It's Time to defeat the "Play" Button!

Many of you know what I'm talking about : You are sitting comfortably in front of the battle.net screen, looking through the newest chat messages and news. You feel good, and are about to join the queue for the next MatchMaking match. You hover the mouse slowly towards the "Find Match" button, when suddenly...! 

 

nothing happens. Seconds pass, you start to ask yourself if you really want to play a game. Hundreds of other things start to come up in your mind, and the button stays untouched for the moment.

The solution for this phenomenon is simple, all you need is a plan for your game, a plan for the next steps after the button is clicked. 

 Relax 

First of all, relax, until you feel comfortable. Turn on some music if you don't want to listen only to Starcraft 2 sounds. A cup of coffee, tea or hot water can help against cold hands. Once you are ready, chose the race you are most familiar with. I would not recommend it to play random in 1v1 matches when you are new to Starcraft, even if you learn something about all three races by this way, you most likely will need more time to recognize patterns which help you to build up a stable game.

Before you click the button, take a moment to go through all your basic openings for each match up (up to 15-20 supply), by this you avoid it to feel surprised during the Loading Screen, which gives you more time to think in depth about your first actions.

Now you are ready for the MatchMaking Queue.

 

 The Loading Screen

 3.. 2.. 1.. here we go! In the screen you see the most important things you need to know before the game starts. Your first look should go towards your opponent and his race. Don't care about the frame around his avatar, you never know if he is on a positive/negative streak, or just playing an offrace unranked match. His current league shouldn't bother you.

When you know his race, remind your initial builds, and take a look at the map. Is it a big or a small one? On bigger maps you usually have less to worry about cheesy play, you can even consider to play a bit more greedy since your opponent has to find you before he can react. How are the expansions placed? Are there any details on the map which are easy to abuse like cliffs or a big mainbase? You don't need to find answers for this in the Loading Screen, just keep those things in mind, they may become important later in your game again.

The last thing you should figure out now, when you know the matchup and the map, is the time when you want to send out your scout. This is a point, where you should not take care about timings in any builds you read, or economical advantages/disadvantages. The most common builds you find are developed by players from higher levels, they have the micro and the experience to defend cheesy play even if they scout it late or not at all. If you don't feel comfortable or had bad experiences against any kind of cheese play like early pool or cannons, don't hesitate at all and send an early scout between 9 and 12 supply. If you really face a cheese, you will have a bit more time to react which helps you to defend successfully. If you find nothing suspicious, it helps you to feel confident. After you have successfully hold a few cheesy all ins, you will figure out by yourself at which time you need to send your scout.

 

 The Launch

The workers are gathering minerals, you see your spawn location, now it's up to you! Play your game, play your style! Don't lose motivation if you mess anything up or forget something, never forget that your opponent isn't playing perfect too. In case you are stuck with your back against the wall, don't lose your motivation. Stay in the game until you know it is really over, which means not a single army unit is left and not a single base is mining. You will be surprised how many matches are closer than you think.

 There's nothing left to say, you are in shape for your journey!

Good Luck and Have Fun