[Megathread] StarCraft 2

[Deleted]

http://www.shoutcraft.com/tournament...aft-clan-wars/

Now this seems very interesting. Love that they're actually making it something that will be fun to watch as opposed to a super serious high end tournament. Sometimes it's good to just sit back and watch high end players do some cool maps , modes and 2v2's. Also good boost for the MLG.tv

Yeah, goddamn this looks great, and it's a year long tournament as well heh. Totalbiscuit saving esports again.

[May90]

I feels so stupid when you lose like this

Heh, nothing feels like losing to some cheap cheese. When I first saw cannon rush being done against me (I was Terran), I was like, lol, you are dead dude. 2 minutes after though I was cursing and raging like never before...

[Charge me Doctor]

Heh, nothing feels like losing to some cheap cheese. When I first saw cannon rush being done against me (I was Terran), I was like, lol, you are dead dude. 2 minutes after though I was cursing and raging like never before...

For me it's more like "should have seen that coming" than "fuck this fucking fucktard fuck fuck fuck. /w fucktard u fucktard i hate you". And managing to win through cheese is freaking satisfying, because usually they are very micro-intensive, and by defending from cheesy tactic, you, basically, get so far ahead from your enemy, that he won't be able to keep up.

I love fighting cheese plays, but i don't like making this cheese plays

[MerinPally]

That shoutcraft tournament looks good. I'm totally not on the hypetrain for Starbow in any form, I've not seen SC2BW so I couldn't comment on that. I totally get that people who played Brood War see it as harking back to something they loved for many years so of course they see it as a "step in the right direction" but some of the stuff in it I just don't think is any good whatsoever. I find watching it so dull it burns my eyes, I watched all the VOD's on youtube that were obvious, CranK's stream and even the tournament BasetradeTV did on it yesterday or the day before. It's not like I've not given it a go. Sure there are some nice things but for each step forward there's two steps back. It's the same thing as if you gave me WoW: TBC/WOTLK. I'd like it more... briefly, possibly. But I'd still enjoy it more, even though it's a devolution.

Definitely looking forward to some of the strange maps and the team aspect though. Can see ROOT and iVD being shit on at almost every turn though.

Anyway, my internet has been down for ages now and apparently won't be fixed for like another 12 hours. Fortunately I just got a new phone and the package came with a Vodafone 3 month Data Test Drive which gives me unlimited internet, and I've read all the terms and conditions I can't find anything relating to a fair usage policy so here I am posting and watching Code A on twitch. This leads me into: Why on earth is everyone retiring at the moment?!

SSanaEE was something I was afraid of after Soul went, I really felt he should've been picked up by someone. KiLLeR I loved watching at the start of HOTS at MLG but he just faded into obscurity after that, guess he just lost the passion. Zenio... meh. Kinda expected that. Pandatank I hadn't actually heard of outside of when I watched VODs of an old Homestory Cup, Jazbas I have no idea. The only oceanic players really known are Tilea (retired), Moonglade and then maybe Livibee. ViPro was a surprise this morning. Then I wonder what Targa did to end so quickly with Dignitas... and now Socke has been dropped as well... What on earth is happening at the moment O.o And where do we think Socke will go... I have a hope Mouz for some reason but that's only because it's Team Germany plus a spaniard and a korean.

[Darksoldierr]

Sc2's meta is really boring to watch, for me that is. While Starbow offers something fresh. What will happen to it? No idea.

I didn't played 1v1 since WoL ended, yet i came back for Starbow, its lot more fun to play. And i'm so sick of Protoss in Sc2, i played Brood War since i was 10, as protoss and Sc2's protoss is just a far cry what that race used to be

[MerinPally]

You fit the criteria of having seen and been in Brood War, wanting to hark back to it. It's pretty normal, not even a bad thing either. Whilst I definitely don't see the "omg revolution" of Starbow I do see some good aspects in there. For example, I don't miss the Sentry at all. Nor particularly do I think Warpgate needs to be half as fast to get as it is currently - Warpgate being out so early is kinda what makes PvP such a complete clusterfuck. At all levels, let alone low ones. I also think the Phoenix is infinitely superior to... whatever the equivalent was in Brood War, the Corsair possibly. Neither do I understand peoples love affair with the Reaver. I'm not sure I particularly like the Colossus as a piece of design but I'd argue it's a step forward from a Reaver.

