• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 02:50
CEST 08:50
KST 15:50
  • 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
Maestros of the Game: Week 1/Play-in Preview12[ASL20] Ro24 Preview Pt2: Take-Off7[ASL20] Ro24 Preview Pt1: Runway132v2 & SC: Evo Complete: Weekend Double Feature4Team Liquid Map Contest #21 - Presented by Monster Energy14
Community News
LiuLi Cup - September 2025 Tournaments2Weekly Cups (August 25-31): Clem's Last Straw?39Weekly Cups (Aug 18-24): herO dethrones MaxPax6Maestros of The Game—$20k event w/ live finals in Paris54Weekly Cups (Aug 11-17): MaxPax triples again!15
StarCraft 2
General
#1: Maru - Greatest Players of All Time Team Liquid Map Contest #21 - Presented by Monster Energy Production Quality - Maestros of the Game Vs RSL 2 Geoff 'iNcontroL' Robinson has passed away Heaven's Balance Suggestions (roast me)
Tourneys
Maestros of The Game—$20k event w/ live finals in Paris RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series Chzzk MurlocKing SC1 vs SC2 Cup Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond) LiuLi Cup - September 2025 Tournaments
Strategy
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 489 Bannable Offense Mutation # 488 What Goes Around Mutation # 487 Think Fast Mutation # 486 Watch the Skies
Brood War
General
The Korean Terminology Thread Pros React To: herO's Baffling Game ASL20 General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [IPSL] ISPL Season 1 Winter Qualis and Info! Is there English video for group selection for ASL Small VOD Thread 2.0
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Muta micro map competition Fighting Spirit mining rates [G] Mineral Boosting
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread General RTS Discussion Thread Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
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
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine US Politics Mega-thread The Games Industry And ATVI Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The Happy Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread
Sports
MLB/Baseball 2023 2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread High temperatures on bridge(s)
TL Community
The Automated Ban List TeamLiquid Team Shirt On Sale
Blogs
Collective Intelligence: Tea…
TrAiDoS
A very expensive lesson on ma…
Garnet
hello world
radishsoup
Lemme tell you a thing o…
JoinTheRain
RTS Design in Hypercoven
a11
Evil Gacha Games and the…
ffswowsucks
INDEPENDIENTE LA CTM
XenOsky
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 813 users

[D] Why would you ever hatch first? - Page 4

Forum Index > Closed
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next All
terranghost
Profile Joined May 2010
United States980 Posts
October 29 2010 03:46 GMT
#61
This may not mean much but.. the buildtime of a spawning pool plus a queen is 105 while as the buildtime of just a hatchery is 100. Both effectively give you the same larva. This means a later pool but faster double queen so it is faster in the longrun.
"It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer it." - Thomas Sowell
drsnuggles
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Korea (South)362 Posts
October 29 2010 03:50 GMT
#62
Why is everyone going for 14 hatch etc.? Most of the time i can get away with 16 hatch, its pretty nice start for the economy, thanks dimaga for showing us how to do it ^_^

Well and as already mentioned 20+ times, you get your sunken at a better position, better creep spread and IMO you have the opportunity to take the battle away from your main base towards the natural, providing more safety to your drones at the main.
RaiZ
Profile Blog Joined April 2003
2813 Posts
October 29 2010 03:52 GMT
#63
On October 29 2010 06:47 CharlieMurphy wrote:
Map presence/Map control.
Creep to make spines etc.
Creep spread for tumors etc.
More hatch = more queens faster if needed
More geyser access faster. Some of the maps have 1 or more badly placed geysers in the main and nats, so often times my 2nd gas will be at the nat where it's a better positioning.


also, 1 base with 30 drones is not as good as 2 bases with 15 drones. They mine more efficiently. And a side effect of this is the bases last longer.


Map control ? What a joke. 2 glings is better than having a blind expanding hatch unless maybe you use ur 2nd overlord near it.

Creep to make spines. Ok that's the ONLY pro i could have got from all my experiences.

Creep spread for tumors. What ? you can also do it with pool first. Hell you can have 1 additionnal creep tumor by going pool first.

