• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 05:44
CET 11:44
KST 19:44
  • 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
RSL Revival - 2025 Season Finals Preview8RSL Season 3 - Playoffs Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups C & D Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups A & B Preview2TL.net Map Contest #21: Winners12
Community News
Weekly Cups (Jan 5-11): Clem wins big offline, Trigger upsets0$21,000 Rongyi Cup Season 3 announced (Jan 22-Feb 7)12Weekly Cups (Dec 29-Jan 4): Protoss rolls, 2v2 returns7[BSL21] Non-Korean Championship - Starts Jan 103SC2 All-Star Invitational: Jan 17-1822
StarCraft 2
General
SC2 Spotted on the EWC 2026 list? Weekly Cups (Jan 5-11): Clem wins big offline, Trigger upsets Weekly Cups (Dec 29-Jan 4): Protoss rolls, 2v2 returns Spontaneous hotkey change zerg Chinese SC2 server to reopen; live all-star event in Hangzhou
Tourneys
$25,000 Streamerzone StarCraft Pro Series announced $21,000 Rongyi Cup Season 3 announced (Jan 22-Feb 7) WardiTV Winter Cup WardiTV Mondays SC2 AI Tournament 2026
Strategy
Simple Questions Simple Answers
Custom Maps
Map Editor closed ?
External Content
Mutation # 508 Violent Night Mutation # 507 Well Trained Mutation # 506 Warp Zone Mutation # 505 Rise From Ashes
Brood War
General
Potential ASL qualifier breakthroughs? BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion StarCraft & BroodWar Campaign Speedrun Quest Data analysis on 70 million replays
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL21] Grand Finals - Sunday 21:00 CET [BSL21] Non-Korean Championship - Starts Jan 10 SLON Grand Finals – Season 2
Strategy
Game Theory for Starcraft Simple Questions, Simple Answers Current Meta [G] How to get started on ladder as a new Z player
Other Games
General Games
Beyond All Reason Nintendo Switch Thread Awesome Games Done Quick 2026! Mechabellum Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Trading/Investing Thread
Fan Clubs
White-Ra Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List TL+ Announced
Blogs
My 2025 Magic: The Gathering…
DARKING
Physical Exercise (HIIT) Bef…
TrAiDoS
Life Update and thoughts.
FuDDx
How do archons sleep?
8882
James Bond movies ranking - pa…
Topin
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 2264 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 States9105 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 States9105 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
Next event in 1h 17m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
SortOf 122
StarCraft: Brood War
Rain 5644
Sea 4507
Horang2 1326
Shuttle 659
Hyuk 535
Mini 441
Stork 394
actioN 279
Larva 275
ZerO 270
[ Show more ]
Leta 184
EffOrt 170
Mong 169
Soma 150
Zeus 122
Hyun 106
Light 103
ggaemo 93
Rush 91
Nal_rA 91
JulyZerg 90
910 67
Killer 64
hero 52
Mind 39
zelot 33
Sharp 29
Free 24
Sexy 21
Terrorterran 17
soO 17
scan(afreeca) 15
Sacsri 11
Noble 10
Bale 10
ajuk12(nOOB) 9
Dota 2
NeuroSwarm99
XcaliburYe98
ODPixel82
League of Legends
JimRising 464
C9.Mang0458
Counter-Strike
olofmeister1793
shoxiejesuss789
allub227
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King92
Other Games
summit1g7655
ceh9596
Pyrionflax303
Fuzer 180
ZerO(Twitch)9
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick2971
StarCraft: Brood War
lovetv 3
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 15 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• naamasc21
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• iopq 3
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Jankos2376
• Lourlo1158
• Stunt525
Upcoming Events
WardiTV Invitational
1h 17m
PiGosaur Cup
14h 17m
WardiTV Invitational
1d 1h
The PondCast
1d 23h
OSC
2 days
OSC
3 days
All Star Teams
3 days
INnoVation vs soO
sOs vs Scarlett
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
4 days
All Star Teams
4 days
MMA vs DongRaeGu
Rogue vs Oliveira
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
[ Show More ]
OSC
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Wardi Open
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-01-12
Big Gabe Cup #3
NA Kuram Kup

Ongoing

C-Race Season 1
IPSL Winter 2025-26
BSL 21 Non-Korean Championship
CSL 2025 WINTER (S19)
OSC Championship Season 13
Underdog Cup #3
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual
eXTREMESLAND 2025
SL Budapest Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S1: W4
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
Bellum Gens Elite Stara Zagora 2026
HSC XXVIII
Rongyi Cup S3
Thunderfire SC2 All-star 2025
Nations Cup 2026
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League Season 23
ESL Pro League Season 23
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
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.