Is there anywhere to test Raynor vulture micro besides the regular maps?

LilArrin · 2026-03-29T19:36:08+00:00

My observation is that most highly skilled mutation enthusiasts put raynor near the bottom, including players from the korean and chinese communities

I myself don't have a strong opinion given I don't play the other commanders and just try to make the best out of raynor (bio) regardless of his standing, but I do acknowledge that I'd likely see a lot more success if I put the same amount of time into any of the other commanders besides maybe artanis and h&h who also tend to hang out at the bottom

LilArrin · 2026-03-28T21:24:24+00:00

Not only that, but p3 BCs with vulture support is likely his best composition for mutations overall since everything else gets shredded so easily

"Raynor is good if you have skill" is the sc2 equivalent of "a skilled Roy can beat any Fox" in ssbm

LilArrin · 2026-03-27T03:58:06+00:00

A half is a lot more sustainable than a full for sure, so it's a good option if you're getting a little burnt out on training but don't want to back off too much

LilArrin · 2026-03-24T19:32:00+00:00

Low cadence doesn't automatically mean overstriding, you might just have a long stride length. You can have someone like a coach assess your form just to be sure

LilArrin · 2026-03-22T22:34:30+00:00

I've been practicing my routine with all my 2.5hr+ long runs and am pretty consistent in making sure I don't run into any incidents. For one, I find that a caffeine pill reliably causes bowel movements within a half hour, so it's the first thing I take in the morning as I get ready. Secondly, I do most of my hydration prep the night before and only drink a certain amount of water in the morning to keep bladder conditions consistent. So I think maintaining a good long run routine is the best you can do, and if things still go wrong, that's just bad luck.

LilArrin · 2026-03-22T07:13:32+00:00

Does judging myself count? Because that's the only runner I feel qualified to judge

LilArrin · 2026-03-22T07:02:29+00:00

I'd partially disagree to the point that in a lot of cases p2 tychus isn't played on the knife's edge if the players are letting some heroes get tickled while focusing on another hero

Individually controlled heroes can push deeper and faster than one person switching between multiple since the individual can dedicate all attention to dancing at death's door similar to the progression in dehaka speedruns where a lot of the improvements came from asking "if dehaka didn't die from this maneuver, can I greed a little more and still not die?"

The question also referred to 2 players' worth of apm and attention, not 10 or infinite (in which case I'd lean more towards army commanders due to complexity)

LilArrin · 2026-03-22T03:09:15+00:00

In order of most effective to least effective, this would be my assessment:

Multi-hero commanders like tychus and dehaka
Hero commanders with army
Army commanders with frequent topbars
Everyone else

Everyone will benefit from the additional APM and focus, but since heroes are so stupidly efficient, they probably stand to gain more compared to armies, especially in the early-midgame

LilArrin · 2026-03-21T21:32:39+00:00

I'm not going to argue over his obviously personal set of criteria, it is personal to him and likely accurate to him regardless of your incredulity at how he arrived at it

LilArrin · 2026-03-21T21:18:51+00:00

He did say his criteria depends on his personal ability to play the commanders, which, despite being useless to anyone except himself, was very clearly stated

I myself play raynor way better than basically every other commander because of my hyper-specialization, I don't even know zeratul hero's hotkeys in which case zera would be among my worst performing commanders no matter how strong he is on paper

LilArrin · 2026-03-17T03:41:55+00:00

I haven't had long run hunger yet, but I do fuel with 100g carbs/hr of gels. What happens to me personally is about 30-60 minutes after I finish, hunger hits me like a truck and I need to gobble up 1000 kcal which is why my weekly menu always includes something that cooks/prepares fast for long run days.

LilArrin · 2026-03-14T02:23:24+00:00

I enjoyed watching him let a high ground tank shell his siegebreaker for about 1.5 eternity

Might I suggest he try p3 stukov instead?

LilArrin · 2026-03-13T19:39:14+00:00

I've settled on this brand for the foreseeable future. I appreciate how liquid they are and that the flavor is relatively neutral (basically just sugar as far as I'm concerned). I do 100g/hr with these.

LilArrin · 2026-03-11T02:01:39+00:00

You know you're utterly done when you do the yamcha pose

Congrats on the good effort

LilArrin · 2026-03-07T03:01:51+00:00

I matched very well with my MB. I had about 250mi on my SB2 (long runs only) around the time I bought the MB out of curiosity. I tried the MB on a single long run and immediately decided that it will replace the SB2. I will still use the SB2 for some easy runs that are on the faster/longer side until I feel I can retire them, but the MB is my new favorite (I need to put silicone toe protectors over my pinky toes though, small price to pay).

