[aLtShortizz]

Due to numerous request for me to blog my progress from Bronze in Feb/March to Top 50 GM in August, i have decided to start this topic. Now, i would do this on the Blog section but i wanna list a few tips and Build orders here and there so it would hopefully help someone while reading it.

Introduction about this post and myself.

+ [Introduction] +

Just some basic stuff about myself. My name is Kenny Ang and i hail from a tiny red dot called Singapore. Unlike many people of my age(23), i retain a passion for gaming that dates back to my broodwar days. I started playing SC1:BW back in 2000 when i was just 12-13 years old. Even after most of my friends quit the game as it got old, i kept playing for another 4-5 years when school and social life slowly took over it. My BW Highlight would probably be in the year 2004(or it could be 2003) where i won the School WCG and was invited and seeded to play in WCG SG. I lost in the quarter finals to a certain protoss player named Nirvana although he has not yet been able to recall it. From 2006-2011, i played in alot of MMORPG such as Hero Online, Cabal Online and AikaUS. I have always been able to do well in such games but the Cashshop oriented Free MMORPG can become abit of a problem for excessive spenders like me.

+ [aLtShortizz] +

The Beginning.

+ Show +

When SC2 was in it's initial phase, i was hesistant to purchase a copy simple because i know how much time i would spend on it. I had just gotten out of the army and in my first year of University, so life has delayed SC2 for quite abit. Then came Christmas 2010, my GF, knowing how much i had loved SC1:BW, bought me a copy of SC2:Wings of Liberty.(Girls are the easiest retail targets btw, she bought it for 120 SGD).

However, it was not until Feb/March that i first login and did my placement matches. Being an ex-BW player, i had expected to be placed in at least the highest or 2nd highest league. I thought my Muta builds and my BW 6 pool rushes would at least get me into a high league whilst i figure the game out. So imagine the horror when i lost 3 of my placement matches and was promptly slapped into Bronze league. In a good way, i suppose that kicked in the competitiveness in me and decided that im not going to start playing until i hit Master League(highest possible at that time).

THE INITIAL PRACTISE FORMAT

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So starts my quest of going through countless replays, tutorial from Day9 and playing against Higher ranked opponents. I studied every replay that i lost, and slowly figured why i would lose everytime. I pestered the high master players like Dogsi , FacelessJ to play against me and would shamelessly ask for advice. During this time, i also joined PRACBUD where a group of liked minded newb players like me gather around to have practise games. Slowly, my game started to improve and i was soon beating people that were in a higher league than me. My ''training'' of 10 Custom games, Watch GSL/Day9, Watch Replays and then ladder 5 had worked and i was promoting every 2 weeks. Because i was trying out so many strategy and play style, i was even going up and down leagues when i was in Gold/Plat level. It seems now to me that, that was the defining moment of my ' PlayStyle ''

+ [LeagueProgress] +

Feb March(S1) Bronze.
April(S1) Silver.
May/June(S2)Plat.
July(S2) Master.
August(S3) Grandmaster.

Note:This might not be VERY accurate but Bronze(Feb/March) to Grandmaster(S3) is accurate.

Obstacles going up the league.

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Ever since i was started to play SC2, i have always tried to base my play on being a Macro oriented player. Naturally Zerg was my choice since i also played the race in BW. As any Zerg would tell you, droning is my favourite hobby and whenever an opponent allows me to time, i would crush him after a spamming S D for a good time.

However, not everything seemed as smoothed as it looks. At every league level, i would face problems being promoted, the most noticeble one being Master-GM. This a level where timing attacks are very popular and i would often die because of over-droning or simply just not reacting quickly enough. I was getting increasingly frustrated after losing so many games against High master and low GMs. My frustrations only made me a worst player and i was in danger of being demoted back into Diamond league. I was completely baffled and even seek coaching help from FXOtgun . However, after a trial lesson with him, he thought that i had the ability to learn from myself and so dont really need coaching. He also gave me a piece of advice, to study other race instead of focusing only on my own.

Making GM.

