EPTAbout Me:
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I've been playing Starcraft since early Broodwar and I love teaching others about the game and how to improve. Also, as of a few months ago I have found the joy of casting, which will be starting up again on Aug 11th (temporary leave due to internet issues in my summer home).
League: Masters (1000+ last season)
Main Race: Zerg (Used to be terran)
Youtube: www.youtube.com/mrllamasc
Other Threads of mine:
Winning in 40 APM or Less (Video series for all levels of players)
Improving in SC2: Making it Stick (Daily stream for all levels with free replay analysis)
The Llama Build (ZvP roach/hydra drop)
Inside the Minds of Masters (High Level Detailed Analysis):
To cut to the chase, people misuse their APM. The biggest REASON for this misuse is because people watch pro replays and streams, see the little details that win games for the pros, and then try to apply those same things to their gameplay.
Examples:
1. Microing the scout worker for harrassing mineral lines
2. Using burrowed infestors to drop infested terrans at expansions
3. banshee harrass
4. Stutter stepping units
5. Sniping creep tumors as they spawn
6. etc...
Now I know a lot of people are saying, "But a lot of those things are very good" and "I have won lots of games because of great banshee play/burrowed infestors/etc!"
If you are at a high level then I agree, those are the proper things to be doing, but if you are lower level then you have much greater things to focus your APM on.
Now of course every race is different and feel free to disagree with my uses of apm below, but I think if players keep their focus on the level of their league as I state, they will be able to improve more than if they watch pro replays and try to imitate.
I think every player should also start by looking at my bronze level suggestions then moving up 1 league at a time and making sure they have everything before continuing on. I know someone who made it to platinum because he is amazing at winning games with banshees, but he cannot move past plat because as soon as he started playing people who defended well against banshees, he still had the skills of a silver player in terms of macro and it crippled him.
Here is my list of where each league level player should focus their actions/attention:
Bronze/Silver
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Basics:
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Race specific:
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-There is no reason for scouting at this level (if you are a zerg player check your section on this). Strong macro should win out 90% of the time regardless of what your opponent is doing.
-Always build workers. Always.
-Keep your eyes in your base 95% of the time or more. If you ever watch a replay, you will see your macro fails when you are not looking at your base. Wait until you are a higher level before diverting your attention.
-You should be able to A-move any army if you have good macro and win the game at this level. Thus, do not worry about tiny attacks or drops or timing windows. Simply macro up a large army, and A move to his base.
-Always build workers. Always.
-Keep your eyes in your base 95% of the time or more. If you ever watch a replay, you will see your macro fails when you are not looking at your base. Wait until you are a higher level before diverting your attention.
-You should be able to A-move any army if you have good macro and win the game at this level. Thus, do not worry about tiny attacks or drops or timing windows. Simply macro up a large army, and A move to his base.
Race specific:
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Terran:
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Zerg:
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Protoss:
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-Hotkey your whole army to 1 hotkey, your CCs to 1 hotkey, and your Barracks to 1 hotkey.
-Always make sure you have scvs and marines building.
-Take an expansion by 5:00 (you can start it in your base if you don't feel safe).
-Build additional supply depots (before you even really feel you need them, it's okay to have too much supply at this point).
-If you have any extra minerals, make more barracks (and orbitals in your base for mules/scvs!). Even if you are on 2 base and have 6 barracks already, if you are floating 2K minerals feel free to drop down 5-6 more!
-You do not need to tech. You honestly can do without gas even but if you must get it I'd suggest getting it delayed and then just using it for Reactors/tech labs to get additional marines and marauders.
TVT - 10 depot, 12 barracks, 14 depot, 15/16 orbital, 15 marine, 16 marine, 17 command center (can be inbase if you don't feel safe), 18 bunker at natural, add 2 more barracks after bunker complete.
TVZ - same as TVT
TVP - same as TVT
-Always make sure you have scvs and marines building.