More queens ? If a 3 sec (in game, real game is like 1,5 sec) later 2nd queen from pool first's build is having slower queens then ok. After the 2nd queen, more queens is just the same from both builds. Just that hatch first get queens 1,5 real sec earlier.

About gas, like someone mentionned above, you don't need a 2nd gas relatively early in 99 of most Z's opening. Debattable.

About saturation. Again you won't have 30 drones before you get ur 2nd hatch ready. You can easily maynard the drones before reaching saturation.


I'm sorry if i'm really upset, but what i want to point it out is that if the progamers are doing it, it's not because of economy or larvaes management. There must be probably something we aren't aware of, which i'm pretty sure this include 99% of the TL.net's ppl.
And i'm pretty sure some of the progamers doesn't know exactly why they're doing it, beside maybe for not having ur expand delayed.

Meh.

I'm tired, good night.

But plz before making any theorycrafting argument, try the builds yourself before saying what are the pros and cons cauz most of the statements are simply false.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. Oscar Wilde
FPSKeNz
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
91 Posts
October 29 2010 03:57 GMT
#64
Test this. Getting a Hatch at 13/14 before a scout reaches your base.

And then, test getting Pool first and then Hatch. But then oh wait, it's not only 40 seconds later due to that stupid Pylon/Engineering Bay blocking the expansion. While that is happening, damn, my opponent's Nexus and 1 rax FE is 1/4 done.
Killerbot
Profile Joined August 2010
United States106 Posts
October 29 2010 04:03 GMT
#65
On October 29 2010 12:52 RaiZ wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 29 2010 06:47 CharlieMurphy wrote:
Map presence/Map control.
Creep to make spines etc.
Creep spread for tumors etc.
More hatch = more queens faster if needed
More geyser access faster. Some of the maps have 1 or more badly placed geysers in the main and nats, so often times my 2nd gas will be at the nat where it's a better positioning.


also, 1 base with 30 drones is not as good as 2 bases with 15 drones. They mine more efficiently. And a side effect of this is the bases last longer.



And i'm pretty sure some of the progamers doesn't know exactly why they're doing it, beside maybe for not having ur expand delayed.

Meh.

I'm tired, good night.

But plz before making any theorycrafting argument, try the builds yourself before saying what are the pros and cons cauz most of the statements are simply false.


Ding ding ding ding ding ding. We have a winner, hatch first makes it very hard for a Terran or toss to deny said expansion, whereas expansion later can be denied by a manner pylon or engineering bay or even bunker depending on hatch timing. Sure you can eventually kill said building with the lings you went first but that takes more time and DELAYS you, and if its a cannon contain, then you need more than lings, which takes even more time.

Hatch first is safe and is equal with pool first and GUARANTEES an early expansion.
TheHit
Profile Joined October 2010
United States36 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-29 04:10:35
October 29 2010 04:09 GMT
#66
I'll give you 2 great reasons why I fast hatch as a 1000 pt diamond player..(I know not impressive. js)
1) You are able to make a defense of a couple spine crawlers to prevent early harass
2) Speedlings arent necessary too early when the zerglings are playing defensively on cliffs.

Theres also the extra larva. I know the earlier queen can inject larva but why not have the fast hatch and then fast creep tumor to help see early harass.. earlier. And more speed to the speedlings as well as more mobility for the queens.

Btw i fast hatch against 1800 point Zerg players and win constantly.
Unless they 6-7 pool which hasnt ever happened in league play.
TooL
Profile Joined April 2004
Canada275 Posts
October 29 2010 04:27 GMT
#67
The answer should be dependent on the map.
Herculix
Profile Joined May 2010
United States946 Posts
October 29 2010 04:28 GMT
#68
not sure why people just blindly believe you without a replay. destiny amuses me with his roach builds but frankly he's the last person i'm looking to learn things from, so the fact that you just mention his name and assume i'm going to not ask for confirmation of how exactly it's better is funny. so with that said, replay/vod or your newfound understanding is worth as much to me as any other theorycraft.