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After being humiliated time and again by the same builds executed by GMs and High masters, i decided to follow tgun's advice and sought to seek out Basic timing attacks from the other races. I learnt to read the limited information from my scouting and react faster to a tech switch. Weeks of pestering GMs and Masters with questions of (When does ur 2 tank timing hit, When does your Nexus go down) has equiped me with knowledge that i thought, doesnt matter as long i as play well enough. I was able to tell what kind of tech protoss is going from looking at his sentry count. I was able to guess what kind of tech Terran is going just by his Marine counts.Subtle things like counting gas and scouting how many Marine/Sentries he made promoted me into GM and also won me the Community Open Twice. I beat players who are better than me because i know

He doesnt have Siege yet because he went BF first.
He must be going DT or VR because theres only 2 sentries.
Terran has alot of marines but not enough from a 2 Rax, i need to see if its BF, Banshee or Expo.
Zerg is spining up for no reason, i better get a hydra den.
Protoss expanded but his saturation is poor, i need to see how many gateways he has.

And if my scouting and poking does not fetch me the information that i need, i would player super safe and throw down random spines/spores or queens. My habit of getting an evo chamber near 30 ish supply has won me countless games. I dont care if ppl say that im hurting my economy, but i just find it incredibly stupid to lose to a VR, cloak Banshee or DT.

Present

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While i do not consider myself a top player, i do feel that im good enough to be giving out advice. I still hang around PRACBUD to give out advice to players that i once were. Anyone could add me on Battlenet and i would gladly have a conversation of theorycrafting with you regardless of League.

Since winning the CO and participating in WCG, i was invited into aLt by Nirvana, something which i considered an honour. My previous encounters with Clans like FaDe and the PRACBUD guys has been pleasant and fun but this step represents a higher platform for me. I have consistently rejected Clan invites because aLt being the top SG SC clan, was the natural choice for me.

I am currently in the top 50 of the GM league and have beaten a fair amount of top players. But like any good players, i always set targets for myself. The latest one is to beat every top player in SEA at least once. xGkingIaguz, TARossi, aLtHan have escaped so far =P.

About this topic.

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I intend to include some tips and basic strategy in the next few post/edits and strongly encourage feedbacks and build orders of your own too! And if your a new player who has been having difficulty with laddering, i hope this writeup has helped you. As it is, dont be afraid or lazy to ask for matches against Top players. If too many has rejected you, there is always the community open and ESL qualifiers where you get a chance to compete with the top players and hopefully, get some advice.
And since im talking about tournaments, i would like to give my shout outs to these awesome Tournament organisers/Castors, who for me, are the ones who makes the community live.

TCPFrogmite
aLtNirvana
Eddied(FadedOne)
Maynarde
Benji
SatuSPR
Bakalnu

And many more whom i may have missed.

Interviews

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http://learningsc2.com/starcraft-2-a...izz-interview/.

Tips and Builds!

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In this section, ill include some Fun and Useful tips which i feel can help the community. It ranges from Cheeses to All - Ins to Macro or Even just simple scouting tips. Inputs are strongly encourage and of cos, questions would be answered too!

+ [Nestea Spine Crawler Rush] +

Now since ive been getting a fair bit of ppl qq-ing on the ladder that im a cheeser and all - iner and that my play style is ''weird''. I figured we should start off with some interesting cheeses! Whose to say that Zerg has nothing in their arsenal to punish greedy opponents? Here are some Builds that have served me well.

The Nestea Spine Crawler rush.

After watching him destroy anypro.prime with this build on GSL, i just had to try it! Surprisingly, it DID work the few times i used it! Heres how it goes for me.

We open standard 14/14 and send our first 2 OL to opponent's natural. Do note that this only works on map where protoss are bound to FFE, such as Shakura/TDA etc. If your opponent is cross position, scrap this strat and use ur first 100 gas for speed.



Now after u chased the scouting probe away with ur initial 4 lings, use your first 100 Gas to get a lair and ur 2nd 100 gas to get Lingspeed. Be patient when u get ur lair cos u dont want ur opponent to see a fast lair. Try to kill/chase the scouting probe away first. Once u start Lair upgrade, get ur natural hatch asap. We intend to drone up heavily after the cheese.



When lair is 3/4 done, send 3 drones to ur opponent's Nat and use that first OL to start spewing creep. U should only make 4-6 lings to clear away cannons that are half done or probes/Zealot that might try to attack ur spine crawler.



