• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 03:50
CEST 09:50
KST 16:50
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Serral wins Maestros of the Game 236ByuL, and the Limitations of Standard Play3Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting & Ladder Map Selection7
Community News
BSL Season 22 Full Overview & Conclusion3BSL Season 22 Full Overview & Conclusion3Weekly Cups (June 29-July 5): Solar Doubles0MC vs IdrA, Boxer vs Nal_rA to be Legacy Matches @ BlizzCon445.0.16 Hotfix (June 30) - Balance + Bug Fixes40
StarCraft 2
General
Most successful SC2 players of Q2 2026 Serral wins Maestros of the Game 2 MC vs IdrA, Boxer vs Nal_rA to be Legacy Matches @ BlizzCon Is the larve respawn broken? 5.0.16 patch for SC2 goes live (8 worker start)
Tourneys
GSL CK #5 Race War RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event HomeStory Cup 29 Vespene Cup #1 — $300+ USD, July 10 Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond)
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
New Map Maker - Looking for Advice - Love or Hate Work In Progress Melee Maps [D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3
External Content
Mutation # 533 Die Together The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 532 Nuclear Family Mutation # 531 Experimental Artillery
Brood War
General
BSL Season 22 Full Overview & Conclusion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion ASL 22 Proposed Map Pool Starcraft vs Retro Category on Twitch
Tourneys
Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2 Small VOD Thread 2.0 IPSL Spring 2026 Top 4! CSLAN 4 is Coming!
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates Simple Questions, Simple Answers Creating a full chart of Zerg builds Relatively freeroll strategies
Other Games
General Games
Summer Games Done Quick 2026! Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Dawn of War IV ZeroSpace at Steam NextFest - Last free demo
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance TL Mafia Community Thread TL Mafia Power Rank Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread UK Politics Mega-thread YouTube Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club The HerO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! Series you have seen recently... [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books [TV/BOOK] *SPOILERS* Game of Thrones Discussion
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread McBoner: A hockey love story Tennis[sport] Formula 1 Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
FPS when play League Of Legend on laptop How to clean a TTe Thermaltake keyboard? Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Major Shifts in the Gaming I…
TrAiDoS
An Exploration of th…
waywardstrategy
Gauntlet SC2: A Retrospectiv…
Ctone23
ramps on octagon
StaticNine
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Evil Gacha Games and the…
ffswowsucks
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 4962 users

The Art of StarCraft

Blogs > Chef
Post a Reply
Chef
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
10810 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-13 06:16:32
March 13 2011 06:11 GMT
#1
When I first started trying to get better at StarCraft, there weren't many good guides. There was Tsunami's Zerg guide and... That was about it. Everything else was pretty terrible. One thing that was extremely helpful for me though was The Art of War, by Sun Tzu. I even took screen shots from replays and captioned them with quotes to help me picture and inspire strategic play. I don't have those pictures anymore, but many years later I am a pretty competent StarCraft player. For fun, I am going to take quotes from the Art of War and apply them to StarCraft.

1 When able, feign inability.

A Protoss player is using Reaver/Corsair tactics. He sends his Corsairs to check if his Shuttle will be safe, then moves in for the attack. Zerg's Hydralisks suddenly unborrow and kill the Shuttle. The Zerg tricked the Protoss into thinking he was unable to defend, and gained both a morale victory and killed a valuable Protoss unit.

2 When deploying troops, appear not to be.

A Protoss player is making Carriers. His Carriers will be much more effective if the Terran is not expecting them, and so he places his StarGates and Fleet Beacon in a place that is unlikely to be scanned. He manages to accumulate four Carriers, and because the Terran was unaware, takes out many Tanks before Goliaths can be built to support them.

3 When near, appear far.

A Zerg burrows Lurkers just in front of his Sunkens and tells them not to attack. The Terran sets up his Tanks outside the range of the Sunkens with all of his Marines supporting them, thinking he has a solid, safe position. The Lurkers suddenly attack and the Terran army is melted because of the unexpected proximity of enemy units.

4 When far, appear near.

A Terran player plans for a very safe expansion. When his SCV finds the Zerg expanding at the Zerg natural, he builds a Bunker even though he knows that he does not plan to kill the Hatchery, and probably can't since he is so focused on economy. The Zerg, not knowing that the Terran has gone a fast expansion, pulls his Drones to take care of the false threat, thus losing mining time and defending a rush that was not ever coming. The Terran was far from being prepared to attack, but made the Zerg waste money defending by appearing nearly ready to attack.

