First time ranked.... I stopped playing zerg

General Discussion
1

Hello everyone…

Is ranked always like this? I am playing SC2 since it released, sometimes more, sometimes less. In general I play against AI, because I thought ranked would be really stressful.

Over the years, I got better, I guess… I play zerg main, but thanks to the story campaign, I got in touch with the other two races. At least, I play zerg against extreme AI and win with terran and toss against hard AI…

Today I started playing ranked and… in 80% of the game, I got zerg rush, canonrush, skytoss or full battlecruisers…

I watch lowko and harstem many times… I dreamed about playing like reynor, seral, or maxpax… Ok, I know, I cant get that good.^^ But I dreamed…

And then I met the real ranked world… In the first 3-4 matches, my hands were shaking that much, because I was so nervous… in an AI match I wouldnt even win against middle or easy… My macro was the worst and at times, when I usually would be at maximum supply, I only had like 80 or so…

Now my hands arent shaking anymore… but its still no fun to play against these lowminds… Indeed, its possible to win against these noob strategys, and I guess, if u are a pro, you win easy against this players… but I am not, and so I lose over and over again, against these…

I finally stopped playing zerg in ranked and started a few matches as terran myself… Its real satisfaction, to kill these full carrier skytoss with viking/battlecruiser comp… and I win more games this way… but it is really no fun at all… so I guess… I stop playing ranked here, and get back to AI games…

BUT: Maybe u can tell me, when the players stop playing like this? At platinum? Or diamand? Or would I need to get to master league, to stop getting these players?

2 Likes
2

People don’t stop playing like this at any rank, really - players get better at defending against it and dealing with it, but it’s also less common as strategic variety increases going up through the ranks and players improve, and their understanding of how to deal with them improves too.

Yeah; all of these are valid ways of playing. For lower levels it rarely takes much to beat them - often simply basic macro will do well. More stuff beats less stuff.

Cannon rushes can be a little harder as they’re often starting before you have anything, but it’s still quite possible to beat them.

This honestly just indicates to me that you haven’t really experimented on how to actively deal with them. Scouting definitely helps, but at that level many of them won’t really even know what they’re doing.

Additionally, it takes around 20-50ish ranked games on one race for a player’s MMR to settle as the system is getting used to and understanding around where your average level is compared to others. You’ll see big MMR jumps or drops in these early games as the system learns where you are.

2 Likes
3

Now best way fight Protoss is 12 pool this get lings before he puts down pylon. There ways toss can beat 12 pool but u need a lot more skill. So 12 pool best way counter a cannon rush.

Now on some maps if Protoss builds one pylon then u can kill Protoss and keep sending lings.

Terran is little bit harder since they can wall off. But u can 12 pool push faster queens or u can get faster gas as well and can punish reaper push with lings.

If they going extreme bc push they would have light force so push with ravagers and lings can punish. Now I do think bc has high ceiling cap.

Zerg you can 12 pool and go Baneling so before 6 lings you can turn them banes before they get there.

2 Likes
4

So full bunker into mass sky units is a strategic which all players use? Even at master and grand master league?^^

5

Depends on the player, but sometimes, yes. The path there might change, but the end goal, not so much.

1 Like
6

Dont worry champ, the zerg buffs and terran nerfs are on the way!

1 Like
7

Mhm… Okay. Thanks

And get me wrong. After playing terran in ranked, I learnt, that its nice and funny to play full sky. So I have no problem, if someone uses this strategic… But in my leagues, where i got ranked (silver/gold), the same players, use the same sky army strategic, over and over again… and thats annoying.^^

8

Pro lvl meta is not ladder meta.
there are many strategies that are relatively easy to execute and hard to stop for the casual player.

understandable. zerg has the weakest Turtles playstyle and is sometimes the more passive race.
And you don’t have an all round unit that can end the game like skytoss or thor/bc.
but it works, there are good solid roach builds with focus on macro. then you just have to pay attention to certain timings of the opponents and react.

2 Likes
9

You forgot the protoss nerfs. Golden rule in sc2 is Always Nerf protoss. Just because.

1 Like
10

:star: :star: :star: :star: :star: :star: :star: :star::telescope: :telescope: :telescope: :telescope: :telescope: :telescope: Looking for Sentry TvZ bio games somewhere in the universe.:star: :star: :star: :star: :star: :star: :star: :star: :telescope: :telescope: :telescope: :telescope: :telescope: :ringer_planet: :ringer_planet: :ringer_planet: :ringer_planet: :ringer_planet: :ringer_planet:

11

Nah. I wont Play the easy Race anymore. Sry. You did Not give me any replay while i gave you an easy 5.1k mmr TVP W, a hard fought 4.8k mmr pvt Victory and a 4.5k Clown Fiesta zvp win.

12

Says the guy struggling with roach maxes in 2024. Build a sentry, LMAO. :man_facepalming: :person_facepalming: :woman_facepalming: :woman_facepalming: :person_facepalming: :man_facepalming:

1 Like
13

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL Not saying im struggling against it. Im winning with it easily. Hehehehhe

14

I’ve posted 25 replays of my Protoss against numerous M1/GM opponents. zzzzzz.

15

As if. Didnt See that.

16

This is just part of the process of learning to play ladder. It’s like jumping into a street fight after nothing but training simulations. The AI is predictable and abusable, but people can do whatever they want, and there are tons of things that can be used to catch you off guard.

It’s about learning how to recognize and defend against those cheap shots (not to say there’s anything wrong with playing that way), thus turning those games into auto wins. You can even try doing cheap shots yourself (like you did with terran), which can help simplify the strategy portion and help you improve your mechanics and basic decision making. Eventually, you will get promoted and start facing new challenges to overcome.

Just be persistent if you actually care to get better. Don’t let the ladder make you shaky, it’s only a game. It means nothing if you lose.

Also, while you may think of these people as “lowminds” for using noob strats, keep in mind that they are only succeeding against you because you don’t have the ability to stop them. You want to face better strats, then learn to beat the bad ones. Stop playing vs. AI because it teaches you nothing.

1 Like
17

I don’t entirely agree with this; playing vs AI can teach you about things that can be abusable, but more importantly, can teach you the basics of the game; macro in particular. It can also be reasonable for practicing build orders as well. However it’s definitely not as good as playing against other players.

18

Sure, but the build order thing doesn’t require an AI, just a sandbox game really. That’s why it’s better to use the easiest AI when learning a build so that you don’t face any interference. Using slower game speeds can also help with this. But a legit vs. AI match, past a certain point, teaches you nothing that a ladder game can’t. The abuse can be learned vs. a silver player.

Mind that we’re talking about someone who’s played plenty of AI games. Obviously, a brand new player should stick to AI.

19

Yeah, though I’d maintain that as you’re getting used to a new build, higher levels of AI can be used to “adjust” to what you see as you’re playing (to an extent, obviously there’s a limit to this.)

Yes, 100% agree with this, though generally speaking if you can beat elite AI you can almost certainly beat silver/gold level players depending on which race the AI is (the Zerg AI is particularly stupid while the Terran AI can actually be reasonably decent and the protoss one is somewhere in between.

100% agree

1 Like
20

Yeah I’ve heard the idea that the best thing to do at first is to memorize the build by practicing without interference until it’s second nature, which allows you to then play real games with more focus on reacting and less on the build. Jumping straight into real games seems like the logical move, but I learned that this can build a habit of incorrect timings.

Not that I have the patience for too much of this myself, but I do think running through a new build uninterrupted once or twice is worth doing. Of course, this requires you to actually look up a build.

Anyways, I’m sure OP will be fine lol.

1 Like