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I've always known I'm a bad SC player - and I haven't really had a problem with it. I've never found time for more than about 10 games a week, and usually it's only 1 or 2. Obvious, no practice -> sucky-ass skill level. But for the longest time I've been frustrated by my inability to do things the way I "know" they should be done.
As long as I was playing Brood War, the real problem was hidden. I "know" BW transitions and timing - I've watched a ton of SC, I get how it's supposed to look. So not being able to do it, that's just a problem of being bad, right? Right?
Turns out... it's a little more complicated than that. I got a beta-key for SC2, and in my 3rd placement game it finally clicked what I'm doing wrong.
I Don't Have a Plan.
Oh, I can open just fine; before a game I'll even think about how I want to open. Standard/pressure/cheese/econ? It may be sloppy, but I can pick one and execute at least more or less.
Here's the catch: once the "opening" is done, I just don't transition. I just don't think past that stage before the game. So what do I do? I make some stuff, let my money build up, and turtle. Fail.
So I've been trying to figure out how to remedy the problem. I've come to a couple conclusions:
1) Have a general idea what your "goal" unit mix is going to be, and when.
1.1) BUT, making *something* is preferable to making nothing.
2) Scouting is preferable to not scouting.
2.1) BUT, if you're going to scout, actually do something with the information.
3) Pressure on the other guy is preferable to pressure on you.
3.1) BUT, don't attack just for the sake of attacking.
Not particularly revolutionary or insightful in the grand scheme of things. May not even help me win that many more games unless I actually start practicing. But still it feels like I've actually learned something (finally), so I thought I'd share.
 
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Austin10831 Posts
Day[9] talks about this concept quite frequently in his daily casts, you should give a few of them a viewing.
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TL is your friend mate!
Try finding solutions, read liquipedia and practice practice practice!
GG GL HF
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I never played SCBW competitively (only comp-stomps and casual matches between/with friends), though I seem to have had success (I'm in platinum league, you be the judge) with SC2.
Personally my steps revolve around:
- Having a good knowledge of the basic build orders before going into the game, the liquidpedia is good as well as the forums (i.e. 1 rax FE // 3 rax // 8 rax reaper harass [I play Terran, may/may not apply to you but just examples]).
**map knowledge is good here because while a fast expand may work well on a 4-player map, it's easy to get punished for it when you play on a map like Steppes of War.
- Scout and react to it. If you scout a guy going for fast, 1-base mutas and you're massing nothing but ground-to-ground units, then react and start building up units which will help you in countering whatever you scouted (knowing common build orders of all 3 races - i.e. if a zerg has 2 gas early could mean banelings/mutas, etc - comes in handy).
- Keep up your macro at all times and make sure to keep your minerals to a fairly low amount (what good does 5k minerals in the bank do for you?). Sure, maybe you have absolutely no idea what the other person is doing because they keep killing your scout and you haven't scouted for 15 minutes - then at least build something that will help you against general builds. Anything is better than nothing at all because in SC2 army size matters a lot due to high ground mechanics and the like. I find a ton of players understand reaper/banshee rushes like the back of their head and can recite the build order in their sleep, but while they're microing their stuff they fall behind in their macro and as soon as that 1st reaper dies they're sitting on 1k minerals as I kick in the front door.
- Other then the above, for the most part stay calm and relaxed and don't overreact. If you see a zerg go spire (again a terran example) you don't need to make a solid line of turrets around your base to protect you from a 100-muta attack. When I get flustered, I'll start to forget stuff like idle SCVs for mass amounts of time, I'll get supply blocked 4 times in a row, and other stuff like that. As you play more and as your confidence increases, you'll find that you're no longer forgetting to build that depot/overlord/pylon, and you're no longer forgetting to research that crucial upgrade like stim in TvT, and you're not forgetting to scout that gold expo until your opponent has milked it for all its worth.
This is coming from a guy who was most likely a D at best (SC1, though I never played ICCup), and I struggled for a few weeks to bring myself to play SC2 because I was so nervous and anxious about the game. However, the more I've played, the more confidence I've gained as a result and my gameplay has improved a lot as a result.
Hope this post was in any way useful (since I too was once in your position).
edit: you can't really think of everything as a grand plan too, because every little thing that occurs in the game can drastically affect that plan. While its good to have idea about what you should/can do, theres no reason to go into a game and follow this rock-solid checklist plan without any flexibility at all because all it takes is say 1 void ray after you went mass ground units to completely change what you were "planning".
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yeah i got a problem memorizing the BO to counter what my opponent does after i scouting him.
but practice makes perfect
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something i learned is..
when your opponent expands
either
1) add more gateways and mass army. he'll be lacking in that department
or
2) mirror expand or even double expand.
My PvT has gotten to the point where by the time the T is on 3 bases i have 9. (Fighting spirit)
He pushes out with a 200/200 i recall
he pushes out with a 200/200 i have carriers
he pushes out with a 200/200 lol and send scouts
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Don't be afraid to make a shitton of production facilities (barracks etc) once you have more than one base. This helped me alot with macroing.
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EPT
