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! [G] 12 Hatch Zerg Guide

Forum Index > Brood War Strategy
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listal
Profile Joined August 2003
United States228 Posts
Last Edited: 2007-10-18 18:50:27
July 01 2005 10:35 GMT
#1
http://starcraft.strategy-gaming.com/sc/viewtopic.php?t=124

By yours truly. I've been working on it since about last October with the SC community in mind. It's quite broad, and the guide itself is relatively long. Hopefully it's a help to those in a jam with Zerg, those learning Zerg, those searching for a read, etc. Insightful criticism, suggestions and corrections are much appreciated. Pray you like it!
artofmagic
Profile Blog Joined March 2005
United States1951 Posts
July 01 2005 10:41 GMT
#2
i like this! it reminds me of how to play as a zerg.... IM A ZERGLING NOW.. RAra!
evolve or die
LazyTorrasque
Profile Joined March 2005
United States125 Posts
July 01 2005 12:29 GMT
#3
oh thats one nice guide thanks Listal
Testie has no balls
Chanoipy
Profile Joined May 2004
Canada320 Posts
July 01 2005 12:39 GMT
#4
hm.. The only thing I have trouble with is your ZvZ fast expand. You're saying that you want to expand yourself in response?

Why don't you just build the 350 minerals of zerglings he's given you and run him over, or tech to mutas and harrass him to death?
...
exalted
Profile Blog Joined March 2004
United States3612 Posts
July 01 2005 12:59 GMT
#5
If Player A and Player B have identical macro/micro ability, when Player A attacks Player B he will lose, every single time.

Therefore, in Starcraft, there are three ways of getting "ahead" of your opponent and therefore having a successful attack.

a) Expanding - allows you to have a greater economy and hence a larger macro than him

b) Teching - allows you to hurt him becuase your units are efficient at killing his (ala lurker/marine medic) or can hurt his mineral line (dropship for harassment, mutalisk), or prevent him from attacking (say, DT in shuttle vs Terran push)

c) Attacking - if he is doing too much of a or b, the way to stop that is c, hence why pvp is all about the first expand and going up to 4-5 gates before it's thrown down.

Whether a-b-c or is the best decision solely is based on matchups, positions on map, and the maps themselves. For example, in ZvT, often they will do an a, b (fast expand, sunkens - tech to lair), use the b to get an a (mutalisk contain, lurker containing), then b again (to hive, or speed drop for further contain), then finally c.

However, it all depends on what you scout that ultimately decides what is the best choice - if you scout a 1fac cc in the very early stages of development with obs, you can go double expand, tech to DT drop, or atttack with 3 gate + shuttle. If it's late, your options are still the same but a much slower (and less effective) chance of success. If you let your opponent get away with one of these options without really forcing him to pay for it somehow, you will certainly lose.

This is why in low level TvP T's bitch about Protoss being unstoppable - they have little concept of timing and the Protosses aren't very good with it either, Terran expands, Protoss expands, Protoss keeps pumping probes becuase he doesn't know the Terran should attack now, Terran wants to wait until 24 tank, Protoss suddenly has so much money he goes 13-15 gateway vs the Terran 5-6, Terran pushes out, gets raped, calls imbalance.

Good guide!
too easy
radiaL
Profile Joined August 2003
Andorra2690 Posts
July 01 2005 13:27 GMT
#6
Ooh, I liked your post a lot exalted, fun read. Never really understood why that's so hard to gasp for newbies
sideproject: twitch.tv Starcraft II Viewers data - http://twitchsc2data.com/
Sorrow_eyes
Profile Joined February 2005
United States1007 Posts
Last Edited: 2005-07-01 13:58:00
July 01 2005 13:38 GMT
#7
O god... the sacred tome of zerginess! It's a freakin PHD essay!! very very nice.
O and exalted, good points
K just finished the whole thing... It seems that Z knows what is P doing the whole game! O the doomsday ~_~
Myacctmessup: People tried to create a Perfect language that the whole world can communicate with out difficulty, that it is universal and easy to learn. Do you hapen to know what language is it? Fireblast: You mean love?
listal
Profile Joined August 2003
United States228 Posts
July 01 2005 13:45 GMT
#8
Exalted; so true. I would include this into a separate guide, but I believe someone else on SCU may be redoing his beginner's guide (his guide was lost when SCU site admin couldn't upload the old forum's materials for X reason(s)); I think something along the nature of what you wrote is something that belongs in a guide for people that really don't understand the game yet.
exalted
Profile Blog Joined March 2004
United States3612 Posts
July 01 2005 14:28 GMT
#9
This actually isn't for newbies, at higher levels of play its difficult to understand when to come out when it comes down to the subtleties of Zerg vs Terran, or if a wrench is thrown into the mix like, what if an island expo is taken in Protoss vs Terran, you think he's 2 base so you don't attack, what happens when you eventually scout it and you're behind.

Ideally, you need to realize that if it's 2 base vs 2 base, you need to get an academy quickly, becuase his options are:

2 base -> carrier
2 base -> DT -> expand
2 base -> Reaver harass -> expand
2 base -> Island

All require comsat.

