Anyways its probably pretty boring reading, but take what you can from it if you like.
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okay so im sick of fuckin 7gate. i think writing this out will help me deal with it. who knows. its a stab in the dark.
okay so the strat is (usually) FFE with one or two gates into 7gate. im going to guess randomly and say the expo probably goes down around 4 minutes thirty seconds, and its unassailable ( virtually) at about 6 mins. now if i see fast forge i can guess what hes going for so ill get speed and a few lings to get in his face, but that only does so much, he will have zealot/stalkers eventually. so, it seems like all i can do is go for some fast roaches. BEFORE he gets too many sentries in his mix....then it really IS unassailable.
okayokay.
maybe im thinking about it all wrong.
from his perspective: its zerg, hes vulnerable to a 7gate.
execute build.
what is the worst thing that could happen to me. when am i the most vulnerable.
after i build the forge and throw down the expo. before cannons come online.after that im safe.
what would i feel insecure about? what composition would i not want to face? id hate static defense. zerg doesn't usually turtle, so its not usually a problem. queens and crawlers.
Queens and crawlers.
if i take an expo, get it up at around the same timing as his, build extra queens and drone hard, and spend down on crawlers, id be safe, and when the pressure stopped i could take a safe third using normal map control/pressure. the problems with this strategy is that with the new maps , especially the lava one, crawler placement is really tricky. all the maps. i could get a few roaches to keep them out of my main, and then just defend the natural. i could have 5-8 crawlers. is that enough?
with transfuses maybe. but the placement is realllllly tough.
okay lets create the worst possible scenario.
im on two bases and the attack is coming, i have crawlers up all over my natural, but its the lava map so there is that little back entrance. the stalkers don't have blink....just pure and unadulterated gateway army. no upgrades.
how do i protect it?
spread creep to it , drop a couple evos and then put a crawler behind them. i could abuse the range advantage they have over stalkers.
okay, that should work to defend the push, but lets think about where he would be. he might be taking his third right now. that means that right after the attack if i get lots of lings i can abuse their speed and harass him. also if there are too many zealots i could just pin him with lings or mutas as i build up infestor roach with pathogen glands. i could take a third behind this.
(this should also work if its just a straight 7 gate without the forge fast expand since id be playing defensively for the first part of the game anyways.)
okay good.
now on to the next problem. Forcefields.
seriously the most annoying shit ever. guy with fail macro wins by spamming f correctly. i hate hate hate it. I'm better than these people.
now how can i win?
okay, so forcefields break up my units, prevent reinforcements, and stop me from engaging properly. the sentries are weak. so i could pick them off with lings? that's a long shot. good players don't get caught out of position like that anymore. so what?
i could feint an attack big enough to force him to use ffs. hmm. roaches with burrow would do the trick, send in, , he uses FF , burrow and get out. that only works until he has a robo, and if you don't scout it you could lose 5 or 6 roaches for like half his energy.maybe i could get hydras with range? without range they have range 5, with it they have 6. stalkers have 6, so it wouldn't be a massacre like it is with roaches, but id still be fighting sub-optimally, on his terms. that wont work. i could get fancy with some good fungals. i think it only takes 2, or 3 to kill a sentry, and they are usually balled up so its not infeasible.i need to remember to hotkey my infestors.
that seems like an elegant solution.
if hes 7gating, i can turtle and whether the attack behind crawlers, where ffs wont benefit him as much, and then once i hold it i can tech fast to infestors. roach infestor is strong. wow why dont i get burrow and tunneling claws? that's actually really versatile.
okay. so the game goes like this. 7gate->defend-> harass third/vulnerable points, keep him pinned -> tech infestors and get ups for roaches/infestors.-> get infestor roach ball going (should already have a bunch of roaches.->creep and map control, third, push out. -> attack and destroy third if possible. if i have mutalisks simultaneously harass his main to divide his forces or exploit the fact that he doesn't. third becomes saturated, keep army in the dark so he doesn't know where it is. catch observers with fungal, and move army if you get spotted. control all the towers , take a fourth, and keep attacking.
this helped.
PS: i don't hate protoss who use forcefields. this was written post-rage. :D