• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 09:17
CEST 15:17
KST 22:17
  • 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
[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash8[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy13ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT30Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book20
Community News
Weekly Cups (March 23-29): herO takes triple6Aligulac acquired by REPLAYMAN.com/Stego Research6Weekly Cups (March 16-22): herO doubles, Cure surprises3Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool49Weekly Cups (March 9-15): herO, Clem, ByuN win4
StarCraft 2
General
Weekly Cups (March 23-29): herO takes triple Aligulac acquired by REPLAYMAN.com/Stego Research Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy What mix of new & old maps do you want in the next ladder pool? (SC2) herO wins SC2 All-Star Invitational
Tourneys
Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament RSL Season 4 announced for March-April StarCraft Evolution League (SC Evo Biweekly) WardiTV Mondays World University TeamLeague (500$+) | Signups Open
Strategy
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Frigid Storage Publishing has been re-enabled! [Feb 24th 2026]
External Content
Mutation # 519 Inner Power The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 518 Radiation Zone Mutation # 517 Distant Threat
Brood War
General
BW General Discussion Pros React To: SoulKey vs Ample Build Order Practice Maps [ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/
Tourneys
[ASL21] Ro24 Group F [ASL21] Ro24 Group E 🌍 Weekly Foreign Showmatches [ASL21] Ro24 Group B
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates What's the deal with APM & what's its true value Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Starcraft Tabletop Miniature Game Nintendo Switch Thread General RTS Discussion Thread Darkest Dungeon
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
G2 just beat GenG in First stand
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
Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine The Games Industry And ATVI European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books Movie Discussion!
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion Cricket [SPORT] Tokyo Olympics 2021 Thread General nutrition recommendations
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
[G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Money Laundering In Video Ga…
TrAiDoS
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
FS++
Kraekkling
Shocked by a laser…
Spydermine0240
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1440 users

[Q] PVZ: Proper response to 9734?

Forum Index > Brood War Strategy
Post a Reply
chozen86
Profile Blog Joined May 2017
United States60 Posts
October 29 2019 19:01 GMT
#1
Wondering if the community has settled on how to respond to the 9734 build?

The ideas so far seem to be:

* Gate first

* Forge in main, wall with core at nat (so +1 doesn't get denied)

* Citadel first, into 4-5 gate zealot

* Fast reaver

Curious what others think, since it's been out for quite a bit already.
InDi
Profile Joined April 2010
Spain90 Posts
October 30 2019 08:45 GMT
#2
The real problem with 9734 is that there are several options for the Z, and as P it is really hard to tell and cover everything.
Personally I prefer the reaver approach as I think is the most reliable answer, you get Sair as well so you can scout what their followup is. If they go for a full bust you can defend quite easy, if they drone too much, you can harrass, and if they tech you have a strong timing push. If you go reaver, you shouldn't lose your forge either, but you will lose the gate, so no need for forge in main. The problem of course is that it is harder to do and be effective.

In my experience the citadel first loses to heavy hydra commitment from the Z, when you move out and realize there's not the usual 10, but 20 or 25 hydras at your door that were waiting behind... not a good feeling, but would be interested in what others think.
Soulforged
Profile Blog Joined February 2007
Latvia936 Posts
October 30 2019 09:46 GMT
#3
I like citadel/4gate the most. It does lose out to non-stop 3 hatch hydra pump, but zealots+cannons should stop that, and they double as your scouting force. If you see more hydras than expected and confirm zerg didn't switch to drones, backing off to cannons and defending until storm/more gates/more units/more economy is possible. It is only a problem if you commit to try and bust out and fail.
The follow-ups, however, I am not sure on. And it is also not something you can do blindly if you lack vision for whatever reason and can't confirm hydra until they pop from nat eggs...at that point you'd have sair in progress and would end up requiring more cannons and have later zealots than if you went citadel off 1 gas & straight after core.
chozen86
Profile Blog Joined May 2017
United States60 Posts
October 30 2019 15:20 GMT
#4
Yea citadel/4gate seems like the easiest option for chobos like me. The last time I tried this I didn't die but I was so chobo I forgot to resume probe production after the bust and limped through the rest of the game with like 35 probes. I'm guessing if I didn't do that the follow up is quite straightforward (double-expand behind strong 8+ gate +2 push into normal mid/late game).

