STARCRAFT 2 TIPS AND GUIDE

Popular Starcraft 2 Website Resources

2014-07-31T15:02:00.001+08:00

If you are new to Starcraft 2 and wondering where is the best websites that offer strategies as well as the latest news and resources look no further. This article will outline the best sites available to help you improve whether you are in the Bronze league, Diamond or even up to Masters. They offer various information such as the latest tournament results, upcoming tournament matches around the world GSL, IEM, Dreamhack, WCS Europe and NA, showmatches, pro invitees, qualifiers, streams from pro gamers, player stats and lots of other goodies for you.

1. Teamliquid.net
Look no further. This is the no 1 site dedicated solely or mostly to one of the greatest PC game, SC2. This
is one of the oldest international site since the good old Brood War days. They offer everything you can dream of.

'Featured News' section gives us update on the latest news in the scene. You will always be up to date and never be left out.

'Tourneys' :Ahhh this is where you rant about your favorite players during live tournaments as well as chatting with the awesome sc2 community. They offer the lastest up to date live results here.

'Strategies' :Newbies, this is the must visit section for you. Learn from build orders, getting help from better players by analyzing your replays, specific build orders and strategies.

'Live stream' :This is my favorite section from Teamliquid. You will always know when your favorite players are streaming their games. Taeja, MC, Bomber, Destiny, AVILO! etc etc. This is so much better compared to Twitch's own page.

2. www.reddit.com/r/starcraft/

This is a great reddit page in getting the latest and most popular news. Be it specific tournament game, results, fluff, questions and most of all rants.

3. www.sc2casts.com
This is the best sc2 site that offer vods from twitch and youtube. It is extremely useful if you are not hardcore fan that subscribe to every sc2 Youtube channel. It lists the latest games as well as ratings from viewers.

The above 3 sites are the best available for international fans out there. Do check them out.

Liquid Taeja Wins Dreamhack Valencia

2012-09-26T03:01:00.000+08:00

LiquidTaeja has once again proven that he is currently the best Starcraft 2 player in the world, by taking down this third international SC2 tournament, the prestigious European Dreamhack Valencia held on 22-23 September 2012. The Terran player came back after being down two games against another Korean Terran player and ex Brood War pro gamer ForGG from team Millenium. Taeja's win here adds another Euro 7,850 / $10,400 into his bank. His road to the finals seems to be a walk in the park by taking down Bly, Sase and Targa without dropping a single game from the Round of 16. The Terran player took down Warcraft 3 legend Grubby and even
the best European player Stephano during the first day in an epic series (must watch). On the other hand, team mate Liquid Hero was not as fortunate along the way. Hero run was stopped by Targa's well executed mass Speedling rush in Game 3 in the Quarterfinals. However, Taeja managed to avenge his fallen teammate with style.

Terran seems to be really strong in the current metagame and Taeja as well as forGG and STC has proven so by taking top 3 of the 4 spots of Dreamhack Valencia. If you are a Terran player, start learning and copying Taeja's build and micro. The Liquid player has performed miraculously well this year. By reaching round of 8 in the Korean GSL multiple times, he will be aiming for the championship very soon. Watch and learn from this guy.

Stephano Wins WCS European Finals

2012-09-18T02:03:00.000+08:00

Stephano from team Evil Geniuses has proven once again why he is the best foreigners has to offer representing the west. Dub the best player outside Korea, Stephano took down WCS European Finals with ease. His domination was proven once again with him going undefeated in match series heading all the way into the Grand Finals. His only game loses was against the 2nd and 3rd place finisher and brothers, Vortix and Lucifron. The French player added another fat paycheck of $24,000 into his now fat piggy bank. Who knows what the actual amount he was offered to join EG.

The recently acquired EG player proved that the EG Curse will not stop his domination in the world of Starcraft 2. For your information, Stephano will be heading over to GSL next season according to his statement previously. Fans of the French player are so eager to see his performance against the very best Korea has to offer. Be prepared to watch Stephano in Code S next season against champions like MKP, MVP, Squirtle, Hero, MC, Teaja, DRG and probably Nestea if he makes it back into Code S.

Stephano will be heading to WCS World Championship on 17 &18 November 2012 at Shanghai China. The huge price money worth $100,000 awaits the champion. However, it seems that most of the participants do not pose a real threat to Stephano except the Koreans. Creator.Prime was the first Korean qualified for the WCS finals. However, do expect more Korean names to make it in through the WCS Asia Finals.

Congratulations to EGStephano once again for winning WCS European Finals. Can anyone stop this kid? I guess no!?

First look at SC2: HOTS Beta

2012-09-13T15:19:00.000+08:00

SC2: HOTS, Heart of the Swarm Beta has been released by Blizzard. However, at this stage, only a selected number of players are able to participate in this Closed Beta. Those invited include most of the professional SC2 gamers and random players that signed up for the Beta Trial in your Battle.net account profile. If you are one of those lucky few managed to get your hands on this piece of treasure, congratulations. However, most people like me are not able to get into the beta at this stage, until Blizzard plans to release it to the mass public before actual release of the game itself. If you want to know the actual release date for HOTS, you will probably won't find the answer so soon as this is Blizzard here we are talking about. The awesome gaming company will only release the retail version after it has been perfected and they do not fear to prolong the date. (I predict it to be released during Christmas time or early next year)

Lets, come back to the actual first look at SC2 HOTS at this release of Beta. If you cant get your hands on the Beta trial key, you can always watch the live streams available as well as VODs. There are even tournaments for HOTS beta currently.

The Imbalance of Warhounds
SC2 Heart of the Swarm Beta is all about Warhounds. This is probably the first thing you will notice after you watch the games. Every Terran just make Warhounds and more Warhounds. This is the current metagame in hots. You see them in every Terran matchup, from TvP, TvZ and even TvT. Warhound is currently imbalanced. They are a versatile unit and require minimal micro and they do so well against nearly everything except air.

Warhound is probably very closely resembled the Goliath back in Brood War without the anti air ability. Initially the unit is created to replace the clunky Thor in the expansion. According to Blizzard, Warhound is an anti-Mech and anti-Siege unit. They are strong against anything armored on the ground. Not to forget its mighty ability, Haywire Missiles. What it does is basically shoots a long range (10 range) missile at a Mechanical unit. What's more it is autocasted.

Thus, Warhound is currently having the most impact in the Hots expansion metagame. It has been nerfed once by Blizzard. Blizzard are still figuring things out to balance it. Do not take all the actual units as the final unit design, as Blizzard will always redesign certain units during this Beta stage.

Swarm Host is a Good Unit
Next, lets move over to Zerg, the main focus race in Heart of the Swarm. Zerg was given the most new design including the Viper, Swarm Host, Hydra Speed, Ultralisk charge etc. At this stage Swarm Host has crazily high DPS for the locust. A strategically spawned Locusts can easily face the Protoss death ball. Talk about high damage per second.

The good thing is that, we actually see Zerg players to rely less on the Infestors unlike in Wings of Liberty, where basically the Infestors counters everything. Zerg is looking very good in this expansion. However, we have yet to see the Viper making much effects in the Zerg matchup. Probably the Gas requirement is too high?

Protoss is just Terrible in HOTs Beta
This is another thing that is most noticeable at this stage. Protoss race is just terrible and too identical to Wings of Liberty. The play style remains near identical. Protoss gets gimmicky units such as the useless Tempest, which cost an arm and a leg (300 minerals, 300 gas, 75s build time and requires a Fleet Beacon), the highest tech for Protoss. It basically deals laughable damage, with long range.

Carrier is a much better unit compared to the Tempest. If Blizzard wants a long range unit that can break siege lines, give back the Carrier and buff it slightly. Remove the cost for interceptors, longer range or fix so that Carriers can be microable like Brood War. Tempest do not justify for its cost at this stage.

Oracle is just another gimmicky unit. It is very interesting with the Entomb ability, Revelation (Reveal clock units) and Preordain (Give vision for enemy buildings). This unit alone does not justify Protoss players to get the Stargate in some matchups like PvT. If another Stargate units like Void Rays, Pheonix, Carriers or even Tempest are better units, then we will see more players going for Stargate. In PvZ we are seeing some play with Stargate units at most. You can do the Oracle haress but nothing stops a Terran player from killing you.