-Take an expansion by 5:00 (you can start it in your base if you don't feel safe).
-Build additional supply depots (before you even really feel you need them, it's okay to have too much supply at this point).
-If you have any extra minerals, make more barracks (and orbitals in your base for mules/scvs!). Even if you are on 2 base and have 6 barracks already, if you are floating 2K minerals feel free to drop down 5-6 more!
-You do not need to tech. You honestly can do without gas even but if you must get it I'd suggest getting it delayed and then just using it for Reactors/tech labs to get additional marines and marauders.
TVT - 10 depot, 12 barracks, 14 depot, 15/16 orbital, 15 marine, 16 marine, 17 command center (can be inbase if you don't feel safe), 18 bunker at natural, add 2 more barracks after bunker complete.
TVZ - same as TVT
TVP - same as TVT
Zerg:
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-At this level if you have good macro you can win with purely queens and drones (many pros have done this to prove the point that I'm trying to make in this thread). I would like you to make units still but the point is that it is possible to win without them.
-When I said no scouting, that mostly referred to protoss and terran not needing to scout at all because they are more defensive and build units more constantly. Since zerg is different and reactionary, I think it's important to simply have a very basic scout of when they are moving out. Don't care if they are teching like crazy in their base or whatever, you should have safe builds to prepare for that stuff (evo chamber at 5:30, spore at each base, etc). Simply have a ling outside their ramp or at their tower to know when they are pushing out. This will be useful for when to transition into making more units/spines.
-Put all hatcheries on one hotkey. Whenever you are sitting there, be pressing the hatchery hotkey, then S. This selects your larvae so you can spend them immediately.
-For every wave of units that you build, make an overlord. EX: If I have 8 larvae, I hit "4" (My Hatcheries hotkey), "s" (Selects larvae), "V" (builds an overlord), then "d" 7 times (builds 7 drones). If you get in this habit you will find yourself getting supply blocked at least 50% less if not better.
-Make 4x queens or more (good anti air)
-Do not be afraid to drone. If you drone a lot, just make more queens and some spine crawlers to defend.
-Do not use infestors. Too much apm required and it will hurt you elsewhere.
-Your mineral dump will be additional hatcheries and queens. If you are on 2-3 base and have 3K minerals, make 3 more macro hatcheries inside your main. This will allow you to get more larva, make more queens, and spend all that extra money. Just make sure to add them to your hatcheries hotkey!
-Only send out your first overlord to scout. All other ones leave in your base or the airspace right around it.
-Make only lings and roaches.
ZVX - On 9 build your overlord, not 10.
ZVT - Open 15 hatch, 15 gas, 15 pool, 15 overlord. 2x queen when pool completes, speed at at next 100min/100gas.
ZVZ - Open 14 gas, 14 pool, 15 overlord. On pool finish get ling speed, a queen, and 4 lings. at 21 supply, take your natural hatchery.
ZVP - Same as ZvZ
-When I said no scouting, that mostly referred to protoss and terran not needing to scout at all because they are more defensive and build units more constantly. Since zerg is different and reactionary, I think it's important to simply have a very basic scout of when they are moving out. Don't care if they are teching like crazy in their base or whatever, you should have safe builds to prepare for that stuff (evo chamber at 5:30, spore at each base, etc). Simply have a ling outside their ramp or at their tower to know when they are pushing out. This will be useful for when to transition into making more units/spines.
-Put all hatcheries on one hotkey. Whenever you are sitting there, be pressing the hatchery hotkey, then S. This selects your larvae so you can spend them immediately.
-For every wave of units that you build, make an overlord. EX: If I have 8 larvae, I hit "4" (My Hatcheries hotkey), "s" (Selects larvae), "V" (builds an overlord), then "d" 7 times (builds 7 drones). If you get in this habit you will find yourself getting supply blocked at least 50% less if not better.
