Disclaimer: I don't claim to be a pro, I admit I am only a little good. I only hit a modest B rank on Iccup in 2v2. I don't play 1v1 but follow it on Twitch. I am okay with negative feedback as long as you tell with details why you think I am wrong about something.
- BNET Personalities Satire
+ Show Spoiler +
The Usual B.netters by Excalibur_Z and xeno117
" S t a r r i n g Y o u ! "
A hilarious satire from 10 years ago (2003) necromancered off a dead webpage.
All quotations featured on this page were taken in real Starcraft games on Battle.net. They are not faked, edited, or staged in any way. All accounts and descriptions of B.net personalities are real, captured and compiled by reliable sources to the author. Any resemblance to real B.net participants is NOT coincidental. Battle.net user IDs have NOT been changed to protect the stupid.
*Mr. Bad Manner
Jack[RCDF: Yes you dick head
Jack[RCDF: hehe wait and see bitch
Jack[RCDF: rofl geek face trounced eassssyyyy nerd!
His chatting is normally accompanied by generous servings of profanity and expletives. He may also make unwholesome remarks concerning your mother. This player neither wins nor loses graciously. He will rub every small action during the game in your face. In all likelihood, this player is a gentle quiet person in real life and uses Battle.net as an outlet for years of pent up frustration. He refers to you as "his student" or "my daughter".
*The Lost Puppy
Jack[RCDF: You won last game because I was on the phone, go rm.
So you were playing well and basically owned some crappy player on Battle.net. Nothing memorable occurred during the game other than the fact that the match was shorter than usual. You return to your favorite channel when your opponent is whispering to you. At first, he'll be civil and ask for a rematch. You can politely decline or just ignore him, hoping that your screen name becomes too cumbersome for him to type out. However, this guy will soon get the idea that you want no part in a rematch. He'll resort to taunting and insulting you by questioning your bravery in the face of a video game. Remarks such as, "You're just a newb," or, "Yeah, I know you're afraid that I'll win this time," are well within this guy's repertoire. The only thing you're afraid of is wasting your time with another game with this guy. Basically, you gave this guy some attention in your first game and now he follows you around. Sometimes he's persistent enough that you'll just have to switch account names in order to avoid him. If this persists long enough, his personality profile can be relabeled to The Stalker.
*The Lag-onator
Rob2: who has Fischer-Price modem?
Rob2 has saved the game Who Has Wooden Modem?
This guy is using his (parents') brand new Dell computer on a 28.8K AOL dial-up connection. He wonders why online gaming is so slow since Intel advertised that the Pentium 4 enhances the Internet experience. Also has several instances of file sharing programs complete with spyware running during the game to obtain the latest Britney Spears songs.
*The Bovine
ChristoperBlue: hi
Jack: hello Chris
ChristopherBlue: sup
Jack: gl
ChristopherBlue: gl hf
Game Starting in: 1 seconds
Jack has left the game.
Constantly looking for better pastures to graze. He'll join a game and while the countdown timer is ticking, he'll exit the match. After a reexamination of the situation he thought he could find a better gaming experience elsewhere. The grass is greener on the other side so he's heading off to feed. You have to admire him for his tireless dedication to his quest.
*Joseph McCarthy
Jack[RCDF: You FUCKING HACK!!!
DarkArchon: Yes bro its skill hack
Instead of the Red Scare and seeing communists everywhere, this guy thinks hackers are always out to destroy the Universe as we know it. You deny his early expand? HACKER! You intercept a drop of his? HACKER! This guy believes he's the greatest StarCraft player to ever exist and the only reason you're doing so well is because you're hacking.
*The Diplomat
Jack[RCDF: so we can all have the win if we survive
This fellow is ready to absolve any past transgression from during the course of the game (if he is losing). He's ready to make up and asks that you ally up with him. Thus everyone gets a victory and we all win! If you ignore his pleads he is capable of becoming Mr. Bad Manner.
*The Hacker Extraordinaire
Jack[RCDF: I am hacker, want your CDKey stolen by my keyforce program?
This miscreant scours the web for all manner of hacks and exploits to gain an unfair advantage over other players. With his arsenal of third party software at his fingertips he can finally dominate the gaming scene. Unfortunately, a great many of these hackers forgot to learn how to play StarCraft. They think that hacks will more than make up for their lack of skill. Oftentimes you will login to discover that your CDKey is in use by this guy. He is the culprint when the game list is nothing but crash games, when a IP Reaper bot is banning you from every game you join, and when your channel is flooded for weeks straight.
*The Available One
Jack[RCDF: U a girl?
John has left the game.
GiantSpaceAnts: no
Saul: no body a girl!
It's no great secret that a good portion of Battle.net participants are either prepubescent or in the midst of puberty. Despite the fact that Battle.net services span across the country allowing you to compete and chat with people far and wide, this guy thinks it's a good place to meet girls. You will oftentimes find him in channel Sex. (Yes it is a real channel that has been full the last 10 years.)
*The Double Agent
Jack[RCDF: I will make you some cannons to protect you.
This guy is a thespian of Shakespearean caliber. He can convincingly blend in with his ally and offer him support and tips. Unbeknownst to his ally, his intentions are less than honorable. While his ally goes off to try and win the game, the double agent unleashes his army to slaughter the defenseless former ally. Beware when allied vision turns black. Commonly known as a Backstabber. Usually from the website ICantLose.com or Op ICL. You'll be surprised when you notice everyone is the same color in your 7v1 Comp Stomp. You will discover your minerals hallucinated by a rigged map while the backstabber floats to the only island expansion with money.
*Houdini
Jack[RCDF: Now you see me, now you don't!
For his last magic trick he will disappear, just allow yourselves to close your eyes as the 45-second lag window appears after he intentionally disconnects. This guy believes Battle.net game statistics are relevant to life. They will someday appear on his police report sheet, credit rating history, and his school's permanent record. You will wonder why he has 8,000 disconnects.
*One Trick Pony
This guy only knows how to win in one way. Normally a Zerg or Protoss player he will try a ling, zeal, or DT rush. If it fails, he'll leave the game immediately and either become a Diplomat or Houdini.
*The Connoisseur
Believes he's a great expert on games and entertainment, he makes open commentary on details about StarCraft. Usually compares StarCraft to other games and eventually arrives at the conclusion that StarCraft sucks. Continues to harp on StarCraft but stays online with it. Love-hate relationship at its finest. Sucks to mix business and pleasure. Doesn't realize that no one cares about his opinion.
*The Aristocrat
Jack[RCDF: Make a real map like Big Game Hunters
If the map isn't worth a lot of money, it isn't worth playing according to this guy. "I shouldn't have to work for my money, my money should work for me," contend BGH'ers, zero clutter and $$$$$ map players.
*Fish Out of Water
This personality profile is in terms of an Aristocrat finding himself on a normal non-money map. This player will only use one income source at his main and proceed to either build mass static D and/or tech to the highest tiered units in the game only to find out that he's out of money and has become a vegetable.
*Master of Time and Space
Well, this guy can be the master of time and space pending on certain conditions. When he pauses a game, it will remained paused if his ally and opponents are reasonable and good mannered. More often than not, time and space are forces you cannot control on a whim. When he returns to the game, he finds that he either has a ton of money with no units or tech, or no base at all. Also see Mr. Recurring Head Trauma.
*The Vigilante
Jack[RCDF: I am BNET police and I will report you to Blizzard!
Watch out for this guy, he's out to fight gaming crime. Unfortunately, everyone is a suspect. He'll threaten to report you to Blizzard so that they can prosecute you to the furthest extent of the law. If he claims to be a Blizzard employee, his personality profile can be relabeled to The Faux Fed. You can find him in Banning Game UMS games.
*The One-Armed Bandit
Unfortunately, it's difficult to see this in action over Battle.net. However, if you have ever watched a StarCraft tournament in person, you'll see these types (difficult to see over Battle.net, even more painful to see in person). Basically, these guys can play StarCraft with one hand tied behind their back. Actually, they just play with one hand using the mouse. Shortcut keys are too difficult to remember, hotkeying groups requires too much time, and chatting is never productive. Watch out for these guys, many of them fall into the Near-sighted Kamikaze Pilot profile as well since they are unaware of the attack-move command.
