Eh. It'll teach you the basic units and abilities but any strategy you come with for singleplayer will be worthless in multiplayer.

" Eh. It'll teach you the basic units and abilities but any strategy you come with for singleplayer will be worthless in multiplayer. "

Not really, outside of very basic things like controls, by and large what you're doing in single-player has almost no relationship to the multiplayer.

I wish.  If there were vultures or vessels in multiplayer I would play Terran. 
 
You can use campaign to practice micro, but that's about it.

So for someone only interested in online (me), should I bother playing the single player to prepare myself?

No. Cause there are units you get in the single player that are not in the multiplayer.  
 
Will throw you off.

So how will I learn the multi-player in the game?

The key to learning the multiplayer is to watch a lot of replays and casts. If you're not willing to devote a lot of time to learning the game, you won't be able to get very good at mp. The campaign is not especially helpful, but it will get you used to the controls if you have never played an RTS before.

It's good for practising with the hot keys. 

If you're brand new, it absolutely helps.  You can't learn a strategy until you know which units are built where.

" The key to learning the multiplayer is to watch a lot of replays and casts. If you're not willing to devote a lot of time to learning the game, you won't be able to get very good at mp. The campaign is not especially helpful, but it will get you used to the controls if you have never played an RTS before. "

" @supermike6 said:

" The key to learning the multiplayer is to watch a lot of replays and casts. If you're not willing to devote a lot of time to learning the game, you won't be able to get very good at mp. The campaign is not especially helpful, but it will get you used to the controls if you have never played an RTS before. "

I am willing to dedicate time, but what do you mean by replays and casts? of me, or other people? and how do I learn about what all the units do? "

" @NekuSakuraba said:

" @supermike6 said:

" The key to learning the multiplayer is to watch a lot of replays and casts. If you're not willing to devote a lot of time to learning the game, you won't be able to get very good at mp. The campaign is not especially helpful, but it will get you used to the controls if you have never played an RTS before. "

I am willing to dedicate time, but what do you mean by replays and casts? of me, or other people? and how do I learn about what all the units do? "

I'm talking about HuskyStarcraft, Day9, and people like that. Those will help you understand the units and strategy of the game way more. Pro games are cool and help a lot but there are also things like Life's A Glitch TV who cast Bronze-gold level games which is especially relevant to you. Blizzard also has some stuff on their website if you are very new and just want to know the races and the units, but watching the game in action is how I learned.  "

" @supermike6 said:

" @NekuSakuraba said:

" @supermike6 said:

" The key to learning the multiplayer is to watch a lot of replays and casts. If you're not willing to devote a lot of time to learning the game, you won't be able to get very good at mp. The campaign is not especially helpful, but it will get you used to the controls if you have never played an RTS before. "

I am willing to dedicate time, but what do you mean by replays and casts? of me, or other people? and how do I learn about what all the units do? "

I'm talking about HuskyStarcraft, Day9, and people like that. Those will help you understand the units and strategy of the game way more. Pro games are cool and help a lot but there are also things like Life's A Glitch TV who cast Bronze-gold level games which is especially relevant to you. Blizzard also has some stuff on their website if you are very new and just want to know the races and the units, but watching the game in action is how I learned.  "

But if I go and watch HuskyStarcraft, should I watch any certain video? If I hop into a random one, won't it be confusing?  And I am currently doing Practice League, does going bad in that change my stats? "

No. Cus turning command centers into turrets and creating tower defense style choke points by intentionally leaving an opening only works on the game's dumbass AI.

Sure it does if you're new to the genre. You'd be far better prepared by the end of playing it then you would jumping straight into MP. If you're familiar with SC2 and how to play it already, then not really.

Teaches you basic concepts, but that's about it. 

No.

it helps you get familiar with the controls and maybe overall way the game works
 
but outside of that, probably not
 
multiplayer is a totally different entity, where alot of single player tricks are void
 
that being said, companies shouldnt heavily focus on multiplayer over singleplayer whatsoever, a balance is to be made, some of the best games ever made were singeplayer only

Not really. The challenges may help you out, but not the campaign.

" @StarvingGamer: @supermike6: Are there any videos that help you with the unit part of the game and the structure of them? "

@NekuSakuraba said:

" @StarvingGamer: @supermike6: Are there any videos that help you with the unit part of the game and the structure of them? "

You mean, such as which units counter which and which buildings you need for each units? In the game help menu there are tech threes and descriptions and strengths/weaknesses of all the units, but I've never seen any specific videos on the subject. I kind of just learned the game on the fly by watching so many matches, but I'm sure there are a lot of tutorial videos on Youtube that talk about the specific unit counters for your race. I found a good way to learn the tech tree is to just start a game against a Very Easy opponent, and just ignore the opponent and tech up. Look at which buildings you need for each unit and try to gain the ability to make all of them, it could help you understand the units of your race a lot better. 

Well you can go here if you're looking for Terran build orders. They have build orders for Protoss and Zerg as well. Keep in mind though, without a broader knowledge of the game these build orders won't really help you beyond the first 3 minutes of a game. As far as where to place structures, it depends on the race you are, what map you're playing on, what race you're playing against and your intended strategy. The best way to learn this is to watch commentated replays. Good commentators will usually take a moment to address building placement.

@NekuSakuraba: It has been said before, but it needs to be said again.
 
Do the Challenge Mode.
 
Really, brother.

Also, if you focus on a rigid build order and which units 'counter' others, you'll be worse off than if you're thinking generally about strategies and such. Just play against the AI until your macro is pretty good.

That said, I'm fairly bad at the multiplayer.