-Make 4x queens or more (good anti air)
-Do not be afraid to drone. If you drone a lot, just make more queens and some spine crawlers to defend.
-Do not use infestors. Too much apm required and it will hurt you elsewhere.
-Your mineral dump will be additional hatcheries and queens. If you are on 2-3 base and have 3K minerals, make 3 more macro hatcheries inside your main. This will allow you to get more larva, make more queens, and spend all that extra money. Just make sure to add them to your hatcheries hotkey!
-Only send out your first overlord to scout. All other ones leave in your base or the airspace right around it.
-Make only lings and roaches.
ZVX - On 9 build your overlord, not 10.
ZVT - Open 15 hatch, 15 gas, 15 pool, 15 overlord. 2x queen when pool completes, speed at at next 100min/100gas.
ZVZ - Open 14 gas, 14 pool, 15 overlord. On pool finish get ling speed, a queen, and 4 lings. at 21 supply, take your natural hatchery.
ZVP - Same as ZvZ
Protoss:
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-Hotkey entire army to 1. Make only zealots and stalkers unless playing PvP in which case immortals are allowed. If you wish to make sentries to get used to them, only use them defensively. You do not want to be worrying about army micro and spellcasting yet outside of your base because your macro will slip.
-Always make sure you have probes building and have used your warp in cycles. Do not cut probes at this level, wait until you get higher up.
-Whenever you warp in units, grab a probe and throw down 1-2 pylons.
-Use chronoboost on anything, as long as it is being used.
-Your mineral dump is going to be gateways. Just make additional gateways whenever you have lots of extra resources.
-You do not need to tech to anything really. Large gateway armies are very strong. When you attack just A-move your massive army towards his base.
PVT - 9 pylon, 13 gateway, 15 assimilator, 16 pylon, 18 cyber, 19 zealot, 22 pylon, 23 stalker, warpgate when cyber done, 26 gateway, 30 pylon, 30 gateway
PVZ - Same as PVT
PVP - Same as PVT but add a 2nd assimilator at 25 and a Robotics facility at 31.
PVX - Expand with the next 400 minerals after you complete these builds. Your army should be strong enough to hold it.
-Always make sure you have probes building and have used your warp in cycles. Do not cut probes at this level, wait until you get higher up.
-Whenever you warp in units, grab a probe and throw down 1-2 pylons.
-Use chronoboost on anything, as long as it is being used.
-Your mineral dump is going to be gateways. Just make additional gateways whenever you have lots of extra resources.
-You do not need to tech to anything really. Large gateway armies are very strong. When you attack just A-move your massive army towards his base.
PVT - 9 pylon, 13 gateway, 15 assimilator, 16 pylon, 18 cyber, 19 zealot, 22 pylon, 23 stalker, warpgate when cyber done, 26 gateway, 30 pylon, 30 gateway
PVZ - Same as PVT
PVP - Same as PVT but add a 2nd assimilator at 25 and a Robotics facility at 31.
PVX - Expand with the next 400 minerals after you complete these builds. Your army should be strong enough to hold it.
Gold
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Basics:
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Race Specific:
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-Once you reach gold I think it is acceptable to start basic scouting and moving into some tech. While you can still probably win with just a basic army, having a higher level unit in your army will benefit you here as long as you are still spending all of your resources.
-What I mean by basic scouting: Send a worker to find your opponents base (around 12-14 supply). Look to see if they have either gas in their main, and then hide your worker at their expansion to see if they expand (so the far side of the ramp). You will not really use the information too much right now, but it's a good habit to just check these basic things. Do not harrass the mineral line, don't keep running around inside the base, just get in to check gas and get out (then put your focus back on your base). The only time I'd say be alarmed is if you get in his base and don't see any barracks/gateways/pylons or see a 6 pool. Then I would recommend getting units out a little faster and/or walling off your ramp depending on the m/u. Other than that, just get in the habit of having that scout worker move out but that is it.
