Ugh, take a few days off to play some Bioshock Infinite and look what it does to you.  Win two games in a row, and look what it does to you.

It was a ZvP - my worst and most butthurt-y matchup.  I decided to go back to my usual - 2 bases roaches. I started out okay, but things started going wrong quickly.  I missed several larvae injections, I messed up a LOT of hotkeys (I had quite a few drones idle a lot because my dumb ass set the eggs to a hotkey instead of  the hatchery...), and my responses were way slow.  I also never really had much of a chance - my opponent was a gold-level protoss, so he knew what he needed to do.  He did everything by the book (and it's the correct book too) - four gateways with a few immortals thrown in, balled everything up, and threw in some good force fields in the process.  Even without those fields it still would have been a bad time for me.  I lost an overlord to a stalker and got supply blocked for about four hours (that's what it felt like, at least).  All game I was supply blocked, as I was so behind on building any overlords.  I had 2 bases running at low saturations too, as my drone count wasn't up to snuff either.  So much for making gold any time soon - I need to learn some low level ZvP tactics.

Only one thing learned today: Play more!  Don't take a long break and expect it to go well.

I think I've found a bit of a groove.  I'm pretty good with playing 3-4 games a night, and I've also found a good set of race matchups - I'm doing well in silver at ZvT and ZvZ.  I'm also getting better at creep spread and larvae injections!  Since I'm progressing bit by bit I can also see myself in a lot of the players I play, with them failing in their builds, getting timing wrong, or just plain guessing wrong, all as I did just a few days ago (and as recent as today!).

First game was a ZvZ.  Remembering an earlier game from this afternoon where I got roach all-in'd with some inept defenses, I decided to try that one again.  I started out hard on one base, as I was going to all game, and quickly teched up to liar.  From the replay I see that my opponent did a more traditional build style, and I quickly see where I could have been better - in a sec, though.  I got a spire as soon as I hit liar, and ran into a huge vespene wall.  I didn't have enough gas to get any sort of mutalisk force out, and I kind of knew I was bummed from there.  My opponent had expanded a few times and also placed some static defenses, which my mutas were too few to deal with.  Since my opponent had a massive income and larva edge on me, he went into roach/hydra and rolled me.  I had some static defenses that held for a short time, but I wasn't going to beat that force with a half dozen mutalisks.  GG to him, bad timing for me.
If I had scouted better, I would have seen that he was very undefended in the early game at both of his bases.  If I went for a good spawn of lings - a dozen's larvae worth or so - I would have been able to do a good amount of economic damage and maybe set myself up better.  As always, scouting!

Next game was a ZvT.  Immediately I knew I was going to go for ling/baneling, but I decided at the start to go for an expo after a pool.  I figured the terran would get his expo and hunker down a little bit, and I turned out to be right (I figure that's going to be the terran meta at silver level).  I got my second expo in place and mining and was able to summon a very good force of lings and banelings.  My opponent countered this with a few banshees but the banshee is not a very good counter for the ling.  Lings are too cheap and fast.  The banshees had trouble with some static defenses I had wisely set up (finally I learn!) so that bought me time to build up a nice chunk of ling/baneling and push at his expo.  It was lightly defended and I rolled in, killed all the scv's, and pushed into his main and took some more miners.  After that, he had 2 scv's, from the replay.  I knew I had a large edge there, so I transitioned into some tier 1.5-2 units - roach/hydra.  He couldn't get a big enough force out in time to deal with this and my army rolled.  GG from him, though I noticed later that he had a hidden expansion with a few miners.  I would have discovered that quickly, though.

Last game I played today was another ZvZ.  Lesson learned!  As soon as I saw the zerg race symbol, I know I was going for a one base roach all-in.  Wasn't falling for that again - and I caught myself from three games ago out.  I went for a fast roach warren and got 5 roaches out quickly.  I made a small push and noticed that he had did as I did earlier in the afternoon - fast liar into muta.  He had a few mutas out, but not enough to deal with the roaches I was pumping out - his drones tried to run away to the expo, but I also had some roaches there too.  GG from him.

