Here we go! It's only been 4 days since the start of Season 5, so my guess is it's close to 8 weeks until the end of Season 5. So here are some (hopefully more realistic) goals:
1. Play 40 ladder games (5 per week)
2. Lose 5 lbs from the beginning of Season 5 (XX3.6 lbs).
3. Blog more regularly - 24 posts (3 per week)
4. Cast more often - 8 games (1 per week)
If I actually start casting CSL games or casting ladder games, I think this should be obtainable. Of course, any casting work will hinge on my ability to get up early (which may benefit from any sort of exercise I do) and to let go of some perfectionist tendencies!
I suspect the last day of Season 5 will be February 13 - right after my dating anniversary and before Valentine's Day - so no late night gaming nights right before the deadline to catch me up!
Well, off to the ladder - while listening to Christmas Carol with George C. Scott :)
Friday, December 23, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Season 4 Goal Results
As eager as I am to start playing in the next season, it's time to review my goals for Season 4!
Since Blizzard changed their seasons to last only 2 months and I started a bit late, I only had about 5.5 weeks during this season (November 11 - December 19).
1. Play 30 ladder games - that's 5 games a week.
2. Blog/cast more regularly - shorter posts - maybe 1 cast a week?
4. I'd really like to play through the single-player of Modern Warfare 1, 2, and now 3.
I'll skip to this one - save the best for last!
3. Let's try to lose 5 lbs. That's less than 1 lb a week.
All in all a good season! I didn't make most of my goals, but there was some over-optimism going on back in early November. I'm very excited to start Season 5 though, and to continue the momentum I've had over the last week!
And of course, I'm very excited to get some time off work, spend time with extended family, eat lots of yummy food, and of course, give/receive some presents - celebrating Jesus' birth is BIG fun!
Since Blizzard changed their seasons to last only 2 months and I started a bit late, I only had about 5.5 weeks during this season (November 11 - December 19).
1. Play 30 ladder games - that's 5 games a week.
- I played 26 games, so that's pretty close (86%).
- Though I suppose since I only had 5.5 weeks, perhaps a goal of 27 games would've been more accurate - in which case I was 96%!
- I didn't play regularly though, which was my main intention. 18 of the games were played in the last week of the season. Regardless, I still think 5 games a week is reasonable.
2. Blog/cast more regularly - shorter posts - maybe 1 cast a week?
- My intention was to post 4 times a week = 22 posts. I did 9 (40%).
- Often this season I'd want to post about my progress, but the longer I'd wait to post, the more there was to post about and then POW! a monster post! I've been trying in the last week to post regularly - even if I have 20 things to say, just post about one - and have enjoyed it a lot :)
- The goal was about 5 casts and I did 1 (20%).
- For my YouTube subscribers this is a real shame (especially since I haven't messaged them about my new channel!). I can only cast in the mornings, so the key here is my sleep/waking schedule - and the key to that is going to bed earlier!
4. I'd really like to play through the single-player of Modern Warfare 1, 2, and now 3.
I'll skip to this one - save the best for last!
- I actually didn't play ANY single-player of any Modern Warfare games - so 0%. Though I did play a few rounds of multi-player and some Spec Ops in Modern Warfare 3 - which is really fun!
- Back in early November, I was overly optimistic about getting up early for SC2 and then playing console games some in the evening. But there's only so much time in a day - and only so much energy! "Not enough energy." ;)
3. Let's try to lose 5 lbs. That's less than 1 lb a week.
- And the big success of Season 4? I started at XX8.6 pounds, and on the morning of December 20 I was XX3.6 pounds - 100%!
- So I made my goal and weighed the lowest I've ever been all year (I was last XX3.6 on March 19).
- Course I won't say how much I've gained back in the last two days since the holiday foods/eating out has started ;)
All in all a good season! I didn't make most of my goals, but there was some over-optimism going on back in early November. I'm very excited to start Season 5 though, and to continue the momentum I've had over the last week!
And of course, I'm very excited to get some time off work, spend time with extended family, eat lots of yummy food, and of course, give/receive some presents - celebrating Jesus' birth is BIG fun!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Season 4 Final Game!
This morning I casted my final game of Season 4, a PvZ against BoZiffer. Nothing earth-shattering, but a nice way to end the season. Hope you enjoy it :)
All in all a fair game, but perhaps more importantly, BoZiffer started a chat with me afterwards and was the guy who asked if he could add me as a friend. So perhaps you'll see more games from BoZiffer in the future!
All in all a fair game, but perhaps more importantly, BoZiffer started a chat with me afterwards and was the guy who asked if he could add me as a friend. So perhaps you'll see more games from BoZiffer in the future!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Season 4 Retrospective
Last night my run in Season 4 of the Blizzard Ladder came to an end after 26 games, just short of my goal of 30 games. I was actually expecting to play an hour or two longer, but my lovely and ever responsible wife would not stand for it (I had already played 8 games that night and it was midnight). Which I'm thankful for - it allowed me to get up early today, which is crucial especially for any SC2 casting to happen!
So with that, here are the results and pretty tables!
Rank - So I just barely missed the top 50, which was a bit disappointing, but given that I was mostly inactive for the season, not unexpected. I have noticed that my rank within the division has been lowering each season: Bronze 12, Silver 23, Silver 26, and now Silver 51. And as you can see, I wasn't able to keep up with the bonus pool accumulation either.
Matchups - It may appear that my Terran and Protoss skills are strong versus Zerg, and my Zerg is now strong against Terran - but I just don't think 2 months is long enough (26 games) to come to any real conclusions (compared to 64 games in Season 3). This is likely aggravated by playing Random. I'm considering picking one race for next season, and focusing on it. I think that would improve my understanding of that race's matchup and help me actually develop some skill.
Maps - At first, I didn't veto any maps - but after Blizzard announced that Abyssal Caverns and Nerazim Crypt would be removed for Season 5, I vetoed them in the map selection - and it was after this point that most of my games were played.
It does appear that I really have trouble with mid-size maps like Metalopolis and Shakuras Plateau. Once players establish their natural expansion, they usually move out - and I think I struggle with expanding to a third while increasing production and maneuvering my army. At this level, expanding and keeping production up is likely more important than army handling - at least according to Budha's SC2 Pyramid, which I'll post about later...
League - I was matched mostly with Silver and upper Bronze players this time - which I think is accurate. After I started playing again later in the season, I think it took Battle.net some time to adjust my MMR to my atrophied skills. I wouldn't be surprised if it places me in upper Bronze next season, but we'll see. You never know!
Friends - One thing that was different this season is I encountered a few players who expressed interest in adding me as a friend on Battle.net. I've never had that happen before! So far I haven't gotten any notification that they've added me - though I've never had character friends (all my friends so far are Real ID friends). So it'll be interesting to see if anything comes of it - perhaps I can help someone else get better by using me as a practice partner :)
So all in all, another good season - and a nice experiment with playing Random. But I really look forward to picking a race to play and to play a bit more consistently next season!
So with that, here are the results and pretty tables!
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Red background = map is removed for Season 5
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Rank - So I just barely missed the top 50, which was a bit disappointing, but given that I was mostly inactive for the season, not unexpected. I have noticed that my rank within the division has been lowering each season: Bronze 12, Silver 23, Silver 26, and now Silver 51. And as you can see, I wasn't able to keep up with the bonus pool accumulation either.
Matchups - It may appear that my Terran and Protoss skills are strong versus Zerg, and my Zerg is now strong against Terran - but I just don't think 2 months is long enough (26 games) to come to any real conclusions (compared to 64 games in Season 3). This is likely aggravated by playing Random. I'm considering picking one race for next season, and focusing on it. I think that would improve my understanding of that race's matchup and help me actually develop some skill.
Maps - At first, I didn't veto any maps - but after Blizzard announced that Abyssal Caverns and Nerazim Crypt would be removed for Season 5, I vetoed them in the map selection - and it was after this point that most of my games were played.
It does appear that I really have trouble with mid-size maps like Metalopolis and Shakuras Plateau. Once players establish their natural expansion, they usually move out - and I think I struggle with expanding to a third while increasing production and maneuvering my army. At this level, expanding and keeping production up is likely more important than army handling - at least according to Budha's SC2 Pyramid, which I'll post about later...
League - I was matched mostly with Silver and upper Bronze players this time - which I think is accurate. After I started playing again later in the season, I think it took Battle.net some time to adjust my MMR to my atrophied skills. I wouldn't be surprised if it places me in upper Bronze next season, but we'll see. You never know!
Friends - One thing that was different this season is I encountered a few players who expressed interest in adding me as a friend on Battle.net. I've never had that happen before! So far I haven't gotten any notification that they've added me - though I've never had character friends (all my friends so far are Real ID friends). So it'll be interesting to see if anything comes of it - perhaps I can help someone else get better by using me as a practice partner :)
So all in all, another good season - and a nice experiment with playing Random. But I really look forward to picking a race to play and to play a bit more consistently next season!
Monday, December 19, 2011
4 Down and a Nice Guy
After helping my wife with Christmas cards/letters (while watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas with Jim Carrey) - I sat down around 11pm (I think?) and played 4 ladder games.
Tonight wasn't all mirror matches - which is nice. I lost the first 3 games, TvP, ZvT, TvP - some of them long - I was sure I had that ZvT, but apparently he had a secret base I knew nothing about!
Not sure if the wine I was drinking had anything to do with my play - thanks to CmdrTallon and his family for the super fun dinner and the Relax Riesling - I'm not a big wine guy, but it was very yummy - I feel so chill now :)
The final game was a PvP, which I won :) I seem to be losing 3 games then winning 1 game lately. He had just bought SC2 last week, so that was a bummer - no fun to stomp new guys. But we ended up playing a 1v1 custom game (best of 3, right?), which I won - and then a few 2v2's - we lost both times resoundingly. Apparently we're both terrible at this game ;-)
I must say though, 2v2 is quite different than 1v1! The maps, the army sizes, etc.
It will be interesting to see if I see this player online in the future - making new friends via SC2 is always fun!
So only 12 more games to reach my goal of 30 games in Season 4! I only have one morning (assuming I can get up early which is doubtful) and one evening to play. It'll be close!
