tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22854246987394115622024-03-13T13:01:21.525-07:00SC2 StratsStarcraft 2 tips and strategies delivered daily.SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-19667096661873976622010-11-18T13:36:00.000-08:002010-11-18T13:37:14.723-08:00Unit Analyis: Sentry<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Today I'll be analyzing the sentry. The sentry is of course a protoss unit and I would argue perhaps one of the most useful units in the protoss army. Any serious protoss player I'm sure would agree. It has many uses and can be utilized in many different ways to help bolster the impact of an army or protect it from others.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiWHdvFdhoVeHuFOkI61ffW_Kza-9u1jKLtDB7o4SGKNbClUsUDqVDNseTRjM8Y4-MIXVUVfBwebnmxxF7WixXz8QkKk6E7o8aVONJxiHIhzM61-cYNUtY4WtUVd5C05cXEZ0_zkotZxY/s1600/Sentry_SC2_DevRend1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiWHdvFdhoVeHuFOkI61ffW_Kza-9u1jKLtDB7o4SGKNbClUsUDqVDNseTRjM8Y4-MIXVUVfBwebnmxxF7WixXz8QkKk6E7o8aVONJxiHIhzM61-cYNUtY4WtUVd5C05cXEZ0_zkotZxY/s320/Sentry_SC2_DevRend1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The sentry has 2 default spells: guardian shield and force field, as well as one that can be later researched: hallucination. On top of all of that, the sentry also has a beam attack that can hit ground or air. It doesn't do a whole lot of damage, but enough to make an impact for sure. As you can tell already, the sentry having these skills and even being able to attack bake it an extremely valuable unit. They are a bit expensive for early game units at 50 minerals and 100 gas, but this is because they are not meant to be massed in large quantities, but rather used as supporting units much like the infestor for zerg. It is however, much easier to get them out before an infestor.</span></div><div style="color: white;"><br />
</div><div style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">First I'll explain the abilities it contains and how they affect gameplay, then I'll go into specific uses for them. The three abilities are:</span></div><div style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></div><div style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Guardian Shield:</span></div><div style="color: white;"><br />
</div><div style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Guardian shield costs 75 energy and provides a shield of 4 range all around the sentry. It reduces incoming ranged attacks by 2 damage to friendly units. Note: this does NOT help against melee attacks, hence it will NOT help against zerglings. It creates basically a small shield around the sentry that affects all nearby friendly units that happen to fall within it.</span></div><div style="color: white;"><br />
</div><div style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Force Field:</span></div><div style="color: white;"><br />
</div><div style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Force Field also comes stock loaded with the sentry and costs 50 energy, lasting for 15 seconds. It is also a smartcast move meaning that only one sentry will fire if you have multiple sentries selected, so you must repeatedly tell them to create forcefields if you want more than one. </span></div><div style="color: white;"><br />
</div><div style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hallucination (must be researched first):</span></div><div style="color: white;"><br />
</div><div style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hallucination must first be researched at the cybernetics core before use for 100 minerals and 100 gas. It costs 100 energy to use with hallucinations that last 60 seconds or until dead. It allows the sentry to create </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4 probes, 2 high templars/stalkers/zealots, or 1 archon/colossus/immortal/phoenix/void ray/warp prism. </span></div><div style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All of these abilities are useful in one way or another and can easily be utilized strategically. It is first important to survey the field in which you wish to use your sentries and manage their energy wisely. Perhaps the most commonly used as well as effective tool is the Force Field. </span></div><div style="color: white;"><br />
</div><div style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This move allows you to create force fields that block off enemy movement. It is used most effectively at choke points or to give your units stronger positioning. For example, if you are attacking an enemy base and his reinforcements are outside of the base, it would be very simple to create one or 2 force fields that block off his ramp so his units cannot proceed up and you can continue to wreak havoc in his base or pick off his army from a distance. Another example would be to place forcefields around your stalkers against an incoming zergling attack to prevent a surround. These are only a couple of example, but I'm sure you could use your imaginationa nd think of similar situations in which this would help.</span></div><div style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The hallucination is much harder to use as it requires a lot of energy and key timing, and it must also first be researched. Hallucination is a good idea for creating heavy units to confuse your opponent such as colossi or archons so they focus down on them first, giving your real army time to whittle away at enemy forces. Another good usage is to create an early phoenix or warp prism hallucination to scout and harass the enemy base before air units are even seemingly possible. This could possible disorient, confuse, and event rick your opponent into thinking you're doing a different strategy than you really are.</span></div><div style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lastly is the guardian shield. It is an important asset to the protoss army, but is much easier to handle and requires far less micro than force fields. It should be used when the enemy army has a large amount of ranged attackers and definitely not when there is a large melee force attacking you. It only reduces ranged damage.</span></div><div style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As you can see, the sentry has tons of options available and can aid any protoss army in innumerable ways, especially with some good micro and patience.