After sitting in and around the 30th spot in my particular Bronze division, I decided to focus on one or two strategies/goals in each game and try to break into the Silver division. So far, I've played 13 games today and won 10 of them; apparently, deciding to win is all it takes. As of this writing, I've hit rank 10 and that's enough for me for the day.
Tomorrow I'll post a few things that I'm noticing about both my play and that of my opponents and maybe you too can make that push into the next division, whatever one that might be.
30 August, 2010
29 August, 2010
Making Up Your Own Mind
[Warning: I might come off as griping. Maybe. If I do, I apologize in advance.]
Everyone knows that a 6 pool rush is a cheese tactic that results in you either winning the game against an unprepared opponent or results in you being horribly behind in economy if it fails and most likely losing the game to any sort of counter attack. But why does everyone know that?
27 August, 2010
Patch 1.1: You got my letters!
Dearest Blizzard,
Oh how I love the little games you play with my heart. First, you give me little zerglings and tell me they are awesome and quick. You regale me with stories of how they are a mighty swarm that can overwhelm my enemies and bring me victory and glory.
Then you give Terrans siege tanks and tell them to aim for the beady little zergling eyes.
Oh how I love the little games you play with my heart. First, you give me little zerglings and tell me they are awesome and quick. You regale me with stories of how they are a mighty swarm that can overwhelm my enemies and bring me victory and glory.
Then you give Terrans siege tanks and tell them to aim for the beady little zergling eyes.
Banelings: Addendum
For your viewing pleasure: The Banetage
Time marker 1:25 and 3:15 are exceptional. It's always the marines that seem to walk over them too.. poor marines.
Time marker 1:25 and 3:15 are exceptional. It's always the marines that seem to walk over them too.. poor marines.
26 August, 2010
Banelings: 101 Uses
No, this will not be a list of 101 uses for Banelings, despite their effectiveness in all manner of household tasks from removing soap scum to whitening teeth. This post refers instead to Banelings 101, the basics really, and how to use them more effectively.
Anyone can just mass 10-20 banelings and send them on their merrily suicidal way, but that is usually both ineffective and inefficient. For one, they're a one-shot deal; win or lose, you don't get them back. You've already sacrificed a speedy little zergling for one of these bloated bed bugs, so to waste them on improper applications only increases their final cost in both resources and time.
Below are a few ways I try to make each of my banelings count for a little more.
Anyone can just mass 10-20 banelings and send them on their merrily suicidal way, but that is usually both ineffective and inefficient. For one, they're a one-shot deal; win or lose, you don't get them back. You've already sacrificed a speedy little zergling for one of these bloated bed bugs, so to waste them on improper applications only increases their final cost in both resources and time.
Below are a few ways I try to make each of my banelings count for a little more.
25 August, 2010
Replay: Defensive Victory
You can find the replay here.
After watching Day[9] commentate on Artosis and his interesting style of play here and here, the idea began to really appeal to me. It seems contrary to the way you would think Zerg should be played; they're fast, cheap, and seem perfect for lightning quick assaults and sneaky back-door attacks.
Essentially, he focuses hugely on economy, at least in these beta games, and makes just enough of an army to respond to whatever his opponent throws at him. It takes a watchful eye and amazing micro and macro management, but it's awesome to behold when done correctly as Artosis seems to do.
I think that mindset is influencing my play and in a positive fashion. So I present you with a replay of my own to watch if you want and some of the lessons I took from the game. Please note, I'm aware a lot of mistakes, dropped balls, and such were made in this game. I'm learning and hopefully reducing the glaring errors as I progress. But if you see something I haven't touched on that I did wrong or could have done differently, by all means point it out.
So here it goes...
After watching Day[9] commentate on Artosis and his interesting style of play here and here, the idea began to really appeal to me. It seems contrary to the way you would think Zerg should be played; they're fast, cheap, and seem perfect for lightning quick assaults and sneaky back-door attacks.
Essentially, he focuses hugely on economy, at least in these beta games, and makes just enough of an army to respond to whatever his opponent throws at him. It takes a watchful eye and amazing micro and macro management, but it's awesome to behold when done correctly as Artosis seems to do.
I think that mindset is influencing my play and in a positive fashion. So I present you with a replay of my own to watch if you want and some of the lessons I took from the game. Please note, I'm aware a lot of mistakes, dropped balls, and such were made in this game. I'm learning and hopefully reducing the glaring errors as I progress. But if you see something I haven't touched on that I did wrong or could have done differently, by all means point it out.
So here it goes...
22 August, 2010
Lessons from a diary...
With Comm-Link #4 out, a host of new community contributions have been brought to the attention of the masses. One that stood out for me was the Diary of a Zergling, written by Launch on the SC2 community forums. Entertaining? Yes indeed. Informative? I think so, even if everything is not right there on the surface.
I think little, but important, lessons can be learned from this diary so I thought I'd go ahead and give my interpretation of these little zergling chronicles.
I think little, but important, lessons can be learned from this diary so I thought I'd go ahead and give my interpretation of these little zergling chronicles.
21 August, 2010
Where I'm coming from
I didn't think I would like Starcraft 2.
I played Starcraft, the original, for a total of a day when it launched and dismissed it as a Warcraft II clone with lasers instead of swords. I didn't particularly like WC2 either, other than the occasional multiplayer with friends. Perhaps I wasn't at the right point in my life to appreciate RTS games or perhaps I simply had other things to do. I don't really know.
After being addicted to WoW since its vanilla release but eventually souring to it after playing the WotLK expansion, I hungered for something new and different. Enter Starcraft 2.
Engaging, with enough story to keep me interested, and most importantly, missions that rarely able to be reduced to "build your base. kill the enemy base.". Admittedly, the zerg colonies would usually die in the process, but that is very rarely the central purpose of the missions. This was one of my hang ups about earlier RTS games.
So that is where I come from. Here is where I am right now. I have completed the single player campaign on Normal(yeah, I know, big achievement) and am now pushing through it again on Brutal with an eye on getting achievements. I am becoming more and more engrossed with league play, even though I am sitting at #29 in my Bronze-level division, but I am learning.
I'll be venting my frustrations about my matches, my thoughts on the game, and keeping updates on where I am in the battle.net ladder, so if that interests you, keep coming back. If not, well, you can still keep coming back.
I played Starcraft, the original, for a total of a day when it launched and dismissed it as a Warcraft II clone with lasers instead of swords. I didn't particularly like WC2 either, other than the occasional multiplayer with friends. Perhaps I wasn't at the right point in my life to appreciate RTS games or perhaps I simply had other things to do. I don't really know.
After being addicted to WoW since its vanilla release but eventually souring to it after playing the WotLK expansion, I hungered for something new and different. Enter Starcraft 2.
Engaging, with enough story to keep me interested, and most importantly, missions that rarely able to be reduced to "build your base. kill the enemy base.". Admittedly, the zerg colonies would usually die in the process, but that is very rarely the central purpose of the missions. This was one of my hang ups about earlier RTS games.
So that is where I come from. Here is where I am right now. I have completed the single player campaign on Normal(yeah, I know, big achievement) and am now pushing through it again on Brutal with an eye on getting achievements. I am becoming more and more engrossed with league play, even though I am sitting at #29 in my Bronze-level division, but I am learning.
I'll be venting my frustrations about my matches, my thoughts on the game, and keeping updates on where I am in the battle.net ladder, so if that interests you, keep coming back. If not, well, you can still keep coming back.
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