Kanes Wrath

good luck vOddy you are going to need it. I love GDI (all of them) but I struggle with them so I've gone over to Nod. You have taken on the challenge of getting me to suck less with the very worst of the GDI factions.

you, my friend, are going to earn that mentoring badge

here are two reps where I got my fellow staffer Discodave to play with me last night. Unless you are really a masochist don't watch more than the first few minutes of either game because that is where I have the most trouble. Game 1 my initial thrust was pretty effective and I was so stunned I sat there for a few minutes and did not know what to do so there is little point in watching me torture a crippled Dave for no reason. Game 2 is a better one to watch the first few minutes but it quickly turns into a 50 minute long stalemate during which time I mostly kept checking to see if Juggs had shown up in my build queue because I so needed siege assistance.

And never remembered Ceramic Firehawks

Heh heh, alright. Will watch 'em when I get to my dad next week. I have a question, as well:

Which sides are you most interested in learning how to fight, and on which maps? I mean, do you want to learn all in-cheese builds on Tourney Tower or learn to play real long games on skill-based maps like Decision?

Of course, sooner or later, you will learn everything. Just asking which you would like to start with.
If you don't mind, I'll start with Tournament Decision. It's like the "standard" map.

Edit: By the way, add me in game by typing /friend vOddy .If It doesn't work, it's cause I am not online at that moment. If I'm on your f list, you can obs my games live ( if you don't find that too boring ). It's the best way to learn. Just keep in mind, everything I do (when playing seriously) I do for a reason. For example if I go for 5 APC + rocketmen rush, you can't just copy that and do it every game. You can only do it in the same situation as I did it in. I'll try to explain why I do and what I do with the replays I upload here.

Also, if I do one strategy on Tournament Decision, don't try it on Rift. Rift is much more of a "Spam tanks and have huge battles" map, and decision is more of a "Lemme tech up and own you with firehawks" map.

Same thing goes with Small Town USA and Tournament Dustbowl. They're just totally different maps.

This post has been edited by vOddy: Nov 20 2008, 07:10 AM

I actually hate Rift only because I don't do well there. For some reason my eco management on Rift is not as good as it is on other maps for reasons I do not get. I am not interested in all in's except maybe how to beat them if need be. I am interested in pretty much any match up on any map focusing initially, if possible, of vNod and Reaper.

My main problem is that initial harass. Mine is inevitably not very good and my counter management is also not very good. So I struggle much worse as any GDI to that first run or two of bikes or the quick dev/cor combo than I do playing as Nod or Scrin.

Edit: Don't misunderstand my dislike for Rift means I don't want to start there. That makes it a perfect place to start because the map itself is peachy it is my play that is problematic. Thanks!

This post has been edited by methuselah: Nov 18 2008, 20:43 PM

You don't have problems with GDI Orcas? Interesting. I am impressed, young padawan.
I allways overspend in defense against them because they scare the shit out of me. I've learned how to handle them properly lately, though. Haven't lost vs a GDI in like 100 games. But still, I used to lose to them A LOT.

Anyway, since I'm at my mom's place and can't play Kane's wrath or upload replays, I'm gonna start with some theory Don't worry, nothing huge.

You allways need a decent economy. If you lose harvesters, rebuild them untill you reach this level of economy again.

Very early game - 4 - 5 harvesters. As soon as you can, you should increase this to 5 harvesters. If you're going for a fast TECH bo and you're not exping, and the map has a big tiberium field like decision, you can just go 4 harvs, scout, then straight to five harvs before getting any tanks. I actually go straight to 6 harvs a lot of times (of course I interrupt my harv buildage to get a scout, and if he goes for some rush, I also interrupt to get one or two tanks / some pitbulls to defend against a bike / tank / orca rush).

Mid game - 6 - 7 harvesters.

Preferably, get your seventh harvester on your expansion.

Late game 8+ harvesters. If you're on tournament tower, never have more than 8 harvesters. Also on Small Town USA, never have more than 10. Your field will dry out too quickly, you need to conserve your cash, unless you're going for some crazy all in tank charge.

However on maps like Dustbowl and Heaven And Héll, there's not much of a limit to how many harvesters you should have. I guess having more than 16 is just stupid, but how
often do you get that?

Edit: The only situations where it is acceptable not to have 5 harvesters in the early game is when fighting an all in rush, or when performing an all in rush.

This post has been edited by vOddy: Nov 18 2008, 20:51 PM

Theory is good

I do have trouble with Orca's but I think there are two main reasons why they are not the bane of my existence

1. there are not as many good GDI'ers as there are the other 2 factions
2. Orca's, to me, are the most counterable of the first harass options

Don't get me wrong you could use ZOCOM Orca's against me and school me that is not my point. My point is that with proper scouting you should have some degree of a chance to stop Orca's. With bikes not so much. Dev/cor takes as much time as Orca's but I have a harder time countering it because the combo itself is counter to everything I can throw at it.

Omg wow, Voddy's mentoring.

I'm going to be taking notes from afar.

Agreed, and Methu You lucky guy Voddys awesome

Same.
Don't worry Hogo, we'll play asap.

Omg lol, the last post disappeared.

Because I wanted it to be a secret that only my Mentee would see :

i am so filled with envy

Completely agreed TBH.

To answer your question, SP_12, the answer is


~~~~~YES~~~~~

I will do as you asked me to do.

Will be able to review your replays in 2 days, Methuselah.

No problem. I'm terrified it is not as bad as my RA3 matches where I truly have no idea what certain units do.....but ZOCOM is my least played side of the 9 so I find myself stumped occasionally as to what I should be doing.

That is not good.

If you have not watched the replays yet watch these instead. These are from today. They are back to back games I beat someone decent on TT and then got spanked on Rift.....I really need some help on Rift. I just can't get my eco right and I think that is a huge problem.

Are you implying that im crap Meth, Im shocked


Only joking lol

nah you know better than that. You have beaten me waaay too many times for me to say anything like that. Now that I think about even if you had not ever beaten me I still would not have said that it's not my style.

I suppose I should clarify. What I was saying there was that these replays are a week more current, not that my play has changed much but maybe a little, and that I beat someone pretty handily who's rank was 700ish and then got spanked by someone who's rank was like 3k.

My point is not that rank means that much it is mainly that we went from a map I am comfortable on to one I struggle on and I think that is as much a part of the problem as is my lack of ZOCOM skilz

Playing on Rift is hard without orcas. The only good thing Zocom has on rift is the huge field in the middle that you can marvest.

I have not gotten to a point yet where I'm good enough with any side on Rift to notice ZOCOM's inferiority. It seems to me that on the more open maps like Rift that bikes are good, as are orca's meaning anything fast, anything hit and run, is pretty effective there.

Well Nod has been my main side for all of KW and I suck on Rift with Nod. It is purely eco. The starting field is small and you have multiple expansion options. Inevitably I am out of money early just sitting there waiting which does not normally happen on most maps. I played Totte this weekend a few times on that map I need to watch what he does because he just destroyed me over and over again and a big part of it was simply money. One match his income per minute was almost double mine.....he is better than me to begin with but even if he wasn't I'm not going to win many matches like that