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ZvT recent developments

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swanized
Profile Blog Joined September 2009
Canada2480 Posts
December 17 2018 20:48 GMT
#1
Hi all,

I've only been watching bigger tournaments in the last 3 years and I'd like to pick the brains of community members who are following daily streams and other tournaments more closely.

It seems like ZvT has changed a lot in the past 3-4 months and recently Zergs are doing quite well even, after struggling for years. Here are my questions

1) Why did 5 Rax +1 quit completely dominating the matchup?

I'm aware that Flash mentionned that he was feeling like zergs were adapting to the build and that is part of the reason he developped 1-1-1 in the last year (that and 1-1-1 being easier on the hands is the extend of my knowledge). Even now that 1-1-1 seems to have fallen out of fashion, players going 5 rax +1 don't seem to be having as much success with it as they used to. My question is: What exactly was the adaptation that zerg players brought to the table against the build? I notice that when Terrans go out on the map to hunt the third they get crunched by mutaling quite often nowadays. Did zergs find some build order refinements that beat that timing? What happened exactly?

2) Why did Terrans abruptly stop to mech switch

Mech switch dominated the matchup for a good 5 years span (if not more) is my impression but it seems like in between 2 ASLs every Terran went back to doing SK terran (with BCs). What brought about such a sudden change? I figure this has to do with terrans not being able to dominate the midgame as much as they used to with 5 rax +1 so maybe the answer to the first question answers this one too.

3) What's up with the BCs

I don't really get the BC strat. I feel like the BCs are rarely very cost efficient, especially when considering you could be making vessels instead. I get that BCs don't require much APM to work with compared to vessels but can someone explain to me the strong case for building BCs?

Thank you everyone.
Writer
Toss_Master
Profile Joined June 2017
United States46 Posts
December 17 2018 21:21 GMT
#2
Bcs one shot scourge.
SchAmToo
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States1141 Posts
December 17 2018 21:32 GMT
#3
2) Why did Terrans abruptly stop to mech switch

I believe Zergs started getting really good at abusing the slowness of mech switch. It takes good conditions to do, and I noticed a lot of zergs abusing that moment perfectly. I noticed zergs getting really good at multi-pronged drops/pushes. I believe 2h is also a great way to keep terran locked down, and kinda came back in favor when i noticed mech going away. I'm not sure if those are related but a trend i noticed. it seems unlikely to effect one another to me tho.

3) What's up with the BCs
BCs are good at many things. One, as you mentioned, they take 1 action to go do damage. This requires a billion commands for zerg to handle correctly. They soak scourge. Scourge are 75gas to build 2, but you need 6 to hit a +0 upgrade BC to kill it. Since BCs one shot them, you typically need more than 6 built. They cause Zerg to spend >225 gas which is zerg's biggest problem late game is spending gas efficiently.
Zergs have been handling this by using plague more on them, building hydras to counter, etc. It requires a lot of decision making as well as it guaranteed drains gas.
twitch.tv/schamtoo | twitter.com/schamtoo
Cryoc
Profile Joined July 2011
Germany909 Posts
December 17 2018 21:41 GMT
#4
Zergs just don't get their thirds as fast anymore to defend vs the m&m.

Terrans don't go mech switch much anymore because most maps that were used in the last 2 ASLs are not very good for it.

The point of the BC's is mainly to create a timing for the followup dropships by soaking up the scourges. They can also be cost efficient, if Zerg only deals with them in a half-assed way.
http://www.twitch.tv/cryoc
Me_ToKa
Profile Joined September 2009
Bulgaria309 Posts
December 17 2018 22:01 GMT
#5
I think Flash said that 1-1-1 is now a dead build. Soon Terrans will be back to some kind a modified +1 5 rax into mech. I guarantee!
Most of the recent games are semi all-ins. So ugly...
You just throw BCs to Z and let him deal with them while you are roaming elsewhere.
ninazerg
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
United States7291 Posts
December 17 2018 22:02 GMT
#6
I feel like the +1 5rax stopped being as dominant because Terrans aren't doing the mech switch. This is partially because the maps haven't always been good for fortifying a corner main. Otherwise, I think it's a completely legit way to play and more Terrans should do it. One problem with it is that it can drag the game out to 30-40 minutes, which can be very taxing. Lee Young Ho probably stopped doing it because his wrists are in bad shape, and practicing hundreds of 30+ minute games made him want to do something less time-consuming. Generally speaking, when Flash switches strategies, other Terrans tend to follow suit.

