Tales from the Perilous Realm

TvT:
Used to be my least favorite m/u. Now I enjoy TvT quite a bit. I don't cheese and the matches usually evolve from 1-1-1 into mid-late games with lots of tanks and air. I don't have exact stats but I win more than 50% of these games. I'm a little vulnerable to cheese such as reapers and all-in builds around banshees. Though I've finally learned to use my second 50 energy for a scan of the opponent's base. Which is usually still early enough to react to any kind of early aggression.
I feel quite comfortable in this match up, but stuff I still need to work on includes:

- exact timing of buildings. How many factories/starports can I afford when?
- timing and sequence of mech upgrades. what do I need when? what is more important?
- keep making units. Seems so simple but when I look at my replays I often find idle production buildings in my base
- army composition. I usually go battle cruisers in late game, but I feel I would benefit from a few thors as well, and maybe get fewer tanks


TvZ:
Definitely my least favorite m/u. I used to do quite well in TvZ but I think the patches have made this m/u more and more difficult for terran. My main issue seems to be that I don't harass enough and then my macro doesn't keep up and I get overwhelmed sooner or later. Another issue for me is that my micro isn't good enough for effective marine splits vs. banelings. And I find muta harass really annoying. For some reason in pro games the mutas only poke around a little bit here and there, but when I play vs. zerg, the mutas do a lot more damage. Eventually what I would like to do in this m/u is copy Goodie's mech heavy, thor-reliant style. Stuff I really need to work on includes:

- harass earlier
- macro!
- scout better! Is he going roaches or air?!


TvP:
I used to lose at least 75% of my TvP. I went for 1 rax expo and always lost the big macro battles even when I was ahead in supply. So recently I switched to banshees and now I'm winning a lot more. Probably around 50%. I still need to work on the timings and my banshee micro could also be a bit better. But I think I'm on the right track here. Sometimes I go for cloak and only a few banshees to harass, sometimes I go for a lot of banshees without cloak but with marine support for a frontal attack. Haven't decided what's better yet, I need to play more games to make up my mind. The objective is to avoid macro games vs. protoss.T hings I still would like to improve are

- not neglecting my base as I micro the banshees
- exact timing of the build. When to get gas, how many rax, when to expand etc.

Considering that I'm terran this shouldn't come as a surprise. I prefer smaller maps with short distances between bases. My favorite map is currently Xel Naga Caverns. From previous seasons I also liked Jungle Basin, Steppes of War, and Lost Temple.

The map I seem to be getting the most is Shattered Temple. I like it, too, though I think the spawning locations are not perfectly equal for terran. For example, it is much easier to place and repair a bunker at the upper end of the ramp of the 6 o'clock position than it is in some of the other locations.

However, recently I've expanded my game a little to include elevator drops. This works pretty well for me on Antiga Shipyard, especially when I get the right spawning position. Obviously the map isn't perfectly balanced either because spawning locations matter a lot.

I have vetoed all large maps such as Tal'darim Altar. And I'm on the fence between Shakura's Plateau and Metalopolis. Right now I play Shakuras, but I might give it up for Metalopolis.

EDIT:
Season 5 just begun and brought with it changes to the map pool. There are a lot of threads here on TL discussing the pros and cons of the new maps. I think all the excitement is blown a little bit out of proportion. I can think of only very few wins and losses where the map was the determining factor. Stuff like my macro/micro/build order etc. matter much more to the outcome of the game.
The only general observation I'd make about maps is that as terran I obviously prefer smaller maps because of the slow and immobile terran army.
But the exact composition of the map pool is not something I worry - or complain - about.

I am always surprised how much BM I encounter on the ladder. And it's usually from people who are friendly and chatty at the beginning of the game. Here some examples from my games. This is just a very small sample... I get BMed in at least 50% of my games:













There is a lot of BM going on in platinum and low diamond and I think the reason is that a lot of players understand the game quite well, but are frustrated that they can not play it at the same level the pros do. So when they rage at me it's because really these wanna be GMs are just mad that they lost to a platinum player.
Another explanation was offered to me by a friend who shall remain nameless, but who has an intimate knowledge of and plenty of personal experience with BM at high master league / GM level. According to him, losers feel emasculated and BM in a desperate attempt to reassert their ego. That's probably true!

Of course I am not thrilled when I lose a game, but the worst I do is sometimes leave without saying gg.

