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For most of my SC2 journey so far I’ve been using a very rigid 20-games-per-day program to keep track of my progress & make sure I haven’t been slacking off. I haven’t hit 20 games per day every single day for the past 1.5 years, but I think I can safely say that I hit 75%. On average my daily played games would hover around 16-18 SC2 games.

What I didn’t calculate into this was that 20 games was actual in-game games played. This didn’t include replay analysis, build refinement, reading up on strategies, VODs etc. I think I can safely say that when I’m not working, or spending time with family, 95% of my ‘off-time’ is spent on SC2. Probably explains the complete burnout in the past 2 weeks as I kept this up for over a year.

So the problem with 20 games a day was this. I was always in a mental battle with the number 20. When I don’t hit 20 games, I feel guilty and disgusted that I haven’t worked hard enough to achieve my dream. When I do hit 20 games sometimes it’s forcefully mashed out & feels like work instead of pleasure. Sometimes hitting 20 makes me want to stop even though I still have the energy to go on as well.

For the past weeks I’ve been trying to play games without a quota. Simply playing games, till I feel physically or mentally fatigued. The results? I went for bonus pool clearing session on both my accounts 2 days before ladder lock to get a last minute GM promo, in 2 days I played 56 games. The games felt healthy & enjoyable whether win or lose, perhaps because I wasn’t chasing a quota, but something else for a change. I sat for a few sessions days after that to refine mechanics, by the time I was done I had played 16 ladder games in 2 hours.

What now? I feel it’s time to try something new. The old scheme has helped me climb the ladder & understand the basics/fundamentals of SC2. I feel I’m starting to graze on something deeper, more refined. The new training program that I’m embarking on is simply being water.


“Don’t get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
- Bruce Lee


I will still train everyday, taking 1 or maximum 2 days off a week but the number of games played a day no longer has a limit. I’ll simply train until my brain or wrists say “ENOUGH!”, whether that’s 12 or 24 or 36 games. Today’s the first day of this program, only hit 10 games today going 6W4L. Every game felt amazing, win or lose I was learning something, and no longer just adding a number~




the bruised knee,
Reere.

Stream: http://www.twitch.tv/ReereSC
Twitter: @ReereSC
Blog: http://reeresc.tumblr.com/