Starcraft 2

[Clockw0rk]

The restreams are ridiculously poor compared to even the SQ stream on GOM. I couldn't go back to watching them.

[Clockw0rk]

Woo! Jinro is through to the Semifinals, he plays oGsMC (Protoss) tomorrow night. Both awesome players, I'd be happy with either winning but I'm totally on Team Jinro.

Tonight's matchup is TSL_Rain (T) vs. HongUnPrime (P). Hongun should win unless Rain decides to be an asshat and cheese again.

[Slippery]

I watched Jinro's last 3 matches live. Was intense! Super proud of him for winning on BS, even if it was partially due to the thermal lances fail by the Toss.

[Clockw0rk]

Yeah, it was a very lucky win but he probably could have won a drawn-out match, he had great map control, negated the early attempt at the DT harass and did an awesome job with his cloaked banshees. I'm mostly gutted he didn't win on Metalopolis, I really thought he was going to go 3-0.

[Clockw0rk]

Finals will be TSL_Rain (T) who proved he can macro as well as he can cheese, and oGsMC (P) who went 4-0 against Jinro and thoroughly outplayed him. I'm a Protoss fan so I'll definitely be cheering for MC on Saturday. Matches start at 5pm Korean time (GMT+9), so that's 9pm here and... 6 over there?

[Clockw0rk]

MC curbstomped Rain 4-1 in the finals. I would have much rather seen him go up against Fruitdealer or NesTea, but oh well.

There's a big break until next year's tournaments start now, the players have all been divided into S, A and B ranks so there'll be lots of interesting matches as the year goes on.

[HiredMan]

Have you picked this game up yet Clockw0rk?

[Cerebral]

ogsMC is a mad dog. Watched the first final on Gomtv, dude smashes a terran siege all in then finger-wags to the camera like it was noone's business.

[Clockw0rk]

Yeah MC rolled all over Rain, it was brilliant. Smashing that contain in game 2 and then dominating all over the map was just brilliant, then the proxy gate rush in game 4... just all-round brilliance. And yes HM, I just bought SC2! Yay! You will feel the wrath of my Protoss fleet soon enough.

[HiredMan]

*hissing/slobbering Zerg noises*

[ElPresidente]

*the firing of Terran cannons drowns out all noise*

[Spazzola]

*the screams of marines being slaughtered by friendly fire are drowned out by Terran cannons*

[Cerebral]

*the soft, sensual humming of a void ray*

[Vindik8or]

*the face is emitting black-body radiation with embarrassment*

[Clockw0rk]

*hungover as hell*
Sorry I wasn't online last night!

[Clockw0rk]

GSL 2011 series has started...
And my internet is no longer capped. You free tomorrow, HM?

[HiredMan]

Probably!

[Stevorooni]

I assumed this game would run like shit on my PC but I downloaded the demo yesterday and it ran like a dream!

So where's the cheapest place to pick it up?

[HiredMan]

Dunno. I think most retail places still have it for $89 after the launch week $69 madness. JB probably your best bet.

[ElPresidente]

You can always have faith in Blizzard titles running well on most any system. They are always very scalable.

[9warbane]

At EB a month ago. :p

Make sure it's the aussie version, cheapest I've seen are around $75.

[Clockw0rk]

Is there any way to fix the Mothership destroying my framerate? I can run everything at high/ultra until I get one.

I know that "don't build motherships" is a reasonable fix as they're not a good multiplayer unit, but that doesn't really fix the problem of the mass cloaking effect killing my ability to control my units.

[HiredMan]

Scale down your visuals or buy a better PC :p

When are we having a game mate?

[ElPresidente]

Is there any way to fix the Mothership destroying my framerate? I can run everything at high/ultra until I get one.

I know that "don't build motherships" is a reasonable fix as they're not a good multiplayer unit, but that doesn't really fix the problem of the mass cloaking effect killing my ability to control my units.

Right. Who has been filling your head with lies?

LIES I SAY!

There is no such thing as a bad multiplayer unit. Even the much maligned Terran reaper has a role to fill in multiplayer (and no, I'm not talking about reaper rushes - esp as that tactic doesn't really work anymore :P).

Motherships are an exceptionally powerful unit that can absolutely decimate an opponent. The trick is knowing when it is time to bring them out. None of the top tier units for any of the races works well on its own, they need support. In other words, just bringing it out on to the field the minute you can make it is not always smart (unless you are rushing) you need to make sure the unit is going to fill a role in your attack plan.

For an example of what I mean check out the recent Day9 Daily where he commentates a match between WhiteRa and LiquidTLO. Now TheLittleOne did go on to win the game but there is one point where, when faced with a potential battle for his life on two separate fronts, WhiteRa builds a mothership despite the presence of air units and detectors in TheLittleOne's army simply because just one of its abilities (Mass Recall) was going to be extremely helpful in getting his relatively slow army to whichever front was under attack.

Even when a good 90% of the motherships appeal was nullified by LiquidTLO's army WhiteRa still saw a huge advantage in its use because it helped work to obviate a key weakness in WhiteRa's army composition given his position on the map.

There are no bad multiplayer units, just multiplayer units used at the wrong time or for the wrong reason.

[Cerebral]

Also a lot of lower tier players (me) may sometimes (frequently) forget to bring a detector into a large battle and be caught off guard by a cloaked army.

