I’m sure this isn’t a necropost, as I’ve been told that’s only if it’s generally useless info – and this is going to be a HUGE post – but if it is, feel free to delete the post. Also, I should really get some pictures.
Anyway, I’ve had Starcraft 2 for several months now, since June, and I damn love it. Even if I suck at it. Oh, and I’m unhealthy, which means I can’t play it as well as others. I’ll split this into two sections: Gameplay, and e-Sports.
Also, before I start; Heart of the Swarm is coming out in March 2013! I got into the beta :D
Gameplay
Starcraft 2’s an RTS game, and a follow up to Starcraft: Brood War (which came out in 1998, exactly 4 months after I was born interestingly ^_^) and it has been a long-anticipated sequel. It’s set in the 2500s. There are three races: Terran, the human colonist “race” (though they are pretty much human); Protoss, the religious-ish divine race; and Zerg, your typical bad guys and a bunch of insect-like creatures which are somewhat sentient but with no free will.
Terran is the race you play in the campaign, where you start to learn the ropes. Terran is pretty much the average RTS race; buildings training units, workers getting minerals, the latter of which may not be standard for RTS but the closest thing to standard. They have a huge variety of units. Marines are your typical infantry, having low HP but are cheap to produce – they cost as much as a worker and take up the same supply. Marauders are a step up from Marines, having bigger armour and huge lasers, but cost more and lack the ability to attack air. Then you move on, from Hellions, which is pretty much an RC car with a flamethrower, to a Siege Tank, which is a tank with a huge cannon, to a Viking – the typical Terran air unit which can switch between air and ground – and a Battlecruiser, the capital ships of the Terran fleet.
With Protoss, it starts to complicate. Other than your main base (which every race has, mind, one of the things they share in common) and your geysers (not going to go into that mechanic), all of your buildings are powered by Pylons. These Pylons also give you 8 supply each, so you’ll need to make them, whether for building or for supply (which the max is 200 supply for all races). Terran has to train units, and Protoss isn’t a huge exception. They have to train workers and also units higher up the tech tree. However, there’s a nifty upgrade which allows you to transform your Gateways (Protoss’ Barracks and where a lot of the army is produced) into Warp Gates, which allows you to spawn in one of whatever Gateway unit instantly near a Pylon. It does have the cooldown of a build time, but it’s a lot more convenient.
I’m not going to go into Zerg – they have a lot of mechanics that make them very complicated. However, one thing you should know when fighting against them is that their troops are generally cost-inefficient and have to play aggressive, pinning you down and keeping ahead as a result. Continuing on, how do people play together, you ask? I’ll start with the more obscure mode, called Arcade. This is where people create their own modes, and I’ve seen things from tower defence to MOBA-like modes. But the main game mode is the Ladder. There are 7 different leagues in the ladder, where you are placed with players of similar skill: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master and Grandmaster. Bronze is the bottom 20%; Silver is the bottom 21-40%; Gold is the middle 41-60%; Platinum is the top 41-20%; Diamond is the top 18-2%; and Master is the top 2%. Grandmasters is only the top 200 players in the region, so don’t expect to be up there quick.
I’m not here to write a guide on SC2, though, just so you understand part of it. More about me: I’m a noob. You have it there. I generally play team games, whether it be 4v4 with randomers or 2v2s with my IRL friend. I’m not healthy in real life, which is crucial to clear minds and reaction times. However, I am decent-ish. Despite how I criticised Zerg, they’re my main race (though I’m looking to transition). I learnt them and comparing it to a league level, it only requires mid-Bronze level skill to learn something like Zerg. Anyway, in 4v4 I’m surprisingly in Gold, but few people play it competitively. In 1v1 I’m in Bronze, but I rarely play 1v1s anyhow. In 2v2 with my friend I’m in Bronze too, but I’d say we should be moved up soon. Overall, I’d place myself around a Silver level. I’m looking to transition to Terran because I love the Hellion play and how solid they can get. Oh, and my micro sucks, meaning that I can’t really move my units around and use their abilities perfectly to the greatest advantage (e.g. pulling injured units back so the enemy AI focuses on healthy ones).