Hots Outlook Overall
I personally like where the expansion is heading at this stage. Maps are generally getting larger compared to WOL. Thus, players can expect for longer more macro oriented games as oppose to all ins, although 1-2 base all ins will still be strong.

Finally, this is just the Beta phase, where changes are very likely to be made in the near future until the full release of SC2: HOTS retail version. Blizzard is currently looking into all these factors and taking them into consideration. And Dustin Browder's brain child the Collapsible Rocks fails to make any impact at this moment. Hope this game gets released as soon as possible.

UPDATE!!!

I have just received my Sc2 Hots Beta Invitation!!

Top Protoss Builds for Every Matchup

2012-06-12T17:56:00.002+08:00

I will be showing you the most popular and top Protoss build for every matchups against Terran, Zerg and Protoss. These builds are a must know for you and deemed the most reliable builds and standard openings being used by top pro gamers in Korea and Internationally. If you plan to climb the Battlenet ladder, you should start practicing these builds and learn the main strength and weaknesses. SC2 best players like MVP, Nestea, DRG are the masters of builds. They have spend most of their time practicing the same build over and over again. When oGsFin, (ForGG was his ID back in Brood War days) first transitioned over to Starcraft 2, he had been seen doing the same 1-1-1 build over and over again in his stream. He even use it in all the matchups. This is how you should be practicing one build at time until you are a master in that build.

Protoss vs Terran Matchup
Let's start off with the Protoss and Terran matchup. Your main aim is to survive as long as possible and play a late game in PvT. This is due to the strength of Protoss late game army composition of Upgrades, Storm and Colossi. Terran is very efficient in the early game while Protoss in the late game. 1 Gate expand is deemed the most standard build nowadays. Long gone were the days of 3 Gate expand or 2 Gate Robo build. The main reason for the decreasing in their popularity is players are getting better in holding pressure from their opponents and larger macro maps. Thus, macro builds are preferred compared to pressure builds. This does not mean that these builds are not feasible. We can still see Gateway pressure timing builds once in a while. Sase and Naniwa are popular for
the 2 Gate pressure build with Zealot and Sentries. From the Terran point of view, 1 Barracks Gasless expansion is the standard to go build.

1 Gate Expansion
MC, the Protoss President was the person to popularize this build during its early days. Now, 1 Gate expansion is the most commonly used build in the PvT matchup. First let's take a look at the build order.
9 Pylon (Chornoboost Probes 3 times)
12/13 Gate (Scout)
16 Pylon
17 Core
18 Zealot
22 Warpgate
22 Stalker (Chrono)
24 Pylon
26 Stalker
30 Stop Probes, Nexus, 2 Gates
*From here on the build varies from what you have scouted. You should know how to scout these builds by now. First thing to check gas or no gas by Terran. Wall or no wall. Top players can still hide their builds keeping their opponent guessing for a long time. Sending your first Zealot straight to the Terran's natural is a good way to determine his build. No point chasing the SCV around. Most Terran expand straight at the natural. If there's no expansion poke his front. If there's a Bunker, he is most likely going for a tech build either Marines/ Tanks or 1-1-1. If there's a reactor means its a 2 Barracks.

Two Barracks Reactor Tech Lab 6:00 pressure, throw down 2 more Gates. You can delay your gas and continue to build units from your first Gateway
1-1-1 or No Gas Fast expanding Terran. You can get greedy here. After you put down a Nexus, continue to Chrono out Probes and get an Assimilator. Put down a Robo or 2 more Gates.
Start preparing to defend drops from 10 minutes onwards if the Terran started with a Gasless FE.
During the mid game, you have a choice of going for High Templars or Colossus. Each has their own strength. HT tech allows you for faster upgrades with Blink and Charge. I feel that Colossus are better at lower leagues as less micro is required. Higher league players and pros prefer the faster Twilight tech.
You main strategy is to drag the game into 3 or 4 bases with full 3-3 Upgrades and a good mixture of Colossus and HTs. This is Protoss main strength. The late game deathball with around 16-20 Gateways. Protoss can warp in Zealots instantly during the battle for immediate reinforcement

Protoss vs Zerg Matchup
Lets start here by spending a bit of time analyzing the infamous Stephano Max Roach Army Build at the 12 minutes mark. With this build the Zerg player is on 3 Bases and having a max Roach army rallying towards the Protoss 3rd base. This is the most commonly used strategy on Battlenet now and even professional top Protoss players are falling to this pressure. However its still beatable with Godlike and perfect Forcefields and defense. Here I will be outlining on the 2 base Immortal All in build, as I feel this is a very strong strategy approach for this matchup. Zerg players are getting really good at scouting Protoss natural expansion Gases and at defending a 4 Gate +1 Zealot pressure at 8 minutes mark.

FFE into Immortal 7 Gate All in
Forge Fast Expo is the most common openings in PvZ now. So let's start with it.

9 Pylon (Low Ground)
14 Forge
17 Nexus, Gateway, Cannon (You can start anyway you want, even with 16 Nexus, 16 Forge)
18 Pylon
19 2xGas
Get +1 Upgrade with first 100 gas, start +1 armor later
Core (Upgrade WarpGate)
When Core is done Build Sentries non stop and get a Robo
3rd and 4th Gas (Fully saturate both your bases)
When Robo done Build 3 Immortals and 1 Warp Prism
6 more Gateways
You should be moving out during the 10 minutes mark with around 8 Sentries 3 Immortals and continue warping in units.
The key to this build is good Force Fields on the Roaches. If you can land some money Force Fields, the Zerg is as good as dead.

Getting up a 3rd base can be hard in PvZ due to the popularity of the Stephano Max Roach build. However it can still be done with 6 Gate and a Robo with Twilight for +2 and Blink putting down the 3rd and then additional Gateways. You need to split your army properly and has some perfect Force Fields to survive. If you manage to secure your 3rd after holding off the Roach Pressure. It is time for you to build up the death ball. The key here is to hit before Zerg has Broodlords. This is their most vulnerable timing. Zerg will be planting down lots of Spine Crawlers to delay your push. So find a good spot to engage and kill him before Broods. If game goes on, Mothership with Archon toilet is the only way to go against the Max Zerg Infestor Broodlord army.

Protoss vs Protoss Matchup
Robo build is very common now. Either you opt for the 3 Gate Blink with Obs build or Robo openings. Robo builds skew towards the defensive aspect while Blink allows you to be aggressive. Expanding in PvP can be risky at times. However, maps such as Shakuras that allows 2 Force Fields to block off the ramp is a good example of expanding earlier. PvP is all about Robo>Twilight>Stargate>Robo. This is the circle where Robo build has an advantage over Twilight, while Blink/ DT builds rolls over Stargate. Stargate with Phoenix can often destroys Robo player with good timing.

9 Pylon
12 Gate
14 Gas
15/16 Pylon
17 Core, Zealot, Stalker
18-20 Gas (Early gas is very common now as 4 Gate is not as deadly anymore)
Robo, Gate, expand (You need a few Sentries to help you defend your natural)
Nexus done 2 more Gates and Robotics Bay
Your aim is to have Colossus with 6 Gate available at 2 bases.

Thus, this concludes what are the best builds currently for Protoss in every matchup in SC2. Try these builds yourself and practice until you are familiar with them. Learn the strengths and weaknesses of each build and you are on your way to becoming a better player. Who knows you may be the next MC.

My 4v4 RT Game vs Stephano, Incontrol, Idra and LzGamer

2012-06-05T21:04:00.000+08:00

Hi guys, this is my 4v4 Random Team match against some of the most feared players on the North American server, Stephano, EGIncontrol, EGIdra, and EGLzGamer. Ever seen Idra and Stephano played together? This is your chance. I was surprised to be matched against these professional players while I was screwing around. They can be seen screwing around as well in this game. I will share with you the replay. Enjoy!!

http://drop.sc/191801

How to get Masters in 4v4 Random Team with Protoss Build

2012-06-05T20:49:00.000+08:00

A lot of you may be only interested in playing team games. Even when I first started out in Starcraft 2, I only do 3v3 and 4v4 team games all the time with my mates and had only played a few solo games. However, if you are keen to really improve in this game, I seriously recommend you to start playing your solo games. Team games can only get you so far. In this article I will show you how to get Masters League in random team 4v4. This is useful for players from Bronze level up to Diamond League. My main focus here is the Robo built that I constantly use up until now. For your information, I am ranked top 3 in my Masters division on North American server. Do take not all these games are Random Teams as I prefer to play alone on this server to screw around. I am having serious lag issues with my 300 ping, approximately 1.5s lag on this server. Thus, playing serious here is out of the question.

