Fundamentals: Build only what your ecomony can sustain

This is a tough one for many people. They want to build three starports or six warpgates but in the end only use about half of what they build. Before you build a building, you should instantly ask yourself this question: Do I have the economy to build from this structure constantly? If the answer is no, then you do not need to build it. Its as simple as that. You only need the structures that fit in with your overall build and you also only need the buildings that you will be using all the time. When I build to four gates, I make sure that I have the minerals and gas to use them everytime that the cooldown is up. This means that I am constantly warping in four units at a time. For the majority of my matches this is enough for my needs but sometimes i may need a fifth gate. When I feel that I do, I always look at what i have remaining after a four unit warp in and watch to see how rapidly it replenishes itself. If I have a good rate, i know I can afford that fifth gate. Its the same that applies with all the races. Do I need that sixth barrack or third starport? Do I need seven spawning pools? This also goes hand in hand with the "Build a supply building, build a worker" That Day 9 talks about. Fundementals will win matches more than fancy tech or crazy stratagies. I have noticed a marked improvement since taking the time to practice everyday, since I started the mantra from day 9, and since I started questioning my needs for more buildings. All the fundementals locki in to place with each other to form a soild win.

Fundementals: Practice

This cannot be said more. Practice makes a better player. You can analyze, strategize and watch all you want but if you are one of those players that only plays once a day or week or month, then I hate to be the one to tell you but you probably won't improve very fast or at all. You need to play at least a few games a week and then watch the replay and see what you did right if you won or what you did wrong if you lost. See what your opponent did better than you and what he did worse than you and take that to the next game. I like to keep notes and go over games to see what I have improved on and what I'm still lacking. Practice makes perfect!

Fundamentals: Build a worker - Pylon

So I have been very busy lately, forgive me. I realized I was a terrible player so I needed to get back to the basics. So this is the start of a series on just that, the fundamentals, the things you absolutely have to do t0 be a better player. If you can get the basics down, you can excel to the highest ladders of play. These are things that even those in diamond league are good at.

The first and most basic thing you need to do is build workers. Sounds easy right? Ah, it is but many player in the lower ladder leagues such as yours truly, forget that this means constant production. You should at all times have a worker cued up. By doing this you have an ever expanding pool of resources to draw upon thus giving you an edge over your opponent. I cannot stress how important it is to practice this. Every build, every strategy is built on such a solid foundation. Fail at this and you fall behind and as we know, falling behind means you lose. There are things that can be done to help you remember this important basic. the first is to keep it in the forefront of your mind. "Build a Probe (SCV, Drone), build a Pylon (Supply depot, Overlord). by mumbling this to yourself over and over for a few games, it becomes a mantra and when that happens, win happens.

The next part of that message is build a pylon/supply depot/overseer. By doing this you ensure that when your supply gets close to max you already have one down, thus eliminating supply block issues. You should always be keeping an eye on this because supply block is a dangerous thing. Workers don't get made, units don't get made and suddenly your opponent is excelling pass you. Never neglect either and everything else will fall into place.

The Gaming Mother

My children have a gaming mother. She doesn't get to play as often as she would like but she does and thats just one tiny thing that makes her cool in both my eyes and theirs. She understands the desire to play these games which helps her understand why they want to use the computer all the time. She relishes the small moments that she herself gets to play, after putting up with them and me all day long. Again this is just one tiny sliver of what makes my wife cool. She does so much for my children and me I don't have the room or time to tell you about all of it just a few bits like almost all the cooking (Superb), Laundry, homework, playtime and bedtime. I really could not ask for a better friend through life and my children are very lucky to have her. I love you so much Dear! Ok at some point today I will get around to video games. . .

I am a moron when. . .

. . . It comes to videos. So far I have some great examples of how to do 4 gate and how not to do it, what its great againist and what its aweful against. I have the build down firmly but I can stand to work mostly on my mid to late game. My problem is that I stop at the forth gate and then don't know what to do next. I have counters to learn for the various troops so I know what to warp in and when.

That being said, I have yet to figure out how to load a replay up to this blog for all to see. I will get it eventually but if you have suggestions or ideas, it would be much appreciated so then I can load up a game and go through it as opposed to me just typing and you not getting to see. Fun times.

Well thats it for this. Tune in next post to my rant on people who cheese it and call it a stratagy.

A Sad Win

Ok so my first game played since I started this blog. It was not my best. I managed to screw up the entire build and only pulled off the win because my opponent was a moron. He was playing Terran and made some bad mistakes like forgetting to wall himself in and building only a few Maurders. Then he decides he is going to build reapers pretty late game and attack but by this time I already had plenty of zealots, stalkers and a few Dark Templars. He attacks and I respond by doing the same, walking into his base and destroying it even after he scanned my D.Ts. All in all not my best game but a win is a win.

Build order:

Probe, Probe, Probe, Probe til I get to 10. At 10, I build a pylon then immediately a gateway. Its around here I do scouting to find my opponent then I figure out where the best place for a pylon is and place it. While gateway is going up, I build an assimulator. a few more probes then as soon as the gateway is finished, I go for the Cybernetics core, chrono boosting it all the way having saved them for this reason. While that's going, I build another assimulator and then three gateways. They usually finish as the research does then immediately I turn them into warp gates. then I start warping in units, usually stalkers but also a few zealots and sentinals as well. I also build a Twilight Council and a dark temple next. Thats the basic build for me although the D.Ts are a branch of what I do. It really depends on what I see him doing. Massing Marines? I go Colossi. Air? Phoenixes. It all depends. Well thats what I have started with so comments and suggestions welcome! thanks and will post again soon!