As for the battlecruiser thing, I'm not sure I understand it completely, but if you look at the cost values, we see this:

Scourge - 75 gas
Battlecruiser - 300 gas

It will take at least 5 scourge to kill a battlecruiser. That will come out to 375 gas spent for the Zerg player versus 300 for the Terran player. Additionally, battlecruisers can kill scourge with a single shot, which means that it may take 6 scourge for a cost of 450 gas. To deal with just two battlecruisers will require the Zerg to make 12 scourge. As the number of battlecruisers increases, the effectiveness of the scourge goes down dramatically. This allows the Terran to do three things: use the battlecruisers to deal damage to the Zerg, force the Zerg to utilize a lot of larvae that could be used to make ground units, and force the Zerg to spend a lot of gas on scourge instead of defilers, ultralisks, or lurkers.

Often times, the Zerg player will not have air units upgraded, or have hydralisk upgrades, which can make battlecruisers difficult to deal with using a Zerg that has tooled their infrastructure to fight defensively against a large and fairly mobile Terran ground army.
"If two pregnant women get into a fist fight, it's like a mecha-battle between two unborn babies." - Fyodor Dostoevsky
Anc13nt
Profile Blog Joined October 2017
1557 Posts
December 17 2018 22:34 GMT
#7
On December 18 2018 07:02 ninazerg wrote:
I feel like the +1 5rax stopped being as dominant because Terrans aren't doing the mech switch. This is partially because the maps haven't always been good for fortifying a corner main. Otherwise, I think it's a completely legit way to play and more Terrans should do it. One problem with it is that it can drag the game out to 30-40 minutes, which can be very taxing. Lee Young Ho probably stopped doing it because his wrists are in bad shape, and practicing hundreds of 30+ minute games made him want to do something less time-consuming. Generally speaking, when Flash switches strategies, other Terrans tend to follow suit.

As for the battlecruiser thing, I'm not sure I understand it completely, but if you look at the cost values, we see this:

Scourge - 75 gas
Battlecruiser - 300 gas

It will take at least 5 scourge to kill a battlecruiser. That will come out to 375 gas spent for the Zerg player versus 300 for the Terran player. Additionally, battlecruisers can kill scourge with a single shot, which means that it may take 6 scourge for a cost of 450 gas. To deal with just two battlecruisers will require the Zerg to make 12 scourge. As the number of battlecruisers increases, the effectiveness of the scourge goes down dramatically. This allows the Terran to do three things: use the battlecruisers to deal damage to the Zerg, force the Zerg to utilize a lot of larvae that could be used to make ground units, and force the Zerg to spend a lot of gas on scourge instead of defilers, ultralisks, or lurkers.

Often times, the Zerg player will not have air units upgraded, or have hydralisk upgrades, which can make battlecruisers difficult to deal with using a Zerg that has tooled their infrastructure to fight defensively against a large and fairly mobile Terran ground army.


I think it would cost 225 gas for zerg since you can get 2 for 75 gas. But even still, BCs are good because Zerg needs gas at the mid-late game stage of the game more than terran imo. Along with it's other uses, it's kind of like a gas dump that forces zerg to also dump gas.
L_Master
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States8017 Posts
December 17 2018 22:37 GMT
#8
On December 18 2018 07:01 Me_ToKa wrote:
I think Flash said that 1-1-1 is now a dead build. Soon Terrans will be back to some kind a modified +1 5 rax into mech. I guarantee!
Most of the recent games are semi all-ins. So ugly...
You just throw BCs to Z and let him deal with them while you are roaming elsewhere.