Lessons learned: racial matchups are starting to form into place for me, though I haven't played a protoss today.  I still am unsure what I should be 'going for' there - fast roaches into hydra/roach?  That sounds like the best course of action, but I haven't had a chance to test that yet.  Also on the plus side is my larvae injections - they're really starting to pick up in consistency from horrible to just okay.  I think I'm going to ride these matchups into gold - I am 3rd in silver in my 'division' so hopefully gold is soon!

Another afternoon's report, and this one contains 75% less butthurt than before!  I promise now that I will not complain about protoss again, at least at the silver level.  After watching some of the replays of my protoss matches, I can clearly see where I went wrong and what I need to do in the future.  The fault lies not with the race or the balance, but with my mechanics as a player.  That out of the way, let's dive into today's matches.

First was a ZvZ.  Typically I try to establish an ounce of early ling pressure so I can at least know what my opponent is up to, but today I didn't do that - mistake.  I needed to scout around early because my opponent went a 1 base roach all-in, which caught me totally by surprise and ended me right there.  I wanted to go into liar tech and get some mutas out, but I didn't have time.  I expanded early too - and the worst part is that I wasn't all that stupid, either.  I set up some base defenses - just a few seconds too late!!  I had one spine crawler, and another well on the way when the roaches hit.  If that second spine would have completed, there would have been enough time for me to finish the spire (already on the way) and get some mutas out to defend and harass.  Too late - the roaches rolled before anything could be done.  He was all-in for sure on the roaches too.

Second game was a TvZ - and since we're on the silver level, I was pretty sure I was going to see some bio play.  That's just the way terrans play at the low level.  I stayed at one base for the entire game - got a pool and baneling nest out and went full ling/baneling.  Normally I make a few pressing runs into my opponent's base, but I didn't do that - instead I sat outside his third and massed up a large army of ling/banelings.  A lot of banelings.  I kept reinforcing the army too - and then he dropped me.  Only one medivac of marines.  They quickly cut down my base (almost - my liar was at 100 hp!), so I had to move in immediately.  It looks like my opponent wasn't ready for any sort of counter - I busted down the pittance of a wall-in, exploded his army and scv's, and started working on his buildings.  I was also able to micro quite well - got some lings out in my own base in time to take out the landing force.  He lifted off, but the game was over by then.  I kept lings running under his buildings and the expansions scouted, and saw a factory had managed to land and produce a hellion (only one ling hitting the building couldn't kill it fast enough).  That's all he had left, and sent the hellion in on a suicide mission to my base.  It died and he left without a GG.

What did I learn today?
At the level I am, one-base plays are the way to go against zerg and terran.  Against zerg I have two options right now at my skill level.  I can go mass roaches or I can go mass muta.  Next game, I'm going to try going mass muta.  Throw down some statc defenses, get to fast liar and spire, macro hatch, and crank them mutas out.  Hopefully then I can out-harrass if my opponent goes mutas too, or I can catch them with their pants down with roach only.  Either way, I feel like I am more prepared for the next round of ZvZ.
Against terran, I feel like the only way to early play for me is to go with mass ling and baneling.  A priority should be better scouting - run a few lings up their ramp to get an idea of what's what in their base.  I can see if they're going bio or turtling in.  I can also actively deny any expo and keep them on one base as well.  My most recent opponent had ample static defenses, so muta play would not have been the cutting edge it could be.  I'll stick with the busts - and next time throw in a few upgrades too.

On a mechanical level my macro is getting better too.  I am spending my cash a lot better, and keeping up with creep spread and larvae injections.  This game was short enough so I was able to go back and forth to manage the creep tumors and larvae injections.  I'd like to have put down a few spore/spine crawlers in my base to deal with that marine drop, but it was dealt with easily enough in the end.  My micro is also crawling forward too - I managed a nice mass of lings in several different directions, scouting and denying building landings with them during the endgame.  I also kept up with production then too - starting to macro up in case my opponent had some hidden shenanigans somewhere.

