Practicing but practicing the right things to move foreward?

Hi guys this is my first post..... so ill try to make it a good one

Ok... From the moment I first saw SC2 i knew i wanted to play it, know it, master it! Now the problem is I have always been over and beyond the call of bad with RTS's So i get SC2 and practice practice practice and once i felt i was ready i jump in and do a few practice games, then did my placement games and sucked up the world and got into a low level bronze league.

Now i practiced my butt off and then ended up going back to another game and leaving SC2 behind... Well a few days ago i started playing again and watching all kinds of games i downloaded from the net and today i am home sick from work and thought I would practice some more and then it hit me.... I obviously am not doing something right.

After my long lay off, its almost like starting all over again and this time im going to stick with it but i would love some advice from some of the Higher League players that post here, on what are the most important things to start with? I technically am not a beginner anymore but I want to know what is go maximize my time and benefit me the most so im not just going in circles doing the SAAAAME thing over and over and not getting better and then wondering what i am doing wrong.

I would like to think anyone can learn a game like this with time and practice but im really starting to wonder.

**Edit** I hope this thread didn't post 2x's, the site acted weird when i hit submit.

 

You can. You can get to diamond level by not thinking at all but practising. Just have these simple things in mind while playing, at all times:
1. always make workers
2. create enough buildings to be able to spend your income
3. never get supply blocked
4. profit

 

Now I'm not much better, I am also relatively low as a Silver league player but i am really starting to see improvement as i am slowly moving up in the ladder. A strategy i use to practice my over-all game is to look at pro players games. But i don't look to copy their strategies because at low level play they wont work or be useful.
I really like watching Day[9] because his analysis of games is excellent. If you don't know where to find him you can watch his videos @ Day9tv.blip.tv

Day[9] has really helped me improve my game, but you cant just watch and expect to be better. You have to practice a lot and like kuvasz said. its all about the basics. If you improve your core gameplay mechanics your overall win rate will go way up.

So in conclusion, watch Day9, master the basics and have fun!

 

I am in masters, and I always have a good win ratio, and im on the training team of 2 pro teams. so I hope I meet your criteria for advice.

BEST way to learn is to watch the pros play on youtube. When I first played in beta, I got placed in platinum (2nd highest league during beta) because I knew so much about the game solely base on watching so many videos. As mentioned above Day[9] is a good way to learn the basics. However I tend to stay away from Day[9] because I find he babies the strategy too much, he spends too much time analyzing every single part of the game, when 80% of the game is based on instinct. For you its a good way to start.

I find the best way, is to watch as many videos as possible, and you get the general idea of how to react, you realize the timings of certain pushes. I watch about 5 starcraft videos a day. I keep learning, I keep sharpening my knowledge.

The above replies are right, work on your basics, such as your mechanics. However they didn't explain to you what that means, before getting into copying other players builds, you gotta stick to 1 build, and perfect it. Modify your build based on your needs.

If you are protoss:
perfect your 4 gate

if you are terran:
perfect your 1-1-1 build
perfect your mmm

if you are zerg:
perfect your 14 pool, 14 hatch

perfecting means, executing it well and fast. Example you are protoss, you have perfected your 4 gate, but you somehow know your opponent is going cloaked units, what you do to modify your 4 gate, you get your 2nd gas earlier, and you get 3 gate 1 robo, and boom you have a balanced economy for a 3 gate robo build.

YOU MUST LEARN HOW TO PLAY WITH TWO HANDS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I noticed the majority of players in gold and lower, play with one hand which is impossible to get better. Using two hands? means USE YOUR HOTKEYS.

I also noticed many silver/bronze players don't even know what "A clicking" is to attack. press A and click on the ground to attack.

pay attention to your minimap, try to multitask, do things efficiently, click on your minimap or ctrl groups to move around the map, dont scroll.

Start with my tips and the tips given above, and repost what you need help with. This game has too many things to take into account. Don't worry you will gradually get better.

good luck

 

I do play Protoss, I have been using hotkeys for a while BUT after watching other videos of other players im thinking maybe I missed out on something or maybe im not explaining what I do correctly.

I will bind my Nexus to number 5, gateways to #3, and a worker to #6 and I work from there later adding my main army to #1, and my specialty troops (sentry, immortals etc) to #1 but subkey them for key #2 for either flanking, attacking another target or so I can use force fields etc.

That’s how ive been using hotkeys, but after chowzilla’s post, and watching more videos and looking around at other things that were said. I feel like im just touching the top of the iceberg.

 

Well you are just touching the top of the iceberg... Starcraft 2 is an incredibly in-depth game. Theres so much to learn even masters are still finding new things. Starcraft despite its simple design has so many little factors that can change a game completely in or out of your favor. Don't try to rush it, just take your time, learn at your own pace. You dont wanna bite off more than you can chew

 

I do have to agree with Chowzilla tho, day9 is great but sometimes he goes into too much detail for useful information. i like him because hes funny and has a lot of good things to say. I personally play Terran and mastering one strategy at a time is a really good technique. Slowly building your library of strategies.

 

thats good, now work on your other mechanics, such as your game awareness... be pro-active, try to anticipate, try to be efficient. The faster you do these things the better you become.

Like in every battle in the universe, speed is the key to victory.