Mr Monkey's Lounge

Unit Explanations: Fiddling with Phoenixes

2011-11-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

Unit Explanations: Fiddling with Phoenixes

Image from: http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Phoenix

The Phoenix is a very versatile unit that (in most situations) can help swing a battle your way. You would think being only able to attack air would stop them, but your wrong. They have a mass of locked potential that is destined to be found by you.

The Phoenix is a fast moving anti air unit that resides with the Protoss. The Phoenix can attack whilst moving thus making it perfect for on the fly battles. This being coupled with the fact it moves very hasty can lead to some fast paced action.

Phoenixes are perfect at countering Mutalisks hands down. They move as fast as Mutalisks and do extra damage to light armoured units. This means the 'mutas' will melt away easily with a flock of Phoenixes.

However, what if you find yourself over encumbered with ground forces at your door? Phoenixes may still be of use yet; using Phoenixes to pick up units can drastically reduce the amount of forces that your ground army has to deal with. It is also very wise to use the Phoenixes to pick up key ground units such as siege tanks and immortals. Just think, if you have about 10 Phoenixes with your army, then you have the ability to reduce their forces by 10 when a battle comes to hand.

Phoenixes are not always about the offensive however. There may be a few sticky situations that a Phoenix can come in handy. Lets say for example, you have a group of zealots in the front of your army covering stalkers. Some banelings could start rolling in, holding the potential to wipe out your zealot force. Your best bet is to pick up your own Zealots and let the stalkers deal with the banelings.

The Folly of the Phoenix

Phoenixes do have their weaknesses however. Being a specialist in taking out light armoured units leaves it open to being completely annihilated by armoured units. Corrupters are the Phoenixes worst enemy. Not only are Corrupters armoured, but they can add an extra 20% extra damage to their attacks in the form of 'corruption'.

A big ball of marines are always a no no. Never fly over them. I think you all know what will happen if you do.

Buildings. Buildings are untouchable by Phoenixes, they cannot be picked up and Phoenixes cannot attack ground. This means static defense will be a key point to avoid when flying through enemy lines.

Daily Hitlist: Rebelling Against the Zealot

2011-11-02T06:52:00.000-07:00

How to Counter Zealots

Image from: http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Zealot_(StarCraft_II)

Countering zealots can be a harder task than one might first think. They are a melee unit and deal quite a dicey amount of damage if you let them stay in melee range.

First off, anything with range can micro away from zealots. You can run and shoot until the zealots chasing you are dead. Terran have a very good unit at doing this, the Hellion. The Hellion is very fast and does extra damage to light armoured units. This is perfect for dealing with zealots as they are quite slow; they will take full damage form the Hellions too. Terran can also go reaper. Reapers are very fast ranged units (just like the Hellion) that are very effective at killing zealots. Not only this, but if you get cornered you can jump up/down a cliff to avoid taking damage from the zealots.

But what can a Protoss do? Stalkers can run and shoot away from zealots but if you let them get hit they will take a lot of damage. Your best bet is to either, get sentries and force field the zealots away from your army, or get your own zealots. Getting your own zealots is probably the best option. This will allow your stalkers time to deal their damage without having to run away. Ultimately colossus will save your day, but having enough time to grab this may not be an option.

But what of the Zerg? Zerg may have a harder time countering zealots as they are very effective against zerglings. You can choose to go zerglings but you will have to make sure you have enough of them to hold off. It takes around 3 zerglings per zealot to kill them off. Roaches are a more sturdy choice. Not only are they ranged (so running and shooting is viable) they are also armoured. This means the zealots wont be able to deal as much damage to them. If you can get the chance to grab some infestors then do so. Fungal growth will prove very handy in this situation.

Starcraft News: Leaked HOTS Units

2011-10-27T07:31:00.000-07:00

New Protoss Units Revealed!

New Protoss UNITS!

There are 3 new units that Protoss can use now and they all have unique abilities that are quite strange. Lets take a look at what they are.

The Oracle would seem to act in the same way an Overseer does. It has the ability to enter the base and stop units from building for a short amount of time. Also it says resource harvesting. This is interesting as this could open new ways of harassment available to Protoss players.

