• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 15:43
CEST 21:43
KST 04:43
  • 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] Ro16 Preview Pt2: All Star5Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists14[ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt1: Fresh Flow9[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt2: News Flash10[ASL21] Ro24 Preview Pt1: New Chaos0
Community News
2026 GSL Season 1 Qualifiers11Maestros of the Game 2 announced52026 GSL Tour plans announced14Weekly Cups (April 6-12): herO doubles, "Villains" prevail1MaNa leaves Team Liquid22
StarCraft 2
General
Maestros of the Game 2 announced 2026 GSL Tour plans announced Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool MaNa leaves Team Liquid Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists
Tourneys
RSL Revival: Season 5 - Qualifiers and Main Event Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament GSL CK: More events planned pending crowdfunding 2026 GSL Season 1 Qualifiers Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2)
Strategy
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3 [A] Nemrods 1/4 players [M] (2) Frigid Storage
External Content
Mutation # 522 Flip My Base The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 521 Memorable Boss Mutation # 520 Moving Fees
Brood War
General
Data needed ASL21 Strategy, Pimpest Plays Discussions BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ [ASL21] Ro16 Preview Pt2: All Star RepMastered™: replay sharing and analyzer site
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL21] Ro16 Group C Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2 [ASL21] Ro16 Group A
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers What's the deal with APM & what's its true value Any training maps people recommend? Fighting Spirit mining rates
Other Games
General Games
Starcraft Tabletop Miniature Game Nintendo Switch Thread General RTS Discussion Thread Battle Aces/David Kim RTS Megathread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming
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
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread YouTube Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books Movie Discussion!
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread McBoner: A hockey love story Formula 1 Discussion Cricket [SPORT]
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
[G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Reappraising The Situation T…
TrAiDoS
lurker extra damage testi…
StaticNine
Broowar part 2
qwaykee
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 2168 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
Poland597 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
Belgium6867 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
Poland2042 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
Belgium6867 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
Canada10035 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
Latvia940 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
Monday Night Weeklies
16:00
#48
ByuN vs herOLIVE!
Clem vs TBD
RotterdaM1115
TKL 461
IndyStarCraft 273
SteadfastSC211
BRAT_OK 93
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
RotterdaM 1115
TKL 461
IndyStarCraft 273
SteadfastSC 211
ProTech159
BRAT_OK 93
JuggernautJason80
SKillous 53
EmSc Tv 15
StarCraft: Brood War
Calm 3774
Mini 481
ggaemo 151
Dewaltoss 135
910 35
NaDa 7
Dota 2
Gorgc7162
febbydoto6
Counter-Strike
pashabiceps3044
fl0m1903
Heroes of the Storm
Liquid`Hasu476
Other Games
Grubby5140
FrodaN927
Beastyqt804
shahzam278
mouzStarbuck256
KnowMe219
Pyrionflax168
ToD165
C9.Mang0164
Trikslyr149
ArmadaUGS127
Hui .98
MindelVK15
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream7769
PGL Dota 2 - Secondary Stream4414
Other Games
BasetradeTV914
StarCraft 2
EmSc Tv 15
EmSc2Tv 15
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 20 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• kabyraGe 190
• Adnapsc2 18
• EnkiAlexander 15
• Reevou 7
• sooper7s
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• Migwel
• intothetv
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
StarCraft: Brood War
• 80smullet 25
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• WagamamaTV773
League of Legends
• TFBlade1859
Other Games
• imaqtpie1162
• Scarra302
• Shiphtur200
Upcoming Events
RSL Revival
6h 17m
GSL
12h 17m
Afreeca Starleague
14h 17m
Barracks vs Leta
Royal vs Light
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
15h 17m
RSL Revival
1d 14h
Replay Cast
2 days
The PondCast
2 days
KCM Race Survival
2 days
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
2 days
CranKy Ducklings
3 days
[ Show More ]
Escore
3 days
RSL Revival
3 days
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
4 days
Universe Titan Cup
4 days
Rogue vs Percival
Ladder Legends
4 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
4 days
BSL
4 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
WardiTV Map Contest Tou…
5 days
Ladder Legends
5 days
BSL
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
Wardi Open
6 days
Monday Night Weeklies
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Escore Tournament S2: W3
RSL Revival: Season 4
NationLESS Cup

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
ASL Season 21
CSL 2026 SPRING (S20)
IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
Proleague 2026-04-20
StarCraft2 Community Team League 2026 Spring
WardiTV TLMC #16
Nations Cup 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 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

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S2: W4
Acropolis #4
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
2026 GSL S2
RSL Revival: Season 5
2026 GSL S1
XSE Pro League 2026
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
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.