</span></div>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com94tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-48805865463003152822010-11-16T23:10:00.000-08:002010-11-17T11:19:26.664-08:00Unit Analyis: Infestor<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hey everyone, so in line with my recent updates, I have decided to switch things up a bit from my usual posting. I'm going to start a new series of updates analyzing specific units and their abilities as well as effectiveness in all aspects of the game.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I've decided to start off with possibly my favorite unit, the infestor!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh25zrvGXpPQnp6hkUBatPwI0ikKiAxwdLed0M_4psfFwQF1VsKklDQPSVyCWA7wG7_5KngrIVBBTxmgzmpDdAMHJrI5H21SnUZ5mWwjkMP8pTDyl5QzENTB_-M5IM5Jp12_vZMg3M5ovc/s1600/721.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh25zrvGXpPQnp6hkUBatPwI0ikKiAxwdLed0M_4psfFwQF1VsKklDQPSVyCWA7wG7_5KngrIVBBTxmgzmpDdAMHJrI5H21SnUZ5mWwjkMP8pTDyl5QzENTB_-M5IM5Jp12_vZMg3M5ovc/s400/721.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://sc2pod.com/img/gallery/preview/721.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The infestor is an extremely useful unit and is basically key in any micro intensive zerg army. Its uses are numerous and can be used in a variety of ways, whether it actually be on the front lines of the battlefield or running into a base for harassment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What you'll need: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">An infestation pit</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> -Also enables research of Pathogen glands and the Neural parasite upgrade.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pathogen glands give the infestor an extra 25 starting energy which could be just what the doctor ordered. Neural parasite allows the infestor to use the neural parasite ability which allows it to control an enemy unit for 15 seconds. (Note: does not work on ultralisks)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I will now focus on its abilities and explain the usefulness of each.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Infested Terran: These units are extremely useful for harassment or general base destruction. With 3 or 4 burrowed infestors it becomes trivial to sneak into a base and unleash these infested terran to wreak havoc on the enemy mineral line or production buildings. Also they can be used in a pinch to bolster your army if needed in that last part of the struggle in battle. They move very very slowly and will eventually die off by themselves, so it is always recommended to place them near the point of attack.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Neural Parasite: This allows you to control an enemy unit for 15 seconds, including all upgrades it has current access to. This can be extremely useful for mind controlling tanks or other heavy units with a lot of splash damage. It works on every unit except ultralisks and I recommend using it on heavy units (e.g. thors, tanks, battlecruisers, carriers, etc) or using it to mindcontrol a specific unit that is greatly helping the enemy such as a colossus. Something you should definitely not forget is to kill the unit before the cooldown runs out otherwise it will ravage your own army or kill your infestor. Note that this can also be used on workers, but is really not worth it unless you somehow manage to snag a probe. The effect runs out much too quickly for it to be used effectively on an scv. Also, you sitll have to tech up and you are tied down by your original food source so it's really just not worth it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Fungal Growth: I would argue that this ability is by far the best ability the infestor has available. Fungal growth works over a small area of effect and completely immobilizes the enemy while damaging it over time. It's kind of like the old defiler moves wrapped into one (except the dark swarm cloud). It doesn't last too long, but long enough to do heavy damage. This used in conjunction with long range splash devastates smaller armies like MMM ball or infantry in general. It can be used on any unit and is very easy to actually kill lesser units with it, such as marines or zerglings. Use this against tightly packed, dangerous in group units such as massed marines/marauders or basically any zerg unit. It is especially effective against large groups of mutas since classic strategy makes people bunch up their mutas as tightly as possible. This fungal growth really makes or breaks some zerg armies. I highly recommend its usage against MMM ball and zerg armies in general. Against protoss it's a bit more difficult, but can work well nonetheless especially with zealots.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I think that about does it for the infestor. Hope this helped some of you think of new plans!<br />
</span>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-24911439604958458992010-11-15T19:54:00.000-08:002010-11-15T19:54:35.710-08:00Thinking Strategic: Choke Points and Wall-ins; Part 2<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hey everyone! First of all, I'd like to apologize for not posting for a while. I started playing this game called minecraft and it totally engulfed my weekend. @.@ By now though, I think I can handle myself well enough to be able to play during my leisure time and get other things done.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now that that's taken care of, let's continue with the topic at hand.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Part 2!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So like I was saying before, building placement really is key, and is something often overlooked by newer or less experienced players. If you watch more experienced players, usually building placement is key, especially for zerg and protoss since they don't have that easy wall in. Many players may see it as sort of a cheese or lame tactic to use your buildings to block off your ramp or workers or something, but it is far from it. It is cheese to early mass marines and go slaughter someone, but it's not cheese to use strategy and think of where to build your key structures.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this section, like I said, I'll go more in depth and tell you exactly what it means to place structures strategically.