Day [9] Daily

I said I would post important replays, and this is perhaps the most important replay for an aspiring Starcraft II player. It's hosted on blip.tv so I can't embed it, but here it is: Day[9] Daily #132: Back to Basics. I mentioned a few of my favorite shoutcasters in a previous blog (to which I now add PsyStarcraft- talented and hilarious, if irreverent) and Day 9 focuses on what makes for good, solid gameplay. He asks how we can become better gamers. This post identifies many components critical to better gameplay but the most important is the subtitle of this post, The Mental Checklist. It comprises the following essential points:

1. "Keep your money low." Spending means creation or research, and this means a stronger army.
2. "Am I building units?" All unit producing facilities should be constantly producing units. If they are not, why aren't they? Are more resources required? More supply?
3. "What's going on on the mini-map?" Keep an eye on the small map in the lower left-hand corner, which gives important information about enemy movement.
4. "What do I need to do next?" Coming into battle with a plan, there are coherrent steps to achieving a goal. Be aware what needs to happen next this informs each building/unit created.

These basic points have already helped my game immensely. The video is lengthy and some times he belabours his points, but very important for new players. He details the importance of Hotkeys, buttons you can assign units and buildings to access them quickly and also building mouse precision (a concept I have yet to really incorporate into my game). Many of his posts are about advanced gameplay and go over my head regularly but they're still great. Starcraft II is rapidly gainaing in popularity and I may watch national championships on television with my children. Day 9 may cast those very games and its exciting to watch him as a growing expert in the field.