EPTI have been thinking, and I have decided my biggest problem is I don't have a clear plan of action for any game. As I said in the last entry, I tend to wait to 200/200 to do any kind of heavy aggression other than harass as I don't feel safe doing anything else. So I have decided to set myself a plan for each match up. I don't want build orders, they are too constricting, especially for Zerg, so it's more of an overview of how I want the game to go. My aim for each game is to deny the opponents third for as long as I can and survive any 2 base all ins.
Scouting
I always send my 10th Drone to scout. Some might think this is too early, but I prefer the safety of seeing what the enemy is doing. I rally my 10th Drone to the base my initial Overlord isn't heading towards, this times quite well as it comes out at the same time as my 10/18 Overlord and I can afford to get 2 more drones.
My initial Overlord always goes to the closest base. My second Overlord goes to sit over my natural so I can spot cannoning or bunkers (the number of times I see pro players neglecting this always shocks me!).
vs Terran
I will open up Hatchery first unless I scout him doing anything dodgy or he blocks my expansion with a Engineering Bay. I will take a 1 gas after my hatchery and get speed and pull off gas. Once I get to about 40-45 supply I will put some gas down and if I see he's gone for reactor hellions put a Roach Warren down as well.
My midgame will be either Infestors or Mutalisks, while getting double upgrades for my melee units. If he's gone for mech then I will get Infestors to hopefully catch roaming Hellions and as a way to harass without risking Thor shots on my Mutalisks.
My aim is obviously to move towards an Infestor/Brood Lord composition in the late game.
vs Protoss
Protoss games will be a Speedling expand into a quick third against FFEs or heavy 2 base roach builds against 1 base play. I will use Queens and Spore Crawlers against any Stargate play.
If they FFE into Stargate I will go for a Roach/Hydra/Infestor composition with Corruptors added if he's going for Colossus. I don't want to waste gas on Mutalisks if he already has a handful of Phoenix.
Again, the aim is to hold off any 2 base all ins (7 gate, etc) using roach/ling and spine crawlers. Once held off I will deny the third for as long as I can while expanding as much as I can and teching up to Brood Lord/Infestor.
vs Zerg
Zerg is my biggest nightmare right now. If I can get myself out of the early game then I usually win, but surviving the early onslaught I find incredibly difficult. To compliment strengths, I will open Hatch first in ZvZ with gas on 17 supply. First 100 gas on speed, next 50 on baneling nest and take 1 drone out of gas to give me a health supply of gas for banelings. I will play defensively with my banelings and once I have a healthy amount of drones I'll get a Roach Warren and work towards my mid game army which will be Roach/Infestor. I really enjoy this style of play and generally win against other Zerg who use this strategy. I need to be wary of Mutalisks though as if the Banelings don't kill me it is usually unscouted Spires that do.
I don't just want to win but I want to improve. There are several things that I know I need to improve on and several that I feel I am already fairly good at. So this is my list of things I need to improve on:
Denying expansions I want to make this the basis of my build so it is vitally important I keep a keen eye on the opponents third (and ninja expansions) to ensure I cannot be surprised by an overwhelming army. It should be easy to scout for expansions, I just need to position an overlord over the base (and I want to start being annoying with burrowed Zerglings as well)
Taking gas too late I often end up floating quite high on minerals despite hitting injects because I am not taking my gases early. This affects my upgrades and tech and generally makes my mid-game less effective.
Creep Spread I am generally quite good at spreading creep, usually I make an early third Queen but I tend to forget to spread creep once the game progresses.
Scouting I drone scout quite well but I find my mid game scouting is often not as good as it should be. I always get overlord speed to help but rarely get Overseers for scouting. I need to be more proactive in positioning my Overlords as often when I decide to scout I have nothing in position to be able to.
So there we go. Sounds easy(?)! I'll be playing my first games since this started tonight and I'll endeavour to post my analysis (and replays) of each game.
See you soon.
Woolierwand
