[ken6465]

I just recent join SC2, some of you might know me, I wanna ask the pros here, whether is it wise to prac in the league or just go AI or unranked prac with some players?

I am a noob terran, I might think ranked league might be good cause people play serious there, but constantly getting stomped is not very helpful, as for unranked prac, players will advice you what to do, some plat/gold players might even enlighten you but if I keep prac unranked one, will my silver go down to bronze? This is what I worry about.

Please advice me! I am a lost lamb

[iM yang]

There's a tonne of people playing so even if you play on ladder (ranked) there'll be people that are quite noob so if you're somewhat familiar with the game (playing through campaign) - jump into some ladder games!

[Flamga]

As yang said better off just jumping in and joining all the chat channels . Really only resort to AI if there is no one online otherwise the other player can always provide awesome feedback

[Reere]

Personally I took the AI route during my climb from Silver.

IMHO, during BSGP a player is learning and getting use to the mechanics of sc2. Playing vs AI is a lot more about 'shadowboxing' than trying to beat the AI.

Playing against the AI means you have a controlled environment where you learn at your own pace. I preferred this because it meant I could chain spam games grinding the basics. There wasn't much feedback to be had because the holes I had back then were very obvious. I missed injects, didn't spread creep, forgot expansions etc. Mechanics training in sc2 doesn't require a human opponent, although some may argue it helps to get feedback.

Personally I feel laddering/playing human opponents is training your decision making and reactions. I believe that decision making is often overstressed during the start of a new SC2 career. Learn how to hold the racket before you play a real game of tennis

tl;dr - IMO play AI to grind your sc2 basic skills, ladder to have fun and test out your progress~

GLHF~!

Quick Comments

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[ken6465]

its true that only resort to AI wont help but going blindly into ladder without know the mecha AND basic (thats me! >.<) getting stomped all the way its not very helpful too.

I personally think Reere is right in my case, he explain very clearly which path to take during my struggle to recognize SC2 and yes yang and flash is also correct I won't be only resort to AI and hoping to win some against some noobs xD.

Btw, will the rank drop to bronze if i done pretty badly? just curious. =/

[syfCabracan]

I did the route of jumping straight into (this was bw so ranking was different) playing against the equivalent of a diamond player. He would show me how to open, and then keep killing me again and again and again with the same builds untill I managed to get past that stage of the game. I lost a lot but for me constantly getting stomped was the quickest way to learn.

[Nihc]

I usually only get to play on some unearthly hour in the night when nobody's ever on.

My recommendation is to go to Custom Games and search for "GT AI" maps. That's what I use to practice my builds when no one's around. The enhanced Green Tea AI plays closer to real human player timing attacks and is a close enough simulation for a Silver/Gold level opponent.

[iM yang]

Now that I think about it - using an AI to get the basics down is really great, though as soon as you think you 'somewhat' know what to do; you should jump onto ladder - there really is no substitute for a human player!

[loki01]

Something that really helped me out is "YABOT" (custom map) where you get to grind out openings.
There's no real sense in mass laddering if you don't have an opening in mind or any attack timings planned.
Another map that I like'd to play is "Macro or die" to help out with my poor macro.

Once you get the build order and macro down you should get out of silver pretty fast.

Also I wouldn't worry about getting demoted down a league , I think you should change your mindset from trying to win to trying to improve. Just bench mark your previous game to your current one eg. if you stopped SCV production in the previous game but this time didn't miss a single SCV , you've already improved regardless of the outcome of the game.

[Satu]

Originally Posted by loki01

Something that really helped me out is "YABOT" (custom map) where you get to grind out openings.

I still use YABOT nowadays to try and improve my macro in specific builds (Its good for more than just openings). Its a cool way to answer questions you might have about builds you use. Like, whats the perfect supply count for me to make this overlord at? When is the best time, economically for me to take a third here? Is it easy to tech up fast after doing X?

VERY useful map when you're using it correctly

[mGGDrGooSe]

Originally Posted by SatuSPR

I still use YABOT nowadays to try and improve my macro in specific builds (Its good for more than just openings). Its a cool way to answer questions you might have about builds you use. Like, whats the perfect supply count for me to make this overlord at? When is the best time, economically for me to take a third here? Is it easy to tech up fast after doing X?

VERY useful map when you're using it correctly

I've heard of this YABOT thing, but never really worked out it's usefulness. I think it's a great topic for someone to write an article on :P.

[Peleus]

IMO nothing beats just playing to begin with. A couple of reasons

a) If you're at this level you should be playing for fun, I'd argue it's probably more fun to play vs someone than always vs AI.

b) Blizzard match making is fantastic. Yes you may get stomped the first few times but it will always stabilise and match you against people of your level (bronze, whatever). As soon as you're at that level you can practice and win 50% of your games, and improve at your own pace.

With blizzard match making you shouldn't be facing opponents that stomp you all the time unless you are playing your first 10-15 games or so before your MMR stabalises.

[ken6465]

"GT AI", "YABOT" and "Macro or Die"
Solid copy~! Thanks for all the help, really appreciate it! there's a lot of nice guys here haha

[pucca786]

I am beast at 1v1 you guys are bad