• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 12:46
CEST 18:46
KST 01:46
  • 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] Ro8 Preview: In A Tizzy11[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Holy Diver5[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Rough Waters10[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Siren's Call8[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Summer's End9
Community News
Weekly Cups (Sep 13-20): herO scores triple2BSL Season 2312Weekly Cups (Sep 7-12): SHIN, ByuN, MaxPax double down1StarCraft open world shooter announced at BlizzCon101Weekly Cups (Aug 30-Sep 7): herO thrives amid growing schism10
StarCraft 2
General
Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool How do you feel about the StarCraft shooter announcement at BlizzCon 2026? Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16) Weekly Cups (Sep 13-20): herO scores triple The Death of Cheese: From a Professional Cheeser
Tourneys
2026 GSTL Grand Finals Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2) Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20) 2026 GSTL Announcement
Strategy
[H] ZvP Mid-Late Game: Stalkers Collossi HT
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Frigid Storage
External Content
Mutation # 544 Double Trouble The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 543 Enhanced Defenses Mutation # 542 The Ascended
Brood War
General
PLAYzone Challenge - open offline tour in Prague Bot on ladder NaDa's Body SC4ALL II: Brood War Player Announcement 3/4 - soO [ASL22] Ro8 Preview: In A Tizzy
Tourneys
[ASL22] Ro8 Day 2 [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [IPSL] IPSL is Back With Winter 26-27! PLAYzone Challenge - open offline tour in Prague
Strategy
Cliff Jump Revisited (1 in a 1000 strategy) Replay Review Process - What do you do? Simple Questions, Simple Answers Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation
Other Games
General Games
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread EVE Corporation Nintendo Switch Thread Diablo IV
Dota 2
Dota 2 Champions League Season 3 Begins April 25! Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
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 All you football fans (soccer)!
Fan Clubs
MarineLorD Fan Club The Creator Fan Club The ShoWTimE Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Diablo Animated Series on Netflix
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
Recent Gifted Posts
Blogs
Violent-Cooperative Play and…
TrAiDoS
38 yo Retired SWE loo…
PurE)Rabbit-SF
Can Bots Beat Pros?? Starcr…
namkraft
[meme] I finally understa…
LUCKY_NOOB
Regacy Esports:Our Goa…
regacyesports
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 8063 users

8 rax = cheese?

Forum Index > Brood War Strategy
Post a Reply
1 2 3 4 5 8 9 10 Next All
DJONES
Profile Blog Joined September 2009
United States218 Posts
December 19 2009 04:06 GMT
#1
My standard opener for TvZ is an 8 rax into mech.

After using it on many players, and having lots of bm thrown my way for "fucking cheese", I have to ask:

Why is 8 rax considered cheese?

It doesn't really set you behind very far in terms of economy, but it's upside is great.

2-3 marines, and 1-2 scvs are at his base before the spawning pool finishes.

The zerg is then forced to make a choice.

They either have to pull almost all of their drones, and lose 3-4 of them.

or

Stall and make around 14-16 zerglings to surround the bunker.

Either way, the bunker and early rax have already paid for themselves, in addition to allowing you to dictate the pace of the game early on.

Why is this not considered a standard opener for TvZ?
facebook.com/DJONESisagod
geegee1
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States618 Posts
December 19 2009 04:12 GMT
#2
i would Consider something like 8 rax a standard opening now because of the fact that its kinda saying 9 pool is a cheese in a way. you are applying pressure but not killing the zerg if he hatch. the same for zerg if he 9 pool and attacks you. he is also applying that pressure and there is a minimal chance for either build to win.
pew pew
da_head
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
Canada3350 Posts
December 19 2009 04:13 GMT
#3
what's stopping him from sending those 14-16 lings to your base?
When they see MC Probe, all the ladies disrobe.
LaughingTulkas
Profile Joined March 2008
United States1107 Posts
December 19 2009 04:16 GMT
#4
Even if it was "cheese" who cares? The point of the game is to win. There is no other criteria for success (perhaps "fun" but it's more fun if you win right?).