I don't have any particular gaming hardware and I honestly don't think I need it. I play SC2 on a 2009 MacBook Pro, with a 24" external screen, and a standard Microsoft external keyboard and mouse. The game runs smoothly on low settings, but sometimes there's lag in 3v3 and 4v4 in mid- to late game. I don't mind playing on low settings but I sometimes regret that I can't stream or cast games.
I've been wondering for a while whether special gaming hardware would help me become a better player, but after all I've seen and heard I really don't think so. As I have described in the other sections, the main issues I have to work on are simple mechanics. For example, I sometimes forget to constantly make SCVs. I don't think an expensive keyboard or a "better" mouse would help here.
However if anybody can put forward an argument why even platinum/diamond league players need mechanical keyboards etc., I'd be happy to discuss it here

Hotkeys is an area where I think I have a lot of room for improvement. I currently use hotkeys like this:

CONTROL GROUPS:
1+2 for units, 3 for command centers, 4 for barracks, 5 for factories, 6 for starports.

BUILDINGS:
ALL BUILDINGS: lift/land
COMMAND CENTERS: train scvs, scan, mule, upgrade to fortress or orbital
BARRACKS: train marines/marauders/ghosts/reaper, build reactor/tech lab
FACTORY: build tanks/hellions/thors, build reactor/tech lab
STARPORT: build vikings/drop ships/battle cruisers/banshees/ravens, build reactor/tech lab
BUNKER: unload, salvage

UNITS:
TANKS: siege, unsiege
BANSHEES: cloak, decloak
GHOST: emp, cloak, decloak
RAVEN: autoturret
SCV: build + building
DROP SHIP: drop units
MARINE/MARAUDER: stim
Vikings: land/lift

HOTKEYS I'M CURRENTLY NOT USING - BUT I THINK I SHOULD BE:
- All upgrades and special abilities researched in tech labs, engineering bays and armories. I always select those with the mouse. I know I should be using the hotkeys, and I know most of them, too, but I've been using the mouse for a long time to do this, and I find this habit very hard to break.
- SHIFT to give sequence of orders. When I watch progamers I sometime see them plot the path of a drop ship and then forget about because the drop is executed automatically. That looks really useful, but I'm not doing it. I also think it would be useful to not only send my siege tanks somewhere, but at the same time give the order to siege up as soon as they get there. Basically I think order sequencing can be useful to me because the less time I have to spend on micro managing a certain unit the more time I have to do other things
- IDLE SCVs. F1. I'm playing this on a Macbook Pro, so F1 does not work for me. I would have to reassign this particular hotkey, but I think it's useful because especially in mid to late game when I have several SCVs build stuff simultaneously I always end up with idle SCVs. Makes perfect sense to me to get a hold of them quickly.

GENERAL COMMENTS ABOUT HOTKEYS:
I know that a lot of upper level players customize their hotkeys. I'd be grateful for an explanation from a terran player how they do it and why that's beneficial.

Another challenge I have come across quite recently is grouping different types of units that use the same hotkey. In particular, I've lost a few battles (and games because of it) in TvP because I had marines/marauders and ravens in the same control group. And when I meant to stim my bio (hotkey T), I would drop autoturrets instead (also hotkey T). So I'm currently trying to remember to put my bio and raven in different groups.

The autoturret/stim problem actually exemplifies my main challenge with hotkeys: actually using them, and using them efficiently. I know what to do, and I use those listed about quite regularly, but getting used to using new hotkey combinations is really hard for me. And it bothers me that I just can't get used to using hotkeys to research upgrades. This may be one of the reasons why I am sometimes behind in upgrades. In fact I should probably also hotkey armories and engineering bays like I've seen progamers do it.

I clearly don't use hotkeys to the extent possible and any feedback particularly on this section will be very much appreciated. Especially advice on how to get used to using new hotkeys.

In this section I will link replays of my games and discuss what I did well and what I should have done better.


Game 1 TvP: Banshees

As I discuss in the video, this is one of my first games going banshees vs. protoss. I used to have a terrible score vs. toss in macro games, so I decided it was time to try something else. I feel this build has a lot of potential, but as the video also clearly shows, I still have much to improve about it.

Game 2 TvP: Banshees


Shortly after playing Game 1 (see above) I got lucky and got the same map, m/u, and spawning positions in a ladder game again. By that time I had seen the first video several times and was determined to fix some of the issues from Game 1. In particular, this time I
- found the time to expo
- researched tech (stim in particular)

So during the game I thought things were going reasonably well. However, tQZander's harsh comments about this second game made me feel like a noob in bronze league. But he's right and there are still way too many easily fixable issues with my game. In particular I would like to comment on the following issues and decisions I made:

- SCV production: I was really surprised to see how low my SCV count was. During the game it really felt as if I was constantly producing SCVs. Of all the things that went wrong this game, the low SCV count is definitely the most serious problem. Maybe I should put an "SCVs!!!!" sticker on my monitor or something.

