As a new player, should I do the practice league?

I just got SC2, and I want to get into multiplayer. I've played like 10 games in the "practice league", but I'm not sure that's the best idea. From what I understand, the maps are different (debris blocking all entrances to base areas) and I'm sure that changes strategy. A lot of people try to rush air units (void rays, mutalisks, etc). Is it worth it to do the practice league, or will I just have to learn a completely different strategy for normal games?

Also, is there a thread on here somewhere with basic strategy tips? Thanks in advance for any help!

 

I played one Novice map by accident when I "taught" a friend of mine. Those maps are supposed to give you more comfort zone, but nothing could be more different from regular games, so I'd suggest to skip it entirely.

 

I recommend skipping the practice league, I feel that league is just to learn how to do simple things like click and move around. The practice league is also not practical and cheesy as you must have experienced with the quick rushes to air. I recommend skipping the practice league and going straight into the bronze league, there you should practice builds and macroing, (of course you will lose to a lot of cheese in bronze but PLEASE, do not become a cheeser yourself). Watch high level replays and learn from videos on youtube. Macro is the key to getting better, and keep making workers!

Oh and also, the games in the practice league are set on a speed that is actually slower than the pace in real league games so if you skip you will have difficulty at first grasping the speed of the game but you will get used to it eventually, better to play for real sooner than later.

 

Thanks for the tips, guys. I guess the practice league is for getting familiar with units and teching, etc. The whole debris slowing you down though is just dumb. I'll skip it and jump with both feet into the bronze league .

I'll be checking out some replays, and posting some of my own soon enough, I'm sure.

 

I skipped the Practice League by accident oO
and then i jumped straight into gold for some reason......

 

I would not skip.

Practice league is for ...practising! (so clever) ... sure you can go with normal league, but I would rather practice the most as possible before so I don't start a loose strike on real league ... I would take profit of it to test strategies and units ... and most important for me, to learn hotkeys and modify them to your comfort. It was not until I learnt this That I could go gold or upper... but of course thats just me, you can be different ... although I would not skip

 

If you really want to practice though, just play the campaign & some custom games with the AI to polish up your build orders...

 

That's not 'really' practising at all, and playing the AI should only help you develop the very basics of a build order, not polish them.

Get into chat channels, meet people in your own league and play practice matches with them (against people. Just remember that this is just a game and that you shouldn't be afraid of laddering. That is to say, use the ladder to practise because people are more serious there than in practice matches. For example I would never proxy hatch on ladder but I do it from time to time to my practice partner.