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Terran</u></b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Terran players have the easiest time with structure placement as they can very easily hit the "redo" key and lift and replace. This brings up some key points though. With terran, you can place your first barracks in a good location, then build a tech lab/reactor and later on as soon as your first factory/starport is done, move it over to that first addon and start building later tier units much faster. In case you couldn't figure it out, this is how many players are able to get that quick banshee rush or tank up. Also, it's important to note that you can build and lift your command center. Many players build the CC initially behind their wall in and pump extra scvs to bolster their economy. Then lift it into the natural expo with protection.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Protoss</u></b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Protoss players have a bit tougher of a time with building placement, but have a lot of possibilities like terran players since they are only limited to the pylon power. For the initial choke point, what is very common (and works very well) is to build your pylon a bit behind your ramp then place the gateway in front. Now this can go one of two ways: first is to build a second geteway next to it leaving only a 1 square space. This is for general 2gating and helps to choke in your base as well. Another idea is to put up your cybernetics core next to it leaving again, one square. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Both the g</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ateway and core are very strong and are much too heavy of structures for early units to take on. But what do you do with that little hole? You fill it in with a single zealot on hold position. This makes an impassable wall until the buildings or your zealot is killed. A good follow up is to have some more zealots in reserve, or better yet, put a sentry near so you can easily use a forcefield and block the ramp entirely.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another interesting thing about protoss is that you can build structures anywhere and easily walk away. This is especially useful for hiding buildings like a quick dark shrine or stargate. This is also useful for placing proxy pylons near your enemy. As scouting is very key, this can completely throw your enemy off guard if he thinks you're going for a land based army some phoenixes appear out of nowhere.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><u>Zerg</u></b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And finally that brings us to the zerg. The zerg have arguably the toughest time with building placement, yet they also have a lot of interesting options open to them that the average player would not initially think of. In the beginning game, I seem to notice that most novice players either put their pool in a completely random location, or hide it behind the hatchery. This may seem like a good idea at first as you need to protect it, but it can in fact be detrimental. If the pool is placed alongside the gas and hatchery, it blocks off easy access to your workers and a quick rush in that is preventable by guarding the other side. Granted, it's not too common to run into a very early rush, but it does help. Also, when placing the second building, whether it be a roach nest, baneling nest, or even an evo chamber, it is wise to place it on the other side of your workers to really protect the mineral line.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next what you have to think about is the creep limitation. Obviously, the zerg can only build on creep (except the hatchery). This becomes key as it forces you to spread creep more evenly and quickly. This is all very possible with overlord creep drop as well as queens pooping out those creep tumors. What you might not expect, but is a good plan in a pinch, is to move your overlord to a place away from your main then placing a quick spire underneath its creep. Like the protoss move this keeps your opponents in the dark if they scanner sweep your base.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One more specific point I want to make about the zerg is their ability to move the spine/spore crawlers. This is a very important thing to realize in the early game. As you can build some spines to stop an early rush, you can then move them out into your natural expansion as some early defense. Don't forget about spine crawlers in your main if your natural is now your main line of defense! With overlord movement upgraded you can bring in overlords to drop creep and even advance with your spine crawlers and keep your opponent in his base.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So to wrap things up, you just have to keep in mind how important buildings are and building placement is. They are more than just the places you need to build better units. They can easily be utilized to help with base defenses or even trick/harass your opponents. It's worth it to experiment with different implementations of your buildings and placing them in different locations.</span>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com49tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-31927569806034474422010-11-12T00:15:00.000-08:002010-11-12T00:15:09.139-08:00Thinking Strategic: Choke Points and Wall-ins<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hello! How are you today?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Today I'm going to be taking a bit of a different approach. No replays, no specific strategies or tips, but rather an overall mindset in starcraft. I find that many of the worse players I've come across really drop the ball when it comes to wall-ins or overall base protection and the better players have exceptional strategies for keeping enemies out of their base. </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This brings me to my point, if you want to get better at starcraft, you must have some semblance of how to build defensively. This is especially true with protoss and zerg, as it becomes much harder for these races to build defensively as compared to terran who can lower supply depots easily.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Today I'll talk about the overarching strategy, and for tomorrow I'll go into more detail on how to exactly go about building in this fashion. Most lower tier players see buildings as merely that, just buildings. Cybernetics core leads to stalkers and higher tech, engineering bay is good for upgrades, etc. This is much different from the more experienced player. The more experienced player will see buildings as opportunities. They take up a large portion of land space and have high amounts of health and/or shield. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Generally, all maps have some very specific choke points at or near the base, and most have ramps up into the base that becomes the main danger to the player. This is where one should focus down on their defense.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Terran is obviously the easiest in securing the ramp with a barracks and a couple of supply depots. It is important to note, though, that the wall can easily be interchanged later on in the game due to the nature of the terran buildings and their ability to lift off. This is something important to keep in mind in securing the terran wall.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Protoss is a bit more difficult as there is no supply depot doorway, but the gateway and cybernetics core have a wealth of hp and armor that can defend well against early attacks, especially when used in conjunction with a couple of units to seal off the entrance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For zerg of course, buildings becomes exponentially more important as they are the one thing keeping you between only building drones, or building end tier ultralisks. With zerg, the early buildings are much often better placed around the mineral line, blocking a quick entrance into the workers and the later tier buildings should be protected as much as possible, especially the spire. Zerg buildings are perhaps the most dangerous to play around with as they are the hardest to rebuild and leave the player the most vulnerable if they come down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The main point of this post is to make you think more thoroughly about how to set up your buildings. It actually is important in where you place your buildings and it would do you well to play a few games and discover where it is most effective.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To be continued in pt. 2 tomorrow. </span>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com77tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-71960241517868817022010-11-09T23:26:00.000-08:002010-11-09T23:26:37.747-08:00mouzMana vs. SharkGSjoW<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oOBiUbRWZY4?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oOBiUbRWZY4?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here's the replay I promised! It is a little bit old at I believe patch 1.0.3, but still a good game nonetheless. Lots of back and forth on both sides and it is interesting because no side is clearly dominating at any one point in the game. I will admit this isn't my best cast and I gotta lower the mic so the keyboard doesn't get picked up as easily, but I think I did a decent job. Ah well, enjoy!</span>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com93tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-57914366347640041442010-11-09T00:11:00.000-08:002010-11-09T00:58:42.582-08:00Filler post while the videos upload<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So today I did another cast and it's a pretty good one. I found out though that it's actually a little bit old, I believe patch 1.03. Anyways, while that's uploading I thought I might as well post something if just to update you guys.</span><br />
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</div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I thought that this personality test is actually quite interesting and is quite in depth and accurate. It's pretty fun, not too long (though there are 60ish questions) and really simple to do (they're all two option questions). I think you guys should give it a try and let me know what your type is! I'm an INTJ btw.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="http://www.personalitytest.net/cgi-bin/q.pl">Personality Test</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here's the link in case you missed the big hyperlink:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://www.personalitytest.net/cgi-bin/q.pl</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Apparently INTJ's make good lawyers sometimes. It would be pretty fun to be a lawyer I think. Maybe deal with bankruptcy or something. I could be the bankruptcy lawyer the terrans needed to get out of zerg debt. xP The main job seems to be science related and I'm a computer engineering major. woot! :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The video should be up in a couple hours and I'll prolly make the post tomorrow so just wait it out and take the test.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here's a quick tip:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Although apm isn't everything, it is generally the mark of a good player to have a high apm. If yours is low, then you probably have not so good micro/macro control. Try to increase your apm by managing more things at once and not focusing so much time on one event!</span>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com63tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-797974959722643482010-11-07T23:49:00.000-08:002010-11-08T00:57:34.369-08:00LiquidTLO vs. TorcH - MLG Dallas Winner's bracket round 3<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-pPM3qwCQO8?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-pPM3qwCQO8?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hey guys! I got a new cast for you today! This is a pretty exciting matchup and I think I have all the technical kinks worked out (I lowered the game sound). I wasn't tired at all after a long rest (sorry for the lack of posts btw) and a good weekend. Now it's time to get back into the swing of things and enjoy some more replays and strategies! This is a matchup between some pretty good players, my first time seeing torch and TLO is always fun to watch.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Every time I watch a zerg match I can't help but think of how much they are like crazy greedy people putting others (especially terran) out of business and driving them bankrupt! Which would result in the need for a bankruptcy attorney. Zerg love to expand early and often with total map control leaving the other players economically hurting, and essentially in bankrupt. They would need a real good attorney to fight off the zerg though. :p</span>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com72tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-72752378319852079852010-11-04T01:29:00.000-07:002010-11-04T13:36:06.584-07:00Replay Follow up! FruitDealar vs. SlayerSBoxeR: Game 2!