*The Racist
When he loses to a Zerg its because he got "Zerg'd". He claims "everyone knows its impossible to beat a Terran". Protoss is the "easy race".
*The Near-sighted Kamikaze Pilot
Each unit in StarCraft can share in the potential to win the game, if properly applied. In order to do this, the unit needs to help deal out damage. Under the Near-sighted Kamikaze Pilot's master plan, each unit in StarCraft can become cannon fodder in one easy step! Basically, this guy right clicks his units everywhere. Whether it be into a wall of sunkens, a field of mines, or nuclear launch site. Not every unit is lost due to right-clicking though. Some of these pilots vastly underestimate enemy defenses and think they can take it on.
*The Law-Abiding Citizen
Jack[RCDF: rules?
Rules are the binding force of society. Without them there would be nothing but chaos. Determined to avoid such anarchy, this guy will invariably ask in the beginning or before a game starts if there are any rules.
*Mr. Recurring Head Trauma
This fellow has a nasty habit of lapsing out of consciousness or leaving the keyboard. He returns to find that either the game has started without his awareness or that he was attacked when he was gone.
*The Smurf
llllllllllll has joined the game
This guy is either well-known, hounded by stalkers, or wants to shrug off incidents of when people ban him from games on the account of his great record from his previous user name. He hopes to start a new name in order to either get games going, or to trick others into thinking he's less skilled than he really is.
*The Statser
Jack[RCDF: can u let me win this?
Jack[RCDF: i really need this
/stats Ledoyen
Ledoyen 1,000,000-1,000-0
This guy cares about pretty stats. He will only play in stacked team games. If he does join your game, he will tell you to wait for his 3 friends.
*Low Self-Esteem Guy
Jack[RCDF: you know
Jack[RCDF: gg we lose
Jack[RCDF: - --d
Jack[RCDF: -_-a
This player lacks any sort of confidence in gaming ability. He will introduce himself as a newbie and profess his suckitude for StarCraft. Not only does it lower the confidence of potential allies, it increases his likelihood of becoming backstabbed, thus speeding him ever further down the spiral. Seek professional help immediately. However, some of these guys are actually Smurfs hoping to disarm potential opponents.
*The Artist
You usually find this guy at work in B.net chatrooms or the lobby of a game before it starts. He likes to doodle with letters and make one line ASCII art. A harsh profession, his works quickly vanish as they scroll upwards as new responses are made or the game starts. In extreme cases he will doodle ingame by creating art to see on the minimap.
*The Talent Scout
Usually the leader of a new clan, he's out to recruit the best that B.net has to offer (poor guy). In order to become part of a privileged elite that are able to join his select clan you have to beat him in a match. Little does he realize that his intentions are to become a leader of a clan where he has the least amount of skill.
*The Collector
His main interest is to amass and archive every single map made for StarCraft. Despite online web pages offering a multitude of maps for download, he finds the best way to obtain maps is to join games, let the map slowly transfer over and leave. During his desperate mission, he will offer pleas of, "plz let me dl thx," or, "wait ok." Also known as a Mapthief.
*The Blameless One
Jack[RCDF: guys my partner sucks
Jack[RCDF: so
Jack[RCDF: you win
It's never his fault, EVER. The only reason he lost is because he didn't random to his best race, or that his ally was a newbie, or that in the FFA everyone ganged up on him. He refuses to take responsibility for his own actions (or inaction), and pins it on something else. Some go as far as to say, "If we were playing <insert other game name here> I would have kicked your butt." Sorry kid, we weren't playing that game just deal with your loss. If he takes one loss, or if you have a good ally, he will fake AFK.
*Affirmative Action Advocate
This guy wants to be the great equalizer. Builds all the hardly seen units in online gaming believing them to be the best choice for the job. Don't worry the next time you decide to skip building Scouts, Queens, or Ghosts. He'll do it for you so that there's equal representation.
*The Surveyor
He's here to ask you 20 questions whether they are relevant to StarCraft or not. Anything from A/S/L to where he can obtain hacks for the game.
*The Terminal Patient
CarrierMan: go
CarrierMan: gog
CarrierMan: og
CarrierMan: gl hf
CarrierMan: damn it
CarrierMan: go host
This guy hasn't much time left, thus he's very impatient. Everything must begin immediately after he arrives or you're just wasting his last precious seconds on Earth. His two favorite letters to type are "G" and "O" in no particular order, combination, or length.
*The Lag Accuser
Part The Blameless One, Douglas MacArthur, and The Lag-onator, this guy accuses everyone else of lagging the game when in reality it is his own connection that is the culprit. Disconnect windows always show him as the lagger, but when this is brought to his attention he denies it. Occasionally this person will go as far as to lie about the speed and throughput of his connection in order to shake the blame.
*The Self-Proclaimed Gosu
Proxy2GateUser: I have been in [TOp] Neo.G_ [aLive] [Gamei] [GsP] EveR) and finally [Name].
Not many people on Battle.net have heard of the great professional Starcraft players such as Boxer, Nada, and Yellow. However some of the people that have believe they know more about the game than anyone. By citing pro build orders, techniques, strategies, and "-isms", they rank themselves far above the rest of the "Bnet ilk." They will attempt tricks like the Anyppi or Bamboo Terran, but with little-to-no finesse. These players are stunned and frustrated when they lose a game after they've executed a supposedly "master-level" strategy. He has delusions of grandeur. It is a fact that most USEast mass gamers claim they are old A+ but have no proof.
*Instant Friend
Similar to The Lost Puppy, this guy plagues you with /f m mass messages. You are particularly at risk if you have an easy-to-remember account name. This person may be a Stalker, a Smurf, or any combination. You constantly receive messages not directed at you - this is the kind of person that messages his entire Friends List when he needs to only message one person. He refuses to take you off his Friends List when you approach him about it.
*The Broken Heart
Zeta-: "I'm only playing SC because I have a crappy computer or because I was banned from Iccup." This person often has a myriad of problems that beckons others to assuage his shortcomings. Well cry me a river, build me a bridge, and get over it. No one cares that you've been "forced" to enjoy the greatest RTS ever, whether your city or region in your country is IP banned from Iccup.
*The Autobiographer
Jack[RCDF: I play SC 24/7 because I will soon inherit 1 million dollars.
His life is far more interesting than any other kid’s. He has to share it with you to liven up your drab existence. He’ll tell you about how his upside-down goldfish was sick and had to be flushed, he’ll let you know which Flintstone vitamin is his favorite, and he’ll explain why he chose to play StarCraft instead of solitaire. This may actually be a valid strategy by this guy. He hopes to bore you enough so that you lose cognitive reasoning and let him win.
*The Hairdryer
This guy is very much like The Autobiographer with one major difference. His life is stupefyingly bland. So he creates a yarn of his action adventure lifestyle where he has beat up cops, has tons of girlfriends, and drives a racecar to school. Frequently he claims to work for the CIA. Another variant of this guy is that instead of telling about his fictional life, he’ll talk about his fictional StarCraft abilities in an attempt to trick or awe his opponent. “I can have 30 hydras in 2 minutes,” or “My army has 20 carriers you can’t stop it.” He may post pictures of his dates with escorts or claim to have a television show. Either way this guy does nothing but push a lot of hot air.
*The One Map Wonder
JohnDoe: only play bloodbath?
JaneDoe: yes
JohnDoe: Why 8,000 disconnects?
JaneDoe: YOU FUCKING CHEAT !!
Will only compete on one map for online play. Other maps are different and strange, they’re easy to get lost in or perhaps the critters look too scary. He is so at home with his favorite map that he can draw it out freehand and sends fan mail to the map creator. This guy believes that if he plays on any other map he’ll lose because he’d be at a disadvantage. At the rate he’s going, he’s probably right.
*The Ignorant Host
This guy likes to create team games. However, he neglects to use the built-in Top vs. Bottom game option. Instead he creates a melee game and informs everyone that it’s TvB. This can often lead to many guys suffering an Amnesia Case.
*The Amnesia Case
“To all: Who is my ally?” “To all: AC on” This fellow doesn’t remember who he should be fighting or who he should be talking to. Maybe it’s better to be safe and just tell his strategy to everyone. That way he’s guaranteed to reach the right person… eventually.