During all these, you should be droning up heavily and getting ur queens. Set ur spines to attack high value targets like Cyber Core/Forge, dont try to engage cannons. It is also a good time for you to start a hydra den and +1 Attack.



Because 8 outta 10 Protoss respond to the losing their Forge/Cybercore/Gateway is this.



Void rays while strong, are hopeless against Hydra Ling. Do remember to get a roach warren just so u can reinforce quicker and if he decides to go heavy gateway zealots.



Do note that my opponent is not an idiot. He is actually a top 100 GM and so this BO actually worked for me on the ladder. However i advise you to give it plenty of practise before attempting it.

+ [7min Roach Ling all-in] +

Now this is an all time favourite of mine. Even after many top players popularise it, alot of protoss player still fall for it because of greedy FFE or 1 Gate expands. This build aims to punish FFE and forcing Nexus cancel on a 1 Gate FE.

Like any obedient zerg up against a FFE, we open 14/14 safely and only taking 100 gas for out speed.



At 22 supply-ish, we should also get our Natural hatchery and use our 4 lings to chase away the scouting probe. We do not want Protoss to know exactly what we are doing. If the probe is not patrolling ur base, then keep 2 lings at ur natural while sending 2 more outside his natural to intercept scouting probes. Remember to be patient and not mine gas or put down a roach warren.



Once we get that annoying probe(s) off our back, immediately mine gas and put down a roach warren.



Now optimally, you have stay at 20/34 Supply before u make ANY roaches. 1 X Queen(2), 4 x Lings(2) and 16 drones. If you get ur OL when Roach warren is half done, you shld have 20/34 by the time its gone and just about 150-175 Gas to make 6 or 7 roaches. Once u get ur 6-7 roaches, remember to make an OL with ur next 100 minerals and take ur drones off gas.



From here on, ONLY make lings as roaches are too slow to reinforce. With 16 Drones, you have JUST about the economy to support 2 base lings with 1 queen only. Before you move ur roaches and lings to attack, send 1 ling in to identify ''High value'' targets. The idea is break through the wall with ur roaches while ur lings swarm in and deal the pain. As you can see below, only 2 pylons powering everything and naturally, thats my target.



Now decide if ur All-in is gonna work once u break through the wall. Some protoss have amazing pylon sim city and are not afraid to pull probes. If thats the case, stop spamming S Z and immediately switch to S D. The econ and tech dmg he takes will more than compensate for ur early units. However, in this case.....



Now when using this BO, remember to always keep protoss in the dark. A FFE Protoss will not have any map prescence at all and 2 lings at his front door will make him play blindly. If he makes 3+ Cannons, its more than likely the rush would fail. Anything under that and hes dead. Even if hes going for a DT/VR rush, ur lings are too mobile and will rip his base apart before he can clean it up. A good map for this would be 1 like XNC where there is a wide and big natural. Not that im saying maps with natural ramped wont work but everyone knows its harder to attack into high ground.

Unlike previous spine crawler cheese, i have beaten alot of top players with this all-in. Even the top top protoss(I dont feel comfortable saying their names :X) guys on SEA, so this is definitely a valid strategy.

Add ons from community

iRLProann :i would like to add in some things for you
High priority targets :Artosis pylon(1 Pylon powering everything), Cybernectics core.

If the protoss wall with their cybernectics core, its normally worth it to target it down since it may cancel warp gate tech. Even if warp gate tech finish they cant warp in sentries/ stalkers

+ [Simple Zerg Mechanics] +

Is this section, we`ll be looking at some simple and subtle things on Zerg play that may very well be the factor(s) to push you up a league. I have often find that, players with good RTS experience tend to do well regardless of the crappy builds they use. They can also pick up things and multi task faster than others, and this gives them a significant advantage especially when it comes to Zerg. Im not going to go through everything like the Day9 Episode on Mechanics. However u should definitely go look it up if u havent already, its has some stuff that are quite useful that you may not have heard before.

Queen: The Queen is probably our most important unit. When i first started playing SC2, i was not used to it and lost many games because of that. After reading up on it, i realised that, you simply cannot afford to make any mistake with your queens. Here are some pointers on using your queen.

