Episode 4: The Secret to Silver League 4v4?

MrSexington

United States1768 Posts

July 13 2011 00:30 GMT

NinjaBob's Adventures in 4v4
Episode 4: The Secret to Silver League 4v4?

Table of Contents

As I stated in Episode 3, I said I was trying to mix in Infestors into my (Silver League) play. Up until recently, my army has pretty much has been limited to 1 or 2 hot keys, depending if I were using Mutas or not. And as long as the game has gone longer than the early game shenanigans, I think my Infestor usage has been making a big difference. (And the same can be said about opposing Zergs using Infestors against my team.)

http://www.sc2replayed.com/replay-videos/8970

[image loading]

I think the same can be said for any Silver League Protoss that uses Psionic Storm. People at this level just rely on the early game shenanigans or macro, macro, macro to brute force their way to victory.

Also, just for lolz, what's wrong with this picture?

[image loading]

This was after he ("acgpa") suicided 3 all this Thors that he ordered across enemy lines. I didn't even know this was going on until I watched the replay. haha.

In any case, we arrive a the score screen and what do you know? Another one of those rare sightings with me at the top:

[image loading]

As I've said in previous episodes, this never happens. This required further investigation, so I dug a little deeper:

[image loading]

Holy hell? How did fishnfobearz lose? After a little digging, in spite of his Flock of Mutas, he was floating 2000-4000 minerals the entire game. If you look at the replay, I bet you'll come to the same conclusion that he would have won the game for his team if he did 3 things:

1) Be more active with his Flock of Mutas.
2) Build 3-4 macro hatches in the late game and make use of mass Zerglings.

And last but not least:

3) Use Infestors.

(I understand that "the secret" that I'm presenting here isn't exactly breaking news, but I'm almost certain that most other Silver League players have the same problem that I do in using multiple hot keys and spellcasters.)

Questions:

1. For those of you in Gold+, when you use Infestors, is there a specific build order you're going for where you hit Infestors at a specific time? (Or do you just throw them into the mix randomly.)

2. Specifically for 4v4, do you find yourself using Neural Parasite that much? With masses of armies rolling at you, it seems like Fungal Growth is almost always better.

Name: NinjaBob
ID: 573
League: Silver

Lysenko

Iceland2128 Posts

July 13 2011 02:46 GMT

I'm currently high gold in 1v1s and I have to say that there's almost no competent infestor play at that level. People who make them (at least in zvz, which is where I'd see them) do so at seemingly random times, in small numbers, and mostly just manage to a-move with them, which just gets them killed. I can count on one hand the number of times someone's really screwed me over with infestors.

I'm no expert, but my general sense with infestors is that if you're in a matchup where you feel they're useful, you should try to get them quickly after your lair. Since they spawn without much energy, you want them out well before you need them.

Edit: In high level games, I've mostly seen Neural Parasite used against high-tier "power units" like Colossi, Thors, and siege tanks. If you grab those types of units with the ability, it'll wind up doing a lot more damage than a fungal. It is a lot harder to neural parasite than to fungal, though.

MrSexington

United States1768 Posts

July 13 2011 03:44 GMT

On July 13 2011 11:46 Lysenko wrote:
I'm currently high gold in 1v1s and I have to say that there's almost no competent infestor play at that level. People who make them (at least in zvz, which is where I'd see them) do so at seemingly random times, in small numbers, and mostly just manage to a-move with them, which just gets them killed. I can count on one hand the number of times someone's really screwed me over with infestors.

I'm no expert, but my general sense with infestors is that if you're in a matchup where you feel they're useful, you should try to get them quickly after your lair. Since they spawn without much energy, you want them out well before you need them.

Edit: In high level games, I've mostly seen Neural Parasite used against high-tier "power units" like Colossi, Thors, and siege tanks. If you grab those types of units with the ability, it'll wind up doing a lot more damage than a fungal. It is a lot harder to neural parasite than to fungal, though.

That's kind of interesting.

I know you're talking about 1v1, but I've never gotten Infestors without getting the mana upgrade first. I might play around with this a little.

Servius_Fulvius

United States947 Posts

July 13 2011 04:38 GMT

I'm high gold 1v1 as well and I've run into a few people who know how to handle infestors well. Most of my zvz's are against fast pools into baneling or muta, and at this level a lot of people like to play the "hard counter" game (which probably explains all the mutas), but every so often I'll play another roach/infestor battle and I've never encountered someone who had control that was THAT bad!

Please or register to reply.

Episode 4: The Secret to Silver League 4v4?

Completed

Ongoing

Upcoming