It has been closed to two years since the official launch of Starcraft 2. Hardcore avid gamer like me had played thousands of games from solo to team games and to some extend the custom games. By now most and nearly all of us had improved to a certain skill level, varying from individuals due to determination,
interest and time. Do take note, a lot of us may have reached our skill level cap. What this means is that we have reach a certain ceiling in our game plays. Be it micro, macro, APMs which has all been stabilized. If you are in Diamond after playing for 2 years, it is time for you to step up and work harder getting out of your comfort zone.

Let's come back to the main focus. How do you get into Masters League in 4v4 with Protoss. I will only focus in Protoss as it is my main race and my Robo build is probably the best to reach your target. Masters in 4v4 games are easy to achieve if you really know what you are doing. Most of the players I have seen are probably Diamond in solo League while Masters in 4v4. Team games are what it means, 'Team Games'. You are not playing alone. So no matter how good you are, or you may be MVP, MC, Nestea or DRG, you can only do so much in 4v4. You need to rely on your team mates here.

First of all, lets take a look at this Protoss Build

9 Pylon (Scout as most random team players do not. Thus rely on yourself) (Wall with your ally if needed)
13 Gate
15 Gas
16 Pylon
17 Core
18/19 Gas
You may skip Zealot if your Terran ally is sharing the same base and walling off
WarpGate upgrade, Stalker
Robo
Sentry 2nd Gate/3rd Gate
Expand
Robotics Bay
Colo + Thermal Lance
3 More Gates
Attack with 2 Colo
Get 3rd Nexus, Twilight Council, Forges, more Gates

This is just a rough build and the perfect outline. In fact if we look at 4v4 team games, most of the players go for some macro build. Lets leave out those games where you are against 4 Pre Arranged Team players. They will most likely 10 Pool Ling+Hellion rush for a fast win. Here we are looking at a standard game.

With this opening, you can proceed to get an expansion. This is the most standard build. You may try variations like 1 Gate expand into 3 Gate like those used in solo, Search for 'MC 1 Gate expand Build'. Continue building workers and Chorno boost some of them. Have a good mixture of Sentries, Stalkers, Colossus before you attack. This outlines most of the rough build order. With this build you can probably reach Masters with some micro and good macro. Once you have 2 Colossus or 3, get all of your allies and attack together. Guardian Shield with Colossus will shred most armies.

Things to pay attention to in your Random Team games

Always communicate with your allies. Let them know when to attack. This is probably the most important factor in my team games. A lot of players will play their own game, which means they do their own stuff. No helping team mates etc. When you are attacking just type 'Attack and Blink/Ping on the minimap your destination.' Most times, your allies will come with you.
This Robo build is the safest and consistent as you do not die to Dark Templars, which is very commonly used in 4s.
You can always play greedy on some maps (Huk 20 food expand, Parting Gate 17 Gas, Nexus, Pylon, 1 Gate expand are all good builds. Just remember to have 3 Gates if you sense pressure form your scouting)
Place your Observers at the point where your enemy units will gather and attack.
You will most likely having a hard time against 'Arranged Team' players as they have better team work.
Leave the game when its unwinnable position and search for a second one.
Keep on trying if you lose to cheese or any other shenanigans.

Thus, this concludes one of the best Protoss build in 4v4 team games and will most likely get you to Masters League Division with some practice. Good luck.

EDIT: Got my Rank 1 4v4 Team Game Playing (Random Team) with Protoss.

How to Cannon rush Cheese Zerg on Antiga Shipyards

2012-04-12T21:23:00.000+08:00

This is a new strategy just shown to the world in one of Idra's games. The infamous Idra is on the receiving end of this cannon rush. As we know, Idra is one of the best foreigner Zerg out there from team Evil Geniuses. This cannon rush was very smartly done on Antiga Shipyard by the Protoss opponent as it only requires 2 Pylons to block off below the ramp as shown in the VOD. Once your Pylons are completed, you can throw down a cannon. This will push your Probe back out at the other side of the Pylon. Use this Probe to build an Assimilator at the Zerg's base to give you vision. Then build another one or two cannons. This is a very strong cheese as it utilizes the same opening as the normal Forge Fast Expo (FFE) build which is the most commonly used starting build in Protoss vs Zerg matchup. Remember to bring along another one or two Probes in case your first Probe got killed. Once your cannons are completed, you can use your Probe to give you vision while dodging the Zerglings.

Good luck in trying out this cheese and prepared to be flamed
and raged by your opponents.

SK MC and his Girlfriend

2012-03-19T22:40:00.000+08:00

SK MC and his Girlfriend. Taken during his stream.

Three Championships Three Winners: Polt, MKP and DRG

2012-03-06T00:35:00.000+08:00

The past week has been full of incredible world recognized tournaments being held across the globe. First there was the ASUS Rog, MLG Winter Arena and GSL 2012 Season 1 Finals. Incredible games and the fiercest matches were being played by some the world best Starcraft 2 players over the past week. The Korean travel across to new lands in hopes of claiming another championship under their flag. The foreigners fought fiercely defending their pride within their homelands. Players such as Stephano, Huk, Idra, Ret, Whitera and all the foreign champions fought bravely against the invading Koreans. In the end, only one shall remain. When the dust clears, only one champion will be crowned.

TSLPolt wins ASUS ROG

Polt from TSL claims the championship besting Stephano in the grand finals 4 to 1. The Korean had an incredible weekend taking out players such as Taeja, Hero, Lucky and finally Stephano. The Frenchman on the other hand performed very well before falling in the finals to the Korean. Stephano is the favourite to win this tournament and stopping the Korean domination. Do take note, this is only a few days after the Ghost nerf. Terrans are having a huge problem against the Zergs endgame might. However in the end, the GSL Super Tournament winner managed to add another gold medal carrying the Korean flag behind him.

MarineKingPrime wins MLG Winter Arena

MLG Winter Arena will definitely be remembered as the day where Sundance threw down a huge bomb at the Starcraft 2 community. MLG Winter Arena will be the first to be Pay Per View (PPV) format where $20 are being charged and no free streams are being offered. Fans around the world were caught surprise by this announcement. Rage are being heard all across the forums and puppies are being killed (lol). However, in the end, the tournament had been a success.

MarineKing wins his first international major tournament. The Prime ace had finally managed to grab the frontpage after having multiple silver medals under his belt. The curse of King of Kong has finally been broken. A very impressive performance taking down DRG 4-2 in the final record. MKP seems so godly throughout the weekend keeping himself all the way through the Grandfinals without losing a single set in the upper bracket. DongRaeGu the ace from MVP on the other hand may be considered as the best Zerg in the world currently overtaking the Professor, IMNestea.

MLG features some of the most impressive performance by the foreigners. First, Naniwa took down his rivals, both Nestea and Leenock in an epic cheese fest series. You will definitely remember the infamous 6 Probe rush and the Forge Fast Expo or die Trying mentality against Leenock. This prove that how good the Swedish had became since traveling across to the Korea, the Mecca of Starcraft for his training. LiquidRet bested three time GSL champion IMMvP in an epic series. However, this is not the last time we see DRG and after a week....

MVPDongRaeGu wins GSL 2012 Season 1

DongRaeGu clings his first GSL title after defeating teammate and buddy MVPGenius. Heading to the finals, both players were extremely confident on taking down the other. During the previous rounds, Genius 2-0 DRG showcasing some of the most impressive performance proving that he understands his teammate in and out. Both of the players are incredibly serious during the finals. In the end, DongRaeGu was crowned the GSL 2012 Season 1 champion taking down his Protoss opponent in an entertaining series 4 to 2. Genius play were shaky and his indecisiveness cost him the crown. This march another GSL Zerg champion showcasing the straight of the Zerg race once again in Korea.

