by kneff on February 5, 2010
This post will attempt to clarify certain aspects of common Starcraft language that is anything but self-explanatory and confusing for newcomers to understand. You may have heard about ‘4-5 Pools’, ‘9 Pools’, ‘Over-Pools’, ‘12 Pools’ and ‘12 Hatch’ – here it will all be explained.
Essentially, it all comes down to when and in which order to build Your Spawning Pool and second Hatchery – that is the Zerg player’s early game. Over the years, set theories have been developed in order to perform optimally against certain threats and to achieve predetermined goals. A 9 Pool opening strategy will give benefits and disadvantages that greatly differ from, say, a 12 Hatch strategy.
The numbers referred to in the name of these build orders refer to the supply count, or ‘food’, by which you perform a certain action. A ‘9 Pool’ means that You build the Spawning Pool when the supply is at 9 – i.e. with Your ninth drone, since that’s the only unit beside Overlords You have at stage in the game. Conversely, a ‘12 Hatch’ dictates that You construct the second Hatchery when You have reached 12 supply.
The basic idea is very simple: Spawning Pool first means that You get a strong early army, but not with the fast economic increase generated by getting Your new Hatchery first. There are trade-offs, pros and cons, hybrids of the two and many variations. See below for the most common ‘core opening’ Zerg build orders:
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by kneff on February 3, 2010
This post is a reflection upon the current state of things in culture around Starcraft: Brood War, and where it may go in the future. The landscape is changing, but how can we be part of this process?
Starting with South Korea, a country that in terms of recognising eSports for its full capacity lies at least ten years ahead of the rest of world. There, Starcraft is the vehicle of a multi-million dollar industry that supplies fans and viewers with a never ceasing flood of progaming entertainment. Players, or – as I would like to call them – athletes, are afforded with the option of becoming sportsmen (sadly, the opportunities for e-sportswomen are still very limited), above and beyond being geeks.
I do not want to romanticise to much about the situation in the ‘Holy Land’ – Jaedong and Flash may be the Tiger Woods and David Beckham of Starcraft (though thankfully without their respective scandals), but it’s not a glamorous or easy life, even for them. A few Starcraft stars have made serious money out of their talent, but most Korean progamers live in and breathe the game exclusively for years without ever reaching sufficient celebrity status to taste the gaming equivalent of the Hollywood dream.
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by kneff on February 1, 2010
Once again, PolygonreVue.com has had the pleasure of speaking to HuskyStarcraft – Commentator Extraordinaire & Hwaseung OZ jacket owner. However, this is not an ordinary interview, this is a Special Announcement.
Husky has a lot of things going on these days, that in one way or another brings Starcraft entertainment to the community. All of that – Teamliquid’s Commentator Contest, the TL Arena and his planned charity fund raising – we talk about in the interview, but there is more.
Husky’s Map Design Contest is something that I personally find very interesting, and promising for the future. The foreign Starcraft community contains incredible amounts of untapped talent – something that current TSL is a testiment of – but also in other areas, such as map creation.
Find out all about this project and the coming tournament that will only feature these new and customised battlefields – that will be nothing like the ordinary 1on1 maps you see from Korea, but nevertheless will offer lots of competitive challenges. It’s all inte interview below, enjoy:
Husky’s Map Design Contest at Teamliquid.net
What do you think of these projects - too much or just what the community needs? Fire away in the comments!
by kneff on January 30, 2010
First and foremost, what is commonly referred to as the ‘Bisu Build’ is a method by which You, the Protoss player, makes life a real pain for Your Zerg opponent. By doing so You get an early lead, enabling You to secure all the resources and advantages necessary to win later while the Zerg player is combusting with despair. It’s not a strategy by which You win right away. That’s the basic idea.
For detailed build orders, video tutorials and a strategy podcast - follow the links. Read below to find out more about what the ‘Bisu Build’ actually is and how it works.
So how is it achieved, where does it come from and why does Bisu – the only progamer in the world who would look at home in a boyband – get all the credit? Let me start with the last bit.
In what now seems like a very distant past, one fearsome Zerg ruled the entire realm of Starcraft. His name was IPXZerg but is better known as sAviOr – though he was truly more akin to an ultimate tyrant, being unstoppable in his might. He is one of very few progamers to have been called a bonjwa – unrivaled dominator of the scene. No one could stop him, least of all anyone playing Protoss. That is, until Bisu unveiled his hidden dagger.
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by kneff on January 27, 2010
The Terran army can more than any other race in Starcraft be said to be divided in two: the Biological or Bionic side (Marines, Medics, Firebats and Ghosts) and Mech (Vultures, Siege Tanks and Goliaths). The air units seldom have more than a supporting role, especially when a Terran faces a Zerg. In this tutorial I will present a range of solutions of beating Zerg players by going about it the Bionic Way,
This post contains video tutorials, written build orders, and a strategy podcast – all aimed to show You as a player how the concept behind Bionic Terran works. The theory is based on the excellent content that can be found on Liquipedia, the most comprehensive database on Starcraft knowledge on the Internet, and this post provides additional information and resources on top of that.