For higher level play, Vortex + Colossi combo is downright brutal if pulled off.

[Clockw0rk]

Played a shitload of matches tonight and dominated in 1v1, rank is 79th in my division, Bronze league. Played 5 2v2 placement matches with my friend and got 10th in division, Gold league. Wat.
(He wasn't holding the team up, before you ask) :p

[Sytadel]

For higher level play, Vortex + Colossi combo is downright brutal if pulled off.

A move lovingly known as the toilet.

[Spazzola]

Played a shitload of matches tonight and dominated in 1v1, rank is 79th in my division, Bronze league. Played 5 2v2 placement matches with my friend and got 10th in division, Gold league. Wat.
(He wasn't holding the team up, before you ask) :p

Actually, when I was in Bronze I noticed a lot of that. Most of my opponents seemed to blitz 2v2/3v3/4v4, yet they couldn't handle an early drop or bio-ball.

[Spazzola]

Aiur Chef, StarJeweled, and Left 2 Die, three new Blizzard-made custom games for StarCraft II, are now available for beta testing on Battle.net. While these custom games are still under development and we don't yet have a release date to share, we wanted to give everyone the opportunity to test them out and give feedback before they're officially released.

...........

To play the beta versions of Aiur Chef, StarJeweled, or Left 2 Die, simply go to the Multiplayer tab in StarCraft II and look for the custom games window. A few of these games have more than one difficulty setting, so select the level of challenge that's best for you. We hope you enjoy them, and we're looking forward to hearing what you think.

See you on Battle.net!

Source. (http://eu.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/1735509)

[ElPresidente]

Raynor Party is heaps of fun if folks haven't tried that mod at out yet. It's an SC2 flavoured online Mario Party.

[Clockw0rk]

That sounds brilliant, I'll give it a go tonight. My flatmate finally bought a gaming rig (i5 Sandy Bridge 2.8ghz, 4gb Corsair DDR3, GTX460 1gb) so we've been playing more online. Did some 3v3 last night, I've noticed how the game becomes less fun as the team sizes become bigger.

[HiredMan]

I'm up for some games tonight if you feel like squashing zerg

[ElPresidente]

That sounds brilliant, I'll give it a go tonight. My flatmate finally bought a gaming rig (i5 Sandy Bridge 2.8ghz, 4gb Corsair DDR3, GTX460 1gb) so we've been playing more online. Did some 3v3 last night, I've noticed how the game becomes less fun as the team sizes become bigger.

I couldn't agree more. I hate playing team matches and much prefer 1v1.

There are plenty who feel otherwise though.

[Clockw0rk]

2v2 placement matches - every match went something like this:

Start building.
I scout both bases because flatmate doesn't.
I get attacked by both teams simultaneously, nearly hold it off single-handedly, lose most of my base. (I got attacked first in every single match).
The remaining enemies go attack my flatmate, he didn't send his army to help so stays alive. I'm now out of the game.
He dicks about for another 5-10 minutes, building more hatcheries to stay in the game before getting run over.

Get placed in Bronze 2v2 with him.

He's "better than me" because he lasted longer in most of the matches.

...I'm in gold 2v2 with a friend I barely communicate with during the match, because he treats it as a team game. >_<

Oh, and I destroy his shit in 1v1.

[Spazzola]

Apparently it's been 5 weeks since I last logged on and wow, I'm rusty. Will definately have to get back into playing this actively.

Had a go at Left 2 Die and Aiur Chef tonight with a mate. Left 2 Die felt a tad underwhelming, especially when we unlocked Goliaths and Siege Tanks. Goliaths raped the daytime and tanks just made our defence solid. Sure, it was only on normal, but it still felt a tad meh. Night mode looks to hold promise, though. Aiur Chef is quirky and could be lots of fun with more players; we only tried it with the two of us. First round had the key ingredient being Lava Crab, second being Rainbows and the third being Ultralisk Meat. I'm going to have to try it with more people, that's for sure.

[Clockw0rk]

I've finally found something in SC2 I'm good at - Starjeweled! I managed to get paired up with a complete retard each time I played it and lost my matches but consistently out-scored everyone by a wide margin.

I fail pretty hard at the actual game, ranked Bronze and not moving. To be fair I've not played many games (60 or so on my Aus/NZ account) but it seems like I'm not going to get better anytime soon.

Can someone explain how Divisions work?

[HiredMan]

No. I haven't even finished my ranking matches!

[Ad-Rock]

As you move up higher in your league you'll play more placement matches against players from the next highest division - you don't get told they're placement matches but you have to win 3/4 (or maybe 3/5) of them to get promoted. At least that's how it used to be, but I haven't played in ages. I was about 5th in my bronze league when I got promoted to silver without any warning.

[Sytadel]

I've also been finding the game quite punishing lately - I'm rank #2 plat and still struggling to break in to diamond. I find it hard to invest the time to get really good.

As you move up higher in your league you'll play more placement matches against players from the next highest division - you don't get told they're placement matches but you have to win 3/4 (or maybe 3/5) of them to get promoted. At least that's how it used to be, but I haven't played in ages. I was about 5th in my bronze league when I got promoted to silver without any warning.

