I played SC1 for a LONG time and I just started SCII. I only do 2v2 and the ranking games decided I should be in the Copper league. I've been told I'm terrible by my own teammates, but for the life of me I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. Here's a breakdown of how I do things (I'm always Zerg): 10 drones->Pool 9->Drone 10->OL 11-13 are drones Then I make a queen and Extractor and set one drone on the extractor (Gradually going up to 3 as needed) I do alright begining of game, I can get a rush of ftw if my partner is in on it. But mid-end game I'm staring down a bunch of fliers while I'm still on Hydralisks. Each game I try harder, and I change up my priorites. I constantly run at full efficiency (Close to 0 minerals and gas) And I am madly attempting to build enough creatures/advancement buildings/drones/expansions to keep up. Here is what I know I'm doing wrong: I don't understand how to macro my bases, I click most things. I'm never totally sure of the priorites between expansion/tech/building an army What freaks me out the most is that EVERYONE seems to be better than me. I play a lot of games, I'm avarage to excelent at them. I've never been this far under par. What the snot am I doing wrong? If anyone has a detailed breakdown of a Zerg game (Not just the first 1m) or any other pieces of advice, I would appricate it. P.S. I will look through any good replays you send me and will post my own if needed.
Try watching some of the videos from Day9 for tips: http://day9tv.blip.tv/posts?view=archive&nsfw=dc This one in particular has tips of things to look for, even though it is not zerg specific: http://day9tv.blip.tv/file/3651794/
I'm not sure if one of those videos explain macro, so I will. I'm not very good either, but I've spent some time on my macro and I think it's not half bad. Now I bet I'll be told by better players I'm doing it wrong. Oh well. Here's what I do. I hotkey (control + #) my hatchery. I use 4, you can use whatever you want, I keep one to three for units. Then, I get a queen on the hatchery. I hotkey all my hatcheries to numbers, 5 for my first expo, 6 for my second, etc. I also hotkey my research buildings, evo chambers, spires, etc, to 0. When I want to build units I just hit 4, then 's' to select larva, and the hotkey for a unit. 'd' for Drone, 'f' for Infestor, 'h' for Hydralisk, they are listed at the hatchery. I can do this without looking at my base, in case I happen to be harassing or something. If I want to inject larva, I double hit the hotkey, 4 for example, which brings me to my base. I can then click on my queen, hit 'v' to inject larva, and target the nearby hatchery. I can do this for all my expos too, which is why I don't hotkey them all to one number. Quick note, each hatchery should have a queen nearby. Set the waypoints away from the hatchery so units don't crowd around it. It is very distressing to be trying to inject larva but not being able to click on my queen. If I want to research something, I double hit '0', which selects all of the research buildings I have put to that number. I can use the 'tab' button to switch between the buildings, so if the upgrades on my evo chamber are showing, I hit 'tab' until my spire''s upgrades are showing, so I can research them. I find it works for me. Once again, I don't hotkey all my hatcheries to one number, as you can't double hit the hotkey to get to them to inject larva quickly, which is crucial. It starts off a bit mind boggling as you learn how to use the hotkeys quickly, also what keys do what but it saves lots of time and is worth it. You also get faster as time goes by.
Hi Eric, Please post a few of your own replays - I suspect you're making some simple, but systematic error that could be easily identified by someone watching you play. I'm not a great player but I never got put in copper in 2v2, so I suspect something is up...
so let me get this straight. . . there is a specific way you MUST play in online vs. in order to have favorable outcomes? how is this fun? mean im sure it's fun the first 15-40 times you do it but after doing the same thing over and over, doesnt it get kinda redundant? and what's the point of the more powerful units when majority of games are decided around the first or second tech levels? idk guys im stoked about SC2, but im not too sure about the online modes. . . please try and dissuade me
@ madmerc, there isn't a SPECIFIC way you must play during early game. It's just what's been found to be most efficient. The other person wants to win the game and I assume you do too. So obviously, there are going to be more efficient ways to getting to a certain unit compositions than others to counter what you've scouted. There are ways of skipping certain units to get to a higher tier unit. For example, protoss can opt to skip building a few zealots to get a fast stalker to deal with reaper rushes. Or, they can save up and skip making immortals and make a collosis if the opponent has marines. And still, this is still considered early-mid game, decided which tech to go first. Plus, in the first 5 seconds of the game, what can you do anyways? put workers to minerals....build your supply...?
assign a control number on all queens (ctrl 0) or something else, press 0, use spawn larvae (v) then click on the hatchery @ the minimap, only the closest queen will inject larvae, so yeah, there you go