<object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KGmxzhrDnrM?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KGmxzhrDnrM?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is part 2 of the exciting 2 game series between fruitdealer and boxer at blizzcon! I know I haven't posted in a while but hopefully this makes up for it. :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Kind of like what I was saying before, these 2 would be excellent lawyers! Boxer would be great at pulling out precedences left and right (micro?), while fruitdealer would be like the attorney general with his finesse about the courtroom (macro?).</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Maybe not, lol.</span>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-67652224783157669102010-11-03T13:54:00.001-07:002010-11-03T13:54:56.826-07:00Sorry about yesterday and today<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sorry I missed yesterday, been swamped with schoolwork. Got a midterm today. Hopefully afterward I can put up a new cast. :) Stay tuned!</span>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-4048438975701721222010-11-01T17:03:00.001-07:002010-11-01T17:03:50.136-07:00200 Followers!<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Wow! 200 Followers! Thanks guys! I can't believe how quickly this site has grown and with such a supportive fanbase. Thanks a lot guys, this is incredible! But let's not stop here, let's get more and more people! Tell your friends! :D</span>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com70tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-7257617460012237702010-10-31T19:31:00.000-07:002010-11-04T13:36:45.731-07:00Baneling Carpet Bombing<object height="295" style="background-image: url("http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/XSvo7RO312I/hqdefault.jpg");" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XSvo7RO312I?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XSvo7RO312I?fs=1&hl=en_US" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="295" width="480"></embed></object><br />
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Today I have a new strategy for you guys! This strategy is for zerg and is called baneling carpet bombing. I didn't make up this strategy, but I do use it sometimes and it is very effective something worth noting. In order to do this, you need to have overlord movement speed as well as transport researched. It works extremely well against large amounts of infantry such as hydras, zerglings, marines, and marauders. It works, but not as well against roaches, stalkers and zealots.<br />
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To carry out this strategy, you must create a decent sized force to attack or muster up all you can to combat the enemy. Then make a bunch of banelings, load them into your overlords, and start moving out. Use your force to counter the enemy directly while your overlords fly over. As they are flying over hit the drop all key ("D" by default) and click the overlord you want to drop the "bombs". Repeat for each overlord. This causes them to drop the banelings one at a time in a devastating carpet bomb maneuver. It can be seen above. Enjoy. :)SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-30956694427311669072010-10-30T20:05:00.001-07:002010-10-30T20:05:03.983-07:00Happy Halloween everyone!<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">No updates for today, can't think of anything really, but Happy Halloween!</span> :)SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-53828929368058518182010-10-29T17:22:00.000-07:002010-10-29T17:22:48.419-07:00It's Halloween! (In SB anyway)<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hey guys, tonight's the first night of Halloween! Happy Halloween to everyone! No videos today, maybe tomorrow or Sunday. But don't let that get you down, I'll offer a few tips for you guys.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Zerg: Don't forget the banelings! Banelings will decimate any terran infantry army when used properly and you can even utilize them for some carpet bombing. That might be my next video, how to do a baneling carpetbomb.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Protoss: In late game, don't be afraid to go for a mothership. If you have a decent base size with a couple of expansions and a glut of money, get a mothership. Why not? They are an excellent unit if utilized properly. Vortexing parts of the enemy army splits them up and can effectively destroy them. Also mass recall is useful for sneak attacks at times.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Terran: Banshees are good for more than just harass. Use them in the later game to snipe out some strong ground units. They work well against tanks and ultralisks, especially while cloaked.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And here are some zerg units dressed up for Halloween. :p</span><br />
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</span>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-9421421887251130632010-10-27T23:22:00.000-07:002010-11-04T13:37:37.054-07:00Replay! FruitDealar vs. SlayerSBoxeR: Game 1<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hey everyone!</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Today I have done a new cast from the recent tournament at Blizzcon. This matchup was between the famous fruitdealer and Boxer. Boxer is a famous brood war player, and one of the best to ever do it. Fruitdealer is widely renowned as one of the best SC2 players in the world right now and definitely one of the best zerg. Interesting matchup from both sides, some nice play and strategies by both sides. Without further ado, here is the cast!</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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</div><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Video is officially up!</span><br />
