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Struggles vs Zerg?

Blogs > Davidxcom
Post a Reply
Davidxcom
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
Germany94 Posts
May 26 2011 10:45 GMT
#1
Phew its blogging time again! (:

Well recently I have been struggling against Zergs and on this Forum this seems to be a no-no as a Protoss. In Gold/Platinum league and with the past metagame it was pretty easy to overwhelm them with either earlygame pressure and a finisher with mass Gateways for a decisive push or a straight up macro game with a Colossus timing or a 200 deathball. But now after reaching Masters and holding up constant in the middle of my division for about 1~2 Weeks I realized that my stats against Zerg are becoming worse and worse. I mostly succeed in the PvP matchup with decent Micro and a Variety of overall gameplans that became viable after the patch so this isn't an issue. My PvT is pretty solid too and I win like 50-50 but my PvZ really has me worried. The following is about my recent struggles and possible solutions. Any hints you have to offer are appreciated as well.


Vs Zerg in Diamond:


That was the beginning of an uphill battle against Zerg for me. I came from the Platin league with one solid build (the 3-Gate expand) and a variety of different cheesy strats (Like DT, and proxy Voidray) but all the cheesy stuff stopped working when I reached the Diamond level. Constant scouting, correct evaluations about my armysize/composition made it hard to even attempt a cheesy opener because my opponents usually could tell that something was coming and with an evo-chamber and a simple sporecrawler all my cheese was thwarted.
So I had to go with my back up solid build the 3-Gate expand. This resulted in an gradual increase of my win percentage vs Zerg because the current Metagame heavily favored Protoss. Nearly every Zerg was using the old "Zergball" with Hydra/Roach + Corrupter. So my Deathball became mighty effective and my macroskill in PvZ skyrocket in comparison to my Platin-macro.
(In regard of PvZ cheese I got pretty lucky, that I never got cheesed with 6-pool until Diamond league)
Basically I traded my diversity in BO's against one solid build that I practiced for hours and helped me climb up to the upper echelons of my division. The problem that arised with that is that I got pretty inflexible. As soon as my Zergopponent thought out of the box and did something unexpected I became vulnerable and my play became sloppy. The further I got in Diamond the more I was confronted with the concept of different BO's that didn't only revolve around Hydra/Roach. The first time I was owned with burrowed Roaches that moved under my priced FF's I literally was like "The fuck?"
That inflexibility made me loose many points against Zergs and again the Matchup became and Uphill battle where I was slowly sliding down (Creepspread sure made the way up pretty difficult ^_^)
Back to the drawingboard I considered for a moment to go back to my little magicbox and pull out the cheese moves from time to time, but this was after all what hindered me at the start of my Diamond "career" so I quickly discarded it and left myself with the task to watch the Pro's and try to think outside the box. I didn't need more BO's or cheese, I needed the ability to interpret information correct and respond accordingly so that my I could fix my solid but stiff/rigid play.
After watching replays and Streams I managed it to get a bit into the routine to think about what the pro might have been thinking and it helped me tremendously to interpret different signs and catch my opponent offguard before he even revealed his trumpcard.
With that, my decent PvP and my standard PvT I finally managed to get into Masters.


Vs Zerg in Masters:


Happily I played with my Deathballstyle and some of the skills I acquired in Diamond but again I got a pretty bad awakening that it won't go the way I thought. The patch came and the Metagame changed. So basically Zerg got several Options and while the Deathball is still strong, I believe that Zerg got pretty viable counters.
With the Patch and the ideas of some Zerg pioneers the matchup became my worst. Even with micro and if I know that it is coming, I got steamrolled every time by Infestor/Blingdrop/Lings or Roaches. That late/mid game composition has me troubled more times than I can count but it isn't my only problem. Because I didn't got cheesed much until Masters I was pretty unfamiliar with the issue of 6-Pool. That in cooperation with the lategame composition and the highly aggressive Zergstyle's at the beginning with mass Zergs and Roaches made my Winration vs Zerg shrink to a number which is probably around 20% or something like this.

Right now I am considering what to do and I am back to the drawing board again. Well just wanted to write that down (:
If you got any hint I would highly appreciate it. (Can't afford coaching.)


****
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ "Sup Son?" ~SeleCT
TheSubtleArt
Profile Joined May 2011
Canada2527 Posts
May 26 2011 11:15 GMT
#2
Maybe it's just your opponents being better rather than your opponents being Zerg? If its just 1 particular matchup you're struggling ith and your preformance in the other matchups remains up to par, then consider spending some time playing as Zerg and understanding the match up from the other play's perspective.
Dodge arrows
Vlare
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
748 Posts
May 26 2011 11:19 GMT
#3
I find PvZ to be pretty easy until you're playing top notch zergs, and even then its manageable. You just have to scout and respond properly, You can't give zerg free reign over the entire map etc.

Maybe if you had replays or something I could help you. Or if you bugged me ingame
Mass zerglings doesnt fail
Bartiemus
Profile Joined June 2010
New Zealand84 Posts
May 26 2011 13:50 GMT
#4
You should check out testers games in the GSL super tournament for some ideas in build orders. He always does some crazy stuff in his games I have been using them with great success now that all Zerg seem to do is the Roach Zergling all in I pretty much win by build order.
Id rather just kill you and call it a day.
Davidxcom
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
Germany94 Posts
May 26 2011 16:36 GMT
#5
Thank you!

@TheSubtleArt
This should not be seen as a whine, I just wrote it down because until now I managed to improve my gameplan after some thinking and serious practice. I thought it might be helpful for players who are currently in Gold/Platin/Diamond and have the same problems I had to struggle with. I believe that I can usually tell if my opponent is better then me and I do recognize good play so if I get completely dismantled by superior play I don't try to blame it on Zerg. I think many people like to classify posts about struggling against a certain race as a whine or blaming it on imbalance, but this is not always the case. Playing as a Zerg does seem like a possibility so I can understand my enemy from within. Didn't even occur to me until you mentioned it ^_^ So thx

@Vlare
Well it isn't easy for me. I think I scout properly and also can interpret it but even if I know its coming, I got huge troubles against the mentioned Builds and Styles of Zerg. I believe that I have the fundamentals of the Matchup down, but its the fineplay in higher masters that sometimes makes it troublesome. The next rep I get will be attached to the blog and thx for the offer I might take you up on it.

@Bartiemus
I actively watch the GSL but I do not search for completely different BO's or cheesy Stuff. I haven't actually watched his games but I you got me interested. A counter against Roach/Zergling rush would be highly appreciated by me.

Again thank you for your time and responds (:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ "Sup Son?" ~SeleCT
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