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Dealing with the LAN factor
 

Dealing with the LAN factor

There is something inherently different when playing on LAN. The desk isn’t quite right, your sound is slightly off, the monitor is bigger, your hands are cold, the chair is uncomfortable, you can’t play with music, perhaps people are speaking loudly around you. Whatever the case, its certainly a different experience. The key is knowing what you can do make do with what cards you are dealt and not assuming you will play as hot as you do at home.

I am very fortunate in that I come from a scene in Brisbane where I am considered a favourite in many of the local LANs. What this meant for me, is that at my first few LANs where my hands were freezing and my nerves were at an all time high, I had a fall back. I knew I was more than capable, I just had to sit down, stay focused and make it happen. I distinctly remember my 2nd tournament; it was a lansmash. I was playing neko in the finals, after losing to him 1-2 on winners side. For those unfamiliar with lansmash events, by the time finals comes around the venue is freezing (computers and people are gone). This is a real pain as a player but what made this tournament specifically harder was that the day before I had hurt my wrist. So partly because of the cold, partly because of my wrist, I was playing about 60-70 apm slower than usual. This meant that in straight up macro, I couldn’t quite seem to edge him out, hence the 1-2.

So I had to rethink. After my loss, neko said something, something VERY important. “I thought you were going for mutas, that’s why I dropped my hydra den”. For him this is routine, its something that he doesn't consider a big deal - for me, its huge. At this point in time, mutas into ling speedbane was almost impossible to defend with 2 base hydras (as faster thirds and infestor defences became more common, this counter became less efficient). Knowing my limits, I abused this as much as I could. I went on to beat him 4-0 or 4-1 in 2 sets with this strategy. There was no finesse, no clutch micro, no exemplary decision making; I was ruthless, I found his hole, I opened it and abused it.

So let me bring this back to now, ACL Sydney, 2014 - the biggest event we’ve seen since WCS 2012. What was so notable about this tournament were the upsets. Potential contenders for high finishes dropped out unceremoniously. Relatively low ranked players took strong players to the brink in series thought unwinnable. And within this chaos, players panic. They start to do odd things, they get fancy, they overthink things and they lose games, and even series, that they really shouldn’t.

Several people came up to me after my first series against KingkOng, “Why did you go hatch first game 2?” “You knew he would 9 pool, why didn’t you 14/14?” “Why would you risk a hatch first vs an aggressive player like KingkOng?”. I answered, “because that was my game”. Now, I want to elaborate, game 1, I 9 pooled. I had practiced this a lot in the lead up, I was confident vs whatever build he chose and knew that if he went hatch first (it is a rare sight indeed to see KingkOng open 15 pool) I could very easily start up a game. In the end I went on to lose the mirror build situation. So for game 2, I had two concepts written out in my notes as my plan. In essence, if I won g1, cheese him out. If I lost g1, play my game and see how big the gap is. I wrote, “most important thing to learn is that he is beatable.” Game 2 was about learning and showing what I was capable of. I proceeded to get 9 pooled and crushed. Afterwards I thought, if I were SoO, do I hold here? The answer, naturally, was yes (there's a game in Proleague where I believe SoO holds an 8 pool with hatch gas pool, only losing 2 drones). So my thought was not, "damn I wish I went 15 pool, or 14/14". It was, "hm, my standard zvz style needs work in this area, thanks for letting me know KingkOng". You know what I also could have done? I could have opened 14/14, prayed for 9 pool and executed a build I had never practiced. I didn’t. I also lost, so this is perhaps a poor example but it does exemplify the learning that was gained. Since that series I’ve played 4-5 9 pool mirror ZvZs and have come out on top every time. On the other hand, I could’ve 14/14’d twice and gone out knowing I either got crushed even though I blind countered him or, won with a blind counter. Regardless, let me move on.

I didn’t play again till the 2nd day. I talked with my teammates. KingkOng suggested I open 15 pool gasless against MightyKiwi and focus on getting to an even midgame roach wars position. I agreed. Come game time, the game plan had become slightly more complicated. The first map was Merry Go Round. This is where my LAN experience came into play. I knew I couldn’t open 15 pool gasless or 9 pool. 14/14 is a very strong build on the map and in either scenario, David (MK) would have been far more comfortable and well versed than myself. I also knew that I couldn’t open hatch first, because this was on LAN. 10 pool bane is a hard defence at the best of times, but on LAN, under pressure? Impossible. My solution? Jerry. I sat there and decided, "look, no matter what, I’ll either be out of my comfort zone or down 0-1 after a build order loss". I knew that if I got lucky with spawns it would be hard for him to scout and I knew that hatch gas pool (perhaps the hardest counter to jerry) was not a build David was inclined to use.

Logic. That’s what I used to pick my build. I didn’t think, "damn, I could play perfectly, despite having little experience with a build, so I will choose the ideal solution". I thought, "look, even though I know 14/14 or hatch first would be theoretically ideal; I can’t risk something I haven’t practiced, or a potential hard counter due to the inherent difficulties of playing LANs".