It doesn't quite work that way but that's the jist of it. More accurately, behind your actual ranking you have a "hidden" ranking (called an MMR) that adapts more quickly than does your "face" rating. Your face ranking slowly approximates your hidden one. All this means is that you'll slowly work up to number 1, but you may have to spend some time there before you're promoted.

[Slippery]

I have a really strong desire to start playing SC2 again. But maybe this time as Terran, since they look so cool.

On release I was gold 1v1, but I have a pretty strong feeling, even at my peak, I'm only a bronze or at best a silver now.

[HiredMan]

Trying to organise a match or 2 tonight if anyone is interested. So far it's me, Antwandermarco and possibly Araenel. Anyone else keen?

[Cerebral]

I'm down for sure.

[HiredMan]

Awesome. I've got you on steam dont I Cer?

Tentatively say 8pm.

[Cerebral]

Don't think so. Shmuxor - give us an add.

[Cerebral]

Well this is anticlimactic.

[HiredMan]

Oh **** sorry man :(

[Spazzola]

m5ToWVgs4DQ

[Ad-Rock]

Anyone watch Day9's Valentine's Day Funday Monday daily? It was filled with many hilarious anecdotes.

[Clockw0rk]

The "You humiliated me" bit at the end of the last match was hilarious, partly for the quote but mostly for Day9's sadface reaction.

[Slippery]

Bitch don't scam credit for making my card castle

[ElPresidente]

g.g.


;)

[Slippery]

I just finished the campaign on Brutal and now have a sexy Kerrigan avatar.

Awww yeah

[Ad-Rock]

Started dabbling in this game again. Just been playing against AI and the Brutal campaign to get my rhythm and timings back. I thought my ranking would have plummeted from not playing but I'm still 4th in my silver league. I'll probably start laddering again in a couple of weeks.

[Sytadel]

I undabbled with a rage uninstall yesterday. blarrrgghghh!

[Spazzola]

JJbAT1wzS8U

[Queenie]

I finally got the game and am going through the campaign on hard mostly for achies, and the few games i've played I've been utterly destroyed. I won a few due to reaper cheese though.

[Ad-Rock]

I've been a total jerk to people and have been doing "Korean 4-warpgate" on everyone this arvo. It works against toss unless they do the same, and with everyone else it depends if they know what they've scouted.

[Spazzola]

I've got a friend who just can't get his head around 3rax transition 5rax MMM. He loves mutas and mass queens, but refuses to build infestors or banelings. I get this sadistic feeling of glee when he rage quits.

Now I've just got to get used to mech play and I'll probably hit the ladders for the new season.

[Spazzola]

Anyone who follows Huskey on FB might already know about this; otherwise, here's the video. Currently he's only giving away codes for Mafia II and Just Cause 2.

RKarBTohWNc

Screw the monitors (not that I'd say no), I want the collectors edition SCII :D

[Ad-Rock]

Season 2 has just started and you have to play a single placement match to determine your division for the season. I beat a 4th ranked gold player and get placed 5th in a silver league. How does that make sense?

[Clockw0rk]

Season 2 has just started and you have to play a single placement match to determine your division for the season. I beat a 4th ranked gold player and get placed 5th in a silver league. How does that make sense?
Your invisible TrueSkill rating determines your league placement more than the current league of the people you compete against.

[Spazzola]

Your invisible TrueSkill rating determines your league placement more than the current league of the people you compete against.

I'll be the newb here and ask: TrueSkill rating?

[Ad-Rock]

Ah TrueSkill... So basically they have the placement match for nothing?

[Clockw0rk]

I'll be the newb here and ask: TrueSkill rating?
Grabbed straight from Teamliquid:

Hidden "Matchmaking Rating" (MMR)

In addition to your points, there is also a hidden Matchmaking Rating, presumed to be very much like the WoW Arena Matchmaking System. This rating decides which opponents you will meet, and tries to quantify your skill level. The aim of the MMR is to rank you in such a way that you have a roughly 50% win ratio when paired against those of similar MMR. You presumably start out with an MMR of 0 when starting your placement matches. When your MMR has averaged above or below a certain value over a number of recent games, you can be promoted or demoted.

There also is a value "sigma" (i.e. standard deviation) that measures how uncertain the system is of your MMR. This is usually high if you have not played many games recently, or if you are on a winning or losing streak. The system does not seem to use sigma for purposes other than to calculate how much it should adjust your MMR after a win or loss (i.e. for Bayesian inference). For example, it uses a moving average of MMR to promote and demote between leagues, instead of MMR and sigma to calculate the probabilities that some league is most appropriate.

In-depth:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=118212
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=142211

[Spazzola]

Ah, nifty. Thanks Clockw0rk.

[Queenie]

i found out today that i don't completely suck at playing zerg. yay.

Should i finish all of my practice matches?

(done 25 fyi, won about 12)

but I've also done a lot of 2v2 vs the computer on hard and brutal with friends and some 2v2 vs people as well with success.

[Spazzola]

The worst that'll happen is you'll fluff your placement matches and have to work your way up. I spent very little time in Bronze before I got kicked up to Silver with a 1:1 win/loss ratio.

[Slippery]

Queenie I think practice matches are actually not that good for practice. The game runs slower, completely different builds are effective because of the rocks :S

Just jump into your placements and smash your way up from bronze. Even if you lose a lot at first, that's how you get better - you'll learn much faster doing that.