XVX - For match ups at this level I think it's okay for you to find a build that you like. I'd recommend it be more macro-oriented though as that is how you will improve faster. An example is opening Forge fast expand in Pvz instead of 3gate expand.
-You want to be hitting around 70+ workers by the later part of the game on 3 bases. If you watch replays and see yourself topping off at like 40-60 workers, you know what you need to work on.
-Keep your eyes in your base 90% of the time or more. You can start to look around a tiny bit but still do not worry about harrassing
-What I mean by basic scouting: Send a worker to find your opponents base (around 12-14 supply). Look to see if they have either gas in their main, and then hide your worker at their expansion to see if they expand (so the far side of the ramp). You will not really use the information too much right now, but it's a good habit to just check these basic things. Do not harrass the mineral line, don't keep running around inside the base, just get in to check gas and get out (then put your focus back on your base). The only time I'd say be alarmed is if you get in his base and don't see any barracks/gateways/pylons or see a 6 pool. Then I would recommend getting units out a little faster and/or walling off your ramp depending on the m/u. Other than that, just get in the habit of having that scout worker move out but that is it.
XVX - For match ups at this level I think it's okay for you to find a build that you like. I'd recommend it be more macro-oriented though as that is how you will improve faster. An example is opening Forge fast expand in Pvz instead of 3gate expand.
-You want to be hitting around 70+ workers by the later part of the game on 3 bases. If you watch replays and see yourself topping off at like 40-60 workers, you know what you need to work on.
-Keep your eyes in your base 90% of the time or more. You can start to look around a tiny bit but still do not worry about harrassing
Race Specific:
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Terran:
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Zerg:
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Protoss
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-Once you get down 3 racks and your expansion, start adding refineries. Build a factory and a starport to start adding more units to your army. Do not get any unit for harrass, just a unit to add to your army for more damage/tankability/versatility.
-Start adding tech labs and reactors to all your production facilities. You can get basic upgrades (stim, combat shields, conc shells) and possibly a +1/+1 on your engineering bay if you find yourself with extra money. Do not try and get early upgrades though as you may end up cutting workers/units for it. At this point you still want to have workers and units come first, followed by upgrades after.
-Notice you will start needing to grab a couple more refineries, but do not get them too early or you will be behind on minerals. Minerals are your #1 priority right now.
-Start adding tech labs and reactors to all your production facilities. You can get basic upgrades (stim, combat shields, conc shells) and possibly a +1/+1 on your engineering bay if you find yourself with extra money. Do not try and get early upgrades though as you may end up cutting workers/units for it. At this point you still want to have workers and units come first, followed by upgrades after.
-Notice you will start needing to grab a couple more refineries, but do not get them too early or you will be behind on minerals. Minerals are your #1 priority right now.
Zerg:
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-Adding a lair before 9:00 is something to think about now. However, do not use it for infestors or mutas yet. Both of those units require too much micro at this time and you will take away from your macro if you want to use them. Instead, upgrade to lair to start building the habit as well as for getting overseers incase of cloaked units.
-Since you're getting lair, you can also get +2/+2 here as the game goes on and you have resources.
-Start overlord spreading in this match up. Don't worry about covering everything or seeing everything with them ,just try to send them out along the outskirts of the map so they won't get sniped and it will be a good habit for later.
-I'd recommend still only making lings and roaches. If you have them in mass quickly, they are quite effective. The only time I'd say get anything else is if they have air (banshees, voids), in which case grab some hydras.
-Will need a couple more gas but not too much as minerals are still your priority (queens, lings, roaches (cheap on gas))
-Since you're getting lair, you can also get +2/+2 here as the game goes on and you have resources.
-Start overlord spreading in this match up. Don't worry about covering everything or seeing everything with them ,just try to send them out along the outskirts of the map so they won't get sniped and it will be a good habit for later.
-I'd recommend still only making lings and roaches. If you have them in mass quickly, they are quite effective. The only time I'd say get anything else is if they have air (banshees, voids), in which case grab some hydras.