Tonight wasn't all mirror matches - which is nice. I lost the first 3 games, TvP, ZvT, TvP - some of them long - I was sure I had that ZvT, but apparently he had a secret base I knew nothing about!
Not sure if the wine I was drinking had anything to do with my play - thanks to CmdrTallon and his family for the super fun dinner and the Relax Riesling - I'm not a big wine guy, but it was very yummy - I feel so chill now :)
The final game was a PvP, which I won :) I seem to be losing 3 games then winning 1 game lately. He had just bought SC2 last week, so that was a bummer - no fun to stomp new guys. But we ended up playing a 1v1 custom game (best of 3, right?), which I won - and then a few 2v2's - we lost both times resoundingly. Apparently we're both terrible at this game ;-)
I must say though, 2v2 is quite different than 1v1! The maps, the army sizes, etc.
It will be interesting to see if I see this player online in the future - making new friends via SC2 is always fun!
So only 12 more games to reach my goal of 30 games in Season 4! I only have one morning (assuming I can get up early which is doubtful) and one evening to play. It'll be close!
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Back vs Bronze!
I played for about an hour Thursday night and got in 4 games - all of my opponents were slightly favored. And to my great surprise, all 4 games were mirror match-ups - ZvZ, PvP, TvT, TvT. I lost the first 3 with a glorious finale (for my opponent).
Time: 34:01 No, these are not my battlecruisers.
Time: 34:11 About 7 seconds later in real time - battlecruisers in large numbers are terrible!
Time: 34:12 This was just a pretty picture :)
Time: 34:29 GG! From the mini-map, you can see that he's on 4 bases - I was on my third, but he had cleaned up my first and second. By maybe 8-9 minutes into the game, he had killed a few SCVs with Banshees and had expanded before me. He had been at a serious economic advantage for most the game - thus, the battlecruiser finale!
That game was versus a Bronze league player - so I was hoping that I had lost enough games (6 in a row) to get the matching-making system to realize I was in upper Bronze rather than mid-Silver. My next opponent was in Bronze league - and the game was quite close, as you'll see.
Time: 8:19 This is probably the crucial moment of the game - both of our armies are passing right by each other outside his base (I'm blue). Neither of them can see each other. I think his is stronger - we both have Stimpack (fire 30% faster for 10 HP), I have +1 armor and he has Combat Shield (Marines +10 HP).
Time: 8:41 This was a glorious moment, I stimmed the Marines, and ran them up the ramp - CHARGE! I had no idea that he had such a large army - thankfully his army was at the Xel'Naga tower (as you can see on the mini-map). And he had also just started on his second Command Center - so had not used that money to build SCVs or army units.
Time: 9:13 He had two options - go back to his base or go to mine and try to win a base race. He chose the latter. By the time he arrived, I had a small force waiting - and lots of SCVs to repair my wall.
Time: 9:13 Unfortunately for him - by this time, I had killed 22 workers and was going to start focusing on his Command Centers. That's the price of deciding to counter-attack from half-way across the map when your opponent is already breaking down the front door.
Time: 10:40 With all but 2 of my Marines dead in his base, all he has is one Barracks and a bunch of Supply Depots.
Time: 10:40 And in my base, he has broken through the wall and is making his way to the mineral line. But all my Barracks are still running, with the +1 attack upgrade is almost finished. Within moments, he'll lose his army advantage.
Time: 12:06 I've cleaned up his units in my base, and his comment says it all.
Time: 12:17 And with that, he sends his last units (he was out of minerals) for a final push. By the time he arrives, I have enough upgraded units to hold him off. GG!
As he was slightly favored, I got 32 points for that win - making up for about 4 of my previous losses. I'm at rank 65 in my division with 54 rank points. And these 4 games brings me up to 14, which is just about half-way to my goal of 30! I only have a few more opportunities to play - so it's gonna be close!
That game was versus a Bronze league player - so I was hoping that I had lost enough games (6 in a row) to get the matching-making system to realize I was in upper Bronze rather than mid-Silver. My next opponent was in Bronze league - and the game was quite close, as you'll see.
As he was slightly favored, I got 32 points for that win - making up for about 4 of my previous losses. I'm at rank 65 in my division with 54 rank points. And these 4 games brings me up to 14, which is just about half-way to my goal of 30! I only have a few more opportunities to play - so it's gonna be close!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Itchin' to Play!
I wasn't able to play SC2 yesterday (Tues) or today (Wed), so I've only 5 days to play 20 games!
Yesterday was a big birthday day - see this post on our family blog if you're curious :)
And tonight was busy too - I cleaned up little blood spots (my dog had her claws clipped today and one ended up bleeding when she went outside after coming home from the groomer - and she tracked little blood spots all over the living room while a friend of ours was over to take family photos!), I wrote that big blog post, and just had a great conversation with my wife about the ups and downs of blogging!
I'm very excited to get back on the ladder - and practice my macro! I suspect my skills have been reduced back down to a Bronze league level due to inactivity, so focusing on the fundamentals is probably best I think!
There's also some things from teamliquid.net I'd like to comment on...
But it's late, I need to go to bed - and now we're talking about Santa Claus ;-)
Yesterday was a big birthday day - see this post on our family blog if you're curious :)
And tonight was busy too - I cleaned up little blood spots (my dog had her claws clipped today and one ended up bleeding when she went outside after coming home from the groomer - and she tracked little blood spots all over the living room while a friend of ours was over to take family photos!), I wrote that big blog post, and just had a great conversation with my wife about the ups and downs of blogging!
I'm very excited to get back on the ladder - and practice my macro! I suspect my skills have been reduced back down to a Bronze league level due to inactivity, so focusing on the fundamentals is probably best I think!
There's also some things from teamliquid.net I'd like to comment on...
But it's late, I need to go to bed - and now we're talking about Santa Claus ;-)
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Interesting Graphs of High-Level Balance
Last week I saw this really interesting post on TeamLiquid. As you may (or may not) know, TeamLiquid is one of the most well-known community hubs for SC2 (and SC1) players. (But watch out, their forums are known for not being necessarily casual friendly ;-)
But getting back to the post - it's a set of graphs showing the win rates for each race and each match-up. But these graphs only include high-level tournaments, cups, and leagues - so the idea is that they represent the competitive scene (outside the Blizzard online ladder which has a large amount of casual players).
I was surprised to see Terrans having a lower win rate overall, and that some of the match ups were so lop-sided. Protoss has recently become dominant over Terran - not sure if that's a fluke in November or if the Terrans have just not adjusted to the recent nerf to EMP radius. Zerg vs Terran is at least kind of getting even.
The puzzling one for me is Zerg vs. Protoss. According to the colors, it looks like Zerg has been dominant since last April - but I'm wondering if the colors are just backwards? I've heard many times that the match-up is so much in the favor of Protoss that some Protoss players don't even bother practicing vs. Zerg when preparing for tournaments... but perhaps that wisdom is outdated?
But getting back to the post - it's a set of graphs showing the win rates for each race and each match-up. But these graphs only include high-level tournaments, cups, and leagues - so the idea is that they represent the competitive scene (outside the Blizzard online ladder which has a large amount of casual players).
(Big thanks to twitter.com/SC2Statistics)
I was surprised to see Terrans having a lower win rate overall, and that some of the match ups were so lop-sided. Protoss has recently become dominant over Terran - not sure if that's a fluke in November or if the Terrans have just not adjusted to the recent nerf to EMP radius. Zerg vs Terran is at least kind of getting even.
The puzzling one for me is Zerg vs. Protoss. According to the colors, it looks like Zerg has been dominant since last April - but I'm wondering if the colors are just backwards? I've heard many times that the match-up is so much in the favor of Protoss that some Protoss players don't even bother practicing vs. Zerg when preparing for tournaments... but perhaps that wisdom is outdated?
Monday, December 12, 2011
A Little Rusty
I played 2 ladder games tonight, and as expected, lost both. Interestingly, both were against fairly highly ranked Silver league players, rank 17 and 18 in their divisions.
The first was a Terran vs. Terran on a larger map, Tal'darim Altar LE, and was a long game! After watching the replay (in 8x speed), it was obvious I was far behind by the 12 minute mark.
I'm clearly out of practice - especially with continuing to make workers. Perhaps fast-expanding wasn't such a good idea for someone who hadn't played competitively in almost a month!
The second was a fast Protoss vs. Terran on Shattered Temple. The game finished within 10 minutes. Not much to comment on there - he built a bunch of guys and I didn't :(
I wasn't playing with my nice high-resolution mouse - so perhaps I can blame it on that ;-)
It'll be an interesting week of games - perhaps by the end of it my match-making rating (MMR) and my skill can meet in the middle!
The first was a Terran vs. Terran on a larger map, Tal'darim Altar LE, and was a long game! After watching the replay (in 8x speed), it was obvious I was far behind by the 12 minute mark.
I'm clearly out of practice - especially with continuing to make workers. Perhaps fast-expanding wasn't such a good idea for someone who hadn't played competitively in almost a month!
The second was a fast Protoss vs. Terran on Shattered Temple. The game finished within 10 minutes. Not much to comment on there - he built a bunch of guys and I didn't :(
I wasn't playing with my nice high-resolution mouse - so perhaps I can blame it on that ;-)
It'll be an interesting week of games - perhaps by the end of it my match-making rating (MMR) and my skill can meet in the middle!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Progress, Difficulties, and Ladder Lock!
Despite my lack of posting over the last two weeks (ugh!), I have made some definite progress towards my goals.
On the casting front, I was able to get a CSL account and now have the ability to post videos on their website! (You only need a student email account if you want to actually play on a school team.) I also got permission to use the CSL logo in my casts as long as I give them and their sponsors a shoutout. I've noticed some casters actually putting the logos of the sponsors in the video - so that may be an option also.
On the hardware side, I finally installed a 100% legit copy of Windows 7 on my new PC and also installed some new RAM. I initially had some trouble with the new RAM working with the existing RAM, so I had to remove the old RAM to make things happy. With being busy with other things at night, that whole trial-and-error experimentation process took much longer than I wanted it to! I'll post some pictures later - my daughter helped me with the final install :)
So all that's left is for me to work on some intro graphics/tools and I'll be ready to start casting CSL games regularly!