Did he really? I guess that means after playing/studying his games his EffOrt he decided there was no way he felt with to adequately deal with all of zergs aggressive options.
EffOrt and Soulkey Hwaiting!
XenOsky
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Chile2277 Posts
December 17 2018 22:52 GMT
#9
4 rax 2 starport is the future
StarCraft & Audax Italiano.
BigFan
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
TLADT24920 Posts
December 17 2018 23:05 GMT
#10
On December 18 2018 07:01 Me_ToKa wrote:
I think Flash said that 1-1-1 is now a dead build. Soon Terrans will be back to some kind a modified +1 5 rax into mech. I guarantee!
Most of the recent games are semi all-ins. So ugly...
You just throw BCs to Z and let him deal with them while you are roaming elsewhere.

do you have a link for this?
Former BW EiC"Watch Bakemonogatari or I will kill you." -Toad, April 18th, 2017
ortseam
Profile Joined April 2015
996 Posts
December 17 2018 23:16 GMT
#11
On December 18 2018 07:37 L_Master wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 18 2018 07:01 Me_ToKa wrote:
I think Flash said that 1-1-1 is now a dead build. Soon Terrans will be back to some kind a modified +1 5 rax into mech. I guarantee!
Most of the recent games are semi all-ins. So ugly...
You just throw BCs to Z and let him deal with them while you are roaming elsewhere.


Did he really? I guess that means after playing/studying his games his EffOrt he decided there was no way he felt with to adequately deal with all of zergs aggressive options.

I mean, it's not like Effort did something new, one ling all-in and one hydra bust were the successful ones (2 hatch defiler was against bio)
Dante08
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
Singapore4128 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-12-18 01:52:22
December 18 2018 01:51 GMT
#12
On December 18 2018 05:48 swanized wrote:
Hi all,

I've only been watching bigger tournaments in the last 3 years and I'd like to pick the brains of community members who are following daily streams and other tournaments more closely.

It seems like ZvT has changed a lot in the past 3-4 months and recently Zergs are doing quite well even, after struggling for years. Here are my questions

1) Why did 5 Rax +1 quit completely dominating the matchup?

I'm aware that Flash mentionned that he was feeling like zergs were adapting to the build and that is part of the reason he developped 1-1-1 in the last year (that and 1-1-1 being easier on the hands is the extend of my knowledge). Even now that 1-1-1 seems to have fallen out of fashion, players going 5 rax +1 don't seem to be having as much success with it as they used to. My question is: What exactly was the adaptation that zerg players brought to the table against the build? I notice that when Terrans go out on the map to hunt the third they get crunched by mutaling quite often nowadays. Did zergs find some build order refinements that beat that timing? What happened exactly?

2) Why did Terrans abruptly stop to mech switch

Mech switch dominated the matchup for a good 5 years span (if not more) is my impression but it seems like in between 2 ASLs every Terran went back to doing SK terran (with BCs). What brought about such a sudden change? I figure this has to do with terrans not being able to dominate the midgame as much as they used to with 5 rax +1 so maybe the answer to the first question answers this one too.

3) What's up with the BCs

I don't really get the BC strat. I feel like the BCs are rarely very cost efficient, especially when considering you could be making vessels instead. I get that BCs don't require much APM to work with compared to vessels but can someone explain to me the strong case for building BCs?

Thank you everyone.


1) Zergs simply got better at dealing with 5 rax +1 after practicing for so long. At first you could tell Zerg didn't really know what to do and just lose their third almost always. But the top Zergs started to figure it out (see Soulkey vs Sharp game 5 recently) and it just wasn't as effective anymore.

2) Mech switch was partly popular because alot of games were played on FS/CB or similar maps which allowed for relatively easy mech switches. Then again Zergs started figuring out and changes to the map pool caused mech to go out of style.

