Diary of a Noob

[partymarty81]

That would be great, unlike last time I have a clear idea of what I need to improve, I'll message you next time I see you on chat

[partymarty81]

So it's been a couple of weeks since my last update, here we go:

WWPC not gone too well, been totally outclassed and outplayed. I'm going to keep going, try not to lose as much next time and carry on with it....

Have been playing many 1v1 custom games with Lateralus, playing same map multiple times and going through replays together, been very useful. We have a shared issue with being able to handle larger map scaling so came up with the idea to set up a new player league - will park this due to Tokyto's announcement regarding the ladder change test. In my opinion this will be more noob friendly (more so than the experienced players overall) so will get stuck into practising and learning the upcoming maps

I've also watched some nice high end ladder replays giving me some ideas of where else to improve, seen some interesting play in particular from Morax, GodXeresExNoob, Yudi (apologies if I have any names wrong)

Learning wise I think I need to adjust a bit; I've been to try and learn every angle of this game chapter and verse. Most 1v1 / ladder games are ending by 20 mins and as such that's where I need to focus on. I'm paying more attention to different things now which I think is going to help me going forwards

Voodoo - will play as soon as I next see you online as I need my next lesson

Also thanks to Thatcherite who pointed me in direction of a great tutorial post (by ZeZeren?! I think) - again apologies if name wrong...... Set's quite a few basics straight

Area's of focus:

- Not powerspamming/engispamming on inappropriate maps
- Stop wasting mass on unit's I'm not going to use/need
- Get a clearer idea on my direction for the game by learning the maps better
- Continue to watch better player replays on the maps I want to improve on
- Play some more ladder games

Until next time..... PARTY

[partymarty81]

So this is just working, so I'm going to carry on. Since last played have played lots of ladder, more so since the changes and this is so much more enjoyable.

Am now beating players rated a couple hundred higher than me, rating rising steadily.

Mostly down to learning the maps on ladder and a clearer focus on getting spam going.

New issues; before i was reclaiming fairly well, now with tons more units to control some of the previuous basics are being forgot. At least radar and sonar are going up everywhere so keep working on this.

Been playing some nice practise games again with Lateralus, also with some more new players, homoludens, La\erBeems.... lots of new players liking the 1v1

Also been playing UEF - I have a serious soft spot for aeon however found them too vulnerable, uef seem more idiot proof

see you on the ladder

PARTY

[LazerBeems]

I definitely think that learning the maps and being able to predict your opponents' moves based on the terrain & resource placement helps considerably, and to this end I've found that watching replays or casts/commentaries on ladder maps also lends itself to learning them.

[partymarty81]

UP UP AND AWAY

A more detailed entry now I'm back at work and have time to think about this.....

So my ladder play with my new focus has seen me win a high percentage of the ladder games I've played this month; this also ties in with the reduced map pool however since start of April have seen rating rise from 520 to 680. After re-watching my replays back I think this is a combination of getting better build orders from the start and having a clearer strategy on each map, and making better decisions in game. I'm thinking more of making less mistakes and punishing my opponents errors and this is working nicely. I'm also using my APM to better use; in other games I've played I've been quick on commands and this is only now starting to come forward on supcom.... it's only taken 200 ladder games

Most of the ladder games are ending in T1 stage, I'm actually slowing down the tech transition and mex upgrading until more appropriate. This has led to way more units on field and giving an advantage I can use on the battlefield. As my rating stops rising as fast, I will be forced to better this part of my game however keeping on the theme of keeping things simple, I will focus on that when I need to.

New map pool, a new challenge in itself. It's nice that I've played Theta many times before however the others are totally new to me, played a spam fest on Vulcans Reach and also a couple on high noon, which seems to be a race to win air and get com to opponents side. The other advantage of the smaller pool is that I've been able to watch a few replays of the other maps so I'm a bit more prepared as to where the reclaim is, this would not be an option with the old system. My personal view is that this is a positive change for a competitive ladder and that although one could argue each build order might be the same on maps (or very similar), no too games go the same way.

An observation of the last rotation was that I was facing more and more Seraphim/Aeon players, no doubt taking advantage of the hover T1 (or random search ) - I also really enjoyed watching some Mephi VS ZLO ladder games, the micro and unit management is on another level, what with everything else going on aswell

Also now on a personal level, my youngest bab is now 7 months old and sleeping through so I am now getting a proper evening back, when the Mrs goes back to work in a few weeks I will get some extra daytime action too

TARGETS FOR NEXT 2 WEEKS
- Break into top 1000 ladder players (708 rating currently)
- 1000+ ladder rating by end of May

FOCUS GOING FORWARD
- Radar & Reclaim

PARTY OUT

[RocketRooster]

I've had a browse through your ladder results in the replay vault. You're doing exceptionally well.

[partymarty81]

Cheers RR won a couple of nice ones tonight too

[RocketRooster]

Marty and I had a great game on Forbidden Pass - our first encounter and a really memorable one. I barely escaped having my com whittled down by the thickness of a polony skin where after my cybran cancerspam overran the whole map, what followed was some hijinx in the water with Marty's leftover auroras and engies trying to trap my barely-alive com with torp launchers on his ACU's built in production only, and me reclaiming units from under the water in an attempt to escape to land.

A very close, and very fun game.

TurboVirgin(tm) Cybran spam. Love it to bits. On maps where I can't spam t1, I don't fare nearly as well though and almost always lose.

Marty seems to have the basics very well under his belt and plays with skill and confidence.

[partymarty81]

Was a very enjoyable game; although my basics went out of the window..... I experimented with aeon again due to the hover being very handy on the current map pool however the stuff I have been working on went out of the window! Look forward to playing RR again as we seem to be pretty close rating rise and on the up

So since last update; had a bit of a change around in my home office.... It's taken a bit of time but all straight now and settled in to my new surroundings Also have invested in a new headset and mic - used this on the ladder game with RR however found the sound very different to my tiny speakers, will use this I think for when I finally get some lessons and get onto and work out Discord

For the first week, I went on a great run and my focus on basics were holding very well, plenty of wins and rating rising sharply. I then had a few days off, started messing around with stuff and had some bad games, big stalls and stupid BO.... heads gone! anyway took time to re-re-re-watch the replays, compared to the ones I had played previously with success, sandboxed to practice the starts again and seem to be back on track

Played last night, took some nice wins, a draw which was naive on my part leaving com out too exposed when I had earned the win, a new issue for me to deal with. The panic has gone, in that i don't feel like i have to zoom in on every area to babysit it.... this more casual mindset has led me to leave my com wondering in a couple of matches recently which has cost me a win to a draw and a 1v1 loss custom..... on the whole I'm pleased that I'm allowing myself to set reclaim orders, build radar, reset rally points, reset build queues etc but i just want to be aware that I need to watch the big fella

Played a couple of nice 1v1 against Metier9 who invited me into the UEF clan, so far have played a couple of games and a co op mission (which took forever) so will see how this goes, seem like a nice bunch so far

In terms of my targets, smashed the breaking top 1000 players by end of April target, jumped rating from 522 at start of month to 751 after last night; going well. I still think there's plenty of scope for this to improve as I am holding my own/beating 900 ish ladder rated players so hopefully my target to hit 1k by end of this month is achievable!

Focus: radar and reclaim going well.... at the cost of neglecting things such as upgrading mexes, considering transport drops etc.... focus going forward to remember it all so just more games needed really...

PARTY OUT

[RocketRooster]

we seem to be pretty close rating rise

Not a chance, mate! Your gameplay is much more polished and holistic. I beat you by the skin of my teeth and only by being very good at one thing only on a map where it is feasible.