Learning SC2

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Kenny ‘aLtShortizz‘ Ang, GrandMaster Zerg on SEA (Rank 87 at the time of writing) and I am very excited to present this to you.

What makes aLtShortizz’s story so exciting is that he went from Bronze to GrandMasters in a short seven months! This sort of progress is inspirational to many of us who are struggling in Bronze or even somewhere in the middle and just goes to show that players aren’t born in GM.

Hello Shortizz and thank you for allowing me to interview. First lets just have you introduce yourself!

Hi everyone, my name is Kenny Ang and I play under the nickname aLtShortizz. I am currently a GM on SEA server and Master on NA and KR servers.

You have created a bit of a stir in the SEA community for your inspiring progress on the ladders, care to share your achievement with us?

I was placed in Bronze league back in February and got promoted into GM league in August. It was something like Season 1 – Gold, Season 2 – Rank 1 Master, Season 3 – GM. Winning the Sc2SEA community open twice was also very rewarding and I got recognition through that and was eventually invited to join top Singapore clan aLt.

What made you decide to play Zerg, and, have you ever had a moment where you wanted to change races?

I played Zerg in Broodwar and naturally chose Zerg again in SC2. The Zerg mechanics were harder to grasp for me in the beginning (I tried the other races too), but I felt that with better understanding and control of the mechanics, especially the queen, Zerg has a lot of potential.

There were many times where I was frustrated and often thought that I was losing to lesser players, thus leading me to contemplate a race switch. I believe everyone went through phases like that but in order to improve, you need to stop thinking that your losing to lesser players and focus more on why you are losing in the first place. For example, I dont blame Terran OP for winning with a 11/11 bunker rush (Although I think its cheap). I prefer to take the loss as me not defending the bunker rush well enough despite knowing how to.

 “I believe in order to improve, you need to stop thinking that your losing to lesser players and focus more on why you are losing in the first place.”

What inspired you to try to get really good at StarCraft 2?

As I have stated in my Strategy guide [on SC2SEA.com], in order to improve quickly and massively, you have to devote alot of time and effort into it. After playing BW for 5 years, I was shocked and humiliated to be place into Bronze league when I did my placements. I guess that was actually a good start looking back at it now as it stirs up the competitiveness in me.

How does it feel to have progressed the way that you have? Are you happy to rest on your laurels now, or do you have a ‘next step’ planned?

I intend to at least maintain my current standard while practising a lot more with my teammates. Balancing life and gaming is very important and when a choice has to be made, everyone should put gaming aside. If you get too overwhelmed in trying to improve and play, it will consume you and thats never a good thing.

On that note, how have you balanced normal life and SC2, and, has anyone from ‘real  life’ been supportive or disagreed with what you were doing?

My GF bought me my copy of SC2 because she knew how much I had loved BW. I was hesitant to purchase it because I knew exactly how much it might consume me =P. I wouldn’t say alot of people are supportive of my practise because gaming is not really a hobby that most would look up to.

Hopefully that will change in the future!

How does a typical day of practice go for you?

When I was practising to get into GM league (always aim high) I would do 5-10 Games of custom games, watch replays of games that I lost and didn’t understand why then Ladder 5-10 games. So thats pretty much 10-20 games a day, not counting the hours I spent researching timings and build orders.

After getting into GM, I play mostly on average of 5 games just to keep myself  ‘updated’. A lot of people think that you have to consistently play a lot to reach and maintain a high level but really, all you need is a period where u have time to make a good push and then you can sit back on it and just maintain your standard.

StarCraft 2 seems to be a game that becomes deeper the more you look. What would you say has changed about the way you see StarCraft 2 since Bronze?

Being in BSG (Bronze/Silver/Gold) was actually a lot more fun compared to nowadays. There were so many players whom you can compete with and everyone does really fun and weird stuff that cracks you up! However, once you attain a certain ranking and you’ll realise that the people you are playing are usually the same. Its either a TA, nGen, aLt or SPR that you would be laddering against these days (on SEA). And quite honestly, its getting a little too boring especially when some people do the same opening almost every game.

Game play wise, being in Bronze gives you a lot of room for improvement and the satisfaction that comes with it. The satisfaction comes mostly from winning tournaments since there are very little people that you actually surpass.

What have been the most important factors in your progress?

The satisfaction of improving and beating people whom are considered the best. Also, I would like to say that being part of a community helps too. When I was hanging out with PRACBUD and ClanFaDe, they would constantly cheer me on because they want to see a GM amongst themselves. I guess that made me more proud when I achieved what me and my friends wanted.

Do you have any final tips for the Bronzies out struggling to get promoted?

Playing 1000 games everyday will get you nowhere if you do not realise your mistakes. Sometimes, listening is actually more important that playing. Search around for some useful tips and guides and try to define your ‘play-style’ from there. I strongly suggest everyone to sign up for tournaments that are listed in Sc2SEA.com. Dont just play in BSGs, join the Open tournaments too so you can have a chance to play against high level players. The only way to improve is to constantly play against better players and the look at your mistakes after you lose.

Lastly, dont be disheartened and always remember this is a game that we bought to relax ourselves. If losing too much gets to you, just walk away and come back later.

Sound advice! Thanks again for your time.

Do you have a story of triumph to tell? Let us know about it in the comments below or send us an email!

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!