87 replies to this topic

[Alice]

The reaper speed nerf was unnecessary. I don't know how I feel about the Supply Depot before Barracks. I think a lot of Terrans are gonna have to start learning how to play the mid-game and late-game a lot more. Too many Terrans relied on their large number of very effective early game pressure/harass to get a significant lead against Zerg to win (or straight up win sometimes).

The roach range buff is amazing not because of the buff, but because so many Protoss and Terran players HAVE to keep that early roach busts exist, and they can't get away with making less than a dozen units and placing it behind buildings. This alones makes them play honest, and I felt far less pressure from them. Also, a lot of bandwagon idiots have been giving me free Zerg vs Zerg wins since they have no idea what they are doing.

[Illinest]

Anyone following the pro-scene? I'm just starting to follow it myself.

Right before the start of the first GSL tournament I came across a few replays featuring Cool against AugustWerra and Cool handled a 5 rax reaper rush before the nerf and he did it like it wasn't anything.
Came to find out - Cool = Fruitdealer and I decided that he was the best player I'd seen in SC2 and was totally not surprised when he won the tournament.

So now Blizzard is holding their invitational tournament featuring some top regional players and GSL2 is in progress and I'm starting to get into it. The best part is that most of the big names from Brood War are switching over.

Boxer is in GSL2 - saw him lose to Idra but even so his ability to micro was frightening.
Idra of course - but I never thought he was all that fun to watch.
TLO - creative but maybe too creative.
Maka - really enjoy watching him play. Reminds me of my best matches in that his micro and placement isn't always perfect but he keeps the money flowing and always has the ability to extend and counter
Huk - Great white hope? But I don't care for Protoss. Blah!
July and Nada are said to have switched over to SC2 - so that's cool. I'm looking forward to seeing more from them.

[Alice]

It appears only me and you, illy watch it. I actually have a GOMtv account. I eat a week more of ramen every month to pay for it.

Boxer's gonna do fantastic at least early into the pro scene because his three favorite things from brood war are absolutely amazing now.
1. Marine and medic dropship play = Medivacs means you don't need to use slots for medics, and you have marauder, the king of killing and kiting a lot of things.
2. Tanks. Tanks now have smart fire and don't over shoot anymore. Your opponent can't send one zergling/zealot to focus every tank to use up their attack.
3. Bunker rushing. Bunkers refund for 100% now.

Personally, I absolutely love Idra's play because he relies solely on mechanics and doing the little things that snowballs over time and lets him win. He's not fancy at all, but when you start to play the game a lot you will start noticing and appreciating the little shit that he keeps doing to give him more and more advantages in a match.

One of my favorite players to watch is Sen. He was a former top Brood War player from Taiwan that stayed as Zerg in SC2. His playstyle is a lot more aggressive than Idra, but he doesn't have trouble macroing. Unfortunately, his sponsored team isn't really sending him really to too many places yet. (Will be at Blizzcon though)

[lchen]

It appears only me and you, illy watch it. I actually have a GOMtv account. I eat a week more of ramen every month to pay for it.

awww i wanna send you food, pm me ur current addy.

[Illinest]

watched a Sen vs. TLO just now. TLO win. It was on Kulas Ravine and they both macroed heavily. Sen actually gged out of a pretty even match. I think he realized that TLO had enough of the map that he'd be able to outlast him in the end. There were only 4 expansions that hadn't been mined out and TLO was sitting on a maxed out BC/ST/Viking army with planetary fortresses.

I can't say I blame Sen. Breaking that force would've been a huge pain. On the other hand TLO couldn't break Sen down either. The econ was so strong that even when Sen got whittled down to ~ 130 supply he was able to recover to near 200 almost instantly.

With the benefit of hindsight I'd say that TLO's best play to end it quicker would've been a viking force to go overlord hunting. If he could've gotten Sen into the red then the Zerg ability to resupply is hindered.

[Alice]

watched a Sen vs. TLO just now. TLO win. It was on Kulas Ravine and they both macroed heavily. Sen actually gged out of a pretty even match. I think he realized that TLO had enough of the map that he'd be able to outlast him in the end. There were only 4 expansions that hadn't been mined out and TLO was sitting on a maxed out BC/ST/Viking army with planetary fortresses.

I can't say I blame Sen. Breaking that force would've been a huge pain. On the other hand TLO couldn't break Sen down either. The econ was so strong that even when Sen got whittled down to ~ 130 supply he was able to recover to near 200 almost instantly.

