Bad session — I didn’t even clear out my bonus pool! Then again, it ended with a win against a Top 8 Platinum, so I’m a little confused.

PvP: In one game, I hesitated to attack and turned around without even checking up the ramp — I think it’s this kind of bad decision making that cost me games tonight. That was my first AM game where I’ve actually had to expand. I’m rusty, but still practically undefeated.

PvT: Cutting Probes and doing the Gateway at 8 works for now. My next step is to try Gateways at the natural to ween a few more seconds. I don’t know if that would generally provoke aggression or a Bunker but it’s something to try.

PvZ: I lost maybe 5-6 games in a row, so I’m feeling pretty terrible. It’s a combination of hotkey fuckups (and Colossus getting stuck on Ohana), 10 Pool panic, passivity and general “not sure what to do”-ness (and just being shit at the game).

It’s clear I just need more practice against Zerg — usually I only get one or two matches per session and I’ll be playing with Roach-Hydra on my mind against someone using Mutalisks, forgoing Stalkers to do obnoxious Warp Prism harass, etc.

My next post will be better.

PvZ: I’m playing a 3 Gateways/base Stalker-only macro style. It works out okay, but Zergs are far too few and far between on this ladder to really see if it’s effective. I know it would be weak against committed Roach and Zergling attacks, but it feels strong against my opponents so far.

PvT: Drop awareness is usually one of my strengths, but it was pretty shitty today. For some reason, I also stopped using multiple army groups and there are at least a couple of games where I’ve warped Archons using the wrong Templars, blocked ramps with Stalkers and stacked Force Fields or Guardian Shields in a panic.

Overall, I’m still lost with how to approach PvT — I know fast expands work, but they’re just not in my style. I feel the only way to improve the aggression is to proxy a Gateway, or delay it to the point where it might as well be a 4Gate. The new maps definitely need adjusting to — I can’t find a way to punish the gassless expand.

PvP: Zealot-Archon. Hahahaha.

My next post will be better.

My next post will be better.

I think I actually played better when I was drunk. Today’s session was a reversal of my norm, dominating PvP and struggling with PvT, but still not finding any Zerg opponents.

My PvT early aggression isn’t effective any more, a hard cutoff where my opponents have just started defending better. My intended change is to use five Probes on gas instead of four — the extra Sentries being essential to breaking any Bunkers — but I might do something radical and actually start using fast-expand builds.

Maybe it’s just the AM ladder, but I knew I’d reach this skill level eventually. I know there’ll eventually be a point where people start using Hellions, 1/1/1s before 10 minutes, or effective Medivac attacks, but I’ve gotta just beat one obstacle at a time.

My next post will be better.

I placed Gold on my AM account. Dutch courage is one way to offset ladder anxiety, even if it means I play horribly. I was focussing a lot on doing the little things and ‘/dancing’ a lot against a some really bad opponents. I feel like games are a bit more casual and chatty over here.

Minimap awareness was shit, but I still managed to Feedback some Medivac drops (I mean to post a variety of screenshots, but this spell is just so satisfying). I lost games to Mutalisks and getting caught expanding against what was very obviously an incoming 3 Barracks timing attack.

Watching these replays back has been fun. I decided to start a Starcraft notebook, but I’m not sure exactly what purpose it’ll serve, but I think it’s about time that I actively try to improve my game.

My next post will be better.

I’m playing with some overall 4% better win rate this season (T: 68%, Z: 48%, P:53%). It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s actually a significant swing. It’s mainly just from better economy management.

I’m using a low Sentry, fast Twilight Council style: my Stalker opening into Charge Zealots and High Templar in PvT and the obnoxious Archon-Charge PvP build. I’m surprised that no-one seems to consider a Charge nerf (increased cooldown? reduced speed bonus? Sentry energy upgrade in return?).

I think this is what messes me up when the occasional Zerg game comes up, because I should always take the Robotics path. I’ve also cleared all my vetos which has messed up my experimentation with FFEs - I guess it’s one too many 7RRs that made me change back. I think a FFE with double Robotics/Stargate works, but I don’t get enough PvZs to really practice it.

I don’t think I remember the last time I was up against a Zergling Rush (6 Pool). I forget how far it puts an opponent behind and that people that do it are usually weak in the rest of their game.

My next post will be better.

Long week ahead. Nevermind. Computer science’d it.

My next post will be better.