How to Unselect Workers from your Control Group

2012-03-05T22:12:00.000+08:00

I have been asked this question before. Some of you may be wondering how do you Unselect workers from your control group with ease. This works as well for unselecting specific units in your control group. For example, removing High Templars, Ghost, Siege Tanks or any other units. The best known way is to Hold down both CTRL + SHIFT keys and Click on the unit icon within the unit box found below of your screen. This is useful when you have your units on the mineral line next to your workers. Here's some screen shots.

1. Drag and select everything.

2. Hold down SHIFT + CTRL and Left click on the Probes in the units selection.

In the events you have more than 24 units, press 2 and repeat using Ctrl and Shift.

Small Tips against Dark Templar DT

2012-03-05T21:44:00.002+08:00

We all know the feeling when one or two infamous Dark Templars managed to sneak into our defenseless base during our games. This is the worst feeling in the world, being caught with your pants down without a detection. Everyone had definitely experience this before losing the game entirely being killed by only one Dark Templar. In fact, DT is one of the most used strategies in team games where having your allies to pressure while the Protoss player teching happily behind with an extremely greedy build without a single unit. DTs can come out as early as 6:30 in game time.

Let's get to the main point. This is just some small tips for everyone the next time you have a Dark Templar sneaking between your mineral lines. The main objective is to buy as much time for you or your allies Detection whether in the form of Scan, Obs, Overseers or even Cannons.

If the Dark Templar is not being microed, the unit AI will give priority to units instead of workers. For example, if the DT being assigned SHIFT+Right click on the workers, the DT will always attack the Queen
first. Thus, the next time against a DT in your mineral line, send some units there whether Zerglings or even Zealots. Every second against a DT counts. Good players will definitely target down workers by Queing the attack command. However, things can get messy when he is sending DTs to 3 or 4 different locations. If there is no detectors coming its time to get a new base. The best move is still to move all your workers away after they are being targeted down.

You can do this using the recent discovered worker micro, where you select all your workers and right click on the worker at the middle. Then press hold position. Without moving your mouse, click on the middle worker and attack move somewhere with it. This trick was created against Zerglings and it works against unmicroed DT as well.

Another small tips is to target down your own units with Splash damage, such as Archons or Colossus. I have seen this being done by if I've not mistaken the legendary and currently GSL Code S LiquidHero in his PvP match. See where the Dark Templar blur is at and target your own unit with the splash unit.

You can even surround the DT with your units just to buy time using the Hold command. Best done using Zerglings or even Protoss units to buy as much time. Another way is to hold your position at the ramp to buy as much time waiting for your Observer to get back or building one.

Thus, heres some tips to fight against DT if you do not have Detectors at the point and trying to buy time.

1. Run your workers of course.
2. Hold position at your ramp
3. Surround using your units and the HOLD button
4. Use some units to soak up damage eg Zerglings, Zealots
5. Force Field them. Try to trap them between buildings.
6. Using splash units such as Archons, Colossus, Siege Tanks.

Good luck and pray hard not to get caught with your pants down without a detection against the fearsome Dark Assassins from Aiur.

VODs and Replays You Should Watch

2012-02-16T14:01:00.000+08:00

For those of you who does not watch every single VODS and replays in every SC2 major events, you should probably watch these. Some spoilers here for your information.

MLG Winter Qualifiers (VODS)
Watch the performance of multiple GSL winner IMNestea and uprising Protoss star from Startale, STParting impressive performance in the Korean/ Taiwan Qualifiers.

http://tv.majorleaguegaming.com/events/8-winter-sc2-online-qualifiers

MLG European Qualifiers
Team Liquid's very own Ret battles it up with recent IEM- Sao Paolo champion, Violet

HomeStory Cup 4 (Replays)
The return of MC. Enough said. Watch the return of the Protoss president winning his first championship in a long time and 2012.
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/HomeStory_Cup/4

LiquidHero's Replay Pack
Watch and learn from one of the best Protoss player in the world, LiquidHero in his online games against top Korean players including IMNestea.
http://www.teamliquidpro.com/news/2012/02/10/this-week-in-replays-21-hero

LiquidHero vs GSL Champion NsHoseoJjakji in IPL Fight Club Showmatches
Weekly showdown between top players around the world. Will Hero take down the Terran champion?
http://sc2casts.com/cast7346-Jjakji-vs-LiquidHero-Best-of-9-IPL-Fight-Club-Showmatch

Favourite SC2 Champion Vote

2012-02-07T22:56:00.004+08:00

Vote for your favourite Starcraft 2 Champion here. Champions representing each race in SC2- Terran, Zerg and Protoss will be selected for this poll. First let's take a look at the contestants.

IMMvP

The best to start off the list is none other than 3 times GSL Champion, MvP from team Incredible Miracles. Deemed the Game Genie Terran and probably the most accomplish SC2 Korean professional gamer to date. He is probably the strongest Korean scene has to offer. With his impressive macro and micro mechanics, MvP has never failed to continue impressing the viewers. MvP has so much different builds and will probably be known as the one who brought 'Mech Play' back into TvT matchup. Artosis's prediction finally came true after months of arguing that Mech is the best build in TvT.

IMNestea

The Professor and Zerg Genius from team IM. Teammate and rival of IMMvP. The most accomplish Zerg player out there with 3 GSL gold medals under his belt. Nestea continue to show that age is not a problem if you are aiming to be the very best. Nestea had been hyped so much by Artosis that we mortals continue to believe Nestea is a God.

MC

The Boss Toss is Finally Finally back. Since winning his two GSL titles, MC had spend months in the pits of hell losing matches after matches and landing himself into Code B before fighting his way back into Code S. The moral of the story is DO NOT PICK MVP IN YOUR GROUP STAGES. MC had learn his lesson the hard way. MC is finally back in form by winning the HomeStory Cup 4. MC is bigger, stronger and scarier than before. MC is definitely a force to be reckon with.

SlayersMMA

MMA, the legend killer, who slays God, IMMvP over and over again. MMA made the three time GSL champion look like a scrub from Bronze. This is probably an exaggeration. Everytime I watch MMA plays, he kept reminding me of David and the Goliath. Son of legendary Father of eSports, SlayersBoxer is so good that he can make Idra leave the game with his Jedi Mind Trick.

MVPDongRaeGu

The Dong has finally win a tournament in '2012 Arena of Legends: The Kings of Kong' besting Losira in the finals. DongRaeGu are those players who are probably one of the best but can't win any Championships. We have yet to see him win a GSL. However, DongRaeGu's performance in GSTL is near unbeatable. Taking down three to four or even all-kill his opponent's team is a walk in the park for this future champion.

(Bulgogi- Korean Barbequed Beef) If you do not understand read this very interesting and funny Post Here.

EGHuk

Although, Huk seems to be in a slump currently landing himself into Code B, EGHuk is the best foreigner SC2 scene has to offer. Trained in Korea, Huk is one of the most fearful foreigners out there. Huk's Signature move of 'Hero Probe' and 'Top 3 Micro' have gained him legions of fans.

FXOLeenock

Leenock the Octopus is the champion of MLG Providence. Being only 16 (Korean 18) of age does not stop this young gamer to be the Top 3 Zergs in the World. The Octopus nickname was awarded for his impressive macro abilities. He can be everywhere at once. Leenock is one of the earliest player to utilize the deadly Baneling landmines. Leenock is the one who puts a hold on Naniwa's growing pride.

Favourite SC2 Champion

Favourite SC2 Females Vote

2012-02-07T21:23:00.008+08:00

It's time to vote for your Favourite and Hottest females in SC2. More names had been added. Anna Prosser is now Voteable!

Aphrodite 'Kim Ga Young'

Aphrodite from team Startale is probably the best female Starcraft 2 has to offer. 23 Year old Ga Young shot to the spotlight and has melted the hearts of the SC2 community with her charm and impressive performance winning Iron Lady Champion Cup 6 and Zowie Divina Invitational. She is probably the fastest female rising star in SC2 scene with her skills and good look. Aphrodite is probably known to us as Rainbow's girlfriend. If you ask any Korean Pro gamers who has the hottest girlfriend, their answer will be none other than Rainbow from team Startale. Aphrodite is currently ranked top in the Korean Masters Ladder. This is no easy feet for any gamers out there. Aphrodite's charm and skill has grab the hearts of many.

