Applying Art of War to SC2 - Lesson #0

"Without constant practice, the officers will be nervous and undecided when mustering for battle, the general will be wavering and irresolute when crisis at hand."

In SC2 the officers are your micro and macro, the foot soldiers your mechanics and general your decision making. Or that is how I would like to see things :p

If the soldiers are unable to follow their officers, the commands can not be carried out. If your hands are too slow or sloppy, you will not be able to carry out your micro and macro. You can practice your mechanics with pretty much everything which involves using mice and keyboard?

If the officers are nervous and undecided, their commands can not be clear and distinct. In SC2 this would mean that you have to stop to think how you were supposed to move your units or what were you supposed to build next. In other words, you micro sucks and your build order seems undecided. You can practice your micro and macro against bots or in different trainers.

If the general is wavering and irresolute, he is unable to make the correct decisions snappy enough. If you are wavering and irresolute in you decision making you will feel anxious and unable to respond to your opponents moves. You can practice decision making by watching pro vods/replays, by studying your own replays and by playing against other humans.


[Neuroscience BONUS]
This all boils down to the observation that not actually everything is handled by your brain cortex but repeated processing will be handled before cortex, unconsciously. These unconscious nerve tracts are slower than true reflexes but are faster than conscious processing. With practice the things you are processing with cortex, will begun to be handled before it. Hooray for our lazy brains!

This is why I have the opinion that to start practicing new things, such as new micro or new build order, you should play against someone worse than you or a bot. This will give your cortex the time it needs to carry out your plan. However, to sink the new thing deep into your brain you will maybe need to play against someone better than you. Because playing against them will require you to be able to process the information fast enough.

Maybe due to the unconscious nature of the basics the Masters are unable to teach the Bronzes?