Learning SC2

Over the past week I have had what I felt to be a few leaps and bounds in the improvement of my play. As if to acknowledge this last night I was promoted to Gold. Please excuse me for a moment:

WOOOOOOOOOooooooooooHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo!!!

Now that thats out of my system I thought I might discuss what I have been doing up to this point and what I felt got me into Gold.

My Time In Bronze – Playing Random

A lot of my time spent in Bronze was spent simply trying things out and practicing. Although this meant no real ladder progress for a long while (I was in Bronze for many months) I think it went a long way towards shaping my view of the game now and helped me to create my current style.

In Bronze I played as Random, learning all three races really helped me to understand the strengths and limitations of each. It also had another effect: I never blame my losses on race, imbalance etc but rather my own mistakes. Internalising success and failure in this way has really driven me to improve.

If you are currently in Bronze this is my advice: don’t rush. Spend a decent amount of time trying different races, styles, strategies and just practicing the basics of the game.

My Time in Silver – Discovering My Style

Right before I was promoted to Silver I settled on a specific race to play (Protoss), my choice was based on the feeling that Protoss’ mechanics and army control/positioning best suited the style I wanted to play. Most of my time spent in Silver was spent discovering my style. A big part of this process was watching Pro players like iNcontrol and HuK play and trying out things that they did.

It was also around this time that I discovered the chat channel/group PRACBUD. Having such a large group of people willing to play practice games with me really sped up my progress in Silver.

Getting Promoted to Gold – Learning a Match-Up

As I mentioned earlier, about a week ago I had a leap in my gameplay and this was the result of focusing on learning one match-up. Recently, I played in the finals of PRACBUD’s ‘Baneling Cup’ where I lost to an excellent, macro style Zerg player. It was one of the first times where I actually thought “there is no way I can beat this player today”. This really motivated me to learn all about Protoss vs Zerg.

So I just forgot about the other two match-ups and focused entirely on PvZ. I researched, watched games and eventually I discovered a way that I wanted to play the match-up (iNcontrol’s PvZ Style). After practicing this style and learning the ins and outs of the match-up I started winning a lot against Zerg on the ladders (I was regularly beating Gold and Platinum Zergs as a Silver-level player). In game I actually felt extremely confident and the Zerg players seemed really predictable. Of course I was still getting hammered in my other two match-ups.

After about a week of beating nearly every Zerg I played and going about 50/50 with the other races I was promoted to Gold. I take this promotion as a sign that I am on the right track. So my next step is to learn the other two match-ups one at a time and continue my learning of PvZ.

Hopefully this provides some insight into my progress so far and helps to motivate you to continue improving your game as well. I hope to have another one of these articles to write very soon!

When you first begin to play Starcraft 2 against other human beings one thing will almost always happen; you will feel that the game is pretty clear cut. Starcraft is just about who has the better units or who can play faster right? The truth is Starcraft is just like many other learning experiences, the more you learn the more you realise there is to know.

“Starcraft 2 is just like many other learning experiences, the more you learn, the more you realise there is to know.”

Once I started to realise the scope of what there is to understand about this game I felt utterly lost. I had played a few other strategy games before I played SC2 but I had never ventured below the surface of these games, and when it happened with SC2 I knew that I wanted to learn everything but I had no idea where to begin.

Chances are if you are reading this post you are just starting to realise that there is a lot more to this game than you first thought. The question of “what are the crucial first things to learn?” has been bothering me for many months now, but I think I have finally got it down.

This series of articles (The Very Beginning) will be about those things which I have discovered were the most important things to learn in the very beginning. The first thing I will be looking at and the first thing you should learn about is the Races. This article will also talk about picking your race.

Starcraft 2’s Races

First of all, in Starcraft 2 there are three races; Terran, Protoss and Zerg. Right you already knew that but the important thing is actually the differences between them. It is important to note that no one race is better than the others, nor is any race easier to learn. But they are all very different and you may find that you prefer the way one race plays over the others.

