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!

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!

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 ;-)

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!

Lessons From A Protoss

Last night I did a review of my first BYOB game versus a Protoss, and we learn some things about assaulting ramps and keeping production structures busy - from both players.

(I also try casting again as "CuePhoenix, your gosu dad")




One of the things I love about StarCraft 2 is that at all levels of play, there's something to learn from your replays. There's always room for improvement, and you can learn so many things about the game just by watching your own play!

First TvP with BYOB

Last night (Tuesday) I got to play a bunch of SC2. First, I played 3 games of 2-player co-op w/ CmdrTallon (my wife was watching Hoarders and then Cake Boss in the background!).

After midnight, while waiting for some laundry, I played a quick 1v1 on the ladder. This time, BYOB flexes its muscles against a Protoss player - and of course, there has to be an external timing, and this time I keep to it!



Despite his Gold league status, I later learned that my opponent was new to the game (or at least his account was), he had only won 7 league games. It's possible this was one of his qualifier games.

Regardless, I'm interested in doing a review - you can learn things even from a simple game.

Analyzing BYOB (Bring Your Own Base?)

Last Sunday afternoon I did my 1st review of my game against Alien***kick, but the review was a bit long and one of my YouTube subscribers pointed something out that I wanted to investigate.

So last night I casted a 2nd review with the hopes of shortening it and answering some more questions. Unfortunately, it was only 34 seconds shorter - but I think all my questions were answered.



Although this game seems like a fluke, had I purposely done these two timing pushes because of scouting, etc. (instead of blindly doing them) - I would truly be a gosu dad!

TvT Live: Bring Your Own... Orbital Command?

Another live cast of BYOB - with a new twist. With less than 22 minutes to play, I queued up for a 1v1 and came out with this gem of a game. Who knew that timing attacks could be dictated by the time remaining in an episode of Bridezillas?

This brings new meaning to the phrase "expand towards your opponent" ;-)



And apologies to my fellow SC2 dads out there - I had almost finished uploading this video before thinking I should blur out my opponent's screen name during the loading screen. It did get a few chuckles from me as you saw. You'll have to explain to your kiddos that there are times (perhaps rare) that alien donkeys need a kick or two ;-)

Taking A Second Look

After replying to Brock's comment on my last video, I was inspired to do a second review of the game against MaGestic.

Despite the short length of that game and the AFK situation, there were some interesting points to discuss - and as I'm a talkative fellow, I went much longer than the 10-15 minutes I intended to cast!



There's something to be said for watching all your replays - especially if you're in a mood to learn something!

TvT Live: AFK and My Little Starcraft Buddy

Last night I gave the live casting another go - and had a fairly short TvT involving my opponent being "away from keyboard" (AFK) for the first few moments. The following review was accelerated when my little Starcraft buddy came home with his mom and he got to make a guest appearance :)



I did watch the replay slower afterwards and there were some interesting points. I don't know if I'll do a separate video for it - but of course, the more I think about the game, the more I'll lean towards casting a review :)

TvZ Live: Distracted by BYOB

After getting some positive feedback for my last live cast bundled with a replay review (Thanks Brock!), I decided to try it again last night.

This time I was matched against a Zerg (who turned out to be in Silver league!) and so got to try the 1-1-1 build (which I now like to call BYOB, Bring Your Own Banshee :-) against a new race!



The moral of the story - at least from my perspective - is clear: don't lose focus on that 2nd tier of Budha's Starcraft Pyramid - production.

In addition, the total video ended up being longer than I'd like. The encoding time kept me up late last night, and it took until 11am or so the next day to finish uploading!

So next time, if the game is long enough, I'll break it up into two videos so I can go to bed on time - and the Internet won't be bogged down in the morning - I'm sure my wife will appreciate both :)

TvT Live: Bring Your Own Banshee (BYOB)

Last night, I tried once again to cast a game live while playing - and succeeded! Not only that, but the game was short enough that I rolled right into casting the replay at normal speed (Faster game speed), and the whole thing was only 23 minutes :)

Another change - after playing such long games due to my economy/production focus, I decided that I should move out with my forces sooner - and this time tried bringing some banshees and SCVs. Yeah, I guess you could call it an all-in, but I was planning on expanding afterwards...



It'll be interesting to take this general game flow to other match-ups. I do enjoy sending out armies and not just sitting back and expanding like crazy. Hopefully Battle.net will find me some suitable Bronze league Zerg and Protoss opponents!