You must be wondering about the title. Well forget about the title for
a minute. Allow me to ask you this question. Why are we, as Homo sapiens
sapiens, the dominant species on this planet? We are, after all, a very new
species. Not only that, we are very physically fragile and weak. Then why
are we all over the planet, whereas many other species, much older ones,
are limited to certain areas and are at risk of extinction? The answer is
really quite simple. We are the species that is most capable of adaptation.
No, no, no, don't stop reading just yet. I'm not giving you a biology
lesson on the theory of evolution. This is a StarCraft strategy article
after all. Just as our species have adapted to the environment and surroundings
over the last 100,000 years since the birth of our species, doing the same
will improve your gameplay in StarCraft. How so, you ask? Well, read on.
StarCraft is played on many different maps, or lands, or terrains or whatever
you want to call it. I'll be using the term map throughout this article,
so if you don't like it, then too bad. Unless you only play one map, you will
have to adapt to whatever map you're playing on. And thus, if you only play
one map, stop reading this now and go away. For those of us who play more
than one map, read on.
How can adapting toward the map help you win? I already hear you jabbering
about your elite hydralisk horde or reaver drop builds. Sure, a common build
can work well for many a map, but have you ever not had your zergling rush
thwarted by a solid defense at the enemy's ramp? I'm sure you have. The ramp
itself is terrain, although you may not think of it that way if you often
play on maps that have a ramp and you get used to it.
Adapting your build could have saved minerals that you spent on zerglings.
Perhaps you knew your enemy was protoss and saw him block his ramp with two
zealots. Instead of doing your normal 9 pool build, you could have instead
done a mutalisk rush and take out their workers when they put all their defense
at their ramp. Or perhaps a quick expansion to a lurker drop. The possibilities
are endless. Whether you know how to use these possibilities in certain
situations dependent on your level of skill.
And thus we arrive at this word again: flexibility. A changing enemy is
far harder to beat than one who does the same thing every single game. My
advice to you is, if you want to become better, try to be an able player
in at least two races. All three races have their distinct benefits, benefits
that are much more useful on some maps than others. A tank on high ground
is much more valuable and useful than a hydralisk, for example. Now, I'm
not saying that you can't be good by playing just one race. But having the
ability to play different races will allow you, once again, to adapt to the
map and pick a race that has advantages you can exploit in that map. For
example, on a map like dire straits, the protoss species are dominant, due
to their photon cannons and superior air force (namely corsairs and speed
upgraded shuttles). Or you can decide to go with the terrans and use tanks
to kill enemy workers from across channels. Whatever your choice, be sure
to play according to the map. Don't 5 pool on dire straits, that would be
just plain dumb. Of course, that's obvious, but something such as choosing
between going with a reaver drop or high templar harassment is not. Making
that decision according to the map, what the enemy is, and what he does,
rather than going with the build that you're most used to.
Here is where my argument that StarCraft is balanced comes in. Sure, marines
and medics will usually eat hydralisks for lunch, and psionic storm will
turn those marines into mush. Most people see this, and thus they complain
about imbalance. Well allow me to tell you this. If you see your enemy using
high templar, then don't attack with infantry! It's that simple! Adapt to
what he's producing, and make science vessels to kill his templar or at least
force them to merge into archons. Then you can use units that will kill archons
relatively easily, such as vultures or tanks. Therefore, people who complain
about imbalance are simply people who cannot adapt. Sure, you can complain
about a unit being too weak once in a while, but don't go nuts over it and
quit StarCraft simply because those damn ghosts keep locking your carriers.
Adapt and find a solution!
Thus, the conclusions we can draw from my points stated above are: adaption
and flexibility are key to success in any situation, be it evolution by natural
selection, or a simple computer game called StarCraft; StarCraft is balanced.
When you lose, it is, more often than not, due to the fact that you could
not adapt. There are other factors, of course, such as luck and latency,
but those things you do not have control over. Instead, focus on things that
you do have control over and improve your game.
-NobleHelium
-- Starcraft
Millenium - http://www.scmillenium.com
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