On the weight loss side, as of this morning, I've lost 4.6 pounds since I set my goals - thanks to a few sessions with Jillian Michaels (30-day shred), but mostly due to eating lighter in the evenings. Which is great because...
The end of Season 4 is in one week! The ladder is being locked this Tuesday morning - so I highly expect to stay in Silver league - and the season ends a week later on Dec 20 when they do their weekly maintenance Tuesday morning. I've only played 8 games, so I'd have to play 22 games in 8 days to reach my goal of 30 games for the season.
I think it'll be tight - especially if Battle.net keeps having me play Zerg - those games always seem to last forever!
There's so much more I want to post about, so hopefully I can post more often this next week!
On the casting front, I was able to get a CSL account and now have the ability to post videos on their website! (You only need a student email account if you want to actually play on a school team.) I also got permission to use the CSL logo in my casts as long as I give them and their sponsors a shoutout. I've noticed some casters actually putting the logos of the sponsors in the video - so that may be an option also.
On the hardware side, I finally installed a 100% legit copy of Windows 7 on my new PC and also installed some new RAM. I initially had some trouble with the new RAM working with the existing RAM, so I had to remove the old RAM to make things happy. With being busy with other things at night, that whole trial-and-error experimentation process took much longer than I wanted it to! I'll post some pictures later - my daughter helped me with the final install :)
So all that's left is for me to work on some intro graphics/tools and I'll be ready to start casting CSL games regularly!
On the weight loss side, as of this morning, I've lost 4.6 pounds since I set my goals - thanks to a few sessions with Jillian Michaels (30-day shred), but mostly due to eating lighter in the evenings. Which is great because...
The end of Season 4 is in one week! The ladder is being locked this Tuesday morning - so I highly expect to stay in Silver league - and the season ends a week later on Dec 20 when they do their weekly maintenance Tuesday morning. I've only played 8 games, so I'd have to play 22 games in 8 days to reach my goal of 30 games for the season.
I think it'll be tight - especially if Battle.net keeps having me play Zerg - those games always seem to last forever!
There's so much more I want to post about, so hopefully I can post more often this next week!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
More Social, Less StarCraft
It's been almost 2 weeks since I set my Season 4 goals, and here's how I'm doing:
1. Playing SC2 - played 7 games so far, so not too bad - though 5 of those were on one night!
2. Posting/casting - only posted a few times, only 1 cast. Needs improvement.
3. Weight - For a few days I was almost 2 lbs lighter. But today almost a half pound heavier. I see exercise in my future... especially after Thanksgiving tomorrow!
4. Call of Duty - I've played Modern Warfare 3 twice and installed MW1 and MW2 on my XB360. MW1 has been in the disc tray for the last two weeks - but I haven't even turned on the XB360 since then :(
In other news, I'm using Facebook more and commenting on Fafner's blog, so I'm at least a bit more social than I was two weeks ago.
And big thanks to my co-worker Terry, who pointed out that several of my links were bad - I didn't update them when I renamed the blog! Thanks Terry!
1. Playing SC2 - played 7 games so far, so not too bad - though 5 of those were on one night!
2. Posting/casting - only posted a few times, only 1 cast. Needs improvement.
3. Weight - For a few days I was almost 2 lbs lighter. But today almost a half pound heavier. I see exercise in my future... especially after Thanksgiving tomorrow!
4. Call of Duty - I've played Modern Warfare 3 twice and installed MW1 and MW2 on my XB360. MW1 has been in the disc tray for the last two weeks - but I haven't even turned on the XB360 since then :(
In other news, I'm using Facebook more and commenting on Fafner's blog, so I'm at least a bit more social than I was two weeks ago.
And big thanks to my co-worker Terry, who pointed out that several of my links were bad - I didn't update them when I renamed the blog! Thanks Terry!
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Season 4 Qualifier
As promised, here's a cast of my 1v1 qualifier! This was my first cast as CuePhoenix, my first new cast for my new YouTube channel, and a good example of Zerg harassment. Enjoy!
(And don't forget to watch it in glorious fullscreen 1080p!)
I still have mixed feelings about playing as Random (random race). Although I enjoy the variety, it is difficult to improve at any particular aspect, especially since I only play a few games a week.
If I had to choose one race for this season, I might lean towards playing Zerg (gasp!).
How I'm playing them is fairly active, which is fun to play and cast, and whenever I win I feel like it's an accomplishment.
Of course, maybe that says something about the underdog mentality of many Zerg players ;-)
(And don't forget to watch it in glorious fullscreen 1080p!)
I still have mixed feelings about playing as Random (random race). Although I enjoy the variety, it is difficult to improve at any particular aspect, especially since I only play a few games a week.
If I had to choose one race for this season, I might lean towards playing Zerg (gasp!).
How I'm playing them is fairly active, which is fun to play and cast, and whenever I win I feel like it's an accomplishment.
Of course, maybe that says something about the underdog mentality of many Zerg players ;-)
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Long Games!
(I'll attempt a quick post during a late lunch...)
I've been fairly active since my last post - I attempted at least 3 mornings to cast my 1v1 qualifier to my satisfaction (and succeeded this morning!) and have played 7 ladder games. You can see my updated standing on the side panel.
One thing I've noticed is that the lower-level Silver and upper-level Bronze players that I'm typically matched with are not afraid of long games. Besides the turtling that's common at this level, these players are tough as nails and really stick it out if they think they have a sliver of a chance!
Last night I sat down and figured I'd play one game - maybe 15-20 minutes top, right?
Don't freak out - that's in-game time, so in real life, it was only 45 minutes.
But still - 45 minutes?!?!
Now that's not to say I was completely dominating or anything - let's be clear, we were both terrible. But terrible in the worst way - fairly stalemated armies (defensive broodlords vs gateway units w/ no blink) and we were both terrible about expanding to a third - so no resources.
And we were fairly good about keeping it that way - I had map control, killing two (three?) of his attempts at a third base, but while I was off doing that, he rolled a baneling ball into my third killing almost all (if not all) of my probes.
Finally, he decided for a base race, sending most of his broodlords to my main. I tried holding him off, but it was clear his main and expansion weren't heavily defended anymore - so I obliged to the race and won (I had a third and forth expansion at that point).
But yeah, you never know what to expect in the ladder - master league players surrendering immediately or bronze players sticking it out to the last building - one of the reasons I love this game :)
(ok, guess that wasn't so short after all!)
I've been fairly active since my last post - I attempted at least 3 mornings to cast my 1v1 qualifier to my satisfaction (and succeeded this morning!) and have played 7 ladder games. You can see my updated standing on the side panel.
One thing I've noticed is that the lower-level Silver and upper-level Bronze players that I'm typically matched with are not afraid of long games. Besides the turtling that's common at this level, these players are tough as nails and really stick it out if they think they have a sliver of a chance!
Last night I sat down and figured I'd play one game - maybe 15-20 minutes top, right?
Don't freak out - that's in-game time, so in real life, it was only 45 minutes.
But still - 45 minutes?!?!
Now that's not to say I was completely dominating or anything - let's be clear, we were both terrible. But terrible in the worst way - fairly stalemated armies (defensive broodlords vs gateway units w/ no blink) and we were both terrible about expanding to a third - so no resources.
And we were fairly good about keeping it that way - I had map control, killing two (three?) of his attempts at a third base, but while I was off doing that, he rolled a baneling ball into my third killing almost all (if not all) of my probes.
Finally, he decided for a base race, sending most of his broodlords to my main. I tried holding him off, but it was clear his main and expansion weren't heavily defended anymore - so I obliged to the race and won (I had a third and forth expansion at that point).
But yeah, you never know what to expect in the ladder - master league players surrendering immediately or bronze players sticking it out to the last building - one of the reasons I love this game :)
(ok, guess that wasn't so short after all!)
Friday, November 11, 2011
Season 4: Goals
Well, it's that time - time to review the goals of last season and make new ones for Season 4!
Season 3
I had 4 goals: play more SC2, blog more often, continue to cast, and start StarClass - and I accomplished all of them!
I played 64 1v1 ladder games compared to 26 in Season 2.
I posted on average 2 times a week over 12 weeks compared to about once a week during Season 2.
I casted 5 games compared to 4 games in Season 2.
And I started StarClass with 7 casts.
Outside SC2
I wanted to exercise and lose weight, read more to the kids, watch more movies with my wife, and play more PS3/XB360 - I accomplished 2 out of 4 :(
Weight-wise, I'm basically where I was in August - I only formally exercised 6 times and neglected my PS3 and XB360 (course my PS3 wasn't working for some of that time).
I have read more to my daughter - she loves reading books. And now that my little boy's a toddler, I better start reading those Star Wars board books to him :)
My wife and I have had more movie nights thanks to my mother-in-law watching the kids while she was here, and recently, thanks to the Twilight series... and big news, I guess I'm "Team Edward" - a vampire who believes in chastity before marriage is alright in my book.
Season 4
Well, the ladder seasons are only 2 months now - so there's only 6 weeks left in Season 4 - maybe less! And that includes Thanksgiving and Christmas - this is a very busy time of year! So I'll try to keep these goals short:
1. Play 30 ladder games - that's 5 games a week.
2. Blog/cast more regularly - shorter posts - maybe 1 cast a week?
3. Let's try to lose 5 lbs. That's less than 1 lb a week.
4. I'd really like to play through the single-player of Modern Warfare 1, 2, and now 3.
Those seem do-able - very important for goal-setting! (ok, maybe the Call of Duty one might be a stretch...)
Awesome. Now it's time to break open the new copy of Modern Warfare 3 Hardened Edition I've had for 4 days and get on XBox LIVE!
Season 3
I had 4 goals: play more SC2, blog more often, continue to cast, and start StarClass - and I accomplished all of them!
I played 64 1v1 ladder games compared to 26 in Season 2.
I posted on average 2 times a week over 12 weeks compared to about once a week during Season 2.
I casted 5 games compared to 4 games in Season 2.
And I started StarClass with 7 casts.