-Will need a couple more gas but not too much as minerals are still your priority (queens, lings, roaches (cheap on gas))
Protoss
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-Tech up to Collosus once you have your 2 bases. Once again, do not cut workers or units to get this tech, simply throw it in when you start to get extra resources.
-For the protoss army you are going to start to need more gas (more than the other races) so when you expand and have more probes, start to get up to 4 assimilators.
-Add forges on after you expand and start getting +1/+1 upgrades. If the game moves later, I'd say feel free to get a twilight so you can get +2/+2 and charge, but do not worry about getting blink. At this level we still want to avoid unit micro situations.
-Sentries would also be good to start using now. Get used to forcefields and guardian shield right now but be careful to not waste all of your gas on sentries right now.
-For the protoss army you are going to start to need more gas (more than the other races) so when you expand and have more probes, start to get up to 4 assimilators.
-Add forges on after you expand and start getting +1/+1 upgrades. If the game moves later, I'd say feel free to get a twilight so you can get +2/+2 and charge, but do not worry about getting blink. At this level we still want to avoid unit micro situations.
-Sentries would also be good to start using now. Get used to forcefields and guardian shield right now but be careful to not waste all of your gas on sentries right now.
Platinum
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Basics:
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Race Specific:
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-At platinum level I think you still shouldn't focus on doing anything more in terms of scouting besides the basic scouting described before. The reason for this is from 1. experience and 2. there are better things to work on right now than identifying your opponents build. You still need to worry about yourself first.
-1 base all ins will start to hit a lot harder now so I'd suggest putting a little more notice on if your opponent expands or not. If he does not expand for a decent amount of time after you, start to get worried and play a little more defensively (since you are ahead now).
-I think platinum is the best place to start worrying about unit control. Anything below this league should focus on the production of units and workers but once you get those skills down you can start looking at your army.
-This league will also be a good time to start transitioning from always looking at your base, to learning how to really use hotkeys effectively when you are away from base.
-Keep your eyes on your base about 60% of the time here.
-Start using more than 1 hotkey for your army now. main army on one, spellcasters on another.
-1 base all ins will start to hit a lot harder now so I'd suggest putting a little more notice on if your opponent expands or not. If he does not expand for a decent amount of time after you, start to get worried and play a little more defensively (since you are ahead now).
-I think platinum is the best place to start worrying about unit control. Anything below this league should focus on the production of units and workers but once you get those skills down you can start looking at your army.
-This league will also be a good time to start transitioning from always looking at your base, to learning how to really use hotkeys effectively when you are away from base.
-Keep your eyes on your base about 60% of the time here.
-Start using more than 1 hotkey for your army now. main army on one, spellcasters on another.
Race Specific:
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Terran:
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Zerg:
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Protoss:
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-I think this is a great time to start thinking about drops as a terran player. You are now at the point where you want to add a couple of things to your opponents plate so he starts to slip in his macro. Drops is a great way to do this and it takes little effort on your part. NOTE: Do not micro these drops too much. Just send a dropship behind a mineral line and tell it to drop there (all in a shift command so you don't have to go back and watch to drop). Once units are dropped, you can push over to stim and attack move but I wouldn't worry too much more beyond that.
- In TvZ start pushing up to creep, then sieging and slowly pushing forward. This is going to take a lot of focus outside off your macro so you really have to watch for slips in scv/unit production here.
- Add vikings in TvP when you scout collosus. Don't worry about the exact number, just make vikings so you can be sure you will kill his collosus (generally 2:1 ratio of vikings to collosus)
-Adding more gases at this level is also a good idea since you are going to be adding more upgrades and more units like medivacs and vikings.
-I think this is also a good league to start using scans for scout information a little later on. Around the time they'd be getting a spire or templar tech or collosus, drop a scan and check out their base to see what's going on.