i'm of the assumption that hatch first gives you an expansion faster, before the non-zerg can do silly expansion blocking trickery, because it does. i prefer to be ahead of a non-zerg in expansions, because no matter what, i lose my macro advantage (see: the advantage that matters most) if i'm not. as long as i can hatch ASAP, and i can defend that hatch well, give me an expansion over being safe. sure, you don't die *now* with pool, but if he blocks your expansion, and then starts expanding before you do, you die later, which is still dying.
RaiZ
Profile Blog Joined April 2003
2813 Posts
October 29 2010 04:31 GMT
#69
On October 29 2010 13:03 Killerbot wrote:
Ding ding ding ding ding ding. We have a winner, hatch first makes it very hard for a Terran or toss to deny said expansion, whereas expansion later can be denied by a manner pylon or engineering bay or even bunker depending on hatch timing. Sure you can eventually kill said building with the lings you went first but that takes more time and DELAYS you, and if its a cannon contain, then you need more than lings, which takes even more time.

Hatch first is safe and is equal with pool first and GUARANTEES an early expansion.

Why did i say "beside not having our expo delayed" ?
I dunno about you but i always send my 2nd ovi near T or P's base along with the first. So having no visions against bunk reaper or canon behind natural mineral's line isn't nice when you go hatch first.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. Oscar Wilde
Ziggitz
Profile Joined September 2010
United States340 Posts
October 29 2010 04:38 GMT
#70
More queens ? If a 3 sec (in game, real game is like 1,5 sec) later 2nd queen from pool first's build is having slower queens then ok. After the 2nd queen, more queens is just the same from both builds. Just that hatch first get queens 1,5 real sec earlier.


Wait what? You only build two queens in ZvP and ZvT?
itsme
Profile Joined December 2009
Canada46 Posts
October 29 2010 04:47 GMT
#71
1700~ z here and i think that progamers do it because they just carried it on from bw, i sure did. It helps me alot because it is much smoother in transition also with more minerals to mine from. i tend to play greedy while the opponent tries to finish off my manner gas with 1 unit while i drone whore with 2 bases full of drones mining. That doesn't come from 1 mineral line from 1 base and a slower second. If you're thinking 'yea thats only one situation' you're right. But keep in mind that most of the progamers in sc2 all played sc1 extensively and they've been accustomed to the 12 hat build that we know and love that's become more of a standard build against t and p. as for zvz, before i used to do it but i like 14gas13pool now because its easier to harras and on a micro level will not be beat by a lesser zerg that way.
starcraft games are never fun without the swarm
LegendLength
Profile Joined October 2010
19 Posts
October 29 2010 05:40 GMT
#72
I ran some tests of my usual 16 hatch, 15 pool build against a 15 pool, 16 hatch. The numbers were very similar at time 6:30 . That is taking into account number of drones, amount of minerals and queued production at that time.

I've always believed hatch first is best but this is making me strongly reconsider.

I don't understand the few comments that said, when going hatch first, the queens are free to place a creep tumor. I find there is enough minerals to keep creating drones out of the larvae using constant injection from the start. Although there are some 1 - 2 second pauses occasionally when waiting for 50 minerals.

The build exact build order is:

9 overlord
13 scout
16 hatch
15 pool
18 extractor
17 overlord
25 overlord

All larvae are converted to drones except for a zergling at 19. It also includes getting zergling speed as soon as 100 gas arrives (and not taking the drones off gas afterwards).
RaiZ
Profile Blog Joined April 2003
2813 Posts
October 29 2010 05:44 GMT
#73
On October 29 2010 13:38 Ziggitz wrote:
Show nested quote +
More queens ? If a 3 sec (in game, real game is like 1,5 sec) later 2nd queen from pool first's build is having slower queens then ok. After the 2nd queen, more queens is just the same from both builds. Just that hatch first get queens 1,5 real sec earlier.


Wait what? You only build two queens in ZvP and ZvT?

No. I'm saying that both build have 2 queens at almost the same time, hatch first getting the 2nd queen from 1 to 5 ingame second earlier than pool first. After that it doesn't matter, you get ur 3rd or 4th queens the same time just that hatch first will still get them 1,5 sec earlier in general assuming you don't stop building queens.
That's why i prefer building pool first for every matchup since i see almost no advantages from going hatch first.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth. Oscar Wilde
Brusko651
Profile Joined August 2010
34 Posts
October 29 2010 10:37 GMT
#74
hmm a lot of people here mentioned that a later hatch might get delayed by engineering bay and such. But isn't this danger even greater for hatch-first? If you build the pool first, you can at least have two zerglings and possibly more to defend against those kinds of cheese.
ChickenLips
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
2912 Posts
October 29 2010 11:51 GMT
#75
On October 29 2010 19:37 Brusko651 wrote:
hmm a lot of people here mentioned that a later hatch might get delayed by engineering bay and such. But isn't this danger even greater for hatch-first? If you build the pool first, you can at least have two zerglings and possibly more to defend against those kinds of cheese.


