My 4v4 RT Game vs Stephano, Incontrol, Idra and LzGamer

Hi guys, this is my 4v4 Random Team match against some of the most feared players on the North American server, Stephano, EGIncontrol, EGIdra, and EGLzGamer. Ever seen Idra and Stephano played together? This is your chance. I was surprised to be matched against these professional players while I was screwing around. They can be seen screwing around as well in this game. I will share with you the replay. Enjoy!!

http://drop.sc/191801

How to get Masters in 4v4 Random Team with Protoss Build

A lot of you may be only interested in playing team games. Even when I first started out in Starcraft 2, I only do 3v3 and 4v4 team games all the time with my mates and had only played a few solo games. However, if you are keen to really improve in this game, I seriously recommend you to start playing your solo games. Team games can only get you so far. In this article I will show you how to get Masters League in random team 4v4. This is useful for players from Bronze level up to Diamond League. My main focus here is the Robo built that I constantly use up until now. For your information, I am ranked top 3 in my Masters division on North American server. Do take not all these games are Random Teams as I prefer to play alone on this server to screw around. I am having serious lag issues with my 300 ping, approximately 1.5s lag on this server. Thus, playing serious here is out of the question.

It has been closed to two years since the official launch of Starcraft 2. Hardcore avid gamer like me had played thousands of games from solo to team games and to some extend the custom games. By now most and nearly all of us had improved to a certain skill level, varying from individuals due to determination,
interest and time. Do take note, a lot of us may have reached our skill level cap. What this means is that we have reach a certain ceiling in our game plays. Be it micro, macro, APMs which has all been stabilized. If you are in Diamond after playing for 2 years, it is time for you to step up and work harder getting out of your comfort zone.


Let's come back to the main focus. How do you get into Masters League in 4v4 with Protoss. I will only focus in Protoss as it is my main race and my Robo build is probably the best to reach your target. Masters in 4v4 games are easy to achieve if you really know what you are doing. Most of the players I have seen are probably Diamond in solo League while Masters in 4v4. Team games are what it means, 'Team Games'. You are not playing alone. So no matter how good you are, or you may be MVP, MC, Nestea or DRG, you can only do so much in 4v4. You need to rely on your team mates here.

First of all, lets take a look at this Protoss Build

• 9 Pylon (Scout as most random team players do not. Thus rely on yourself) (Wall with your ally if needed)
• 13 Gate
• 15 Gas
• 16 Pylon
• 17 Core
• 18/19 Gas
• You may skip Zealot if your Terran ally is sharing the same base and walling off
• WarpGate upgrade, Stalker
• Robo
• Sentry 2nd Gate/3rd Gate
• Expand
• Robotics Bay
• Colo + Thermal Lance
• 3 More Gates
• Attack with 2 Colo
• Get 3rd Nexus, Twilight Council, Forges, more Gates

This is just a rough build and the perfect outline. In fact if we look at 4v4 team games, most of the players go for some macro build. Lets leave out those games where you are against 4 Pre Arranged Team players. They will most likely 10 Pool Ling+Hellion rush for a fast win. Here we are looking at a standard game.

With this opening, you can proceed to get an expansion. This is the most standard build. You may try variations like 1 Gate expand into 3 Gate like those used in solo, Search for 'MC 1 Gate expand Build'. Continue building workers and Chorno boost some of them. Have a good mixture of Sentries, Stalkers, Colossus before you attack. This outlines most of the rough build order. With this build you can probably reach Masters with some micro and good macro. Once you have 2 Colossus or 3, get all of your allies and attack together. Guardian Shield with Colossus will shred most armies.