Outside SC2
I wanted to exercise and lose weight, read more to the kids, watch more movies with my wife, and play more PS3/XB360 - I accomplished 2 out of 4 :(
Weight-wise, I'm basically where I was in August - I only formally exercised 6 times and neglected my PS3 and XB360 (course my PS3 wasn't working for some of that time).
I have read more to my daughter - she loves reading books. And now that my little boy's a toddler, I better start reading those Star Wars board books to him :)
My wife and I have had more movie nights thanks to my mother-in-law watching the kids while she was here, and recently, thanks to the Twilight series... and big news, I guess I'm "Team Edward" - a vampire who believes in chastity before marriage is alright in my book.
Season 4
Well, the ladder seasons are only 2 months now - so there's only 6 weeks left in Season 4 - maybe less! And that includes Thanksgiving and Christmas - this is a very busy time of year! So I'll try to keep these goals short:
1. Play 30 ladder games - that's 5 games a week.
2. Blog/cast more regularly - shorter posts - maybe 1 cast a week?
3. Let's try to lose 5 lbs. That's less than 1 lb a week.
4. I'd really like to play through the single-player of Modern Warfare 1, 2, and now 3.
Those seem do-able - very important for goal-setting! (ok, maybe the Call of Duty one might be a stretch...)
Awesome. Now it's time to break open the new copy of Modern Warfare 3 Hardened Edition I've had for 4 days and get on XBox LIVE!
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Season 3 Retrospective
Well, after 64 games, my run in Season 3 came to a semi-climactic end! There was (of course) the 11-game ladder spree the last night of the season, and the tired conclusion at 1 AM that there was no way that I could make it into the top 25 of my division as I had done in Season 1 and 2. So on that note, here are the final results and some nice tables!
So just like in Season 2, some very interesting results!
Rank - I ended with less bonus pool than I started with, indicating that my rate of playing games was pretty good (despite not playing for 2.5 weeks).
Race - Switching to playing Random was a nice change - and apparently, I'm much better at Protoss than Zerg or even Terran. Yet in some ways I felt a bit frantic since I suddenly had 9 different matchups to consider instead of 3.
Maps - Once again, I seem to be good at maps that get removed in the next season. I suspect this is a result of lesser-skilled players deciding not to veto any maps - and thus, I win vs. them. I am disappointed at my results on the more tourney friendly maps such as Tal'darim Altar LE and The Shattered Temple, but that's likely just a reflection of my casual skill level.
League - With a 47% win rate vs Bronze and 46% vs Silver, it looks like I'm sitting firmly in the lower Silver or upper Bronze level. The Battle.net matchmaking system is apparently working for me!
So all in all a great season! I'm not sure I'll continue to play Random, but I'm interested in seeing how I do in Season 4, as the new map pool is more focused on tourney-friendly maps!
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* = 1 opponent left basically immediately
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Red background = map is removed for Season 4 * = 1 opponent left basically immediately
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So just like in Season 2, some very interesting results!
Rank - I ended with less bonus pool than I started with, indicating that my rate of playing games was pretty good (despite not playing for 2.5 weeks).
Race - Switching to playing Random was a nice change - and apparently, I'm much better at Protoss than Zerg or even Terran. Yet in some ways I felt a bit frantic since I suddenly had 9 different matchups to consider instead of 3.
Maps - Once again, I seem to be good at maps that get removed in the next season. I suspect this is a result of lesser-skilled players deciding not to veto any maps - and thus, I win vs. them. I am disappointed at my results on the more tourney friendly maps such as Tal'darim Altar LE and The Shattered Temple, but that's likely just a reflection of my casual skill level.
League - With a 47% win rate vs Bronze and 46% vs Silver, it looks like I'm sitting firmly in the lower Silver or upper Bronze level. The Battle.net matchmaking system is apparently working for me!
So all in all a great season! I'm not sure I'll continue to play Random, but I'm interested in seeing how I do in Season 4, as the new map pool is more focused on tourney-friendly maps!
Monday, November 7, 2011
StarcraftDad's Last Cast
After several attempts, I finally recorded my last cast as StarcraftDad last Saturday morning!
Isaac slept in, and I was able to whip together a summary screen. While he munched on breakfast, I put the video together in PowerDirector - he was very curious about what was happening on the TV! Between a family trip out to a big shopping mall and naptime when we got home, the video was uploaded to both my old channel and my new channel.
This is also my first cast on the new computer! I highly recommend watching it in fullscreen in glorious 1080p!
So there you go, the end of an era! (and for me, the end of a saga - it seemed like I would never get a satisfactory final cast done!)
There are still a few things to do to close down my old channel - turn off the comments and message people who have commented or subscribed - but this was a big milestone :)
So next on the SC2 plate is a Season 3 retro - and finally, I can start playing in Season 4! With the seasons only lasting 2 months now, I really need to wrap up the season finale promptly so I don't completely miss out on the next season!
Isaac slept in, and I was able to whip together a summary screen. While he munched on breakfast, I put the video together in PowerDirector - he was very curious about what was happening on the TV! Between a family trip out to a big shopping mall and naptime when we got home, the video was uploaded to both my old channel and my new channel.
This is also my first cast on the new computer! I highly recommend watching it in fullscreen in glorious 1080p!
So there you go, the end of an era! (and for me, the end of a saga - it seemed like I would never get a satisfactory final cast done!)
There are still a few things to do to close down my old channel - turn off the comments and message people who have commented or subscribed - but this was a big milestone :)
So next on the SC2 plate is a Season 3 retro - and finally, I can start playing in Season 4! With the seasons only lasting 2 months now, I really need to wrap up the season finale promptly so I don't completely miss out on the next season!
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Changing Channels
Well, here I am again not posting in over a week! I'll attempt a quick post...
Last week, Season 3 of the Blizzard ladder ended, and I put in an evening of ladder games in a last ditch bid for the top 25 of my division. This was complicated by my recent decision to play as Random - which apparently means I play a lot of Zerg and Protoss. I do intend to review that experience in a later post so I won't spoil the ending ;-)
After that, I switched gears into getting my new YouTube channel up and running (www.youtube.com/gosudad).
So now it has a nice theme and background image. I also re-rendered all of my old StarcraftDad videos and added banners and merged 2-part videos into single videos (YouTube decided to lift the 15-minute time limit if you verified your account with your mobile number), uploaded the re-done videos to my new channel, and updated all the blog entries to point to the re-done videos. Whew!
Oddly enough, over the last several weeks, my old channel (www.youtube.com/thestarcraftdad) has gotten a bunch of new subscribers, despite my lack of posting!
So my next task is updating my old channel to direct subscribers to my new channel. Last night I decided that it might be fitting to have the last video on my old channel and as StarcraftDad be my final game of Season 3.
I was hoping to cast that game this morning - but spent too long on false starts. I'm not nearly as time-efficient when there's something specific I want to say in a cast. My hope is to cast that game tomorrow morning - so it should be on my old channel by Friday and on my new channel by Saturday.
I've also done some planning around intro/summary screens for my future casts - and may be writing a little .NET app to automate that and the creation of YouTube title/description/tagging text.
My hope is that all this will result in less effort to produce casts - and I can get back to playing and casting - and blogging ;-)
Last week, Season 3 of the Blizzard ladder ended, and I put in an evening of ladder games in a last ditch bid for the top 25 of my division. This was complicated by my recent decision to play as Random - which apparently means I play a lot of Zerg and Protoss. I do intend to review that experience in a later post so I won't spoil the ending ;-)
After that, I switched gears into getting my new YouTube channel up and running (www.youtube.com/gosudad).
So now it has a nice theme and background image. I also re-rendered all of my old StarcraftDad videos and added banners and merged 2-part videos into single videos (YouTube decided to lift the 15-minute time limit if you verified your account with your mobile number), uploaded the re-done videos to my new channel, and updated all the blog entries to point to the re-done videos. Whew!
Oddly enough, over the last several weeks, my old channel (www.youtube.com/thestarcraftdad) has gotten a bunch of new subscribers, despite my lack of posting!
So my next task is updating my old channel to direct subscribers to my new channel. Last night I decided that it might be fitting to have the last video on my old channel and as StarcraftDad be my final game of Season 3.
I was hoping to cast that game this morning - but spent too long on false starts. I'm not nearly as time-efficient when there's something specific I want to say in a cast. My hope is to cast that game tomorrow morning - so it should be on my old channel by Friday and on my new channel by Saturday.
I've also done some planning around intro/summary screens for my future casts - and may be writing a little .NET app to automate that and the creation of YouTube title/description/tagging text.
My hope is that all this will result in less effort to produce casts - and I can get back to playing and casting - and blogging ;-)
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Lots of Changes
I haven't posted in about 2.5 weeks, but as you might have guessed, there has been a lot going on! And the longer I delay this post, the more I have to write about!
New Opportunities
Shortly after my last post, I decided to finally take some action on an idea I've had for several weeks - to cast games from CSL (Collegiate Star League) replays. I also noticed that (at the time) the CSLTV webpage didn't have very many casts of recent games - if my videos were on there, I could suddenly get a significant increase in visibility - this made me a bit nervous!
I emailed the CSL about using logos and posting my casts on their website (since I'm not a current student, I'd need a workaround), and at the same time, they added a post asking for volunteer help (though not specifically asking for casters). Their social media guy replied to my email with how they handle live casting, which isn't quite what I'd be doing (casting from replays). But with all that's been going on, I haven't gotten back to him yet!
Production
I've been meaning to improve my summary screen production process so it takes less time. But all this CSL talk got me thinking about adding an intro screen (or video!) and even image overlays. So I started looking at more powerful video editing software, and I quickly discovered that it would take hours to render/encode a single game with these more fully featured apps on my Core 2 Duo.
I remembered a friend of mine doing some video processing work, so I emailed him for his thoughts. He did some testing which revealed that if I got a newer PC, I could reduce that encoding time to minutes. As luck would have it, he also builds PCs as a side job - and one of his recent customers didn't pay him for a PC - so he offered it sell it to me for essentially half-price...