DaSakura

DaSakura 'Roxanne Daviault', Canadian Zerg player is well known for her participation in Zowie Davina.

Anna Prosser

Our Miss Oregon and Mrs Incontrol.She is definitely the diva in the world of Starcraft 2. She has contributed a huge part into the SC2 community with her wonderful professional gamer interviews and tweets.

SlayersEve

Eve from team Slayers first appeared in the Slayers bench during Gomtv GSTL match. SlayersEve is often regarded as the first professional female gamer in Korea. She is the first female member of a Korean Team. However, we had only caught a glimpse of Eve only once. She has been missing from the SC2 scene after then. Let's not get into what happened during that time where Mrs Boxer was treatening lawsuits to some people. Being a Terran player herself, Eve gets to practice with some of the best Terrans Starcraft 2 has to offered such as MMA, Boxer, Ganzi and Ryung. Slayers is well known as the team with the best Terrans. Will Eve rejoin SlayersBoxer's impressive lineup of Terrans?

MegumixBear

MegumixBear 'Tricia Sugita', Japanese American female SC2 gamer with top gaming skills. Ranked in high Masters on the North American Server, this cute girl gamer streams her online games and has shown tremendous improvements. She is definitely a fun girl to be with and she has some wicked dance moves that can drop your jaws.

Quantic.Flo

Flo 'Flo Yao' from Quantic Gaming, is the silver medalist from the Davina International Invitation behind Aphrodite. Flo had previously joined team Quantic Gaming to show her determination in becoming not only the best female SC2 gamer but the best gamer overall. Joining Quantic always Flo to train with some of the best foreigner players out there such as Naniwa, Sase and Destiny.

eSaharaMaddeLisk

Swedish Zerg player Madeleine 'Maddelisk' Leander is a top female competitor in the SC2 females only cup.

KellyMilkies

KellyMilkies 'Kelly Ong' had previously shot to the spotlight for being the first female International GSL commentator at the Korean GomTV. A competitive female gamer, she had previously engage in CounterStrike and Dota. Kelly is always well known for her charm and being the most competitive female gamer in the SEA SC2 scene.

SlayersJessica (Kim Ga Yeon)

Our empress from team Slayers and the woman behind the legendary and Father of esports SlayersBoxer.

Rachel 'Seltzer' Quirico

Torch's girlfriend and the female that appears in the GomTV studio.

Place your votes for your Favourite Female in Starcraft 2.You can have multiple votes.

Favourite SC2 Female Vote

SC2 Rebinding and Remapping Hotkeys

2012-02-07T20:05:00.000+08:00

Rebinding and remapping hotkeys in Starcraft 2 is one of the most overlook advance features in this game. Rebinding and remapping hotkeys are currently used by a lot of Professional gamers to improve their micros and macro abilities. Blizzard Entertainment had done a wonderful job in the hotkey features in SC2. Most of the hotkeys are perfectly assigned. However, some of the hotkeys are still being kind of wrongly placed. I'll give you an example here. Let's take the hotkey for Immortal from the Robotics Facility. The original hotkey assigned to this unit is 'I'. This seems to be good at first sight as it uses the first letter of Immortal. However, the more I play this game, the more I feel that this is wrong. I have added an alternative hotkey of 'R' for Immortal. This instantly improve my gameplay. So the new hotkey for Immortal will be 'I' and 'R'.

Why Assign and Rebind Hotkeys
This feature aims to change some of the custom hotkeys for the custom assigned hotkeys from Blizzard in SC2. The main feature of using this remapping hotkeys is to assign the keys 'Towards the Left side of your Keyboard'. As you all know, having the hotkeys towards the left side improves and smooths your gameplays thus having better unit creation and upgrades. If we take the example of the Immortal before, everytime when we wish to train an Immortal, we have to move our left hand to the 'I' button.
This is not very efficient as we have to move our left hand too far to our comfort. With 'R' hotkey set, we can immediately train the powerful unit. Imagine when you are trying to Hallucinate some Immortals for their awesome defense. You will have to press 'C' 'I' 'C' I' on an on. You may miss the 'I' button a few times. If we use 'C' 'R' 'C' 'R' this can be done easily.

Heroes of Newerth and Dota
The best examples are Heroes of Newerth and Dota from Warcraft 3. Remapping all the abilities to ASDF is one of the most used feature for top players.

Upgrades on Forge
Another hotkey rebinding that I found really useful is the Upgrades from Forge. Up until now since the launch of SC2, I am still not used to the original hotkeys assigned by Blizzard for upgrades on the Forge. Thus, I have change them to Weapon (A), Armor (S) and Shields (D). This is really useful for everyone. The reason behind setting them to A,S,D is humans are visual creatures. We got used to seeing the three upgrades from left to right starting with Weapon, Armor and Shield. Thus assigning ASD to them eases our hotkey capabilities.

Remapping Camera
Create Location 1
This feature enables you to Hotkey a Location to button such as F1, F2, F3. And you will be immediately brought the the location once you press the assigned buttons. Let me tell you, every professional players use this Location Hotkey Feature. However, I am unsure what keys do they assign to. My best bet is that they set them to F1, F2 and F3. F1 is often remap for your Main Base. F2 for your Expansion and F3 for your Third. Main Base and Expansion is the most used. Some professional gamers do not hotkey the third base. Setting hotkeys to your bases improves your macro and micro abilities. For example, you catch a Terran Drop heading to your main base. Thus you Press F1 and micro your units instead of Clicking on the Minimap first. F1 is definitely faster than the Minimap option.

However, do not take my words for the exact hotkeys used by pro gamers here. This is just my guess. Some of them may be using F2 and F3 for main and expansion. F1 is left to its original feature for idle workers. If you have change F1 to your main base, you can set your Idle workers to ~.

Let's take a look at the hotkeys I have Changed. This is just my personal preference.
Protoss

Immortal - R and I
Forge - Weapon, Armor, Shields to A S D
Cyber Core - Air Weapon (A), Air Armor (S), Hallucination upgrade H and C.
Fleet Beacon - Graviton Catapult G and C
Robotics Bay- Gravitic Boosters (Observer Speed) B, Gravitic Drive (Warp Prism) G and A

As you can see the hotkeys used above, most of them are being assigned to Upgrades. For example Upgrade for Warp Prism, we can assign an additional hotkey of A. A is the hotkey for Warp Prism on Robotics. This eases our macroing ability. The easiest way to assign the Upgrades for Units such as Observer speed, Warp Prism Speed is to assign them identical to the unit hotkey.

Zergs and Terran
If you are Zerg or Terran you can go ahead to assign your own personal hotkeys like the examples shown above. For example, I always find Metabolic Boost 'M' hotkey upgrade to be very troublesome as the key is located towards the bottom right of keyboard. You can always use 'Z' or even 'S' for Speed. Do try out rebinding and remapping your hotkeys in SC2. You will be surprised how useful this feature is in Starcraft 2.

oGsMC is Finally Back and Wins Home Story Cup (HSC)

2012-01-09T18:59:00.000+08:00

Protoss President, oGsMC is finally back in form by winning one of Europes finest tournament, Home Story Cup (HSC), the first SC2 tournament in 2012. The Boss Toss or Kratoss Protoss has finally been out from his multi months slump which landed himself out of Global Starcraft League (GSL), Koreans most prestigious SC2 tournament. Having clawed himself back into Code S, MC's play is looking stronger and fiercer than ever. Having achieved a third place in the previous Home Storey Cup behind Huk and Naniwa, MC once again is seeking his first championship since his slump. His hunger and thirst for a win here has never been higher from his multi months slump.