The Tempest seems to be primarily an anti air unit. It has the ability to create massive area of effect attacks to air units. This will be very useful against balls of Mutalisks. Not only this, but it has a separate attack for the ground; a strong beam that one can assume is constant like a void ray.

The Replicant seems to be a small unit that has the ability to copy itself into an enemies unit. So for skae of an example, lets say Dark Templars are attacking you and you have an observer. You will be able to use the replicant to create your own Dark Templar without even having to build your own. In a more strange case, a Protoss player could have the ability to create their own siege tanks by copying Terran tanks to make their own. The possibilities of this unit are endless as it enables Protoss to steal whatever tech unit from the enemy they desire and add it to their own.

Source:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=277762

Starcraft News

2011-10-11T11:51:00.000-07:00

New Heart of the Swarm Units

Image Found at Starcraft's Official Facebook Page

So it seems silhouettes of the new Starcraft 2 units have been released; what could these units be? These units really do have a sense of mystery about them as we really do not know how they will affect our games. The above Zerg unit looks to me as if it is a Zergling with a hard shell on its back. Could this be some sort of new armoured unit?

Lets take a look at the new Terran unit:

So what do we have here? Well it appears to be some kind of barracks unit with a mix of mech, kind of like a marine with a hellion's flame thrower. This seems to be some kind of heavy armoured unit also. It would appear that by the looks of both of these units is that more armoured units are being added to the game. Although only a mere prediction, it does seem that way.

What could the new Protoss unit look like? We have only time to tell.

Stay tuned to the blog for new information when it arrises!

Starcarft News

2011-10-07T01:53:00.000-07:00

End of Season 3

Season 3 is due to lock within a few days. To be precise, October 10th. This means promotions will be unavailable and bonus pool will not be given out. Season 3 will actually end on October 24th; this will also be the date that season 4 begins.

So, what does this mean?

Ladders locking for a few weeks is no bad thing. This is precious time given to you for you to place as high as you possibly can before the next season. This is a good idea seeing as your best ladder results are recorded in the career section of your profile now. As bonus pool is halted when the ladder locks, you will have the opportunity to catch up to those higher in your league.

Ladders locking doesn't mark the end of promotions however. Your MMR rating will still be recorded, allowing you to technically become promoted at the start of next season. So do not loose hope, especially those of you attempting to enter the Grand Master league. This is your opportunity to get into this prestigious league and show your stuff. A whole 200 spots will become available to those who have what it takes.

Good luck with your season 4 games!

Improving Your Game #2

2011-10-02T15:11:00.000-07:00

Positioning

Positioning your units can be like learning a build order, it usually comes down to preference. There are positions that could put you ahead of a fight however. Using armoured units to shield lighter units is a standard position. This will enable your weaker units to withstand greater damage and fight for longer. Another standard positioning technique is to position your army in an arc shape; this allows all of your units to fire at once instead of allowing a few to tail at the back of your army and not shoot. However, there are times when it is necessary to completely change how your positioning is.

Typical examples where positioning can completely change are when you face infestors and ghosts, or anything with an AOE (area of effect) ability. The key in these circumstances is to split up your units, instantly reduced the effect of these abilities by half.

Death balls are a very common positioning technique. This is where you clump all your units together into one unbeatable killing machine. When death balls are being used it is more than likely that both players will end up using a death ball. This can lead to very quick, intense, battles that show you the outcome of the game. If both players avoid each other, then it can lead to a base trade. Base trades can be a very weird situation to deal with. Both players are losing their base at the same time and your only option is to keep grinding away at the enemy's base.

Using the surrounding terrain to your advantage can swing a battle your way. If siege tanks are on the high ground, then it is quite unlikely that the other player will want to run units along the low ground near those tanks. Not only do they provide a vantage point for shooting from, but they also provide protection against melee units. However you can turn this advantage against the other player. Using techniques like elevating you can easily bypass such obstacles. Elevating is where you use a drop ship to take your units from low ground to high ground (or vice versa). This can sometimes allow you to set up a strong position inside the enemy base, completely avoiding any troubles at the choke point.

