EPTEvery Zerg player in the world should strive to be like Idra right now. No one can deny that he's been on a tear; apart from the few recent mirror loses in the NASL and the occasional EG Master's Cup mishaps, Idra has shown, from MLG to NASL to IPL, that he is the best foreign player in the world right now. After dominating this first day of matches by going 3-0 in the toughest group of the tournament, it's hard to turn a cold shoulder to our lovable, asshole hero-Zerg.
The greatest thing about his play is that everyone can learn from him. After watching the replays, here are three things I found that make Grack good, and can make you good as well:
1) Macro
Everyone knows that macro is the first part of being a good Starcraft player, but in Idra's case, his macro is his cornerstone. No supply shall be blocked, no larva shall be left sitting and no resource shall be pooling, however, it goes further than that for him. Looking specifically at game 2 against MC, Idra ended up with a failed roach/ling aggression around the with minimal forces after droning.
![[image loading]](http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/2271/bossu.png)
With all your lings occupied with a runby at his natural and 4 spine crawlers and 5 roaches in production, could you defend against this with the resources available in the screenshot AND come out ahead? Idra did.
Idra knows his macro is spot-on, so he can afford to be aggressive. Knowing that he can gather the resources to hold off any counter-push that could happen as a result of aggression is a safety-net that can remove your doubts in a game. By playing defensively in the early game and perfecting your technique, you can afford to be a stronger, more aggressive player, and there is nothing but good things that can come from that.
2) Overcoming Disabilities
Let's face it: Hydralisks in BW were BOSS. They melted gateway units, could become lurkers, were fast, spit acid and weren't afraid of anything. In SC2, they're rarely used because they just don't fit in with the rest of the Zerg army: they're slow and they die if you sneeze on them too hard. Idra decided he was going to use them anyway, and he used them effectively by simply overcoming their disabilities WHILE abusing MC's sim-city: drops. To be honest, Idra lost a fleet and a half of overlords in game 1 of the series and a lot of drops were unsuccessful. These two weren't.
![[image loading]](http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/5930/boss2z.png)
MC walled off his third's back entrance with cannons and the front of his natural with gateways and pylons. Elevator-ing his units into MC's main prevented direct contact with the deathball, bypassed sim-city defenses AND required all MC's stalkers to run ALL the way around his natural's Nexus to defend. Oh yeah, and check his MC's third: Idra's dropping there too.
By dropping, Idra improved his positioning . By splitting up his bulky forces and getting them away from easily forcefield-able chokepoints, Idra bypassed the Hydra's lack of mobility and "hit 'em where they aint." You don't need a unique build or unit composition to the deathball, you just gotta figure out what your units are bad at and fix it, while figuring out what their units are bad at and abusing it. Most players drop for surprise, but consider the fact that dropping allows you to be where they aren't (even if they know it's coming), and that 99% of the time works out in your favor.
3) Being Comfortable in the Game
If you ever watch Idra stream, you know what I'm talking about: it's like he's conducting music. I'm not talking about first-person views of replays, no, his mouse cursor is as much a Swarm's Baton at it is anything else. Idra is obviously comfortable when he streams ladder games, and that comes not from experience, but from fundamentals. By knowing where your opponent stands, where you stand and where you want to go, you have no reason to sweat or get flustered. Even if you aren't doing a composition you're experience with, find some way to make yourself comfortable in the game. Scout, transition, expand, poke, anything to get yourself in the mindset of being comfortable in your play. From there, play becomes easier and you perform better.
These are my 3 cents per-say, and something people should think about beyond "my natural should have been 2 minutes quicker" when they're trying to improve. Love to hear some feedback or stuff you don't agree with, I love to debate this kinda stuff.
Eager to see more great games this weekend!
