So its about midnight where I am and I've decided to update this blog. So I went back to my first post of this blog that is linked above within the spoiler and looked at my goals. I noticed that I have meet one of my goals, which is to have an APM of over 100 consistently. While last week I did have some games that were over 100 APM this is the week where all my games have been at that consistent level. My new goal is to have an APM of over 150. I believe that if I am able to reach that new goal (which at the rate I am increasing I should have no problem doing) my mechanics should be good enough to get me to D+.
As for the build order I was practicing I decided to stop practicing it due to the fact that I believe I do not have enough micro and macro to win with it (you can see the results of using this build here). I've switched to a 3 gate goon build with observers. Its very macro heavy and I am liking it alot. There is enough dragoons that reavers are usually not a problem when you snipe them and DTs can be dealt with relatively easily. It also gets an expansion out before reaver harass comes, and sometimes you can prevent the reaver harass just by pressuring with the dragoon advantage so that the reaver is kept at the natural choke.
I was playing Gaia last week since I could use the same reaver build that I was using on Python. I had a 20.9% winning rate on Python (9 wins and 34 loses) and that rate improved to 27% when I played on Gaia last week (10 wins and 27 loses), so this is a slight improvement. I played two games on Heartbreak Bridge today and I went 2-0! First game was a proxy gateway into DTs and I was able to fend off at the last minute when my first observer came out. After that failed I just 1a2a3aed to win the game. After watching the replay and listening to Tasteless and Artosis discussing Starcraft II, I realized that if I had counted the pylons my opponent had I would have know there was some hidden tech or a hidden gateway. Man, its little tricks like that nobody seems to write in guides that can really improve your play.
The second game that I played was my three gate goon with observers build against a reaver build. With constant pressure and harassment I was eventually able to delay his nexus, snipe his reavers, and then eventually plow over whatever units he had left. I made a few mistakes such as not microing my dragoons to snipe the reaver sooner and I did not rally my gateways right outside his natural's choke as well, which probably would have made a big difference. If anyone knowledgeable could take a look at this replay and critique it that would be great. The replay is here.
Also, to all those people who have offered to play practice games, sorry I have ignored you but I don't really have a good way to keep track of practice partners. How does everyone keep track of their practice partners? There has to be a better way to keep track of them then to add them to your SC friends list.
Also to all D level plays I'm looking for people who want to play practice games. You can send me a message on iCCUP (my account is linked above in the spoiler tab). Or just add me as a friend on iCCUP and post your iCCUP account. I'm within the EST time zone if anyone wants to know.