General Starcraft info: The super basics

Years and years ago, a game came out.  This game was called Starcraft.  I wasted many hours of my life watching my friends play this game.  So when I found out that Starcraft 2 had such a great competitive scene, it felt just like old times.  But this post isn't for people like me, it is for people who haven't played or watched Starcraft ever.

Starcraft is a Real time strategy game.  The camera is usually positioned in sort of a bird's eye view, where the player can see everything that's happening on the battlefield.  At the start of the game, you can only create harvester units, which pick up minerals which are then used to build structures which lead to more unit types and even more structures.

Collosi eating some SCVs

What are these crazy races and what do they do?!

                                 

There are three different army types to choose from.

• Terran:  The human race.  A very beginner friendly race, which focuses on having a medium amount of moderately powerful units.  They are very, very defensive in comparison to the other races.  With siege tanks and bunkers, it's very hard to break the Terran line.  

• Protoss: Egyptian alien dudes.  Regarded as the middle ground in terms of ease of use, Protoss focus on having smaller amounts of extremely powerful units.  They are a good balance of offensive and defensive, with cannon pushes and warp prisms, they can sneak in and destroy the enemy before they know what's happening.  Two of their specialties are unit shields, which absorb damage before taking hits to health, and the ability to build several structures at the same time, using only one probe.

• Zerg: Creepy crawly bug fellas.  Considered the hardest of the races to use, Zerg focus on large armies of slightly weaker units, mixed in with some that do crazy amounts of damage.  All of their units start as larvae, which can all be evolved into different units simultaneously.  They have great map control, needing several bases to gain the most larvae possible.  They are very offensive, with banelings to rip apart rank upon rank of infantry, and mutalisks which do insane damage to air or ground.  

Each race has their own strengths and weaknesses.  Try out all of the races to decide which you like most.  I enjoy Protoss and Terran personally.  I am really bad at handling all of the Zerg larvae.  

Random basics to know when watching or playing Starcraft:

1. MACRO, MACRO, MACRO!  Always be making harvesters.  Always build supply.  Always keep up an army and map awareness.  Moving units out onto the map gets rid of the fog of war that covers everything at the beginning of the game.  Keep an eye on everything you can.  +
2. HAVE A PLAN!  Never go into a game without some idea of what you're doing.  Watch pros play and spend some time copying and testing out their builds.  
3. REACT.  Scout your enemy.  Try to counter what they are doing.  This is tough when just beginning, but after you watch for a while, you can start coming up with ways to fight back.  Are they building tons and tons of marines?  BANELINGS! Dark Templar? Throw out some turrets.  Brood Lords look scary? Bring in the Carriers!  Know what counters what.  
4. micro.  This should come later.  Focus on macroing and plans until you are comfortable.  Then, start paying closer attention to battles.  Use skills or position some units in a more effective way.  Great micro can spell the difference between winning and losing.  
5. Be nice! Start games with a GLHF (good luck, have fun).  End with a gg (good game).  
6. This is only for people who seriously want to get better.  Watch streams.  Watch replays.  I feel like this is the best place to bring up the king of us tiny little bronze through platinum league players, Day[9].  I think I might have to talk more about Day9 in greater depth during a different post, but seriously, go watch the Day9 Daily. (WARNING: Sometimes there is some foul, awful, terrible language. Still hilarious.)  

My hero.

So in closing for this one, just take it slow if you want to get into laddering.  Play through the campaign, try out the races and then just play  some games.  Odds are that you will be terrible at first, but the more you play, the better you'll get!  And always have fun! Why play if you aren't having fun?  Maybe I will take some footage of me trying to play, but trust me, I am much better at knowing what to do than actually doing it.