My Road to Masters: Week 1

It's been a busier week than I expected. Ive been working with my gf's dad painting a house, been partying/celebrating the 4th of July with friends and stuff, so I barely had any spare time to play, but I still did try to sneak in several hours of SC2 for 3 or 4 days since the last time I wrote the previous blog post.

What I've Learned/Observed
TvZ
After watching MarineKing go bio vs Stephano and Symbol at MLG Spring Championship, I got pretty inspired. I've been doing his 1 Rax FE into 4 Rax Stim/Shield/+1 Att push timing. What I really like about this build, given the current tendency of Zerg going for quick 3 bases before gas, is that I can move out at around 6:00-6:30 if I take a couple of SCVs, and the 3rd Hatch goes down. It's being working quite successfully. Even when the opponent tries to 2 base all in me, its not that hard to defend. I just gotta wall-off, scatter my units, and keep on macroing. I actually just played a game where this guy kept on trying bust me over and over again, up until the point that I lost my natural, lost all but about 4 of SCVs, and still won. Over-extension is deadly

If anyone is interested in watching that game let me know.

TvP
I started doing Bomber's 1 Rax FE into 1 gas, the build he used at Red Bull Battlegrounds. I really like this build, because once I push out and they took an early 3rd, I can easily take it out. However, I'm kind of at a loss at what to do when they don't take a quick third and turtle on 2 bases.
Also, I have to work on being able to defend against DTs early game and void day all ins. I found out that if either of these happen, I can build an earlier Ebay in my build so that I can hold it off. I still want to find the window to do so, however, and be able to transition with said modification. However, I have not been able to practice this on the ladder, as my Protoss opponents have been going for the longer game a lot more frequently, which leads me to my next point.
Late game TvP has been somewhat of a struggle for me lately. And not because I find imbalance in the matchup, but because I am horrible at controlling my army with 3 hot keys (1 MMM, 2 ghosts, 3 Vikings). To be honest, I know that I lose because I also make a lot wrong decisions and this matchup once it gets to the late game. I wanna practice this matchup a lot more, try and narrow down my mistakes and identify them in order to address them.

TvT
I rarely find Terrans on the ladder anymore. However, when I do, they are the cheesiest fuckers in the game. Granted, not all of them are like this, but it is worth mentioning. Regardless, I always open with a cloak banshee expand and transition into mech. I always play for the late game in this matchup, but I can stop refine my build. As of now, I macro on a whim. I don't have set times for building factories/armories/starports/expos. I just do it as I go along. I usually always win, so I don't worry too much about it, but I know I should start to pay attention to my build order. The times I do lose are usually thanks to me having complete brain farts. So I should working on not brain farting.

In Other News...
- I unlocked the 750 Solo Terran Wins Acheivement. Or whatever the hell it's called. Not a big deal, but yay!
- I've been hitting Diamond players a lot more frequently now. It's at the point where it's mostly Diamonds with very few Plats sprinkled in there. Progress!
- I have joined FlowSoft Gaming! A new team has been formed and I am currently on their B team. Hopefully I can soon join their A team and play in clan wars and the like.

After Thoughts
I'm going to try to be a bit more disciplined with my training. Unfortunately, my schedule can be very hectic, but I'll try to be a bit more organized with it. As far as this blog goes, it's going to be a weekly thing and I'll try to be a lot more detailed with it, cuz so far it doesn't seem all that interesting to me. If you guys have any ideas to throw in, please do so. Also, some people have asked for my ingame details: PaleRider.992 on the NA server. If you guys want to practice with me, feel free to send me a message or something anytime, as I want all the practice I can get.

Quote of the Week
This is something my girlfriend's uncle told me earlier today, and I love it cuz it can apply to a lot of things we all do.

"Don't find excuses. Find solutions."

"I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are." - Mewtwo

iTzSnypah United States. July 10 2012 12:59. Posts 1208

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You'll be in for a shock when you hit Diamond. I was when I got into Diamond. It seems Diamond Terrans know how to play TvT. Oh and 6min ebay will put you stupidly behind compared to a 1rax FE.

Team Liquid needs more Terrans.

PaleRider09 United States. July 11 2012 13:03. Posts 70

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On July 10 2012 12:59 iTzSnypah wrote:
You'll be in for a shock when you hit Diamond. I was when I got into Diamond. It seems Diamond Terrans know how to play TvT. Oh and 6min ebay will put you stupidly behind compared to a 1rax FE.

Yeah they're starting to get pretty good, that's why I gotta start getting my stuff more clean cut and stuff.

"I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are." - Mewtwo

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