Never let your energy go pass 26. You need to be on top of your game in terms of injecting.
Get 3rd Queen out asap, it does wonders in many situations such as sniping medivac/WP/Banshee/VR, blocking hellions. Most importantly, if you cant be bothered to spread creep, dont bother playing Zerg. Creep Spread is just one of those things that helps you SO much without u realising it.

I did a little test with a friend a long time back where we get our 2nd and 3rd at 15 supply on XNC, Spawning pool at 16 and then 4 queens right when its done. I managed to max out 200/200 by the 13th min mark and heres how my queens looked after 13mins. Yes you tend to miss injects more when ur playing a real game but if you can ''lock'' the inject and creep spread timing into your hands, u will have a much easier time.



See if u can beat my timing and creep spread! I hotkey my hatcheries to 5 and queens to 6. So whenever i need to inject i just backspace(Customised to `) to flip around bases and V+Click on centre. Takes me about 4-5 Seconds to inject 3 bases usually, maybe more if my fingers feel fat.

Macro Cycle(Courtesy of aLtPig)

Always macro in this order:

1. Inject, inject, inject
2. Produce – Spend larvae
3. Overlords – even if you don't get supply blocked on step 2 or spend all your larvae you need to glance at the top right EVERY game to check how many overlords you will need and how soon to build them
4. Creep-spread

The reason behind always macroing in a set order is that Zerg have a huge number of actions needed in order to sustain constant macro. If you are doing everything in a random order you are guaranteed to have to constantly waste brain power thinking “what do I need to do now?”. So by memorising this order and carrying out your macro like this EVERY game you begin to do it by instinct without needing to think and therefore always covering all your bases. Not only that but the speed you macro at will increase noticeably.

So the goal here is that with every 40s macro cycle (the time it takes for injects to pop) you can go through this order automatically and speedily finish it in 10-15s. This leaves 25-30s for scouting, micro, building tech, and thinking about strategy.

Saturation:

Now although you often see top players having like 24 Probes/SCVs on their mineral for optimal saturation, their SCVs are actually mining at 80% efficiency. The optimal 100% Saturation for Zerg should be 16 Drones(Minerals) + 6 Drones(Gas) = 22 Drones per base.

If you think that u need alot more drones as the game progress but already has 22+ Drones per base then its probably time to consider getting another base. Because we are dependent on Hatcheries for larvae, its wise to just get another base up once ur current ones are saturated instead of being over-saturated with a macro hatch. Some players do have the bad habit of wanting to saturate their 3rd once they get it up, but really, you can just use it for the larvaes and then saturate it when its appropriate.

Bad


Good



Adding units into control group.

Its seriously painful to watch when lings and mutas just stream forward and die while trying to join your units or just sit there at ur rally point when they hatched. We are all guilty of that, but heres a small tip to rally ur units into ur existing control group.

For example, my Hotkey for muta is 3. So i select my hatcheries and spam S T(Make muta doh), after that ctr click on the egg you just made and all the muta eggs you made will now be selected. Hold shift and Click Ctr 3(Muta hotkey) and your newly born mutas are now rallied and included into your existing control group.

Thats all for today, next time round we will be touching on Hotkeys and Map control! Speshul thanks to aLtPig for providing me an insightful file!!

Add ons from community

Meatex :Nice little additions though just a simple shift + 1 (or 2 or 3 etc) will add stuff to the control group.

+ [ZvP Multi Prong attack, Chipping away] +

Ive been pretty busy with school recently but thought i shld keep up the promise of 1-2 tips per week. Now while clearing my bonus pool and laddering on NA, i played a game where i feel i did reasonably well and would have lost had i not executed the Attacks right. I have also received many PM asking me about dealing with the Protoss ''Deathball'' or the latest Chargelot Archon build so i guess this Replay analysis will fit perfectly for those who wants to know abit more about this Match up.

When i was still a Master player, ZvP was generally my weakest match up because i always try to mass up and wait for Protoss to do that 1 big Push. Even though my macro was pretty solid, i was still losing games against Protoss who maxed out later than me. Remaxing is no problem but to rally units across so many bases to engage a 2nd time is impossible if Protoss takes advantage of the positions.