Otoh, unless it's an all-in, I wouldn't call it cheese. Cheese is generally something that if countered, you're screwed. In this case you are just applying early pressure to disrupt and then going for a solid follow up. Not cheese, IMO. Oh, and I'm a zerg player too, so I'm trying not to speak with bias.
"I love noobies, they're so happy." -Chill
Nytefish
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United Kingdom4282 Posts
December 19 2009 04:18 GMT
#5
Well I guess it's like when a protoss 1 gate proxies or gas steals or both.
If you're on the receiving end you'll want to call it cheese.
No I'm never serious.
Jonoman92
Profile Blog Joined September 2006
United States9110 Posts
December 19 2009 04:24 GMT
#6
8 rax isn't cheese, and even if it was, people who complain about cheese are just stupid noobs.
Jonoman92
Profile Blog Joined September 2006
United States9110 Posts
December 19 2009 04:26 GMT
#7
No build is truly cheese in fact really. I just watched a rep from TL's rep section where Oystein goes 6 pool and the game ends up being a close 40+ minute match.

The reason why I think it's silly to call 8 rax cheese is because it's not allin at all really.
StylishVODs
Profile Joined December 2005
Sweden5331 Posts
December 19 2009 04:28 GMT
#8
No its not cheese, but you can make it a cheese by pulling all of your scvs without enough info!
According to Reach, he is the fastest learner he has ever seen. He start bw only like 2/3 years ago. Infact, his bw history knowledge is so limited, he didn't even know what the map Guillotine was.
phaleos
Profile Joined December 2009
Australia105 Posts
December 19 2009 04:31 GMT
#9
I don't think this is cheese. 8BBS is, but this is more of just utilizing every building to their max efficiency. Obviously, mech doesn't require marines, so what's the point of having that barrack sitting in your base?
The very essential of quoting... is not having one.
meeple
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
Canada10211 Posts
December 19 2009 04:33 GMT
#10
Its hard to say what cheese really is... as Chill said in as he closed a thread in the recent past. I wouldn't say its cheese until you make it an all-in like pulling scvs like Stylish said.
AzureEye
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
United States1360 Posts
December 19 2009 04:41 GMT
#11
Its hard to define cheese.

But the fact that Terran can open up 8 rax and fail the rush and still come out ahead makes some Zerg player mad at the imbalance. You can easily transition to mech and lift off the rax so you don't even lose your building lol. Just the fact that its not risky at all and its great non-standard opening, used to make me more pissed off when I used to play Zerg
Terrans who whine: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=107788
2minutevictory
Profile Joined December 2009
United States89 Posts
December 19 2009 05:01 GMT
#12
it's cheese if it works
lazz
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Australia3119 Posts
December 19 2009 05:02 GMT
#13
8 rax isnt cheese.

bbs or proxy rax is cheese
Floophead_III
Profile Joined September 2009
United States1832 Posts
December 19 2009 05:06 GMT
#14
I'm going to have to say that if proxy'd it's cheese because if they pool first you lose the game hands down. If you do 8 rax in base it's not really cheese. I also feel that if you do it on a 4 player map it's fairly cheesy since you need to scout super early to make it guaranteed effective. It has happened to me as zerg on python and honestly I do feel that it is cheese there since if they pool first and you're streaming rines and have 2 scvs out you are screwed.
Half man, half bear, half pig.
3clipse
Profile Blog Joined September 2008
Canada2555 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-12-19 05:29:33
December 19 2009 05:29 GMT
#15
Who cares if it's cheese? Pointless classification. Everyone sets a different bar for the level of early aggression considered "standard", and they're all arbitrary and absurdly stupid in a game of strategy where the norm is always changing to defy what is expected.
Mastermind
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
Canada7096 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-12-19 05:29:36
December 19 2009 05:29 GMT
#16
On December 19 2009 14:02 lazz wrote:
8 rax isnt cheese.

bbs or proxy rax is cheese

Ya, I gotta agree with this.