All in all a good afternoon - learned a lot and saw improvement in my skills and rankings.

This news alert just in - I hate protoss!

Big surprise to everyone around - I am butthurt about something!  I just got done playing 2 games, both losses  First one was to a Zerg who 10-pooled me - I made a conscious decision to try and macro up a little bit and see if I can defeat any early pressure.  The answer to that question is a resounding NO.  I actually did okay with my drone control, and with some lings I was able to get out.  The pressure was too much, though - he killed off 90% of my drones and lings and I knew the next wave would kill me.  GG.  Not sure what I could have learned from that game, other than 10 pool too.  I guess that game was against the spirits of the poor souls I six-pooled earlier in my meteoric rise to the silver ranks - karmic retribution!

Next game was against a protoss.  I made the same choice - macro up, but a few bases down, and get out a nice roach/hydra army.  I started out slow - which seems to be okay against protoss as they simply hunker in one base until it's safe for them to come out.  I got an army of around 175 supply - a good mix of roaches and hydras, with a few +1 upgrades!  I marched out and the armies clashed later in the game and I roundly defeated him.  I tried to push forward a little bit but a choke of a few immortals and stalkers prevented me from taking his second.  That was enough time for him to death-ball up again.  I wasn't able to get enough units out this time, and he roundly crushed me from there.  Our armies were nearly equal supply (I actually had a 5-6 edge), but he still beat me.

What did I learn from this most recent match?
I think I have to be a little bit more ballsier in my pushes.  With my combined roach/hydra force I roundly defeated him during the first engagement.  I should have kept the march up and eliminated his second.  When I started that, I saw a massive warp-in of zealot and stalkers which scared me into retreat.  From the replay, I think I had sufficient forces to at least kill, or cripple, his expansion, but I did not do that.  Should have pushed on.
I did a little bit of a better job teching in this one - I got quite a few +1 upgrades, as well as the standard buffs like roach and hydra speed/range.  I could have put down another evo chamber and went harder, as I eventually had some bank saved up over the last 5 minutes or so.  Speaking of teching up, I may want to explore different unit compositions, especially against protoss.  That race gives me time to tech up and get some units out - maybe next time I'll get some swarm hosts out and running into their expansion.  I think that would have been a good choice.  A good way to mix it up with hosts is to throw a nydus network outside their second (well outside) and unload some swarm hosts, queens, and other forces.  You can spread some creep and deploy forces to that front a lot faster that way.  I've seen TLO do it - but I'm sure I don't have the coordination to do it.  Just an option.  Additionally, I could have just gone +1 zerg and went to Ultras.  I actually got a hive this time (I wanted to tech into mutas and brood lords if I was able to get any footing), and I had the bank for a good chunk of ultras.  I'm sure that would have turned the tide of that last battle.
I also need to do a better job with my larvae injections and creep spread, as usual.  I was better on both counts but I know I missed numerous occasions to help my forces.
On a side note, my APM has plummeted, but I've gotten so much better.  When I started I was nervous and fluttery, and my APM was all over the place - click click click click - with no real purpose.  Now each of my clicks has a purpose, thought out at least a second or so before.  Each click means a lot more now.  Just an observation.

Ultimately, I still hate protoss.  Two equal sized armies always favors the protoss - but that's now I shoul dbe playing.  Zerg aren't meant to stack up army to army, and protoss colossus really hit about their supply number.  I needed to maybe establish some earlier roach or swarm host pressure to keep him occupied and diverting attention from teching.  It also give me a tech advantage too - if he needs to continue using his gateway units (instead of immortals or colossus) then I have the advantage.
I'm getting better, but I still hate playing protoss.

Nothing new to report from Sunday - I took the day off for my own sanity and to let some mechanical and tactical changes sink in.  What do I mean by that?  In some of the other games I had played over the weekend, I was able to know why I won or lost that game.  I knew that I need to spread creep a little bit better, or that I need to drone up a little harder - mechanics like that.  I took Sunday off for my brain to rest and for those ideas to sink in a little bit.  I'm going to play two more games tonight, and I should also upload those replays, along with a more detailed analysis on the games.

