Terran Wall of Tanks

So this season has been horrible so far. I am not doing well. This season I have encountered a ton of Terrans and Protoss players – so many in fact, that I have lost what little skill I had against Zerg too.

My largest problem is still Terran. On most map there is no way to scout whether they are fast expanding or doing a quick push. As soon as the first marine or two is out, the probe I have out scouting is soon to die. You may catch if the Terran is doing something extremely cheesy, but that is about it. Usually you just see that the first factory goes up and that is it. The wall-in prevents you from sending another scout too.

So my conclusion is that you have to assume that he will do a quick push. I think I have mastered the build against it, but what if the push does not come? What if it is there and I hold it back with a lot of trouble? My conclusion from previous games is that doing a ground army is suicide. I have to go either fast arbiters or fast carriers? So how much tech and how many gateways are needed before transitioning into carriers? I’ve lost a lot of games going 2 gateways, so I probably need 3 or more… I also need observers, although not as early as I once though.

I still think that the worst part is figuring out what the Terran is going to do. He controls the game-flow. I just need to figure his timings out.

Rude

So I was called bad mannered and rude earlier today in a game. I think that was BM and rudely done by my opponent. Basically I played versus a Terran player who had clearly gained an advantage and he asked me to leave. I declined as I had still two bases (two to his one), but probably fewer workers. I though: I will probably loose this game, but I can still practice my micro a bit more.

He said he had to go and implied that it would be rude of me, not to give him his win. I replied that if he had to go, he should not have joined a game. After all, we had only played for about 10 minutes then.

I do think hiding a pylon in the corner and not conceding the game when that is all that you have left is rude, but wanting to play a game to its end, even after it most likely have been decided, is not. At least that is my view.

Looking at his stats, I can see that he is the kind of player that quickly goes up to D+ in level, then reset his account so he can be matched up against sucky players like me. I go on iccup to find opponents at my own level, others to beat up n00bs.

FafnerX vs ScreamZerg

Since my last video was such a huge success and I recently played a fairly satisfying PvT, I think it is time for another video. This game I did not record as I played it, so it is basically a replay I recorded.

(Part 1, 2 & 3)

The comments regarding the last video generally recommended not-trying to stop the Terran ground army, but either going around and/or going air. I suck at that so I decided to try going fast carriers. This game illustrate how that went.

During the game my impression was that my opponent was pretty good. In fact his APM was about 20% lower than mine, his first expansion was late and he is normally a Zerg player that just happens to go Terran vs. other Protoss players.

Anyway, despite the fact that we both suck, the game turned out to be rather interesting.

Protoss vs Protoss

I’ve played a couple of those matchups recently. How come they always drop a reaver in my mineral line exactly when I move out with all my units?

Should I really leave two dragoons back in my base? It seems I need all the forces that I got when I do that first push…

I don’t like this season

I must admit that I think this iC Cup season has started pretty badly. I am like 3-7 by now and barely at D level. I think I meet a lot of good players like the Terran in the FPVOD below.

(Part 1, 2 and 3)

I did get a drop of that was partially successful, but whether it even paid back the investment in the drop off, is highly debatable.

After that it was the usual where mine units died to mines and tank fire and where turrets everywhere made breaking his line close to impossible. I really don’t know how to handle decent Terrans.

Newcomers

Yesterday I had the pleasure to play against a brand new player. A guy who had recently picked up Starcraft: Brood War in anticipation of the new game. When I got in contact with him, he had already played an amazing number of games on iC Cup. He had lost a lot but still seemed motivated.

So I played a couple of games against him and his openings was studied and his APM was relative high. I rapidly became very impressed with his attitude to the game.

In the end I won all the games because his tactical understanding was not on par with his enthusiasm and because his builds were not tight enough. After the games I sat back feeling both superior because I have come much further than him and happy that newcomers would pick up a game I like so much and seek out others to learn.