This is part 2 of intermediate concepts. Now that you've had time to master your peon processes, it is time to figure out ways to fine tune your gameplay.

Scouting is an area of the game that only a handful of people have truly mastered. It is bound to be many players' weakness.
There are many different types of scouting: peon, grunt, not scouting.
Let's take a look at peon scouting and the various pros and cons to it.
One of the immediate pros to peon scouting is that you will find your opponent much faster than if you wait for your first grunt.
One of the immediate cons is that you will be behind a peon in resources early.
Peon scouting allows you to dictate what you do based on what you see your opponent doing. It allows you to be non commmittal on what you are doing early game and gives you extra flexibility.
There are certain things that you will want to keep in mind when you peon scout. First, you want to have a plan for each base you will encounter. It isn't enough to just know where to scout. You must also know what you will do if you find your opponent there.
Let's picture being 4 and peon scouting: Your first area to scout will be 5 so you will need to know what your intent is as you go to their base. Will you mill them in and try to win a gt war or will you be trying to slow them so you can make a cat in 4? Are you planning on dualing 3? What if 5 is empty?
Ok 5 was empty so now you have to decide where you want to scout next. Will you go to 6 or are you going to head to s9 or 9? (A sidenote here is that pscouting 11 is usually a losing idea unless you are 9 and its your first peon. The logic there is that most people seal 11 immediately and 11 is very easy to defend vs towers.)
Things to consider here are that s9 and 9 are both probably still open at this point in the game and that 6 is a weaker spot than 4. If s9/9 or 9/11 duals you are instantly behind unless you manage to find a way to slow them.
I would recommend scouting 9 because it is a common base to s9/9 and 9/11 duals. Remember to have a plan after you find your opponent and never forget the meaning of the word scout. Your scout doesn't have to try to be a hero and win the game so don't waste more resources than necessary when you do find your opponent.
One other thing to mention is that pscouting 12/2 from any spot is usually a recipe for a lost peon. 12/2 are most likely to rush so your peon is at a disadvantage and there isnt really anything to gain from pscouting 12/2.

Grunt scouting is another way to scout your opponent. A couple of pros to using the grunt scout is that you don't sacrifice an early peon and also the grunt is a walking threat. A con is that the grunt scout will find other bases a little bit later in game due to the time it requires to build a barracks and train a grunt.
The same type of logic will dictate where you scout with your grunt and in some cases with how many grunts.
The same threats exist to you whether you are scouting with a grunt or peon. Are they dualing? Which bases are most likely to dual? Are they rushing? WHAT ARE THEY DOING???
We'll scout from 12 here in this example. First grunt definitely wants to check 2 and find out if you have a neighbor. Remember to have a plan for what you will do if it is hot or not.
Let's assume that 2 isn't hot. When you are done scouting 2 a 2nd grunt should be made in 12. You can now scout towards the most likely dual base, 9.
Have a plan in your head as you go there as to what your next move will be if they are rushing, dualing, or its empty. If they are rushing are you going to try to overwhelm them or simply power? If they are dualing, are you going to try to cat and break the dual or will you counterdual? If it is empty, where will you scout next and how does that affect your choices at home?

A 3rd and passive way to scout is not to scout at all. I don't agree with not scouting your opponent because you won't know what they are doing but occasionally you can get tricky.
Assuming your opponent scouts you can use the timing and direction the peon is traveling to guesstimate where they are. The downside to this is you are getting 2nd hand information and not everyone scouts the same way which can throw off your predictions.
Work on your ABS. Always Be Scouting. Get your w2 6 pack on and be prepared for the haters to call you hacker since your scouting is gonna be legen.....wait for it......dary.


Now that you are scouting in a decent manner, the next step in your evolution will be the concept of pressuring your opponent.
There are ways to control what your opponent does by forcing them to make choices that you have already considered. This puts them a step behind in the mental aspect of the game and opens up your choices.
There are a ton of ways to put pressure on someone and you can do it in all timeframes of the game.
In early game, you can gain some of the biggest advantages over your opponent by forcing them into a defensive posture. This can come from winning the early rush, to raxing their resources(if you are going to block someone's mine do it with a barracks if you can), or using towers to keep them isolated from the rest of the map.
By making your opponent defensive, you can more accurately predict what they are doing. When you get really proficient at it, you will make them spend more resources than you are spending and thus give you an advantage that is huge as the game progresses.
While they are stuck in their base or dealing with your pressure, you are free to roam the map and do what you want to do. You can tech, dual, go afk...the choice is yours.
Pressuring your opponent is freedom for yourself. In Viruz' case, he would probably 5 hall.
Some other things that I consider pressure would be creating threats for the future.
By knowing where your opponent is mostly likely to expand, you can take measures to prevent it.
Imagine your opponent is 11. His mostly likely expansion is going to be 9. You can create pressure in his situation by walling off s9(a dk temple works really well). They know they need an expansion and that if they can't get rid of that temple then they are going to have problems. This will force them to commit to take a base further away from their main(harder to protect) or to secure s9 so they can mine a bit safer.
In this same scenario, you can apply pressure by walling off the path to 12/2 so that their path of travel is restricted.
When you use these tactics, notice what the weaknesses of it are for yourself so that when you find yourself on the other end of it you can properly attack it.

There will be one more part to this series and hopefully I'll get it done sooner rather than later. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope some of it is helpful in your war2 adventure!