[Clockw0rk]

Queenie I think practice matches are actually not that good for practice. The game runs slower, completely different builds are effective because of the rocks :S

Just jump into your placements and smash your way up from bronze. Even if you lose a lot at first, that's how you get better - you'll learn much faster doing that.
Yup, totally agreed. Jump into league play, try your best at placement probably get stuck in Bronze, work your way up from there. Play random until you get a feel for each race, you'll know how to counter strategies better. Once you know your builds and counters, learn to scout as much as possible to keep ahead of your opponent.

[Spazzola]

6sTLBcjjbps

[Queenie]

i just had one of my best matches as terran yet. (v protoss)

I was pretty much on top of my shit from the get go, i think by about 5 mins in i had a reasonable force to deter his early rush

he kept, unfortunately, almost his whole army in the centre to keep on the erm thing that gives you sight.

I discovered this with a stealthed ghost. And a handy nuke.

I also had another stealthed ghost ready to nuke his natural.

scan goes off, i think he couldn't see the red dot of doom cos there were so many units.

So many, in fact, for an instant meatgrinder achieve. I felt bad after that.

while the ghosts were doing their thing, i was gettin to work on some banshee harass while keeping it real. pumped out some vikings to protect those things and then i was golden.

i got a few achieves from that game...

but at least he was all good about it, though he reckons that scan is op.

I agree when i'm on the receiving end too.

5 siege tanks roll up near my base and deploy.

hay, what's he *scan* oh shit
__________________

[Ad-Rock]

Did anyone happen to see Idra vs HuK at MLG Dallas?

Quick run down:
-Idra took Game 1
- Game 2 HuK behind in food count and army size, ~150-180
- Idra attacking with broodlords, infestors, zergling/baneling; HuK defending with colossi, stalkers and sentries.
- HuK hallucinates half a dozen voidrays and Idra quits, thinking he's out-gunned.
- Game 3 begins with HuK "loling" and Idra telling him to **** off; ends with a rage quit from Idra.

[Slippery]

- HuK hallucinates half a dozen voidrays and Idra quits, thinking he's out-gunned.
- Game 3 begins with HuK "loling" and Idra telling him to **** off; ends with a rage quit from Idra.

****ing Idra man, how many times do people have to tell him he quits too early before he gets the message? Classic Huk

[TrinityJayOne]

I'm rusty but isn't Hallucinate the one that makes decoy units that don't actually do anything?

[Queenie]

they attack like normal

[Queenie]

just no damage and take more damage

[Spazzola]

That's classic :D

[Spazzola]

3lTd5LpB6Ao

[Spazzola]

Just to triple post: Day[9] Daily can now be viewed quota free in Australia. (http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=214847)

[BB2K]

for iiNet customers

[Spazzola]

That's the punch line.

[TrinityJayOne]

Hey I'm with iiNet! I'll tell you guys what happens.

[Slippery]

:'(

Oh wait we get like 250gb that we don't use because Optus is too slow to use it all.

Carry on.

[R@mb0]

just waiting for the other 2 SCs, capitalist pigs, wants to release em all seperately. sickening :)

[Slippery]

WoL is amazing by itself, sucks to be you missing out.

[TrinityJayOne]

just waiting for the other 2 SCs, capitalist pigs, wants to release em all seperately. sickening :)
So...basically you're still going to pay them, only you don't get to play the games now. Solid reasoning!

[Spazzola]

The single player campaign alone offers plenty of content, but it's the online that you'll stick around for. Paying for one campaign and also getting the whole multiplayer experience? I'd say it's worth it.

[Spazzola]

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/229122_10150252818687457_178337772456_9118552_6252 568_n.jpg

[Cerebral]

Overseers are the real heroes

[Clockw0rk]

Overlords are the middle management of the Swarm; the Cerebrates do all the actual managing and the Overlords just float around, "supervising".

[Spazzola]

I'm not really a rap fan, but this guy's got some pretty good stuff.

oNgg4woEI7A

[Ad-Rock]

Reinstalled the game yesterday. Starjewelled (or what ever it is) is so ****ing addictive.

[Ad-Rock]

It's a little old but anyway:

http://i.imgur.com/mbPGb.jpg

[Ad-Rock]

I've been watching the GSL Super Tournament on gomtv.net. Paid $9.50 for a season ticket. Well worth it so far; there have been some brilliant games in the round of 64.

The only problem is Moletrap - that guy is a douche.

[AranchineD]

Why would you pay money


to watch people play a videogame

[Spazzola]

The same reason you'd pay money to watch people act like dicks in front of a video camera.

Let's just ignore breaching of copyright for the sake of my point.

Entertainment.

[BB2K]

but no one does that

[Cerebral]

Why would you pay money


to watch people play a videogame

Clearly hasn't seen the majesty of a Foxer SCV rush

[Cerebral]

No questions asked I would pay money to watch Idra lose

[Slippery]

Watching Idra lose couldn't be better value for money

[AranchineD]

But I just watched him lose for free

[Ad-Rock]

You can watch the first set of each match for free, but the matches get more exciting and interesting when they go to a decider. Also, for hundreds of extra games $10 isn't much to pay.

Unfortunately Idra didn't get an invite to this tournament, it's the top 64 ranked players (in terms of points) from Code A and Code S. The only non-Koreans are Jinro and Huk.