5 Lure with bait. Strike with chaos.

A Protoss mining line looks virtually undefended and ripe for Mutalisk harass. The Zerg tries to engage it, but suddenly has his entire pack of Mutalisks Maelstromed and killed by an Archon, which were both staying out of Zerg sight in the middle of the base. The Zerg was set up to fail.

7 If the enemy is full, be prepared.

A Terran army has many tanks, vultures for backup, and is ready to move out. The Protoss begins researching Leg speed and making Zealots to prepare for his push.

8 If the enemy is strong, avoid him.

The Protoss ball is moving out in the mid-game and the Zerg has only a few groups of Lings and Hydra. The Zerg runs his forces away and begins building up his army and tech so that he can fight the enemy another time.

9 If the enemy is angry, disconcert him.

A player is upset by the power of psi storm against his Zerglings and complains that they are too strong and imbalanced. The Protoss player responds 'you dog micro come back when your mom.'

10 If the enemy is weak, stir him to pride.

The Protoss army is holed up in a defensive position in his main. The Zerg can't engage him there, and wants him to come out, so he places a very minimal amount of forces outside the Protoss base which can easily be scouted, and the rest of his army somewhere out of sight. The Protoss, thinking he is strong enough to kill the Zerg army, moves out. The Zerg brings in his hidden forces and crushes the Protoss army.

11 If the enemy is relaxed, hurry him.

The Zerg player is sitting on three bases, as happy as a little bee. Suddenly the Protoss takes the natural of a second main, threatening to have 4 bases very soon. The Zerg feels rushed and makes a sloppy decision to just attack the Protoss before this can happen, and he gets crushed.

12 If the enemy's men are harmonious, split them.

A Protoss player has his Dragoons in a nice line outside his natural, hoping an enemy will attack straight into them and his aggregate of attack will be strong in the fight. The enemy Protoss however attacks to the side of the Dragoon line, leaving several Dragoons not doing anything until ordered. His Dragoons were harmonious, but their effectiveness was split by coming in from the side.

13 Attack where he is unprepared.

A Terran player has his army in the middle of the map, ready to threaten the Protoss. Using recall, the Protoss gets a large number of forces in the Terran's main, far away from his defences.

14 Appear where you are unexpected.

A Protoss player drops three Zealots and a Dark Templar at the side of a Zerg base. He keeps the Dark Templar off to the side, and attacks with the three Zealots. Later, he used the shuttle to go to a different base. The Zerg, thinking the threat is now at his other base, hurries his units to defend it. At this time the Dark Templar in the first base moves to kill some Drones, to the Zerg's mind, as if by magic since the Zerg knows the Protoss cannot have another Shuttle yet.

15 Most spells victory, least spells defeat; none, surer defeat.

The bigger army wins. Macro is important. If you have more bases, you are ahead. If you have fewer, you are in trouble. Attack in places where your army is greater than his, retreat from places where the opposite is true.

16 One peck of enemy provisions, is worth 20 carried from home.

8 minerals stolen from the enemy base is worth 160 from your own base. Not really, but it makes some people mad (this quote would be more true if probes could eat minerals and become stronger, but sadly that feature doesn't come till StarCraft III).


Cheers! I hope this gets you thinking about the subtler aspects of StarCraft in an age where people focus a lot of their energy on macro efficiency.

****
LEGEND!! LEGEND!!
IamBach
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States1059 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-13 06:35:03
March 13 2011 06:30 GMT
#2
Good advice! I'll try to keep these in mind on the ladder.
edit: Bookmarked!
Just listen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__lCZeePG48
Spazer
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Canada8035 Posts
March 13 2011 07:00 GMT
#3
For #16, it should be something like one mind-controlled scv is potentially worth an additional 200 food army.
Liquipedia
Bajadulce
Profile Joined October 2004
United States322 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-13 07:49:26
March 13 2011 07:28 GMT
#4
Good references and sound principles. Write morez plz.

There was Tsunami's Zerg guide and... That was about it. Everything else was pretty terrible
Did you ever read Hautamaki's Art of Protoss guide? He too was a big fan of the Art of War. I found his guide very insightful as well (tho prob would be considered outdated for today's game?). I imagine his site is long gone, but it probably is archived somewhere.

He (Hautamaki) also made a couple of really good RWA's when that technology was new. I seem to remember one game in particular (Nada vs. IntoTheRain) with his roommate Epsilon (or some name like that?) helping comment. Fun nostalgia. Wonder if that old RWA is still around anywhere?

