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.

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.

Replay Review: GenDisarray - TvT Panic Attack

Yesterday GenDisarray sent me a replay of his Season 3 qualifier, asking for "some constructive criticism". He claims he's "horrible" at TvT, and admits to having an "initial panic attack" when he saw the loading screen. Is he really "horrible"? Knowing him I doubt it, but let's see his panic attack in action...



The bullet points:

• Keep building SCVs from your Command Centers - at least until you hit max for 2 bases (60 SCVs).
• Keep building marines from your Barracks - especially if you went for the 1-1-1 build, as they are critical to your balanced approach.
• When you expand, build more production buildings - doubling the amount you would sustain on a single base is a good guideline.
• If high-priced units like tanks, ravens, or vikings are in a bad position, retreat and repair. Most (all?) air units can out-run marines. Even with numerous production buildings, it takes time for Terran to build these expensive units.
• If caught off gaurd, keep tanks in Tank Mode. They have a fine damage-per-second in this mode, and will do more damage before they die than if you take the time to change them into Siege Mode.

So all in all, GenDisarray just needs to keep up his pace. Going for the quick expansion really paid off on the economy side, but it takes some practice to take advantage of the extra income. This is something I struggle with as well - apparently we both need more practice ;-)

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

Improving From a Replay: CmdrTallon's Banshee Rush

After posting CmdrTallon's replay, I was intrigued with his build and whether I could put into practice some of the things mentioned in the review and actually improve upon the banshee timing.

CmdrTallon's example was pretty good. 4 cloaked banshees by 10 minutes 35 seconds (10:35), and the first volley of missiles hitting the opponent's base at 12:55.

Here's my attempt recorded live:



So in my first attempt, by moving the order of some buildings, I was able to build the 4 banshees and research Cloak by 9:09, shaving 1:26 off the original time. And by scouting, the first banshee missiles were flying by 10:18, 2:37 sooner than in CmdrTallon's game.

So in comparison at the 10:35 mark:

	CmdrTallon	StarcraftDad
Banshee	4	6
Marine	17	13 (3 were killed earlier by an attack)
Marauder	1
SCV	22	19
Minerals	195	680
Gas	84	358
Supply / Supply Cap	59/75	50/51

Although I had a significant amount of resources left at that point, CmdrTallon had built an Engineering Bay, a few Turrets, more units, and had more supply available. So he was doing a great job of spending his resources - while I let that slip behind as I was so focused on the banshees that I was getting supply blocked and not macro-ing back at my base.

More interesting than that though, is that I later made more attempts to beat that 9:09 timing - and only succeeded on the 9th try: 8:56.

At my skill level, I'm guessing I'm reaching the point of diminishing returns. 9 minutes is pretty good for having 4 banshees with cloak.

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be ready for them if they showed up in my base at the 10 minute mark ;-)

Why don't you give it a whirl? Terran vs. Zerg (any AI level) on The Shattered Temple, how fast can you get 4 cloaked banshees into the opponent's main? And how large was your defending force? Post your time and unit count in the comments!

Don't forget, you need to build 2 barracks and marines for defense, and don't forget to scout to reduce the flying time to the opponent's base!

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

Replay Review: CmdrTallon's Banshee Rush

For today's StarClass, I did a review of a replay sent to me by my best friend, CmdrTallon. He is qualifying for Season 3 and looking for ideas on how to improve his play.

Apologies for sounding tired - I casted this before midnight after a long day (and previously long night!) - and it took me a few false starts before I got the "nerves" settled down to cast! And sorry for it going so long - I slowed the game speed down at one point... and forgot to speed it back up!


Don't forget to watch these fullscreen - and if your bandwidth allows, in HD :-)

For those that just want the bullet points:

• Have a basic plan for what your first goal is when the game starts. This will help you make decisions about timing trade-offs between different buildings or units.
• Scout! All but one of the 1v1 maps on the Blizzard ladder are 4-player maps, and some of them are very large. For many strategies (such as this one), knowing where your opponent's base is can dramatically affect the impact of your attacks.
• Have a plan for expanding to your natural expansion. Even if your plan focuses on a 1-base timing (such as this one), you need to be prepared mentally for the next step, should your opponent survive your attack. If they have expanded ahead of you, you'll need to catch up in the macro (economy) game. If they haven't, you'll want to press your advantage, and enter the mid-game ahead of them.

And a special point for you blog readers:

• Know the timing of your units, buildings, and upgrades - and when you'll need them. You may be able to build buildings a bit sooner, or train a few more workers or army units. You'd be surprised how these decisions can add up to shave minutes off the timing of your goals, or give you the few more units needed to survive an attack.

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

StarClass Has Started!

One of my Season 3 resolutions was to start writing posts geared towards teaching others (and myself!) about SC2 - the races, the units, the strategies, the lingo, and some game etiquette.

Check off one of those resolutions - or at least mark it as "in progress" ;-)

Below you can see the first entry in StarClass, and I've added a page at the top of the blog that lists all the StarClass entries so far.

I've got a long list of topics, but is there anything in particular you'd like to see in StarClass?

StarClass: Basics of a Game & Tour of the Replay UI

For those new to watching games of StarCraft 2, here is a video explaining the basics of a game and the user interface elements shown on screen during a casted game.

After watching this video, you should be able to understand the basic concepts of a game and some of the tools used by casters.




Update 11/2/2011: I updated the video to point to my new YouTube channel.