Birthday
During the week after my last post, my son had his first birthday! So between getting nervous about the CSL and debating about video editing software and a possible PC upgrade, I did some gift shopping, some gift wrapping, and some tidying up of the house (my wife and mother-in-law did much more for the party!). I also got to rescue my wife from a flat tire - ok I got to call for a tow truck and learn from the tire place how the tires were getting ripped up due to bad wheel alignment - but that's another story for another blog ;-)
My son's birthday was great - everyone had a great time and Isaac has suddenly become a toddler - it seems like he's learning a new word every day now!
Upgrade
The day after Isaac's party, my wife, her mom and my daughter all took a "girls day out" and went to IKEA and dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. I decided to take Isaac out on a "boys day out" after his nap - to get a new computer. We packed his diaper bag with lots of provisions and drove about an hour up to my friend's house (who lives on a farm in Greeley, CO).
His wife was out doing a photo shoot (they also have a photography business), so it was truly a boys-only get-together. We spent the evening hanging out and talking about computers, fatherhood and of course, Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 - and Isaac got to play with some boys for once (my friend has 2 little boys, one of them is very close to Isaac's age) and eat mac and cheese :) We had a great time and came home late with a cool new toy!
Isaac with the new PC. My daughter Madeline found a great use for the CPU box: a ducky pedestal!
Name Change
And of course, I can't forget the name change! With the possibility of a more public role in grassroots e-Sports, I was reminded that having the trademark "StarCraft" in my casting name and blog title may be an issue at some point. For starters, I could never have a Battle.Net ID of "StarcraftDad" as it includes a trademark! And would other casters call me "Dad" for short? So after much internal debate, I decided to cast as "CuePhoenix", my old, classic gaming screen name - and change the blog title to "Gosu Dad". Think of it as "I'm CuePhoenix, and I aspire to be a gosu dad".
I hope to add an About page describing the history and thoughts behind both names as well as the stats of my new PC - but one thing at a time! That and I really want to get back to casting (and playing!) StarCraft 2!
So yeah, a lot has been going on - and apparently, this is only the beginning!
New Opportunities
Shortly after my last post, I decided to finally take some action on an idea I've had for several weeks - to cast games from CSL (Collegiate Star League) replays. I also noticed that (at the time) the CSLTV webpage didn't have very many casts of recent games - if my videos were on there, I could suddenly get a significant increase in visibility - this made me a bit nervous!
I emailed the CSL about using logos and posting my casts on their website (since I'm not a current student, I'd need a workaround), and at the same time, they added a post asking for volunteer help (though not specifically asking for casters). Their social media guy replied to my email with how they handle live casting, which isn't quite what I'd be doing (casting from replays). But with all that's been going on, I haven't gotten back to him yet!
Production
I've been meaning to improve my summary screen production process so it takes less time. But all this CSL talk got me thinking about adding an intro screen (or video!) and even image overlays. So I started looking at more powerful video editing software, and I quickly discovered that it would take hours to render/encode a single game with these more fully featured apps on my Core 2 Duo.
I remembered a friend of mine doing some video processing work, so I emailed him for his thoughts. He did some testing which revealed that if I got a newer PC, I could reduce that encoding time to minutes. As luck would have it, he also builds PCs as a side job - and one of his recent customers didn't pay him for a PC - so he offered it sell it to me for essentially half-price...
Birthday
During the week after my last post, my son had his first birthday! So between getting nervous about the CSL and debating about video editing software and a possible PC upgrade, I did some gift shopping, some gift wrapping, and some tidying up of the house (my wife and mother-in-law did much more for the party!). I also got to rescue my wife from a flat tire - ok I got to call for a tow truck and learn from the tire place how the tires were getting ripped up due to bad wheel alignment - but that's another story for another blog ;-)
My son's birthday was great - everyone had a great time and Isaac has suddenly become a toddler - it seems like he's learning a new word every day now!
Upgrade
The day after Isaac's party, my wife, her mom and my daughter all took a "girls day out" and went to IKEA and dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. I decided to take Isaac out on a "boys day out" after his nap - to get a new computer. We packed his diaper bag with lots of provisions and drove about an hour up to my friend's house (who lives on a farm in Greeley, CO).
His wife was out doing a photo shoot (they also have a photography business), so it was truly a boys-only get-together. We spent the evening hanging out and talking about computers, fatherhood and of course, Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 - and Isaac got to play with some boys for once (my friend has 2 little boys, one of them is very close to Isaac's age) and eat mac and cheese :) We had a great time and came home late with a cool new toy!
Isaac with the new PC. My daughter Madeline found a great use for the CPU box: a ducky pedestal!
Name Change
And of course, I can't forget the name change! With the possibility of a more public role in grassroots e-Sports, I was reminded that having the trademark "StarCraft" in my casting name and blog title may be an issue at some point. For starters, I could never have a Battle.Net ID of "StarcraftDad" as it includes a trademark! And would other casters call me "Dad" for short? So after much internal debate, I decided to cast as "CuePhoenix", my old, classic gaming screen name - and change the blog title to "Gosu Dad". Think of it as "I'm CuePhoenix, and I aspire to be a gosu dad".
I hope to add an About page describing the history and thoughts behind both names as well as the stats of my new PC - but one thing at a time! That and I really want to get back to casting (and playing!) StarCraft 2!
So yeah, a lot has been going on - and apparently, this is only the beginning!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Bedtime == Final Attack
Another cast from the 1v1 ladder! This time it's a Terran vs. Zerg match-up and a good example of how (or how not to) handle a turtled player. And the timing of the final attack? I told my wife I'd end the game when she was ready to call it a night - she let the dog out and got my attention - and I sent in the troops!
Update 11/1/2011: I updated the video to point at my new YouTube channel.
Update 11/1/2011: I updated the video to point at my new YouTube channel.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
A Surprising Game Against Protoss
I meant to cast this game several days ago - both my wife and my opponent wanted me to cast it for the blog. It turned out to be a great game, so I'm happy to have it be my first game with my new headset!
Apologies for the loud voice volume and some of the awkward comments - I had some trouble getting familiar with the new setup, and it's been a while since I've casted a sportscast-style game...
Hope you enjoy it :)
Update 11/1/2011: I updated the video to point at my new YouTube channel.
Apologies for the loud voice volume and some of the awkward comments - I had some trouble getting familiar with the new setup, and it's been a while since I've casted a sportscast-style game...
Hope you enjoy it :)
Update 11/1/2011: I updated the video to point at my new YouTube channel.
Back in Business!
Well, after some testing, I confirmed that the microphone on my headset is completely dead - I'm pretty sure it was the cord being rolled over by the office chair too many times.
I tried using our webcam to cast, but besides picking up everything else in the room (including whatever show my wife was watching on Netflix), it also over-emphasized my S's when used with Fraps. I could try to use Audacity to edit the audio after recording - but I didn't want to add more time to my video production process.
So I started looking for a new headset.
After some online research and a personal recommendation from CmdrTallon, I settled on a Tritton AX180 headset. It's "universal" and will work with my PC, XB360 and PS3.
There have been reports of it breaking above the earphones, so I'm eager to cast a lot over the next few weeks - hopefully if it's going to break, it'll happen before my return period ends.
I've only had it a couple of days now and it seems to work well - I'm so excited to get back into the casting seat!
I tried using our webcam to cast, but besides picking up everything else in the room (including whatever show my wife was watching on Netflix), it also over-emphasized my S's when used with Fraps. I could try to use Audacity to edit the audio after recording - but I didn't want to add more time to my video production process.
So I started looking for a new headset.
After some online research and a personal recommendation from CmdrTallon, I settled on a Tritton AX180 headset. It's "universal" and will work with my PC, XB360 and PS3.
There have been reports of it breaking above the earphones, so I'm eager to cast a lot over the next few weeks - hopefully if it's going to break, it'll happen before my return period ends.
I've only had it a couple of days now and it seems to work well - I'm so excited to get back into the casting seat!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Feeling Cheated?
Last Saturday, I finally broke a terrible losing streak - 9 games. My winning streak only lasted for 3 games, but I think the Battle.Net matchmaker finally realized I wasn't top Silver material ;-)
After winning 3 times, I lost a TvT, then played a TvP on The Shattered Temple, in close by air positions. I sent a group of marines to the ramp - to find 3 Photon Cannons - I heard a swish - Dark Templars!
I watched the cloaked DTs make their way down the map and towards my ramp...
9:39 minutes - Here they come up the ramp - and straight into my base. They kill one of the marines instantly and then waltz right in.
9:39 - This is all my tech towards detection - a half-built Engineering Bay - and enough energy in the Orbital Command for one Com-Sat Scan. I waste the scan when there's only a few units in range - none of the DTs are killed. I was able to build 1 Missile Turret - 2 others were destroyed while being built. But by then all my army units were dead - so I didn't have anything to kill the DTs.
When the DTs came up the front ramp - I had all my army units in the back of the base staging for a drop into his mineral line. In some ways, I should've gone ahead with the drop - at least put on some counter-pressure.
But the really interesting thing was my emotional reaction - I was sighing and arrggh-ing, so my wife asked what was the matter. I explained that he did something perhaps cheesy, but legal, something valid, and not cheating. She asked "Uh, how can he cheat?" I explained that since SC2 is played via the Blizzard servers, you basically can't cheat.
But her question pointed out something - I felt cheated. Logically I knew it was a fine tactic - and I was irresponsible for not having any detection or at least walling off the front door. But I had this gut reaction that somehow his victory was not earned fairly.
It's hard to lose. And having lost so many games and seeing your mistakes so clearly and having limited playing time makes it worse. But I love this game and it's intricacies - one of which is the meta of cloaked units. Getting better at any competitive sport or game requires losing a few games (losing a lot of games!) and using those losses as learning opportunities.
Now the funny part - the next game was TvP on The Shattered Temple again!
I commented about losing the previous game to DTs. The guy said he didn't like DTs. He proceeded to stomp me - without DTs - and my only recourse was a counter-attack - with cloaked Banshees. He had no detection back at his natural expansion, so he had to retreat. I even destroyed his Robotics Facility so he couldn't make any more Observers - but his deathball still squashed me.
In some ways, I'm glad - cloaked Banshees are so imba* ;-)
(* imbalanced)
After winning 3 times, I lost a TvT, then played a TvP on The Shattered Temple, in close by air positions. I sent a group of marines to the ramp - to find 3 Photon Cannons - I heard a swish - Dark Templars!