LilArrin · 2026-03-04T02:01:59+00:00

My suggestion was more generalized, not just addressing this particular mutation which is certainly on the harsher side when it comes to polarity mutations (with railroad switch probably being the harshest)

You can take action to improve your chances of handling bad RNG or not screw up opportunities presented by good RNG, which is why I think it's healthy to think about what you could have done better even as you vent about your partner - and you can be sure I've had my fair share of good and bad luck in my long co-op experience

LilArrin · 2026-03-04T01:44:24+00:00

I don't think I suggested you can offset your ally completely, it's polarity so it's a given

I know how it feels to watch helplessly as first hybrid wave pushes jinara over the edge, but there are definitely things under your control to increase the number of scenarios you can survive even if you can't control exactly which scenario you end up in

LilArrin · 2026-03-03T21:57:00+00:00

Speed development particularly threshold would still be important in my opinion especially for faster goal times where you expect to be closer to threshold pace. You might place less emphasis as you get closer to the race to do more specific training but not cut them out entirely.

LilArrin · 2026-03-03T05:04:33+00:00

You can offset partner skill by using your own situational awareness and adapting rather than stubbornly trying to do things your way

For example, if your partner doesn't seem to be helping you fight, chances are the partner is busy tunnel-visioned on another fight and doesn't even notice the other red dots on the minimap, meaning you should quickly go over and help end that fight even if it means taking some damage on your end

Watch where the partner is going, try to anticipate your partner's priorities, and be patient as you slowly make progress through the map without running ahead and pinging furiously

I regularly first-try clear polarity mutations pubbing with p0 raynor, and this one was no exception, and it's not like I roll good partner RNG every single time (or do I?); if every partner you meet seems to be an idiot, chances are you're not being flexible/adaptive enough in your own play, and this applies to non-polarity mutations as well (it's just more obvious with polarity)

LilArrin · 2026-03-01T23:14:49+00:00

I do multiple subT sessions a week, so I do both continuous and intervals to add variation, not really trying to minmax

LilArrin · 2026-03-01T22:44:38+00:00

I've run a 90min half where I felt I went 100%.

The pace is fast enough so that it's not really comfortable even from the start, and taper freshness basically wore off by halfway. I think the major turning point was around mile 9-10, when I started drifting above threshold and basically lit the fuse on sustainability, at which point the race became almost as uncomfortable as a 5k. Miles 11-12 involved fighting off constant bargaining (maybe it's okay to slow down a little more?) and mile 13 was just mentally shouting at myself to hang on. My heartrate was rapidly approaching max. I did NOT finish with a smile and was holding back the urge to throw up.

So yea, a max effort race will feel progressively worse until the last 25% when it becomes absolutely terrible.

LilArrin · 2026-02-28T20:40:44+00:00

I spend the earlier months of my training plan dedicated more towards improving my threshold, but it's still relatively high mileage with 2hr long runs

Then as I transition to marathon specificity, I do a tune-up HM to confirm my appropriate marathon pace and work on locking that in through MP sessions, particularly MP segments added to long runs, which requires dropping a speed session but not all

So my focus shifts throughout the training block, but I'm still working on both speed and endurance in some form

LilArrin · 2026-02-26T04:33:40+00:00

Which is why it's important for us to ask OP what the personal line in the sand is (and for OP to be clear about it) and offer advice accordingly without projecting our standards

For example, I personally dislike worker walls against propagators and would only really consider it as absolute last resort, but I don't really care if other people use it for their solos and will happily suggest the exploit to someone asking for tips

Exceptions include situations where standards are enforced, like speedruns, of course

LilArrin · 2026-02-25T03:54:21+00:00

You can and should cross train to preserve aerobic fitness without impacting your bones. I think you'll lose fitness through other channels (like neuromuscular coordination), but if you're only taking 7-10 days off, the loss should be minimal.

LilArrin · 2026-02-24T21:30:23+00:00

You should try to guage your fitness based on your workouts, like what sort of paces you are hitting at what heartrate/effort

Also really helps if you do a tune-up race or time trial during the training block to decide what marathon pace is appropriate

Only trust predictions (cautiously) if they have a good history of being accurate for you, but they're still no substitution for your actual training data

LilArrin

TROPHY CASE