Alternative Zerg Queen Role

I enjoy a heavy Zergling style of play and when Spanishiwa's build became popular I latched on to it realising it provided a strong opening that could easily be used for my usual play. Being able to stop (Silver/Gold admittedly) 4 gate pushes or early marine/tank pushes with basically little more than Queens and Spines made me realise that there was a strong role for Queens outside of just injecting. Spreading Creep and defending against small pushes or drops are tasks that Queens do well, and I began thinking if there was a way I could utilise that role more thoroughly, and this thread is the result.

In short, when an early economy is established macro hatcheries should be built instead of Queens, with regard to getting access to more Larva.

The long version is that this isn't actually a solid build order or some great way to win, it's a shift in focus. At the start of the game you obviously can't afford to be throwing down macro hatcheries in general as the game is just too volatile and the risk of losing must always be on the player's mind, and as a result the standard injection role is the only sensible option. After this part of the game though, I believe the focus with Queens should shift to spreading Creep, whilst additional Hatchery's are placed to make up the missing Larva. I also think that Queens should be able to get enough energy for Transfusion where necessary and be the primary responders to drops or other harassment (backed up by static defence), rather than the army which should always be ready to cause trouble for your opponent.

Having maybe 5 queens available, and spreading creep when you'd normally inject or saving energy for base defence seems to provide a really good alternative to the standard play.

The big issue with this change is obviously all about Larva, how much are you getting or losing, when are you having it and what are you getting in this new build for the exchange, so here's some maths to explain my thinking.

First there are two facts that I need to state before doing any analysis. A Hatchery spawns a larva every 15 seconds so long as there's not 3 or more. A Queen injection spawns 4 larva after 40 seconds. All numbers are in game time.

Therefore in it's most basic comparison when performed perfectly the standard method can go as follows:

0:00 – *Inject*
0:15 – 1 Larva
0:30 – 1 Larva
0:40 – 4 Larva
0:41 – *Inject*
0:45 – 1 Larva

Total – 7 Larva over 45 seconds.

With my alternative method suggestion it would always be as follows:

0:00 – *Creep Tumour*
0:15 – 2 Larva
0:30 – 2 Larva
0:41 – *Creep Tumour*
0:45 – 2 Larva

Total – 6 Larva + 2 Creep Tumours (or 1 Transfuse) over 45 seconds.

There are a couple of things worth noting about the above numbers though which I want to cover for completions sake. First, if your inject doesn't come immediately after a spawn you do run the risk of the injected Larva popping just before a spawn which results in only 6 larva over 45 seconds (so the same as having a macro Hatchery with no injections) if you're unable to immediately morph the new Larva.

Another consideration though is every 3 minutes 20 seconds or so, if your injects have been completely flawless in both timing and larva use you will gain 4 larva that you won't get from my alternative.

Finally, the only other difference is that with the alternative method you are actually up 1 larva 10 seconds before injects pop.

For the sake of argument I'm going to continue this post assuming perfect injections because I want to compare the best possible outcome from playing both builds as I want to use the stronger style, even if that isn't what I'm presenting in this post.

The other numbers to consider hurt my case, but for the sake of completion I want to include them.

Traditional cost per base:

Hatchery (1 Drone + 1 Hatchery) = 350 Minerals
Queen = 150 Minerals
Total = 450 Minerals

Alternative cost per base:

Hatcheries (2 Drones + 2 Hatcheries) = 700 Minerals
Total = 700 Minerals

Those numbers are representative of the cost for getting the Larva out, clearly both methods require Queens, but since in the standard method additional Queens are produced for spreading Creep or base defence I didn't feel it was accurate to include non injecting Queens in the alternative method.

That said I tend to play with 5 or 6 Queens on the field in order to utilise this method, so you could realistically add a further 900 minerals, but the distinction in unit role is important, in the same way you wouldn't count the cost of Mutalisks and Speedlings defending a base from drops in the cost of the base itself.

Pretty much yes, if you play perfectly with the standard method you'll spend less minerals and get more Larva, so now I'm going to have to convince you that this alternative is worth it for what you get in return.

The biggest and immediately most noticeable difference is in Creep spread. If you have your focus on Creep instead of injections you can literally reach the point after not too long that if you wanted to you could immediately spread Creep after spreading all your active Tumours (no I'm not suggesting it's a good idea, I'm giving an idea of the scale of the Creep spread attainable when you're not focusing on injects).

I'm not going to go in to all the benefits of massive creep spread as most people will already know them, but suffice to say this can help you use the 6 larva you'll have per base far more efficiently than the (at best) half hearted Creep spread you routinely see even at the top levels of play. To provide some point for consideration though this method regularly slows down enemy pushes as they can't risk engaging on creep generally, and will spend time trying to clear it out before moving in, and even when they do move in you're able to use your (admittedly one less) Larva far more efficiently and support your bases very efficiently. When your opponent has been pushed back you can immediately replace any lost Tumours generally and all you lose for that massive strategic advantage is 1 Larva every 45 seconds, and 250 minerals per base you set up.

The other way I think this method provides a strong benefit you don't get in a more standard Queen role is again a strategic point, and this time (as mentioned briefly earlier) in base defence. In current play it is very common for a base to have a Spore Crawler or Spine Crawler or two for defending, whilst still forcing significant numbers of a Zerg's main army to return home. As your Creep spread gets going though you can quite easily send a few Queens to locations between bases on most maps, so that when a drop occurs a Queen contingent can come and support the static defences of a base. Transfusion heals for 125, so with just two Transfusions (two queens who would have just missed their second inject in a standard build to show the time frame) you could almost double the effectiveness of Spine Crawlers whilst adding additional DPS as well, and not risking losing out on Larva by using them to fight off harassment. Additionally, while an opponent is dropping you they have their army split up, so now you don't always have to bring Lings back, why not have a group go and counter attack somewhere. I think this point is a serious bonus over the traditional role of Queens desperately trying not to miss an injection.

A more simple benefit that I feel would help people like myself, not at the top tiers of play is you don't have to put any of your APM in to injections, and your Larva count doesn't just jump every 40 seconds requiring immediate attention in order to get the most use out of it, it rather raises steadily. Even if you weren't able to utilise the Creep spread as well as you maybe could even a player in the Bronze league wouldn't be falling too far behind in used Larva when compared to someone at the top of their Grand Master's league with absolutely flawless injections.

The final advantage of this alternative role, ironically, is an injection benefit. When you're in a late game situation and want to trade armies with an opponent and then re-max behind it, or whenever you just need a surge of units quickly you will generally always have enough Hatcheries and energy available that you're able to use a single injection on all of them which will provide enough larva for a massive surge of units. For instance 3 base with this method would be 6 Hatcheries, which after injecting would give 42 larva to use, where a more standard 3 base and maybe one macro Hatchery would provide only 28, and of course the better Creep spread option from this method allows for very fast reinforcements, even for the likes of Hydralisks.

This role for Queens is quite general but I can't think a single situation where this should be the play from the start. Early game you don't have the time to produce the Hatchery's you need and so have to get every last larva you can from injecting to be safe and I absolutely do not advocate swapping styles until you're stable on two bases. That said though after you reach a stable mid game point there isn't (in my opinion) a time where this style isn't better than the standard.

That said, because of how volatile I find ZvZ I don't ever feel I've reached a stable mid game and so I don't yet use this in a mirror match up.