[Clockw0rk]

I like Moletrap :(
The final match of FruitDealer v ST_Ace was utterly insane, I'm loving the Super Tournament. Will Tastosis cast the later matches or is it all Moletrap/Wolf?

[Ad-Rock]

Tastosis and "wolftrap" seem to do alternating days at this stage. I'm hoping the later rounds will be all Tastosis.

Moletrap has improved heaps from his first few casts, but he still misses a fair few important events. However, he's doing a way better job than I ever could!

EDIT:
Yeah the fruitdealer/ace series was awesome.

EDIT2: The Terran domination so far is pretty crazy. Of the 22 players through to the round of 32 so far, 11 are Terran. I really thought Protoss would be dominating this tournament. (There were a shit tonne more Terran in the tournament to begin with though...)

[Slippery]

Back in my day it was just Tasteless by himself (before lilSusie, who was pretty terrible) and it was amazing.

Oh Panda Bear guy, we hardly knew ye.

[Clockw0rk]

I never watched any SC1 tourneys, only got into the GSL with the Open Seasons last year. It's a shame about the Terran players doing so well, though I expect it'll even out at the higher levels.

Fruit Dealer is a bit overly aggressive, he seems to over-commit when he really shouldn't. He's still one of the most interesting Zerg players to watch though, his baneling drops were superb.

[Ad-Rock]

O.o Jinro got pwnd. Big upset.

[Slippery]

Heart of the Swarm is coming.

http://www.giantbomb.com/news/plunging-into-the-heart-of-starcraft-iis-zerg-swarm/3274/

[Spazzola]

I wonder what new units will pop up, or even return. Lurkers, anyone?

[Slippery]

Lurkers :D

Serious unit to add though, massive game changer.

[Spazzola]

I can't remember if I got this link from here of somewhere else, but the notorious 'baller' had an interesting idea:

http://imgur.com/Q0yLW.jpg (http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=153275)

[Ad-Rock]

I'm not sure they'll add units to use in multiplayer; I've got my money on some fancy new upgrades for existing units in multiplayer.

[AranchineD]

I'm not sure they'll add units to use in multiplayer; I've got my money on some fancy new upgrades for existing units in multiplayer.

No, they already have confirmed there'll be new units for MP.

[AranchineD]

Which essentially means that yes, if you want to continue playing multiplayer you'll have to buy the new 'game'

[Ad-Rock]

Oh that's cool! In that case I hope they add a dark archon, vultures and *I can't think of one for zerg*... Maybe a "reaper-esque" unit for zerg.

[Slippery]

Which essentially means that yes, if you want to continue playing multiplayer you'll have to buy the new 'game'

I'm pretty sure anyone who is still playing SC2 multiplayer would be happy to shell out for the next one. I haven't played it in months and I will be.

[AranchineD]

$80 more to play a game's multiplayer one year on


And people are laughing at the Call Of Duty Elite plan

[Ad-Rock]

It won't be $80 and it will be 2 years on by the time it's released.

[Slippery]

$80 more to play a game's multiplayer one year on


And people are laughing at the Call Of Duty Elite plan

I'm worried you aren't trolling.

[Spazzola]

It's Aran, he means both sides simultaneously and his answer will depend on which side you bite.

I wonder if they'll bring back Khaydarin Amulet? I reckon Protoss got royally gipped on that one. Still, it's Blizzard, so they won't be revealing anything they don't plan to.

[Cerebral]

No Warp drives
No Amulet
Warpgate now takes 9 years

It ain't easy being brotoss

[Cerebral]

Vanilla Rays w/ warp drives forever

[Spazzola]

Stim +30 seconds.

Uni holidays soon. May have to get slaughtered while working on my mech play.

[Clockw0rk]

Vanilla Rays w/ warp drives forever
Flux Vanes. Also did you see how OP that Amulet was? Warp in two HT, double psi storm, archon warp, repeat. It might not mean much for most folks but at higher levels it was ruining ZvP.

[Spazzola]

Good point, I forgot the Zerg only ever had two ghosts.

[Ad-Rock]

If you like watching TvT, watch SlayerS_Ganzi vs IMMvP in the GSL super tournament in the round of 32.

Awesome match.

[Ad-Rock]

For all you IdrA haters :D Idra vs MMA at Columbus (MMA went on to win the tournament). Watch these in order.
9yOw-hYMbDY
G0nDsBOzeA4

[ElPresidente]

Please be rage quits. Nothing beats an IdrA rage quit. :P

(can't watch right now as I'm work :( )

[Slippery]

'I have a bunch of mutas, better gg'

[Clockw0rk]

He's got a clear win coming his way, and ggs for no obvious reason.

Here's his earlier balls-up:

40ccy9kljvI

[Ninjalada]

7yWsVfwzvl4

Husky's reaction was pretty funny. Skip to 12:00.

I've heard that he had to pee, but surely they would allow timeouts or something?


P.S. Husky's new intro is super gay.

[Slippery]

Husky's not so great in general. Tastosis for life.

[Spudzilla]

I watch TotalHalibut's daily streams and match commentary

[Spazzola]

I find myself preferring HD and Day[9] (the obvious choice lol), although I also check out Husky frequently.

[Ad-Rock]

Husky seems to have a distinct lack of knowledge about players and the meta game, and his voice is just plain annoying.

