"im a lewis groupie"
-..(Protector)..
|
| I Can't Win | | | Author: | | | IP: | XXXX | | Date: | 10/20/99 12:10 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | Starcraft(1), Text Only(1), Strategy Focused(1) | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 4, Max: 9, Min: 7
Lifetime Rating for AQD3: 7.6184 |    | Introduction
I played quite a few ladder games last night. Before I got started on ladder I did a 1v1 on showdown. My opponent was nohunters player who shall remain nameless. He stated quite a few times before he started that he never played the map before. I randomned to terran and he picked it. Then he did a barracks and factory float to my ledge, while putting a marine in the best place intercept a SCV trying to do the same thing to him. I almost gave up when the tanks started hitting my SCVs, but I managed to crank some wraiths and overpower the marines and goliaths he had defending the tanks. It seems like all he knew was that one trick because I suck at terran and managed to roll over him after I got back on my feet. At the end he admitted he “might have looked at the map in the editor.” =] Yeah, just maybe. I told him if he wanted a win that bad he could have it, and quit just as my marines put his last building in the red.
My first ladder game was against a player I_Cant_Win=[, rated 1090. He randomned to zerg and did a nasty little three hatchery hydra strat that entirely ran me over. I didn’t even come close to stopping it. He used all the tricks and even had overlords ready when I brought out the emergency dark templar. I asked him at the end who he was and he said “Nobody.” Feeling like a used piece of toilet paper, I thought about the game for a few minutes and decided that my problem had stemmed from an expansion taken too early along with teching either too late or too early depending on how you looked at it. Bottom line was I had only one charged templar when I got overrun. Nobody ever promised me that ladder was going to be easy and it looked like I had just run into somebody who had more skill.
I decided I wanted to try some more ladder. After the first three people entering my game had sub 1000 records I checked my game title. Yup, it still read “1178+”. The fourth person was none other than I_Cant_Win=[ again. He simple said “rematch?”. Now, if I was playing purely for points I would have said no. This player had beaten me in a manner that suggested he wasn’t just better than me, he was playing at a whole other level. But you don’t learn if you only play people you can beat, so I picked protoss and started the game. The map was Lost Temple:
Halfway down the trail to hell
I started in the right position. ICW started in the left and randomned to protoss. I scouted with my tenth probe and found that ICW was going with a one gateway strat, presumably getting an early cybernetics core. I countered with a two gate zealot strat that went like this:
8: Pylon
12:Dual Gateway
13: Pylon
15: Two Zealots
21: Pylon
21: Two Zealots
When I had my first four zealots I decided it was time to hit him before his tech paid off. I had left my probe at his ramp after attacking several of his probes and the running when he counterattacked. My actions caused him to say “You just have no respect.” The probe was chased off his ramp by a zealot a few seconds before my zealots arrived. I sent in my forces and encountered a zealot backed by two dragoons. I had another two zealots coming from my base. At this time I stopped zealot production and got a cybernetics core, gas, and a third gateway, followed by a citadel of Adun. My forces attacked his lone zealot, killing it, and then attacked the dragoons. I became the victim of the micro trick the best players like to use, dragoon dancing. I would attack the closest dragoon, it would take a hit or two, then move back, letting the other dragoons get free hits. I had a choice between chasing the first one and never catching it, letting my zealots get hit, or hitting the second one in line, then watching as it ran away in turn. The basic premise on my part is that the zealot damage output and melee advantage will hopefully kill the dragoons before the zealots die from the free hits the dragoons get. I thought of a theoretical counter for this later, which would be to order each zealot to attack a separate dragoon, but this would leave the zealots open to focus fire. Another counter would be to have one zealot go and attack the probes, making the dragoons have to attack the zealot or let the probes die. I could have killed the three dragoons with my initial zealots plus the two reinforcements, but dragoons kept popping out of his gateways. Bottom line is that we danced all the way from his ramp to the back of his base putting three dragoons in the red and killing another two but I lost all six zealots.
In a shady meadow green
ICW immediately countered with a seven dragoon attack on my main as I got my templar archives. I had only two dragoons at my main’s ramp when he came in, but due to the damage some of his dragoons had and the high ground I managed to kill three and damage the remaining four before he broke through. The first dark templar was joined by two dragoons to route the remaining forces.
Well, I had hoped to catch him before his tech kicked in but it wasn’t happening. I had a lot of extra minerals from when the micro of the attack had diverted my attention. I decided to expand to my natural and set down a fourth gateway. As I pumped troops I sent them to wait just outside ICW’s natural. Nothing had gone as planned yet this game so why should my containment attempt be any different? My first dark templar hit his ramp and was quickly vaporized by dragoon fire. I saw no cannon so he must have observers. I had my troops strung out in a long line as they were travelling to ICW’s natural. I had three dragoons and two zealots there and another three dragoons and a zealot on the way. ICW hit my containment force with nine dragoons. I let my forces stand their ground. The way my forces dribbled in I was getting spanked. I took the last two dragoons to his six and ran them to my ramp. I was pretty sure I couldn’t hold my natural so I cancelled the nexus.