Things to pay attention to in your Random Team games

• Always communicate with your allies. Let them know when to attack. This is probably the most important factor in my team games. A lot of players will play their own game, which means they do their own stuff. No helping team mates etc. When you are attacking just type 'Attack and Blink/Ping on the minimap your destination.' Most times, your allies will come with you.
• This Robo build is the safest and consistent as you do not die to Dark Templars, which is very commonly used in 4s.
• You can always play greedy on some maps (Huk 20 food expand, Parting Gate 17 Gas, Nexus, Pylon, 1 Gate expand are all good builds. Just remember to have 3 Gates if you sense pressure form your scouting)
• Place your Observers at the point where your enemy units will gather and attack. 
• You will most likely having a hard time against 'Arranged Team' players as they have better team work. 
• Leave the game when its unwinnable position and search for a second one.
• Keep on trying if you lose to cheese or any other shenanigans.

Thus, this concludes one of the best Protoss build in 4v4 team games and will most likely get you to Masters League Division with some practice. Good luck.

EDIT: Got my Rank 1 4v4 Team Game Playing (Random Team) with Protoss.

How to Cannon rush Cheese Zerg on Antiga Shipyards

This is a new strategy just shown to the world in one of Idra's games. The infamous Idra is on the receiving end of this cannon rush. As we know, Idra is one of the best foreigner Zerg out there from team Evil Geniuses. This cannon rush was very smartly done on Antiga Shipyard by the Protoss opponent as it only requires 2 Pylons to block off below the ramp as shown in the VOD. Once your Pylons are completed, you can throw down a cannon. This will push your Probe back out at the other side of the Pylon. Use this Probe to build an Assimilator at the Zerg's base to give you vision. Then build another one or two cannons. This is a very strong cheese as it utilizes the same opening as the normal Forge Fast Expo (FFE) build which is the most commonly used starting build in Protoss vs Zerg matchup. Remember to bring along another one or two Probes in case your first Probe got killed. Once your cannons are completed, you can use your Probe to give you vision while dodging the Zerglings.

Good luck in trying out this cheese and prepared to be flamed
and raged by your opponents.

SK MC and his Girlfriend

SK MC and his Girlfriend. Taken during his stream.

Three Championships Three Winners: Polt, MKP and DRG

The past week has been full of incredible world recognized tournaments being held across the globe. First there was the ASUS Rog, MLG Winter Arena and GSL 2012 Season 1 Finals. Incredible games and the fiercest matches were being played by some the world best Starcraft 2 players over the past week. The Korean travel across to new lands in hopes of claiming another championship under their flag. The foreigners fought fiercely defending their pride within their homelands. Players such as Stephano, Huk, Idra, Ret, Whitera and all the foreign champions fought bravely against the invading Koreans. In the end, only one shall remain. When the dust clears, only one champion will be crowned.

TSLPolt wins ASUS ROG

Polt from TSL claims the championship besting Stephano in the grand finals 4 to 1. The Korean had an incredible weekend taking out players such as Taeja, Hero, Lucky and finally Stephano. The Frenchman on the other hand performed very well before falling in the finals to the Korean. Stephano is the favourite to win this tournament and stopping the Korean domination. Do take note, this is only a few days after the Ghost nerf. Terrans are having a huge problem against the Zergs endgame might. However in the end, the GSL Super Tournament winner managed to add another gold medal carrying the Korean flag behind him.





MarineKingPrime wins MLG Winter Arena

MLG Winter Arena will definitely be remembered as the day where Sundance threw down a huge bomb at the Starcraft 2 community. MLG Winter Arena will be the first to be Pay Per View (PPV) format where $20 are being charged and no free streams are being offered. Fans around the world were caught surprise by this announcement. Rage are being heard all across the forums and puppies are being killed (lol). However, in the end, the tournament had been a success.

MarineKing wins his first international major tournament. The Prime ace had finally managed to grab the frontpage after having multiple silver medals under his belt. The curse of King of Kong has finally been broken. A very impressive performance taking down DRG 4-2 in the final record. MKP seems so godly throughout the weekend keeping himself all the way through the Grandfinals without losing a single set in the upper bracket. DongRaeGu the ace from MVP on the other hand may be considered as the best Zerg in the world currently overtaking the Professor, IMNestea.