3) It's a great resource dump + harass strategy if the Terran has alot of bases. It's nearly impossible to control a max bio + vessel army anyway so leaving some supply in BCs can be a great harass strategy. Zerg needs a ton of scourge/spore/plague/hydra/muta to deal with it. It is also an excellent buffer for dropships to follow behind.
ggsimida
Profile Joined August 2015
1148 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-12-18 01:59:47
December 18 2018 01:59 GMT
#13
On December 18 2018 10:51 Dante08 wrote:

2) Mech switch was partly popular because alot of games were played on FS/CB or similar maps which allowed for relatively easy mech switches. Then again Zergs started figuring out and changes to the map pool caused mech to go out of style.



you shouldn't look at the ksl2 finals to make this false assumption. sharp hardly ever go for mech in tvz, its just not his style. mech is still the best way to handle lategame tvz, sk just doesnt cut it if you let the zerg comfortably secure his 4th and 5th and amove his ling/ultra/defilers with impunity
iCCup.Trent
Profile Joined May 2005
Argentina450 Posts
December 18 2018 03:48 GMT
#14
Yesterday I saw EffOrt doing something I'd never seen before. He's known for early burrow, but what he did was use it defensively against 1-1-1 early Wraith burrowing the attacked drones one by one as they were being hit. The result was 0 dead drones in time for mutas to come out. Very interesting.
BigFan
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
TLADT24920 Posts
December 18 2018 03:51 GMT
#15
^ It's not that different from turning drones into colonies then canceling once wraith leaves, and putting them back to mining. Having burrow also helps with erasers later on.
Former BW EiC"Watch Bakemonogatari or I will kill you." -Toad, April 18th, 2017
iCCup.Trent
Profile Joined May 2005
Argentina450 Posts
December 18 2018 04:28 GMT
#16
On December 18 2018 12:51 BigFan wrote:
^ It's not that different from turning drones into colonies then canceling once wraith leaves, and putting them back to mining. Having burrow also helps with erasers later on.

Are you sure? In my experience, making colonies is very cumbersome at that speed. You need a large free rectangular space between minerals, base and in between other drones and you're not exactly rich at that time in the game. Burrowing is clicking drone and pressing B, works every time.
chongu
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
Malaysia2589 Posts
December 18 2018 05:29 GMT
#17
2) regarding the mech switch, I believe it still has a lot of viability depending on the maps. I noticed a lot of zergs couldn't and still can't figure it out - mostly B-grade zergs like Shine, modesty, 815.

The only reason why it fell out of favour is because 1-1-1 was the new meta that is advantageous and playable on a lot of maps.
SC2 is to BW, what coke is to wine.
LocoBolon
Profile Joined June 2012
Argentina243 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-12-18 05:54:07
December 18 2018 05:53 GMT
#18
On December 18 2018 13:28 iCCup.Trent wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 18 2018 12:51 BigFan wrote:
^ It's not that different from turning drones into colonies then canceling once wraith leaves, and putting them back to mining. Having burrow also helps with erasers later on.

Are you sure? In my experience, making colonies is very cumbersome at that speed. You need a large free rectangular space between minerals, base and in between other drones and you're not exactly rich at that time in the game. Burrowing is clicking drone and pressing B, works every time.


I too belive burrow makes muchmore sense than the colony trick when you are actually playing and doing it. go effort
Standard Queens
LocoBolon
Profile Joined June 2012
Argentina243 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-12-18 06:30:56
December 18 2018 06:27 GMT
#19
about scourge and BC: I think making a BC and holding it behind z mineral line outside spore range in late game is very very cost effective. It's about gas, apm and larva.

As some said, to kill 1 bc need 6 scourge land, right? (not sure tho) +1 that BC kill = 7 scourge

Z needs 300 gas to kill 1 BC if no scourge kamikaze alone before it.
Why think trading 300x300 gas at best is even trade? It's not a mirror match, gas value ratio is definitely not 1-1 for each party here. I think that trade is very good for Terran.

Also z needs 4 larvas if micro correct and lose 0 drones wich is very very unlikely, If a BC manage to kill 4 drones somehow that is 8 larva for one bc. then 3 bc => 24 larva.

