I'm tired of playing Protoss now

5 games in a row, Random = Protoss.

Before the Replay:

Man, I don't know what happened.  Okay that's not totally true.  I threw away my army trying to be too agressive on his doorstep.  This whole thing is built around my macroing and building a lot.  I didn't have enough gateways, I didn't take a 4th early enough and I threw away my army in a stupid attack.

PvP, by the way.  I don't think I lose more games in any matchup...

After the Replay:

Watching through, he's got a solid build and a plan.  Lots of strong Robo units and a good mix of others.  But my macro is better, faster on the expands, more probes and a higher unit count.  Food's constantly pulling away from his too...slow but steady.

I moved my army out when I spotted his 3rd going up.  He sees the army moving out and cancels the Nexus.  I should have considered that a win, and to an extent I did.  But when I see the Nexus going back up I decide to advance again.  Stupid.

And at that point it's GG.

- 10 Points, Silver League Division Rank 13, Remaining Bonus Pool 81

http://www.gamereplays.org/starcraft2/replays.php?game=33&show=details&id=272934

Stalkers > Void Rays

Okay maybe not.  But with a greater economy and better build mechanics (and more upgrades!) I pulled it off.

We were both Random =)

+ 26 Points, Silver League Division Rank 17, Remaining Bonus Pool 38

http://sc2rep.com/replays/test_1349228866/20980

Not sure about this URL?  It may need to change...

It's not enough

This is the problem with just focusing on not getting supply blocked, continuing to build, etc.

Sometimes it's just not enough.

I got rolled by a Zerg.  I pushed on him a few times but never fully committed.  Hoped I would have some success putting pressure on him and making him waste his larva on Zerglings and Banelings.

Instead it just gave him the 15 minutes he needed to get his Broodlords and Ultralisks up instead.

Whoops.

He *smashed* me.

- 9 Point, Silver League Division Rank 40, Remaining Bonus Pool 36

http://drop.sc/256238

P.S. What's up with all the Shakuras games recently?  Does everyone down vote most of the other maps?  It's Silver League....not sure it's worth down voting any maps...but maybe that's just me?

Cloaked Banshees

PvT.  I felt confident based on his opening play that he was going cloaked banshees.  But I failed to build Observers anyway.  Threw down a cannon in my back mineral field just to be "safe" and that was that.

I failed to predict that he was going *mass* cloaked banshee.  When I pushed his front, lost my army and saw his masses, I tried to fix the problem.  But again, I failed.

Loss.

- 9 Points, Silver League Division Rank 30, Remaining Bonus Pool 21

http://drop.sc/254607

Much better game...

Much better this time around.  Built my units, kept my upgrades going, injected my larva and just produced a lot of units while keeping him pinned in his base.

Not much more to say really, quite a thorough win.  I couldn't force my way into his base, but I didn't have to.  Just kept expanding and kept him inside his base.

+ 30 Points, Silver League Division Rank 26, Remaining Bonus Pool 14

http://drop.sc/254253

PvP!

Protoss is my worst race to play, so it's never really surprised me that PvP is my worst matchup =)

I should have been more agressive early.  By the time I got in there he'd already gotten a pretty good army started.

More importantly, I didn't do great at constantly producing.  I was so distracted trying to think of what I needed to be doing and making decisions that I wasn't warping in and my money was getting high.

So all around a loss...but at least a manageable one.

- 8 Points, Silver League Division Rank 32, Remaining Bonus Pool 29

http://drop.sc/254224

Second match...

Let's see if I can do better.

...

Nope.  ZvP and I got owned hard again.

He built a crap load more units than I did and kept me on the defense.  Zealots, Stalkers, Void Rays.  I couldn't build and upgrade fast enough to deal with his overwhelming units and eventually he just *rolled* over me.

It's so frustrating to feel so bad at the game now.

- 0 points, Silver League Division Rank 45, Remaining Bonus Pool 40

http://drop.sc/253882

Focus

I'm having significant problems coping with everything I'm trying to be doing.  I can't keep macroing well enough and issuing commands to my units.  It just feels like everything's happening too quickly.

