• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 03:54
CET 09:54
KST 17:54
  • 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
HomeStory Cup 28 - Info & Preview11Rongyi Cup S3 - Preview & Info3herO wins SC2 All-Star Invitational14SC2 All-Star Invitational: Tournament Preview5RSL Revival - 2025 Season Finals Preview8
Community News
Weekly Cups (Jan 26-Feb 1): herO, Clem, ByuN, Classic win1RSL Season 4 announced for March-April5Weekly Cups (Jan 19-25): Bunny, Trigger, MaxPax win3Weekly Cups (Jan 12-18): herO, MaxPax, Solar win0BSL Season 2025 - Full Overview and Conclusion8
StarCraft 2
General
Weekly Cups (Jan 26-Feb 1): herO, Clem, ByuN, Classic win StarCraft 2 Not at the Esports World Cup 2026 HomeStory Cup 28 - Info & Preview Weekly Cups (Jan 19-25): Bunny, Trigger, MaxPax win Oliveira Would Have Returned If EWC Continued
Tourneys
HomeStory Cup 28 RSL Season 4 announced for March-April $21,000 Rongyi Cup Season 3 announced (Jan 22-Feb 7) KSL Week 85 OSC Season 13 World Championship
Strategy
Simple Questions Simple Answers
Custom Maps
[A] Starcraft Sound Mod
External Content
Mutation # 511 Temple of Rebirth The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 510 Safety Violation Mutation # 509 Doomsday Report
Brood War
General
Can someone share very abbreviated BW cliffnotes? Liquipedia.net NEEDS editors for Brood War BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion [ASL21] Potential Map Candidates
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues Small VOD Thread 2.0 Azhi's Colosseum - Season 2 [BSL21] Non-Korean Championship - Starts Jan 10
Strategy
Zealot bombing is no longer popular? Simple Questions, Simple Answers Current Meta Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2
Other Games
General Games
Battle Aces/David Kim RTS Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Beyond All Reason
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
Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
The Games Industry And ATVI US Politics Mega-thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club! The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece 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
Blogs
Let's Get Creative–Video Gam…
TrAiDoS
My 2025 Magic: The Gathering…
DARKING
Life Update and thoughts.
FuDDx
How do archons sleep?
8882
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 2014 users

Mid- & Late-Game ZvP

Forum Index > Brood War Strategy
Post a Reply
rararara
Profile Joined March 2021
115 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-05-04 06:25:21
May 04 2021 06:22 GMT
#1
i'm talking when P has 3rd and just gets ridiculous amounts of units.

what to do?

low APM = lots of money

too many units = not enough control groups aka CHAOS

turtling 4 base P + ball of doom = unit many die

storm drops = undefendable?

and lag doesnt help low hp units.

is defiler the only way?
often I'm stuck on Lair for a long time to keep up with units.
i also try drops, sometimes it works, but often it doesnt.

Anc13nt
Profile Blog Joined October 2017
1557 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-05-05 00:15:23
May 04 2021 06:33 GMT
#2
Edit: Lol sorry I did not read the post thoroughly, only read the title
Bonyth
Profile Joined August 2010
Poland593 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-05-04 06:49:07
May 04 2021 06:48 GMT
#3
but he is the zerg player :D

Try this: send out 2 (2x2) packs of cracklings to 2 different expansions for starters. The better upgrades the better.
[sc1f]eonzerg
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Belgium6805 Posts
May 04 2021 09:04 GMT
#4
You need defiler and go drops.Is very important you make ultralisk too. gl
kogeT
Profile Joined September 2013
Poland2041 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-05-04 10:58:33
May 04 2021 10:54 GMT
#5
On May 04 2021 18:04 [sc1f]eonzerg wrote:
You need defiler and go drops.Is very important you make ultralisk too. gl


I wouldn't listen to ultra advise. Making ultras is a suicide in ZvP in 99% of situations. In fact, even if you are sigificantly ahead, losing a fight vs archon / dt / reaver with ultras can easily lose you a game.

I agree it is important to use lings aggresievly all the time, they are cheap and provide great value in small skirmishes.

I also think that going defensive + expanding is a way to go. As soon as you can secure 4 bases with a prospect of 5 bases you just need to make many lurkers with swarm for defense (and scourge of course, for obs and shuttle). If you keep it up with mass ling + swarm/plague you will slowly start winning by attrition. Avoid "big fights" vs protoss in late game, storm/reavers are just too effective and it is better to have small micro fights (e.g 12 lings, 3 lurkers, defiler with swarm/plague) as often as you can.

Then as Eon wrote, if you feel that game is going into a map split scenario where you are on even bases vs P, drops have to be used (again, zergling + deflier + lurker), as otherwise a very late game scenario will favour protoss due to gas effeciency on templars/archons.
https://www.twitch.tv/kogetbw
[sc1f]eonzerg
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Belgium6805 Posts
May 04 2021 11:03 GMT
#6
I dont think low lvl players can keep with hydra lurk ling production and the micro multitask it takes.So as long as u can make it to 4 bases I think ultra is good for new corners.
att
Profile Joined March 2020
128 Posts
May 04 2021 13:33 GMT
#7
lings yes, but i i think with hydra + lurk u can split the map with them and defend, defend defend. use spread out lurkers in high ground areas like korean pros use, supported by hydras. and u can win
rararara
Profile Joined March 2021
115 Posts
May 04 2021 15:32 GMT
#8
thanks a plenty for the advice big bros!