If he's going 3 gas defiler in Zerg vs Terran, what should the Terran be doing, attacking straight into lurker ling? Expanding? Teching, and if so, what? Then of course the whole concept of "being ahead, how much can you get away with to even "increase" the lead" (aka, double expanding, how many probes can you get away with based on how many turrets / starport / whatever you see), and the concept of harassment completely blurrs timing and makes Starcraft the way it is.
too easy
[GiTM]-Ace
Profile Joined September 2002
United States4935 Posts
July 01 2005 14:58 GMT
#10
pad making guides. <3
I may not be the best player right now but I think I can beat any 'best' players. I'll beat all the best players and become the best player. Watch me. - Jju
NovaTheFeared
Profile Blog Joined October 2004
United States7232 Posts
July 01 2005 15:49 GMT
#11
I like how you cover aspects of adapting to different strategies for each race but 12 hatch 11 pool isn\'t the optimal way to open every game, even though you can give yourself a chance with it vs. almost anything (the purpose of the guide, yes?).

-Some of the advice was either incomplete/not explained well like \"you absolutely must have 6 sunks vs. 3 rax\". No. You may gradually build up to 5-6 sunks IF your muta harass or lurk/ling stuff isn\'t doing it, but you shouldn\'t be making 6 early. Just imagine making 4 and hatch 3 on time. Much better unless the terran is charging you with a giant M&M army RIGHT NOW.

-ZvZ: I still think 12 hatch 11 pool vs. 9 pool is bad times, much worse than you say. And if they get cheesy and pool earlier than that it\'s GG on the spot. Luckily most zergs will go 12 gas/pool and 12 hatch is advantage there.

I like the guide quite a bit, there are very few builds that really work vs. all races (even if they are to varying degrees). For example vs. random I like to go 12 pool 12 hatch/gas if Z, and 3 hatch @ ~15 if T or P. I don\'t hatch first because random zerg is almost always 9 pool thinking I will hatch first ^^; I think you can go a long way with a 9 pool, 10/9 overlord into 3 hatch vs all too, although that is much harder and requires excellent multitasking to micro your first 6 lings plus balance your econ.
日本語が分かりますか
Caution
Profile Joined September 2004
2059 Posts
July 01 2005 16:12 GMT
#12
wowsa nice guide thank you
listal
Profile Joined August 2003
United States228 Posts
July 02 2005 05:13 GMT
#13
On July 02 2005 00:49 nova_442 wrote:
I like how you cover aspects of adapting to different strategies for each race but 12 hatch 11 pool isn\'t the optimal way to open every game, even though you can give yourself a chance with it vs. almost anything (the purpose of the guide, yes?).

-Some of the advice was either incomplete/not explained well like \"you absolutely must have 6 sunks vs. 3 rax\". No. You may gradually build up to 5-6 sunks IF your muta harass or lurk/ling stuff isn\'t doing it, but you shouldn\'t be making 6 early. Just imagine making 4 and hatch 3 on time. Much better unless the terran is charging you with a giant M&M army RIGHT NOW.

-ZvZ: I still think 12 hatch 11 pool vs. 9 pool is bad times, much worse than you say. And if they get cheesy and pool earlier than that it\'s GG on the spot. Luckily most zergs will go 12 gas/pool and 12 hatch is advantage there.

I like the guide quite a bit, there are very few builds that really work vs. all races (even if they are to varying degrees). For example vs. random I like to go 12 pool 12 hatch/gas if Z, and 3 hatch @ ~15 if T or P. I don\'t hatch first because random zerg is almost always 9 pool thinking I will hatch first ^^; I think you can go a long way with a 9 pool, 10/9 overlord into 3 hatch vs all too, although that is much harder and requires excellent multitasking to micro your first 6 lings plus balance your econ.


You're right, but I only meant this guide to be for 12-hatch. I'll write 12 pool, 11-10 pool/gas, 9 pool, 10/9 pool + 11 hatch, etc. things in the future. I have plans!
sundance
Profile Blog Joined May 2004
Slovakia3201 Posts
July 02 2005 06:38 GMT
#14
Nice basics.Nothing new to me , but i belive there are many people who would afford this guide.
I don't agree with some things but it's ok in overall.
GJ.
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Empyrean
Profile Blog Joined September 2004
17067 Posts
July 02 2005 08:18 GMT
#15
The guide is very nice for a beginner, mainly because it focuses a bit on timing (an issue many people have trouble with). I'm looking forward for other articles written by you in the future
Moderator
listal
Profile Joined August 2003
United States228 Posts
August 27 2005 08:40 GMT
#16
i reupdated a ton of this guide! i added many many many many openings to expand it out of 12 hatch so that it is not seemingly focused on beginner zerg players. i edited the beginning too. people mentioned a lot about my lack of an explanation regarding upgrades, so i fixed it. i also fixed an "equation" / explanation on z economy or whatever in the intro by almost completely removing that area and adding something else. please check it out and give me some feedback
NeX-HamartiA
Profile Joined May 2005
United States244 Posts
August 27 2005 09:04 GMT
#17
Ahhhhh thank you, GodlyRice
In The Arms Of.
OneOther
Profile Blog Joined August 2004
United States10774 Posts
August 27 2005 13:59 GMT
#18
Thank you ^_^ nice work
NovaTheFeared
Profile Blog Joined October 2004
United States7232 Posts
August 27 2005 15:19 GMT
#19
Yes this was definitely a good piece before and it's good now. This is how you help out the community!
日本語が分かりますか
[GiTM]-Ace
Profile Joined September 2002
United States4935 Posts
August 27 2005 17:21 GMT
#20
its fine kinda long tho. i still prefer my usual "what did i do wrong" when we watch reps 2gether. it helps me alot more
I may not be the best player right now but I think I can beat any 'best' players. I'll beat all the best players and become the best player. Watch me. - Jju
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