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So, I figure that the next step in getting better as a player is to play as the other races to get to know their strengths/weaknesses/openers/etc.

Do you recommend this practice? What do you think about as you are doing it? Is there a good meta strategy that you recommend? Do you play scored games? Or do you play against AI to avoid getting crushed on record?

Just wondering what you think?

Brian Genisio
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    Having played random for a while what I find is that you end up getting good at one race and just learning cheese with the other two. I'm not sure this was really helpful, as having to learn 6 matchups is a lot to remember. I would suggest you not worry about your record, its largely meaningless. Instead I'd give you the same advice Rubenstein once gave on directions to Carnegie Hall: Practice, practice, practice – tzenes Sep 08 '10 at 16:26
  • I play random in SC2 and SSBM for the epeen when you win. They said it was impossible for a Bowser to beat a tournament-level Marth, but they were wrong! :) – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft Sep 08 '10 at 17:27
  • @tzenes Are you a random player? – Lotus Notes Sep 08 '10 at 17:31
  • @Brian Genisio Just a word of personal advice, if you want to learn all the races, DO NOT 'practice' going random in 3v3 or 4v4. I've learned so many horrible habits because I thought I could get away with 'learning' while my allies cover for me. – Lotus Notes Sep 08 '10 at 17:33
  • @BlueRaja -- whoa. lots of acronyms and words in here I didn't get... SSBM, epeen, Bowser, Marth? – Brian Genisio Sep 08 '10 at 17:43
  • @Carl Yes, I play ladder as random, that said I'm far better with Zerg than Protoss. My Terran is alright, but its hard to be bad at Terran. – tzenes Sep 08 '10 at 17:46
  • @Brain SSBM = Super Smash Brothers Melee, two of the characters in this game are Bowser and Marth. BlueRaja is using this as an example of how theory crafting can often break down in the real world. Epeen is a dirty word... – tzenes Sep 08 '10 at 17:47
  • @Brian: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=e-peen – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft Sep 08 '10 at 17:51
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    Link to Bowswer defeating Marth please!! I'd love to see that. – Robb Sep 08 '10 at 18:08
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    @Robb: Unfortunately I don't have a video. It was basically a combination of spamming Bowser's down-smash (which does a ton of damage and shoots them straight up), foward-a in air while falling, and edge-guarding with flames and back-a in air (which shoots them diagonally down - even at low percent, Marth does not have the recovery for that). Also, the psychological effects of built-up/shattered confidence due to playing-then-losing against Bowser may have had something to do with it :) – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft Sep 08 '10 at 20:23

2 Answers2

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I think what helps to a certain extent. I recommend instead of playing random, pick one of the other 2 races and play a good amount with them, I'd say at least 10-20 real games (if you've never played the race at all maybe play against AI just to learn the hotkeys), and then do the same with the 3rd race. Just going straight into random is just going to throw you off and practicing with consistency is better than practicing many different things at the same time.

Davy8
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Personally, I stick with just Zerg at the moment because of how I view the game. I want to get really good with Zerg before I switch to a different race because I would rather be a great Zerg player than a mediocre random player. That is just a personal preference.

So then how do I learn about other races? Replays, game casts, gaming.se, friends that play other races basically tapping into the community. Using this benefits me solidly enough as a casual player.

I do think there is a lot you can learn from playing multiple races though but I feel this requires more time with the game which I just can't afford.

Here are a few links to help you with getting better:

  1. Training Maps
  2. AI training
  3. Learning Methods
Community
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Robb
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