Exactly.

Everyone saying ... ohhhh... pool first builds can get their hatch blocked.

Yeah. And if you get your hatch first build blocked you're screwed since you have 200-400 minerals when your pool goes down at 14-16. Sometimes if your opponent sees your pool first he will cancel his warping in pylon because he's greedy.

Also with pool first you get your hatch down FASTER if you get your natural blocked since you have lings SOONER to destroy the blocking building.

in terms of getting your hatch down as soon and as reliably as possible pool first is DEFINITELY better since almost every player knows that Z like to hatch first and will be aware of the drone coming down or will just blindly put something there.

I will test both builds economy-, creep and early pressure-wise once i get home, but so far it really looks like hatch first is - even though hatch first should give more eco, right? RIGHT? - actually inferior to pool first in terms of an opening-
❤Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ✿
sycknesS
Profile Joined April 2009
United States83 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-29 11:56:22
October 29 2010 11:55 GMT
#76
~2150 zerg here...

The only 2 real benefits from the 15hatch/14 pool are
a) Harder (or a lesser chance) that your hatchery will be blocked with a pylon/engie bay
b) faster creep spread at your expo (very small I think)

The benefit from the 14pool/15 hatch is that you are able to deal with cheesey play earlier (cannons, proxies, or very early pressure).

I would 14pool/15 hatch if I knew I could get my hatch down 100% every game, yet now I am beginning to wonder how often the delay will actually delay your 2nd hatch into 20+ supply (from blocks).

Even in tourney play, cheese is always a possibility which makes me think the 14pool/15hatch is safer. Yet, in reality if they aren't cheesing, the 15hatch/14 pool is a better bet because you have less of a chance that your hatch will be blocked.

On a 2 player map they will most likely block even the 15hatch (a good player should know the timings on all the maps - sure they might have to send out an earlier scout on Jungle/Xel`Naga, but if they want to block, they can), so pool first is probably better (also because of a higher chance of cheese/very early pressure).

On a 4 player map 15 hatch may be the way to go because there is a good chance you wont be scouted first, meaning they would have to send out a very early probe/scv in order to get a block off against a 15hatch. Although, there is still the chance you will get cheesed/early pressured here, so it is more of a question on a 4 player map. In this case it's very hard to tell which is better because you're comparing the chance of cheese to the chance of getting scouted early/blocked. Even still, I am not sure about the timings on the 4player maps. What I mean by this is, how early do they have to send out a scout in order to block in these 3 scenarios:
a) 3rd base scouted he finds you
b) 2nd base scouted he finds you
c) 1st base scouted he finds you

The other points are negligible/don't make sense imo.
Markwerf
Profile Joined March 2010
Netherlands3728 Posts
October 29 2010 11:56 GMT
#77
The only reason to go hatch first are:
- lower chance of it getting blocked by a scout. (this is the biggest reason to go 14 hatch imo)
- hatchery finishes earlier which can make it easier to defend in some cases. (against early pressure it will have more hitpoints, your creep is spread faster and you can put down a spine earlier)

There seriously are hardly any other reasons to go hatch first except that perhaps some people find it fits with certain builds better. The 2nd queen finishes at almost the same time in both builds and the creep tumor spread is virtually the same as well really. Hatch first you can put a creep tumor at the natural straight away a bit easier, pool first is slightly easier for a fast creep tumor at the main.