It was after i watched moonglade play one day on NASL that i learned the trick of slowly chipping away at that deathball while teching up. You cannot engage and lose your entire roach army and then hope to beat him by remaxing your BL/Ultras. MOst of the time you will just die outright if your opponent isnt dumb. Ill be showing some Pics where i needed to transit out of my current composition but cannot afford to lose my entire army.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So nothing too special in the early game. I opened 21 hatch and my opponent did a 1 gate FE. OL scouted his stargate and he didnt bother to make anymore VR after seeing my spores and queens.



As the game went on, he transit into Chargelot, HT and Archon, even mixing in some immortals. While i was still stuck with Roach hydra tech waiting for his stargate units to push in -_-.



Poking around and no thanks, im not engaging into the concave you set up. Note that he tried to bait me in and storm which would have been very bad for me. Dont let my supply lead fool you because his composition was much stronger than mine.



Since i cant break the natural, how about denying that 3rd and backing away quickly?



Got stormed the sheit outta me when i was trying to poke his natural again. STORM OP!! However, he did not have an observer and i was able to save most of my roaches by burrowing away. At this point i know i need to transit outta roach infestor but i have to play it right.



Since im almost maxed, i start to do some minor engagement and slowly chip away his HT energy.



While he was busy dealing with my roach infestors, i swung a bunch of roaches up into his natural and killed his Nexus



Continue to harass, this time at his 4th while my ultras are popping out. Remembe to free ur supply slowly by trading efficiently, you cant lose all ur roaches at once and hope your ultra pops in time. Also, by attacking his 4th i drew away his main force and follow it up with lings runby into his main.



Lings even without upgrade are still beastly because of their mobility.



Ultras popped and i move in for the kill .






Now look through the SS again and u`ll noticed that i seldom make any BIG 200/200 army into 200/200 army engagement. Protoss's maxed army will stomp a zerg, even with quick remax abilities, a well position P army will continue to rip you apart. Instead i wither his army down slowly and while doing as much dmg as i can to his economy.

PS: During all these he did alot of DT harassment in my bases too but i dont wanna upload too many SS.

Quick Comments

	Maynarde:	Godlike. ilu Shortizz <3
	Frogmite:	You're the pride of PRACBUD
	nirvAnA:	winning!
	Cyanide:
	Mezza:
	iM tgun:
	Aean(::	ill catch up to you one day :)
	TcaTX:	<3
	ToRDeathsFang:	y u so full of win. JP$$ has a challenge
	TAminimat:
	neon:
	Doctor:	oh my god , respect for u bro ! keep up the good work !
	EscapisT:
	Eddie:
	Nemo:	Thanks for doing it. :-)
	EXCL:	inspiration +1
	lolwut:	Now the my epic spine rush can be even better!
	mGGDaedalus:	nice writeup, respect for giving back to the community with helpful advice
	biogenie:
	Halstrom:	pure pro
	TAVoices:	Make many banelings
	sRFullstop:	Your tips really help my play :)
	inFeZa:	Inspiration!
	Zjub:
	Reere:	amazing. Thank you.
	ZiggyD:	Fantastic thread and Gratz Shortizz!
	breadfan:	Hoping to have similar success, thanks for sharing!
	FaDeKerrigan:	Definitely sharing this with my zerg friends. Thanks!
	AeonixG:	AweSomE, Can wait to try it out

[PiG]

GosuTizz! Nice post man had no idea you moved up so fast!

[iM tgun]

My favourite zerg (:

[TcaTX]

So good to see that you made GM mate. As I have said before you have set the bar and instead of QQ and complaining like I do sometimes and alot of others have done... you rose above it and conquered.

I really need to examine every loss of mine too and I guess I'm too afraid to ask better players for matches because I feel humiliated when I lose to them in a crushing defeat especially when others spec me.

Great job mate! =)

Quick Comments

	nirvAnA:
	aLtShortizz:	Think of it as having fun. Afterall, we play this game to have fun, whose to say u cant do that and lose at the same time? ;)

[Next_rim]

Bah, 15 games a day. I wish I had time for that, can barely play 1-2 games daily, and not even every day. College is so full of win

[PTSZ]

So inspiring, but just goes to show if you understood the fundamentals of Brood War you understand SC2. Just a matter of perfecting your mechanics, control and understanding of timings, which in itself, is a lot of work. And lets not forget the community help along the way I hope to follow in the same path.