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<object height="344" style="background-image: url("http://i4.ytimg.com/vi/cvGM2eNTyCk/hqdefault.jpg");" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/cvGM2eNTyCk?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/cvGM2eNTyCk?fs=1&hl=en_US" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="344" width="425"></embed></object>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com54tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-37729422896362629222010-10-26T23:02:00.000-07:002010-11-04T13:40:13.144-07:00More tips because I have to study :p<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Haha, I was really hoping to get that cast out today, but looks like I have to keep studying. Gotta truck on through those midterms. Here are some tips instead to give you guys something to think about.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Zerg:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">-Building on what I said before, use the early overseer to stop early rushes like void rays or colossi with its contaminate ability. When utilized properly, important game changing units can be easily stopped in their tracks until it is too late.</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> When using a zerg infantry for example, look out for factories pumping out tanks or robos pumping out colossi.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Protoss:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">-Don't forget about thinking about an early phoenix. Early phoenixes can lead to great harass and scouting as well as picking off any air units before they become a serious threat. They are excellent in later game for picking up tanks or immortals, rendering them useless.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Terran:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">-Don't overlook the hellion. It's a very successful harassment unit in all stages of the game. If you can sneak past armies or defenses, the worker line gets blasted easily, especially with the upgrade!</span>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com47tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-10078877612730255072010-10-25T22:16:00.000-07:002010-11-04T13:38:19.027-07:00Some new tips!<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hey everyone, wasn't able to get to that cast up today. I actually ended up casting a game that was from the beta stages and it turned out to be kind of a waste of time lol. My mistake, should have checked beforehand. Anyway, probably tomorrow I'll have it up. Here are a few tips to tie you over until then.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">By the way, if you have any videos that you want me to cast, or saw something interesting, send me a line at sc2stratguide@gmail.com</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">New site email!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Zerg:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">-Get an overseer relatively early and use it to your advantage. It's easy to bring an overseer into someones base and find a vulnerable spot then drop a changeling. Most people have a hard time noticing one before it's too late and you've scouted everything already. If you're really lucky, you can group it into their army and they won't notice!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Protoss:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">-Make the choke point in front of your base with strong buildings. If you're opening into a 4gate, then make it gateway/cybernetics core. This will help protect your base with stronger buildings protecting it while at the same time allows you to tech up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Terran:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">-If you're going into an infantry based army don't forget to tech up! Get the slow missiles for marauders as well as the combat shield for marines. Make an engineering bay or possibly even 2 if you want to get upgrades out faster. Upgrading and teching will make your units exponentially times stronger. </span>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com43tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-67138322225997657232010-10-24T15:58:00.000-07:002010-10-24T15:59:23.461-07:00Sorry for not having posted recently...<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sorry that I didn't post anything the past few days. Went home for the weekend and had a fun time at universal and hung out with my girlfriend! Always nice to spend some time relaxing. Anyways now it's back to school and bloggin! I'll put up a cast tomorrow hopefully, anyway now it's time to study. Don't hire a lawyer to shut down my blog! I'll go bankrupt! ;)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Also - Go ahead and like us on facebook if you're interested!</span><br />
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This is a strategy that I learned from watching a couple videos and reading about it on another blog. This is a zerg strategy for mutalisk micro called the "magic box". In this strategy, you will be able to use mutalisks effectively to avoid enemies with large splash damage like thors. This is a good idea to think about and remember when fighting against a tech-heavy terran player.<br />
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The magic box is the formation that the mutalisks stay in when they are not bunched up. In order to execute the magic box, you simply tell your mutalisks to move together underneath them. They should then bunch up and in the subsequent 2-3 seconds, spread apart. This spread formation is the magic box. It helps significantly against splash damage attackers, as can be seen in the video above. It is a different way of using mutalisks than pushing them together in a tight group for one attack. As you can see in the video it is extremely effective. Enjoy!SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-81884896587459869472010-10-20T13:03:00.000-07:002010-11-04T13:38:50.287-07:00Huk vs. Kiwikaki PvP Pro replay - MLG Raleigh<object height="295" style="background-image: url("http://i4.ytimg.com/vi/kRtVIXpQy18/hqdefault.jpg");" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kRtVIXpQy18?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kRtVIXpQy18?fs=1&hl=en_US" width="480" height="295" allowScriptAccess="never" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hey everyone, new video post today! This is a cast I did from the recent MLG tournament in Raleigh. I heard this was one of the highlights of the tournament so I did a cast. Some good play on both sides and a surprise ending! Go ahead and give it a watch</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Recently I've had lawyers on the brain and I like to think of 1v1 as a sort of courtroom trial, whether it be about bankruptcy or criminals or whatnot. Two attorneys battling it out in court, using all the political strategies they know and countering with separate precedences. lol, well a weird analogy but whatever.