With the benefit of hindsight I'd say that TLO's best play to end it quicker would've been a viking force to go overlord hunting. If he could've gotten Sen into the red then the Zerg ability to resupply is hindered.

There's free Blizzcon footage? I thought you had to pay for it.

[Illinest]

http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

oh no it's just some random match i found. not the best shoutcasters but you can follow the action.

[Alice]

http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

oh no it's just some random match i found. not the best shoutcasters but you can follow the action.

I don't think that's the Blizzcon match that has yet to current.

[Cinnabon]

I have seen some fruitdealer games, I think he deserves to win because he is damn innovative.

Zerg seems to be the underdog race right now though.

[Illinest]

Zerg was the underdog b4 the balance patches came out but now the balance and the number of people playing seem to have leveled out. Terran can still wall-in pretty easily but the army is so slow to develop that Zerg is able to fast expand most of the time against Terran players. Terran often makes up for it by going straight to Hellions.

Here's a perfectly typical early game. Sen is Zerg and TLO is Terran. Same Shoutcasters as above - different map.
Sen fast expands. TLO walls-in and tries to push with Marauder/Hellion but can't quite take out the expansion. TLO goes to Viking harass while Sen continues to muster a minimum defense force and build up his economy.
Then TLO is forced to expand and Sen grabs the initiative.

[Alice]

Zerg was the underdog b4 the balance patches came out but now the balance and the number of people playing seem to have leveled out. Terran can still wall-in pretty easily but the army is so slow to develop that Zerg is able to fast expand most of the time against Terran players. Terran often makes up for it by going straight to Hellions.

Here's a perfectly typical early game. Sen is Zerg and TLO is Terran. Same Shoutcasters as above - different map.
Sen fast expands. TLO walls-in and tries to push with Marauder/Hellion but can't quite take out the expansion. TLO goes to Viking harass while Sen continues to muster a minimum defense force and build up his economy.
Then TLO is forced to expand and Sen grabs the initiative.

Most Terrans have the mindset of I must get to mid-game with an advantage from harassing. Once they start to fast expand (Protoss players are already doing this a lot), they'll be able to develop more ways to combat Zerg. I really like how Starcraft 2 is shifting away from one base garbage play now.

[Illinest]

i missed the blizzcon exhibition between boxer and fruitdealer.

from reading the forums i can say that fruitdealer won 2 - 0.
The first match supposedly saw fruitdealer just barely survive a hardcore timing push and then overwhelm boxer with roaches soon after.
The second match had boxer win a huge battle but still lose the war cause he couldn't rebuild his army as fast as FD.

[Alice]

i missed the blizzcon exhibition between boxer and fruitdealer.

from reading the forums i can say that fruitdealer won 2 - 0.
The first match supposedly saw fruitdealer just barely survive a hardcore timing push and then overwhelm boxer with roaches soon after.
The second match had boxer win a huge battle but still lose the war cause he couldn't rebuild his army as fast as FD.

I saw the first match on the stream, but missed the second match. If you look at the resources when the caster clicks on the players' armies, you can easily tell Boxer's micro isn't nearly as strong as Fruitdealer's. Pooling up resources even a little bit over time is bad unless you have some specific reason for saving them up.

[Illinest]

Fruitdealer taken out by fake Boxer. Real Boxer is on a collision course with Nada in RO8 if they both get through their next matches. Epic.
Real Boxer has to beat Loner but Nada is up against Leenock - never heard of that guy.
Four zerg are in bracket D, Idra v Zenio and Nestea v TheWind. Nestea won the blizzard invitational.
The one protoss player that I think is going to make the RO4 is Babybyebye who has to eliminate fake boxer and then the winner of Kyrix v Ensnare. Not easy matches but then again there are no easy matches at this stage in the game.
The other bracket includes OvertheRainbow, Check, Inca, and Genius. Slight advantage to OvertheRainbow imo.

[Alice]

Protoss has always been that race that never has superhero players even in Brood War. Hell, when Protoss was completely dominated in a period of time in Brood War Korea, it wasn't one player. Instead, it was divided between six monster players nicknamed the Six Dragons.

I'm kinda giddy with so many Zergs to watch and steal builds from. However, this is more due to the fact that too many Terrans and Protoss are trying the same shit they were before without adjusting to the new patch. (ie, Protoss doing weak walls for fast expansions, and Terran getting too brave with double hellions.) Also, Terran players need to start adding start to their MMM balls. It's clearly not working now that you aren't getting major advantages from reapers.