I prefer Day[9], Tastosis and incontrol.

[Slippery]

I like the day9 daily (thought I haven't watched any Starcraft in yonks) but I think Tasteless is a better match commentator than his brother.

[Ninjalada]

I like Day[9] too, except it annoys me how he cuts away from the game to himself every 10 seconds.

[Spazzola]

Is anyone still playing this at least semi-regularly, or have you all just stuck to watching it? I know I've falled into just watching SC2 lately - finally logged in yesterday after about a month :/

[Ad-Rock]

I've been getting back in to it a bit. Pretty hard to find time to play though (I need to set aside a good few hours each session because when I start raging I need time to wind down.)

[ElPresidente]

I play, on average, 2-3 matches a night.

[Queenie]

most, if not all of my close friends play this most nights, at about midnight in breaks or w/e. just random chat on steam, then start up, have a few matches.

Had a great match the other day. it was pretty much a whole, oh bugger, we're so behind (like in that idra match) except we decided that we wanted to go out in a blaze of glory, so we pretty much went all in and attacked all and wiped out shit.

Ended up winning.

4v4.

teched hydras ftw.

[Spazzola]

Last night I gave laddering another go. Of the three matches I'd had so far this season, my placement was a slaughter in TvT (ranking me in Silver, he was in all ways a superior player), the next match was a victory (TvT, I 3rax'd a guy on Tal'darim and somehow busted his ramp and survived his tanks), the third was another slaughter (TvP, my macro was abyssmal).

So last night, it was another TvT. He opened 2rax/1fact, while I went 3rax after expecting early pressure (only scouted the 2rax and expected another). He eventually attacked, sieging outside my main. Once he unseiged his tanks to move up, I just stimmed down the ramp and kept pushing. He kept getting supply blocked and never exceeded 60ish, whereas I just kept expanding and building (despite my macro being sloppy). Containing him on 1 base, I pushed just as he was completely starved. Didn't even get a gg.

Somehow, this promoted me to Gold league. I'm so screwed.

[Ad-Rock]

I had a good day with the game on Sunday. Won about 10 from 15 using a fast expand MMM Terran build. Each loss was to cheesy stuff, except one game where zerg ended up with baneling, infestor, ultra and I couldn't do anything about it by that stage.

The last three games in a row I've been beaten by 4-gate because I failed to scout it correctly. It's annoying against silver players; I'll scout something like double gas and chronoboosted probes, think he's teching and then get rolled by a crappy 4-gate. AARGGHH!!!! It's frustrating as hell because I know it's easy enough to stop, but I cock it up!

[Clockw0rk]

Does in-game voice chat work yet? My mates and I conference call on Skype so we can chat ingame. Not ideal but cheaper than a Vent server.

[Ad-Rock]

No idea. The casters/commentators who play together seem to use skype for communication.

[Spazzola]

I've noticed that HD uses Vent and Day[9] uses Skype.

It seems it does work, there's just a plethora of things that could be wrong:

SC2 forum topic from early 2011 (http://eu.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/1549443211), tech reply from Aug 2010 (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=979472), covers alternative progs and stories of people w/limited success/varying sound quality (http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/4695/has-anyone-had-success-with-voice-chat-in-starcraft-2).

[Clockw0rk]

In the interests of organising some kind of games night, who here plays regularly and what league are you?

I'm getting back into it but haven't played regularly for a few months. Silver League Random as of Season 2.

[BB2K]

silver league zerg atm, though I only started palying in season 2 1v1 the other day.

[Spazzola]

Once exams finish up for me (25th), I should be getting back regularly. 1v1 Gold League Terran, but I'm truly a Silver.

Don't know how I could be Gold after an entire season in Silver, then four matches (two loss) promotes me. Give me a few days of solid laddering and I'll probably be back in Silver.

[Ad-Rock]

I've switched to Protoss for the time being. It's taking some getting used to but so far I've won about 5 from 8, with two losses against protoss and one against zerg. Archons are ****ing boss against zerg.

I beat the 8 player Insane AI FFA the other day too. Cannons and Carriers ftw!

I added a the real ID list to my friends list, so hit me up if you want some games.

[Cerebral]

Silver league Protoss as of Season 1, been playing Random with mates recently though.

[Ad-Rock]

Had some fun games this morning, as 'toss. Lost to a cannon rush, then beat two zerg and terran.

The zerg were pretty good; they used Nydus networks + Hydra ling. They stretched me to the point of losing in each game but I managed to shut down their mining bases and then beat them through defense.

The Terran was gimmicky: he turtled and went mass banshee. I sacked his third, got slaughtered by banshees all the way home and then transitioned to blink stalker/archon ftw.

[Ad-Rock]

Got me a GSTL season pass for $24. A bit pricier than regular GSL, but it goes for 3 months rather than one.

[Clift]

Won my first online match last night taking my stats to 1-7. :p

I'm terrible, but getting there!

[Ad-Rock]

Won my first online match last night taking my stats to 1-7. :p

I'm terrible, but getting there!

Awesome! I took about 10 matches to get my first win. If you can win 50% of your games you're on track to climbing up the ladder and divisions.

