Sup. This is my first BR so critisize me damnit!

I sure hope you have a cable modem....otherwise plz wait for the pics, cause the report sucks without them.   Theres also a background so wait for it too.  I mean this really does take a long ass time, but plz I put alot of effort into it, so it would be nice of u to wait.   Thx

I guess we've all seen it.   People on Bnet BEGGING for help and training, and always wanting to play the good people.  Well to get better at Brood War is simple. Play alot, but most importantly, LEARN from your mistakes.  So with that said, I present..

Now all of this is occuring during the Bnet split fest, so it was incredibly hard to find and get a game going, but it was fun attempting these few games and i got some funny stuff out of them, you really get to meet the weirdos on Bnet:

So theres some humor for this BR, but now lets get things going:

Map: The-not-so-Lost Temple

:~I_Use_AoL~: (AoL) Gets random Zerg at 9

VisualJ++6.0 (Visual) Gets chosen Toss at 3

Builds

Visual : 8 Pylon / 10 Gate / 12 Gate / 12 Pylon

AoL : 12 Hatch (at main) / 14 pool / 14 gas

Scouting

Visual sends a probe early on a 12-9-6 scout mission and finds zerg at 9.  Hoping AoL won't notice, he hides the probe in the corner, to keep up with the zergs build.

AoL sends his ovie on a scout to the nearest 6 o clock expansion, finds nothing and heads to 3, where he eventually finds the Protoss.   Unfortunately for mister ovie, toss has a goon.

Visual's hidden probe moves back into the Zerg main to see whats been going on.  Noticing that there is little defense, he makes a decision.

4 Zealots sent to the Zerg main, hoping to do some early damage.  However, Zerg had plenty of time to prepare during the long walk across the map, so the first offence of the game turned out...bad for the Protoss.

Ready, with a sunken and a good number of lings, the zealots fall easily.  And as if the loss of zealots wasnt enough, AoL had something to say about it.

So it looks like Visual learned something.  A person's base can go from defensless to anti-zealot in a very short amount of time.  So a "gay rush" with 4 zealots vs Zerg needs one thing to succeed: The element of suprise.

Now it's time to prepare for mid game.  AoL puts down a third hatch ( all 3 lined up at his main now =\ )

Visual chooses to fortify his expansion by making defense for it first.  During this time, his production has slowed down and he dosent have many units.  A Zerg attack could do some serious damage.  Also defense is not neccesarilly needed for the 3o'clock expansion, with the narrow entrance.

    Just as his defense is done, and ready for an attack, AoL ...sends an attack.  Of course he sends a lone ling to see if its worth the attack or not.

.....

A little pissed off at his own bad judgement.  However, he should be glad the lings came his way.  With a cannon or two, and 6 zealots with goon backup, he survives the attack with few losses.

YAY, indeed.  So far, both of there attacks have done little to no damage.  So heres something learned:   unit matchup is important.  Don't send a bunch of lings at an obviously well defended toss defense, especially non-cracklings.  Which brings me to another topic:   even at this point of the game, there was not much teching going on.  AoL had no hive, queens nest, or spire.  Visual didn't have a citadel, or temp archives, which a protoss would HAVE to have vs a zerg.

AoL finally makes a hydraden..

Visual puts down a citadel, and a temp archives immediately after.

Now things are getting good.   Both players are beggining to tech, however, the temps coming from the protoss easily own the hydras AoL is making.

Visual does know this:  Zerg = map control, and power in numbers.  So he has a way of dealing with both those things:  Expand, denying AoL an expansion, and also bringing in the money he will need to get the units that will crush the zerg.

Well, this may not have been the best decision to make.  First of all, the 12o'clock natural would be a better coice, since its closer.   Also units would be the best defense for his exp, so...Nexus first.

.Uh oh... AoL finds the new exp and goes to work at it with some lings.

Exaclty.  The very reason I said the 12o'clock natural would be a better choice of an expansion, you can defend it much easier, without dealing with that pesky ramp too.  Also, getting his mineral only, and putting the goons there would be a defense for all of the expansions, as long as he had a good number of units.

VIsual is determined to get this expansion.  So he send a small force of goons to kill the lings and fortify it.

Err..., another not-so-smart decision.  But Visual has something else for the lings.

Thats right.  Archons.   Owns lings.  But temps and storm would have been a much better idea.   Because Zerg are flexible, and AoL could turn things around easily...

Yep.  Hydras.   Owns archons.  It seems both of the players are determined to get this expansion, or the Zerg simply doesnt want toss to have it.

VIsual goes for it, with his goon force going at it with the hydras, he uses it as a diversion, and starts the exp.  However he just better hope the goons come out on top, or else he just wasted some $$$...

Looks close...

Booya.  Goons   come out on top, and Visual gets the expansion he needs to outproduce the zerg.

With his expansion ready, and a decent number of goons (as well as a whopping 1 temp..) Visual sends his forces to the zerg base.

The temp would be the key unit in this fight...

A well placed storm does some decent damage...

But one temp just isnt enough...

So Visual learns...MORE TEMPS.

AoL (being zerg and all) decides its time to expand, in fact, it's way past time. But still he manages to get the 6o'clock mineral only.  He also FINALLY gets a Hive and  a Queens Nest.

Visual has been getting mass goons, and, after the lesson learned at the past attack, gets more temps.  And with those queens dying to brood the temps, things could get interesting.

Visual also notices that the zerg are attempting to gain map control, by getting the 6o'clock min only and natural.  He decides, he better stop this before it gets bad.

On his way to the expansion, he finds it lightly defended.  However those queens have there sights on the temps...

Boom.  One dead temp.   But AoL notices there are no units for the temp to storm, only sunkens.  So he decides to have his queens target the goons instead.

But with about 16 goons, there wasnt enough Broodlings to go around.  So the zerg expansion falls.   Leaving the Protoss with more expansion, more money, better production, and overall, a better chance at winning the game.

Err...good idea, keep it up.   Anyway, with the zerg expansion down, and plenty of goons pumping, Visual moves his units to the zerg main.  And during this time, AoL quickly gets a batch of lings and heads for the protoss expansion at 12.

Even with the lings taking down the expansion, Visual continues his troops to the zerg main, and tears into it easily.

Forced to use his drones for defense, it looks like the end for the Zerg.

With the continuous production of zealots, Visual tears into the final zerg base to end the game.

SCORES

(Sorry, I OD on screenshots and didnt get all of the score =\ )

And thats all he had to say about that...

So obviously, both players learned alot from this game.  Protoss units are just plain better than zerg units.   Solution: numbers.  More = better.  And to do that: Map control.   Denying the protoss expansion, and expanding earlier himself, AoL could have dominated this game.  And as for Visual , Temps own zerg. Period.  Archons would be a possibility against mutas and lings, but he had no spire, and obviously had many hydras.  Zerg was also not teching much, and proper scouting by Protoss could have utilized that weakness in a big way.

So for those of you out there who are just DYING to be better at starcraft, don't go searching for strats, or watching games all the time, you have to experience it.  Play alot of 1v1, and LEARN.

This has been a BR by...

The..Scarab

Finished: Sunday, July 9th, 2000