The Daily Hitlist: Locking up the Marauders

2011-09-30T08:08:00.000-07:00

How to Counter Marauders

Marauders are a very versatile and strong terran unit. They can be deadly in early and late game and it be best they be dealt the iron fist. They are especially useful because of them amount of upgrades you can give them (stim concussive shells and attack and armour.) Their armoured qualities allow these metal pumping bastards to soak up damage like a sponge, but how do we get around this seemingly impossible mix.

First we must bake a cake, like the auir chef says, it’s always good to mix zealots who provide an excellent tank with a pinch of stalker to provide damage. The auir chef however, lost his zerg cook book, so gave us Kerrigan's address. With this information we posted a letter. Two weeks later we obtained the recipe. It read as follows:

2 tea spoons full of zerglings and a dash of hydras,

If you have a roach or two,

Your cake is sure to turn to goo – just as the protoss do,

If you put a baneling there,

The marauders will surely become unfair.

The only we can we can explain this is reply is that marauders have great kiting capabilities and are armoured, making banelings extremely ineffective. Whereas zerglings can surround the marauaders suddenly removing their movement. This can leave roaches and hydras to do their damage. However in a straight up fight of marauders vs roaches, marauders will tear the roaches to shreads. Whereas the hydras have light armour and high dps devastating marauders.

Now for our third and final cake, our only solution was to ring up Raynor. However he was busy so we called Dave Marauder. He was first hesitant in revealing his master recipe. With despair in his voice and rage in his heart, he uttered this simple poem:

On the ground where marauders are kings,

They must watch out for those deadly marines,

Siege tanks alone will never defend,

For marines they give trust and forever depend,

For when we try we’ll toil and fail,

For marines and siege tanks will always prevail.

Basically what dave was trying to say is that siege tanks and marines together are a deadly mix vs the marauder. This is the case as marines are a very mobile unit when compared to siege. Siege is immobile when using its prime mode. The marines will be able to dart between your tanks and keep them alive while the siege reigns its death.

So when facing Marauders, remember to take your time and bake yourself a strong cake.

Unit Explanations

2011-09-23T06:14:00.000-07:00

Dark Templars

Not only do dark templars have a keen sense of style, but they also have a copious amount of damage behind their blades. These templars are not as nice as the high templars. When it comes down to it, there just plain nasty. When you see this wave of nothingness enter you base, your first reaction will be to moan about the fact that they are there; you will probably just watch hopelessly as they destroy your base if you did not plan for them.

These blue meanies have an inane habit of just totally destroying anything they touch. This leads me to believe that they are actually a lot more useful than one might first think.

Dark templars can completely ruin your game if you did not see them coming–which you wont anyway. These templars do 45 damage without any upgrades with only a cost of 125 minerals and gas.

There are a couple of ways you can really use DTs effectively. Hiding them in your main force is a very strong move. This truly makes them a silent killer, with all the noise of the battle the enemy is more than likely to not notice DTs shredding their units to bits. Strong as it is, if the enemy does have detection you may have a harder time pulling this move off.

DTs are often used to just rush to your mineral line and pick off workers. The fact that DTs do 45 damage is enough to kill a worker in one hit isn't the only reason why this is done. DTs are very hard to notice if you don't see them coming. So sometimes (if your very lucky) your enemy will not notice his workers hitting the ground. As unlikely as this is, even the most aware player will probably lose one or two units anyway.

Rushing to DT tech against a Protoss opponent is a very strong move. As Protoss units have bad eye sight they will not be able to spot these masked avengers without the aid of glasses–otherwise known as cannons and observers. This makes a simple mistake such as forgetting to get detection a very deadly move. If your Protoss opponent has not opted to tech into detection and you have DTs, you will more than likely win.

This is a video explaining how to compose yourself for a DT rush in a PVP situation.

Map control can be forced into your hands with the aid of DTs. It is perfectly possible to run around checking the Xel Naga Watchtowers and keep a keen eye on the enemy's expansion. This will enable you to expand safe in the fact that you are controlling the map.