</span>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-65529211047759072852010-10-19T03:35:00.000-07:002010-10-19T03:44:14.408-07:00New Wallpaper!<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hey everyone, in case you didn't notice I made a few changes to the way the site looks. I altered the banner a bit and changed a bit of the layout, but overall is the new background! I took various art clippings of units and photoshopped them together. Tell me what you think, and of course I take no credit for the drawings themselves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I made the wallpaper widescreen as I expect most people have widescreen monitors nowadays. If it gets too cut off let me know and I can do some resizing. </span>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-31490320629933380022010-10-18T23:24:00.000-07:002010-11-04T13:39:06.261-07:00Quick tips, video on the way tomorrow<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Had my midterm today and hopefully I did well, if not then it would take more than a good lawyer to get my grade changed. Then I'll fail miserably in life and end up bankrupt. I wouldn't even be able to afford a bankruptcy lawyer at that point, just a bum on the street. Anyways... back to starcraft.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After this post goes up, I'll start working on a video and have it up by tomorrow. Here are a couple protoss tips:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sentries are key to any protoss ground based army. Forcefields are amazing tools that can halve the effective size of any army when used properly. They're also great for an early ling block.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One tip you may want to utilize is to research hallucinate then send a hallucinated phoenix to scout. </span>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-90100321375542858512010-10-17T02:36:00.001-07:002010-10-17T02:36:47.931-07:00110 Followers!<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Thanks guys so much. Over 100 followers wow! I'm glad you all like my blog and everything and I'll keep providing fresh content. Gotta study today though. I'll try to get up a cast later today or tomorrow. Thanks again guys!</span>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-21912562729309270872010-10-15T19:07:00.000-07:002010-11-04T13:39:20.198-07:00Idra vs Korean Terran - Pro Replay Cast! Finally here to stay!<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wwRaKkD4woo?hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wwRaKkD4woo?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />
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<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8GqWE_pRckg?hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8GqWE_pRckg?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hey guys, it's the moment you've all been waiting for! The cast is now officially up and working! Go ahead and get started and watching. This should satisfy your appetite! This is the matchup between idra, a pro American SC2 player, currently in Korea playing and training, and a Korean player playing as terran. I do not know his name, as I don't read Korean, if anyone let's me know I'll be sure to update the title. Check back often and see all the new strats/casts/tips!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sorry guys, part 2 is uploading right now. Part 1 is fully functional though!</span>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-37639197195470664102010-10-15T11:40:00.000-07:002010-11-04T13:39:35.953-07:00Patch 1.1.2 Officially live!<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So the new patch it out. I believe it came out sometime yesterday as I logged on and I was updated. I'll give you the release notes then follow up with my own thoughts and what this means for the meta game.</span><br />
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StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty – Patch 1.1.2<br />
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General<br />
• Players will no longer receive achievement toasts while their status is set to "Busy."<br />
• The messaging when attempting to load a saved game or replay from a previous version has been clarified.<br />
• Adjusted the amount of points earned and lost by random team participants to properly reflect the strength of a player's teammates.<br />
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Balance<br />
• <u><b>PROTOSS</b></u><br />
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o Buildings<br />
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• Nexus life and shields increased from 750/750 to 1000/1000.<br />
o Void Ray<br />
• Damage level 1 increased from 5 to 6 (+4 armored).<br />
• Damage level 2 decreased from 10 (+15 armored) to 8 (+8 armored).<br />
• Flux Vanes speed upgrade bonus decreased from 1.125 to 0.703.<br />
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• <u><b>TERRAN</b></u><br />
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o Buildings<br />
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• Barracks requirement changed from Command Center to Supply Depot.<br />
• Supply Depot life increased from 350 to 400.<br />
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o Medivac<br />
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• Acceleration reduced from 2.315 to 2.25.<br />
• Speed reduced from 2.75 to 2.5.<br />
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o Reaper<br />
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• Nitro Packs speed upgrade now has a Factory Requirement.<br />
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o Thor<br />
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• Energy bar removed.<br />
• 250mm Strike Cannons is now cooldown-based on a 50-second cooldown. Ability starts with cooldown available (useable immediately after upgrade is researched).<br />
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• <u><b>ZERG</b></u><br />
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o Buildings<br />
