Supply Blocked Update

Don't get supply blocked!

Getting supply blocked. It happens to all of us. From pro's, to your grandma. Recently, I was asked if it is that big of a deal to get supply blocked. My immediate thought was yes of course, and it is, but there are certain situations in a game where it is very bad, and other times where it is only an annoyance. While it is important to never get supply blocked, I will attempt to explain ways in which you can prevent yourself from getting supply blocked, and if you do, what you can do to help lessen the blow.

I recommend you check out my last post on the subject: Getting Supply Blocked.

Worse Case Scenario
The worse time to get supply blocked I would say is within the first seven minutes of game play while still on one base. Every unit, every warp in, every upgrade in that time needs to be right on cue.  Imagine this, you are supply blocked at the 26 food count because you forgot that 3rd Pylon. You have two Zealots out and ready to make more. It takes 25 seconds to warp in a Pylon, not including the time to select a Probe and make more Pylons. A Zealot can take 33-38 seconds to make, add 4 more seconds for Stalkers. 25 seconds is nearly 2/3 the time it takes for another unit to be made/warped in at the Gateway. The game can be over before the first push even happens.

Think of the opening/early game as you would a race between two cars. Both cars can achieve the same top speed, but one has higher acceleration than the other. Who do you think will win? Obviously the car that can get to its top speed before the other will take the win. Same concept here, the early you pick that momentum up, the easier it will be too gain the lead and hold it. Getting Supply blocked, forgetting to build Probes, or letting your minerals get too high from lack of effective macro are all speed bumps you want to avoid. They can cause you to temporarily lose some speed.

How I fixed the Blockage...
After practicing on the Normal Difficulty of the Multitasking Trainer, I discovered that if I forgot the Pylon at 26 or 34, I was doomed to lose. No matter how hard I macro'd, Chrono boosted, or positioned my troops, having 4 less units during that timing attack was too much. So I began to look for key moments early on so I could time that Pylon just right so just as I needed it, a unit would be taking advantage of it. This time was somewhere between 4 and 5 food left till cap early on. However, around 50 food and up, it became necessary to build a Pylon after every warp in, and sometimes more as I expanded.

I mentally connected building a Pylon with warping in units. Another Pylon to me was just a second step in Warping in. You cant build one when you need it, you NEED to plan ahead.

For anyone in the lower leagues who are having this problem, it might help to just go ahead and place that 3rd and 4th Pylon down much earlier, like while you are warping in your Gateways, Assimiliator and Core.

What to do when you've been Supply Blocked...
First things first, build a Pylon. Your ability to macro has stopped. If you caught it right as you got capped thats good. Get that Pylon out, and probably a second to keep yourself in the race.

What happens when you catch it later, when your ready to warp in more? This one can hurt you. The first thing you should consider is this. Do you feel like you are safe enough to expand? If so, still place that next Pylon down, but do so near your expansion. A lot of pro's put a Pylon at the end of there ramp when they are about to expand. Warp in a few units, preferably some that take less minerals, like some Sentries or Zealots, and place another Pylon down AFTER the warp in. your mineral count should be approaching the amount needed for a Nexus. This can be one effective way to move into the mid game by taking advantage of a temporary setback. But only do so when you feel safe enough to expand. The end result can put you back on track.

Another way, and this works very well, is to place a Robotics Facility down if your money is building up and no way to effectively use it, yet. You get an Observer out as its cheap and can use up some of that gas you have been stockpiling. This can protect you from Banshee play or Dark Templars.

Placing a Forge also works. The first upgrades are only 100 minerals and gas. A very fast and cheap way to help you gain a slight advantage while your money is building up.

Getting supply blocked directly affects your macro. Finding ways to keep your money low, without building units is the key to staying in the race. It may seem like a good idea, but DON'T and I repeat DON'T place 5 Pylons down instantly out of frustration. The idea is prevent yourself from getting supply blocked, not temporary solutions. Placing a lot of Pylons down at once, in my opinion, is just like queuing up units. Your using up minerals that can be used elsewhere.

Getting Supply Blocked

So lately I have been having a problem with keeping myself from getting supply blocked. I have been using the Multitasking trainer and have noticed I supply block myself anywhere between 4-6 times a game. I try to make myself look every so often, but it always escapes me. I almost never had trouble in War3. I always built them on time and only occasionally got supply blocked. But I may have found the reason for it, at least partially.

In War3, I had my buildings hotkeyed and would constantly check them for production to make a steady stream of units. With Protoss of Starcraft 2, units come in chunks with warp gates, which is my primary strategy. One round of warp ins is 1 Pylon. You almost need to build a Pylon after every round of warp ins, and to be further accurate with it, be at least 16 supply over what the current food supply is.

You know, now that I have put this into words, I feel like I should try this....Anyone else run into the problem of getting supply blocked and have found a great way to push through it?

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?

Starcraft Noob: Need help remembering?

I saw this map on the forums and tried it out today. It definitely helps you remember to be active. One problem I have in a match is keeping consistent actions. Sure the first 2 minutes theres not much to do, but if you dont give your self a running start, you may end up dead last....

The objective is simple, play a typical melee map, the catch? In the top right corner is one of your workers being chased by a particularly angry Zergling. You need to keep him alive while getting your base going, but guess what, the catch even has a catch....You cannot use more than 1 waypoint for that worker. So every 10 seconds you need to be checking your worker. 

Don't worry they give you different difficulties to choose from so you aren't thrown directly into the wolves...But there is another catch. You need to keep your minerals under a certain amount throughout the entire match. Sounds interesting right? Well the good thing is you don't have to worry about early rushes, at least not on Easy...An attack does come around the time you would normally expect it, however there is yet another catch...

The objective is to destroy the enemies command center, deep within a protected line of at least 1 of almost every unit that race has to offer, but before you can do this objective, you must rescue a unit and bring him back to your Beacon in your base. Depending on your difficulty, you may have to do this more than once....

Shouldn't be a problem right? Well the list goes on....The energy of your Nexus, Queen, or Orbital Command cannot Exceed 99/150/99 respectively. But the last interesting tidbit is this, you need to do all this within 17 minutes of the game starting. Sounds easy right?

Here are some tips for completing the Easy difficulty as thats as comfortable as I am with it....

Make your Nexus or whatever a control group. I use 4 as its very close to the other commands I use.

Use your keyboard to build the workers, D for Drone, E for Probe, S for SCV. all are within your hands reach, assuming your right handed that is :)

Make the Worker(for me it was a probe named Proberto) group 3 and press that group twice to quickly switch to it and switch back. By doing this you can switch back to your Nexus and build workers without having to actually look at the Nexus.

To rescue the VIP, Just build a transport, get within proximity of him and pick him up and bring him back :)

Keep building units! Turn the Coach on to help yourself remember to keep building workers!


I had fun and I felt myself getting mentally faster, keep playing up the difficulties until you can win them perfectly.

http://www.sc2mapster.com/maps/multitasking-trainer/.