Finally, oGsMC manage to claim yet another championship. Home Story Cup is a very prestigious SC2 tournament hosted by Dennis Gehlen, or more oftenly known as Take by the community at his very own apartment. Players and contestants will enjoy a never seen before casual surroundings and fun atmosphere. However, HSC has often been lauded for one of the most competitive scene due to its high profile Korean invitees facing the very best the Westerners has to offer. 7 Koreans were invited into this HSC alongside 25 other international high ranking players such as Stephano, Thorzain, Socke, Nerchio, Dimago and others. Leading the Korean onslaughts were 2 time GSL champion and the eventual HSC winner oGsMC, multiple GSL 2nd placer, MarineKingPrime, Violet, Liquid's very own Hero, upcoming Startale Star Sound, EG's new acquisition JYP and Protoss player Real.

In the end, the 6 of the final 8 players were Koreans. This
shows the Korean domination in HSC and international scene once again. Dimaga and Nerchio were the two only foreigners manage to claim their spots in the top 8. Nerchio was ripped apart by oGsMC in a straight 3 set wins. Nerchio seems to be playing at his worse when being faced against the Protoss president. Nerchio was completely dominated by MC. However, Nerchio is a much better player than what he has shown as he manage to knock out to PvZ player, LiquidHero claiming himself a top 8 spot. Nerchios nerve seems to be getting ahead of him facing against one of the best player in the world. Dimaga won the first game against JYP through a long 50 minutes game of endurance. However, JYP proved his worthiness in Evil Geniuses acquisition by winning the next 3 straight games.

In the round of 4, MC has to face JYP another GSL Code S player. Through history, PvP is probably MC's weakest and most random matchup during his international events as he has been knocked out multiple times by other Protoss players such as Huk. The semifinals were very hard fought by both of these Code Sers. In the very end, MC manage to claim a victory by the slightest margin. In the finals, MC is being faced with upcoming Startale Terran Star, Sound. Sound has been regarded as one of the strongest Terran player from team ST and even above Bomber by some players. MC proved that why he is the best Protoss in the world now by taking up 4 straight sets without dropping a single map against the Terran. Thus, MC claimed the first Starcraft 2 tournament in 2012. This marks a perfect start for the Protoss President. We will definitely see MC perform better in the coming GSL matches. Finally MC is lusting for his third GSL Championship having won the last one nearly a year ago.

The Protoss President is finally back with more solid plays, crazier micros and superb decision making skills. Let's pray for a Protoss GSL champion once again that is currently dominated by Terrans. Congratulations to oGsMC for winning Home Story Cup (HSC). MC is $7,500 richer.

EGIdra in GSL Code S January 2012 and Bonus Video

2012-01-05T22:02:00.001+08:00

The Gracken is back in Korea. EGIdra currently residing within the Slayers House is doing some intensive training with teammates from team Evil Geniuses such as Puma, Huk, recent EG addition JYP as well as having top Starcraft 2 players to train with such as Boxer, Champion MMA, Ganzi and the list goes on. Idra was awarded a code S in GSL January 2012 from the cooperation between the Korean Global Star League (GSL) and international Gaming company Major Gaming League (MLG).

We will once again see the Gracken try out his luck at the most prestigious Starcraft 2 tournament in the world faced against the best SC2 has to offer. Since the announcement of the group allocation for GSL January, Idra's fans around the world is getting crazy. EGIdra is being placed within the same group as the two Champions of GSL, IMNestea and IMMvP while the final player being a Zerg player from team FXO, Lucky. This will be Idra's toughest test ever having to face both the champions since returning to Korea.

Idra's best placing before leaving Korea was during the early release of SC2. Being placed into the Semifinals and then being knocked out by Swedish player LiquidJinro. This was during the days where Terran players can just build 2 Bunkers below the Zerg's ramp to fully wall off the ramp. This is why we see some tournament version of the maps today with a neutral Supply Depot below the ramp. I can still remember the final game where Idra 6 Pooled Jinro with Drones and nearly grab a win. However, Idra can blame his luck back then as a Marine managed to sneaked into a Bunker with 5 hp. This is a Drone
hit away and a GG from Idra soon followed. Idra then left Korea hoping to secure some championships in the international scene. However, things do not go his way as Koreans started to invade the international championships and winning one after another. The Koreans took our money, girls and babies away from us. (Lol this is exaggerating but you know what I mean)

Idra has not been performing well in MLGs as has always been knocked out by top players such as oGsMC.
However, the Gracken finally manage to secure a win under his belt in Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Guangzhou. It seems that Idra is back in form and has been showing tremendous improvement as seen from his gameplays as well his manner (GG or not GG).

Idra is not the top when it comes to GG after losing a match. Always a fast leaver (remember the game when Huk hallucinated a bunch of Void Rays and Idra quits the game and the match between SlayersMMA where MMA shelled his own Command Centre without notice and Idra proceeded GG and leave the game while being a very good and ahead situation. Day9 goes without a word for a minute there during MLG). Idra's actions and habit makes him a very notorious personality in Korea. Not many Korean gamers likes the Gracken very much and we have seen a lot of rivals around. Anyone still remembers a match between Idra and TossGirl during the Brood War days where TossGirl was left crying in tears after losing to infamous Idra? After reading an article and interview of TossGirl regarding the matter, TossGirl was left in tears due to her pride of fighting for her home country. Did Idra said some bad things to her? Who knows.

Bad Boy EGIdra was notorious during the early days of SC2, where he will state how bad his opponent was during his online game matches in Korea. This is how the Gracken has accumulated so many rivals in Korea. Not to forget, Idra is well known for voicing himself regarding the imbalance of the game itself. This may or may not be a good thing. It is good to hear opinions from professional gamers but sometimes if you do something overboard this can seriously affect your gameplayers. For example, if you deemed a race or a specific strategy broken it can affects you mentally.

It seems that Bad boy Idra has finally manner up. We see GG in every game he lose currently. It feels that the infamous Idra has turned into a Good Boy Idra finally. However, fans continue to cheer for Idra, who will always be a champion in the hearts of many whether he GGs or not.

This will be EGIdra's greatest test after returning to Code S GSL January. This will definitely be one of the toughest matches that Idra has to overcome. Both IMMvP and IMNestea are the best their race has to offer. We know how good Nestea's ZvZ is (Near undefeated for your information) and how solid the Game Genie Terran can be. Will Idra make it pass the Round of 32? Only two players will advance within the toughest group perceived by many. Let's pray for the return of the Gracken.

As a bonus for you, this video shows EGIdra being Idra. Enjoy.

The Gods of Starcraft 2 - Part 2 IMMvP

2012-01-04T14:51:00.000+08:00

The most accomplished player to date since the release of Starcraft 2 will definitely go to another legend from clan Incredible Miracles (IM), MvP. Jeong Jong Hyeon (IMMvP)'s gold medals is an envy to every other professional SC2 gamers out there. Having won 3 GSLs, World Cyber Games, MLG, a silver GSL medal and having the highest price earnings to date which stood at $255, 790 easily makes MVP the best Starcraft 2 player to date. The Terran God, has proved himself over and over again by winning tournament after tournament from the Korean Global Starcraft League (GSL) to International tournaments such as the Major Gaming League (MLG).

Nicknamed the Game Genie Terran, MVP comes from a Broodwar background. Although not the most accomplish and impressive gamer during his previous gaming career, when compared to the S Class players such as Jaedong, Flash and Bisu, MVP has shown his hunger for success and victory. His Brood War background has set to be a very important factory in his success in SC2. His total record during the Brood War days was only 39.47% or 30-46. This is probably a joke for many. However, Brood War is considered one of the hardest online game has to offered during it's days due to the game's mechanics unlike SC2. For example, gamers can only set 12 units in a hotkey and workers can't be rallied to mineral lines. Thus, every action has to be taken with care and precision. Not to mention keeping up with your macro while microing during multiple engagement fronts. This require a player to have insane amount of apm to play the game at the highest competitive stage.

Known for his strong macro style and mechanics, no other Starcraft 2 player can emulate the legend in
terms of consistency. Always the favourite to win any tournament he enters, MVP never fails to satisfy the lust of his fans by pulling wins after wins against some of the best players around the world, including oGsMC, IMNestea, DongRaeGu, Polt and the list never ends.Although MVP does not always provide the most entertaining games in the world, the legend will definitely satisfy the fans by overwhelming and overpowering his opponents through solid plays and macro style.

