WCG 2005 Day(9)

I found this incredible video of the WCG 2005. It is also important to note that on TotalBiscuits youtube, he requests that any donations be made to either Charities or Day(9) the most dedicated man in eSports. He himself makes a living off his youtube channel so pointing some of that success in Day(9)'s direction says alot about not only him, but the entire Starcraft community as a whole.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Nuke Fish!!!

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Nuke Fish!!!

I made a little graphic in honor of Day(9)'s latest Funday Monday, perhaps one of the funniest ones I have ever seen!

A Mental Tactic

After watching the Day(9) Daily about the contaminate, it got me thinking about other ways to mentally screw with your opponent. We saw that Contaminate can really screw with a persons macro, which is huge! So what can Protoss do to mess with an opponents mind?

Well for one thing, our options for some effective early harassment are limited. The only real unit that is fast and able to due extra damage to Lightly armored units are the Phoenix, and they can only attack air and a limited number ground targets. The best they can do is harass mineral lines or snipe Overlords/Overseers. So I began looking into Protoss mechanics and how the race differs from the other two. So I thought of the Warping Mechanic, and how it can help Protoss develop some mental tactics against their opponents. In the past I had one opponent who did something similar to what I am about to propose, and I cannot wait to try it in a real match.

What this player did was setup a line of Pylons from his base to about 1/2 to 2/3 to mine. In an effort to allow for quick reinforcements if he is ever pushed back while also creating an advanced warning and scout system to know when I am making my push forward. It also buys him time to regroup, as a Pylon in the middle of nowhere is more threatening than an army retreating. However the amount of minerals lost if you have to retreat can cost you quite a bit. So here is my variation of this tactic.

What if instead of creating a line of Pylons, you actually place proxy Pylons in key places that aren't normally scouted or maneuvered through. It would really benefit someone later on when control of the map is more important. The enemy could come out at places you would not expect to have seen. For example, on Xel'naga Caverns, you could place a Pylon near the visibility reeds at the natural expansion, one at the expansion behind the rocks, and one near the other end of the back door trail behind the visibility reeds. This gives 3 additional attack routes that are not commonly scouted or moved through. It will cause your opponent to scout around and find these Pylons if he indeed realizes that is what you are doing. Warp Prisms work with this as well because they can maneuver, however, they cost twice as much, have a smaller warp field, and do not offer supply.

It is also important to remember that this will not work effectively on every map. Lost Temple for example gives very easily defend-able attack routes that allow a mobile force to move around the map quickly, but hard to implement this tactic as there are no visibility issues or alternate routes. Metalopolis would actually be a good map to implement this on in almost any of the spawn locations, as well as Steppes of War, Shakuras Plateau.

**Edit: After writing this post I stumbled across an article about the new 1v1 maps and discovered that several of the maps I mentioned are not even on the ladder map list**

Back to Macro, Back to Hokeys, Back to Starcraft...

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't been writing alot. Real life required my attention for a bit and I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things... I have not played a ladder game in 6 weeks, instead I have been concentrating on getting my groove back with the MultiTasking Trainer by Stet_tcl. It has really helped me realize what my game play should look like. I have even used it to prefect my own build orders so I don't get bogged down with new elements. Over the next week I will be posting a few blogs on my progress as well as an update when I finally feel comfortable enough to play a few ladder games... If you want to use this multiTasking trainer map, search for Multi in the map screen, and find the one published by Beefheart. Now on the the real purpose of the post!

http://day9tv.blip.tv/file/4712303/

That link goes straight too one of the most helpful videos I have ever watched. Being shown what to do and what not to do with your hands is so huge...How would we know if we were doing something right if someone much better than us didn't show us in one way or another? I have taken to watching Huks stream occasionally to watch his hotkey setup. Its really helped as I am beginning to understand why certain groups are the hotkey to certain keys. Easy access as well as priority come into effect and you quickly have to determine whats most important. My trouble with hotkeys is how to easily access buttons 6-8 effectively. Currently this is my setup:

• 1 main army, all grouped together(I know thats bad)
• 2 I keep open so when i do start grouping my stalkers separately, they go here.
• 3 is for my initial scouting Probe and later on as my caster group or Warp Prism for drops.
• 4 is my Nexus.
• 5 is for my Warpgates. Some people use W but I believe W focuses on the gates instead of just selecting them.

I try to use 6 for my Robo, but its hard to press that key smoothly. I also need to find a key to use for upgrades. either with the forge or whatever building I'm currently researching with to help me keep track. Getting hotkeys right is the first of the things I'm working to get better...

Anyone have any suggestions?

Jungle Basin

This map has probably given me more trouble than any of the others. I have played on this map 5 times since its release and have only had one win on it. My usual strategy is to 4 gate or grab a Robo and do some early aggression, but I am quickly finding out that the positioning of the bases and their ramps have made early aggression easily defended against.

The natural expansion is also easily defended and hard to harass as the entrance ramp to the main is so close to the natural ramp so there is no reason to take it early. With a Sentry or two you can easily prevent your opponent from sneaking in. Terran Siege Tanks can easily defend both from the same spot. There is also not much room in the back of each main to hide air units like in Desert Oasis. So a frontal assault and harassment are both easily negated, so how do you defeat your opponent without relying to heavily on either tactic? In most cases your opponent will not try to do some massive attack early on, instead relying on Void Rays, drops, or Banshees to keep you on your toes or catch you unprepared and finish the game early.

