Life in the Middle 11/03/2012

This week has been a week of change as I put into practice what I learnt last week; I spent a lot of time watching tutorials and practicing on custom maps last week. I have tweaked my builds for each match-up and, even though I was expecting it to take a dive, my win percentage is already up. I am now taking a fast expansion in every match-up and properly focusing on macro, as at this level good macro will take you far. I am sill in Platinum but with these new builds am hoping to go up to Diamond in the next few weeks.

Every single time I get a gg.

In both TvT and TvZ I used to for for 2 Rax pressure and then either expand or keep applying pressure depending on how much damage I did. Now in TvT I open with a reaper then fast expand and go into bio. I used to rush out Siege Tanks but I prefer the mobility of bio in the early game. Siege Tanks are really good in TvT, and I still use them a lot to lock down ground, but they make it harder to harass early in the game. I always build a bunker because I know how easy it is for a couple of early Marines to cripple you.

It's the best feeling when you make a catch like this; he's about to lose 40 supply.

Versus Zerg I have started to go for a six Hellion opening with a fast expand and a strong bio follow up. Again I am focusing on bio and leaving the Siege Tanks until later in the game. I think I used to tech up too quickly, with Siege Mode and all the bio upgrades, and forgot how important it was to get actual units out; leaving me vulnerable in the early game. I was underestimating the effectiveness of bio, even though it is Terrans most effective army component, especially how useful Marauders are.  

53 Minutes into an epic TvZ of constant action and it all comes down to this last engagement.

My TvP has changed the least of all; before I was going for a one Rax fast expand into four Rax, and now I am going for a one Rax fast expand into 3 Rax. I get earlier gas with the minerals not spent on the fourth Rax and focus on fast upgrades instead. Getting out Medivacs and Vikings in a timely fashion is really important in TvP. I think that one of the reasons I used to struggle in the match up was because I left getting air until too late. Also, I used to leave my main army at home when doing drops, but now I think that you really need to the threat of your army out front to make drops truly successful.

I love it when a plan comes together.

I wish I could have used blue flame Hellions before they were nerfed, they are still super effective but they used to be glorious harbingers of death. I don't like what has happened to Ghosts either, Terrans used to be overly dependant on them, but now they have been rendered overly useless in late game TvZ. Thank you for reading, you can follow this blog from the pane to the right and find me on Twitter; I'm @RobinTerran. Check back soon for my review of Mass Effect 3. Dude