To date MVP has a very respective 114-53 (68.26%) total collective record. This is easily one of the most solid player SC2 has to offer. Taking out teammate and rival IMNestea over and over again in the Korean GSL's has proven how fearsome this Terran God can be. MvP has knocked out Nestea countless times and it seems that Nestea has yet to be able to take out his team mate until this day. However, MVP does has a weakness. The answer to slaying a God lies in the hand of the Legend Killer, Slayers_MMA. MMA from the legendary Broodwar player and the Father of esports, SlayersBoxer is the only player out there that can take down the Goliath. During their previous engagement, MMA always triumph in the end when being pitted against IMMvP. Is it a curse or MMA has figured out MVP's playstyle and has MVP by his neck everytime they meet? Who knows.

IMMvP is probably the first player in Starcraft 2 gaming history to date that can carry the title Bonjwa. For those of you who are not familiar with this term, Bonjwa is a term used by the Koreans to title a player for his domination of an era. Broodwar legends such as Boxer, Nada, Jaedong and Flash has each been awarded this glory during their peaks. Although the game itself has only been officially released less than 18 months, IMMvP has shown the most impressive results to date. However, a longer period of time will be required to determine if MVP fits to carry the most prestigious title in SC history. If the Terran God repeats his success in 2011, MVP will truely be the first ever Bonjwa in Starcraft 2 history.

The Gods of Starcraft 2 - Part 1 IMnestea

2012-01-02T17:08:00.003+08:00

Every game has their champions. Golf has Tiger Woods, Basketball has Michael Jordan, Warcraft 3 has Grubby and Legendary fifth race Moon. In Starcraft 2 we have MVP and Nestea. There is no denying the facts that IMMvP and IMNestea are currently the best players for their perspective race at this point of time. The God of Terran IMMvP or more commonly know as the Terran President in Korea and the legendary IMNestea or the Zerg President both holds more GSL championships than any other SC2 gamers out there. Both Mvp and Nestea holds 3 Gold medal trophies from GSL. This is no easy feet to even get into Code S as GSL is deemed the Mecca of the Starcraft universe. Koreans are always the leaders of this game since the early days of Broodwars with legendary names such as Boxer, Nada, Jaedong and Flash.

Both Nestea and MVP were professional gamers from the Brood War era. However, they did not accomplish anything more than just being a punching bag for the S Class players. Nestea was known as ZergBong from BroodWar only spots a measly 11-21 (34.38 % win rate) with minimal appearance. MVP on the other hand had a 30-46 (39.47) record during the days. These results were greatly inferior comparing to S class players such as Jaedong, Flash, Nada and Bisu with each spotting more than 60% win rates and going as high as 80% at some point during their peaks respectively.

IMNestea

Nestea first won his first major tournament in SC2 during the GSL 2 championship. This backs during the end of 2010 where SC2 is at its infancy period. This was following the first GSL that was won by another Zerg player Fruitdealer, which is well known for his rags to Starcraft 2 riches where he was once selling fruits by the street to meets end before picking up on SC2. During the early stages of release, Zerg was considered the weakest race among all as reapers were a nightmare to deal with and 4 Gates reigns supreme. However, Nestea proved to the world how to play the Swarm properly.

Nestea won his second championship after trashing Inca from team Old Generation Starcraft (OGS) with an easy 4-0 victory over his opponent in GSL May. Inca tried to use some form of DT plays during all the games but failed miserably trying. This is probably the most one sided GSL ever. The Professor won his third championship in GSL July with an undefeated 20-0 perfect winning record without losing a game throughout the tournament and 4-0 his teammate Losira in the finals. No SC2 players has perform such an impressive performance with such a long win streak.

There's some rumours going around why Nestea is so good. People claims that Nestea never miss an larva inject. This even holds when the game goes longer as Nestea is deemed never to miss an inject. Upon checking a random replay by Nestea, I am really surprise and have to confirm this rumour is indeed true to the community. Nestea nearly never miss an inject. During the Yellow series where Nestea was invited to give him some advice, Nestea told Yellow to never miss an inject and when the Queens mana goes over a certain point, you lose the game. This is the challenge Nestea threw at Yellow.

Nestea are those players who will do extremely well and winning GSL is an easy task if he was given time to prepare the match in advance. Nestea is much more of a thinker and creating new strategies as compared to MVP who is a solid player. We can look at this by his performance during MLG compared to GSLs. However, this is yet to be proven as Nestea has only attended only one MLG. Players are required to play multiple games during the 3 day period. In GSL players have the luxury of a week or two to prepare in advance. Nestea has created some famous builds such as the Spine Crawler rush against Forge Fast Expanding Protoss. If I am not mistaken this was during his match against San. Nestea revealed a mass Overseer strategy in his finals appearance against teammate Losira by performing multiple contaminate on his opponent's hatchery to deny tech. Nestea is also known for his 10 Overlod> Pool build against Fast expanding Protoss to sneak in Zerglings before the wall goes up.

Nestea may be in a slump currently but there is no denying that Professor Nestea is the Zerg out there currently. No other Zergs came even close to this legendary Zerg player. Losira, the infamous Gracken Idra, Stephano, JulyZerg, DongRaegu, Leenock, Curious are not even close to what Nestea has accomplished.

With 3 Championships under his belt, Nestea will be looking for more gold medals in 2012 if he is able to dodge teammate MVP in Code S. MVP has knock Nestea out multiple times from contention and even during the World Championship during Blizzcon.

Nestea's tournament winnings to date is ranked no 2 in the world behind IMMvP at $ 229,840. This does not include any salaries or sponsors. Very impressive for being a professional gamer. It is reported that Brood War legends such as Jaedong / Flash earns around $300k to $500k per annum including sponsors etc.

Edit: The casting Archon Tasteless and Artosis is part to be blamed here. Artosis has hyped on Nestea that he managed to convinced nearly all of the SC2 community to think that Nestea is indeed a God. However, Nestea's recent slump has finally managed to awaken us from the Tastetosis spell that Nestea is only a mere mortal that can be taken down by we tiny humans.

Stay tuned for Part 2 with IMMvP

Undefeated PvT Proxy Robo 2 Immortal All in

2012-01-02T16:19:00.001+08:00

This time I will be revealing a very strong and near undefeated build order that I am constantly use during my online game plays against Grandmaster Terrans. This build mainly revolves around setting a proxy Robotics Facility near enough the Terran's base while being out of his vision and tower sights. This is an all in build. Thus, if you are not into allins turn back now. But I have to make a note here, a lot of players are against all ins but I am perfectly fine with this. All ins are used to exploit a certain part of the game itself. You always see the professional gamers all in as this is also a part of the strategy.

Due to the metagame favouring towards a more heavy macro oriented builds in general, 1 Barracks into expansion is probably one of the most common builds on larger maps such as Tel'darim Altar, Antiga Shipyard, Shakuras Plateau and others. Thus, we can use this to our advantage in exploiting build order advantage. Let's take for example where going a 15 Nexus against Terran is very very risky and basically suicide against 1 Gas Terrans as you can just die to 1 basing play from Terrans such as Maruaders and Hellion pushes.

First of all let's take a look at this Immortal build. Immortals deal insane amount of damage to Bunkers. With 2-3 Force Fields you can break the Terran defense with ease. This build works perfectly when the Terran is going for a Gasless 1 Barracks Expo. Thus, we will be scouting at 9 food after Pylon. On maps such as Tel'darim Altar, Antiga Shipyard you can scout 2 locations and knowing perfectly if the Terran is grabbing his gas. As for the third spot, you Probe will see the expansion if he is expoing.

Thus, before we go for this build, always confirm the Terran is going Gasless.

Build Order
9 Pylon > Scout

10 >Chrono Boost Probes once
13 Gate
Chrono Probes
15 Gas
16 Pylon
18 Core
19 Gas
22 Stalker>Sentry
23 Proxy Pylon (Use your scouting Probe to build this and then a Robo)
2 more Gates (3 Total)
Robo done>Chrono Boost out 2 Immortals instantly
You can also put down a 4th Gateway after you have 2-3 Immortals
Proceed to bust the Terran base and watch him rage.