*The Squatter
You can only find this guy in team games. For some reason he was unable to defend his base, thus he had to run. Unfortunately, the best place to run is to his ally’s base where he will proceed to set up shop and share the mineral field. Also known as a Leech or Parasite. The stereotypical squatter floats to your base at the start of the game.
*Hide-and-Seek Master
He knows he’s lost, but he’s going to make your victory as drawn out and boring as possible. He’ll run around the map with peons and build structures in obscure places as you try to hunt down the little so and so.
*Mr. I Can Deal With Adversity
Even after losing his main this guy can quickly set up shop somewhere else on the map and continue playing without pause. Forced relocation? No problem. He takes a beating and he keeps on ticking.
*The Logician
“It seemed like the logical choice at the time.” This guy will reason that since Protoss shields get damaged first, he should logically upgrade those first.
*The Miser
“A mineral saved is a mineral earned,” my grandpappy used to say. This guy is an utter cheapskate. He won’t spend any of his hard earned resources. Little does he realize that you can’t take it with you to your next game when your opponent beats you with superior spending.
*The Worker's Union Leader
He allows his peons lots of breaks, he doesn’t split his opening peons to gather minerals, and he has plenty of idle workers and units about. His units may have better health care coverage, but what they really need is life insurance when you run him over with your superior economy and production.
*The Loiterer
We don’t know when this guy actually plays the game. Instead he likes to hang out in his favorite channel. He becomes a fixture in certain chat rooms and eventually it will seem bare without him. Often mistaken for a chat bot.
*Long John Silver
Boasts that he’s on B.net with a pirated version of StarCraft. This guy should watch out for The Vigilante.
*The Masochist
Plays the game, decides it’s not worth trying, and inflicts lots of damage by attacking himself.
*The Neat Freak
Plays StarCraft like it’s a game of Tetris. His base layout is never cluttered, his units are always in formation, and cries if his mineral patches are lopsided. If he starts commenting on how your base layout and units should be arranged, change his personality profile to The Obsessive Compulsive. Also see The Perfectionist.
*The Perfectionist
This guy want units/buildings to be in perfect condition, usually a Terran player by nature, will not tolerate imperfections, repairs everything if he can, and researches restoration immediately. Those wire frames are meant to be GREEN dang it! If for some strange reason he is unable to get something back into mint condition his universe will shatter. Also known as The Hypochondriac.
*The Entrepreneur
This guy believes he will capitalize on many opportunities soon. Thus he sets up a lot of excess supply to get ready for near future growth. This is the same guy who will get energy capacity upgrade for units that have no inherent spells before researching them.
*The Dictator
This character is found in allied games only, he tells allies what to do regardless whether it’s a good idea or not, if his side wins it’s because of his leadership, if they lose, it’s because they didn’t listen to him.
*Mr. DMZ (Demilitarized Zone)
"OMG get out of my base!” Whether it’s your opening scout or an attack, this guy wants you out of there. His territory is for his units only. You don’t belong there. Didn’t you read the sign?
*The Junkie
GosuMarine: brb
GosuMarine: 1min rolling
Terran player only, he loves his StimPack. In fact he has the bothersome habit of stimming the same unit more than once in quick succession before they can heal. It sure is easy to kill a guy when he’s stoned.
*Guy Incognito
GosuZerg: chobo ssibal geeseki babo
GosuZerg: bad game !^@&#$%
This guy tries to act Korean to scare other players, types commonly used phrases that sound Korean but forgets his guise when he starts losing and uses English expletives.
*The Voluntary Firing Squad Target
This is the type of player that INSISTS that you finish off every last one of his buildings. He is either too stubborn, too ignorant, or too honorable/proud to leave the game of his own accord. When he knows he is losing, he gives you the "privilege" of spending the last remaining minutes seeking out and eliminating all of his structures. If he only put that much enthusiasm into competing during the game, he might have not gotten himself into such a predicament. Also as a firing squad target, he may ask for Shared Vision, thus removing his blindfold before execution so he can stare death in the eye.
*Mr. Stealth Affinity
All players want their units to be cost-effective, right? After all, that's how the game is won. However, this guy takes it to the extreme. A special subclass of The Perfectionist, this player loves cloaked units. Typically these are Protoss players who build excessive numbers of Dark Templar or Arbiters, Terran players who amass cloaked Wraiths, or Zerg players who morph as many Lurkers as possible. They reason that cloaked units have the highest probability of becoming cost-effective, so why not build them en masse? What he does not realize is that just one detector can bring him to his knees. Sometimes this guy just likes to build cloaked units just because he thinks they are "cool," without considering any strategic elements. He may think "there's nothing scarier than seeing several blurry forms of DTs or Wraiths invading your base." In extreme cases, this guy will use mass Ghosts against his opponent just to satisfy his need for cloaked units.
*The Race Illusionist
The hand is quicker than the eye! This class of B.netter changes his race when the game countdown gets as close to zero as possible, hoping that you weren't paying attention. He's hoping to get all the benefits of Random (where you don't know his race) without the consequences of playing a race he doesn't know. If only there was a random zerg hack!
*The Dodger
This guy is similar in attitude to Mr. All That and a Bag of Chips and Mr. Bad Manner. He demands a rematch after losing a game. However, something always conveniently comes up at the scheduled time of the rematch that prevents him from playing. You sure got lucky he had to trim his azalea bushes, or you would have been dealt the thrashing of a lifetime!
*The Legislative Hypocrite
This guy feels the need to create rules for his games. Usually these rules are as simple as "no rush for 10 minutes", which means players cannot interact with each other until 10 minutes have elapsed. Players are expected to abide by these rules. However, the rulemaker himself feels that he is above the law and will usually rush very early. This is fairly predictable since it is a rule that can only be enforced by the honor system, but this guy has played many unsuspecting opponents for patsies.
*The Paranoiac
Is the enemy of my enemy really my friend? This guy asks himself that question constantly. Plagued by fears that his allies are Double Agents, he accuses everyone in the game of conspiring against him.
*Captain Obvious
Jenna_: hello GoW-Moon
Moon: hi
Moon: -.-
Jack[RCDF: d/l finish then go
This particular B.netter is severely deficient in conversational skills. He must resort to making statements that are known to all regardless of the subject's relevance to the current situation. Will often display uncanny arithmetic functions by proclaiming that only one more person is needed for a 2v2 game when 3 are present in the lobby. The battle cry of the opponents of Captain Obvious is, "No duh!"
*The Ill-Fated Negotiator
ChristopherBlue: hello NyM)WaSTeDHiPPy
NyM)WaSTeDHiPPy: hello]
Jack[RCDF: can i b wit host?
Jack[RCDF: has left the game.
Negotiation is a delicate process in which two people reach an agreement, usually by sacrificing part of their personal wishes. This guy doesn't seem to grasp the full concept. It's his way or the highway!
*The Highly Suggestable Type
ChristopherBlue: Make 1v1/Obs
This strain of B.netter is the polar opposite of The Ill-Fated Negotiator. He'll do anything if only people would listen to his requests!
*The Monosyllabic Responder
Chikazuiteru: that makes you my friend; the enemy of my enemy is my friend!
RedMuta: yes
"Why type a whole sentence when only one word will do?" That is the motto of this common B.net denizen. Not exactly the most talkative individual, he typically never initiates a conversation, and responds to questions or comments with simple one-syllable answers.
*The Safe Better
Jack[RCDF: hi
Jack[RCDF: nice records
Jack[RCDF: imma lose
Jack[RCDF: so... goodbye
One thing can be said about this guy - he certainly knows his limits. He'd rather cut and run than face up to a challenge. With this mentality, he is probably a successful gambler.
*The Drunken Master
"Oh man I am so drunk right now lollll!!!" This guy insists on proclaiming his drunkenness (or stonedness) to all the world. He may seem intoxicated to begin with, but he sure sobers up quickly after he loses, at which point he lets loose with excuse after excuse about how he would have won if he wasn't drunk.
Zerg 2v2 Guide
+ Show Spoiler +
2v2 Zerg Guide:
*Zerg always needs to creep push to his ramp in 2v2. In all matchups, this is good, and will allow you to win much more games. Zerg is the sidekick race in 2v2.
