1v1 Improvement?

[Flynn]

Hi there, I seem to go through cycles at the moment where I think I am getting better and psychologically I think it makes me play better as well, but the same is true of the reverse. Normally during these ups and downs my rating fluctuates by up to 100 points, like if I am playing well, I might be 1250 and on a downward turn I could go right down to 1150 in a couple of days. I am saying this to illustrate the skill deterioration, I know rating isn't important.

I know about watching replays and casts but that doesn't have any effect. At the time of writing I am on 2200 1v1s and I really don't see an improvement. I am a basic player, my opening build is usually t1 spam and if I get the advantage guncom. If I deviate from that playstyle I am even worse.

I think a nice 1v1 skill level to achieve would be 1500. I was wondering what things someone can do to improve their skill level if the usual replay and cast watching doesn't help. Thanks.

[speed2]

Dont repeat your mistakes.
Thing about watching replays, at least in my case, is that I usually know what I did wrong in game, so watching a replay is just to see the situation again, slower so I can come up with even better solution that came to my mind during the game that I didnt manage to execute.
And if you arent awere of your mistakes during/right after a game then its gonna be really hard for you to improve. Others that see those mistakes can advise you, but its gonna be slow process.

[nine2]

take a zock lesson

[Darth_Google]

From my experience in other games with similar rating system (Dota2 mmr, LOL elo) such picture usually means, that you've hit your current skill ceiling.
Now.. i put heavy emphasis on "current".

Gonna try to explain what i mean. If you played WOT, there is such thing in statistics as victory percent. Arguably, WOT is not really well balanced game, so you can boost it, but thats not the point. If you play the game and find that percentage of your victories is stuck - it meand you need to change playstyle somewhat or adapt a new one. Its really that simple.

Now, if we talk about FAF, i have no idea how you play to give some specific advices, but here are few thoughts:

Do not focus on your rating, focus on the game, and it will surely improve.
Maybe, you lack flexibility against certain opponents.
Micro is sure important in this game, but not Starcraft-like important. I guess you should have a decent level at your current rating.
If scouting can win the games, so surely can denying it. Try to hide your intentions from enemy, try to play aggresively so he would think the threat is immediate and he forgot to oftenly scout your base, try to kill his scouts. Maybe it will work out for you.
Drops. Thats the thing people often forget about or dont know how to execute those. There is almost no reason not to do them.
Do not go easy on someone. If you won a mapcontrol it is not a reason to do something stupid and expect that enemy will let you get away with it. Instead, try to snowball. Hard. Remember, if you have more map than him.. everything he can do, you can do better. You can do everything better, than him. If you are not sure how to proceed when you have map dominance - try to looking at your opponent and mirror his strategy. Most likely he will eco - you can do it too. Is he preparing drop? Prepare your counter-drop, but dont drop his base, drop his deployed forces instead, like it would be your quick response group.

[Vee]

I remember you asked me for training, and I remember that whenever I gave you some advice on what to do differently you were arguing that that was not going to work (actually many people do that...). I saw the same in your forum threads: when somebody gives you a suggestion you argue that it won't work. You want to become better, but you don't want to change anything in how you play. Even in this post you say "I am a basic player, my opening build is usually t1 spam and if I get the advantage guncom. If I deviate from that playstyle I am even worse". So here's some advice: try the advice you get before you conclude that it will not work. It is certainly possible that all that advice is wrong, but if you're not going to try it, how would you know?

There are several aspects to how good somebody plays:

1. Strategy. How much land and how much air will you make? When will you go t2 land? When t2 air, t2 navy? How much eco do you expect to make? Where will you send the acu? Do you need to make early drops to expansions? What are good places to raid? Where is the good reclaim? When will you make a t2 pgen? This is very map dependent, and you should know your general plan even before the game started.

2. Tactics. Drops, tml, snipe power, scouting before attacking, reclaiming after a fight, reacting to t2 air, timings of when you can expect a lab, bomber, or raid to arrive, etc.