I really wouldn't mind our production becoming more like Terrans, at least for a good portion of the game. But then that alone let alone Sentry removal as they're relied on, would be such a huge undertaking it couldn't possibly happen until Starcraft 3. I agree it could really do with a redesign of some form. There's something so awful about "doing a 1 base tech of some form into expand? Best get 3 gates OR ELSE" and then saying "2 base not going for T3? Best get 6 gates" or "Up to 2 saturated bases? Best get 8 gates" and then "Taken a third? Drop 2-3 more then continue for each additional". I know Terran isn't remarkably different but at least you can play around with the numbers somewhat more.

[Darksoldierr]

Its not about that i want BW back, i just want a better game, Starbow is a hibryd, not BW in Sc2 engine. I just cannot stand Sentry, Warpgate, Void Ray, Colossus, they are so stupid units. Personally i do not mind Immortal, Phoenix, Stalker, they all have good use and microable, but the rest? It like there was giant holes in the Protoss design, so they filled them in with those units.

I do not enjoy the fast battles of Sc2, specially when literally one fights decide the match. I feel like the damage is waaaay over the top. I do not know, Sc2 just not fun to watch for me anymore, maybe i burned myself out back in WoL when i went for GM, but it just feels "same old same old", and some HotS units are really questionable (Swarm Host, Oracle, Mothership Core). Early game protoss is really weak, so instead of trying to fix the problem, they created a unit, to delay the fix.

As a Protoss player since forever, i just do not enjoy playing protoss anymore, its the same issue with WoW, that i play the same Character since 9 years, i just do not want to switch race, even tho zerg looks fun to play, in team games i always play random

[cudomix]

For me, Vulture>>>Hellion, spider mines are incredible, Hellbat can stay. I'd like some drastic changes for LotV, don't think that couple of new units+some minor rebalancing as in HotS will be enough to keep viewership.

[MerinPally]

Swarm Host is an abomination, I most certainly agree with you on that.

I don't think you're going to get "drastic" changes for LOTV. They have said that they wouldn't add more units without removing some existing ones, and they've said they're putting in new units for LOTV so that gives us some hope. It's still got to feel like an expansion remember, considering they're even calling it "Starcraft 2" so an entire overhaul just won't occur. That'd have to wait for SC3 if such a thing would exist.

But today in GSL Code A... oh dear.

[Darksoldierr]

Had an exam in the morning, only heard now that Flash is out, meh

[MerinPally]

Protoss - I need your opinions.

In PvT when I swapped from Colossus first to Templar first my winrate went through the roof. I'd considered it a longggg time ago but only witnessed Colossus first in pro games (I obviously wasn't looking very hard) then I realised that the utility from Feedback was phenomenal.

My PvZ is a good winrate but recently I've been thinking about getting it higher. I used to do FFE into Stargate but I never had AOE out in time, not to a good level anyway. Had pretty good Phoenix harassment though. Recently I've gone for Gateway expand and things seem to be going better, and then into a Robo and Colossus and that's been fine. However, getting Colossus prompts Zerg to make a spire at which point I'm scared of the Mutalisk transition so get Stargate(s). I'm on 3 bases, and getting Robotics and Stargate units. I can't go Templar as well. Would it make sense to go Templar first rather than Colossus? I'd drop a Robo Bay fairly early anyway... but I'm not sure of the extra benefits.

Unless they rush infestors the Feedback isn't useful, and Zerg units move fast they can dodge storms better. Storms can be useful against Mutalisks and Archons are phenomenal... So, what do we think? Templar first vs a Zerg. Pros? Cons? Zerg can storm dodge easier potentially but we NEED our AOE and Stargate just doesn't offer that. Was thinking of doing a similar build that I do against Terran.

Gateway + 1 gas, 2 mining it, into a core and build a zealot @100mins. Don't cut probes, go build natural nexus and get MSC as soon as Nexus is down. Get the other assimilator. Start building a Stalker and then bank ~300minerals, drop a pylon at the natural and wall off using a forge. Move Zealot down to block choke, build a Sentry asap and then drop a Robo.

By now you're at a Forge, 3 gates and a robo and starting to populate natural mineral line. Allows me to get Gas 3+4 at like the 7minute mark which I know is late but it's working for now, I'm sure I can streamline this. Build and Observer and then start getting immortals, drop a TwiCouncil asap and then a few more gateways and an Archive.

[Charge me Doctor]

Well, going HT first is 50/50 situation for me. If i don't scout enemy going mech, then, probably, yes. But if he sees them before i Feedback medivac full of units, he will go ghosts and i'm screwed

Going FFE into Stargate implies that you will take out enough of enemy Queens, if this doesn't happen then you will be overwhelmed. Use recently buffed warp prism and zealots to take down Spire if enemy sees your Colossi and tries to react this way.

