Thursday we StarCraft players have found ourselves a new patch. Here's the link to the official patch notes: StarCraft II Patch Notes. Some notable changes include:
Many buildings getting more health
Void Ray:
Damage level 1 increased from 5 to 6 (+4 armored).
Damage level 2 decreased from 10 (+15 armored) to 8 (+8 armored).
Flux Vanes speed upgrade bonus decreased from 1.125 to 0.703.
Barracks requirement changed from Command Center to Supply Depot.
Range increased from 3 to 4.
Terran getting nerfed, Zerg getting a big boost?
Here's an excellent video by PsyStarcraft on the patch notes:
A match between two among the most famous StarCraft players. They are Team Liquid's TheLittleOne (LiquidTLO) and BoxeR, one of the best Brood War players (as described in a previous post).
Here's a video with TLO versus NaDa; he's one of the guys in my previous blog post about APM. His real name is Lee Yun-Yeol (born in 1984) and is also known as "Genius Terran". He has some major achievements throughout his pro-gaming career; statistically, he's the best player in history. In 2007, NaDa signed a new 3 year contract with WeMade FOX for approximately $690,000; this company is featured in Razer's documentary, of which the links you can find in my previous post about APM. In Korea, pro-gamers can earn lots of money; that's why Team Liquid is there as well.
Don't forget that these two Korean players haven't actually been playing StarCraft II since launch and have yet to adapt to all units and in-game mechanics. They will surely become better and better in the future. Though only time will tell.
Thanks once again to HuskyStarcraft for superb commentaries. Be sure to subscribe to his videos for the latest and greatest commentaries.
TheLittleOne is one of the best foreign StarCraft players. I find it interesting that foreign here means non-Korean. So, last but certainly not least, here's a good compilation with him utilizing different strategies. Now, that's pwnage!
Team Liquid is a professional StarCraft team. Their website TeamLiquid.net is a great source of information for StarCraft. It's great for starters, so be sure to check that out!
Today I want to post something about pro gamers. Here's a short video excerpt from a Razer documentary about two Korean players, NaDa and Moon. Here, they will demonstrate how they play StarCraft and WarCraft III. It's a definitely must-see for those who aspire in becoming competitive gamers. See the end of the post for this complete documentary.
APM stands for actions per minute and it is the number of actions completed within a minute of gameplay. High APM is often associated with skill. Newbies usually have a low APM count, say around 50. Professional e-athletes in South Korea have APM of about 300 and some occasionally exceed 500 when in the heat of a battle.
Do note that high APM does not make you a great player. It's about the efficiency and accuracy of your actions! Mindless clicking everywhere and spamming your hotkeys won't make you top tier. However, this "spamming" can be used to warm up your fingers in the beginning of the match. With StarCraft II, it is possible to save replays of your games and then view them. By pressing M, you can view all players' APM counts. Once you become better and better, you should (slowly) see a rise in your APM.
I will consider some tips and tricks on how to improve your gaming skills in StarCraft II in future posts. In essence, practice makes perfect and learn from your mistakes.
Here's the link to all 4 parts of the original Razer: The Hax Life documentary on one page. On a side note, Razer makes delicious equipment targeted for gamers. I myself have the Razer Mamba and Razer Lycosa Mirror; gotta love the shiny black! What's your gaming equipment?
For those who don't know BoxeR. He is Lim Yo-Hwan (born 4 September 1980) and is one of the most successful StarCraft (Brood War) players. Dubbed The Emperor by his fans, he is the most popular Starcraft player with a fan club of more than 1,000,000 members! Furthermore, he is one of the highest-paid professional gamers, with annual earnings that exceed $300,000 US Dollars! In 2006, he was included in MTV's The 10 Most Influential Video Gamers Of All Time. That's insane!!
Rumour has it that many top Korean Brood War players having been slowly migrating to StarCraft II, so that's really good news for the StarCraft II community!
Without further ado, here are some vids with commentaries by none other than HuskyStarcraft! These are battles between BoxeR (Red Terran) vs Team Liquid's Jinro (Blue Terran) on Metalopolis!
Not that many playing as Zerg. Although when they do, the win ratios aren't that bad at all (zergling rush or just pro? you decide); all quite close around 50%. Everyone's aware that it indeed is a difficult race to play; you more often hear people shouting that Terran is overpowered. In my opinion, Zerg is the most fun to play with; units making weird sounds, all buildings are squishy and bloody, some fun stuff you can do with Creep Tumors, burrowing etc. etc.
They are considering the following to balance the three races in the next patch:
Increased Roach Range: this will be very effective for many Zerg players, allowing more flexibility with Roaches in mid to end-game.
Fungal Growth will now prevent Blink. Not sure about this one, especially with the aforementioned increased range of Roaches. Fungal Growth is already a strong technique on its own.
Barracks will require a Supply Depot. Now, we won't be seeing early cheese with Reaper harassments. It's supposed to balance out in team battles, but seeing this will hurt Terran A LOT. This effectively removes most use of Reapers.
Increased health of Zerg buildings. Have to wait for this one. They could increase the regeneration speed as an alternative.
Hopefully, we will be able to see even more diverse playstyles in the future. The leagues are currently filled with lots of Terran, and not that many Zerg, especially in lower leagues (Bronze, Silver). More info coming soon!
Ultimate StarCraft will keep you up-to-date with the latest StarCraft II info! Post in the comments on what you'd like to see in the future!!
Let's get this blog started with a match between ChiTa_Prime and Mystic_Prime, this is one of my favorite matches I've seen... and it needed to be shared!
I will be posting more and more videos, some of epic proportions and some simple tips and tricks. The current problem is that there are just too many videos out there... I hope to feed you with only the best. Post any of your suggestions in the comments section below; they will be read and taken into consideration with very high probability!
This is StarCraft II Wings of Liberty - Patch 1.03, so it's a little bit old video. However, this is such an epic match between two among the best StarCraft players from Korea. Words cannot describe how insane this match is! No cheap early cheese, just a show of true skills!! Props to Crota doing the commentaries!
Please follow if you want the latest and greatest StarCraft related information, ranging from tips and tricks, strategies and tactics, to replays, maps, videos and all the other cool stuff. Casual or hardcore. No-nonsense!
This is my first blog ever and I have rather been hesitant to use any of the free, hosted services (in contrast to paid hosting). So far, I'm really liking what Blogger has to offer! Please post in the comments section if you might have any suggestions.