3. Micro. Good unit formations, targeting the right units with your acu, not walking units into pds, dodging, air micro, etc.

4. Efficiency. Not wasting time with your units, eco balance, adjacency, not making pgens before hydro ^^, etc.

From the replay you should be able to see which of these things you can improve. And if you can't see that then ask help

#1 and #2 is mostly a matter of knowing what to do. You can watch replays by good players to steal what they do. #3 and #4 is mostly a matter of practice, and you should watch your own replays to see what went wrong and then focus on doing it right the next time.

[Flynn]

I find I often have more success when I use my instincts to dictate what I do rather than playing to a specific plan. Also when you say I argue with people that their suggestions won't work I speak from experience. For instance, Darth_Google stated that you have nothing to lose from drops. That is indeed false. You have the transport to lose, plus whatever units that are in the transport. Drops against a good player often fail and cost you valuable units and micro that you could have used for upgrading mexes for instance.

And for your examples of planning, again, my instincts tell me when to do what. Normally if I try to plan it is a disaster. Why make a plan? That is so inflexible. You need to react to what your enemy does and force him to react to you. If he doesn't go t2 and you do because it is in your plan, you will get overrun all because you wanted to stick to some stupid plan.

[Darth_Google]

I find I often have more success when I use my instincts to dictate what I do rather than playing to a specific plan. Also when you say I argue with people that their suggestions won't work I speak from experience. For instance, Darth_Google stated that you have nothing to lose from drops. That is indeed false. You have the transport to lose, plus whatever units that are in the transport. Drops against a good player often fail and cost you valuable units and micro that you could have used for upgrading mexes for instance.

And for your examples of planning, again, my instincts tell me when to do what. Normally if I try to plan it is a disaster. Why make a plan? That is so inflexible. You need to react to what your enemy does and force him to react to you. If he doesn't go t2 and you do because it is in your plan, you will get overrun all because you wanted to stick to some stupid plan.

Your plan can be as fluid as you like, actually. And my point stays.

About drops - it is a thing that many, many people tend to forget. One of the common mistakes players do, so i suggested you to try those if you dont do drops already.

Rough idea is that your rating is fixed and therefore you need to change SOMETHING in your playstyle in order to raise it.

[Flynn]

I disagree with drops, even with air superiority your transport can be in the wrong place at the wrong time and get shot down, three t3 tanks lost in one go. Remember I speak from experience, I have played 3.5k games all together.

[Flamingo]

Hey Flynn, I watched a game you were in not long ago, and your macro was good. You've got a handle on the game's mechanics, but your micro was a little weak. In a game between you and Nequilich, you had the tendency to park your army within his firing range while you built up your numbers. Nequilich kept picking off units that way. You were also using a lot of artillery, but you would usually move them up, park them, then have them be shot - with an artillery build you need to be kiting. Fire on a target, then fall back to something defensible like your ACU or a point defense - you take advantage of the unit's range and you cover the downfall of its low HP that way. The idea is that you're creating constant pressure. If the enemy sits there, they'll get shelled, and if they chase you, they run into a gun emplacement.

Of course, it's one thing to be calm and collected during a replay and say, "Okay, here's what you need to do". Under stress it's easy to get your attention broken and anxiety can trick your brain into being too conservative.

Do you have any friends you know who are below your skill level? I've got a bunch of guys I play with of varying skill, and sometimes it's really nice to play 1v1 with someone who's not as good because it gives you a chance to practice fiddly things you're less comfortable with. There's no glory in punching down, of course, but you can shoot the breeze with your friend while you play, so it's social bonding, and afterward you can talk about how the game went so it winds up being experience and practice for both of you. It's easier to focus in a no-stress environment.

[Darth_Google]

Whatever, man. Point stays. When you get stuck in the same rating, it means you need to change something.