• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 00:40
CEST 06:40
KST 13:40
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL22] Ro4 Preview: Mirror Mirror6[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: Within Reach5[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: In A Tizzy11[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Holy Diver5[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Rough Waters10
Community News
Weekly Cups (October 5-11): Farewell to 5.0.162Rollback Netcode in Brood War1005.0.17 Patch Notes - October 7, 202624Weekly Cups Results (Sep 28-Oct 4)0SC4ALL: II SC2 Complete Invited Player Lineup10
StarCraft 2
General
Server Blocker Stellar Fest 2 Replay Pack SCII needs to put more weight on strategy and tact How do you feel about the mass reverts in the 5.0.17 PTR? 5.0.17 Patch Notes - October 7, 2026
Tourneys
Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2) $3,500 WardiTV Not-Summer Championship Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20) ISSL (IntoTheTV x SOOP SC2 League): Premier RSL 2026 Offline Finals LCQ Sign-Ups
Strategy
[H] ZvP Mid-Late Game: Stalkers Collossi HT
Custom Maps
[G] How to playtest arcade maps [A] Nemrods 1/4 players [M] (2) Sweltering Sands [M] (2) Frigid Storage
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 547 Temple Of Terror Mutation # 546 Catch the Train Mutation # 545 And Drops and Rifts
Brood War
General
Rollback Netcode in Brood War BW General Discussion Sagi.gg Launcher Released Bot on ladder BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/
Tourneys
ASL 22 Finals [Women's StarCraft] MonstarZ vs Dreams 2026-10-15 [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL22] Semifinal B
Strategy
Cliff Jump Revisited (1 in a 1000 strategy) Simple Questions, Simple Answers Replay Review Process - What do you do?
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Dawn of War IV General RTS Discussion Thread Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
Dota 2
Dota 2 Champions League Season 3 Begins April 25!
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Artificial Intelligence Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
Serral Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion! Diablo Animated Series on Netflix
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
Recent Gifted Posts
Blogs
The Link Between Gaming and …
TrAiDoS
[ASL22] Ro4 Day1 Ticket Giv…
bITt.mAN
38 yo Retired SWE loo…
PurE)Rabbit-SF
Can Bots Beat Pros?? Starcr…
namkraft
[meme] I finally understa…
LUCKY_NOOB
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 8785 users

Definition of SC Cheese

Blogs > Aqo[il]
Post a Reply
Aqo[il]
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
Israel183 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-07-18 07:19:53
July 18 2009 07:15 GMT
#1
I've seen lots of people argue about what's cheese and what's not and I think there should be one dictionary-type definition that the SC community should agree on to settle this once and for all.

Here is my suggestion: Cheese Tactics are tactics that rely on luck to be effective, and if you're unlucky they would put you behind.

---

[ Examples ]

If you go by this definition, 4/5/6pool is definitely cheese. You're basically hoping P FEs and doesn't scout you until it's too late to send probes to defend his warping cannons. If he went 2gate you're royally fucked, 5-6 probes + zealot can handle your lings well enough and your macro is horribly behind, not to mention he'll have 3 zea quickly.
Early pool in ZvT is retarded, you're basically hoping T doesn't wall, and if he does you already lost.
The only map where you'd want to 4/5/6 pool ZvT is Colosseum, for obvious reason. But even then, take note that 5pool lings come 20 seconds earlier than 9pool.

5pool in ZvZ loses to every single thing Z can do - 9pool, overpool, 12pool, even 12hat, are all a direct counter to 5pool, so if you earlypool in ZvZ shame on you, you won't be getting wins against any player ranked higher than D+ like that (or hell anyone that knows how to micro and how to ZvZ).

BBS is cheese because you're relying on countering a certain opening build, so that he can't respond. If his build was one that gives him the units to counter yours and he's not a complete noob, time to type gg.

5/6probe Proxy gates is cheese because, once again, you're basically relying on your opponent to have bad building placement to deal with the units from those gates and scouting them too late. If his simcity is good and/or he scouted them early, you just wasted a high amount of earlygame minerals and you have to play from a handicapped position.

Proxy robo is not cheese, it's clever play, when you do it you already scouted your opponent and you know his movement patterns so you know where to place it correctly. It's not any more cheese than Z's entire macro - where drone production relies entirely on anticipating the opponent's next move based on information you already have.

Hidden factory/rax float in TvZ isn't cheese because while it relies on not being scouted to truly be effective, it doesn't put you behind if it's scouted, it just won't give you an advantage.

---

So what do you people think about this definition?

Cheese
- Relies on luck to be effective
- Puts you significantly behind if you were unlucky

*
Reavers. Lurkers. Vultures. Defilers. Corsairs. Vessels. Why did they remove all the cool units from SC2...?
GhostKorean
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States2330 Posts
July 18 2009 07:22 GMT
#2
You should add in that while all cheeses are all-ins, not all all-ins are cheeses.
Example: Hydra all-ins in ZvP
theobsessed1
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
United States576 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-07-18 07:23:15
July 18 2009 07:22 GMT
#3
Some of them also rely heavily on micro, at least compared to other standard openings. Luck does play a large factor (scouting, opening builds, etc.) like you already said.

Are all-in plays always considered to be cheese as well?