“No one race is better than the others, nor is any race easier to learn.”

A very general description would see us describe the three races in the following way:

Terran

Terran is seen as the most resourceful race, they have many tactical options available to them and can come back from the brink of a loss if the opponent does not completely destroy them. As mankind is known for utilising their surroundings to their fullest advantage so to do Terran. On the scale of troop numbers to troop survivability Terran are the middle ground with a good number of fairly survivable units.

Planetary Fortress are the best defensive building in the game, especially when combined with the repair ability of the SCV.

Main features of Terran:

• The ability to wall of  ramps or choke points with buildings that can either lift off or submerge to allow units to pass.
• The ability for most buildings to lift off and fly to a new location make them able to relocate to a new base or tactical position with ease.
• SCV’s can repair buildings and mechanical units. This feature allows for easier defence as well as the ability to maintain an aggressive mechanical army.
• Free bunkers. Bunkers can be salvaged for a refund of their cost price. As such, they can be used defensively and aggressively with little economic risk.
• Planetary fortress are an extremely powerful defensive option and are even better when combined with SCV’s repair ability.
• Cloaked helicopters. Need I say any more?

Protoss

Protoss is an advanced and ancient race but their numbers are few. They make up for this by being the sturdiest of the three races and also by having an excellent selection of support units. This combination often sees deceptively small forces of Protoss units overcome much larger armies.

Forcefields can turn the tide of a battle for Protoss.

Main features of Protoss:

• Buildings warp in rather than build. A Probe need only start the Warp-in process after which they can move on to another task. This feature means that can a single Probe can set up an entire base very quickly.
• A selection of Protoss’ units can be warped in almost instantly anywhere a power grid exists (created by Pylons and Warp Prisms). This means that a large defensive army can be raised instantly or that an attacking army can be easily reinforced. Warping in of units can also be used to sneakily bypass opponents defensive forces.
• All Protoss units and structures have a good selection of Psionic abilities such as forcefields can change the course of any battle.
• Lasers are cool!

Zerg

Zerg is a race of insect like units that are controlled by a single mind entity. Zerg units are individually fragile but they more than make up for this with far greater numbers than the other races. If you are precious with your units Zerg is not for you. Zerg players are well known to expand, surround and chip away at the enemy army until an opening in their defences is found at which point they flood in and devour everything.

Attacks from a Nydus Worm can end the game for an unprepared enemy.

Main features of Zerg:

• Larvae system see multiple units able to spawn at the same time. Because of this it is possible for Zerg to replenish its forces almost as quickly as they are killed.
• Many units can burrow underground and some can even tunnel allowing for the repositioning of units and giving them the ability to carry out a surprise attack after which they can re-burrow and tunnel away.
• Nydus Network allows for entire armies to enter a giant worm at one end and exit at another end anywhere the Zerg player has vision. Using this an army can even be released in the back of your opponents base, attack, and when defensive forces arrive the army can retreat to the safety of the network. This mechanic easily makes Zerg the most mobile race.
• Zerg players are arguably the most badass of Starcraft 2 players.

Selecting Which Race to Play

Selecting your race can be difficult, so just pick which you think is the coolest!

Choosing one race to stick with is advisable at the beginner level, specialising in this way allows you to learn moreabout your race and how it plays. After you are confident with one race you may wish to learn another or to play random, but in the beginning pick just one. But how do you make this decision, what if you end up hating the race?

Well, the first thing to remember is your choice is not permanent. If you do want to learn another race at a later date you can easily do it and what you learned with your first race is not wasted. On the contrary, it gives you a deeper understanding of that race’s strengths and weaknesses which will benefit you when you play against them.

I recommend that you just pick your first race purely based on which one you think is the coolest, which one you think suits your personality the most or which one you think will be most fun to play. After all you want to identify with your race choice and to have fun with it.

Which race did you choose? If you have already decided how did you come to that decision? Leave a comment and let everyone know!