Also the apm trade: drone transfer, scorge making and micro, etc vs BC makin, sending and mb holdig

BC can be very hardcore to deal with in the hands of someone like Light, add matrix def, and dropships to all above and they are such a power move.
thats why we see BC sitting forever at progame level zerg bases. they take a lot tp be dealt with
Standard Queens
Dante08
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
Singapore4128 Posts
December 18 2018 06:38 GMT
#20
On December 18 2018 10:59 ggsimida wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 18 2018 10:51 Dante08 wrote:

2) Mech switch was partly popular because alot of games were played on FS/CB or similar maps which allowed for relatively easy mech switches. Then again Zergs started figuring out and changes to the map pool caused mech to go out of style.



you shouldn't look at the ksl2 finals to make this false assumption. sharp hardly ever go for mech in tvz, its just not his style. mech is still the best way to handle lategame tvz, sk just doesnt cut it if you let the zerg comfortably secure his 4th and 5th and amove his ling/ultra/defilers with impunity


I'm not, I quoted that game to highlight how Zergs deal with 5 rax +1 nowadays. Yes mech is still the best way to handle lategame TvZ but as I mentioned zergs like Soulkey Effort Larva have figured out how to deal with it more effectively and not let Terran get the other main up easily. It's still used in some cases but there's a reason why you don't see Terrans doing it much anymore. Coupled with the fact that there are alot more 2-3 player maps recently which don't allow you to spilt the map easily.
ninazerg
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
United States7291 Posts
December 18 2018 06:58 GMT
#21
On December 18 2018 07:34 Anc13nt wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 18 2018 07:02 ninazerg wrote:
I feel like the +1 5rax stopped being as dominant because Terrans aren't doing the mech switch. This is partially because the maps haven't always been good for fortifying a corner main. Otherwise, I think it's a completely legit way to play and more Terrans should do it. One problem with it is that it can drag the game out to 30-40 minutes, which can be very taxing. Lee Young Ho probably stopped doing it because his wrists are in bad shape, and practicing hundreds of 30+ minute games made him want to do something less time-consuming. Generally speaking, when Flash switches strategies, other Terrans tend to follow suit.

As for the battlecruiser thing, I'm not sure I understand it completely, but if you look at the cost values, we see this:

Scourge - 75 gas
Battlecruiser - 300 gas

It will take at least 5 scourge to kill a battlecruiser. That will come out to 375 gas spent for the Zerg player versus 300 for the Terran player. Additionally, battlecruisers can kill scourge with a single shot, which means that it may take 6 scourge for a cost of 450 gas. To deal with just two battlecruisers will require the Zerg to make 12 scourge. As the number of battlecruisers increases, the effectiveness of the scourge goes down dramatically. This allows the Terran to do three things: use the battlecruisers to deal damage to the Zerg, force the Zerg to utilize a lot of larvae that could be used to make ground units, and force the Zerg to spend a lot of gas on scourge instead of defilers, ultralisks, or lurkers.

Often times, the Zerg player will not have air units upgraded, or have hydralisk upgrades, which can make battlecruisers difficult to deal with using a Zerg that has tooled their infrastructure to fight defensively against a large and fairly mobile Terran ground army.


I think it would cost 225 gas for zerg since you can get 2 for 75 gas. But even still, BCs are good because Zerg needs gas at the mid-late game stage of the game more than terran imo. Along with it's other uses, it's kind of like a gas dump that forces zerg to also dump gas.


oops, you're right. My mind has been elsewhere today...
"If two pregnant women get into a fist fight, it's like a mecha-battle between two unborn babies." - Fyodor Dostoevsky
abuse
Profile Joined April 2011
Latvia1934 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-12-18 09:56:18
December 18 2018 09:55 GMT
#22
how does plague not completely shut down BC's?
I haven't really watched any games with bc's, but everything in my brain says that going bc's vs zerg is the absolute worst thing you can possibly do.
Isn't it an extremely easy and cost-effective counter by zerg?
I don't believe you.
[sc1f]eonzerg
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Belgium6634 Posts
December 18 2018 10:05 GMT
#23
On December 18 2018 18:55 abuse wrote:
how does plague not completely shut down BC's?
I haven't really watched any games with bc's, but everything in my brain says that going bc's vs zerg is the absolute worst thing you can possibly do.
Isn't it an extremely easy and cost-effective counter by zerg?