[Queenie]

Got me a GSTL season pass for $24. A bit pricier than regular GSL, but it goes for 3 months rather than one.

where from? got a few mates who also wanna watch so we'll pitch in and likely have a night watching stuff

[Ad-Rock]

GOMTV (http://www.gomtv.net/)

> Create an account
> Click "LEAGUE" on the upper menu bar
> Select the league you want, latest ones show up first
> Select PREMIUM ZONE from black menu, then you'll see what to do.

You can watch previous games from the SCHEDULE tab.

GSL July is only $10 if you can put up with the ads at the start of each VOD. I got the GSTL ticket to see FXO and sick players like Puma and DongRaeGu that don't get good coverage. Money well spent IMO :)

[Ad-Rock]

If you get a team league pass make sure you don't miss New Star HoSeo vs fOu. Some unreal games.

[Ad-Rock]

Anyone else watching the NASL grand final? OMFG MC vs PuMa. They're mother****ing monsters.

[Clockw0rk]

That's oGsMC, not OMFG MC :p
Gonna get a team league/July League pass this week.

[Spazzola]

9A-s-MJ2Leo&feature%3B

[Ad-Rock]

Currently watching liquidHuK and oGsMC doing their 2v2 placement matches... poor noobs on the receiving end...

[Ad-Rock]

Uszat (Carmac) trolling EG's Machine:
DpM0wPKBOro

[Ad-Rock]

GSTL spoiler:

qxc all kills IM!

[Spazzola]

Want to win a signed Team Dignitas SC2 picture? Well here's the link. (http://www.team-dignitas.net/articles/news/Starcraft-II/264/Win-a-signed-Team-Dignitas-SC2-picture/)

I'm having shit all luck in logging in with FB atm. It could just be a problem on my end or it could be a temporary error for the time being. Regardless, figured some of you may be interested :)

[Ad-Rock]

Want to win a signed Team Dignitas SC2 picture? Well here's the link. (http://www.team-dignitas.net/articles/news/Starcraft-II/264/Win-a-signed-Team-Dignitas-SC2-picture/)

I'm having shit all luck in logging in with FB atm. It could just be a problem on my end or it could be a temporary error for the time being. Regardless, figured some of you may be interested :)

Cheers for that.

I've hardly played this season, so far. I started it winning 8 games in a row, then I lost 8 in a row, 6 of which were cheese I didn't defend correctly. Terran is boring me, and I'd like to switch to 'toss, but I need to suss out a couple of solid openings and their associated timings...

[Spazzola]

UagPAtczCxk

[Slippery]

Never pull out.

[Clockw0rk]

Can't watch GomTV VODS in my new flat due to an ISP issue, sadface :(

[Ad-Rock]

^ That blows T_T

Code A kicked off last night, watching the VODs now :D

[aubergine]

I tried to get to the page with the new demo on it but the page kept breaking. And it blamed me for it. "You broke the page!" it said, when I clicked on their link to their page. The hide.

[Ad-Rock]

That sucks. Does this link work for you? SC2 demo (https://us.battle.net/account/sc2/starter-edition/;jsessionid=CFF85A146C0A7FED6FE2E9FBDCFCA41A.blade 34_02_bnet-mgmt)

[Ad-Rock]

say hello to EG.HuK (http://www.myeg.net/)

[Spazzola]

That was a good read. It's great to see such professionalism between EG and Liquid - it's amazing how far e-sports has grown.

[BB2K]

Yo Greg, remember that time I hallucinated a bunch of shit and you quit like a bitch?

[Ad-Rock]

Best nuke ever... Probably not, but it scored 117 kills.

http://i.imgur.com/tKd29.gif

[Spazzola]

Sweet! Were you the lucky nuker?

[Ad-Rock]

I wish lol... The nuked posted it on reddit.

[Ad-Rock]

Haven't have played at all in the past two weeks... Until last night.

Now I've got the bug again. DAMN IT!!!

[Spazzola]

I've got a friend who recently got the full version and we've been playing some co-op; it's a humbling experience. He would probably fall into the notorious fictional 'wood' league. His APM barely reaches above 20, he queues his units, he barely touches the keyboard and he turtles until his Thor obsession is satisfied. To look at him and try to remember when I was at that stage does make me feel proud of my current level of skill, even if I am still somewhat clumsy and unfocused (or too focused to the extent of tunnel vision) in my play.

I can't wait until the mid-semester break, I'll probably get stuck into laddering.

[aubergine]

I can't even understand your post. At first I thought you were saying he was this amazing player, so good he doesn't even need the keyboard. What's wrong with queuing units? Anyway, I think you've described me and I'm ****ed at Starcraft 1 multiplayer.

[Spazzola]

Queuing units results in an inefficient allocation of resources; que three marines and that's 100 minerals that isn't being used to build something. As for the keyboard, it allows one to multitask far more efficiently through hot keys. Keyboard usage also results in a marked increase in APM (ignoring key spamming or excessive clicking, I often wonder how many pros simply waste a portion of their APM).

It also makes me reflect on just how useful Day[9]'s videos - particularly the Newbie Tuesday ones where he covered mechanics, APM, etc - have been for me.

[Ad-Rock]

It also makes me reflect on just how useful Day[9]'s videos - particularly the Newbie Tuesday ones where he covered mechanics, APM, etc - have been for me.

Same here! I thought I was a baller 'til he made me realise I was doing everything wrong lol.

