[Mattyb21]

Hey guys, I written this up the other day and sent it out to some of the people I help that are just learning how to play, (These are really new people to the game) and I thought I would share it

1. Discovery
2. Identification
3. Core breakdown
4. Understanding
5. Adaption
6. Replication

1. Discovery

This is the first step (And the easiest ;D ) You need to lose to something, or have something that was very effective against you, and have it as a key modifier to your game.

2. Identification

You need to be able to identify on a broad spectrum to what it is that is causing problems. To make sure you have identified the problem, is to take out what you actually think is causing the problem, and see if the problem still occurs. (How many times can I write problem in one sentance?!) For example, say you lose your protoss army which consists of stalkers and colossi, to a terran army which has say, marine marauder medivac with viking. If you identify that the reason that your army is dying is because you lose your colossi too fast, the vikings could be the problem. To test this, engage the same army, without the vikings, and if you are more successful, you can safely identify that vikings are the problem.

3. Core Breakdown

You need to look at what you have identified now, and elaborate on it as much as you can. Say we go to our previous example, you need to understand what circumstances your opponent is in to get the vikings. What timing your opponent might be running off, if there are any upgrades your opponent is using, and essentially what gives your opponent the ability to do what they are doing.
---NOTE: IF YOU SAY BALANCE OF THE GAME IN THIS STEP, YOU ARE WRONG! (Unless you are #1 GM and also just won a GSL )---

4. Understanding

Now you need to set yourself a goal as to what you need to do, to actually solve this problem. First, put yourself in the best case scenario to what you need to have to stop this, at first, disregard most variables, such as timings, economy, production, etc. Then you need to build a pathway to actually achieve this goal, and be able to make the timings that are needed. (*A bit of number work may be needed! ;D ) You also need to understand what to scout for to identify what your opponent is doing, the best way to do this is to check for certain things at certain times, make the alarm bells ring in your head when you see these, and you will know how to react!

5. Adaption

Now you need to be able to intergrate what you have made in the previous step a part of your normal play routine. Such as, scout timings, and being able to transition correctly and have this as your normal play style. Make sure you know what you are doing, not be unsure at any point. If at any point you are in a game, and you are not sure what to do, even at the slightest point, take it as an opportunity, and learn from it. Whenever you have these moments, be happy about it because you are about to learn something new, and become a better player!

6. Replication

Write your build down for what you are going to do against the problem. Write it down over, and over, and over (Usually 5 times works) And practice it against the AI ~5 times again. Just so that you don't have to be unsure about anything when you are playing against someone on the ladder! Share your idea around to others, see if anyone else can build on it, because more often than not, someone else is going to see an opportunity to improve your build even more!

Watch my stream, and get good! twitch.tv/mattyb21

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