do you know how much damage does plague to Bcs ?
hint:they re not with 1hp after plague.
Qikz
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
United Kingdom12022 Posts
December 18 2018 11:26 GMT
#24
On December 18 2018 19:05 [sc1f]eonzerg wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 18 2018 18:55 abuse wrote:
how does plague not completely shut down BC's?
I haven't really watched any games with bc's, but everything in my brain says that going bc's vs zerg is the absolute worst thing you can possibly do.
Isn't it an extremely easy and cost-effective counter by zerg?

do you know how much damage does plague to Bcs ?
hint:they re not with 1hp after plague.


Why not just tell him. (Wiki)Plague does 295-300 damage to a BC.
FanTaSy's #1 Fan | STPL Caster/Organiser | SKT BEST KT | https://twitch.tv/stpl
JaehoonBeast
Profile Joined November 2018
5 Posts
December 18 2018 15:45 GMT
#25
1. Obviously, once a build is used that much you expect players to start making micro-adjustments to play against it more efficiently. Quicker hive and lurk off of only 9 mutas for example. Once you stabilize on 3 bases +1 5rax loses a lot of its pressure and the Terran will have to reapply pressure with follow-up tech whether its 2 starport drops/vessels, tanks, or fast expanding into mech switch. I also think that anytime that the Terran ball gets kill by mutaling is purely a mistake on Terrans fault for not reinforcing properly/ making too long movements on the map so you can look at the player in question as well since Flash rarely loses his mnm to mutaling without trading very efficiently. As Soulkey put it, anytime a muta opener is used, mutas can win or lose you the game. You can see it as pros figuring out more efficient ways to use or in the case of faster hive, not use mutas. Compare muta movement from Soulkey to say Effort and you'll see that Effort still struggles against a good +1 5rax.

2. Mech switch is fairly map dependent, not too much to say about that. It requires a lot of resources to accomplish as well as being given the time to put down factories and upgrades. This is normally accomplished on 4p maps by using mines, mnm groups to block drops, and forward pressure with vessels. One thing about the mech switch is sometimes you see Terran gearing up for it even if the Zerg is behind so lets say a late 3rd or low muta count. This can potentially let Zerg back into the game by allowing them to drone up and take expansions with minimal pressure whereas if Terran went SK and stayed ahead on upgrades, constantly making vessels and drops as well as BCs (leading to #3) they would set themselves up for an easier win.

3. BC aren't a build every single game and at a random timing thing. Yes they are good gas sinks because youll always have left over gas if youre producing mnm on 6+ barracks. This assumes you also have a healthy vessel count beforehand, you dont want to have 2 BC and 0 vessel and its mostly to disrupt production of the Zerg. Note that BC sees most use before the introduction of Ultralisks. You force Zerg to spend more gas on scourge and defilers with constant pressure not allowing for the massive Ultralisk tech switch. One thing that isn't quite new but is used a lot as a follow-up in case they can't close the game with MM + BC is "Neo-SK" which involves the constant production of MM + Vessel/BC + Upgraded Tanks. It slowly starts to look like a Mech transition but much more sustainable because of the constant pressure you're applying which gives you the time as opposed to the mines and whatnot of a traditional Late Mech Transition.

Anc13nt
Profile Blog Joined October 2017
1557 Posts
December 18 2018 18:41 GMT
#26
On December 18 2018 18:55 abuse wrote:
how does plague not completely shut down BC's?
I haven't really watched any games with bc's, but everything in my brain says that going bc's vs zerg is the absolute worst thing you can possibly do.
Isn't it an extremely easy and cost-effective counter by zerg?