I watched the cloaked DTs make their way down the map and towards my ramp...
When the DTs came up the front ramp - I had all my army units in the back of the base staging for a drop into his mineral line. In some ways, I should've gone ahead with the drop - at least put on some counter-pressure.
But the really interesting thing was my emotional reaction - I was sighing and arrggh-ing, so my wife asked what was the matter. I explained that he did something perhaps cheesy, but legal, something valid, and not cheating. She asked "Uh, how can he cheat?" I explained that since SC2 is played via the Blizzard servers, you basically can't cheat.
But her question pointed out something - I felt cheated. Logically I knew it was a fine tactic - and I was irresponsible for not having any detection or at least walling off the front door. But I had this gut reaction that somehow his victory was not earned fairly.
It's hard to lose. And having lost so many games and seeing your mistakes so clearly and having limited playing time makes it worse. But I love this game and it's intricacies - one of which is the meta of cloaked units. Getting better at any competitive sport or game requires losing a few games (losing a lot of games!) and using those losses as learning opportunities.
Now the funny part - the next game was TvP on The Shattered Temple again!
I commented about losing the previous game to DTs. The guy said he didn't like DTs. He proceeded to stomp me - without DTs - and my only recourse was a counter-attack - with cloaked Banshees. He had no detection back at his natural expansion, so he had to retreat. I even destroyed his Robotics Facility so he couldn't make any more Observers - but his deathball still squashed me.
In some ways, I'm glad - cloaked Banshees are so imba* ;-)
(* imbalanced)
Friday, September 23, 2011
Losing to Zerg
Last night I lost a TvZ and a TvT, both on the same map, Nerazim Crypt. I can't hold it against the map though, hehe, as I've been losing in all maps equally ;) So as of this morning, I had lost 9 of my last 10 games. Not encouraging.
But I skimmed through the two replays and noticed that my worker production was sorely lacking. I was so focused on army producing structures and expanding that I wasn't continuing to train SCVs - and my opponents were. I was also getting supply blocked many times - through no feat of my opponent.
So this morning I figured I'd focus on making SCVs and Supply Depots. Battle.net found me an opponent and the game was on the Shattered Temple map (whew - it wasn't Nerazim Crypt!) and I was playing against Zerg. I would have casted this game - but the mic on my headset wasn't just getting noise, it was occasionally recording nothing :( So here are the highlights - in pictures :)
7:16 minutes into the game. We started in close-by-ground positions, and my first attack group arrived just as my opponent was about to finish his expansion Hatchery. Unfortunately, I did not have Stim Pack researched, so they were unable to destroy it. Since the Marines focused their fire on the Hatchery, the Zerglings and Queen made short work of them.
10:36 - Here is my attempt at being "smart". Rather than bringing these two Siege Tanks behind my second wave of Marines, I thought I'd get them set up in this corner above the expansion Hatchery ahead of time. Too bad the Overlord in the upper right saw everything. It also didn't help that the tanks started shooting a Spine Crawler (it's off the screenshot on the bottom) instead of the Zerglings. I tried to unseige the tanks and load them back into the Medivac - one was saved :)
10:44 - Here's that second wave of Marines. They're greeted by 3 Spine Crawlers, 2 Queens, and shortly, a bunch of Zerglings bummed that they didn't kill both tanks. The Marines were able to kill both Queens. The funny part? I thought the Zerglings were the only army units - so was surprised when I rescued the tank and my Marines were nowhere to be seen. Whoops.
18:20 - So at this point, my goal of building SCVs and Supply Depots was working - and I had more resources than I could spend. So I expanded and made lots of stuff. I had tried a drop earlier and spied a bunch of Roaches, so I made lots of Siege Tanks, Marines and Medivacs. This is a pretty formidable front line!
18:20 - And this is the back of my main base. You never want to see this - a dark spot in your base where you have no vision (upper right) - and a stream of Roaches and Zerglings coming out of it. Nydus Worm attacks are hard to pull off if your opponent is scouting. I was not scouting. Funny part? I heard the scream of the Nydus Worm finishing - and was like "What a weird sound. Wonder what that was." Duh. (facepalm)
18:47 - It was a brilliantly timed attack. I reacted to the Nydus Worm by sending all my SCVs from the main mineral line to my expansion. And moved all my mobile army (the Marines) back into the main base to defend. That left my front line with only Siege Tanks, which can't attack air units. So besides a few Missile Turrets, I was powerless when a ball of 15 Mutalisks arrived. The tanks and SCVs were destroyed in a few moments. All I could say was "nice - very nice". We exchanged gg's and I surrendered.
So on one hand, it was discouraging to lose again. But I reminded myself last night that my goal was not to win all the time - that's an unreasonable expectation - my goal is to get better. As day[9] would say, "Be a better gamer." So in that regard, this game went pretty well - I kept up with building SCVs, and was only supply blocked once (I think) in the first half of the game.
I've heard many times to focus on one thing at a time - until that thing is second nature. So expect to see lots of SCVs and Supply Depots in future games :)
But I skimmed through the two replays and noticed that my worker production was sorely lacking. I was so focused on army producing structures and expanding that I wasn't continuing to train SCVs - and my opponents were. I was also getting supply blocked many times - through no feat of my opponent.
So this morning I figured I'd focus on making SCVs and Supply Depots. Battle.net found me an opponent and the game was on the Shattered Temple map (whew - it wasn't Nerazim Crypt!) and I was playing against Zerg. I would have casted this game - but the mic on my headset wasn't just getting noise, it was occasionally recording nothing :( So here are the highlights - in pictures :)
So on one hand, it was discouraging to lose again. But I reminded myself last night that my goal was not to win all the time - that's an unreasonable expectation - my goal is to get better. As day[9] would say, "Be a better gamer." So in that regard, this game went pretty well - I kept up with building SCVs, and was only supply blocked once (I think) in the first half of the game.
I've heard many times to focus on one thing at a time - until that thing is second nature. So expect to see lots of SCVs and Supply Depots in future games :)
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Losing to Protoss
Two weeks ago - there was a day (a single day) where I had a 5 game winning streak. To be honest, they were odd games.
The first was a TvP where the Protoss went straight for air units - and only had 2 units for ground defense. I won the next game within seconds - the Zerg player had forgotten to veto the map and quit immediately with an explicative (in a form the language filter didn't catch!). The next was an intense TvT battle of micro skills as we fought with a few Marines at a time in the first few minutes. The fourth game was a TvT where he just trained 2 Reapers - my workers and a few Marines held him off and he surrendered when my handful of Marines went up the ramp. The last was a great TvZ - too long to cast sadly - which ended with floating Orbital Commands and a handful of cloaked Banshees saving the day.
But this post is about my latest TvP loss. As you can see from the ladder summary on the homepage, I've had some trouble playing against Protoss. 4 wins and 9 losses. Last night I played my 32nd game of Season 3, and it was tragic.
Here's how the game unfolded - this time in pictures :)
5:03 minutes into the game - and I am down by 4 workers already - you can tell where this is going...
10:31 - I send out my first attack force - much delayed. I move them up the left side of the map, trying to sneak into the backdoor of the natural expansion. But of course, there's a cloaked Observer watching everything. You can see I'm behind by 15 workers at this point - he has almost double the workers I do.
12:20 - "It's a trap!" Admiral Ackbar was right. You can see the 3 key parts: In the upper left, the Observer watching my troops move in. In the lower left, a few units placed to close in behind and if necessary, Sentries to force field my escape route. In the lower right, the main attack force closing in.
12:25 - Aren't EMPs pretty? This was the 2nd one - you can see the depleted shields on almost all the Protoss units - my 2 Ghosts did a total of 4 EMPs - one of them on units that already had no shields :( If you look closely, you'll notice that none of my units are attacking - that's because I ordered them to Move to the back of the mineral line - and didn't tell them to Attack Move when the trap was set off. Micro FAIL.
12:44 - The body of the last Marauder hadn't even hit the ground yet (he's behind the Units Killed banner) and the Protoss army is already headed towards my base. Notice the Immortal in the lower right - who barely survived the encounter.
14:03 - The opening shots of what is essentially the last battle. Luckily, I had time to build a few bunkers. Unluckily, they would contribute to a horrendous miss control of units.
14:08 - Is this guy good or am I just this bad? Probably both are true. Ignoring how much they are overlapping, the force fields were brilliant - preventing the forward troops from retreating to the covering fire of the bunkers. You can see how I selected a bunch of units - and told them to move into the bunker on the left - that only 2 Marauders could fit in. Brilliant. See that marine? The one in front of the force fields and about to be hit by four Stalker laser beams? Yeah, he dies.
14:42 - This sums up the game well - despite Terran heroics, Protoss units are amazing. That blue explosion is a hero Marauder - my one micro-management victory. Him and his buddy were off to the side of the big battle - I stimmed them both and they killed a few units before getting the attention of the main force - and actually scared the Immortals away momentarily. Momentarily. That Immortal on the bottom - who's about to be hit by two Marauder grenades? He survives with 5 hit points. Protoss units are SO powerful!
The game lasts for a few minutes longer - but that was basically the end. We chat for a little bit - as he destroys my base - and he was pretty cool. I complimented him - "nice! I just don't know how to deal with protoss!" He replies "GG THO!". I say "ghosts are great - if you can control them :)" then "gg" He says "gg man" - and I surrender. Good sportsmanship - one of the aspects I love about SC2!
So winning against Protoss continues to elude me - and my winning streak vs. Zerg has ended - I've lost my last 3 TvZ games. Of course, I didn't build Banshees ;-)
Anyone have tips for a Terran player who's in a slump?
The first was a TvP where the Protoss went straight for air units - and only had 2 units for ground defense. I won the next game within seconds - the Zerg player had forgotten to veto the map and quit immediately with an explicative (in a form the language filter didn't catch!). The next was an intense TvT battle of micro skills as we fought with a few Marines at a time in the first few minutes. The fourth game was a TvT where he just trained 2 Reapers - my workers and a few Marines held him off and he surrendered when my handful of Marines went up the ramp. The last was a great TvZ - too long to cast sadly - which ended with floating Orbital Commands and a handful of cloaked Banshees saving the day.