*ZZxTZ
-Standard
1) 1 Zerg 12hatch fast expands and goes two gas Mutas. The other Zerg 9pools and later Lurker expands. The 9pool user must have Zerglings to defend his ally's expansion. He switches from Lurker-Ling to Hydra-Lurker later. 4 bases of the ZZ team are greater than the two bases of the TZ team. If you have 3gas Mutas, you can go Defilers off 3 gases. Defilers are good against units that do splash damage like Siege Tanks. If you have 2gas Hydra-Lurkers, make Defilers and a Nydus to your ally's base. The Defiler plagues M&M, Vessels, and the opponent's Muta Stack and give you great map control. After Plaguing a Science Vessel ball, you can use 1 Mutalisk to kill all the Science Vessels since they will all have 1 HP. Swarm helps Hydralisks against M&M/Siege Tanks/Sunkens and Mutalisks. Swarm pushes splash damage attacks to the side so only splash damage is dealt. Queens help in the late game by Ensnaring M&M to negate their stimpack while your Cracklings mop them up. You can also use Ensnare to chase down Vessels and the opponent's Mutalisk stack. In the late game ZZxTZ, Ensare is better against Protoss than Terran because usually the
Terran will Irradiate the Queens after it is used only once. If the game becomes 2v1 ZZxZ, and your ally goes Hydralisks, you can use Ensnare to negate your opponents Muta micro. ZZ teams can have 1 Zerg burrow 12 Info-Lings arround the map for map hack. It is good to (Spore Ally) give your Zerg ally 1 or 2 Spores when you are in a ZZ team because it is like giving him a probe/scv. It will keep you alive to use what units you have left. You can try to snipe your Zerg opponent's Hatchery or Hatcheries with your Lurkers if he doesn't have Mutalalisks.
-Unorthodox
1) If the Zerg on the opposing team is only mass Lings, or if the Terran does not have Vessels/Wraiths/Valkyries, your 9pool player can go 1gas Guardians. Even if your going 1gas Guardians, at first you only need 5 Drones mining minerals while you go 6 Mutas. Then you make 2 more Drones so you have 7 before you make a Queen's Nest, Hive, and 6 Guardians. Finally, you make 2 more Drones to mine so you have 9 total Drones mining before you can go 3 Devourers. You don't need more Drones, unless you need to mass more Sunkens against a big mass of Terran M&M coming to your ramp. He makes 6 Guardians outside the Terran's base, and can bring along a few Scourges. It is better to have the 1gas player go Guardians because 2gas guardians is much slower. Afterwards, he makes 3 Devourers in any 2v2 game that becomes 2v1 ZZxZ. This was Belladona's trademark. Even if you are playing Jaedong, it is very hard to lose this if you have 3 Devourers to complement your ally's Mutalisks. 3 Devourers is the magic number because in three shots it gives your opponent's Muta stack 9 acid spores. His Mutas will fire twice as slow and take three times as much damage from your ally's Mutalisks. Note: Your Devourers fire about every third Muta shot. Beware your opponents can use 3 Scourges to kill 1 Devourer. ToT)Belladona would micro his Mutas/Devourers by putting his Mutas on 1 control group. Example: 8 Mutas + Overlord on 1st hotkey. Then he would manually add the 3 Devourers to his control group of Mutas + Overlord without hotkeying them to cause everything to stack nicely before an engagement. When he attacked he would put the 3 Devourers in front by A-clicking without micro-ing them to act like meathshields. He would only micro the Muta control group. You would think it is very hard to micro Devourers when they are in a control group with Mutas, but surprisingly, you don't even need to micro them at all or group them in a control group with Mutas. Finally, you can make a couple Guardians to snipe Spore Colonies. There are other situations you can go 1gas Devourers other than only in ZZxTZ games that you rush 1gas Guardians. However, the 1gas Guardian rush build in ZZxTZ is where you will see 90% of the games you can go 1gas Devourers 2v1 ZZxZ. Sometimes when you are playing ZZ team you might want to play for fun by having both Zergs on your team cheese. Or some type of fluke may happen that one of your expansions are sniped and it causes both you and your ally to have 1base/1gas only. Because in those examples you only go Devourers if it is a fluke game, perhaps you can go it the most often when you 1gas Guardian
in ZZxTZ. If your ally dies, you will be able to 1v1 your Zerg opponent with Muta/Devourer + whatever Mutas your ally kept alive. 3 Devourer's total cost is only 850 Minerals and 450 Gas. That is why your 2base ally should Spore you, as he will be the preferred player your opponents kill first. If you've seen Hive ZvZ 1v1 games you may wonder why Defilers aren't preferable to Devourers in ZZxZ 2v1 games. (Note: In 1v1 they don't go Hive ZvZ until you have 4gases) 1 Plague's total cost is 550 Minerals and 600 Gas compared to 3 Devourers costing 550 Minerals and 300 gas since you will already have the Mutalisks. It also takes 90 seconds longer to get Plague which your opponent won't let you pull off. Finally, note you don't always have to go Guardian-Devourer off 1gas. In ZZxTZ, you can go it off 2gas or more. You make the Devourers so your ally's 1gas Mutalisks can help you vs the opposing Zerg's Mutas killing your Guardians. A Devourer has twice the range of Mutalisks (6 versus 3), so they are good if you have 3 Devourers + 8 Mutalisks sniping enemy Overlords that are not above Spore Colonies.
2) Both Zergs on ZZ team can go Mutalisks. Sometimes happens when Z on TZ team rushes Mutas, you are forced to. However, it is probably better to do the below since both players on your team going Mutas has no diversity of units. If you are going to have both player go Mutalisks, Overpool is a good build for it. You can make 7 Mutalisks and then switch to Guardians judging on what your opponents have.
3) If the Zerg on the ZT team is rushing Mutas, and you think his Mutalisks will arrive before your ally's slower 2base Muta, you can do the following build. You make 9pool and make a Spire, then 2 Mutas, then a Hydra Den, then 2 more Mutas, then you tech switch to Lurkers. It will make the opposing team make many uneeded Turrets and Spores while you surprise them with Hold Lurkers.
*ZZxPZ
-Standard
1) 1 Zerg goes 12hatch expand and mass Zerglings with +1 attack and later switches to Hydra-Ling. His ally goes 9pool Scourges. If the player that is one basing is winning air, he can 1base tech switch from Spire to Hydra Den
and go either Hydras or Lurkers. The player going mass Zerglings/Hydralisks can make a Queen to Ensnare the opposing team's Corsairs and Mutalisks. You can help your ally's Mutas/Scourges get a better surround against the Corsairs by ensnaring them. It is also good to use Ensnare + Hydras against Speed Zealots. If the game becomes 2v1
ZZxZ, and your ally goes Hydralisks, you can use Ensnare to negate your opponents Mutal micro. If you have 2gas Hydra-Lurkers, make Defilers and a Nydus to your ally's base. Also, in ZZxTZ and ZZxPZ, if you already
have a Defensive Nydus to help your ally, you can also use an offensive one to embarass your opponents. Defilers and Lurker-Lings are good against Archons and Dragoons if you Swarm on top of it. Defilers also give you great map control. Also, simply casting Plague on a Protoss ball or Zerg Muta stack helps a lot. ZZ teams can have 1 Zerg burrow 12 Info- Lings arround the map for map hack called info-lings. If you Lurker rush to deny a Protoss player an expansion, have your ally Scourge the Overlord so he is forced to tech switch to Obs off 1 base. It is good to (Spore Ally) give your Zerg ally 1 or 2 Spores when you are in a ZZ team because it is like giving him a probe/scv. It will keep you alive to use
what units you have left. When you have Scourges in big numbers against Corsairs it is best to move your Scourges until they are nearly on top of the Corsairs and then A-click. It will spread out the damage instead of overkilling. Cracklings, when you can finally go them, are always good in ZZxPZ unlike ZZxTZ where they are only good with Ensnare against M&M since it is harder to chase down M&M under Dark Swarms. One Zerg can help his ally by using 1 Scourge at a time to snipe Observers so his ally's Lurkers do more damage. You can try to snipe your Zerg opponent's Hatchery or Hatcheries with your Lurkers if he doesn't have Mutalalisks. If P doesn't make a Stargate, you can make 1 Guardian to shut down his mining at an expo if there is unreachable terrain.