Plague is pretty good against BCs but takes a lot of attention to do. Also, some zerg might not have plague ready (I rarely do tbh, but I am noob) for it anyway. Even if it does work, I think the damage occurs slow enough that it's kind of like irradiating an ultralisk; it's good but it's not great tbh.
JieXian
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
Malaysia4677 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-12-18 19:07:30
December 18 2018 19:01 GMT
#27
Thank you everyone for the interesting posts.

I'd like to add that dealing with BCs are a pain. They aren't APM intensive for T and by the time you get your scourges over they would have done some damage already.

As others said, they make zerg spend some scourges and throws their game off (might leave them open for drops or vessels). Other methods of dealing with BCs (hydra/defiler) require more attention from the Zerg than the Terran.

On December 18 2018 12:51 BigFan wrote:
^ It's not that different from turning drones into colonies then canceling once wraith leaves, and putting them back to mining. Having burrow also helps with erasers later on.


It's a big difference, the investment into burrow can be used for many other things while turning drones into colonies requires more attention and is a waste of minerals.

I know others have pointed this but I can't miss this opportunity to join in and say + Show Spoiler +
l2p nub!
Please send me a PM of any song you like that I most probably never heard of! I am looking for people to chat about writing and producing music | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noD-bsOcxuU |
CrownRoyal
Profile Blog Joined November 2005
Vatican City State1872 Posts
December 18 2018 19:32 GMT
#28
I've always realized it was there but I never thought about APM as a resource

So many people saying the simple fact that you can A-move a bc to a zerg base and it basically handles itself while the zerg has to spend his time dealing with it properly in a late game scenario is actually a really big deal lol.

- ramblings of a brainless protoss player
You're pretty when I'm drunk.
BigFan
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
TLADT24920 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-12-18 20:15:44
December 18 2018 20:11 GMT
#29
^ Late game TvZ is really APM intensive. It's why Sharp with his 300+ APM had a hard time keeping up with SK Terran demands late game, and was floating in the recent KSL finals. BCs are a nice unit to use if you have a large enough vessel count already, and can spare to make a couple. I don't think they are as a-moving as some people are implying, but obviously the Zerg needs to dedicate more attention to dealing with them. Thing is, a single swarm with several hydras is more than enough to ward them off. The question comes down to attention required, and time invested. The nice thing about BCs is that you need an AA unit to kill them, and they are quite tanky too so if you get caught in another engagement or have to macro, you don't have to worry about looking back so fast to micro them out. Granted, if you are playing SK Terran or neo-SK Terran, the Zerg will likely have plague ready and that with either spores or several hydras+swarm can completely shut them down.

On December 18 2018 13:28 iCCup.Trent wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 18 2018 12:51 BigFan wrote:
^ It's not that different from turning drones into colonies then canceling once wraith leaves, and putting them back to mining. Having burrow also helps with erasers later on.

Are you sure? In my experience, making colonies is very cumbersome at that speed. You need a large free rectangular space between minerals, base and in between other drones and you're not exactly rich at that time in the game. Burrowing is clicking drone and pressing B, works every time.

I've seen it done by Larva before, and I'm positive that other Zergs have tried it. I'm not saying it's less APM intensive or so, but if your main goal is to save every drone until your AA comes out, it's another feasible option.

On December 19 2018 04:01 JieXian wrote:
Thank you everyone for the interesting posts.

I'd like to add that dealing with BCs are a pain. They aren't APM intensive for T and by the time you get your scourges over they would have done some damage already.

As others said, they make zerg spend some scourges and throws their game off (might leave them open for drops or vessels). Other methods of dealing with BCs (hydra/defiler) require more attention from the Zerg than the Terran.

Show nested quote +
On December 18 2018 12:51 BigFan wrote:
^ It's not that different from turning drones into colonies then canceling once wraith leaves, and putting them back to mining. Having burrow also helps with erasers later on.


