Welcome to 6 Pool! I am a Zerg player on NA and I wanted a repository for my thoughts and resources on StarCraft, particularly StarcCraft II.

I played the original StarCraft quite a lot, but not much Brood War

I enjoyed WoL and HotS and played them some.  I don't want to say I was casual because I actually really stressed about ladder game and tried to improve.  But I was trying to get better at a game; I wasn't on a personal journey of mastery.

Now I'm back in LotV, and my disposition has changed.  I've started to see the huge amount of work that will be required for me to even approach being the best player I can be, and I'm interested in doing that over a period of years.  I'm willing to face failures to improve.

I came in right before 2017 Season 3 started. I have 32 games played this season, and my win rate has climbed to 70% over the last 14 games.  I started in Gold 2, and just got promoted to Plat 2.  I feel like Diamond is in reach.

My ZvZ is really strong right now.  My ZvP is a bit aimless but I'm still winning most of the time.  My ZvT I feel lost but I'm still winning about 50%.  I could probably coast to Plat 1 on my current play.  I think when I'm at my best I'm clearly stronger than the opponents at this level, but at the same time sometimes I fail to execute at the level I'm capable of.  Consistency matters.

The biggest obstacle for me is limited play time.  I have a toddler and an infant, as well as a slow DSL connection that is shared by 4 other geeks.  Sometimes I have to GG because the baby woke up, sometimes I get disconnected because someone started an update, and lots of days I don't play at all.

I'm 43, but I naturally focus on mechanics and my 100-ish eAPM is higher than nearly every opponent I've faced at this level (average of 65 eAPM) so I don't think my speed will be a liability anytime soon.  It was weird to realize that.  I've always though of myself as a lower APM player who wins through sheer efficiency and decision making, but I started spreadsheeting my games and it isn't true.  I'm 50% faster than they are and it's an edge I won't keep as I climb to higher leagues.

Maybe one day I can reach Masters. That sounds like trying to get to the Moon right now so I'm just going to focus on the next step.  But at the same time, I'm not telling myself I can't.  I think if I actually try maybe I can.  I don't know where my ceiling will be.

Let's find out.

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