EDIT:
http://iamknickknack.webs.com/hautamakisintro.htm
Planar Erratus: (www.broodwarai.com/mods/peai) Where the worlds of Baldur’s Gate, Arcanum, Diablo, Icewind Dale, Torment, and Warcraft collide with Starcraft. Don't question, just play! ... Dedicated to all my TL.net friends and old schoolers!
Meapak_Ziphh
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
United States6786 Posts
March 13 2011 08:01 GMT
#5
I love your blogs chef :D. This one was really good.
Forti et Fideli ~ TL Mafia Forum: Come play with us! ~ Go Samsung KHAN, Stork, JangBi , Shine, Grape, and TurN Fighting!~ wat
Chef
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
10810 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-13 14:17:02
March 13 2011 14:01 GMT
#6
On March 13 2011 16:28 Bajadulce wrote:
Good references and sound principles. Write morez plz.

Show nested quote +
There was Tsunami's Zerg guide and... That was about it. Everything else was pretty terrible
Did you ever read Hautamaki's Art of Protoss guide? He too was a big fan of the Art of War. I found his guide very insightful as well (tho prob would be considered outdated for today's game?). I imagine his site is long gone, but it probably is archived somewhere.

He (Hautamaki) also made a couple of really good RWA's when that technology was new. I seem to remember one game in particular (Nada vs. IntoTheRain) with his roommate Epsilon (or some name like that?) helping comment. Fun nostalgia. Wonder if that old RWA is still around anywhere?

EDIT:
http://iamknickknack.webs.com/hautamakisintro.htm

Yes, Art of Protoss was extremely good. I also am nostalgic for RWAs. Manifesto7.com was a frequent visit back in the day.

Oh I thought you were talking about a different one. The one on GosuGamers back in the day was quite nice: http://www.gosugamers.net/starcraft/features.php?i=a&id=2067 Also, there was another I recall, done by a Protoss player that was very insightful... Back when Protoss was hurting for success because the map of choice was Lost Temple and no one FE'd PvZ in those days.
LEGEND!! LEGEND!!
Bajadulce
Profile Joined October 2004
United States322 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-13 16:40:00
March 13 2011 16:36 GMT
#7
Ah the guide on gg.net is the same guy (Hautamaki). He had his own site for awhile and the link I provided looks like just some excerpts. The gg.net link seems a little more complete thnx.

Edit: Now I see the Art of War gg.link @ the top of Iamknicnack.web.com as well as a scouting and micro article. Prob nicknack and Hautamaki are the same guy.

Ya, Vods are great, but RWA's were nice because you could follow along and click on anything you wanted to see check out.
Planar Erratus: (www.broodwarai.com/mods/peai) Where the worlds of Baldur’s Gate, Arcanum, Diablo, Icewind Dale, Torment, and Warcraft collide with Starcraft. Don't question, just play! ... Dedicated to all my TL.net friends and old schoolers!
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 1h 10m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
PiGStarcraft751
WinterStarcraft594
Nina 127
StarCraft: Brood War
Soma 201
actioN 168
Larva 111
ZergMaN 51
Dewaltoss 41
sorry 30
Noble 8
Dota 2
XaKoH 283
League of Legends
JimRising 749
Doublelift3
Counter-Strike
summit1g7792
Other Games
Happy254
Mew2King34
RuFF_SC226
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick24969
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 13 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• StrangeGG 66
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• lizZardDota297
League of Legends
• Jankos1623
Upcoming Events
RSL Revival
1h 10m
Serral vs Bunny
ByuN vs GgMaChine
CranKy Ducklings
2h 10m
Afreeca Starleague
2h 10m
Snow vs Jaedong
YSC vs hero
SC Evo League
4h 10m
ByuN vs Classic
Cure vs Solar
IPSL
8h 10m
Dragon vs Ret
Patches Events
8h 10m
RSL Revival
1d 1h
Solar vs Rogue
Maru vs NightMare
Sparkling Tuna Cup
1d 2h
IPSL
1d 8h
Bonyth vs Hawk
GSL
2 days
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
2 days
WardiTV Weekly
3 days
The PondCast
4 days
Replay Cast
5 days
CrankTV Team League
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
CrankTV Team League
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Escore Tournament S3: W2
HSC XXIX
Eternal Conflict S2 E1

Ongoing

IPSL Spring 2026
Acropolis #4
YSL S3
CSL 2026 Summer (S21)
ASL Season 22: Wild Card Qualifier
RSL Revival: Season 6
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
SCTL 2026 Spring
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026

Upcoming

CSLAN 4
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
Light Tournament 2026
Eternal Conflict S2 Finale
Eternal Conflict S2 E3
Eternal Conflict S2 E2
Logitech G Connect 2026
StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #5
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.