There is more to the Bionic Way than just memorising when to build what in which order, it’s based around the ideas of mobility and strategic aggression. At the core of it all lies the basic strategy known as ‘SK Terran’.
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by kneff on January 25, 2010
Tyler ‘NonY’ Wasieleski is fighting for more than $10,000 dollars in the ongoing Pokerstrategy.com Teamliquid Starleague – he is out to prove to the whole world that he is still a true Samurai of Starcraft. However, he is not that worried, as he tells us in this interview.
NonY talks about his plans for a career in progaming with Starcraft 2, his time and experience in Korea as well as his view on the much debated MSL Controversy between Jaedong and Flash. He lets us know why he lost his first clash with the Terran terminator that is Idra – and why that won’t happen again.
Apart from his predictions about the upcoming matches in Round of 16 of the TSL, he lets us know who he thinks he will face in the Grand Final of the tournament. Finally, he answers the challenge from Gosi]Terran who may have performed well online recently but who is apparently very misinformed about how NonY got his Courage win in Korea. I sense a grudge match coming up…
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by kneff on January 21, 2010
It is with great pleasure and excitement that I, Sebastian Sjoberg, am announcing that this site is now directly working together with Geoff ‘iNcontrol’ Robinson. Polygonrevue.com is hosting the iNcontrol Coaching for Cash programme, providing training in all the arts of Starcraft.
In order to make the coaching services provided by iNcontrol more available and accessible to a great variety of gamers, they have now been given a home of their own here at this domain – You will find the link just below the header to the left. This way, by providing an additional platform beyond the forums of community sites, we hope that You will find it easier to approach the idea and see if it’s something that would suit You.
Starcraft is a most competitive and challenging game, that is currently more vibrant than ever in terms of professional play. Soon, Starcraft 2 will come and change the scene – possibly bringing in a whole new era of eSports – and the first generation of pro SC2 players will be those who start preparing now.
The skills of multitasking, micro- and macro management and general thinking that one can learn in Brood War will be indispensable in The Sequel. That’s one good reason to why training now might be a very good idea for the future.
On the other hand, most Starcraft players – myself very much included – do not play the game with the intention of competing at the top level, for must of us it is foremost a fun activity. However, improving in skill is rewarding regardless of ambition, and most of iNcontrol’s clients so far have been average players who wanted to come to grips with common problems. If You want to become a better player, iNcontrol’s training can make that happen quickly and with greater ease.
Click here to read my recent interview with Geoff ‘iNcontrol’ Robinson where he explains the idea behind his coaching programme and why You can gain a lot from his services
For a more personal interview with iNcontrol in audio, click here
To check out the details of his offer as well as customer testimonials, click the banner below:
by kneff on January 19, 2010
The Starcraft universe is, just like the ordinary one, expanding continously. After eleven years the vast community around this game is not only alive and kicking, but spawning new sites still. This week, Polygon reVue presents a new and quite different resource - ZergOverflow.com. There are many questions to ask for a person who wants to learn more about Starcraft and its dynamic scene, and this site aims to answer them all.
From the head admin himself, here’s what ZergOverflow.com is all about:
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by kneff on January 18, 2010
In the Teamliquid Starleague, stars are born and dreams are crushed and nurtured in equal measure. It’s as hard as it gets, just as it should be. Polygon reVue has had the privilege to once again speak with Stefan “eX-v10)MorroW” Andersson who very recently fought a most ferocious series of matches against the young German player kolll in the TSL Round of 3.
If You haven’t followed the TSL, go and do so now, because not only will that make You feel all warm and fuzzy inside - it will also prevent You from getting the results spoiled in the interview below. These are MorroW’s thoughts on his clash with his mighty 14 year old opponent:
PR.com: Hello and welcome yet again, MorroW. Since the last time we talked you have claimed even more TSL-fame and proven that you are a force to be reckoned with among the new generation of Starcraft players. Last weekend, you faced the German Zerg wünderkid kolll in the 3rd round of the TSL. The games were all very impressive and far from ordinary – what were your thoughts when the timer was counting down for that first match on Fighting Spirit?
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by kneff on January 17, 2010
Starcraft 2 continues to taunt us with its abscence, as we have now reached January of 2010 still without having a definite release date. However, there is medicine for the cravings, and the new site of today’s feature offers a whole lot of it. Polygonrevue.com proudly presents SC2Videos.org.
Below you will be able to hear it from the head admin himself about what this site offers and how it may satisfy some of your longing for Starcraft 2. SC2Videos.org does what the name implies – offering you a comprehensive and accessible library of video content featuring this much anticipated game. All the official video clips released by Blizzard are there, but also many (many!) others.
Myself, I was happily surprised to discover just how much Starcraft 2 material that was floating about around the interweb – plenty of which I had never watched, and chances are that the same applies toYou. Various version of the SC2 Alpha has been made public on many special gaming events and conventions, and people have always made sure to capture it on video. For the first time, all that content is being collected at one place, SC2Videos.org - an affiliate partner with Polygon reVue.
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