It's a big difference, the investment into burrow can be used for many other things while turning drones into colonies requires more attention and is a waste of minerals.

I know others have pointed this but I can't miss this opportunity to join in and say + Show Spoiler +
l2p nub!

rofl, just taking pot shots I see! Go read my comment right above to see what I was implying + Show Spoiler +
scrub, someone who's lost to my BCs many times! :D
Former BW EiC"Watch Bakemonogatari or I will kill you." -Toad, April 18th, 2017
Ideas
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
United States8121 Posts
December 18 2018 23:47 GMT
#30
So I guess I need to rewatch Effort's series vs Flash and Last and pay more attention to his opening BOs and ling speed timing but my impression is that literally just zergs deciding to get faster ling speed (IE before or at same time as lair) sorta nullifies the entire FE-ish 111? By FE 111 I mean the sorta 111 that takes the natural with just like 1-2 vultures? Flash used a 1-base 111 build in the MPL very recently but that's sort of a fundamentally different build, right? Or is it just an adaption made based on the Z going 2 hatch instead of 3?

I don't watch many streams or understand any korean so I'm probably pretty misinformed. But Effort seemed to beat or severely threaten 111 builds by getting very fast ling speed and doing a lot of damage with 12+ speedlings when T only has 1-2 marines and 1-2 vultures before the vultures even have speed. Did it really just take like ~1 entire year for Zs to figure out how to abuse that window, or is that a sorta 1-off thing and it just seems like the FE 111 (probably not the right name for it and actually is just confusing to call it that) is dead but it's not really?
Free Palestine
kidcrash
Profile Joined September 2009
United States620 Posts
December 19 2018 00:15 GMT
#31
I'd ike to see pro Terrans fall back on bio with a healthy mix of tanks instead of double starport. I get that dropship harass is brutal to deal with and a large vessel count is also deadly but tanks just seem way more stable.
CHEONSOYUN
Profile Joined August 2017
533 Posts
December 19 2018 02:38 GMT
#32
On December 19 2018 09:15 kidcrash wrote:
I'd ike to see pro Terrans fall back on bio with a healthy mix of tanks instead of double starport. I get that dropship harass is brutal to deal with and a large vessel count is also deadly but tanks just seem way more stable.


it's not that fun to lose tanks to swarm when you don't have enough of them or mines to buffer for them
JAEDONG...!!! EFFORT IS ANGRY. ZERG...?!
Dante08
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
Singapore4128 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-12-19 04:15:03
December 19 2018 04:12 GMT
#33
On December 18 2018 18:55 abuse wrote:
how does plague not completely shut down BC's?
I haven't really watched any games with bc's, but everything in my brain says that going bc's vs zerg is the absolute worst thing you can possibly do.
Isn't it an extremely easy and cost-effective counter by zerg?


That's why they are used as a harassment unit with max 2-4 at once. Just enough to be annoying but at the same time not get screwed by plague on 12 BCs.
Opposition1
Profile Joined September 2017
14 Posts
December 19 2018 10:24 GMT
#34
One thing I would add in addition to all the other explanations given here is that SKT pumping vessels off 2 Starports all game begins to have diminishing returns as the game goes on.

When Terran has 10 vessels, 2 more are unlikely to provide more than a very marginal benefit. Zerg will cut into the vessel count with scourge but it will steadily rise until big groups of vessels get plagued. In those situations it is better to have a couple BCs posted more than a plagues distance away since plaguing 12 vessels plays out about the same as plaguing 10.
goody153
Profile Blog Joined April 2013
44184 Posts
Last Edited: 2018-12-19 11:49:05
December 19 2018 11:27 GMT
#35
How reliable/effective is lategame vulture with bio for terran ? I think i remember some of sharp's tvz where he does that and it seems to help hold the zerg even at hive tech(ultra). I think he was sneaking alot of vulture mines on the zergs common path

And vultures are extremely cheap for their purpose and really mobile

On December 18 2018 07:52 XenOsky wrote:
4 rax 2 starport is the future

i dig this
this is a quote
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