I'm getting better at this game, step by step.  From Silver to Gold Ho!

Another match report - this one entirely positive!  I just got done playing the best game I have ever played.

It was a ZvP.  I decided to forgo my cheese, which turned out to be the right decision as my opponent quickly walled off and secured his second.  I macro'd up a bit into 3 bases and managed to get a decent crew of mutas out pretty quick.  I did some excellent economic damage to his main and expo, but was pushed out repeatedly by stalkers and phoenix.  Man phoenix are crazy powerful against mutas.  After some flying around and macro'ing up, I decided to transition into hydra/ling.  In retrospect, since my opponent was turtled in pretty hard, I should have gone for some higher level tech.

We traded armies a few times - and by traded armies, I mean I did what Zerg is forced to do and throw masses of units at his base until sometime gets through.  Nothing got through, and my opponent was given enough time to get to a good mass of archons.  Not much I could do from there - my hydras and lings weren't powerful enough to overcome them.

What do I need to do differently?

As opposed to earlier games, I took a much more macro approach, and it really paid off.  I was able to get pretty fast mutas and do some decent harass.  After the match I wondered if I should have stuck with the muta and massed them more, but that wouldn't have been smart - phoenix ruin muta, and he had about a dozen phoenix by then to my 20 or mutas.  No contest there.  I made a transition into hydras, but what I should have done was expanded a few more times, spread that creep out a lot, taken the high-yield expos, and teched up in a HARD way into brood lord/corruptor.  I should have feined some hydras to get my opponent to overreact and teched up into hardcore skyzerg.  That would have won me the game.

On a more mechanical level, I still need to get better at larvae injections and creep spread.  Those can be the difference between trading armies and coming out on top.  I also need to make a better effort to use my upgrades.  I didn't get any +1 upgrades at all, focusing entirely on buffs like ling and hydra speed.  I need to also focus on getting more maxed out on supply.

All in all, another good game, very happy with it, even though I lost.  I'll watch the replay to see when I could have countered with something different and use that in the future.

Good news everyone!  I'm actually getting better at the game!  I  played three more matches this morning, winning 2 of them.  Good enough for me.

First was a ZvP - big surprise there.  Went for some fast aggression - and by fast aggression I mean a 6 pool because I suck.  The tactic kind of worked - it kept my opponent on his back foot long enough for me keep some of the aggression up, deny him a second, and transition into mutas and roaches.  I had 4 bases by the game's end - each one pumping out mutas and roaches.  I had the mutas harassing, and the roaches defending against a death ball of stalkers and immortals.  Roaches are a lot tougher than I give them credit for.  He gg'd out after I took out the pylons and probes.  After that match I was 2nd place in the bronze ladder, so I knew that I may be able to make silver soon!

Next was a ZvT - and I straight up six-pooled him.  He had nothing, but to lift his buildings off and let my queens pick them off.  I felt a little bit bad, as I'd be pissed if I got six pooled (and I sure do have it coming to me when it happens).  With that win, I was pushed into Silver!!!!

My first silver match - ZvT - really showed that I am getting better at this game.  My opponent expanded, he defended well, and executed a few drops into my base (which were the death of me, of course).  I started out with a ling/baneling tactic, with the intent to transition into mutas.  He was going bio/mine.  I denied his second for a while, but denying the second, at low levels, only works against the zerg.  He pushed me around the map a little bit with some hellion harass, which I was able to handle okay.  The drops started shortly thereafter, and it was all downhill for me.  I needed to transition into mutas a lot earlier and lay down some pressure in his base.  He had a few missile turrets but those are avoidable.  I gg'd out after losing my expo and main, with only a small third base to keep me up.  I'm getting a lot better at creep spread as well.  Still need to get better at handling drops - better reaction time for my drones, and getting an army in place to deal with it.

All in all, a good day to starcraft!