Season 5 Goals - Results

No season would be complete without a look at how I fared against my season goals!

My Season 5 Goals post was my last post in 2011, and I didn't play much SC2 or blog or cast until well into the new year - so I'm not too hopeful that I reached many of my goals...

(As I predicted, Season 5 ended on February 13th, so the length of the season was indeed 8 weeks. I think this will be standard from here on out.)

1. Play 40 ladder games (5 per week)

I only played 22 games this season - and I don't think I ever hit 5 games a week, even in my busiest weeks. But, as far as consistency, I did much better. Last season I think over half of my games were in the last two days of the season - whereas these games were spread out fairly evenly over maybe 5-6 weeks. I'd like to improve in this area, but given my schedule lately, I don't think I can play, review and cast more than a few games a week.

2. Lose 5 lbs from the beginning of Season 5 (XX3.6 lbs).

My weight on Feb 14 was xx3.2 lbs., so basically no progress there (hehe, no I didn't lose some multiple of 10 lbs ;-) I think over the holidays I gained 4 lbs, so I suppose getting back to pre-holiday weight is good. But as you'll see in my next goals post, this area needs a serious reboot...

3. Blog more regularly - 24 posts (3 per week)

If you count all posts up until the season retrospective, I did 24 posts, 12 in January and 12 in February. If you only count up until Feb 14, it's 22. So either way, that's pretty good. Once I started posting in January, I was posting almost every day - which was much more than I had originally hoped for! Most of the posts were video-related, which rolls nicely into the next goal...

4. Cast more often - 8 games (1 per week)

This is the one goal I actually excelled at! I casted 24 videos, casting about 77% of my games played (17 games). Back in my goals post, I said success would hinge on my ability to get up early - back then I was casting in our family room. A lot has changed since then - with my new casting desk in the basement, casting has become much more convenient. I also mentioned that "letting go of perfectionist tendencies" would be key. And I was right! This season I went for a more casual feel, casting games live and casting replays in a personal review sort of style. I think this is more in line with my original idea for the blog and casting - turning my normal SC2 activities into content. Although I still wish to do more produced content - for the CSL, showmatches with other players and casters, etc. - I think the personal, intelligent, yet novice-level analysis is something different that I can bring to the scene. That and family-friendly content - that is a rarity online for sure!

Whew, only one more post to do before I start Season 6 - goals!

Season 5 Retrospective

It's that time again - time to slap together some tables and reflect on another season of the 1v1 ladder!

	After Qualifier	Final Standing
League	Bronze	Bronze
Rank	80	25
Rank Points	0	356
Bonus Pool	28	155

Rank

I always find this statistic odd. I was very surprised to get top 25 in my division, especially given how few games I played. Even in Bronze league, most players at the top of the division have won A LOT of games - and likewise have played even more games total!

I could do a whole blog post on the workings of the ladder rank (and still hope to)...

But for now, let's just observe that apparently when I was demoted to Bronze, I was demoted far far down the ladder. Almost all my games this season were played against favored opponents, which increases the rank points gained from winning and decreases the points lost from losing. I also always had bonus pool available, so I always got double rank points from winning.

Both of those combined with a fairly decent win-rate (although in my opinion a very temporary win-rate) and playing a small number of games (less exposure to risk of losing) led to a lot of points!

Matchup Wins Losses Total Win Rate TvP 2 3 5 40% TvT 9 2 11 82% TvZ 2 2 4 50% PvT 1 1 2 50% Total 14 8 22 64 % Green = best match up for race Race Played As Games Terran 20 Protoss 2

Match-ups & Race I found this very weird. I suspect that Terran is fairly popular with casual players as it is in some ways, the easiest race to understand - so that might explain the high Terran numbers. My Terran win-rate is less explanable. Perhaps it had to do with those externally triggered timing pushes? Casual Terran players are more likely to hole up in their base and hope for a long game - and those massive all-ins were simply not expected. I used BYOB for most of my games as well, and I don't think most players expect banshees in a unit composition against Terran - or banshees in general. I've always had trouble against Zerg and Protoss - especially with upper Bronze or Silver league players (as you'll know from previous seasons!). Those players know how to use banelings and upgrades. I am so excited to start playing Protoss next season!