- Siege tech: I simply forgot to research it. Of course that's not supposed to happen, but fortunately that's usually not a problem. I very rarely forget to research the upgrades I want.

- Point Defense Drones: I'm just not used to using them. I know I need to but for the longest time I only used ravens for detections and auto turrets. It's hard to break that habit.

- Cloak: I agree I should either cancel cloak when I spot the obs, or at least use the cloak if I do research it. I guess I was thinking "no need to cloak because there's an obs anyway" but of course that's nonsense.

- Early bunker on secondary ramp: I build it because I need it eventually but also to prevent scouting and to make my opponent believe I might be 1 rax expoing or something.

- Scouting: I never seem to scout enough. Frankly at my level, almost 100% of protoss players take a quick expo at the 6 or 7 minute mark and my initial scout didn't seem to suggest otherwise, either. But still I need to confirm.

- My opponent: I know he seemed passive and didn't do very much, but he's quite representative of the kind of protoss players I encounter in top 8 platinum. And do lose to such players too often if I don't take the initiative early on and let them macro.

Conclusion: I remember I felt very good during the game because I implemented some of the improvements suggested to me from game 1. However, after listening to the harsh criticisms of this game I realize that I still have a long long way to go.

In future games with this m/u I would like to:
- make sure I make SCVs ALL THE TIME even if that means sacrificing army production
- not send the first scout out so early
- send more scouts in mid/late game

Finally, I would like to thank tQZander for his analysis, and my opponent for letting me get away with so many mistakes.

Game 3 TvZ: Hellions

This game is significant to me because one of the openings I have vs. Zerg is double reactor hellion all-in. This works amazingly well, unless my opponent gets 2 or more sunks, or goes roaches, as in this case. This is one of the few games where I win despite roaches. Usually I lose at least 2/3 of these games.
I would like to note the following about this game:
- when he attacked, I probably pulled too many SCVs
- I find that particular choke much harder to defend to this kind of attack than chokes on other maps (e.g. Xel Naga Caverns)
- he may have left prematurely? I was a little surprised when he simply left at that point. Or was the game so clearly won for me? I really don't know
- I REALLY need to scout better. McGuffin's comments about the Zerg's gas made me realize that scouting can really teach me so much more than just whether the Zerg is 6 pooling or fast expanding

There is probably more which I'll add later after watching the replay one more time.

Anyway... any kind of feedback on the game is highly appreciated! Especially from Zerg or Terran players.

And thanks MacGuffin for casting this game. His channel can be found at http://www.youtube.com/user/MacGuffinSC

Game 4 TvT: Tank Push



I posted a full discussion of the game here on the same blog:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewpost.php?post_id=13064707

SOUND:
Until recently I did not pay much attention to the sound settings. I was just playing SC2 on default settings, with disabled music. Recently I started playing around with the settings a little, however, and I was surprised how much difference that makes. Increasing the number of sound channels makes the sound quality so much better. I don't really care, but from a technical point of view - and as opposed to SC1 and BW - I was surprised to see how adjustable sound settings and sound quality are.
All I really need are unit sounds. Anything else I more or less consider a distraction.

MUSIC:
I don't listen to music when I play SC2. I find it distracting. I also turned off the in game music. I want to be able to hear nukes and nydus and such.

For the same reason, I find streams with music pretty awful. Most players stream really loud techno and other crap that renders their stream pretty much useless to me. One commendable exception is SCDPyre who unfortunately also streams music, but at least music that coincides pretty much with what I would actually listen to. Piece of advice for SCDPyre though: I don't want to listen to Hotel California EVERY time I open your stream... :p

Once in a while, when I do listen to music when playing SC2, my playlist usually consists of some of the following:

The Rolling Stones
Bob Dylan
Eric Clapton
Bruce Springsteen
The Counting Crows
Billy Joel
Ryan Adams
Elton John
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Lynyrd Skynyrd
and other stuff along those lines. Classic rock mostly.

As a general comment on music I have to say I do not listen to my favorite music too much because constant exposure to it kind of devalues it. That's why I listen to all kinds of music to keep things interesting. As I am writing these lines, I am listening to Keith Jarrett's "Köln Concert"

Patches. Well... cry me a river. Honestly patches don't bother me as much as all the whining about them. I think unless you play SC2 at the highest level (top GM and better) nobody really has the right to cry about the patches and their effect on balancing. If I look at my own game I have to say there is so much I can improve that would easily outweigh the effect any patch has.
For example, I do not constantly make SCVs. That's a much bigger problem for my terran game than say having the bunker build time increased by a few seconds. The same is true for virtually all other players I have ever seen complain about a patch.