Are the souls of all dead trooper camped
Next I faced six dragoons with varying states of damage coming up my ramp. I lost both my remaining dragoons and only killed one of his, when my next batch of troops popped out of my four gateways. My fresh zealot and three dragoons killed three of his troops and forced the remaining two to retreat. I put a cannon at my ramp and kept up with my troop production. The next step in our duel was a probing attack a few minutes later. He had ten or so dragoons and tried to force my ramp. I concentrated my forces at the top of my ramp and forced him back. He moved his forces back and then pulled one of the best micro moves I’ve ever seen. He put his forces so that the range from them to the bottom of the ramp was exactly a dragoon’s range. This meant that if I attack moved my forces down they would stop at the bottom of the ramp and be engaged at two or three to one odds, without the benefit of high ground!. And if I “moved “ my forces down to engage they would get torn up by the free hits as they got into position. I’m positive this was no accident as he set his troops on hold position to keep their advantage.
I kept pumping ground and sent them to my ramp. I noticed he wasn’t reinforcing his troops and I started researching psi storm and got a templar to try and use storm to push my way out. I decided I had enough troops to push out the troops at my front door a little and used move to put them in the right position, taking hits as they went. I was surprised when ICW just pulled back his troops rather than give a stand up fight. I found out why a second later as a shuttle dropped two reavers in the middle of my probe line. I had neglected to place troops there to support my one cannon because of the intensity of the battle at the front line. Fortunately the cannon did provide scarab bait for the first shot and I ran a good two control groups of probes away, losing about six. A set of troops popped out of my gateways at that point and I sent the four dragoons along with another four from my choke to remove the reavers. ICW picked up his reavers as soon as the probes were gone and my dragoons hammered on the shuttle as it sped out of range.
Near a good old time canteen
I set two dragoons on the upper edge of my probe line to prevent any repeats of that nasty incident and set my probes back to work. I realized I had been on the ropes for a while now and I needed to increase my resources to compete. To that end I started an expansion again at my natural. ICW clicked his overrun button and started coming in my front door with a control group and a half of dragoons. My nexus had just warped in at my natural and I’d maynard transferred eight probes there. I had just ten dragoons to defend with and when I saw I had no chance without the high ground I retreated my forces up my ramp. ICW ignored the opportunity to kill my naked expansion and kept trying to force my ramp. Rather than just send troops at it he landed his two reavers on the high ground to the left of the ramp. I sent three dragoons to deal with the threat. Lucky scarab timing killed two dragoons so I dropped a psi storm and eliminated the reavers. But the huge force of dragoons was too much for my defense. I killed two dragoons for every one I lost but it was just too much. He made it up my ramp with six dragoons left. New forces from my gates attacked the dragoons, but focus fire and more dragoons pouring up my ramp turned the fight against me. I had one last chance. I took all the probes from my main and natural and coordinated them to hit just as the last four dragoons I could afford popped from the gateways. Needless to say thirty or so probes and four dragoons weren’t quite as combat effective as twelve dragoons. I made two dark templar from my gates as they were being burned down, which let me kill six or so dragoons before ICW caught on but I wasn't doing anything but making myself feel better.
And this eternal resting place
As ICW worked my base over I asked him a few questions. He said he had expanded right after his second attack, the one that destroyed my containment attempt. He also said his ladder high was 1650 or so, which I’m inclined to believe if only for the benefit of my damaged ego.
Is known as Fiddler’s Green
I didn’t quit laddering after that. I tried a protoss vrs protoss game where I attempted ICW’s strat, but I only had one dragoon when the enemy zealots came and got run over early that game. Down to 1130. I then played a really long game vrs a zerg on Lost Temple where we mined out the entire set of land minerals. I ended up with 1280 kills to his 280 after an hour and a half game. You can find a record of that gameHERE. Talk about your marathon sessions. I was so pissed when he started lagging at the end, but he chose to surrender with honor. I then played a six pooler for an easy kill. My final game was another zerg fight where I ran over his early expansion with a quick two gate rush and kept on him the whole game. End result was I dropped two ladder points for the night to 1201.
Thank you for reading my report. I would appreciate any help you can give me on how to beat the tactics my opponent used. You can find a record of my game HERE.
AQD3
|
|
|
|
Home
Forum
Starcraft Tournaments
