Need assistance!!

[tb473]

Now I can finally claim I have been getting worse @ WC3. I haven't won a game all last week!!!! Please help fast!!!
Sadly, I only have one replay to showcase of my crappy gameplay. Enjoy, and don't laugh too hard.
Actually, this replay was ok, but I had to leave cuz my parents blow.

[Prozerran]

The assistance you want requires a bit of brutal honesty, and the truth usually hurts, so try not to take offense.

Here are the problems I'm seeing. Let's begin with the B/O:

I find in the beginning of the game and most of the way through it, you're more dependant on Gold than on Lumber. Grunts cost a whopping 205, Cata's, upgrades... they all cost gold. It's better, IMO, to fill your goldmine up right away. You shouldn't have peons sitting around doing nothing, though it does happen. The early game is where it will get you off course.

The biggest thing I see is your timing. You scouted enough, but you didn't really make use of it. When your opponent masses gryphons, you should have been making bats out of your Beastiary, whether you saw the Gryphons or not. When you said you massed Melee, your opponent almost immediately switched over to flying units, and you did nothing to try to prevent this... one raider is not going to stop an onslaught of gryphons.

Your unit combination was strong, but it needed more anti-air. I think going with some Wyverns, Bats, and maybe a few Berserkers could have saved you that game. Raiders are fast siege, but their HP is low and ensnare isn't enough more often than not.

I recommend going into a 1v1 comp game and getting your build order solid first. Know where each peon will go, what it will build, and when. Once committed to memory, you'll have an advantage on most players, as they (your opponent for instance) won't. Next, familiarize yourself with the countering units of different army combinations. Knowing that air will counter melee is a start. Then, consider what you'll build in preparation for that (i.e., in anticipation of Gryphons, build some Wyverns, Bats, and/or Berserkers). It takes experience and many times failure to become familiar with this kind of gameplay.

With Human, it's all about the harassment. He had towers up. So what? Don't avoid the problem, solve it. There was an entrance to his base well outside the range of those towers where you could have seriously hindered his resource collection. That's where you should have taken advantage, and that's also where your TP scroll would have been put to better use.

Moreover, you took a truly defensive posture throughout most of the game. I would guess you assumed your position to be inferior to that of your opponent's. This is an error. Look at the replay and think about where you could have timed your attack. You had the siege to take on his towers, and you could have had you maintained an aggressive stance.

Lastly, your heroes need more micromanagement. Let's face it, losing a hero can lose you a battle. Keep that in mind as you make your attack, being careful to maintain a way out for your forces via a TP or other method (i.e. unit control, hit and run tactics, etc...). These are methods of controlling your opponent's reaction, keeping them on your turf rather than being sucked into theirs. Is the game over when you lose a hero? No, certainly not. Does your opponent gain a significant advantage over you when your hero dies? Yes. Whether he'll take advantage of it (or much less even realize it) is not up to you. All you can do is rebuild and keep as much pressure on him as possible.

I imagine casters are giving you problems as well. Deal with them primarily with air units and ranged units. Don't rely on melee so much that you ignore such a vital element of the game - balance. Balance your units in composition as well as against your opponent. When you choose "G" for grunt in the mid-game, be sure there's a reason you're still producing them. I think you made too many, and there were much better options at that point than more Grunts. Getting Tauren without some anti-air support is a waste of resources. Get Tauren, but make sure you're backing them up or you'll meet the same horrible end.

Those are my comments, and I'm sure if I had the time I could give you more general help, but for now, I think you're just having a bad gaming streak. Consider some of that, take whatever you want from it, and I hope it's helpful. Keep your spirits up and think through the units a bit and I'm sure you'll see this streak go away in no time!