Is it possible? I'm currently - in rank, and would want to hit , if not high by the time HOTS is released. I could clock in around 4-6hrs on weekdays, 7-10hrs on weekends. I'm a terran by the way, :/ I understand that this goal sounds rather unrealistic, but I wish to take part in HOTS open cup when it is released.
With those play times, I would definitely say it was possible. But it takes more than just a massive grind of games to get to masters.
You need to know after each game what you could do better, what went wrong, how you should have reacted, what were you doing when you should have been macroing. Make each game you play count, when you dont know what happened, that's when progress stops.
Also very important to not burn yourself out, make sure your exercising/doing stuff away from the computer too. If you take it too seriously you wont last long, you gotta be having fun too IMO.
EDIT: I'm currently doing something very similar, I haven't played for about 10months, just started again last week, and I'm currently going through the process of learning again so I can sort of sympathise
It is definitely possible to hit in 5 months. Actually even 3 months is enough as long as you know what you are doing. Step 1 of improving is to ignore your ego. Which is to not care whether you win or lose. Just do a build perfectly, check replay on when you are getting supply often and keep noticing about small details.
I went from bronze to gm in around 3 months. If you have your eyes set on it, and are dedicated to practicing the 4-6 hours a day that you mentioned then you could probably get masters within 1.5 months.
When you practice just have 1 build / MU, MAYBE 1 cheese build that works in all MU's just to develop your multitasking more, for the most part though you want macro builds. My cheese was 14/14 bane allin , maybe you could 2rax.
One of the most important things in my opinion, for leveling up quickly is execution. If you can steal a build from a pro and learn to execute it well then you'll be absolutely golden. Think of Terran pros with macro orientated simple play, I'm not sure whether I'd advise mech for a terran player simply because lots of all ins kill it, builds like 1 rax cc into some form of bio attack would be much better.
One thing to help with exection of these builds is to have a piece of paper behind your monitor with the entire build outlined, that way if you forget it during the game you can sneak a peek up and voila, back on track.
I went gold to diamond in 3 weeks after a little coaching. Masters took another couple of months. I definitely recommend coaching for a bit of a boost!
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Formerly known as mGGZeratul
From the shadows I come! I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.
It depends really on how well you know the game and when you started it. If you've played broodwar before and been playing Sc2 since its beta then it is doable if you dedicate. But if you just started recently then you'd need to really focus on your builds, mechanics and timings and you'll get there soon!
4-6 hrs on weekdays, 7-10 hrs on weekends for 5 months will probably be my death bed, playing for 2 hours straight makes me body tremble and my forehead all heaty.... something I'd have to overcome in order to break the sound barrier I suppose :P But yes, with that kind of playtime, definitely do-able, just gotta set your aims when you practise.
Day 1 - Not getting supply blocked...
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Day 9 - Watch Dailies
yea, all you need is commitment, consistancy and a decent coach that will be able to point out small/big errors.
Terran would be a bit trickier than zerg though
Actually it is really possible, don't listen to negative things that people say to you! I'm also planning to hit masters in my N.A account by next year before June but can't really find the "right" time to play. :'(
With that much time you could easily hit mid masters in 3 months. Just remember to not just grind games and watch replays/streams as well. If the game gets stale, take a break.
Also, you will begin to realize at high diamond level that because you play for longer periods of time without stopping, your apm will be higher than most other people. You will get tired after 3-4 games, so 7-10 hours won't be as effective. That being said, you would still easily reach masters.
Have fun, don't rage. Those two tend to be the biggest factors when practicing. Always refrain from calling other people noob, even if they do some half-assed all in. As always, learn to blame your mistakes on yourself but don't be too harsh as you will always have more problems. Practice with people better than you in customs sometimes. They don't have to be top level GM, but if they're a full league higher than you they will have a lot more knowledge for you to learn.
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