Game 7: PvP, XNC, Win

Link: Replay
Opponents' Rank: Gold 1
MMR Change: +13 (1312)
Recap: This was an interesting game. He hit very early with 3 zealots and did a decent amount of damage as I had to pull some probes. I held and got an immortal out in time for his next wave so he pulled back, but took advantage of the contain to expand. My second was coming up later but I had a lead in tech and pushed out with 2 collosus with range.

Here he surprised me-- he split up his army and baited my colossus in. I thought I had his whole army behind a choke point, but he swept the other half around in a flank. Very clever, and it did a lot more damage than it otherwise would have, killing both my colossus. I won the engagement and pushed into his natural, where a few waves of warp-ins let him defend.

I pulled back, but I had expanded during that push and put down another robo, and the next push was decisive.

Lessons: Again, I let the early pressure shake me a bit as the contain threw off my build order. I know that my macro slips in battles, and I'm taking steps to correct that, but it also slips when I start trying to make build adjustments on the fly.

The thought process seems to go--"Yikes, my money is high because I couldn't expand when I expected. I'd better make an adjustment like putting down another gate and starting teching."

When it should probably be reversed: "This contain will force my money up if I don't do something other than expand." Same buildings, different trigger, faster results.

It's nice to have macro good enough that I can feel that decision happen. When floating money was my default position, I wasn't really making choices like that. This feels like playing Starcraft.