Out of curiosity, though, what's the general outline for the reaver approach? Add robo and rush to reaver as soon as you see den before lair or hydras? I'm assuming shuttle speed is also a must (since losing shuttle + reaver is likely gg)? I'd like to try this and see how it feels.
InDi
Profile Joined April 2010
Spain90 Posts
October 31 2019 02:09 GMT
#5
I don't follow straight build orders generally, but the overall idea is to get gate core, when core is almost finished you get 2nd gas, robo at your natural, starport in main, get reaver asap, sair then shuttle speed the 1st reaver should be enough to push hydras back (at this point maybe you lost your gate). If you think the Z is still committing to hydras, you get a 2nd reaver, else you get shuttle 1st, and move out to harrass, meanwhile in the back you add citadel gates and all the bunch. There's a sweet spot to move out with zealots and your reavers if Z drone'd too much or if he is teching to lurkers. You can delay a bit your templars since you get reavers for AOE.
Just don't lose the reaver and beware of muta switch with your sairs
chozen86
Profile Blog Joined May 2017
United States60 Posts
October 31 2019 04:16 GMT
#6
Nice, thanks!! Follow-up: I'm assuming you also get critical mass of sairs (6 cos probably didn't go +1 air to get reaver faster) to deal with possible scourge, or does spire come so late with 9734 that it doesn't matter?
InDi
Profile Joined April 2010
Spain90 Posts
November 01 2019 00:20 GMT
#7
Your first sair should be able to scout if Z goes for muta or not, if you see hydras nonstop you can keep it at 1-2 sairs and use the gas on templars. Else you can add more sairs to control Zs vision of the map.
XenOsky
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Chile2356 Posts
November 02 2019 07:56 GMT
#8
imo reaver is more flexible, speed shuttles allow to harrass while zerg is still on tier 1, while adding gates for a huge push.

4 gate feels better if zerg doesnt scout my main with an ovie.
ἡ τῆς Νεμέσεως τάξις
Alpha-NP-
Profile Blog Joined September 2008
United States1242 Posts
November 02 2019 15:17 GMT
#9
Watch the games where Bisu goes reaver against this build.
chozen86
Profile Blog Joined May 2017
United States60 Posts
November 02 2019 18:55 GMT
#10
@Alpha-NP, this one?

Zaibakk
Profile Joined May 2017
101 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-11-06 23:18:29
November 06 2019 23:12 GMT
#11
You should play around the weaknesses of the build, and the main weakness is the late spire. Without it, zergs have troubles to deal with:
1) Reavers
2) Dropships for harrassing (with anything inside)

Note that reavers are also good vs mass hydra (and lurkers), both for defence (even without dropship) and push (or even harrass).
M3t4PhYzX
Profile Joined March 2019
Poland4244 Posts
November 09 2019 22:18 GMT
#12
On November 03 2019 03:55 chozen86 wrote:
@Alpha-NP, this one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=240&v=gDLvQin64nY

that was absolutely amazing play..

damn, so satisfying to watch!

GG
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Kung Fu Cup
11:00
2026 Week 3
WardiTV716
RotterdaM497
TKL 243
SteadfastSC199
IndyStarCraft 149
Rex127
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
RotterdaM 497
Lowko357
TKL 243
SteadfastSC 199
IndyStarCraft 149
Rex 127
ProTech118
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 60759
Calm 7768
Bisu 2538
Leta 753
EffOrt 557
BeSt 534
Stork 427
Soma 380
Mini 317
firebathero 286
[ Show more ]
actioN 212
ggaemo 205
Hyuk 183
Snow 180
Last 161
PianO 144
Soulkey 141
Rush 133
Sharp 130
Dewaltoss 128
hero 91
Mind 68
Hyun 58
Shinee 39
ToSsGirL 32
JYJ 32
Shine 28
Barracks 24
Hm[arnc] 23
yabsab 19
Noble 16
scan(afreeca) 15
soO 13
Sacsri 12
sorry 12
GoRush 11
Movie 11
Terrorterran 8
Counter-Strike
olofmeister2259
byalli758
zeus570
x6flipin392
edward63
oskar34
Other Games
singsing2171
B2W.Neo440
hiko403
crisheroes302
XaKoH 179
Sick96
QueenE74
Organizations
StarCraft: Brood War
lovetv 13
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 18 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• StrangeGG 55
• iHatsuTV 16
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• sooper7s
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• Migwel
• intothetv
• LaughNgamezSOOP
StarCraft: Brood War
• HerbMon 1
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• WagamamaTV430
• lizZardDota2102
League of Legends
• Nemesis2229
• Jankos1802
• TFBlade566
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
10h 43m
The PondCast
20h 43m
OSC
1d 10h
RSL Revival
1d 20h
TriGGeR vs Cure
ByuN vs Rogue
Replay Cast
2 days
RSL Revival
2 days
Maru vs MaxPax
BSL
3 days
RSL Revival
3 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
4 days
BSL
4 days
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
5 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

CSL Season 20: Qualifier 1
WardiTV Winter 2026
NationLESS Cup

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
CSL Elite League 2026
ASL Season 21
CSL Season 20: Qualifier 2
RSL Revival: Season 4
Nations Cup 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S2: W1
CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
StarCraft2 Community Team League 2026 Spring
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 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.