Against Terran, DTs can be used to deny any mules from being used. This will enable you to go forward in the eco game. Each time a Terran scans he is losing 270 minerals that the mule would have mined, so even if a DT does no damage it has payed for itself. An even better way to hurt the Terran player would be to attack with DTs as soon as a mule is used. This will lead to the same demise the Protoss had as it is just as hard to tech into detection if the energy will not suffice. Messing around with the Terran is also advised. If you send a DT to two different locations of the Terran's base, then he will be forced to choose which area he scans. This will mean you are defiantly going to do some damage to the Terran.

When facing the Zerg, the best option is to get DTs as fast as possible. This is because it takes quite a long time for a Zerg player to get detection up. Even so, evolution chambers (which allow the creation of detection) are weak enough to destroy with the DTs. The only reliable way for a Zerg to get detection is by getting Overseers. This is quite a tedious and long route however this early on in the game. The best way to strike the Zerg is with one big attack at the hatchery. This will put an end to the Zerg's mining and most likely the game.

Unit Explanations

2011-09-22T06:57:00.000-07:00

The Queen

Queens are a staple Zerg unit; these units are a must have for any Zerg player. However, are you using them enough? One would most likely think yes, but I would disagree.

Simply using queens for creep spread and larvae injects isn't all they can do. Getting a couple of queens early enough doesn't just enable you an early defense, it also allows them to stack up energy. This energy will become very valuable later on. For the cost of 150 minerals, this unit is very cheap and worth getting. To really see how sturdy queens are I looked at this video

This video maybe very exaggerated when compared to a normal game, but it really show cases the strengths of queens. Queens really do have the potential to become much more than just a mechanics unit.

Bringing queens into a large push would prove a valuable asset to have. Healing your units with transfuse makes a remarkable difference in a battle. If using transfuse on the front line, you are enabling them to stay alive longer. However queens can also be used as 'tanks'. These units could sit at the front of your army tanking and healing while units behind them (in this case ill say hydralisks) destroy the enemy. Not only this, but queens can be used as decoys. If you have your queens out in your army and keep your infestors and other important energy units, then it was quite likely that any emps or feedbacks will be used on the queens. This is just another example of the queens defensive capabilities.

The queen has the power to heal and tank as well as its main mechanic function. This opens this unit up to a whole new plethora of play styles. I really do feel the queen is an under used and under stated unit and needs more use in games.

Unit Explanations

2011-09-21T04:18:00.001-07:00

High Templars

High Templars are the geniuses of the Protoss race. Not only have they learnt to fly, they can devastate you with their feedback–Thank Auir they aren't reading this. In all seriousness HT's are a versatile support unit. The longer a game plays out the need for HT's increases. This is because of their high damage attack and their ability to remove other units from using energy.

The HT's abilities are an all inclusive package to winning the game, it's not good enough to merely overlook this unit; it needs warping in! Just two or three of these in your army could save you the game when the time comes; this is due to its abilities it brings to your army. When 'psionic storm' is pulled off correctly, it deals massive damage to any lump of units caught within it.

Here is a video showing you the ideal situation you want to use this ability in:

Feedback is a commonly overlooked and underestimated ability. Most players will jump to the "T" key and throw down a storm, when in actual fact the "F" key is just as effective.

Ever hated being split up by forcefields? What about being fungal growthed to a fleshy mush? Ever just felt a rage quit coming when your whole army was EMPed and your left in the cold? I know I have.

The High Templars Dirty Secret

Well Since I am not to sure what happens between two High Templars as they form into an archon. All one can assume is a saucy night with a glass of wine and a barry white CD. This aside, did you know that High Templars and Dark Templars can merge together just as effectively? I know, it's dirty.

To summarise, high templars should be used as support unit and not as a main unit in your army; this would just lead to a quick death. However, they do bring a lot to the table and are worth warping in. Sometimes a different approach must be used with high templars that you are not used to doing such as marching out and feedbacking any vulnerable infestors, but this is necessary for securing your win. Just remember to take the high way next time.

Improving Your Game #1

2011-09-21T04:02:00.000-07:00

How to expand and Stay Ahead

Improving your game #1

A common question asked by the average Starcraft player is, ‘How do I improve my game’? Well this is certainly a very broad question but the people at MML are here to try and answer that question as best as we can. In this particular entry as our first post on how to improve your game we will be talking about the concept of expanding. We will be discussing subjects such as:

Why do we expand?
When do we expand?
What do I do once I have expanded?
If you are new or just want to improve your game this blog is certainly for you.