Map Wins Losses Total Win Rate Entombed Valley 4 2 6 67% Antiga Shipyard 3 2 5 60% Arid Plateau 2 1 3 67% Xel'Naga Caverns 2 1 3 67% Shakuras Plateau - 2 2 0% Tal'darim Altar LE 2 - 2 100% The Shattered Temple 1 - 1 100% Metalopolis - - - 0% Green text = map was new for Season 5 Red background = map removed for Season 6

Maps I ordered these by number of games played, and the results were interesting. Every player can veto 3 maps (I don't veto any). My suspicion is that many players veto the 2-player maps, and one of the older maps (The Shattered Temple or Metalopolis). This would lean the map pool towards newer, 4-player maps. As for my performance on each map, I really don't think I played enough games to draw any conclusions. As the maps get better, the less likely one-base all-ins and cheese like drone rushes will succeed. I am really looking forward to the new 2-player maps in Season 6 though - both were community-created maps (not Blizzard) and were chosen for their tournament worthiness. There should be some awesome macro games coming up!

Opponent's League Wins Losses Total Win Rate Gold 2 1 3 67% Silver 7 3 10 70% Bronze 4 4 8 50% Qualifier 1 - 1 100%

League Ok, there have been lots of surprises so far - but this one REALLY surprised me. My last season was filled with low win-rates against all leagues, and so my high rate against Silver players was a big shocker. One change from previous seasons is that most of my games were played before the ladder lock. I have a feeling that many of my Bronze opponents in previous seasons were up and coming Silver players. But who knows? Maybe I'm actually getting better? Hard to say - though I do believe that this indicates I'm at least a high Bronze player, if not low Silver.

Well, that about does it - all-in-all it was a great season, and a nice parting experience playing Terran!

BYOB: You're Full of Surprises

Since my final Terran ladder game on Monday, I've been pondering some aspects of that game - particularly the progression of the handful of army engagements.

Despite it being very late last night, I really wanted to get this review done and uploaded - one more step towards finishing out Season 5 and moving on to Season 6. Well, that and my wife had just started another episode of The Office, and I was waiting for laundry to finish - so I had some time :)

So some interesting things to keep in mind when I start playing against Terrans as Protoss next season! Now for a few retrospective posts and a goals post for Season 6!

BYOB's Final Stand

Monday night I played my last Bring Your Own Banshee game in Season 5 - vs a slightly favored Protoss player. In typical BYOB fashion, I had to try to end the game at a particular time, but it was a spectacular end to a good season!

So that was fun - despite the outcome - and I look forward to reviewing the replay as part of my end-of-the-season activities. And yes, I really look forward to switching to Protoss for Season 6!

Xel'Naga Surprise

Last night, I played quite possibly my last 1v1 ladder game on the classic map, Xel'Naga Caverns. This map has been in the ladder pool since beta, so SC2 players (those with the beta at least) have been playing on this map for 2 years!

I was excited to have a chance to play on this map - I rarely saw it this season - I suspect most players are vetoing it.

And I was matched against a Zerg, another rare occurrence for me this season. So I was excited to get into the game.

So yeah. Perhaps this explains why this map gets vetoed a lot and is being replaced in Season 6!

Although I'm quite far from my original goal of playing 40 games this season (I'm at 21 now), I look forward to playing my last games in Season 5 tonight!

Right now, I'm rank 24 in my division - which is already more than I expected at the beginning of the season, when I was demoted back down into Bronze League. I hope to cast a few of the games live - at least my last game of the evening - so it'll be a fun time :)

Standard in Silver

After winning so many games, it was only a matter of time before my match-making rating (MMR) rose high enough that I would start to encounter solid standard play. Apparently that time arrived two nights ago.

It was late, and I had just played a few 2 vs AI games with a co-worker. I decided to play 1 ladder game before calling it a night. My opponent turned out to be a highly ranked Silver league player - and his play was solid and standard, something I haven't seen in a while!

Although I lost, this is quite a turning point. Battle.net considered me evenly matched with tofool - does this mean my skill is improving back up to that Silver league level? Season 6 starts in a few days, so I guess we'll find out soon enough!