that defense+skirmish strategy makes a lot of sense, will try it.
i see that kind of style often on Queen's stream, but he has twice the apm :p

but how to drop if P has lots of cannons+HT?
so hard to break!

often I do try to attack at multiple bases, but if without defiler, those troops normally melt quickly and do no damage.
I think at higher level people use less cannons because they need more army?
at my level (1900ish) I lose to that turtle style + maxed out army often, also against much lower rated opponents.
I mean I could play very defensively, drag the game out and make it a matter of who's got more money, but that ain't any fun!
I guess I'm looking for a more aggressive and action-based style, but that doesn't really seem possible?
at least compared to 20 years ago when I used to play (P rarely had FEs).
TT1
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
Canada10012 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-05-04 19:26:14
May 04 2021 19:15 GMT
#9
pre-position your lurks in key locations to defend your most exposed expos and rally points, hotkey them so you can move them around easily if needed, make sure your rally points are in the right positions (this varies depending on the map) so you can box a move to P's location asap, preferably with a flank

that stage of the game comes down to good management, you have to figure how you wanna fkey your stuff/where to rally etc.

if you have low apm play defensive and hit your power spikes (crack/defiler/upgs), focus on good management so you can have highly efficient actions, you have to compensate for quantity of actions with higher quality actions
ab = tl(i) + tl(pc), the grand answer to every tl.net debate
BonitiilloO
Profile Joined June 2013
Dominican Republic627 Posts
May 05 2021 16:47 GMT
#10
Try to learn a build u like by heart , try to look for the 6 hatch hydra build, also know the timmings let say when to drone when to build units, after this you need to know what is the protoss going to do, if you see the forge spinning it mean a +1 timming push with corsairs.
How may help u?
Dangermousecatdog
Profile Joined December 2010
United Kingdom7084 Posts
Last Edited: 2021-05-05 20:44:01
May 05 2021 20:42 GMT
#11
low APM = lots of money

too many units = not enough control groups aka CHAOS

turtling 4 base P + ball of doom = unit many die

storm drops = undefendable?

Answer: Don't let the game get to that point. "Just" make more hydras instead of more drones. Less APM is less of a problem with low econ. Too many units? Attack when you still have control over your control groups. You can control 3 control groups right?

Other answer: Get better at playing the game when it gets to that point. If low apm and control is your problem, then practice better control.
rararara
Profile Joined March 2021
115 Posts
May 05 2021 22:36 GMT
#12
@TT1: Thanks, very good thoughts!

@Boni: I think that part of the game is fairly covered, of course it can be fine-tuned a lot more. Efficiency seperates the pros from the amateurs.

@Danger: I don't think you can evade Mid-Late-Game everytime and I don't want to Hydra-Bust or Ling-Rush every game, hope you understand that. And I'm talking when you have 130+ supply. That ain't 3 control groups of units, you probably need 6+ to cover the most useful units and have 8+ hatches... That's a really interesting point in the game and how a player priotorizes his management with hotkeys.
Besides that, I'm probably not gonna improve much on APM anymore, too old and not enough time, but I'm trying to understand the game better.

which still leaves some open questions for general ZvP mid/late-game debate:
- how to defend storm drops?
- how to drop if P is turtling with HT+cannons?
- is there a more aggression-based approach that can work instead of a defensive style?

Soulforged
Profile Blog Joined February 2007
Latvia935 Posts
May 06 2021 07:24 GMT
#13
The three main ZvP styles that seem to work with low apm, tend to be:

1)Ling or hydra allins early
2)Defense into crackling-ultra, mostly backstabbing when P army leaves and new expansion denial.
3)Mass hydra to take map control into dedicated lurker contain

At least there are the ones I see working with decent success rate.
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 3h 7m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
ProTech134
StarCraft: Brood War
Rain 4102
Larva 384
Bisu 289
Zeus 201
actioN 185
PianO 181
Hyuk 169
Shuttle 111
ToSsGirL 71
Dewaltoss 65
[ Show more ]
IntoTheRainbow 62
Killer 55
Hm[arnc] 39
Sharp 35
ZergMaN 29
Backho 24
soO 24
yabsab 20
Noble 16
NaDa 16
NotJumperer 14
Shinee 11
Bale 10
zelot 5
Aegong 0
Dota 2
XaKoH 587
NeuroSwarm124
League of Legends
JimRising 667
C9.Mang0366
Counter-Strike
m0e_tv731
shoxiejesuss590
allub105
Other Games
summit1g9279
Liquid`RaSZi656
WinterStarcraft508
Mew2King110
KnowMe50
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick869
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 15 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• StrangeGG 47
• LUISG 8
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• iopq 3
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Scarra1753
• Stunt776
Upcoming Events
Wardi Open
3h 7m
PiGosaur Cup
16h 7m
WardiTV Invitational
1d 3h
Replay Cast
1d 15h
The PondCast
2 days
WardiTV Invitational
2 days
Replay Cast
2 days
RongYI Cup
4 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
[ Show More ]
Wardi Open
6 days
Monday Night Weeklies
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-02-02
HSC XXVIII
Underdog Cup #3

Ongoing

CSL 2025 WINTER (S19)
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 1
Acropolis #4 - TS4
Rongyi Cup S3
Nations Cup 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual
eXTREMESLAND 2025
SL Budapest Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S1: W7
Escore Tournament S1: W8
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Bellum Gens Elite Stara Zagora 2026
RSL Revival: Season 4
LiuLi Cup: 2025 Grand Finals
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League Season 23
ESL Pro League Season 23
PGL Cluj-Napoca 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.