- Place your Stalker and Sentry at the ramp outside your expansion to deny any scouting SCVs.
- Your army mix should be 2 Immortals, 2-3 Sentries, 2-3 Stalkers, and 2-3 Zealots.
- Pull back your army once you lose your Zealots and go again after your next round of warpin
- Continue to Chrono Immortals from your Robo
- Be careful when the Terran chooses to pull his SCVs. Always kite back as SCVs are really good at tanking Immortals and Stalkers while he has his bio shooting at your army.
- Always micro your army.
- When the Terran scans trying to know why do you grab such an early 2nd Gas, he will only sees the 3 Gate and thus thinking its a 3 Gate push heading his way.
- Against Terran that goes for 4 Barracks Marines after expanding, Warp in Stalkers and keep kiting.

I am near undefeated using this Proxy Robo 2 Immortal All in at the moment. It works perfectly from Bronze to Grandmasters level. Let me know what do you think.

Here's some replays.
Replays

Cheers.

SC2 2v2 Replays 20-2 Team Masters

2011-12-01T02:21:00.000+08:00

Sup guys,

I have been playing some 2v2 team games with my mate nGenEclipse and we are currently 20-2 in Masters in our team games. We have been enjoying a long winning streak around 16 games. We're both Grandmasters for solo in SEA server and have been tearing up the 2v2 team games here. I am posting our most recent replays if you feel like watching some 2v2 Masters games. We are currently top 10 in 2v2 team games in SEA Masters. We're both playing Random for the fun of it and we do not have any fixed strategy and we just do whatever we feel like it within our games.

Do you think that 2v2 is purely massing units such as 4 Gating, Zerglings and Hellions? We will prove you wrong with our superior macro games. Enjoy the replays and post any feedback and comments. Cheers.

SC2 2v2 Replays

PvT Double Forge Build - History and Guide

2011-11-29T14:54:00.003+08:00

If you have been following the latest Starcraft 2 games and casts in professional major tournaments such as the recent GSLs, MLG and Dreamhack, Protoss has been doing extremely well recently. The latest build that is used very often by the top professional gamers in the PvT matchup is currently the PvT Double Forge Build. Let's have a look at the brief history of this build. LiquidTyler is one of the very first Protoss out there to have tested with this build which utilizes the double Forge superior upgrades against the Terran arsenal. This was back during the early part of 2012 if I am not mistaken. The main focus of this build is to get double Forges early in the game. With the power of chaining Chrono Boost together with early upgrades, Protoss can have a superior army in the mid and late game. Tyler's build gained some popularity within the Western community for a short period of time. However, during the initial phase this build was not refined.

Skipping to months later the first Korean that showed to the world how to property use a Double Forge Build was a lesser known Korean Protoss professional gamer, CreatorPrime. Creator first revealed this build during the GSTL against team IM (if I am not mistaken), where he was able to take down ~3 of the top Terrans in Korea including the best Terran in the world currently, IMMvP
with this build alone. Suddenly the Double Forge build surge in popularity overnight and is one of the most commonly used builds in the PvT from Battlenet online games in every server to real live tournament events.

With the latest patch where Protoss upgrades for Level 2 and 3 Weapon and Armor as well as Shield Upgrades being reduced, this gave another major Boost to the heavy Forge Upgrade Protoss builds. Previously Ghost has been the scariest and fearsome unit when Protoss opts for the heavy Gateway army builds instead of Colossus builds. The EMP range has been nerfed and reduced. This proved to heavily favoured Protoss as Protoss players around the world began to win the PvT matchup where it was previously heavily favouring the Terran favour.

If you have seen Creator's game, he was able to pull off this build exactly the same or close to perfection every game with minor timing changes. There is no doubt that this player has spent countless of hours practicing and perfecting this build alone. You should be doing the same if you wish to practice this build to near perfection.

Let's take a look at what this PvT Double Forge Build really is. In the general perspective of the strategy for this build, you should be aiming for an expansion early in the game with 3 Gateways with Warpgates Ready. This is most commonly done with the 1 Gate expansion builds where maps are generally getting larger and the removal of close spawn position. Protoss generally favour larger and longer traveling distance maps. On the other hand, Terran always opts for a closer distance.

Why is this so? The answer lies in the design of both races. Protoss generally is a less mobile race and heavily leans towards the late game powerhouse of Colossus and Storms to gain significant advantage and efficiency in army trading. Terran on the other hand is designed being a haressing race where significant advantage is gained once the Stim upgrade is done together with the Marine, Marauder, Medivac combo. The Bio ball is strongest during the early and mid phase of the game once the important upgrades are being completed. Terran can trade armies with Protoss very cost efficiently during these phases. As the game goes on, the game favours towards the Protoss slowly. This is just the general definition of the matchup.

Let's take a look at the PvT Double Forge Build being done by CreatorPrime. This build order is taken from Artosis's blog. All credit goes to him.

Double Forge Build Order
9 Pylon (Chrono Probes 2x)
12 Gate
14 Gas
17 Core
18 Zealot
22 Stalker (Chrono)
24 Pylon
Stalker (Chrono)
30 Nexus

Up to this point is the very standard 1 Gate expansion in the PvT matchup with 3 Units - Zealot, Stalker, Stalker. This is probably the best build currently.

31-34 Gate, Gate, Gas, Pylon or Gas, Gate, Gate, Pylon
38 Robotics Facility
2 Observers
50 3rd and 4th Gas
67 Forge, Forge (Chrono a lot)
75 Twilight Council
Research Blink Upgrade first (You need this to deal with Medivac Drops) then Charge (Chrono)
99 3 More Gateways + Robotics Bay
110 Colossus + Range+ 3rd Base
3rd Finish - 4 More Gateways, 3-3 Upgrade, Templar Archieve

You can make slightly changes to the build when facing against different Terran strategies. In general, the outline for this build is:

1 Gate Expansion
3 Gate, Robo, 2nd gas
2 Forge
Twilight Council- Blink then Charge
3 More Gateways + Robotics Bay
3rd Base- 4 Gateways

Keep Chrono Boosting your Upgrades all the time. Once you understand the general outline of this build, you should be practicing it many many times. You should change your build if you sense your opponent is doing some sort of all in or 1-1-1 builds.

This is one of the best builds in the current PvT matchup metagame.

Replays
http://www.2shared.com/file/0rBisJB0/zenexyong.html
VileYong is currently in team Vile. Yong has been doing this build a lot in his PvT games. Yong was previously the Rank 1 Grandmasters player in the North American Server with impressive win rates of ~80%

Resources
Artosis Blog

Who is TiGerSPR with 90-5 record in SEA GM?

2011-11-04T17:07:00.001+08:00

If you are playing at the SEA Starcraft 2 server, you will come across this name being ranked number 1 on the server with a astounding record of 90-5 in Grandmasters? Who do you think he is? First of all, this guy is definitely a Korean pro gamer. Only pros can get this record in the relatively less known South East Asian server. At first, I thought TIgerSPR is Slayers_Tiger. However upon confirmation with SoulmanSPR, TigerSPR is lOvShinyStar, a Code A GSL professional Gamer in Korea. You can probably have watched some of his games in GSL.

http://sc2ranks.com/sea/253896/TiGerSPR

http://sc2ranks.com/kr/1596509/lOvShinyStar

Siege Tank Leapfrog with Shift

2011-11-02T01:21:00.000+08:00

I have been playing as Terran in my team games recently and have been performing the Siege Tank Leapfrog that crawls towards my opponents base very often. For those of you who does not know what this term means, its basically you Siege up your tanks further away from your opponent's base and slowly moving your tanks furthest at the back to the front and repeat until you are near enough to your opponents, thus crawling your tanks slowly towards them. The strongest point of Siege Tanks whether back in the days of Brood war and now Starcraft 2 is their impressive range 13. This unit has the longest range in the game itself making it the best unit to contain your opponents.

Here's some tips to leapfrog your tanks for you Terran players out there.

- To unsiege a tank press 'D'
- Immediately right click to the location you wish to position the tank

- and hold down Shift and press 'E'

Basically what this does is to unsiege your tank and to have it Siege up at the new location. Once you press 'D' you can immediately Right Click somewhere without waiting for the unsiege animation. Thus, this is a cute little trick to Leapfrog your Tanks when containing your opponents. You can pay more attention to your other units such as Marines or Vikings.