The Purpose Of Expanding: Why do we expand?
Expanding is a crucial part of starcraft. It can certainly change the result of a game if done successfully and if done poorly can leave you in a terrible position. Expanding is a way of getting more minerals/gas to enable you to produce units faster. This will keep you ahead of your enemy, hopefully leading you to win the game. Expanding tends to be a stepping stone to new horizons of tech; this can help you go more gas heavy or give you more minerals to add more unit producing structures.

Expansion Timings: When do we expand?
Expanding early is risk but with risk comes great reward. A Zerg player tends to expand earlier than other races. It is common for a Zerg player to expand at 14/18 which is seen frequently on our casts. However Protoss and Terran players can expand just as fast which we saw in a particular cast from a masters Protoss player against Zerg. You can watch this game below:

We can only presume this tactic was used to stay ahead of the Zerg player and when i say ahead i mean imagine Starcraft as a race. The way in which you can win this race is to get to 200 food as quick as you can and to stop your opponent from reaching that goal. To help you achieve that you will want to get your expansion at solid timing. In this game the Nexus was thrown down far earlier than a standard game but it worked because with scouting information the Protoss player knew he wouldn’t get any early pressure but I know what you’re thinking. Easier said than done. This concept of ‘knowing when to expand’, is completely based on the practice you but into Starcraft. You learn the ins and outs of the game allowing you to get to your goal far faster than your enemy. Another example of this Protoss versus Zerg FE (Fast Expand) at the highest level of play at a major tournament (MLG Columbus) MC pulled off an extremely fast expand versus Idra. This game can be watched below: (it is a huskystarcraft commentary)

This game shows the a FE will allow you to gain more minerals and gas to produce mid tech units; like Immortals and Voidrays to defend early pushes from other players. Void rays are used more commonly against a zerg ally as zerg don’t have any anti air until liar tech other than an odd spore crawler or two which take up time and money. This was idras only options other than the option to rage quit and since we are talking about Idra here... He chose to rage quit.
Another example of when we need to expand is the standard timings. The MML team recently studied a player called Athenewins - those of you who played wow may recognise the name. What our studies showed from this macro orientated player that he/she tended to expand around 6:00 minutes in game time and 7 and a half minutes. This depended on the pressure that was being exerted. This build is more commonly known as a 3gate expand. You get 3 gates and you expand around 6:00 – 7:30. This helped me out a lot in my own game play.

After there is the 3rd and 4th expansion we need to think about. This expansion, in personal experience, tends to go down when i have far more minerals then i do gas. At this point alot of your units will cost gas and when you have more minerals than gas this is a way you can easily keep producing units at a normal rate while being able to expand and spend the necessary recources on your beautiful new expansion.

What I’ve found with most diamond terran players since I have been in diamond league is that they tend to expand after their first push or during their first harass; if a terran player chooses banshees as his game style he will most likely expand after about 3 banshees while he is doing damage to the other player in an attempt to stay ahead in the race. Or if the player plays a standard 3 rax build he will push as his Stim finishes and expand with it.
Zerg i have found almost always expand around 14/18 or 16/18 and put their 3rd up around 10mins in game time where as the other races tend to expand at around 14:00 – 15:00 in game time in attempt to stay ahead in this race.

On ladder there is often a chance that a player will opt for a one base ‘all in’. This can be extremely hard to defend but if scouted properly it can be easy to defend. These sorts of tactics throw macro players off completely but really they are all pretty simple to defend. Things you need to look out for when scouting is
How many gases do they have; if they don’t have any gas it is highly likely they will be rushing. Whether it be zealots marines or Zerglings. Zerg is slightly different checking their spawning pool timing is what you need to look out for. However there can be gas heavy ‘cheeses’ like dark templars. For these sorts of tactics you need to watch out for what units they are building; if they have two gases and are massing zealots you can pretty much presume they are spending their gas on something else.

