EPT
Why, if you have to ask, you can't
![[image loading]](http://f.cl.ly/items/1g3l393Q2K3K2X19272Z/lim_yo-hwan.jpg)
This is what it takes. Unbridled love of the game. Do you have it?
It seems that every time I open the blog section a new blog has materialized, expressing someone's desire to "go pro". Now, I for one subscribe to the "chase your dreams" school of thought. I fully believe that if you have passion for something, then it is your solemn duty to chase it with your heart and body, to make whatever sacrifices are necessary to fulfill your dreams and fight for your passions, however each and every one of these blogs only shows to me a lack of foresight and planning, and a complete misunderstanding of what "going pro" means.
Most of these blogs look something like this
A few minutes ago, some clueless poster said:
Hi, my name is JohnSC2 and I am a highschooler! After reading through a thread in the strategy section, watching one NASL and landing in Platinum after twelve games, I know I really love starcraft and want to go pro! I know its going to be hard work, but I love SC2 and will practice hard! In three months I will be grandmasters! (and after that I will go to GSL!) To do this I am going to quit school and just play SC2 all day, I know I can do this because I have a lot of fun with starcraft 2!
Teamliquid is awesome! Support me!
~John FIGHTING!
Hi, my name is JohnSC2 and I am a highschooler! After reading through a thread in the strategy section, watching one NASL and landing in Platinum after twelve games, I know I really love starcraft and want to go pro! I know its going to be hard work, but I love SC2 and will practice hard! In three months I will be grandmasters! (and after that I will go to GSL!) To do this I am going to quit school and just play SC2 all day, I know I can do this because I have a lot of fun with starcraft 2!
Teamliquid is awesome! Support me!
~John FIGHTING!
This type of blog shows complete lack of understanding of what being good at anything takes. It is the naive view of the kid who sees a movie about batman and decides to become a superhero and fight crime. Lets address why, "loving" starcraft and having loads of free time is simply not enough to "go pro".
To be a pro means you are going to be making your living of off starcraft 2, this means that you will be dedicating as much time as regular professions do to their job to starcraft 2. This means that if you had the raw talent (more on that later), proper training schedule (more on that later), and the passion/work ethic (more on that later) to go pro, you would have to dedicate at least eight hours per day to starcraft 2. That's not eight hours browsing team liquid, or reddit, or watching MLG, that is eight hours glued to your computer, either grinding ladder matches, or playing with practice partners, working on specific skills. How often have you played for eight hours straight, for five days a week? I challenge everyone who wants to "go pro" to try this out. Take a week, every day, get up at 8 and play till 6, taking two one hour breaks. Play don't browse reddit, or write blogs, or watch My Little Pony, sit and grind. Then do it again, and again. Not as much fun as it looked, huh? This is why progamers need a strong work ethic, because after two hours of being called a noob and losing to bunker rushes, you need to keep playing, because every minute you aren't training, someone else is, and they are getting better. Remember, these eight hours are a minimum this doesn't even include playing in tournaments, or flying to them, or additional practice. You'll have exactly no one riding your ass, if you only practice two hours a day, no one is going to say anything, until you arrive at a tournament, and get curb stomped, by the players who practiced 8 hours a day. This is why you can't just "like" starcraft or enjoy the buzz of winning, you have to be fucking passionate about it.
When you look at the life of the best starcraft bw progamers, (which is where sc2 progamers are headed), they do nothing outside of starcraft, except the bare minimum to keep them in good health, their minds revolve around starcraft, when Flash is on the treadmill he is thinking about how to make a 14cc more safe, when Jaedong drifts off to sleep his last thoughts are about his revolutionary four base defiler rush, when JangBi dreams, his fingers twitch as he tries to micro the perfect storm. That is what becoming the very best takes. You want to be a progamer? win a GSL? Become the very best? Then your life has to be dedicated to starcraft, you have to have true passion, not "like" the game, you have to love it, in its multifaceted strategic complexity. Why do you think that most of the time when a progamer gets a girlfriend he slumps hard? Think carefully before saying "I want to be a pro" because its an allconsuming thing to follow a dream. Much like professional athletes, to dedicate yourself to your craft means sacrifice. The biggest hint that you don't have this level of dedication is that you took the time out of practice to write a blog about how you are "going to go pro" and you aren't even playing at a high level. If you aren't already putting in the hours to get to a high level then you don't love the game enough.
