So what do you do when you reach your skill ceiling? When you've tried everything to get better, meaning - watching your own replays, downloading replays, practicing every day, laddering, watching streams, watching live events, reading strategy threads, trying to seek coaching when you can't afford it, asking questions whenever you can... I mean everything. And none of it works. When you have been the same rank for a year and half. When you join a custom game, and you end up playing a master, and the game isn't even remotely close. (im a protoss plat)

When you want to be serous with this game and it just isn't happening. Do you have to just suck it up and tell yourself to give up this dream, and stop playing? Accept the fact that this game is so easy for alot of people, but I'm not one of them.

So what do you do when you reach your skill ceiling?

glyoArtOfWar

United States5 Posts

March 10 2012 03:48 GMT

you destroy the floor and lay a new foundation

Pantythief

Denmark657 Posts

March 10 2012 03:49 GMT

You play Skyrim for 5 minutes and realize how bad it is. Then you turn StarCraft 2 back on.

User was warned for this post

zOula...

United States898 Posts

March 10 2012 03:49 GMT

How much are you playing? how many games per day on average? Out of all those things you listed, playing is really the most beneficial thing to do to improve. You might not have reached your skill ceiling, you might just not be playing enough

SeraKuDA

Canada343 Posts

March 10 2012 03:50 GMT

Ehh... Just play if you're having fun. If not, quit.

Ftrunkz

Australia2474 Posts

March 10 2012 03:51 GMT

On March 10 2012 12:48 glyoArtOfWar wrote:
you destroy the floor and lay a new foundation

This is actually pretty good advice.

Skill cielings don't really exist unless you're doing everything in the game perfectly. Anything else is just a mental barrier that you get stuck in when you go a while with no obvious visable improvement in rank or whatever you're gauging yourself by.

Your mechanics get better with every game you play, you can learn something from every loss you take (even if you've lost to the same thing a million times before, it's still another time you've got practiced against it and to improve on.)

As someone who plays competitively, it's something that happens to everyone at certain points, you hit a point where it feels like you're just not progressing, but even if you don't realize it you are progressing as a player every single time you play a game, watch a stream, do pretty much anything related to starcraft.

LaxCraft

United States11 Posts

March 10 2012 03:51 GMT

The ceiling doesn't exist yet. The game is still too new and the meta game is still developing. If you're talking about your limitations on the ladder regarding your bracket, all it takes is practice to get better and get out. If you're top masters to grandmasters, the ladder is probably of little significance. To get better at that point you need to hone your skills with equal or greater skilled opponents through custom games. There won't be a ceiling for for years until after the last expansion hits, and years after that.

13JackaL

United States577 Posts

March 10 2012 03:53 GMT

On March 10 2012 12:48 glyoArtOfWar wrote:
you destroy the floor and lay a new foundation

I'm gonna use that line from now on, thank you!

If you feel like you hit a plateau, the best way to continue may be to develope a new philosophy about your practice regimen. Trying new things can help you out a ton to find a groove and improve more. For example, Day9's previous newbie tuesday was about adjusting one mistake at a time while using a certain build in a certain match-up. Slow, steady step-by-step proceedures may just be what works best for you. A pretty large inhibitor is your mindset though. Just by thinking that there is a skill ceiling can hamper your improvement.

hiyo_bye

United States737 Posts

March 10 2012 03:53 GMT

Well frankly I don't think you'll ever reach your skill ceiling, but if you are convinced and you want to keep playing but you can't improve anymore, try a new race.

Angelbelow

United States3728 Posts

March 10 2012 03:54 GMT

#10

I don't claim to have reached my ceiling but I will admit that when I made 1v1 masters I lost a lot of motivation to play 1s. Nowadays I only play when my friends want to do team games for fun.

Another reason is that I don't have time to play a ton of games AND watch sc2. I enjoy watching matches because you can kick back and relax while doing so.

BabyKnight

Denmark112 Posts

March 10 2012 03:55 GMT

#11

You're platinum... just get coaching or watch some streams to get inspired, and keep playing. You don't understand what skill ceiling means.

feanor1

United States1899 Posts

March 10 2012 03:56 GMT

#12

You play the game for fun?

Utinni

Canada1196 Posts

March 10 2012 03:57 GMT

#13

No one has reached the skill ceiling for sc2.

If I gave up on everything I wasn't perfect at... I would be a very dull boy.

Edit: As for your own skill ceiling, playing with a group of ppl that can observe your games and help you learn (learning together) is a good start.

FeyFey

Germany10114 Posts

March 10 2012 03:58 GMT

#14

there is no ceiling only a wall you have to break with your head.
Well okay there is a ceiling of the game, that is if you control every unit on the field alone at the same time and decide perfectly for every single one of them.

Amaterasu1234

United States317 Posts

March 10 2012 03:58 GMT

#15

On March 10 2012 12:48 glyoArtOfWar wrote:
you destroy the floor and lay a new foundation

...quoted!

Thor-axe the Impaler

United States331 Posts

March 10 2012 03:59 GMT

#16

You only give up if you want to. If you call it quits now, you'll be admitting to yourself that you have limits.

Do you have limits? Are you really stuck where you are now forever? If so, then yes, give up now and sell your dreams and aspirations for average pay and lifestyle so that you can waste away that time wishing you had done otherwise.

But do you really just want to be a victim of your own discouragement?

insanet

Peru439 Posts

March 10 2012 03:59 GMT

#17

geez, he is saying HIS skill ceiling, not sc2 skill ceiling.

Jonoman92

United States9107 Posts

March 10 2012 04:00 GMT

#18

I really doubt 99.9% of players will ever reach their skill ceiling, maybe even more like 100%

Northern_iight

Canada363 Posts

March 10 2012 04:01 GMT

#19

you certainly did not hit your skill ceiling. Anyone can become masters league and good at this game. What I think you're talking about is being stuck at a skill level, not seeming to get better. That's called plateau. You reach a point where you struggle to overcome and become "better". It's tough to get through those times as it seems like you're playing the best you can but you still get beaten by the same strategies. Only way to get out of those slumps is to persevere and keep playing. Watch your replay and figure out what you did wrong and focus on eliminating that mistake. Get practice partners to help you on specific strategies. You're only at platinum league, you can definitely go further.

dragoon

United States695 Posts

March 10 2012 04:02 GMT

#20

until you're using 100% of your brain, you haven't reached your skill ceiling.

this applies to everything.