Zerg vs Protoss on Shakuras.  I opened 14 hatch 15 pool.  My timing's still off on getting my speed up for my speedlings.  It's not working as smoothly as I remember it working before, so I guess I need to keep practicing that.

I was making an effort to keep my injects up which I did okay with.  But after a while I had 5 hatches running and that was hard.  I had Speedling / Muta which totally failed.  Which I should have known.  My speedlings just can't deal with his Colossus deathball and I just kept losing to him.

My muta harass wasn't great, but it was okay.  I was killing probes and keeping him pinned in his base, keeping him on 2 bases and forcing him to build Cannons and Stalkers.  So eventually he just pushed out.  He had good forcefields and just *destroyed* my Speedlings.

After that it was pretty much over.

Then he was as a jerk after the game and sent me messages in Battlenet asking me why I didn't quit earlier, blah blah blah.  It wasn't like I hung out running around.  When he destroyed my mining bases and armies, I GG'd out.  Just another guy in another game I've /blocked.

- 11 Points, Platinum League Division Rank 44, Remaining Bonus Pool 251

http://drop.sc/143425

Dashboard

When I drive I look at my left side mirror, my right side mirror, my rear view mirror, my dashboard and from time to time even my front windshield.

I do these things and quickly make decisions about what's going on and what I need to do.  Change lanes now or later.  Speed up or slow down.  Think about getting gas.  Whatever.

There's no reason I can't apply that same skill set in Starcraft.

Specifically I'm talking about my being supply blocked.  I don't have a good feel for how much supply I have at any given time and how quickly I'm filling it up.  So I should compensate by being more aware of what my stat is at.  It's right there in the corner.

So tonight I'm going to roll that into the macro + constant agression.  Here goes:

Well it worked?  I did okay, I did get supply blocked once.  Shakuras...I opened 14 expand, 15 pool into Slowlings because I'm terrible.  But he was worse.  He fended off my harass lings with marines and his Hellions, so I threw a few Sunken Colonies (umm..what're they called in this game?) and Held my Queen at the ramp.  He saw he couldn't take it so he backed off..at which point my lings came, surrounded his Hellions and killed them.

It was pretty much GG after that.  He had a walloff but my Speedlings could get through the marine sized hole he hadn't plugged so I destroyed his expand, took a 3rd, locked up the others and built mutas.

+ 28 Points, Platinum League Division Rank 45, Remaining Bonus Pool 221

http://drop.sc/139291

Better? Better!

I felt a bit better about this game.

I mean, to be clear, I lost.  Rolled at or by the 15 minute mark like all the others since I got placed.  But I felt better.

Cross Map on Shakuras.  He didn't bother to check the Xel'naga towers.  I guess he just didn't think it mattered or just didn't realize that it was hurting him?  My one probe helped me defend so many times.

One of my problems at Protoss, just generically, is I'm not good at counter attacking.  So when I defend something, I never really feel comfortable moving out immediately.

Anyway, my harvester count pretty much kept up with him.  I expanded before he did, but didn't do a good job of keeping up with my upgrades and teching properly.

His tactic was to just keep hitting my front with Barracks units until he broke through.  Eventually he did, but if I'd just done a few things better I could have won.  So I call that a win =)

- 0 Points, Platinum League Division Rank 94, Remaining Bonus Pool

http:///www.sc2replayed.com/replay-videos/18210

I hate banelings

I lost.  I couldn't get myself agressive enough to stop his macro.  He very quickly expanded to almost every mineral node on the map and I just couldn't do anything to stop it.

I don't know what I should have done differently.  Drops?  Banshee harass?  I don't like to open mech, I'm not good with it and it's just not my style.

I saw him expand to what I figured was his third, I tried to push on it and got wiped.  At that point I knew it was pretty much over, but I crossed my fingers and just hoped.  I built a strong force and just kept building but I couldn't ever get out of my base.  I tried to do some harass with Vikings and had some success, but not enough.  I expanded to a third but it was really over.  My only hope was for him to mine out most of every other base on the map and then I could maybe get lucky.

I didn't.

Lesson learned - be more agressive.