The Keys To Staying Ahead Of Your Enemy: How do I stay ahead of my opponent
In this section I will be pointing out small things that help you win the race to 200/200, well when say small things, I mean small things that make a big difference.
First of all killing your opponents probes/drones/scvs can put you extremely far ahead. This will basically give you a worker advantage that means you will have the income advantage. If you do manage to make some economical damage this means the enemy must rebuild their probes and drones in order to catch up. This makes them slow down in terms of income leaving you better off.
Static defence does help, but remember not to go overboard because, if you spend too many minerals on static defense your army production will hinder. The static defence isn’t for defending a fully fledged attack, what the static defence actually does is stop those, ‘annoying things’, such as DT’s, zerglings, mutas and banshees. A few cannons, missile turrets and sporecrawls will certainly help defend since they can all detect.

Remember now you’ve expanded you can get your upgrades. These are crucial to have. Without upgrades is like trying to get through the day without that morning coffee. It’s hard. A unit that has 1 upgrade will beat a unit without one. Imagine your whole army with that benefit! I know what you’re thinking. ‘Why wasn’t I using upgrades before. Thank you MML!!!’
Thanks for reading this blog, presuming you read it all! MML are wanting more active members! So join our EU chat ‘MML’. Hopefully we can help each other out with becoming better gamers. Whether you are bronze or grandmaster we would be happy for you to pop in a and say hi once and again.
Again, thanks for reading...
The MML team.

Starcraft News

2011-09-19T11:25:00.000-07:00

MLG Raleigh Roundup

Check out the latest in competitive play at MLG Raleigh. Heres the link to all the games that took place:

http://tv.majorleaguegaming.com/events/1-raleigh-2011

The Daily Hitlist: Clearing out the Infestors

2011-09-19T09:40:00.000-07:00

How to Counter Infestors: Protoss

Infestors can be a huge pain to deal with. Not only can they devastate your units they can also ruin your day. As in life an outbreak of fungal growth can really ruin your day. But how do we counter this? We could buy anti septic cream, or even better, High Templars.

I know some of you are not using High Templars, and you should be. This unit brings a lot of utility to your army as we will be covering later on in another post. For this situation you want to keep your finger on the F key. As any good player knows feedback is the key to improving your game, and in this case, somewhat more literally than you might have expected.

Feedback is an underrated ability; this ability turns the enemy's energy against them. You would think it was more highly regarded as one of its key abilities, but when we think High Templar, we think of Psionic Storm and high damage. Infestors pratically get destroyed by feedback, and if they don't die, they will be out of action for quite some time—that's high damage.

Using feedback effectively is another story. You need to know where the infestors are, and strike surgically with a handful of 'commando' high templars. These high templars will require twitchy fingers and fast tactical reasoning to pull of this maneuver. You must run towards the ugly bunch and give them your destructive criticism. Once done clear the scene. In clearer terms, run in feedback and run away. Simple enough really.

Build of the Day

2011-09-18T14:08:00.001-07:00

How to 4 Gate Push

This section of the blog is a new daily insert that will show you the latest build orders that we find useful on ladder, whether it be 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 or 4v4. Once we have explained the build we will rate it for you in solo and team games so you can see for yourself how useful we found it.

So what is a 4 gate?

A 4 gate is a very aggressive opening that Protoss players can use effectively against any match up. It is suggested that the 4 gate is used against Protoss. This build is also effective against Terran and least effective against Zerg.

The build order:

9 Pylon

Chrono boost probes when pylon finishes

12 Rally probe to pylon

13 Gateway

14/15 Assimilator (Put 3 probes in gas when finished)

17 Cybernetics Core (research warp gate technology when finished and chronoboost untill tech is researched)

18 zealot

22 stalker

23 build probes untill 26/26

26 3 gateways

26 pylon

26 proxy pylon

26 warp in and attack

Heres a video tutorial on how to perform the 4 Gate:

Tips

Vs. Protoss

While at the enemy's ramp be careful of forcefields. This can split your army up and this could ultimately make you lose the game. If you think the enemy is 4 gateing too, it is a good idea to be on the defense and keep your units in base and not build a proxy pylon. Using forcefields of your own, you can split the enemy's army and pick off stray stalkers and Zealots. If your enemy is keeping you out of their base with forcefields be sure to put down a Robotics Facility. This will enable you to buy an observer to stop any DTs that could be coming. Not only this but it also gives you vision up their ramp. This means you will still be able to harass the enemy's ramp

Vs. Terran

If scouted, Terran will most likely build a few bunkers at the top of their ramp. Force fields will be required to stop the Terran from repairing the bunkers. If you find yourself stuck in this position, usually the best bet is to contain the Terran for as long a you can and expand. Don't let yourself become to weak at his ramp as if the Terran decides to just push out you will more than likely need to pull back.

