• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 23:53
CET 05:53
KST 13:53
  • 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
RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups C & D Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups A & B Preview2TL.net Map Contest #21: Winners12Intel X Team Liquid Seoul event: Showmatches and Meet the Pros10[ASL20] Finals Preview: Arrival13
Community News
[TLMC] Fall/Winter 2025 Ladder Map Rotation12Weekly Cups (Nov 3-9): Clem Conquers in Canada4SC: Evo Complete - Ranked Ladder OPEN ALPHA8StarCraft, SC2, HotS, WC3, Returning to Blizzcon!45$5,000+ WardiTV 2025 Championship7
StarCraft 2
General
Zerg is losing its identity in StarCraft 2 Mech is the composition that needs teleportation t RotterdaM "Serral is the GOAT, and it's not close" RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups C & D Preview [TLMC] Fall/Winter 2025 Ladder Map Rotation
Tourneys
RSL Revival: Season 3 Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Constellation Cup - Main Event - Stellar Fest Tenacious Turtle Tussle Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2)
Strategy
Custom Maps
Map Editor closed ?
External Content
Mutation # 499 Chilling Adaptation Mutation # 498 Wheel of Misfortune|Cradle of Death Mutation # 497 Battle Haredened Mutation # 496 Endless Infection
Brood War
General
FlaSh on: Biggest Problem With SnOw's Playstyle BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ What happened to TvZ on Retro? SnOw's ASL S20 Finals Review BW General Discussion
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues Small VOD Thread 2.0 [BSL21] RO32 Group D - Sunday 21:00 CET [BSL21] RO32 Group C - Saturday 21:00 CET
Strategy
PvZ map balance Current Meta Simple Questions, Simple Answers How to stay on top of macro?
Other Games
General Games
Should offensive tower rushing be viable in RTS games? Path of Exile Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Clair Obscur - Expedition 33
Dota 2
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 Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread SPIRED by.ASL Mafia {211640}
Community
General
Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Artificial Intelligence Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
White-Ra Fan Club The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread Korean Music Discussion Series you have seen recently...
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion NBA General Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023 TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
SC2 Client Relocalization [Change SC2 Language] Linksys AE2500 USB WIFI keeps disconnecting Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Dyadica Gospel – a Pulp No…
Hildegard
Coffee x Performance in Espo…
TrAiDoS
Saturation point
Uldridge
DnB/metal remix FFO Mick Go…
ImbaTosS
Reality "theory" prov…
perfectspheres
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 2088 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
Canada8032 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
The PiG Daily
20:30
Best Games of SC
Serral vs Clem
Solar vs Cure
Serral vs Clem
Reynor vs GuMiho
herO vs Cure
LiquipediaDiscussion
OSC
19:00
Masters Cup #150: Group B
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
RuFF_SC2 181
StarCraft: Brood War
Leta 326
yabsab 140
Bale 8
Dota 2
monkeys_forever515
NeuroSwarm98
LuMiX1
League of Legends
JimRising 583
Other Games
summit1g13179
WinterStarcraft341
ViBE207
Fuzer 182
Mew2King81
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick575
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 13 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• practicex 29
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Stunt215
Other Games
• Scarra829
Upcoming Events
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5h 7m
RSL Revival
5h 7m
Reynor vs sOs
Maru vs Ryung
Kung Fu Cup
7h 7m
Cure vs herO
Reynor vs TBD
WardiTV Korean Royale
7h 7m
BSL 21
15h 7m
JDConan vs Semih
Dragon vs Dienmax
Tech vs NewOcean
TerrOr vs Artosis
IPSL
15h 7m
Dewalt vs WolFix
eOnzErG vs Bonyth
Replay Cast
18h 7m
Wardi Open
1d 7h
Monday Night Weeklies
1d 12h
WardiTV Korean Royale
2 days
[ Show More ]
BSL: GosuLeague
2 days
The PondCast
3 days
Replay Cast
3 days
RSL Revival
4 days
BSL: GosuLeague
4 days
RSL Revival
5 days
WardiTV Korean Royale
5 days
RSL Revival
6 days
WardiTV Korean Royale
6 days
IPSL
6 days
Julia vs Artosis
JDConan vs DragOn
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2025-11-14
Stellar Fest: Constellation Cup
Eternal Conflict S1

Ongoing

C-Race Season 1
IPSL Winter 2025-26
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 4
SOOP Univ League 2025
YSL S2
BSL Season 21
CSCL: Masked Kings S3
SLON Tour Season 2
RSL Revival: Season 3
META Madness #9
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
Thunderpick World Champ.
CS Asia Championships 2025
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025

Upcoming

BSL 21 Non-Korean Championship
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
HSC XXVIII
RSL Offline Finals
WardiTV 2025
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026: Closed Qualifier
eXTREMESLAND 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8
SL Budapest Major 2025
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 © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.