When someone criticizes you for winning a certain way, just ignore them and laugh to yourself because your opponent is a whinny little bitch.
DefMatrixUltra
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Canada1992 Posts
December 19 2009 05:33 GMT
#17
It wins the game or it doesn't. There is no cheese.

Some builds are less stable than others, and this will contribute to losses. Avoiding losses is a good idea, so playing stable builds is a good idea.
789
Profile Joined October 2009
United States959 Posts
December 19 2009 05:38 GMT
#18
I concur with pretty much everyone here. 8 Rax by itself isn't cheese. It's a more aggressive opening then your standard 10 rax, doesn't make it cheese. Funny thing is they yell at terrans for turtling, and then when they do an aggressive opening its cheese. You can make an 8 rax into cheese tho ... smthn like bbs with massive scv pulling I'd consider cheese. I'm not sure I would even consider a standard 8 rax bunker rush with an scv or 2 cheese anymore. How else is terran supposed to punish the other races for 12 pool/12 nexus.
Member of Hyuk Hyuk Hyuk Cafe! He's the next Jaedong, baby!
hyst.eric.al
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
United States2332 Posts
December 19 2009 05:55 GMT
#19
it doesnt really matter; and it isn't cheese. your opponent is just angry he/she(yeah right) lost.

its a strong counter to zerg standard 12hatch vs T, so it would be stupid NOT to go it if you are good at it.
Leta , BeSt, Calm fan forever! 김정우, I am sorry I ever lost faith in you.
NotJack
Profile Joined December 2009
United States737 Posts
December 19 2009 06:32 GMT
#20
8 rax makes zerg mad because of how much it isn't cheese; and by that I mean if it's countered it's not a big deal.

I'm fine with it, but that's probably the main reason.
1 2 3 4 5 8 9 10 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
WardiTV Invitational
16:00
WardiTV 10 Group C Replay Cast
TaKeTV 261
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
UpATreeSC 11
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 37774
Shuttle 664
Dewaltoss 136
910 54
Trap 36
ToSsGirL 31
Creator 23
Rock 23
HiyA 21
Sharp 19
[ Show more ]
yabsab 16
Dota 2
Gorgc7045
qojqva1746
Fuzer 215
febbydoto26
Counter-Strike
fl0m1080
edward49
Heroes of the Storm
crisheroes457
Other Games
hiko1017
B2W.Neo950
Liquid`VortiX224
Hui .203
KnowMe113
Beastyqt104
QueenE73
C9.Mang072
Trikslyr37
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream17078
Other Games
WardiTV490
StarCraft: Brood War
Afreeca ASL 390
Other Games
BasetradeTV36
StarCraft: Brood War
lovetv 8
[ Show 15 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• poizon28 23
• intothetv
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• HerbMon 23
• Michael_bg 5
• 80smullet 1
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• C_a_k_e 3941
League of Legends
• Nemesis2795
Other Games
• Shiphtur218
Upcoming Events
The PiG Daily
5h 14m
ByuN vs Rogue
herO vs SHIN
Serral vs TBD
Clem vs TBD
CranKy Ducklings
17h 14m
AI Arena Tournament
1d
BSL: Ladder Tournament
1d 2h
GSL
1d 15h
Yamato Cup
1d 22h
BSL Open Qualifier
2 days
BSL Open Qualifier
2 days
Replay Cast
2 days
Afreeca Starleague
2 days
Soma vs Jaedong
[ Show More ]
WardiTV Weekly
2 days
Monday Night Weeklies
2 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
3 days
Afreeca Starleague
3 days
Leta vs Soulkey
PiGosaur Cup
4 days
Kung Fu Cup
4 days
The PondCast
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-09-23
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Big Dog Cup 2026 Div 1

Ongoing

ASL Season 22
CSL 2026 AUTUMN (S22)
Acropolis #5
Acropolis #5 - GSA
Calamity Invitational
1win Private Club #1
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3

Upcoming

Acropolis #5 - GSB
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
Custodian Cup
Copium Cup
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
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
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.