MLG features some of the most impressive performance by the foreigners. First, Naniwa took down his rivals, both Nestea and Leenock in an epic cheese fest series. You will definitely remember the infamous 6 Probe rush and the Forge Fast Expo or die Trying mentality against Leenock. This prove that how good the Swedish had became since traveling across to the Korea, the Mecca of Starcraft for his training. LiquidRet bested three time GSL champion IMMvP in an epic series. However, this is not the last time we see DRG and after a week....

MVPDongRaeGu wins GSL 2012 Season 1

DongRaeGu clings his first GSL title after defeating teammate and buddy MVPGenius. Heading to the finals, both players were extremely confident on taking down the other. During the previous rounds, Genius 2-0 DRG showcasing some of the most impressive performance proving that he understands his teammate in and out. Both of the players are incredibly serious during the finals. In the end, DongRaeGu was crowned the GSL 2012 Season 1 champion taking down his Protoss opponent in an entertaining series 4 to 2. Genius play were shaky and his indecisiveness cost him the crown. This march another GSL Zerg champion showcasing the straight of the Zerg race once again in Korea.

How to Unselect Workers from your Control Group

I have been asked this question before. Some of you may be wondering how do you Unselect workers from your control group with ease. This works as well for unselecting specific units in your control group. For example, removing High Templars, Ghost, Siege Tanks or any other units. The best known way is to Hold down both CTRL + SHIFT keys and Click on the unit icon within the unit box found below of your screen. This is useful when you have your units on the mineral line next to your workers. Here's some screen shots.

1. Drag and select everything.

2. Hold down SHIFT + CTRL and Left click on the Probes in the units selection.

In the events you have more than 24 units, press 2 and repeat using Ctrl and Shift.

Small Tips against Dark Templar DT

We all know the feeling when one or two infamous Dark Templars managed to sneak into our defenseless base during our games. This is the worst feeling in the world, being caught with your pants down without a detection. Everyone had definitely experience this before losing the game entirely being killed by only one Dark Templar. In fact, DT is one of the most used strategies in team games where having your allies to pressure while the Protoss player teching happily behind with an extremely greedy build without a single unit. DTs can come out as early as 6:30 in game time.

Let's get to the main point. This is just some small tips for everyone the next time you have a Dark Templar sneaking between your mineral lines. The main objective is to buy as much time for you or your allies Detection whether in the form of Scan, Obs, Overseers or even Cannons.

If the Dark Templar is not being microed, the unit AI will give priority to units instead of workers. For example, if the DT being assigned SHIFT+Right click on the workers, the DT will always attack the Queen
first. Thus, the next time against a DT in your mineral line, send some units there whether Zerglings or even Zealots. Every second against a DT counts. Good players will definitely target down workers by Queing the attack command. However, things can get messy when he is sending DTs to 3 or 4 different locations. If there is no detectors coming its time to get a new base. The best move is still to move all your workers away after they are being targeted down.

You can do this using the recent discovered worker micro, where you select all your workers and right click on the worker at the middle. Then press hold position. Without moving your mouse, click on the middle worker and attack move somewhere with it. This trick was created against Zerglings and it works against unmicroed DT as well.

Another small tips is to target down your own units with Splash damage, such as Archons or Colossus. I have seen this being done by if I've not mistaken the legendary and currently GSL Code S LiquidHero in his PvP match. See where the Dark Templar blur is at and target your own unit with the splash unit.

You can even surround the DT with your units just to buy time using the Hold command. Best done using Zerglings or even Protoss units to buy as much time. Another way is to hold your position at the ramp to buy as much time waiting for your Observer to get back or building one.

Thus, heres some tips to fight against DT if you do not have Detectors at the point and trying to buy time.

1. Run your workers of course.
2. Hold position at your ramp
3. Surround using your units and the HOLD button
4. Use some units to soak up damage eg Zerglings, Zealots
5. Force Field them. Try to trap them between buildings.
6. Using splash units such as Archons, Colossus, Siege Tanks.

Good luck and pray hard not to get caught with your pants down without a detection against the fearsome Dark Assassins from Aiur.