-Unorthodox
1) Drops
Unlike ZZxTZ where it is better to get Hive tech than go Doom Drops, drops are actually good in ZZxPZ if they don't see it coming. In my big replay pack of ToT)Belladona, the best 2v2 Zerg player on Iccup, a lot of his losses were from doom drops. I guess they are quite hard to defend because most of your Sunkens will be on your ramp. You can u-click your own Overlords one at a time to make them unload on the move. It is really good to kill the Zerg when he sunken pushed to his ramp. Lurker-Ling drops are better in ZZxPZ and Hydra-Lurker drops are better in ZZxTZ games because M&M melt Zerglings before they do damage.
2) Vanilla Build
1 player can 9pool and defend his ally, while his ally 12hatches in his main next to his first Hatchery. He goes +1 carpace, +1 attack, and then Zergling speed. The opposing Zerg won't survive unless he has 3 Sunkens at his ramp or if his ally gives him 2 Zealots to close his ramp. If you see the 2 Zealots going to his ally, try to snipe them mid-map. Send your ally's unupgraded Zerglings in first before you use your lings. If your opponents haven't seen this build, they automatically lose.
3) Both Zergs can go Mutalisks. Sometimes happens when Z on PZ team rushes Mutas, you are forced to. Even if the Z on PZ team doesn't rush Mutas, it is entirely a common build to go x2 Mutas.
4) One player goes 12hatch fast expand while his ally 9pools. The fast expand player goes Spire, buts pumps 12 Lings before saving the larva in time for 12 Scourges. After the fast expand player has enough Scourges, he changes to Mutalisks. His ally can stay on Zerglings as long as the opposing Zerg stays on Zerglings. The 9pool player just goes mass Zerglings with no Lair. The ZZ team then trys to kill the Zerg on the ZP team with mass Zerglings.
*ZZxTP: Both Zergs want to expand as soon as possible since their map
control advantage dissallows their opponents from expanding early. If the
fast expand player goes Mutalisks, he must do damage with them, otherwise
ZZ will lose. The TP opponents will Sair-DT, possibly Dweb-ing your
Lurkers, and they will also make M&M.
or ZZxTP can go:
Hydra-Lurk then 1 player tech to Ultra-Ling-Defiler. Standard is for 1 player to 9pool speed ling and other player to go 12h
or ZZxTP both Z can go Muta but must beware of timings of speed Zeal + medic, Wraith-Sair combo, or 3 gate slow Zeal + Wraiths. Those strats can be hard if you both Z opened Mutas. If both Z opens Muta you must do damage with the Muta and all-in usually.
*ZZxZZ
-Standard
1) 1 goes 9hatch mass Zerglings, and the other goes 9pool Mutalisks.
-Unorthodox
1) 1 can 9pool while the other goes 11d Lair. 11d Lair means you make an Overlord at 9, then gas at 9, drones to 11, and a Pool at 11. You will have gas first so Zergling speed and your Lair can be made at the same time.
2) Both players can 12pool, 11gas, 10hatch on ramp so they have a better chance to win 1v2. Both go Muta-Lings.
ZZxTP: Both Zergs want to expand as soon as possible since their map control advantage dissallows their opponents from expanding early. If the fast expand player goes Mutalisks, he must do damage with them, otherwise ZZ will lose. The TP opponents will Sair-DT, possibly Dweb-ing your Lurkers, and they will also make M&M.
*ZTxZT
9pool 1 Hatch Mutalisks. Or you can cheeze by going 3hatch Mass Lings + Vulture rush. Most of the time both Zerg players will have 5 Drones max mining minerals with 3 Drones on gas. You can Scourge your opponents Overlords to supply block him if he is a highly skilled player to let your ally win a game more like 1v1. If the game becomes 2v1 ZTxZ, you can make 1 Guardian so you don't die to Siege Tanks. 1 Guardian's total cost 450 Minerals and 450 Gas. 1 Siege Tank's total cost with Siege Mode is 550 Minerals and 400 Gas. A Guardian's total cost is almost practically the same as a Siege Tank and it has further range. I saw ESC.Babo do this. There is a good build for fast 3 Hatchery mass Zerglings. It is 9 Overlord, 12 Hatch, 11 Pool, Drone to 13, and 13 Hatchery. You can either make your Hatcheries in your main or at an expansion. Remember though that 12 Hatchery dies to 9pool users.
*ZTxZP
-Standard
1) 12pool, 11hatch ramp, and 10gas. If by fluke the game turns into an hour 2v1 ZTxP game where the toss went Carriers, have your ally EMP them while you Plague them. They will have 0 HP. Muta-Ling is better in ZTxZP than ZPxZT because M&M just owns Lings whereas Goons-Zlots do not. The extra Zerglings can help carry your ally. When your ally went M&M, it is helpful to your ally if you snipe the opponent's HTs. You can make 1 Queen for ensnaring the opponent's Mutalisk stack in ZTxZP, only in this matchup, so your ally's M&M can chase down their Mutalisk stack. Also, if your opponents did a 4sair build in ZTxPZ or a 5 Valk build in ZPxTZ this would work for chasing down those also. Ensnaring your opponent's Mutalisk stack will reduce its attack rate 18%.
-Unorthodox
Or you can 9pool if your ally is going M&M.
ZTvZP you can go Hydralisks when the Protoss goes mass Dragoons. Hydras without +1 attack are very bad. In ZvZ, you go Hydra if you are ahead on economy but behind in tech. So if you expanded, and opposing Z has faster Mutas, you can go Hydralisks + Spores as an emergency.
*ZTxZZ
-Standard
1) 12pool, 11hatch ramp, and 10gas. If both Zerg opponents are going Muta, you must make at least 10 Spores. Since you have less air help than in ZPxZZ, you will need more Spores. You always make +1 attack Zerglings
in this Matchup. Since some games it is impossible for a Zerg to expand against a ZZ team's air and ground, you may want to Nydus Expand when you are running low on gas and minerals. You use Swarm + Consume + Adrenalings and you bring along Drones for Sunkens/a Hatchery. Make Sunkens on left over creep before it goes away. You can have your ally Comsat for you to make a Nydus. This also helps your ally by taking one of the opponent's Expansions away. Switch to Nydus in long games when you are about to run out of gas. Also, in ZZxTZ and ZZxPZ, if you already
have a Defensive Nydus to help your ally, you can also use an offensive one to embarass your opponents. Finally, if your opponents are going Ultras, you can Broodling them. In this matchup it is a much easier to Muta rush than in ZPxZZ where you have to worry about 2base hydra-ling mass, but beware of Sunken rushes. If you have to play a 1v2 ZxZZ in this matchup, try to snipe your opponents gasses. Also, try to make both Mutas ans Lings while you don't have enough gas for more Mutas.
-Unorthodox
1) Or you can 9pool if your ally is going M&M.
2) You can 10pool for mass lings only. You 9 Overlord, do gas trick, make a Pool at 10 Supply, Drone to 11, 10 Hatch at ramp, and 9 gas. You will be able to make 6 Zerglings and defend your ramp, without Sunkens, from 2 Zergs going 9p/12p. Your ally should get Valkyries since you will have no anti-air.
ZTxPT Z usually 12p hatches ramp and expands after 6 Mutas are out ZTxPT has bigger risk if Zerg early expands because Terran ally has no map control to help you survive.You eventually expand with a 2nd Hatch but you don't need to hurry with it. After the Zerg expands, he should Lurker harass or make Fast Guardians. Drops are good against TP. Let your ally mine T/P team first or give you Tanks or Bunkers. The Terran in ZT team must go Mech. Zerg should ZvT. TP team usually doesn't go Wraiths in TPxZT since ZT team will have comsat scan and fast Siege Tanks.