Yes, I have completed the campaign. I’ve done every single mission, too. I don’t know how many there are – 27, I think, including choice ones – but it’s a lot. Each mission has a different objective, different ways to play. It’s an extremely fun campaign and one of the reasons many people buy SC2. If you’re looking to transition from campaign to ladder though, be warned – things like economy in the campaign and what you have at the beginning are certainly not viable for the likes of ladder play. Tip: a lot more workers.
And I can’t think of anything else to write for this section. Onwards with e-Sports!
e-Sports
e-Sports means Electronic sports. Generally, it’s where players fight in 1v1s (2v2s, 3v3s and 4v4s are shunned) in a Best of 3 series in a huge bracket or in a group stage; Think of it like the world cup in football; you have the group stages, then the knockout bracket all the way to the finals. Except usually it’s multiple games played – almost always more than one per match. Unfortunately, I am a terrible explainer and you’ll have to figure out the rest for yourselves – though I’ll tell you one thing, and that is Korea dominates Starcraft e-Sports, like it has done for 14 years.
I’ll jump right into my opinions. If you don’t know any of those names, I suggest you watch some events and learn the players; that’s how I got into e-Sports. Currently, events going onwards at the time of posting are Dreamhack 2012 Winter, which players are competing for a lot of money, and Intel Extreme Masters Singapore (also for a lot of money). Overall, I think the favourites to win Dreamhack are either TaeJa or HerO, though I’d like to see monchi, who’s been somewhat insignificant recently, make a major upset and defeat TaeJa. Oh, and then there’s NaNiwa... not sure what to expect from him. IEM Singapore-wise, YuGiOh’s good, but MC looked very strong coming out of his group. I think he’s got IEM Singapore in the bag, with VortiX (who he 2-0’d in the group stages) and LucifroN being the only strong players left in the tournament. Revival and Zenio also look relatively strong, though.
Now onto foreigners, aka non-Koreans. If you’re offended by that term but still want to look into e-Sports, you’d best get used to hearing it; Koreans dominated so much in Brood War that the term “foreigner” has set in to refer to any non-Korean pro gamer in Starcraft. Stephano, who’s dominated recently, appears to be in a slump at the minute, losing 2-0 to fraer, 2-0 to TaeJa and 2-1 to Snute – TaeJa’s been destroying everyone, but even Stephano came so close to beating him last DreamhHack. Now… nothing. At WCS, while Suppy’s close match may have been a fluke, I don’t think VortiX’s was. He’s been coming close to beating top Koreans for a while, going 2-3 against Leenock in RSL, and then WCS. Also, WCS was a perfect example of how inconsistent mid-tier foreigners can be, with IdrA, BabyKnight and TitaN all pulling off big performances on day 1, only to fail miserably on day 2. And, of course, NaNiwa’s been floating up and down through the radar now and then, beating Flash 2-1 (only for it to bite back as Flash 4-3’d him later on in the tournament) but now losing against HerO and ThorZaIN.
Korean-wise, the scene’s been changing a lot recently. Firstly was the royal roader, Life, who won the GSL (arguably the toughest SC2 tournament in the world) on his first time, beating 4-time champion Mvp 4-3. Then, he began to slump after he won MLG against Leenock 4-3. In the next GSL Season, he looked strong, but fell to Soulkey, a relatively weak player, not once but twice – and both without winning a match. Soulkey in turn fell to Leenock but still made it through. Then there’s Leenock, who’s been decimating Koreans and foreigners alike left and right, but got 3-1’d by Sniper, a relative newcomer to the GSL, in the Round of 8 recently. Then there’s PartinG, who won the WCS but got 0-2’d out of the GSL just 2 days before. Rain’s also hit a slump, falling straight from Code S to Code B by a shocker. I’d still say Leenock’s the strongest Korean, but that title is definitely debatable.
Anyway, that’s just about all I’ve got to say about Starcraft 2 ^_^
. I think it's fun and would like to have more people to play with. Usually I play with a few friends, and we have 2v2 and 3v3 teams both in gold league. As far as 1v1, I am platinum league. I don't care how good or bad anyone is, I just want to play and have fun :). 
Snute's a great Zerg though, ran through the open bracket and still beat Stephano, STC and fraer in the groups. Just hope he can handle HerO.