-Also adding ghosts around now could be a good idea to practice EMP and snipe.
- In TvZ start pushing up to creep, then sieging and slowly pushing forward. This is going to take a lot of focus outside off your macro so you really have to watch for slips in scv/unit production here.
- Add vikings in TvP when you scout collosus. Don't worry about the exact number, just make vikings so you can be sure you will kill his collosus (generally 2:1 ratio of vikings to collosus)
-Adding more gases at this level is also a good idea since you are going to be adding more upgrades and more units like medivacs and vikings.
-I think this is also a good league to start using scans for scout information a little later on. Around the time they'd be getting a spire or templar tech or collosus, drop a scan and check out their base to see what's going on.
-Also adding ghosts around now could be a good idea to practice EMP and snipe.
Zerg:
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-I'd say platinum league should be the first time that you really touch infestors and mutalisks. They are both extremely fragile and time consuming so you want to make sure you are doing everything right elsewhere before you start using these units.
-For mutalisks, you are going to start wanting to worry about your gas timings more now. When you invest in a spire you are going to want to have 4 extractors or more going so you have to make sure you droned properly beforehand. You also are going to want to make sure you have enough overlord room (have 30-40 extra supply) and resources stockpiled so you can make 10-15 mutalisks right when your spire pops. They are best when they are a surprise. Use mutalisks to do a little harrass on worker lines but do not slip on your macro and be careful where you leave your mutas. They also do not engage the best against an open field army so usually you want to use them to just contain your opponent and pick off things like tanks.
-For infestors I don't think you should be offensive/harrassing with these units yet. Mostly because they do not have the best getaway and it's not worth the risk of losing them all right now (nor the focus they require). I'd say keep them with your army and just use them to fungal up in big battles.
-Think about positioning now for engagements. If you can get a swarm on an army from multiple sides you will do MUCH more damage.
-Some scouting for army composition is also going to start being important here as follows:
ZVT: Is he going bio or mech? bio you can get more ling bling, mech you want more roaches generally
ZVZ: Is he getting mutas? hydras and infestors + some spores
ZVP: does he have collosus? Get corrupters
-For mutalisks, you are going to start wanting to worry about your gas timings more now. When you invest in a spire you are going to want to have 4 extractors or more going so you have to make sure you droned properly beforehand. You also are going to want to make sure you have enough overlord room (have 30-40 extra supply) and resources stockpiled so you can make 10-15 mutalisks right when your spire pops. They are best when they are a surprise. Use mutalisks to do a little harrass on worker lines but do not slip on your macro and be careful where you leave your mutas. They also do not engage the best against an open field army so usually you want to use them to just contain your opponent and pick off things like tanks.
-For infestors I don't think you should be offensive/harrassing with these units yet. Mostly because they do not have the best getaway and it's not worth the risk of losing them all right now (nor the focus they require). I'd say keep them with your army and just use them to fungal up in big battles.
-Think about positioning now for engagements. If you can get a swarm on an army from multiple sides you will do MUCH more damage.
-Some scouting for army composition is also going to start being important here as follows:
ZVT: Is he going bio or mech? bio you can get more ling bling, mech you want more roaches generally
ZVZ: Is he getting mutas? hydras and infestors + some spores
ZVP: does he have collosus? Get corrupters
Protoss:
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-I think platinum is when you should start looking at some more tech and units.
-Blink - I wouldn't recommend using blink on a stalker by stalker basis right now as you will spend all your time at your units and forget to macro/warp in, but I think blink as a whole is effective at this level as you can use it for blinking up/down cliffs and chasing units.
-HTs/storm - In earlier leagues I don't promote the idea of templar as much because they are fragile and require a little more unit micro.
-Start being proactive with your observer now to check out your opponents unit composition and how many expansions they have. Don't worry about moving it all around, just have it follow their army or sit at their next expo.
-Practice using Forcefields more when you're out engaging an army. This is good time to figure out the best ways to trap their armies.