*ZPxZP
-Standard
1) 12pool, 11hatch ramp, and 10 gas. This is the matchup where 3hatch lings is the only time 3hatch lings is a good build and where it is common to use it. If your opponent is getting no Lair, go ahead and make a third Hatchery for 3hatch Lings. But if your opponent has a Lair, then go Mutas yourself also. If both you and your opponent are going mass Zerglings, your ally going Sair-DT can close your opponent with 2 DT's/2 Sairs so that you can play 2v1 the Protoss and so you can macro up and win off macro. There is a good build for fast 3 Hatchery mass Zerglings. It is 9 Overlord, 12 Hatch, 11 Pool, Drone to 13, and 13 Hatchery. You can either make your Hatcheries in your main or at an expansion. Remember though that 12 Hatchery dies to 9pool users.
-Unorthdox
1) Any earlier gas build is viable if you feel like rushing Mutalisks.
*ZPxZT
-Standard
1) 9pool because it gives you faster Mutalisks than your opponent that is forced to 12pool. You can "Muta Split" against Vessels by shift deselecting 2 Mutas a time. Put 11 Mutas on 1st hokey, 9 on 2nd, 7 on 3rd, 5 on 4th, 3 on 5th, and 1 on 6th. After you are Irradiated, click in a half circle on the map to quickly spread our your Mutalisks. Because
you don't need as many hotkeys for Macro like you do in 1v1, this is possible. You can use same concept to "Muta Surround" Valkyries/Corsairs. Scourging Vessels/Sniping Siege Tanks in this matchup will really help your ally out. You can shift select 2 Scourges at a time to kill multiple Vessels, just remember to let go of the Shift key.
*ZPxZZ
-Standard
1) 12pool, 11hatch ramp, and 10gas. If both Zerg opponents are going Muta, you must make 10 Spores. You always make +1 attack Zerglings in this Matchup. Since some games it is impossible for a Zerg to expand against a ZZ team's air and ground, you may want to Nydus Expand when your running low on gas and minerals. You use Swarm + Consume + Adrenalings and you bring along Drones for Sunkens/Hatchery. This also helps your ally by taking one of the opponent's Expansions. Also, your Protoss ally will have a hard time expanding unless you can leave your base with your Zerglings. Switch to Nydus in long games when you are about to run out of gas. If your opponents are going Ultras, you can Broodling them. If the opposing ZZ team goes +1 attack lings, like they sometimes do, you can make +1 attack and +1 carpace lings. You don't want to rush Mutalisks too quickly in this matchup as one of your opponents normally goes two-base hydra-ling in this matchup. It is actually viable to rush Mutas in the ZTxZZ matchup. Your ally won't be able to defend you while you Muta rush because he has to go mass Corsairs in that matchup. If you have to play a 1v2 ZxZZ in this matchup, try to snipe your opponents gasses. Also, try to make both Mutas ans Lings while you don't have enough gas for more Mutas.
-Unorthdox
1) You can 9pool if your ally is 2gate rushing.
2) You can 10pool for mass lings only. You 9 Overlord, do gas trick, make a Pool at 10 Supply, Drone to 11, 10 Hatch at ramp, and 9gas. You will be able to make 6 Zerglings and defend your ramp without Sunkens from 2 Zergs going 9p/12p. Your ally should get Corsairs since you will have no anti-air.
*ZPxTP:
ZPvTP: Zerg goes Muta-Ling to take out the Terran because of T's Siege Tanks + Mines. After, he should transition into Hydralisk drops. The Protoss in ZP team should rush Dragoons. Most of the time, TP goes Wraiths in ZPvTP. Ask for your ally to send you his first Dragoon if you are the Zerg. Wraiths are good in TPvPZ because it is easy to avoid detection. Protoss won't get Observers usually because they are too expensive. Protoss in PZ team usually relies on his ally's Overlords. Try to kill as many Overlords as possible so the Zerg's Overlord Speed upgrade is slowed down. Z can expand faster because Protoss ally will help with map control.
Muta Micro:
In Muta vs Muta micro you can shift-click enemy Mutas so that after you
focus fire down 1 Muta to quickly kill it you can move on to the next
ones.
P-click own mutas vs Scourges/enemy Mutas
H-click when versus a big mass of units like Marines/Hydras.
A-click when sniping.
Before your Mutalisks firest, doing both M+Mouse click and A+Mouse click
on some units allow your Mutalisks not to lose momentum and to attack a
lot faster.
Note about Infested Terrans:
If you A-move an Infested Terran, which is the same thing as right
clicking it, the Infested Terran will blow up when it reaches its
destination regardless if there are any enemy units where you send it.
Therefore, you should press "s" for stop to micro them properly.
Ninja lings is when you hide 3 Lings outside an opponent's base so you
can do a runby when he comes out and snipe Drones. Every Drone counts in
ZvZ.
Muta-Bombing is an old term referring to when a Zerg player sends a lot
of Mutalisks and 1 Queen, in the same control group(s), to focus fire and
quickly infest a Terran Command Center.
Zerg players can expand in their Terran or Protoss ally's base if they
think they are a better player than their ally.
2v2 Balance
+ Show Spoiler +
No other combination other than ZT ZP and ZZ is competitive in a
tournament. TP is better than PP, which is better than TT. The hardest
matchup between ZZ, TZ, and PZ is PZxZZ. It favors ZZ. TZxZZ is easier.
Not having a Zerg on your team makes your team disadvantaged in 2v2. A
team with a Zerg against a team without a Zerg has map control and can
macro and tech up.
P barely > T 1v1
PZ barely > TZ 2v2
T barely > Z 1v1
TZ barely > ZZ 2v2
Z barely > P 1v1
ZZ barely > PZ 2v2
Terran is good at 1v2 in 2v2
Protoss is bad at 1v2 in 2v2
Zerg is mediocre at 1v2 in 2v2
The worst combination PT can play against is TZ.
Map Picking Considerations Guide
+ Show Spoiler +
P>Z Maps
Loki
Guillotine
Blue Storm (Alot)
Bloody Ridge (Alot)
Central Plains (aka Protoss Plains)
Longinus (Alot)
Vampire
Big Game Hunters
Fighting Spirit (A Little)
P>T Maps
Andromeda
Plains to Hill
Luna
Katrina
Guillotine
Baekmagoji
Silent Vortex
Evolution Predators 2
Gladiator
T>Z Maps
Gaema Gowon
Athena
R-Point
T>P Maps
Geometry
PGT Chameleon
Nemesis
Athena
R-Point
Z>T Maps
Bluestorm
Bloody Ridge
Flight Dreamliner
Ride of Valkyries
Legacy of Char
Z>P Maps
Mercury
Legacy of Char
Nemesis
Peaks of Beakdu (original)
Rush Hour 2
Tears of the Moon
Return of the King
Protoss 2v2 Guide
+ Show Spoiler +
============================================================
2v2 Protoss Guide
Note: A cute P/Z team cheese is to 3 Sunken Rush and 6 Probe Rush your Zerg opponent in PZxPZ or PZxTZ. Your opponent should save up 300 minerals to rebuild at his ally's base. That is the only real counter, or if your opponent's ally sends his ally 6 workers to help him.
*In PZxTZ, never offensively Cannon your Terran opponent. It is cheezy and isn't worth it against strong Terran players.