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• Hatchery life increased from 1250 to 1500.<br />
• Lair life increased from 1800 to 2000.<br />
• Spawning Pool life increased from 750 to 1000.<br />
• Spire life increased from 600 to 850.<br />
• Ultralisk Cavern life increased from 600 to 850.<br />
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o Corruptor<br />
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• Energy bar removed.<br />
• Corruption is now cooldown-based on a 45-second cooldown. Ability starts with cooldown expired (must wait for full 45-second cycle before usable).<br />
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o Infestor<br />
<br />
• Fungal Growth now prevents Blink.<br />
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o Roach<br />
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• Range increased from 3 to 4.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So there ended up being quite a few changes actually with a bunch of game changing new attributes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">First off is Protoss. The Nexus shield boost seems warranted. The Nexus goes down pretty quickly if left undefended and a 250 shield boost seems fair. I don;t think this will make their expos or anything imba. I think the void ray fix is great. Sure the initial damage level is increased, but probably to help with an early harass or early battle as they are very weak against larger muta/viking armies possible by the same time. Level 2 decrease is also good as their damage was way too much in the later game. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The biggest change is definitely the speed decrease in the Flux vane upgrade. This will prove to be very critical I believe. It will be much harder for them to escape so easily when faced against an army that's too large. The speed of the void rays before made them too hard to track down and destroy. This will help in the much later game if someone goes mass void ray.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Next up is Terran. Like I said before, making supply depot a requirement for the barracks will really help against early proxy/reaper rushes. The increase in supply depot life will slightly increase the resistance hat a wall provides which will become more crucial as terrans will probably be more likely to turtle in from now on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The speed and acceleration of the medivacs decreasing will change the drop game probably. It will be somewhat harder for people to get off early drops with mmm spam or even some tanks. IT will no longer be so easy to pick up and leave as quickly. This shouldn't affect the mmm army strategy though, because medivacs are already plenty fast enough to keep up with that army.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reapers have been noticeably cut down in usefulness. Now with a later barracks, and nitro packs being so much later on, it will be much harder to get an effective reaper rush out. This will allow other races/enemies to gain a larger defense on their mineral line to protect against the reapers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The thors also got an interesting change. Strike cannons are now cooldown based instead of energy based. This will allow immediate use of the strike cannon and will probably be used more often as it won't require a building of energy. We might see some major gameplay changes with the approach to Thors since this update.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And finally we get to zerg:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Virtually all important zerg buildings are getting a health boost. I think this is long overdue and will be a worthwhile update. Hatcheries I noticed died far too easily as well as the spawning pool and spire. The lair increase will give a bit of a boost and should help in protecting expos early on. The spire and spawning pool life are really critical because these are truly critical buildings that can be built (and destroyed) very early on. Ultralisk cavern was also a bit low on hp, but should be able to be amply protected at that late point in game, so I would say it's a bit moot.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Similar to the Thors, the corruptors now no longer have energy and is based upon a 45-second cooldown. This is actually something that could change the meta game quite a bit. Later on in the game, corruption becomes an extremely valuable tool, especailly being able to hit multiple targets with only a few corruptors. It will allow newly spawned corruptors to use corruption, but now we will probably be seeing a lot more micro trying to protect them as they wait for the cooldown.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Infestor restricting blink is a good point, but I feel like it should have been that way since the beginning, so all I have to say is that it's about time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The roach range increase from 3-4 will actually probably be huge. This will allow roaches to tank even better against melee units and start attacking from farther out. It will allow roaches to hit walls from farther away and chip away at terran bases with more security. It will also help the later metagame in a hydra/roach strategy. This gives zerg a few more strategies later on and allow roaches to stay apart of the army instead of evolving past them. I have yet to play any games in this patch, but there will probably be a lot of changes in total gameplay. Once I have some more experience I might do another recap. Thanks for reading guys!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'll try to have that cast up later. I was able to record it and apply the watermark, but it can't upload successfully for some reason. On youtube it just says upload failed once it hits 100% :( </span>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2285424698739411562.post-35279358492853513912010-10-14T01:48:00.000-07:002010-10-14T16:24:32.213-07:00Idra vs Korean Terran - Pro Replay Cast!... Down for maintenance.<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hey guys, I just got a chance to actually review the videos and found out that they're kind of screwed up. For professionalism sake, I'm going to take them down for right now and redo the cast. The video should be back up by tomorrow. Sorry about that guys.</span>SC2 Stratshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13642440930295763637noreply@blogger.com32