Vs. Zerg

This usually works when the Zerg has expanded quick. It is wise to save up 400 minerals before your push and expand off of that. This will leave you in a nice advantage if you are able to snipe the Zerg's expansion.

General Advice

It is vital that you spend all your chronoboost on the warpgate technology. Doing so ensures that when the gateways are completed building, the warpgate tehnology will be researched. If you miss a chronoboost your attack will be slightly delayed.

The proxy pylon is also vital. This allows you to quickly reinforce your army, and warp in right next to the enemy base. This is what makes the 4 gate so strong as it hits early and happens right outside the enemy base giving you map control.

The purpose of allowing yourself to get supply blocked at 26 is to allow your minerals to stack up to sufficient amounts to allow you to buy the extra gateways.

Commentary of the Week

2011-09-18T03:21:00.000-07:00

New Casted 1 v 1

This weeks casted 1v1 is between two great players Buca and Markus. These players are both high masters and have a lot to show in game. This game ended up having a crazy twist at the end of it so be sure to check it out!

Here's the video:

MML Moxi Streaming

2011-09-16T18:29:00.000-07:00

Streaming for your Enjoyment

MML Moxi is streaming his Diamond 1v1 ladder matches each time he plays. Feel free to have a look at his stream using the link below:

http://twitch.tv/gamermoxi

So why stream your gameplay?

Streaming allows you and others to analyise your gameplay. This allows you to see mistakes you make and lets others give their input. This can be very useful if you are finding that something is going wrong in your gameplay and you can't quite figure out what it is. Sometimes another helping hand is the key.

Streaming is always about your gameplay however, others can watch and learn from your gameplay. This means the whole community can improve and keep the Starcraft scene competitive.

Recruitment

2011-09-16T16:37:00.000-07:00

How to Join a Starcraft 2 Clan

Hey,

MML (MrMonkeysLounge) is recruiting like crazy, we are on the EU server and we want to get ourselves a lot of fresh members, we want to be close with the community of starcraft so if you are silver plus in 1v1 feel free to join.

We have a chat channel on the EU servers called 'MML', as soon as you join that you can pretty much consider yourself in. If we get a lot of members that are actively checking out our Blog and our Youtube regularly, we will begin to do tournaments in which you can win money. It won't be a big prize pool but a prize is a prize!

Hope to see you soon,

MML Oraculum.

Check out our other pages:

www.youtube.com/mrmonkeyslounge

http://www.teamliquid.net/

Starcraft 2 Commentaries

2011-09-16T13:03:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Mr Monkey's Lounge blog.

This is in fact our first post! We wanted to share with you a few commentaries that we have devised for your enjoyment. We first did commentaries for fun, we thought that people wouldn't watch it, but it turns out people actually enjoyed it. As a result of this, we went on to create the videos that I am about to show you.

Our first set of videos took place during a master league tournament that we created. The first rounds were best of 1. When the games reached a higher standing, it was then changed to a best of 3. As a fun bonus to the commentary, we also included interviews with the players after each game.

The first game that took place was SerraAngelDK vs Slayed:

As these games started as a best of one we lost players very quickly. This led to some quick, sharp, well played games that were enjoyable to cast. I don't want to give too much away as to what happens in the video, but all I am going to say is that it is a very unusual Zerg vs Zerg.

This was the second game that took place between Dev and Felonie:

This was a relatively quick game with a sharp GG that led us casters to confusion.

The last games where very entertaining and we saw some quite unusual play. I wont say who is in the final as not to ruin who won the other games.

Enjoy the games!