- 12 Points, Gold League Division 32, Remaining Bonus Pool 209

http://www.sc2replayed.com/replay-videos/5527

Nothing gets my heart rate up like ZvZ

We both went Random but quickly scouted each other, cross position, as Zerg.  I went for a 15 hatch into Speedling and Roach.  He...did a 10 extractor - 13 pool opening (?)  into mass early Speedling with a proxy Spine Crawler.  It almost won.

Fortunately he failed to ever check the Towers so I had plenty of map information and warning to see when the attacks were coming and be ready.  By the 9 minute mark I'd fended off a few attacks and taken an economic lead.

He went for fast Mutas after that and had some decent harass, but again with my map control I got a good look at them early and was able to mitigate with Queens and Spore Crawlers until I had my Hydras up.  Once I had a good Roach / Hydra army up, I pushed and won.

+ 22 Points, Gold League Division Rank 26, Remaining Bonus Pool 182

http://www.sc2replayed.com/replay-videos/4368

Macro!

My 3 barracks TvT opening continues to treat me very well.

I opened and put some pressure on my opponent, pinning him back for a few.  He did a good job of pushing me out and back to my base, but built too many Marauders which just aren't that strong against Marines, so I defended easily and pushed him back, taking the Center towers.

I also used that time to get my second Command Center up so I expanded as soon as I defended his push.  I also kept making SCVs which he didn't, so by the time that second CC was landed at my Natural I had 6 more SCVs and by the time both our OCs were up at our expansions, 7 Barracks to his 4.

At that point it was a waiting game.  I expanded to my 3rd as he made his second push, but my position and composition (aka Marine to Marauder count) were both better.  So he turtled up at his Natural while I took my 4th and made Battlecruisers.  At the time he took his 3rd and I took my 4th I had 71 SCVs to his 40, my economy was dwarfing his and he just couldn't catch up in Supply or Tech.

+ 30 Points, Silver League Division Rank 12, Remaining Bonus Pool 232

http://www.sc2replayed.com/replay-videos/2140

Pressure, Contain, Harass

Another Zerg versus Terran game.  Both ZvTs today, interestingly enough, were versus Gold level players.

I early expanded and just kept a close eye on him.  He didn't move out with an early Marine harass at first so I droned up.  What he did do was some early Reaper harass which cost me a little mining time, but I had plenty of Queen action to deal with the Reapers and had some Zerglings out by then as well so after I fended them off, I just parked my 'lings outside his base.

When it became clear he just wanted to turtle and macro, I did the same.  Until I got my Mutalisks out.  I already had map control with the Zergling placement and the Mutalisks helped secure it.  He'd gotten some good scans in so he knew I had a spire and had built turrets, but it didn't prevent me from harassing..just reduced the effectiveness.

Eventually my macro and map control won out, he couldn't effectively move anywhere on the map and was being out mined / produced so he GG'd out.

+ 38 Points, Silver League Division Rank 45, Remaining Bonus Pool 348

http://www.sc2replayed.com/replays/173205-1v1-terran-zerg-shakuras-plateau

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBULQ--wmlg

More sucking

God, I just feel like a terrible player.  Forgetting to inject, forgetting to drone, not making enough units, not putting enough pressure on.  Not knowing when to attack and when to pull back.  Constantly making the wrong decision at the wrong time.

It feels like I'm just doing everything wrong.

I rewatch these games and I don't see what I can do better.  I see mistakes, I just can't ever seem to correct them.

Disheartened at the moment, no lesson learned for now.  Just defeated.

- 11 Points, Silver League Division Rank 73, Remaining Bonus Pool 186

http://www.sc2replayed.com/replays/164286-1v1-zerg-shakuras-plateau

Hrm

Apparently I suck today.

Lesson Learned, I am terrible.  I cannot beat anyone in any situation.

I don't even know what to say.  I tried to go zergling mutalisk.  He built marines and tanks off one base and steamrolled everything I did.  I forgot to put guys in gas early so my zergling speed was late, but not late enough to matter.  I...I don't know.  I just suck.

+ 0 Points, Silver League Division Rank 99, Remaining Bonus Pool 170

http://www.sc2replayed.com/replays/163199-1v1-terran-zerg-shakuras-plateau