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)

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 :)

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?

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:

• 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.

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?

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:

• 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.

Defending against a 6-Pool:

• 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.

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.

• 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!

I haven't watched these myself, but have heard great things about them:

• 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!

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?

• 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!)

What can I look for when scouting?

• 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.

What are some defense options?
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.

Terran

• 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!
  

Note that Four-Gate is simply a form of early aggression, once you believe any form of early aggression is coming, these are all general defense strategies. Note also that many of these strategies involve building a force that can be used for defense - or offense. Units are more flexible than defensive structures, so if your opponent isn't doing a four-gate (or at least an offensive one) or you survive the four-gate attack, you can transition into either a counter-attack, or expand with a defensive force. Have fun, and good luck with countering a Four-Gate or executing you own!

Update 11/1/2011: I updated the video to point at my new YouTube channel.

Finally, A Protoss Videocast!

After doing a bunch of posts for StarClass, I got back to playing some 1v1 ladder. I had a 5-game losing streak, but my first game broke it - and I got my first TvT win this season.

My next game was against Protoss, and I was 0-4 vs Protoss this season. So, I got to test a theory I had for playing against Protoss - use Ghosts.

I had tried this before, and 419fish (who plays Protoss) recommended it. But for whatever reason, I hadn't used them at all this season. Watch the cast to see how it went!





It didn't quite go as I expected when I started, or even at the first attack, but it works :)

Update 11/1/2011: I updated the video to point to my new YouTube channel.

YouTube Fail, Dealing with Frustration

Had all gone well, this post would have been a videocast of my latest adventure in Terran vs. Protoss.

But when I got up this morning to check on my upload to YouTube, it said the video was done uploading and was processing. Given that I started the upload at midnight, I figured that the little web app thingy was just out of sync.

So I clicked on a link to view my uploads - and the video was not there.

Soon after, my daughter, Maddie, started cranking up in her room - apparently the PJs on her Hello Kitty doll don't fit on Elmo.

After trying to explain this, and putting the PJs on her monkey stuffed animal (named "Addie"), she was not satisfied. So we went downstairs and found some doll clothes that fit Elmo.

It wasn't long before she was cranking again, this time because Elmo and Addie wouldn't both fit in her play carseat. After some negotiating, it was decided that Elmo needed a break - so he went into the basement, where naughty toys go (toys Maddie can't handle). After the initial outburst when she fully realized what had happened, she calmed down.

So I made some noodles for breakfast and Maddie, as usual, asked for some. So I told her to get a bowl. But as my wife had caught up on dishes the previous day, the little drawer for kids' bowls was overstuffed and Maddie was struggling with it. She started cranking again.

At this point my wife was up and promptly put my cranky, clearly tired daughter (as she woke up earlier than normal) in a timeout chair. She cranked up again, and my wife firmly told her to stop.

And she was quiet. And after her timeout, was a nice, civilized little girl.

And Elmo was eventually freed from the basement.

When my daughter is overly frustrated and starts acting out, she gets a timeout.

Frustration happens to us all in SC2, from failed YouTube uploads to the fourth TvP loss in a row. When was the last time you needed a timeout from SC2?