Aub, SC1 was tonnes more difficult!!! You need 100's of APM to run your base efficiently, let alone control your army. SC2 is much more n00b friendly. Some pros get away with playing at 70-100 APM.

EDIT: Started playing as Zerg for something a bit different. Holy **** the early game is hard... But I did get my first win with them last night; mass crackling/roach, he went marauder/mech. I sucked so bad that I was floating like 3k/2k, so I put it into muta and ghetto stomped him cause he couldn't shoot up lol.

There is something so satisfying about swarming your opponent with 100+ units.

[BB2K]

I've been playing random since the start of this season. I think I'm pretty good (for, you know, silver/gold league standards) with Zerg and Protoss now, rather average with Terran.

[Spazzola]

Just a little something I saw while watching the GSPA on Day[9]'s Youtube channel. Within the first few minutes, we have one of the faster known Zerg players vs a Terran who is known for precise clicks over spamming.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f21/fishguts108/APM0.png

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f21/fishguts108/APM.png

[Vindik8or]

(APM means actions per minute, you should maybe mention that, guys)

[aubergine]

I guessed that. I used to find in Starcraft online I'd have built my first zergling when an entire fleet would pour down from a ****ing metropolis of mathematically stacked buildings. I like to um and ah over what makes an aesthetically pleasing village when placing buildings so Starcraft online will never be my friend.

[aubergine]

That sucks. Does this link work for you? SC2 demo (https://us.battle.net/account/sc2/starter-edition/;jsessionid=CFF85A146C0A7FED6FE2E9FBDCFCA41A.blade 34_02_bnet-mgmt)

This one did work. New problem: can't seem to free up enough space on my hard drive. It'll happen eventually.

[Ad-Rock]

IPL Finals (http://esports.ign.com/ipl/tv/?starcraft2/live/ignproleague) are currently on. Just group stages today, so it doesn't mean too much. However, the production put together by IGN is ****ing fantastic and it's worth a look even if you're not in to SC2.

[Ninjalada]

IdrA v MarineKing, right now!

http://pro.majorleaguegaming.com/live/starcraft_2

[Spazzola]

SG_3R9BoVvg

Team Liquid thread with all the details. (http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=277762)

http://i.imgur.com/u0T5R.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/qZR1c.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/uAvmT.jpg

[BB2K]

completely fake

[TrinityJayOne]

Anyone else watching the GSL finals from Blizzcon? Awesome games so far! Click here (http://us.battle.net/blizzcon/en/live-stream/#player-top) and go to the RTS tab, no Blizzcon ticket required.

[Slippery]

completely fake

Nope.

http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/10/21/official-list-of-unit-changes-in-starcraft-iis-heart-of-the-swarm-expansion/

[BB2K]

.... is what i really wish that was.

no carriers? transformer hellions? what the **** is this shit

[Spazzola]

I've rarely seen Carriers used competitively. Against myself, they've been used twice. Once I was so far behind it didn't matter and the second time I obliterated the player. As for the transformer hellion, it's corny, yes, but it adds versatility to an otherwise rigid unit.

The Protoss get more spellcasters, the Terrans become a little more mech focused and the Zerg become even more obnoxious. I don't see any of these units as being game breaking nor a step down; they'll mix up a game that'll probably begin stagnating sooner or later.

It's a gutsy move by Blizzard and I can't wait to see how the pros handle the new units.

[TrinityJayOne]

For what it's worth, Blizz said in a Q&A that they'll continue to support the current WoL game anyway and aren't trying to force leagues to change over.

Another interesting thing that came up in Q&A is that it is currently possible for the Replicant to mimic an SCV/Drone and start the production cycle of that race for the Protoss player. Subject to change of course.

[Slippery]

Aww yeah Dark Archon 2.0

[Spazzola]

Pros giving brief opinions on the new Terran units (http://www.team-dignitas.net/articles/news/Starcraft-II/510/SeleCT-and-others-on-HotS-units/). The FB comments make me wonder if most of the SC community is related to Aran. I can't wait to see the bitching for Protoss and Zerg :/

I do wonder how much health they'll give Shredders and whether the Hellion will either increase in price, or how steep the research/transform time will be?

[Ad-Rock]

I think all of the units will change quite a bit.

The shredder, to act as a space control unit, will probably have a decent bit of health but probably will have to do less damage than it does now. It should be a protoss unit too, but I can't see them changing it that much.

I don't believe the hellion transform needs to be researched, but yeah I think they need to jack up its gas cost or something.

[immol8]

For what it's worth, Blizz said in a Q&A that they'll continue to support the current WoL game anyway and aren't trying to force leagues to change over.

Another interesting thing that came up in Q&A is that it is currently possible for the Replicant to mimic an SCV/Drone and start the production cycle of that race for the Protoss player. Subject to change of course.

It's a fun idea but rarely works in practice. Committing to teching up another race (which you're probably not as proficient with) detracts from expanding or building workers/units. Stealing an SCV for mules and sweeps could be useful though.

[BB2K]

technically you can do that with an infestor already anyway

[Spazzola]

Has anyone watched the latest Shoutcraft Invitational?

Also, an interesting interview on the UK tournament scene:
fpLXEit0au0

[Spazzola]

sFscmngj764

[aubergine]

I didn't understand any of that. Who are those them?