As a Protoss, I realized that I too can take that an early expansion and that Colossus cost only slightly less than Carriers but require the same amount of tech structures to create. Why not go Carriers? If you watched Day(9)'s daily on how effective Carriers can be. People didn't realize that each Interceptor does 16 damage (2 shots 8 each). The majority of my opponents went primarily ground assault forces, very little anti air was ever made. With the distances between the bases so far, and an expansion easily defended, there is no reason to skip the initial tech and go straight for Carriers.

This reasoning applies to all races. On this particular map, take that natural early and get some more advanced tech, you will be surprised how fast you can get it and how easily accessible it is.

Do what feels right…

So today I’m just going to talk about how you play a match. If your like me, you like to watch matches from pro and amaze at their micro and macro skills. This is a good technique. You can pick up on stuff you may have not think about, after all some of the best strategies are circulated by the pros. I remember watching a Day9 Daily about how he was trying to beat Terrans early on as Protoss. He found that using Immortals was the best way to break the defenses and get an early lead.

 I began trying to incorporate them into my build to give me the extra edge, but it wasn’t working. It felt forced and I never had enough units. My original strategy involved a 2 gate opening but not utilizing it the way I should, I would wait till I get a Robotics Facility and then warp in 4 more, so 6 total, get a warp prism, and hopefully finish the game. I just kept doing this over and over again.

So I was looking for a change. But the build just didn’t feel right. So I abandoned it. If you’re not comfortable with your build, don’t force yourself to use it. In a way you have to feel your way through it. There is that inner voice that is telling you what you should be doing. Listen to it and learn from it.

Right now I have been trying to incorporate my favorite unit, the Dark Templar, into my builds. I don’t see this unit too often in matchups. People say that if your enemy brings detection then they are just zealots without charge. I have been working on using them as a support unit for my bigger army. Most players don’t being detection with their main armies, and a Dark Template can do some serious damage on one swimg.

More Macro!!!

Hi guys! Hope everyone had a good weekend! Mine was, I saw Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. If you haven't seen it, it is definitely one of the best movies I have ever seen and encourage you to go see it. Best line in the movie, “What an Asshole!” when you watch the movie you will understand!

Being fast doesnt mean having high APM

So today I am going to talk a bit more about macro and other things you can do to help speed up your game. Having high APM does not mean being able to click at a very fast rate, it’s remembering what to build or train, and when to build it. It also means keeping an eye on your resource bar and your supply. You need to make sure your money is low. The way I think about how much money is too much is this. What is the most expensive unit I can make at that point?  If I have more than enough minerals to make that unit, I have too much.

So here is an exercise I have been doing to help increase my APM. This is something Day9 had mentioned in one of his dailies. You can find his videos and more at http://day9tv.blip.tv/. Ever since I’ve been doing it, I’ve noticed my awareness has gone up, and time has slowed down while I’m playing, if that makes sense. Here is what he suggested, "Don’t stop building Workers, Probes, or SCV’s."

What I had been doing...

Now to just make a quick point, before I did this, I was using 3 Probes in each refinery and 15 for minerals 21 total, it worked out pretty well. Up until I wanted to expand, then I had to do a mad rush for more Probes, to make that expansion viable.

When I continually built Probes, I noticed I had to pay attention to timing; I always had to be making Probes, meaning making sure my nexus was busy for 5 minutes took priority over everything else. This simple act changed my build order up, but allowed me to be more observant of what was going on around me. I noticed I had enough money to indeed build that Cybernetics Core shortly after the Gateway came up, getting an assimilator up early was something else, I started seeing right times for building placement and when they weren’t right.

I know his is kinda vague, but just try it yourself. Keep your build order you like, and just change it by making sure having at least one Probe building at all times.

What changed when I did not stop building Probes?

One of the biggest things I noticed was that I can early expand, with a sizable army early on. The few extra Probes I had from continuously building provided a slight boost to my economy over time.  So around 6-7 minutes in I can start an expansion and still have a sizable army to defend or harass with. By the time it is up, if I have been continuously building Probes, half of the Probes I have can be transferred to the new expansion. Several more will still need to be trained to take advantage of the gas deposits. You should always strive to have 2 separate bases for income. At this level of play its hard to manage 1 base let alone 2, so you never know when one will be taken out, or if you’re not paying attention they will simply run out and you will have to wait to get your income at that rate again.

I dare you....

My challenge to you, practice this, continually make Drones or whatever your weapon of choice is, and watch your resources and food count. Time buildings so as soon as you get the amount you need, a drone is ready to build it at that spot. Don’t get supply blocked either!  When you are within 6 supply of your cap, build another depot, Overlord, Pylon. The constant watching and waiting will make you more aware of what’s going on. Keep your money low! Is it getting high? Build a building, train a unit, or get an upgrade going! If you have money, SPEND IT!!!!!!

 I will post a replay up soon hopefully of what it should look like. J