I haven't tried sentry+storms in mid game for a long time, but i think it will still work against Zergs. HT first won't do the trick, you shoot in your leg when you perform it. If scouted, Zerg will take advantage of you having useless HT (immobile Archons) and will overwhelm you or will force you to sit on your base while taking expansions and Swarmhosts. Haven't worked for me at least.

I'm not fan of getting zealot @100 minerals, if you wall off, you can use probe in early aggression, then sentry.

Try to use more sentries in PvZ, they are very good against Mutas and to catch enemy off positions and AOE them down

[MerinPally]

Thanks for your thoughts I'll try incorporate more sentries into my game, it's something I definitely don't use nearly enough. Reason being that I rarely do aggression that isn't on the counterattack, I'm extremely defensive, it's a wonder I've even got this far. It's something I need to practice more but I've put off because every time I do it I get stomped as I'm learning it, was always an all in until I get more skillful. Is a wonder I almost made it to platinum really. Decided now that I've happy to not get promoted, it's not my goal any more but rather "to be better at the game" so even if it delays promotion to learn something rather important it's worth it. On the rare occasion I do it (a zealot runby or a warp prism) it works well so... definitely something I want to consider doing a bit more.

Hell, it's only recently I've been remembering to fire off plenty of Hallucinations to scout. Sometimes I completely neglect to build them which is dumb as fuck, and other times they sit there with full energy waiting to be used for Guardian Shield, at which point they get sniped asap and I don't put down any FF of any benefit... Silly really but least I've got an improvement target (I sound like I'm in an American job meeting... target this, target that, improvement oppurtunity and other such bullshit phrases for "you're crap at this")

How's the ladder going for you, do you still play it much? You used to be silver aaages ago I remember, I think I sent you some replays.

[Clrg]

Is there good rpg maps to play in sc2? i played a lot these maps in w3, like hero siege, final fantasy epic rpg, but in sc2 i only see tower defense games.

[Charge me Doctor]

How's the ladder going for you, do you still play it much? You used to be silver aaages ago I remember, I think I sent you some replays.

I don't know when, but they made some changes to ladder and i started to get 1-5 points per match (i had to get ~300 points to get out of silver, so it was very frustrating to see), i just stopped playing ranked games. Then there was reset, i've played qualification and got into bronze for being inactive for long time =(
Now i play 1-7 games per week and don't care about my ratings. But i still have to play against gold-plat level players, had like 3-5 games after qualification (previous season) and after them i started getting gold-plat level players again. Now i played just 2 ranked games (1 lost due to thor rush, second won due to having superior blink stalker micro, and, well, void rays are OPed)

Basically, all my SC2 experience is from local tournaments (i live near computer club that my friend hosts, and they do weekly championships on dota2, sc2, wc3, cs1.6 and such), there is not that much people playing it, last time we had only 8 players, but it's still fun. Tried to play on ZOTAC cup, but they start it so fucking late, so if i participate in it, i will have to get up to work right after it endsю

Oh, and i've tried to bring my wife to SC2 because i've got spare copy of it recently. Oh the horrors, probably will stick to playing LoL, WoT and marvel heroes with her

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Is there good rpg maps to play in sc2? i played a lot these maps in w3, like hero siege, final fantasy epic rpg, but in sc2 i only see tower defense games.

I don't know much rpg maps for sc2, but i heard about this game, i think this project is awesome

[Deletedaccount1]

would you rather have a billion dollars or still have the privilege to make people mad in general off-topic?

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Starcraft related: Naniwa announces retirement

[Charge me Doctor]

would you rather have a billion dollars or still have the privilege to make people mad in general off-topic?

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Starcraft related: Naniwa announces retirement

That's my main duty on work.

It's kinda sad that more and more non-korean players leave sc2

[Darksoldierr]

"They were hit by a predator missile"

Wat

[Charge me Doctor]

"They were hit by a predator missile"

Wat

Context needed

[Deleted]

Finally, patch 2.1 next tuesday http://www.reddit.com/r/starcraft/co...t_week_forums/

"We’re planning to implement StarCraft II Patch 2.1 next week. This patch includes more levels and new rewards, new changes to Clans and Groups, a 100% free Arcade, remastered Classic StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War music, adjustments to the league distribution percentages on the ladder, Extension Mods, and many other features."