*PZxPZ
-Dominant
You open 2gates at the same time at 12 Supply for maximum economy. 1 common build in this matchup is to make 3 Gateways at 10/12/22 supply. Go a maximum of 3 Gateways because any more than that is considered all-in off 1 base. Go 3gate Speed Zealots if your ally has faster Mutalisks than your opponent. If they still don't have Mutalisks, you then DT expand and make Zealot-Archon. If your opponent has faster Mutalisks than your ally, you usually go 3gate ranged
Dragoons. But you can go up to 5gate ranged Dragoons off 1 base. If your ally has less Mutalisks than your opponent, or if your opponent rushed Mutalisks, you want to go Sair-DT. You make 1 Stargate until you have a critical mass of Corsairs. Then you DT expand so you can catch-up in ground mass to the opposing Protoss. If you went Sair-DT, put 4 Probes on gas to have your DT's out 6 seconds faster. If your Zerg opponent went only mass Zerglings, which is very common, try to close him with 2 DT's and 1 or 2 Corsairs. This allows your ally to go 3hatchery mass Zerglings so you can 2v1 the Protoss and prevent him from expanding. This is similar to what you can do in PZxZZ when one of the Zergs is just going mass Lings with no tech. Because he has no Spire or Hydralisks to get his Overlord to his ramp, you can sair-dt block his ramp in PZxZZ and PZxPZ. Because it is normal to go 2 DTs if your opponent has no Lair, you can
also make 1 Stargate and 1 Scout to close your Zerg opponent's ramp. A scout costs about half as much gas as 2 Corsairs which you won't even need if your Zerg opponent isn't making a Lair. Obviously, if you don't know if its time to expand, scout your Protoss opponent to see if he has one. Even if you can't close the Zerg in the PZxPZ matchup with 2 dts and 2 Corsairs, 3hatch Zerglings is still a good build. If the Zerg on the opposing team rushes Mutas, (example: 9pool Muta) your Protoss should Sair-DT to counter it. If you went the normal 12pool you can transition into 3Hatch lings since your ally has Corsairs for your opponent's Mutas. You eventually tech switch to Mutas after you've made mass Lings. It is more of a Hunters style of play. If the opposing team goes an early Pool in this matchup, you must turtle up and not go out to help your Zerg ally. In this matchup if both players go DT, the Zerg player can go speed Overlord to help his ally. Having the Speed Overlord for DTs makes it easier to eventually drop a drone on an Island for a hidden expo. Example: If I open standard 12pool against a 9pool Muta rusher, I can
switch to 3hatch mass Lings into Spores + Speed OL into Mutas and expand
to island to catch up in the air.
*PZxTZ
-Dominant
1) 2 or 3gate Goons vs Bio
Yan would normally make 2 Gateways at 11 supply in this matchup. Dragoons are > M&M. Dragoons have further range and more health. Example: 6 Dragoons with Range and Micro can win against 14 Marines/2 Firebats/and 2 Medics. You can't micro more than 1 control group of 12 Dragoons very well, so when your 1 control group is getting new 12 Dragoons, you switch to DTs or HTs vs Bio. That is when you finally tech because you can't rely anymore on soley your micro for that many Dragoons against how many Marines and Medics your opponents will have by that time. They won't make Vessels because they don't help versus mass Goons, but if they make Tanks you make DTs and expand. Your ally must 9pool and close the Zerg opponent because Marines & Lings are > Dragoons & Lings. You micro Dragoons by
retreating from them and A-clicking towards them and repeating this. A-clicking towards them will line your Dragoons up in a straight line gradually. Once you have mastered A-clicking, start to use H-clicking after they are in a straight line. However, you can do this an easier way by only A-clicking. H-clicking is only very slightly faster if your Dragoons happen to be in a straight line. Dragoon micro surprisingly works well when you attack Marines even when they are stimmed and it completely owns them when the Medics run out of energy. If you are having
trouble, attack them less from the head on, and more from the side. If your opponent has better Marine Micro than you have Dragoon micro, make a couple Cannons at your ramp. When you have 4 or less Dragoons you must focus fire by A-clicking single Marines otherwise you can't kill any. This might sound like it would be something hard to do, but it is surprisingly easy to do on lan latency.
2) 2 DT Expand vs Bio
Yan would normally make 2 Gateways at 11 supply in this matchup. You close your Zerg opponent with 5 Zealots. You put 4 Probes on gas and 2 DT expand so your DTs get out a few seconds faster. After expanding, you make a couple HT's and mass ranged Dragoons. It is standard/normal to get 1 Dark Archon in this matchup against M&M so that you can Maelstrom the opponent's Mutalisk stack. Also, you can Feedback Vessels so they don't kill your HTs. If this is happening you can put them in a Shuttle. Try to keep your first couple DT's alive so you can turn them into a Dark Archon. If your playing an all-in Terran who is making a huge mass of Marines with no tech, (Example 3rax to 7rax MM) the counter to this build is to have your Zerg ally cut the Terran player's eco with his Mutas.
3) Dragoons & Observer vs Mech
Yan would normally make 2 Gateways at 11 supply in this matchup. You open 2gate Obs because you need Observers out as soon as possible to help your ally. You make 3rd and 4th Gate after the Observatory. The Terran won't normally make a Comsat against a 2gate Obs build. Therefore, it is good if your Terran opponent has mass Goliaths to switch to 2 DTs to help you DT expand (free expand) and to give you map control. After you have your second gas make only 2 HTs and keep pumping Dragoons/Zlots as this is standard. Remember putting a 4th Probe on your gas when you start to
switch DTs will let the 2 DTs come out a few seconds faster like Yan does. When you have 3 bases versus Mech, you make 1 Arbiter. It helps give you better map control. 1 Statsis only costs 100 energy, and soon enough you will be able to have 2 of them to Statsis 6 units at a time. You should upgrade Statsis first, as it allows you to freeze 5-6 units. It is the Maelstrom against Mech. If you expect your opponent to go for drops, you can make your Zerg ally a few Cannons spread out by his mineral line to prevent drops. Place three as spread out as possible while they can still stop drops from coming in between them. You should be able to stop drops with 3 Cannons if you place them optimally. If you
expect Wraiths, you can send your ally your first Dragoon to negate them. Also, it is important to use your first Dragoon to kill any Overlords in your own base or your ally's. Make 1 Cannon at your mineral line if you suspect a Vulture drop.
4) Reavers into HTs off 1 Gas
You must Cannon your ally's ramp so he has faster Mutas than your opponent to go Reavers since your Reavers will die to your opponents Mutas otherwise. You can't go Reavers without cannoning your ally for this reason. You do not make the Shuttle speed upgrade in this matchup. Muta-Reaver rush the Zerg opponent. It is not good to attack the Terran
because Reavers hardly do any damage against SCV lines unless they have the Reaver damage upgrade. Your Zerg opponent will die if his ally didn't give him units. You can Proxy your Robo in your ally's base if he is
closer to the Zerg. While still on 1base, after you've made 4 Reavers, you switch to HTs. If you are going Reavers + Dragoons, you must ALWAYS switch to HTs. All the A++ Protoss players do this build. After your
opponents have enough Mutas, Reavers become ineffective, and you must switch to HTs. You can't go
Reavers against Mech because Goliaths have such long range your Shuttle will always die. Sometimes the Terran fakes bio and then surprises you with Mech, so you have to make due. You normally almost always proxy the Robo in your Zerg ally's base so the Muta-Reaver force can go together to either the Zerg or Terran opponent. Reavers are not as good alone as they are with Mutas to protect them.
5) Cannon Ally's Expansion 10gate/12Forge
Your ally can safe expand by going Overpool, and you make him a couple Cannons/buildings to help block Ling runbys. Whenever you make your ally Cannons, because you are on the defensive, you make +1 armor before +1
attack. Whenever you make your ally Cannons, because you are on the defensive, you make +1 armor before +1 attack. Armor upgrade is better like when a few goons against mass marines since you have few attacks and they have many attacks. Protoss has less units therefore armor helps it the most. +1 Armor also allows Dragoons to take only 3 damage from Zerglings. This helps when the Zerg goes mass Zerglings or when they have Adrenalings. Dragoons have +1 built in armor, and Zerglings to 5 damage, that is why researching +1 armor makes Zerglings only do 3 damage.
6) Cannon Ally's Ramp 10gate/12Forge
This is just so your ally can rush Mutas. Make 1 Cannon if the opponents went Mech. Make up to 3 if they went M&M and have a lot of Barrackes. Whenever you make your ally Cannons, because you are on the defensive, you make +1 armor before +1 attack. Armor upgrade is better like when a few goons against mass marines since you have few attacks and they have many attacks. Protoss has less units therefore armor helps it the most. +1 Armor also allows Dragoons to take only 3 damage from Zerglings. This helps when the Zerg goes mass Zerglings or when they have Adrenalings. Dragoons have +1 built in armor, and Zerglings to 5 damage, that is why researching +1 armor makes Zerglings only do 3 damage.
7) DT Rush vs Mech
You can do a cheeze tech of a DT rush if you hide the tech in your own base. It will work if the Terran didn't make a Comsat when he went Mech and relied on his ally's Overlord. Have your ally make 2 Scourges right after his Spire is done and Scourge the Overlord. The Terran will have no detection and promptly die. I once saw ToT)Belladona do this build and win a tied Clanleague match with a random 1v1 user ally who went the wrong tech in a ZPxZT 2v2 game.
