mechanical keyboard, one Black Widow Tournament edition with the blue keys and I'M currently using a Quick Fire no ten key with Brown Switches.
I MisS the blue switches because they just feel tactile and amazing but damn they are fucking LOUD if your trying to play in your house in the late night or early morning (with your girlfriend in the bed trying to Sleep it's no bueno)
The Brown switches are Great, decently Quiet with Great tactile feel.
Are you kidding me ? Man, I could have write every single word in your post ! just, I want to clarify something, Razer blackwidow with green switches. Actually, I play with both of them, I can't make a choice between both. Maybe I prefer the Blackwidow but as you said, with the GF in the room, it is no way ! green switches are very loud. Once I wanted to buy her an headphone, she bit me ( she doesn't like SC2 at all !)
After that, the Cooler Master Quick Fire has a better quality. I have troubles with keycaps of the Blackwidow, letters fade away.
Dude I've always wanted to try Green switches :O
I don't understand. I thought every razer mechanical keyboards since 2014 were made with green switches. Mine has been made in 2014 and it is green switches (blackwidow TE US layout) I think green and blue are pretty identical, just green switch is a "razer thing"
green switches are different from blues in more than just colour.
There's two kinds of green switches that can be commonly found on the market: Cherry MX green RazerTM green switch
RazerTM green switches are unique to razer and ARE NOT THE SAME AS CHERRY MX GREEN. They are cheaply manufactured by Kailh. The quality is as a result arguably lower. They are a lot like blues, except they are lighter to press. Cherry MX green, are much like blues except they are much heavier to press.
Nice ! Thanks a lot for the information. I thought green switches were only manufactured by Razer, and only kind of green switch. I have never heard something about cherry MX green. Here in France, we have a pretty poorly choice of mechanical keyboard (and kind of switch). The fact we use a specific layout doesn't help.
On July 04 2016 02:02 Beelzebub1 wrote: I've had two mechanical keyboard, one Black Widow Tournament edition with the blue keys and I'M currently using a Quick Fire no ten key with Brown Switches.
I MisS the blue switches because they just feel tactile and amazing but damn they are fucking LOUD if your trying to play in your house in the late night or early morning (with your girlfriend in the bed trying to Sleep it's no bueno)
The Brown switches are Great, decently Quiet with Great tactile feel.
Are you kidding me ? Man, I could have write every single word in your post ! just, I want to clarify something, Razer blackwidow with green switches. Actually, I play with both of them, I can't make a choice between both. Maybe I prefer the Blackwidow but as you said, with the GF in the room, it is no way ! green switches are very loud. Once I wanted to buy her an headphone, she bit me ( she doesn't like SC2 at all !)
After that, the Cooler Master Quick Fire has a better quality. I have troubles with keycaps of the Blackwidow, letters fade away.
Dude I've always wanted to try Green switches :O
I don't understand. I thought every razer mechanical keyboards since 2014 were made with green switches. Mine has been made in 2014 and it is green switches (blackwidow TE US layout) I think green and blue are pretty identical, just green switch is a "razer thing"
green switches are different from blues in more than just colour.
There's two kinds of green switches that can be commonly found on the market: Cherry MX green RazerTM green switch
RazerTM green switches are unique to razer and ARE NOT THE SAME AS CHERRY MX GREEN. They are cheaply manufactured by Kailh. The quality is as a result arguably lower. They are a lot like blues, except they are lighter to press. Cherry MX green, are much like blues except they are much heavier to press.
Nice ! Thanks a lot for the information. I thought green switches were only manufactured by Razer, and only kind of green switch. I have never heard something about cherry MX green. Here in France, we have a pretty poorly choice of mechanical keyboard (and kind of switch). The fact we use a specific layout doesn't help.
The Cherry MX green is not specially common. I know CM Storm quickfire has a version with green switches. Can't recall any other 'gamer' keyboard that has mx green. When people say green, they mostly refer to razerTM green I have the same problem here in Denmark.
Yea they can be a tough choice Prime, Thing about reds is that even though they feel good, alot of times the keycaps are flimzy and poorly constructed. You can feel that after 1 year or something they'll break if you have high APM. Thats a stretch but that's the feeling I get when I use them. Very loose compared to others.
I just recently picked up a long overdue steelseries 6gv2 (nostalgia.. back in the days.. EG... IdrA.. you name it) and ofc, being my first ever mechanical keyboard (apart from hacking on those things back in the 90s as a toddler) it straight up is a pleasure to play with and type on. lovin' it, no regrets!
On July 05 2016 04:53 aScPraiise wrote: Yea they can be a tough choice Prime, Thing about reds is that even though they feel good, alot of times the keycaps are flimzy and poorly constructed. You can feel that after 1 year or something they'll break if you have high APM. Thats a stretch but that's the feeling I get when I use them. Very loose compared to others.
#BrownForLife
Ye the thing is i even use them with o Rings so its literally a Brown Switch to me so i prefer brown i guess, gonna buy me a brown switch Leopold 750 or wait for the New Model in the future.
EPT
![[image loading]](https://static.tweakers.net/ext/f/ZdGY8zMqqVTTFvAZ3B1F7JiN/full.jpg)
![[image loading]](https://static.tweakers.net/ext/f/IWy0TAC50UMmebvtoS64uDge/full.jpg)