-Blink - I wouldn't recommend using blink on a stalker by stalker basis right now as you will spend all your time at your units and forget to macro/warp in, but I think blink as a whole is effective at this level as you can use it for blinking up/down cliffs and chasing units.
-HTs/storm - In earlier leagues I don't promote the idea of templar as much because they are fragile and require a little more unit micro.
-Start being proactive with your observer now to check out your opponents unit composition and how many expansions they have. Don't worry about moving it all around, just have it follow their army or sit at their next expo.
-Practice using Forcefields more when you're out engaging an army. This is good time to figure out the best ways to trap their armies.
Diamond
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Basics:
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Race Specific:
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-In Diamond I think you should be at the point where you can make it to late game effectively (with decent macro) and thus you need to start working on getting a solid late game army.
-Consider adding multipronged attacks/counter attacks in on this level. This is now where we want to be spending more of our time out with our army and less time in our base.
-Start worrying about actually getting more information from scouting now. If you want to make it into masters, you are going to need to know what your opponent is doing so you can plan accordingly
-Start becoming really aware of map control. If you can keep good vision for yourself and your opponent in the dark you will be in an advantageous position and can react better.
-Consider adding multipronged attacks/counter attacks in on this level. This is now where we want to be spending more of our time out with our army and less time in our base.
-Start worrying about actually getting more information from scouting now. If you want to make it into masters, you are going to need to know what your opponent is doing so you can plan accordingly
-Start becoming really aware of map control. If you can keep good vision for yourself and your opponent in the dark you will be in an advantageous position and can react better.
Race Specific:
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Terran:
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Zerg:
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Protoss:
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-Be more concrete with your timings of buildings because now you are going to want to hit certain windows. Scout a zerg building a spire? Probably a good time to hit because he is going to be saving up money + he just invested in tech. Hitting before a protoss can get X collosus can also be strong.
-Start to learn more stutter stepping and marine splitting techniques and practice these.
-Focus on your drops more. Try to pick off important tech and pick up when they come to defend so you can go back in for another drop after.
-Start to learn more stutter stepping and marine splitting techniques and practice these.
-Focus on your drops more. Try to pick off important tech and pick up when they come to defend so you can go back in for another drop after.
Zerg:
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-Creep spread is going to start becoming a bigger factor here. Make sure you are connecting all of your bases and vs terran/protoss make sure you can spread it out as far as possible for a nice surround.
-Make sure you are scouting in with an overlord at the appropriate time based on the match up. Look for a spire/lair/inf pit in zvz, mech or bio in zvt, and the tech path in zvp (double robo, collo, stargate, DT's, etc).
-Deny expansions. Whether it is from an overlord dropping creep, to a burrowed zergling, to simply having a pack of units to run in and snipe the expo when it goes down, make sure you don't just give away free expansions.
-Focus on where your units are out on the map. You need map control as a zerg player and having units ready to surround/counter an army will help move you up
-Make sure you are scouting in with an overlord at the appropriate time based on the match up. Look for a spire/lair/inf pit in zvz, mech or bio in zvt, and the tech path in zvp (double robo, collo, stargate, DT's, etc).
-Deny expansions. Whether it is from an overlord dropping creep, to a burrowed zergling, to simply having a pack of units to run in and snipe the expo when it goes down, make sure you don't just give away free expansions.
-Focus on where your units are out on the map. You need map control as a zerg player and having units ready to surround/counter an army will help move you up
Protoss:
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-Work on timing pushes. In PvZ alone there are so many good 2 base timings you can hit that either go all in for massive damage, or allow you to expand behind them.
-In pvp look for positioning. Your opponents will have better macro and thus your armies will be more equal in size. Make sure you get the good surround as opposed to getting caught trying to push up a ramp or in some other terrible position.