Edit: Question answered by above post lolol
정명훈 화이팅!~
KawaiiRice
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
United States2914 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-07-18 07:24:00
July 18 2009 07:23 GMT
#4
"I don't cheese" as a T player = I don't BBS? I think that's what I'm seeing here
By that definition though... 1gate dt exp is not a cheese! Shit

Edit: Imo all-in gets mixed up with cheese a lot
@KawaiiRiceLighT
Dazed.
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Canada3301 Posts
July 18 2009 07:30 GMT
#5
cheese is whatever the hell people says it is, because language is elastic. Thread fail. 1/5, would not read again.
Never say Die! ||| Fight you? No, I want to kill you.
Pokebunny
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
United States10654 Posts
July 18 2009 07:37 GMT
#6
You'll never get a solid definition.
Semipro Terran player | Pokebunny#1710 | twitter.com/Pokebunny | twitch.tv/Pokebunny | facebook.com/PokebunnySC
sixghost
Profile Blog Joined November 2007
United States2096 Posts
July 18 2009 07:46 GMT
#7
Stop trying to define a term that means something different to every sc player out there.
mG.sixghost @ iCCup || One ling, two ling, three ling, four... Camp four gas, then ultra-whore . -Saracen
Heyoka
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Katowice25012 Posts
July 18 2009 07:47 GMT
#8
On July 18 2009 16:15 Aqo[il] wrote:
I think there should be one dictionary-type definition that the SC community should agree on to settle this once and for all.



This would be really nice, but its never going to happen. SC is a game that is entirely circumstantial, and its fan are very dumb in general so these semantic arguments are going to happen for eternity.
@RealHeyoka | ESL / DreamHack StarCraft Lead
lazz
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Australia3119 Posts
July 18 2009 07:51 GMT
#9

im ok with cheese just being a build order executed below a certain supply threshold, for example zerg 6 pool is cheese, BBS is cheese, 7 pylon proxy gate is cheese etc)

however there are shitloads of cheesey builds in ZvP that can be executed off 2 base, like 2 hatch hydra all in or 2 hatch mutas 2 hatch lurker drop etc.

it's a loose term,i dont think people will ever agree on a rigid definition.
Harem
Profile Joined November 2007
United States11393 Posts
July 18 2009 08:06 GMT
#10
12hat directly counters 5pool?

looooooool
Moderator。◕‿◕。
georgir
Profile Joined May 2009
Bulgaria253 Posts
July 18 2009 09:15 GMT
#11
the community can never agree to anything.
50bani
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Romania480 Posts
July 18 2009 11:48 GMT
#12
A strategy that relies on the element of surprise.

And no, it is not only about early rushes hidden tech on the map and proxies, 2 base carrier is also cheese and that is mid-to-late game. FE into 4 rax sunken break against 3 hatch is also cheese, any bio vs p, any 1 or 2 hatch lurker, 2 gas hive after 2 hatch muta, and i would also mention that any map particularity that you can exploit to get units in someone's main like temples on medusa is also cheese
I'm posting on twoplustwo because I have always been amazed at the level of talent that populates this site --- it's almost unparalleled on the Internet.
flag
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
United States228 Posts
July 18 2009 15:20 GMT
#13
that is a bad definition because technically "non cheese" builds rely on luck in that if they do a super econ build (14 cc) you will be behind, which by your definition makes them cheese (thus all builds are cheese)
CrimsonLotus
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
Colombia1123 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-07-18 16:33:53
July 18 2009 16:33 GMT
#14
Nobody can really agree to what "cheese" is, but at least is fun to show your own theory.

I've always heard that if you face a clearily superior player in a tournament, you should cheese to have a chance of winning, therefore i believe that cheese should be defined as an early agression that relies on surprise (since the opponent is more skilled) to try and end the game before the difference in skill becomes too relevant.

This way, something like 14 Nexus or two base Carriers would not be considered cheese, since they do not aim for early agression nor ending the game quickly.

Just my opinion.
444 444 444 444
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
OSC
08:00
OSC Elite Rising Star #21
CranKy Ducklings14
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
RuFF_SC2 196
StarCraft: Brood War
Rain 2709
GuemChi 1599
ZergMaN 44
ajuk12(nOOB) 17
Terrorterran 12
Icarus 7
Dota 2
NeuroSwarm191
League of Legends
JimRising 723
Other Games
summit1g6274
Coldzera 809
WinterStarcraft449
C9.Mang0306
PiGStarcraft249
Livibee159
ViBE128
[ Show 17 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH170
• CranKy Ducklings SOOP31
• practicex 22
• Nickrosys15
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• Azhi_Dahaki5
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• lizZardDota265
League of Legends
• Rush1095
• Stunt360
Other Games
• Shiphtur722
Upcoming Events
Online Event
6h 20m
Korean StarCraft League
22h 20m
Afreeca Starleague
1d 1h
Rush vs Soulkey
CranKy Ducklings
1d 5h
AI Arena Tournament
1d 11h
BSL Open Qualifier
1d 14h
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
OSC
2 days
IPSL
2 days
BSL Open Qualifier
2 days
[ Show More ]
WardiTV Weekly
3 days
IntoTheTV X SOOP
4 days
PiGosaur Cup
4 days
The PondCast
5 days
Kung Fu Cup
5 days
IntoTheTV X SOOP
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Super Anchor Qualifying S3
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Copium Cup

Ongoing

ASL Season 22
Acropolis #5
HCC Season 3
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
1win Private Club #1
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026

Upcoming

Acropolis #5 - GSC
BSL Season 23
SC4ALL II: Brood War
BSL 23: Non-Korean Championship
HSC XXX
Stellar Fest 2: Lunar Cup
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
eXTREMESLAND 2026
PGL Major Singapore 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 6
BLAST Rivals Fall 2026
IEM Beijing 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
1win Private Club #2
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.