That aside, let us assume for a second that you, Mr." I'm going pro", have the insane passion and work ethic it takes to play at the highest level, lets say you are the kind of massochist who enjoys laddering for the sake of laddering, that isn't enough. Instead of writing that idiotic blog about how you are "going to go pro" you should be at Masters and looking for a team and figuring out how to train properly. Much like an athlete, you can't just practice what you are going to be doing at the tournament by yourself, you need a training regime, with specific practice plans and a group of people to support you in doing so. This means you have to be able to talk to people, like a normal human being, schedule practice, and then work through practice. This means, more of the "work ethic" I mentioned above, that is, you need to sit down and for six, seven hours, practice getting bunker rushed, or six pooled, or two base roach rushed. This is painful and boring, it is a sacrifice for getting better. So, not only do you need to have the work ethic and passion to ladder and find a team (which needs to be as dedicated as you are, no "Nexus war" team is going to be able to help you here), you also need to sit there and actually grind things out, which means you will have to help your teammates grind things out, which is more "wasted time" that doesn't count as practice.
Finally, all the passion in the world isn't going to get you anywhere if you lack the talent. You may love the game, but if your APM peaks at 30 after weeks of practice, and you are stuck in silver, then you will never make it. There is a sad fact in life, that is, some people are gifted in certain areas, others are not. I for one have sucky reflexes, I could never become a pro-athlete of any kind for that reason. If you don't have the tactical and strategic mind, and the finger speed and mechanical talent that it takes to be the best, then you may never go pro, no matter how much passion you have for the game. You can become good, but to be a pro (a real pro, not a washout) you need to be among the best. Again, this goes back to the rule of thirty, if with less than thirty hours per week you cannot make high masters (top 10) you probably lack one of the necessary talents to become a pro. Its simply a sad fact of life, at 6''2 I will never become a star jockey, and without natural strategic mind and deft hands, you will never become a pro.
These last points are almost moot however, because each and every one of the people who have posted "going pro" blogs, fails in the first category, they lack the heart, the pure undiluted passion it takes to become the best. They haven't even put in the time and effort to hit high levels of play, and play in offline tournaments, instead boosting their egos with a "I'm going to go pro" post. They lack the true love for the game that makes it possible to sacrifice everything for the passion. To be the best at anything, not just SC2, you need to make that thing your life, it is the only path to success. That said, you can still enjoy SC2 without being "the best", just don't decide "hey I like starcraft" and post a blog about how you are going to go pro, without realizing what "going pro" means.
TL:DR
Unless you are willing to do nothing but eat, sleep and breathe starcraft, while living of off ramen in a crappy stuffed apartment, with no opportunity to go out or peruse any other hobbies, you are not going to go pro.
(yes, I wrote this on the spur of the moment out of frustration, sorry if it seems a little harsh)
Relevant Quotes
this post
On December 11 2011 00:45 awwnuts07 wrote:
Here's another example to back up GM's argument. This time it comes from one of the greatest SC players of all time, Flash:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=129095
The relevant part:
Here's the standard all aspiring pros should be measuring themselves against. This is a shining example of what it takes to excel in Starcraft (or any skill).
Here's another example to back up GM's argument. This time it comes from one of the greatest SC players of all time, Flash:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=129095
The relevant part:
Here's the standard all aspiring pros should be measuring themselves against. This is a shining example of what it takes to excel in Starcraft (or any skill).
Bonus:
+ Show Spoiler +
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This is how you have to feel after losing.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/NfhXK.jpg)
sorry