-Work on building placement as it is very critical. If you're against a zerg make sure you have good walls and cannons in tough to hit places. If you are playing terran be careful about leaving important tech in places that are easy to snipe with drops. Even things like pylons are important because they can provide base vision as well as key places for warp ins.
-Start to look for late game harrass options. DTs, Warp Prisms, etc are all good ideas and can catch a lot of players off guard due to the usual lack of harrassment from protoss players.
-In pvp look for positioning. Your opponents will have better macro and thus your armies will be more equal in size. Make sure you get the good surround as opposed to getting caught trying to push up a ramp or in some other terrible position.
-Work on building placement as it is very critical. If you're against a zerg make sure you have good walls and cannons in tough to hit places. If you are playing terran be careful about leaving important tech in places that are easy to snipe with drops. Even things like pylons are important because they can provide base vision as well as key places for warp ins.
-Start to look for late game harrass options. DTs, Warp Prisms, etc are all good ideas and can catch a lot of players off guard due to the usual lack of harrassment from protoss players.
Masters
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Basics:
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-Really focus on all of the small details now. Games at this level are won and lost from the small things such as pulling off/putting on gas, units popping out at the exactly right time to defend/attack, pushes hitting on time (20 seconds later and you may lose instead of win), pulling workers to help defend, etc..
-I don't think race specifics are necessary for this because if you're in masters you probably have a good idea of the game and just need to continue working on the smaller details that you DO see pros doing. Things like burrowed banes, infestors spewing infested terrans at expansions, triple drops, warp prism harass, tech transitions, and more are all things to think about and can be game changing. The biggest thing to remember though is to not forget everything from before. Focus on the little things but make sure you have the big things down or you may find yourself in trouble.
-My biggest advice for Masters players is to learn the other races. Learn what the other races HATE to deal with and abuse it. Also learn their timings and you can hit around them/counter them/defend them.
-I'd like to point out that I put down a lot more in every league besides masters. This is because I feel Masters League has way too many small details to cover and there are way too many builds that involve proper working cuts and such and it would simply take far too long to describe every tiny detail.
-I don't think race specifics are necessary for this because if you're in masters you probably have a good idea of the game and just need to continue working on the smaller details that you DO see pros doing. Things like burrowed banes, infestors spewing infested terrans at expansions, triple drops, warp prism harass, tech transitions, and more are all things to think about and can be game changing. The biggest thing to remember though is to not forget everything from before. Focus on the little things but make sure you have the big things down or you may find yourself in trouble.
-My biggest advice for Masters players is to learn the other races. Learn what the other races HATE to deal with and abuse it. Also learn their timings and you can hit around them/counter them/defend them.
-I'd like to point out that I put down a lot more in every league besides masters. This is because I feel Masters League has way too many small details to cover and there are way too many builds that involve proper working cuts and such and it would simply take far too long to describe every tiny detail.
Additional Notes from comments:
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Turtling Opponent:
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If you find your opponent is mega turtled, don't be afraid to just sit back a bit and macro up more. Start adding stationary defenses (cannons, turrets, spines/spores) all over your bases and continue to expand so that he can't just drop you and catch you panicking. Instead, you will start to really accumulate a lot more money off of more bases and with this you can continue to add on more production facilities and maybe start working in more upgrades/tech. Eventually he is going to have to come out and then you can trade armies with him and remax much faster and stronger than he can.
There's a nice saying in starcraft: Whenever you're ahead, get further ahead.
Sure it's nice to know exactly when you can push to win and etc, but there's really nothing wrong with simply furthering your lead to put you in an even better position.
There's a nice saying in starcraft: Whenever you're ahead, get further ahead.
Sure it's nice to know exactly when you can push to win and etc, but there's really nothing wrong with simply furthering your lead to put you in an even better position.
Discussion is always welcome.
control can't wait til diamond imo. I understand i dont have the apm to do everything but there comes a time when making stuff 5seconds later is worth it if you lose 30 less supply in a fight because of the micro