Quick Comments

aLtShortizz:

The community definitely plays a big part!

[TAEdgE]

We can have some practice games if you want.
Good write up mate.

[sRFullstop]

How do you deal with losing? Do you get discouraged if you lose, and what do you do to calm yourself down?

[aLtShortizz]

Originally Posted by Fullstop

How do you deal with losing? Do you get discouraged if you lose, and what do you do to calm yourself down?

I usually stop playing after 5 straight losses. The system also matches you with ppl below ur skill level if u kept losing so u`ll have an easier time. Or i`ll just walk away and have a smoke or something, then come back to watch some replay.

Losing in the first round of tournament to someone whom u know u shld beat can be frustrating though, im still learning to cope with it!

Originally Posted by Next_rim

Bah, 15 games a day. I wish I had time for that, can barely play 1-2 games daily, and not even every day. College is so full of win

It does takes 15+ games a day for you to get there. But once u reach taht level, u just have to play a few a day to maintain it. I know of some GM players that hardly ladders and they are still good. My suggestion would be to pick a period where u have time and make a solid push up the leagues so u can sit back on it. Its pretty much like riding a bicycle, you might get rusty but u wont forget what you learned.

Originally Posted by EdgE

We can have some practice games if you want.
Good write up mate.

Definitely mate, i was impressed with ur ZvP Style after watching a few replays!

[TAEdgE]

Originally Posted by aLtShortizz

Definitely mate, i was impressed with ur ZvP Style after watching a few replays!

Thanks man, but i can throw out many styles in ZvP. Manyyyy . My ZvT and ZvZ are generally the same as most peoples are anyway haha.

[DtorR]

Nice writeup. Hope you continue to get better and see your name one day at MLG or GSL.

[Next_rim]

My suggestion would be to pick a period where u have time and make a solid push up the leagues so u can sit back on it.

Not with full time job and fiancee, man. And last time I took 10-day vacation off work to push to masters, blizz cut me off by locking promotion 5 days into my quest for higher league. I won't have an opportunity to play seriously till January or something, when work will slow down, and I can pull all-nighters.

[EveMassacrisM]

Man I remember when you were merely a Diamond when I saw you on bnet. You were already giving out advices to the clueless fools there, which made me kinda intrigued by how accurate your inputs were<Me being an elitist ass on bnet and all >. My 2v2 friend BleaK, after getting roflstomped by you on ladder, started to follow your progress and told me you're like a ladder maniac playing 30+ games or something per day. I was like " Meh... He's probably just improving faster than others " until one day i saw on the loading screen:

MassacrisM - Even Matched - Shortizz

I barely managed to win that one, mostly because of your mistake by bamming all your banes on my hatch(lol). From then I already knew you'd be among the top one day. Winning 2 COs in a row just shows how much of a beast you are now I dont think I can even stand a chance anymore

Anyway grats on the recent achievements and keep them speshul tektiks coming

Quick Comments

Nemo:

Cool to have exterior vision of his progress.

[crAzerk]

I want a refund, the spinecrawler rush didnt work ! lolol.
It's match dependent I guess, I got stupid Antiga Shipyard, was hard to poke up the ramp (no vision). Spines could only hit the corner pylon, couldn't hit up the long ramp

[aLtShortizz]

Originally Posted by crAzerk

I want a refund, the spinecrawler rush didnt work ! lolol.
It's match dependent I guess, I got stupid Antiga Shipyard, was hard to poke up the ramp (no vision). Spines could only hit the corner pylon, couldn't hit up the long ramp

Why didnt u use the OL for vision? =P

[cruxBsK]

wow man awesome work this is so inspirational all the lower level players should make a read of this post it provides good insights and great advice.

[ToRsupapower]

Can you teach me to be as good as you :P?

[iSt]

amazing journey.
if u keep up that rate of progression, we might see u in gsl next yr

[Uglymutt]

Thanks for this write-up, i'll have to try a spine crawler rush against one of my friends.

[lolwut]

Lol nice strategy man works for me
Not sure about the new one though. I may give it a go.