But this post is about my latest TvP loss. As you can see from the ladder summary on the homepage, I've had some trouble playing against Protoss. 4 wins and 9 losses. Last night I played my 32nd game of Season 3, and it was tragic.
Here's how the game unfolded - this time in pictures :)
The game lasts for a few minutes longer - but that was basically the end. We chat for a little bit - as he destroys my base - and he was pretty cool. I complimented him - "nice! I just don't know how to deal with protoss!" He replies "GG THO!". I say "ghosts are great - if you can control them :)" then "gg" He says "gg man" - and I surrender. Good sportsmanship - one of the aspects I love about SC2!
So winning against Protoss continues to elude me - and my winning streak vs. Zerg has ended - I've lost my last 3 TvZ games. Of course, I didn't build Banshees ;-)
Anyone have tips for a Terran player who's in a slump?
Friday, September 16, 2011
Replay Analysis: Cannon Rush
General Disarray (GenDisarray) sends us another rush strategy replay - this one using the Protoss "cannon rush" strategy. I walk through the short game twice, highlighting some things to keep in mind for both the attacker and defender in this "cheesy" scenario.
And a slew of bullet points for the blog readers!
Using a cannon rush:
Defending against a cannon rush:
Before I watched the replay, I figured there wasn't much to say about cannon rushing - but I guess I was wrong! Good luck and have fun with your cannon rushing! Oh wait - please discourage all cannon rushers by holding them off and winning the game :)
Update 11/1/2011: I updated the video to point at my new YouTube channel.
And a slew of bullet points for the blog readers!
Using a cannon rush:
- Scout early!
Really early. Your first pylon and forge will build relatively quickly - you should be ready to place your proxy pylon as soon as you enter the opposing base. Hopefully you can do this before any army units are trained! - Send a second scout
All but one of the 1v1 ladder maps have 4 spawning/starting locations - if you guess wrong in the scouting order, it could take well over a minute to scout the last one. If the first close position is empty, send a second scout to the other close position while your first probe goes to the far position. This second scout can also aid as a backup if the first probe gets ambushed.
- Micro the scout
The first probe that makes it into your enemy's base is your sole army. An army of one ;-) Keep it alive as long as possible. Don't forget that it's shields recharge over time - so keeping it on the move really extends it's lifespan. This strategy is half surprise and half execution - and your probe is key to both. Don't ruin the surprise by rallying into the middle of the base - sneak around the edge! - Snuggle the pylon
When placing your pylon - snuggle it up against a cliff edge, or in a corner, or even nestled between mineral patches. By reducing the available surface area, you make it harder for enemy workers (or melee units like zerglings or zealots) to attack it. The same thing applies when placing your cannons. - Start multiple pylons
Take advantage of the probe's ability to start multiple buildings in quick succession. Your opponent will likely focus on one pylon. Cancel the warp-in before it finishes and use the minerals to build another pylon - or your first cannon.
- Look for counter-cheese
A common reaction to rushing can be a rush attack in return. The obvious one - when playing PvP, scout for pylons in or near your own base! - Prepare to transition
As your opponent is distracting by killing probes and pylons, you should be preparing for the next step - just in case. Go ahead and start down your favorite tech path. And build a few defending units - players who thwart a cannon rush may be pretty grumpy and looking for payback - and assume you have nothing at your base. Prove them wrong.
Defending against a cannon rush:
- Scout for pylons
Whenever playing against Protoss, it's a good idea to scout around your base, looking for pylons. Proxy pylons are used by both cannon rushes and the standard 4-Gate strategy. Don't forget to scout just outside your base as well. - Scout their base
Scouting the enemy's base early is key for detecting "cheese". If you get there early, and all you see is a pylon and a Forge, it's a good guess a cannon rush is coming. - Keep an eye on the mini-map
Always keep that mini-map in the corner of your eye. Pylons are stationary and show up even if you've lost direct vision of them. - Train an army unit quickly
A single army unit can make sure that the cannon rusher needs to micro his probe. It can also be a sentry at the front of the base to spot incoming probes. - Use as few workers as possible to kill the pylon
As the defender, you likely have an economic advantage. Don't lessen it by sending all your workers to kill one pylon - especially if the enemy probe is gone. Just send enough - maybe 4-5? - Stay calm - and win!
Cannon rushing costs minerals and takes attention away from managing a base. Multi-tasking is one of the hardest skills to master, so unless you're playing against an expert rusher, you will likely be at a significant advantage after the rush is twarted.
Before I watched the replay, I figured there wasn't much to say about cannon rushing - but I guess I was wrong! Good luck and have fun with your cannon rushing! Oh wait - please discourage all cannon rushers by holding them off and winning the game :)
Update 11/1/2011: I updated the video to point at my new YouTube channel.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
I need a new mic!
This morning I made several attempts at recording a videocast, but after an hour, I still have no final product! The first try was longer than the 15 minute YouTube limit. The second try got interrupted - but upon listening to part of it, I discovered that I'm getting a lot of static from the microphone! I tried recording a test and it seemed ok. So I recorded the full video again (under 15 mins!) and was about to encode it - and it's got static all over it.
I'm pretty sure it's the headset cable. My son Isaac loves cables and often pulls the cable out in front of the PC. We have a rolling office chair near the PC, and so the headset cable gets rolled over a bunch.
I had some trouble with static when I first started publishing casts, but it's been fine since. So maybe tomorrow it'll be fine.
If it's not ok, I'll try using our webcam mic until I can order a replacement. I'm not quite decided on whether to get a mini-plug one or a USB one. Whatever I get, I'll be sure to keep it away from the kiddos - and rolling office chairs!
Any recommendations for a headset with a microphone?
I'm pretty sure it's the headset cable. My son Isaac loves cables and often pulls the cable out in front of the PC. We have a rolling office chair near the PC, and so the headset cable gets rolled over a bunch.
I had some trouble with static when I first started publishing casts, but it's been fine since. So maybe tomorrow it'll be fine.
If it's not ok, I'll try using our webcam mic until I can order a replacement. I'm not quite decided on whether to get a mini-plug one or a USB one. Whatever I get, I'll be sure to keep it away from the kiddos - and rolling office chairs!
Any recommendations for a headset with a microphone?
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Replay Analysis: 6-Pool!
Today we take a look at the Zerg 6-Pool strategy, thanks to a replay sent from GenDisarray (General Disarray). The discussion includes map considerations, rush distances, and the "defender's advantage" in a rush scenario.
And of course, the bullet points (with a few extras for the blog readers!):
Using a 6-Pool:
As you can tell, there's so much more we could discuss about this strategy or rushing in general - but that's enough for today :) Have fun and good luck with doing your own 6-Pool... or defending against one!
Update 11/1/2011: I updated the video to point at my new YouTube channel.
And of course, the bullet points (with a few extras for the blog readers!):
Using a 6-Pool:
- Know your maps! - While the map is loading, look at the starting locations and decide the order in which you'll scout them and get a feel for the rush distances. Better yet, play some test games vs Easy AI to time rush distances between starting locations on the different 1v1 ladder maps.
- Use your overlord! - Use your overlord to scout one of the positions - this is one less location for your scouting drone to investigate.
- Micro the first group - The first group of zerglings is crucial, it's your rush advantage - don't waste it! If there's a defense at the opponent's base, pull back your zerglings. Better to have them heal and contribute to the next wave than be killed.
- Bring a drone - In ZvZ, you can use this drone to build a spinecrawler in the opponent's base - major cheese here! In all match-ups, the default AI for army units will attack workers first - so your drone can draw fire away from your zerglings.
- Macro behind aggression - Be prepared for your rush to fail. Don't forget to train drones and overlords. Good players can transition out of a rush into a more balanced strategy.
- Know your maps! - Most 1v1 maps have a variety of long and short rush distances. While the map is loading, look for the closer starting positions - scout those first.
- Don't panic. - Once you've seen an early pool, don't panic. Depending on how far along the pool is and the rush distance, you'll have time to train defending units. And remember, if you survive the rush, you'll likely be in a better economic state than your opponent.
- Remember the Defender's Advantage - As the defending player, you are at an advantage. Both time-wise and unit-wise, you have the advantage in your base.
- Don't waste defensive units! - It may be tempting to sacrifice some army units to stall the first attack - don't do it. Those units are much more effective when backed up by reinforcements or the workers at your base.
- Use your workers! - I can't stress this enough. In a rush scenario, your workers represent a sizable portion of your defense (possibly your only defense!). Don't underestimate their attack capability! They can turn the odds in your favor - and well controlled, can fend off 6 zerglings by themselves.
- ZvZ: Do a 10-Pool - If playing as Zerg, you can safely build 10 drones before your Spawning Pool - ok maybe less if the rush distances are close. But don't forget - as soon as the Pool finishes, you'll need to make defenses - don't get supply-blocked or caught training drones when you need zerglings!
- ZvZ: Build a spine crawler before a queen. - The spinecrawler has more hit points and does more damage than a queen, and builds in the same time. It also doesn't cost supply. Use your workers or zerglings to protect it while it's building - it can turn the tide of a battle.
As you can tell, there's so much more we could discuss about this strategy or rushing in general - but that's enough for today :) Have fun and good luck with doing your own 6-Pool... or defending against one!
Update 11/1/2011: I updated the video to point at my new YouTube channel.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
StarClass: What is "competitive" StarCraft 2?
I would classify a game of StarCraft 2 as "competitive" if the players are playing for stakes outside the game, such as a competitive ranking or prizes.
Given that definition, there are plenty of opportunities for players to play competitively, ranging from the online ladder available within the game to professional players playing for sponsored teams and traveling around the world to compete in high paying events.
Here is a tour of the many levels of competitive play:
Battle.net Ladder
Within the StarCraft 2 game client, players have the option of competing in the online ladder provided by the game developer, Blizzard. This is the most accessible form of competitive play, and non-professional players often refer to their ranking within this ladder as an indicator of their skill level.
Online Tournaments
There is a large variety of tournaments being hosted at any time, for almost any skill level. Many have no entry fee and have no prize or small prizes for 1st place. You might even see some top-level players dropping in for some easy money.