I think 14 hatch is a bit better if you are not being scouted yet or are fairly certain you can put the hatch down without it being blocked. 14 pool is better in other cases imo (such as 2 player maps) because it's safer against cheeses, stops their scouting earlier and most importantly makes it harder to guess for the opponent what you are doing.
Against 14 hatch I find it much easier to do a greedy expansion build whereas vs 14 pool the threat of early lings is much better and thus you can't expand as easily.
Tef
Profile Joined April 2008
Sweden443 Posts
October 29 2010 12:01 GMT
#78
Ehmm, is everyone forgetting that you can get
more gas? This is needed if you want to go
muta or any other gas expensive build..
Dont fuck up, dont fuck yourself
sycknesS
Profile Joined April 2009
United States83 Posts
October 29 2010 12:04 GMT
#79
There is no situation where getting even your 2nd gas before your 2nd hatch finishes is a good idea. You will simply get run over due to lack of spines/lings
Palmar
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Iceland22633 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-29 12:14:19
October 29 2010 12:09 GMT
#80
I think this may be relevant to the thread.

I ran some tests using the build order tester, and it turns out that you lose almost nothing in terms of speed if you're going pure drones, if you 10 pool

link to thread/discussion: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=164575&currentpage=2#37

I'm not sure what this implies, being a big fan of hatch first v terran and pool first v toss... but I think I'll start experimenting with the 10pool/16hatch opening. It greatly increases flexibility in dealing with cheese and early attacks. If the economy loss is as little as those very narrow results seem to indicate, then it's worth it on the cesspool of random all-ins and cheese that is ~1600 diamond.

The build order to have 50 drones and 4 lings as fast as possible is:

10 SpawningPool M:204 G:0
10 Overlord M:100 G:0
13 Queen M:153 G:0
16 Hatchery M:305 G:0
17 Overlord M:108 G:0
19 Queen M:202 G:0
22 Overlord M:103 G:0
35 Overlord M:327 G:0
36 Overlord M:489 G:0
36 Queen M:605 G:0
39 Overlord M:405 G:0
40 Queen M:255 G:0
45 Zergling M:286 G:0
49 Zergling M:199 G:0
50 Overlord M:149 G:0

You can shave off a second using 3hatches and some weird timings, but this is the intermediate result that intrigued me... and the final result of the optimizer was only a second better than this (6:17 vs 6:18).

oh, and obviously you want your lings out much earlier in a standard game, but the mineral loss from slightly slower drones is not going to slow you down too much. I also realize this is a simple test, and not an actual build. 50 drones blind is a terrible idea, this is just for discussion.
Computer says mafia
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
OSC
22:00
OSC Elite Rising Star #16
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft: Brood War
Shuttle 2084
JulyZerg 712
Larva 293
ToSsGirL 64
sSak 55
Dota 2
NeuroSwarm102
League of Legends
JimRising 785
febbydoto16
Counter-Strike
Stewie2K1074
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King69
Heroes of the Storm
Khaldor151
Other Games
summit1g6681
WinterStarcraft610
ViBE229
Organizations
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH351
• practicex 47
• Sammyuel 38
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Jankos506
• Stunt468
Other Games
• Scarra1143
Upcoming Events
RSL Revival
3h 10m
Cure vs Bunny
Creator vs Zoun
Maestros of the Game
10h 10m
Maru vs Lambo
herO vs ShoWTimE
BSL Team Wars
12h 10m
Team Hawk vs Team Sziky
Sparkling Tuna Cup
1d 3h
Monday Night Weeklies
1d 9h
The PondCast
4 days
Online Event
5 days
BSL Team Wars
5 days
Team Bonyth vs Team Dewalt
BSL Team Wars
5 days
Maestros of the Game
6 days
[ Show More ]
Cosmonarchy
6 days
Bonyth vs Dewalt
[BSL 2025] Weekly
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2025-09-02
SEL Season 2 Championship
HCC Europe

Ongoing

Copa Latinoamericana 4
BSL 20 Team Wars
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 3
BSL 21: BSL Points
ASL Season 20
CSL 2025 AUTUMN (S18)
LASL Season 20
RSL Revival: Season 2
Maestros of the Game
Chzzk MurlocKing SC1 vs SC2 Cup #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1

Upcoming

2025 Chongqing Offline CUP
BSL Polish World Championship 2025
BSL Season 21
BSL 21 Team A
EC S1
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
Thunderpick World Champ.
MESA Nomadic Masters Fall
CS Asia Championships 2025
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
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 © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.