EPT
After dismantling BoxeR in the ACE match today with his brilliant strategy, I will analyse his particular special build order.
So, as most of us know it, Monty Hall is not great of a Zerg Map. What Silver demonstrated was brilliance though.
Let's take a look closely at his build order.
Silver will usually push two drones through the top lane. Silver will then scout for either a fast expansion or a normal build. A normal build would make Silver go pool first. A fast expansion build would make Silver go for 3 hatcheries before a pool (one in the opponents middle lane, one near his own main).
The genius of the strategy is that Silver abuses the mineral walls. If I am correct, the mineral walls are around 64 each, which means 8 mines of a worker each. That takes alot of time, considering there are 4-6 minerals in the wall. With Silver offensively expanding, he takes the advantage that the Terran cannot mine through the middle because of sunken placement and cannot attack with marines because of range. The terran must wait until tanks or use dropships to get through.
While Silver is powering, he goes for both a Spire and Queens Nest, adding a Hydralisk Den during that process. He uses Mutalisks to harass as usual like in a normal ZvT. While he does this, he proceeds to abuse his 3 gas advantage, and go mass hydralisks to uses his minerals, while morphing his mutalisks to guardians after he tech's up.
Silver would then pop his guardians to harass, while his drones at the offensive expansion would mine out the mineral wall. Silver uses the range of the guardians smartly to kill any units trying to stop the mining. Silver would then charge all of his hydralisks, meaning that most of the time, any force that the Terran would amass, be decimated.
So, what is the only way of countering this? The terran could try obviously scouting earlier to adapt to this situation. The terran could also try expanding to the middle lane himself, but would the strategy have the same effect if done in the other lanes? I personally believe that dropship play would be the best though, but what about scourges? Your screwed! So we'll leave this for discsussion.