A great resource for finding online tournaments is the TeamLiquid.net tournament page:
http://www.teamliquid.net/tournaments
Collegiate Star League (CSL)
http://www.cstarleague.com
Yes, there is organized college-level competitive SC2! The CSL has over 200 college teams registered! In my home state of Colorado, there are 4 colleges represented, including my alma mater, Colorado State University.
After-Hours Gaming League (AHGL)
http://afterhoursgaming.tv
There are even leagues for company employees. This particular league is made up of 8 teams from major tech companies: Amazon, Dropbox, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Yelp, and Zynga. The finals were played at Facebook headquarters and the $5,000 prize went to the victor's charity of choice.
LAN Tournaments
These events usually have an entry fee and often require players to bring their own computers. They usually have cash or computer hardware prizes, but the big value to players is gaining experience playing in a live competitive event.
Major Tournaments
Now you're into the big money - with big name sponsors, professional casters, and prize pools in the tens of thousands. These events often have local talent attending, but the top tier players will likely be playing for sponsored teams. Besides providing other pro-level players to practice with, teams may pay a salary and travel expenses and sometimes even provide team housing for players to live and train in.
Professional Leagues
Only professional or semi-professional players need apply at this level. Not only are most of the players on sponsored teams, but participation becomes a serious time commitment - seasons can last several weeks to several months. The intense schedule of the GSL basically requires that you live in South Korea! However, for all this commitment, the payout is much larger - with prize pools hitting (or exceeding) $100,000!
As you can see, there is a lot going on in the world of competitive StarCraft 2! There is something for everyone, both players and spectators, and at every level, from beginners to professionals!
Given that definition, there are plenty of opportunities for players to play competitively, ranging from the online ladder available within the game to professional players playing for sponsored teams and traveling around the world to compete in high paying events.
Here is a tour of the many levels of competitive play:
Battle.net Ladder
Within the StarCraft 2 game client, players have the option of competing in the online ladder provided by the game developer, Blizzard. This is the most accessible form of competitive play, and non-professional players often refer to their ranking within this ladder as an indicator of their skill level.
Online Tournaments
There is a large variety of tournaments being hosted at any time, for almost any skill level. Many have no entry fee and have no prize or small prizes for 1st place. You might even see some top-level players dropping in for some easy money.
A great resource for finding online tournaments is the TeamLiquid.net tournament page:
http://www.teamliquid.net/tournaments
Collegiate Star League (CSL)
http://www.cstarleague.com
Yes, there is organized college-level competitive SC2! The CSL has over 200 college teams registered! In my home state of Colorado, there are 4 colleges represented, including my alma mater, Colorado State University.
After-Hours Gaming League (AHGL)
http://afterhoursgaming.tv
There are even leagues for company employees. This particular league is made up of 8 teams from major tech companies: Amazon, Dropbox, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Yelp, and Zynga. The finals were played at Facebook headquarters and the $5,000 prize went to the victor's charity of choice.
LAN Tournaments
These events usually have an entry fee and often require players to bring their own computers. They usually have cash or computer hardware prizes, but the big value to players is gaining experience playing in a live competitive event.
Major Tournaments
Now you're into the big money - with big name sponsors, professional casters, and prize pools in the tens of thousands. These events often have local talent attending, but the top tier players will likely be playing for sponsored teams. Besides providing other pro-level players to practice with, teams may pay a salary and travel expenses and sometimes even provide team housing for players to live and train in.
- Major League Gaming Pro Circuit
http://pro.majorleaguegaming.com - Wiki page on TeamLiquid.net
This was my first exposure to live eSports programming. MLG hosts a series of events at different locations throughout the United States. In 2011, each SC2 event has a $14,000 prize pool and the finals has a prize pool of $120,000. These are large enough to attract overseas players, including players from South Korea. I highly recommend these as a spectator - although if you're like me, you'll likely have to watch most of the games later in the video archive - kids and spouses aren't really compatible with 3 non-stop days of watching SC2!
- Intel Extreme Masters
http://www.esl-world.net/masters - Wiki page on TeamLiquid.net
This is the main competition hosted by the Electronic Sports League (ESL), a European league. - DreamHack
http://www.dreamhack.se - Wiki page on TeamLiquid.net
This is a series of events held in Sweden. I believe it holds the world record for the largest LAN party. Look it up on Wikipedia ;-)
Professional Leagues
Only professional or semi-professional players need apply at this level. Not only are most of the players on sponsored teams, but participation becomes a serious time commitment - seasons can last several weeks to several months. The intense schedule of the GSL basically requires that you live in South Korea! However, for all this commitment, the payout is much larger - with prize pools hitting (or exceeding) $100,000!
- North American Star League (NASL)
http://nasl.tv - Wiki page on TeamLiquid.net
This league started this last spring (2011) as somewhat of a grassroots effort to bring a major league to North America. They only had a handful of staff, but with support from the competitive community and the largest prize pool outside of South Korea at the time ($100,000), the event got top talent and broadcast pro SC2 matches 5 days a week for several months before a live finals in California.
As a spectator, this was like having my own SC2 cable channel - every day there were several matchups back-to-back, and the casting was great. One downside was their lack of organization, the website, and technical difficulties. I didn't get to see any of the open bracket play or the playoffs since it wasn't clear when those would be broadcast or how to view them. I'm looking forward to this next season and hoping they have worked out the kinks - the first broadcast is next Wednesday night! - IGN Pro League (IPL)
http://www.ign.com/proleague - Wiki page on TeamLiquid.net
This league, hosted by the website IGN, started this spring (just after NASL started!). Season 1 was an invite-only $5,000 tournament for North American players only. Season 2 added qualifiers and European players, and a $50,000 prize pool. Season 3 has a prize pool of $100,000 and the finals will be played at a live event at Caesar's Palace and Bally's in Atlantic City, NJ.
After NASL, this is my favorite league to watch. Great production values, good casters, and all the VODs (video-on-demand) are free and well organized. I mainly watch from the video archive, but they also have scheduled broadcasts called IPL TV, with other video content such as player interviews. - GOMTV Global StarCraft II League (GSL) and Team League (GSTL)
http://www.gomtv.net - Wiki page on TeamLiquid.net
And last, (but certainly not least!) is the GSL in South Korea. StarCraft (the predecessor to SC2) is a mainstream sport in South Korea (no joke here), with 2 dedicated cable channels, an entire industry of professional teams and training houses, several tiers of organized competitive play, and final competitions held in stadiums with rock concerts and TV coverage.
The Korean players and fans haven't moved 100% to SC2 yet, but the GSL for SC2 is already running strong. I see NINE events for 2011 on the Wiki page so far, and all of them have a prize pool around $130,000. Korea is by far the best place to train for SC2, likely because it has such a large and dedicated player base. Several "foreign" players have visited or lived there to train or compete - and have come back with amazing skills and a deeper, more refined knowledge of the game.
As you can see, there is a lot going on in the world of competitive StarCraft 2! There is something for everyone, both players and spectators, and at every level, from beginners to professionals!
Monday, September 5, 2011
Replay Analysis: Hello Four-Gate!
In today's analysis, we take a brief look at the Protoss "four-gate" strategy, and players' reactions when they know a four-gate is coming.
Rather than just analyzing a replay and coming up with my own strategies, I thought it might be fun to do an experiment on the ladder and try my hand at using the four-gate strategy against other players and seeing what their response is.
The results were pretty interesting - regardless of their skill level!
Special thanks to MxMstrSwtch for showing me a great four-gate, and Sambaa, Whisk, GalodelCielo, and Skybound for playing along with my ladder experiment!
Note: It may sound like I was casting 100 mph - I was close to getting this cast under the 15 min YouTube limit, so this was actually my 3rd attempt at getting under 15 mins!
The bullet points: (and a few extras for the blog readers!)
What is the "four-gate" strategy?
Protoss
Rather than just analyzing a replay and coming up with my own strategies, I thought it might be fun to do an experiment on the ladder and try my hand at using the four-gate strategy against other players and seeing what their response is.
The results were pretty interesting - regardless of their skill level!
Special thanks to MxMstrSwtch for showing me a great four-gate, and Sambaa, Whisk, GalodelCielo, and Skybound for playing along with my ladder experiment!
Note: It may sound like I was casting 100 mph - I was close to getting this cast under the 15 min YouTube limit, so this was actually my 3rd attempt at getting under 15 mins!
The bullet points: (and a few extras for the blog readers!)
What is the "four-gate" strategy?
- The Protoss player researches Warp Gate technology as fast as possible, and builds 4 Gateways. Next, they take a small attacking force with a probe to the opponent's base, build a "proxy" Pylon near the base, warp in a round of units, and attack. Using the proxy Pylon, they warp in reinforcements constantly. This can happen as soon as 7-8 minutes. (Maybe even sooner!)
- Early sign you might see with a scout: A single Gateway, one early Assimlator (1 gas resource), and a Cybernetics Core being Chrono-boosted.
- Four Gateways being built.
- A Pylon near your base ("proxy" Pylon).
- A small group of units coming towards your base fairly early in the game, with a probe.
Protoss
- Go defensive - build a wall (it's ok to leave a 1-unit space open) and Photon Cannons and as many army units as you can. Don't forget you can direct your cannons to focus fire on specific targets.
- Do a defensive Four-Gate. Many Protoss vs. Protoss games turn into who can execute a Four-Gate better.
- Do a "Three-Gate-Robo" build - just like Four-Gate, but build a Robotics Facility instead of the 4th Gateway and build an Immortal - they are super strong vs. Stalkers.
- Go defensive - build a wall and add Bunkers. When the attack comes, pull some SCVs off the mineral line to repair the bunkers. Don't forget that Bunkers can be told to focus fire on specific targets.
- Rush in return - build 3-4 barracks and train lots of marines (and some marauders if possible).
- Go preventative - kill the first force that comes with the probe before it builds the proxy Pylon. Make sure to kill the probe.
- Do a preventative timing attack - send a small force timed to hit the Protoss base as the Gateways are building. At this time, they have invested in the Gateways, but haven't reaped the benefit in army count yet!
Update 11/1/2011: I updated the video to point at my new YouTube channel.
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