4 Tips for Surviving in 2v2 Team Ranked Play

Ranked 2v2 play continues to be an under-appreciated aspect of Starcraft 2 play. Part of the reason for this is due to the fact that Starcraft 2 is not really balanced for a longer 2v2 strategy game. In fact, I would argue that it is almost impossible to balance both 1v1 and 2v2 matches in order to encourage longer macro games.

Lets do the math for a second. The total number of races is 3, each one of those races can be played as a team, ZZ - TT - PP (3 combinations), and each team can play against itself or others (ZZ v. ZZ, ZZ v. TT, ZZ v. PP, etc.). This makes a total of 6 team combinations to balance without consideration for mixed teams. To make matters worse, you also have to apply all of your balance tweaks to 1v1 matches. When you start to crunch the numbers, the total number of combinations that you have to account for when balancing is dizzying.

This general imbalance can result in some serious domination by teams savvy in the ways of 2v2 cheese. Nevertheless, despite the imbalances, 2v2 play can also be the source of a lot of fun. A budding 2v2 match team need only be aware of a few strategy principles in order to survive the fray. Here is what I have learned after clawing my way to the Diamond league with 2 separate teammates.

Tips after the jump.

5 Effective Ways to Improve Your Starcraft 2 Skill Level

The question I often ask myself is...

How can I actually train myself to become a better player? 


The answer is simple -- every time you open up Sc2 you must be focused on improving your gameplay. Not forgetting that you are playing to improve your skill level is the life blood of a successful training regime.

Okay, that may be a bit vague.

So here are 5 specific strategies you can begin to implement today and start training to become a better player.

Links and strategy after the jump.