Defense: Banshees Optional

Last Tuesday, I got to play against a Protoss on the 1v1 ladder - a rarity apparently at my level!

The outcome of the game itself was a surprise to me - as at some point, I decided my banshees weren't needed for base defense...

So upon review, it was the execution of base ramp attacks and the consistency of unit production that shaped the final outcome.

Now whether I'll remember that for next time is another thing - as you'll see in my next cast!

Nukes!

Two days ago, I played my first 1v1 game without an external deadline, and this Terran vs Terran game really showcased a variety of Terran scenarios.

Unfortunately, the game was also super long! I tried to speed things up - but as usual, there's so much that you can learn from a single replay!

As much as I love macro games, I hope this isn't indicative of every TvT I play this week. I had a goal of playing 40 1v1 games this season, and although I doubt I'll make it, long TvT macro games won't help - especially since Bronze seems to be filled with Terrans!

Army Swap and Hero SCVs

After a humiliating defeat at the hands of a drone rush, I return to my economy/production focus in BYOB for this TvT on what seems like a favorite map, Entombed Valley.

Another short game with some discussion of the suitability of ladder play for practice, armies passing each other mid-map, and yet again, another moment for the unlikely heroes in the mineral line to show their mettle!

Tonight (Monday) is the last night for Season 5 before the ladder lock, so I'm looking forward to playing a few games later tonight.

Will I be able to win a bunch and get promoted to Silver before the lock? Doubtful ;-)

Handling A Drone Rush

I've only faced a drone rush twice before on the 1v1 ladder, and I think both times were before I started blogging!

But there I was last night, minding my own business in Bronze League, hoping to play a short game, and pow - drone rush!

Despite the embarrassing loss, hopefully we have all learned some new tricks or understanding to use when defending against a drone rush!

Like a Butterfly

Last night, as hoped for, I did a review of my game against Goroth. Like a butterfly flapping its wings, the addition of the early barracks to BYOB eventually had a large affect on the outcome of the game.

I was surprised how close the game could have been had I not been forced to do an all-in attack at the end. It does make me wonder how the outcome would have changed if I hadn't been in so much of a rush to end the game. That many banshees can really turn the tide of a game if used carefully!

BYOB Disruption

Today was a snow day - and I try to play a quick game before the day gets rolling!

Going for a double barracks opening leads to disruption in the BYOB economy and hilarity ensues.

At least it didn't last very long...

Goroth actually messaged me immediately afterwards - he asked why I didn't cloak. And the short answer is, well, I didn't research it!

Not that it mattered, he had me good - and it'll make for an interesting review tonight...

Marine, Marauder... Banshee?

After almost a week since playing 1v1 on the ladder, I hit the Find Match button yesterday morning and wanted to try something a little different.

Not a big different, just a little different.

Continuing to play with BYOB, I wanted to see how substituting marauders for the tanks would change the composition. I think marauders are a little more flexible, especially in the early game.

I found myself playing against a fully favored opponent - and yep, you guessed it, he was a Terran!

At this point, I'm convinced that having air units for visibility when attacking up a ramp is super valuable. It doesn't hurt if the air units can attack ground units as well ;-)

With the game being so short, I figured I could do a quick review as well. So today is a double feature!

Yes, those are my little zerglings at the end, and yes, that was my first published casting blooper!

I usually have a few false starts before a review, and have lately been deleting them immediately. I forgot I hadn't deleted this one. It completely surprised me and got a few laughs, so I figured I should include it. Now you can't just jump into a blooper right away after a cast, but luckily I had some cute SC2 footage with the kids!

A Third Look

Believe it or not, one of my previous opponents, Alien***kick, found my videos of our game on YouTube and commented!

He was wondering how he lost the tremendous lead he had at the beginning of the game, and after watching my live cast and my posted review, I realized that there was still some exploring to do on his side of the game.

Yesterday morning I recorded a review, but it was over 30 minutes! So last night, I recorded a shorter, faster version - which brings me up to 5 recordings of this particular game! (I only posted 3 of them.)

So a mixture of production, knowledge, and army control issues allowed me back into the game - but by far, the lesson to be learned is: when your armies are even, don't run into a sieged tank line!

So with that, I consider the book closed on this game!