Life in the Middle 10/12/2011

This week started off really well but after winning a lot of games in a row I started getting matched against a lot of Platinum players and I simply couldn't keep up. After the brief win-streak I slowly started losing the majority of my games before picking myself up again. Towards the end of the week I was performing really well again, winning eight out of the last ten games I played, but this has shown that I am not yet ready to go up to Platinum. It has also shown me that I shouldn't get complacent because there are always people better than you to put you in your place and I was getting lazy last week because I was winning so many games. Yet again I finished 2nd in my league but it has been a real struggle to just break even.

Still a rank 2 Gold.

This week I noticed how little Terrans react to what you are doing; generally they seem to stick with their plan from the beginning of the game, which may be well thought out, but it means you can win a high proportion of games just by reacting to what they do. I like going 2 Rax into Factory for this very reason; you can apply early Marine pressure, and sometimes win through that, but it is not an all in strategy and so you can expand behind some Siege Tanks and be safe for a while to macro up. If the opponent goes 3 Rax you can defend it with a bunker before getting Siege Tanks out and crushing them. If they go cloak Banshees your attack comes before they have cloak and you can be well prepared for their arrival. If they go Seige Tank Viking you can distract them before getting out your own and playing a standard game. I won 82% of games like this last week and 75% this week so for now I am going to stick with this strategy.

I find that 2 Rax into Factory helps you deal with anything in the early game.

I think the most important part of TvT is knowing what your opponent is doing because Siege Tanks and Marines have such high DPS that drops and sneak attacks can cripple you in seconds, so to me scans are worth more than M.U.L.E.s. I probably over scan but I'd prefer to lose the minerals than be surprise at what's coming. Likewise in TvZ I probably over scan looking at their main to see what tech they have in the early game, and whether they have a Greater Spire or Ultralisk Cavern in the late game, but I think that it is definitely worth it. Having said that, Zerg often notice when you over scan and build their tech in other places. I played a game where I was certain there were no Broodlords because I kept scouting the Spire so I was completely unprepared when they arrived; my opponent must have built and upgraded a second Spire. In TvP I don't think scans are as useful but it is always nice to know when a Robotic Bay or Templar Archives go up.

That awekward moment when nine unexpected Broodlords appear outside your base.

In general I have been playing much better versus Zerg which is great as they are the match-up I'm least comfortable with, even though they are the race I have played against the most overall. Last week I lost to every Platinum Zerg I played and only won 46% of my ZvTs, this week I beat 3/5 of the Platinums I played and won 55% overall. The main problem I am having is with Mutalsiks; whenever I leave Marines in my base to defend they attack my forwards troops and wipe them out and whenever I rally all my Barracks to the front line they initiate a base trade situation and I always underestimate how quickly all my stuff will die. Mutalisks often seem to kill me after I try to move into the main so maybe I should be less greedy and retreat at that point and expand? I'm a great fan of Tastosis' "When you're ahead, get more ahead" saying but against Zerg I always want to keep pushing and not give them a chance to re-macro up.

I'm always too greedy with my first army, I should do damage then retreat and expand.

This week I have been having a lot of problems versus Protoss, which is a shame because last week was the  first time I felt confident against them, but this week my win-rate versus them has gone down to just 33%. Admittedly six of the games I played I was up against Platinums but I also struggled against Golds too. I played the same person three times in a row and lost the first two times but won the third game after a lot of fighting backwards and forwards, even though he didn't gg I was proud of myself for beating my first Platinum Protoss. Even if I build a lot of Vikings I always lose to Colossus, as my troops always seem to have melted away by time the Colossus are killed, can anyone offer some advice?

I don't even know how to approach an army like this.

Last night I played 21 games in a row but I didn't want to stop because I was performing badly, so I ignored the rising Sun, and kept playing until I was doing better. When you start a loosing streak do you prefer to stop playing or to stick with it and play through the losses? Despite how bad every loss would make me feel I decided to keep playing and tried to keep a positive attitude throughout, though every gg came through gritted teeth I made sure I always said it. I think gl hf is important at the beginning of a match as a reminder for both you and your opponent that it is a game and is supposed to be fun.

Thanks to How Cheese Fails I managed to survive an all in Nydus Worm in my base.

If you enjoyed this article then you can follow me on twitter at @RobinTerran. Check out my other articles including my Updated Terran Impressions and the Story of How I Got Into StarCraft. Thank you for reading.