starcraft-2
I'm a pretty bad Starcraft II player — currently stuck in Silver league. I find I can beat most of my opponents fairly easily with tricks like 6-pool, proxy pylon, bunker rush, and so on. However, I'm worried that if I rely on this type of play in order to rapidly advance, I'll quickly find myself facing higher-level opponents against which these tactics rarely work. So my question is:
Is it better to win at all costs, or play "straight up" in an effort to form good fundamentals?
Rep does not allow for comment, so I'll post as answer. This is NOT meant to be one though. So please, do not upvote it, as it would be a real lack of respect for all who have used the comments to post tips.
Scouting, as said, is vital to understand what your opponent can do.
This does not always translate (specially at higher levels) to what your opponent will do.
So how can you tell what will be done from what you see ?
Short answer is, you can't.
However, you can prepare yourself for what you think could happen, and with enough practice, leave the door open for rapid adaptation.
Now, I am not a high level player, nor close at all, but I have noticed that my game has dramatically improved by watching what others do. How they open, how they pwn me :D, and specially, watching others get defeated (which enables me to go "...hey, he could've done X, or Y,...").
So, the best advice I can give you is play. A lot. Watch your replays, see what your opponent does, see what you do and how you react, watch high level replays, those will teach you about adaptability, watch the Day[9] dailies ("...where we learn to be a better gamer..."), watch the GSL, etc, etc.
Of course, no one would spend 1050 min and 150 gas to build 6 tech barracks to throw you off and then go mass viking. >D
Cheers!
If I were to list all the units that Fungal Growth is effective against, I'd end up with a list of the units in Starcraft 2. There was once even an occasion where I cast Fungal Growth on Siege Tanks (which seems ridiculous, but was very necessary).
Instead, to try and determine how to effectively use it, let us follow the advice of Hannibal Lector (quoting Marcus Aurelius):
First principles, Clarice. Simplicity. Read Marcus Aurelius. Of each particular thing ask: what is it in itself? What is its nature? What does he do, this man you seek?
Fungal growth has two properties to it, which you've listed, it prevents units from moving and it does damage (36 over 8 seconds). Its nature then is two fold: Damage and Delaying
Fungal Growth does 36 damage over 8 seconds (in game seconds) or 4.5 DPS. By comparison a Phoenix does 9 dps, a Zealot does 13.3, and a Hellion does 3.2 (vs non-Light). So not a ton of damage; but, like the Hellion, it does AOE damage so that 4.5 is multiplied by the number of units you hit. Hit two and you're like a Phoenix; three and you have Zealot level damage; four and you're out dpsing Hydras and Ultras. So the first principle of effective Fungal Growth is: The more units the better. Obviously this means you want to target smaller units more often as they clump up better.
Unlike Hydralisk, two Infestors can't Fungal Growth the same unit (well the can, but it doesn't overlap, it just resets the duration), so your principle use is going to be slightly different from a Hydra ball. While you're still going to want to Fungal Growth his whole army during large scale engagements, this isn't the time when Fungal Growth functions best. Instead consider its long range (9?) and how you could utilize that to get more than one cast off on a given unit. Consider an advancing enemy force, and what happens as you Fungal Growth it and fall back: its forced to wait out the damage. While healing and repair will mitigate this some you are draining resources. Thus our second principle is like voting in Chicago: Early and Often. Get Fungal Growths off before the main battle
In addition to doing damage, the other large advantage to freezing an encroaching enemy army is that it buys you time. Zerg is largely a momentum race so many Zerg players will opt for very Macro oriented builds, choosing to invest more heavily in Economy than a standing army. As a result you may not have the forces to deal with an assault when it comes. Being able to delay your opponent for 8 or 16 seconds can easily be the difference between a 100 food army and a 130 food army. One of the best people to see this behavior in is Liquid`TLO's Zerg style. He will frequently delay opposing armies with Fungal Growth while he builds a force. So the third principle of Fungal Growth is: More Time means More Units.
Delaying an Assault is fine and all but there are time when what you need to do is delay a retreat. Whether its Marines retreating from Banelings, Drop Ships running from Hydras, or maybe just an enemy force looking to run from a losing battle, being able to stop a retreat is almost always a good thing. Usually, if your opponent is smart, he's retreating for a reason, and cutting off that retreat is letting you exploit that reason. So our Fourth principle of Fungal Growth is Don't Let them Get Away.
So let's sum up about the uses of Fungal Growth:
Whether you're getting Infestors as your core Tier 2 unit, or your just using them to supplement your current army, I think you'll find that these four principle will really help you be more effective.
The issue of Range came up and Fungal Growth does indeed have Range 9. You can verify this in the Galaxy Editor, but I have also supplied a picture as proof:
I used a Viking (Range 9) as a ruler.
Best Answer
Day9 advised: if your strategy works - play it and use it widely. With this strategy you will move into upper league till it stops working... after that you will need to see why it doesn't work... and either improve this strategy or choose another one.
If you strategy will help you to go into upper league (6pool rush, for instance) I would use it. If you will try to use something else that will not work always it will just mean that you need to practice that "another" strategy. For that you need improve you thinking, speed, etc... You will be able to do that if you play against STRONG opponents, not silver league level.