This is what I want to talk about: what goes on in my head, why am I doing the things I’m doing, why perhaps, you might be being a little too fanciful with your builds and need to be more realistic. So, lets jump right back in, myself vs David, game 2. (I’m going to skip over some series mostly because I can’t remember them).

MightyKiwi
“Ok, I’ve won game 1. The next map is King Sejong. This is a map I can play gasless on. I’ve practiced 15 pool gasless countless times and I know that no matter what, I won’t have to rely on perfect ling bane micro to be safe. I can play my game and there will be no game changing slip ups.” I went on to defend David’s 10 pool bane with terrible micro, but you know what? It wasn’t game ending. If I’d gone hatch first, that would’ve been it; my micro was too far below par.

Phoenix
“I’m confident in my 9 pool vs any build, I know I can take him out of his comfort zone and use that to get ahead.” We both 9 pooled, I did just that.
“He just 9 pooled, it still doesn’t matter what he does, and my 9 pool will still be solid.” Repeat of game 1, I did things slightly differently, 9 pool is a lot about mix-ups.

RivaL
“Dude you’ve been watching KingkOng do this build all night on Friday, it doesn’t look too hard. It’ll probably throw him off his game and give you a good start to the series. I think it’ll be really smart.” I had no read on his build and died very easily because of inexperience with the build. It actually was a really good choice, I just had no ability to execute, facepalm.
I can’t remember what I did in game 2 and 3 as openings. Both games didn’t hinge on the opener from memory. But they were definitely builds I was comfortable with, I didn’t risk it all on an all in based off Revenant’s games. I knew I could beat RivaL, I just had to make sure I didn’t beat myself first.


KingkOng
“I’m gonna open 15 pool gasless until he starts to SHOW SOME RESPECT”. I lose game 1 because I hadn’t practiced 15 pool gasless enough vs hatch first ling all ins and panicked under pressure. Game 2, he tries to 9 pool, I do a terrible job defending with 15 pool but come out ahead. I carry that on and win the game.
“NOW HE’S GOTTA RESPECT THE KID, YOU CAN’T 9 POOL ME EVERY GAME YOU NERD. I think it’s definitely time to DISRESPECT HIM with my own 9 pool”. We both open 9 pool, I win the initial micro war, he does a 1 base roach followup. I panic, I’d never seen it before and it shows, I sac my speedlings in a decision that clearly wasn’t run through the committee. I go on to almost hold but my initial mistake is too much and I lose. “AT LEAST HE’S RESPECTING THE KID”, I was very happy with how well I played.

Pezz
“My ZvP is pretty outdated, just gotta do what I'm comfortable with and hope that it’s enough to beat him”. It wasn’t enough, but I know for a fact if I’d tried to do a build I’d never practiced, it would’ve been even worse.

Basically what I’m trying to say is, if its not something you would do online, don’t do it on LAN. If it’s not something you’ve practiced, don’t do it on LAN. If its something super micro intensive where one slip up is game, don’t do it on LAN. If it’s the theoretical optimum solution but requires perfection in its execution, you guessed it, don’t do it on LAN. Stick to what you know, stick to what works, stick to what will give you the best shot at winning. Don’t beat yourself, that’s what your opponent is for.

Hope you guys enjoyed the read. I had tons and tons of fun down at ACL Sydney, especially in reviving FIFA. It was really awesome meeting new people and getting to see friends. Special thanks to my team Exile5, and NVIDIA, I really appreciate their support in getting me to Sydney and back in one piece. Thanks for sticking around, let me know what you think

Re: Dealing with the LAN factor
 

Good blog as always. I enjoy the depth you go into to explain your thought process.

Re: Dealing with the LAN factor
 

fun read good job

Re: Dealing with the LAN factor
 

Love blogs like this! Good read, thanks Ryan

Re: Dealing with the LAN factor
 

I disagree with that mentality.

Tournaments aren't about learning, they're about winning. Learning comes from practice. If you don't think you can execute a build, sure, don't do it. Don't say that the reason you didn't do it was because you wanted to see if KingkOng was beatable with a standard macro build though, of course he is.

“most important thing to learn is that he is beatable.”

No, the most important thing is to beat him.

At least this is what I believe, tournaments are for doing everything in your power to win. If you'd have opened 14/14 you would have had a much better chance of beating KingkOng (or so many people think?)

Re: Dealing with the LAN factor
 

This is a fair criticism. My belief was, if I couldn't beat him in g1, I didn't want to lose with a hard counter in g2. (People have lost with 14/14). If I'd won the first game, I probably would have gone 14/14 (cheese him out). Instead, I opened my standard build, I obviously wanted (and planned) to win and believed I could do it with my standard build. Winning and learning are not necessarily mutually exclusive and when you get the opportunity to play a top competitor like KingkOng, learning has to be a key part of it. This was a chance for me to gain knowledge, and still do my most practiced "best" build.