Starcraft II

[Solomon]

I just found out MLG Anaheim is the same weekend as US Go Congress begins!
They're only 2 hours drive apart!

...looks like my plans need to be re-considered.

[xinwen]

How do i join http://sc2ranks.com/c/36/weplaygo/?

my name used to be there but its not there anymore =(

i'm xinwen.168 in SCII

hehe

[Solomon]

How do i join http://sc2ranks.com/c/36/weplaygo/?

my name used to be there but its not there anymore =(

i'm xinwen.168 in SCII

hehe

Did you play ladder games in the new season?

[Joaz Banbeck]

I just found out MLG Anaheim is the same weekend as US Go Congress begins!
They're only 2 hours drive apart!

At 3:00AM, maybe. But during most times, I'd double that.

[Solomon]

I call it the FFF - FF Fortress: http://i.imgur.com/HJsm7.jpg

[Stable]

That's awesome Araban. One more reason for me to hate forcefields! (imba!)

btw. I'm Stable on the European server if anyone wants to say hi.

[Tooveli]

I was messing around with Protoss. What's the correct key sequence to cast mass ff while your units are moving? Do you have to
halt
hold shift
hit 'ff-button'
spam click
or is there a better way to avoid the ff command queueing up after the move/attack command.

[Solomon]

I was messing around with Protoss. What's the correct key sequence to cast mass ff while your units are moving? Do you have to
halt
hold shift
hit 'ff-button'
spam click
or is there a better way to avoid the ff command queueing up after the move/attack command.

You just cast FFs one at a time by pressing 'f' multiple times (so make each one count ). It's also why it's important to have sentries close to your army at all times.

Also, is anyone watching Dreamhack Invitational? Everything about this tournament has been nothing short of perfect:

• Free excellent stream quality.
• 0 lag despite over 35,000 watching just on the Justin.tv stream alone.
• Professional-looking production.
• Great casters (not much of a fan for Apollo, but he's better than a lot of other casters; I really like Demuslim).
• Hilarious host.
• You can feel the crowd energy.
• Hell, even the commercials and the stuff they fill in during breaks are awesome.
• Even in the small technical issue they had in a semi-final game where there was no sound, they handled it professionally and had it fixed the next game.

Dreamhack has really outdone themselves, MLG should take notes.

[fwiffo]

Great selection of players invited too, and a lot of great games.

[MountainGo]

Also, is anyone watching Dreamhack Invitational? Everything about this tournament has been nothing short of perfect:

• Free excellent stream quality.
• 0 lag despite over 35,000 watching just on the Justin.tv stream alone.
• Professional-looking production.
• Great casters (not much of a fan for Apollo, but he's better than a lot of other casters; I really like Demuslim).
• Hilarious host.
• You can feel the crowd energy.
• Hell, even the commercials and the stuff they fill in during breaks are awesome.
• Even in the small technical issue they had in a semi-final game where there was no sound, they handled it professionally and had it fixed the next game.

Dreamhack has really outdone themselves, MLG should take notes.

Agreed on all points. I think Dreamhack takes the trophy for best SC2 tournament in the Western world. You could easily imagine watching it on ESPN2 or something.

[Stable]

It was great, yeah. I thought the host was occasionally annoying, but given he was doing that all live I was impressed by his presenting skills. Plus, how tense was the final?! And Idra cheesed?! Controversial. Great fun to watch, definitely.
I'm still loving Day9's commentary on the TSL, that's been great fun. Mostly, the SC2 tournies seem really professionally done.

[Solomon]

Saw the first NASL matches a few days ago on the big screen with a group of redditors who play SC2, it was really fun getting to know new people (and meeting familiar ones from LANs!), actively discussing the casted games while eating pizza and drinking IPAs, and just having a good time. There's just so much going on with NASL, MLG, GSL, TSL...sometimes I wish Go had events like these . My liquibet is already ruined after day 1 and 2...=__=.

I haven't just been watching though; lately I've been working on my PvT and learning a 2 gate pressure build that some Europeans have been using lately. Here's a pretty fun (short and sweet) game I played where the build helped me gain exactly the information I needed, still fail to his plan, then remembering a game that MC played on this very map in a GSL game where he was in a similar situation and doing what he did to try and break out of it. I found it funny that a Terran would type 'nice race' before tapping out, implying Protoss is OP in PvT. As if amulet removal wasn't enough...I will admit though, PvZ is pretty borked right now, though there is a Zerg build atm I'm having a really hard time against which hopefully I'll have figured out. And mech play.

[Tooveli]

there is a Zerg build atm I'm having a really hard time against

Any clues?

In ZvP I'm currently enjoying a Spanishiwa-style build. Basically, drones and queens for as long as possible and then all gas at once. It's a huge difference spending 4 drones on a single extractor instead of minerals in the early game. Turns out queens are pretty good too. It's oddly effective against early game all-ins, which would seem like a good 'counter' to a drone heavy build. It seems weak to mass mass expo though.

I like to go 13 pool and try to hatch in my opponents wall just before his cybernetics core goes down if he's not defending it. If so, I get 1 gas just for speed and cut drones. Seems to work with or without the hatch finishing. If not, I hatch at my nat and play the Spanishiwa-style.

[Solomon]

there is a Zerg build atm I'm having a really hard time against

Any clues?

In ZvP I'm currently enjoying a Spanishiwa-style build. Basically, drones and queens for as long as possible and then all gas at once. It's a huge difference spending 4 drones on a single extractor instead of minerals in the early game. Turns out queens are pretty good too. It's oddly effective against early game all-ins, which would seem like a good 'counter' to a drone heavy build. It seems weak to mass mass expo though.

I like to go 13 pool and try to hatch in my opponents wall just before his cybernetics core goes down if he's not defending it. If so, I get 1 gas just for speed and cut drones. Seems to work with or without the hatch finishing. If not, I hatch at my nat and play the Spanishiwa-style.

Yeah it seems this Spanishiwa build is all the rage nowadays, and I've ran into it several times on ladder already. I can see it doing pretty well against, say, a 4 gate but whenever I do something like a 5-gate + immortals w/ +1 attack push off 2 base I've had an easy time (will add in replay later). Nowadays I've just been playing the boring, sit-back-and-defend-until-200/200-deathball off 3 base play in PvZ...it seems to be rather successful . When I do lose, it's either due to aggressive burrowed roach pressure, or a Z who knows how to use mutas very well; haven't played a Z who utilizes the mobility of a Z army and tries to make things interesting by getting into a base trade scenario and evading the deathball (e.g., Slayers_Min vs. oGsInca in GSTL).

And I'll tell you the build I'm struggling against only after I've thought about it some more and can't figure out a good way to 'counter' it .

[pwaldron]

As a newish Starcraft player, I feel compelled to ask where you guys go for all these fancy broadcasts? In particular, where do you guys download the replays?