8) Speed Shuttle Reavers and Speed Zlots (This won't work if your Zerg ally is any worse than the opposing Zerg)
You open Robo, Citadel, Support Bay. This build is only good if your ally can win the ZvZ air battle, otherwise this build is quite terrible. You rush Reaver to Muta-Reaver the Zerg opponent before switching to 2gate +1 armor speed Zealots. The speed Zealots will walkover a Terran opponent that doesn't make Firebats.
Note: You can also use Cannons offensively in PZ:TZ, to close a mass Ling users ramp at the low ground. You just make 3 Cannons and use Zealots/Zerglings to block the ramp. You can also offensive Cannon your Zerg opponent's gas if it is facing towards his ramp and if he didn't creep push to his own ramp.
-Unorthodox
1) 2 or 3gate Speed Zealots into Archons
This works if your Terran opponent doesn't make Firebats. You make +1 armor Speed Zealots because of the high rate of fire of Stimpacked Marines. They will walkover the Terran. This is a decent build but not a great build. You can make 2 or 3 Shield Batteries to help your expansion stay alive so you can recharge your Archons energy.
2) Sair-Goon
Only if the Terran went Mech, you can open 1 Stargate and go 4 Corsairs. You have your ally go Speed Overlord to help you versus Mines. The 4 Corsairs make it so your ally wins the air the whole game against a better Zerg. 4 Corsairs' total gas cost is 550 gas. 2 Observers total gas cost is 450 gas. You go 3gate Dragoons and you can DT expand if you are having trouble expanding regularly. Just remember to put 4 Probes on gas for 2 DTs to get out a few seconds faster. This build is good if your ally's gas got stolen at the start of the game. It looks very gosu to put your 1 Stargate next to your Gateways. This build is good to carry your Zerg ally if he is worse than the Zerg opponent. This build costs almost exactly the same in gas as 2gate Obs does. Your allies Mutas can be used effectively while your opponents Mutas usage is denied by your 4 Corsairs. Since your Zerg ally already has the Speed Overlord upgrade for Spider Mines, it is already easier and convenient for him to drop a Drone an island in the midgame for a hidden expo. After you have 3 gases, you can research Disruption Web vs Mech instead of getting the normal Arbiter + Statsis vs Mech. The 4 Corsairs aren't a cost since you already have them. Fleet Beacon + Dweb total cost is 500 minerals, 400 gas, 2minutes, 20 seconds. 1 Arbiter with Statsis total cost is 450 minerals, 650 gas, 5 min, and 40 seconds. You can also put your Dweb on the Zerg opponent's sunken colonies to break his defenses with a Dragoon ground army.
3) Proxy Gateways in Ally's Base Normally it is common to make your ally 1 Gateway to give him HT's vs
Bio. However, if you are getting Bunker Contained, the only way to beat it is if you proxy all your Gateways in your ally's base to catch the other team with their pants down. You must keep your scouting probe alive in order to be able to do this or you must have already cannon'd your ally.
*PZxZZ
Note: Against ZZ, +1 attack and +2 attack is always very good because a ZZ team has so many units.
If you have trouble expanding in PZxZZ because of mass Hydralisks, then psi storm expand.
-Dominant
1) 2 Gateways 1 Stargate
9/10 Gateway so you can defend x2 rush. Corsair mass until you have a critical mass of Corsairs. Supply block the opponents to help your ally. Then make either Speed Zealots or Dragoons with a few HTs to storm. Always make about 6 Cannons before expanding. If you can't do this in a particular game, then DT expand using your Corsairs to kill Overlords. If your opponents didn't go Spire, just make 2 Sairs and use them to Sair-DT expand against your opponents mass units. You can close a mass Ling users ramp with DT's and a couple Sairs so you can 2v1 his ally. Or you can
prevent that player from getting reinforcements. It looks very gosu to put your 1 Stargate next to your Gateways. You can quickly scout the map for Overlords by sending 1 Corsair in each direction on the minimap by shift deselecting the control group. Extra Mana upgrade (Like Yan used to get) helps this matchup because it makes it so HTs that spawn have about 13 more Energy meaning they can storm much faster after coming out of the Gateway. If both opponents are rushing you, this is the only matchup where it is good to make a Shield Battery. After the Protoss expands, he finally has enough gas to make the tech of Observers. He must rely on his ally's Overlord until then, so his ally must give him one. PZxZZ if you are going Sair-DT expand, you can put 4 Probes on gas for your first 2 DT's to come out 5-6 seconds faster. Using 3 Zealots/3 Probes for example allows you to kill each enemy Zergling with one less hit. You can make your ally a Proxy Gate to give him an HT to help him. If one of your opponents only went mass Zerglings with no tech, and the other has no Spire with hydras only, it is good to harass the mass Zergling player with 1 Scout. It will kill a few Drones and force him to waste a couple Drones on a Spore Colony. If the game is a long game, harass with a Shuttle with Zealots/HTs/DTs. You should make Archons against mass Ling users only after you have 2 gases. While on 1 base you always go Corsairs + 2-4 gate Speed Zealots with +1 attack no matter if your opponents are going mass Hydras or mass Lings.
2) 1 Gateway 2 Stargates
See above.
-Unorthodox
1) 3gate Zealots
Save up 450 Minerals and make 3 gateways at 11 Supply. Probe to 13 and 6 Zealot rush. If your all-in rush doesn't work, try to make a Stargate if they are making a Spire.
2) 3gate Goon Timing Attack
Make 2 Gates, then Forge, then Core, then +1 attack, then Dragoon Range, then 3rd Gateway. Put 2 Cannons at your mineral line to defend Muta rush. Needs good timing to work. You must hide this build from Zergling/Overlord Scouts or your opponents will just mass Sunkens and beat it easily. You normally don't attack until the +1 attack upgrade is done. Upgraded Dragoons have 1 more range than upgraded Hydralisks, like you can do micro against upgraded Marines, so you can micro against Hydralisks like you do against M&M.
3) Sair-Reaver
You play 2gateways and 1 Stargate. After you have 4-5 Corsairs, you start your Robotics. You want your Reaver timing to arrive so that you can attack together with your ally's Mutalisks. You only make 1 Stargate. Your ally must turtle because he will have no help, and he must help you expand with his Zerglings, because you won't be able to expand with Sair- DT. In order to succeed with this build you must keep the few Corsairs you can produce off 1 Stargate alive until you have a critical mass, and you must make mass Zealots. If it turns into a very long game you can go Dweb the opponents Ultras. Ultras can't kill Reavers if you surround them with Dweb. You might think it would be difficult to surround a Reaver with 4 Dwebs to prevent Ultras attacking them, but it is suprisingly easy because Ultras are so big. Especially if your opponent has 1v1 experience, there is a possibility they will counter this build with mass Devourers as it is common in 1v1. One time I saw Scan play a 2v2 ZZvPZ game that turned into a 1v1 ZvP game. Scan had 2 base Hydra-Lurk against the Sair-Reaver build of Hirosue. Because Hirosue's Corsairs were preventing Scan using Scourges to snipe Observers, Scan used 3 Devourers to one-shot snipe the Observers while he used his own Overlords. Scourges were to weak to snipe the Observers. Hirosue's Observers + Dragoons + Reavers were killing Scan's Hydra/Lurkers.
4) 3gate Archons
This is a decent build but not actually a good build. It won't work for progamers against progamers but anyone else can use it. You make 1 DT to kill "afk newb lings" in the middle of the map. Archons aren't actually a good build, but they can be decent.
5) Cannon Ally's Ramp
This surprisingly can work. You go Muta-Speed Zeal attack your opponents and hope they over-expand. Since you have early Mutalisks, it can deny both opponents from expanding, making this build work. 10gate/12 Forge. You must also go 1 Stargate Corsairs just like a normal game.
6) Scouts
You can go 2 Stargate mass Scouts instead of Corsairs. This build can be really good if your already a much higher skill than your opponents. However, if it is somewhat close match, it is quite a bad build. It doesn't work for pros against pros. You should make 2 Scouts at first so you can harass each opposing Zerg seperately with 1 Scout. Then you should make Fleet Beacon for Scout speed, otherwise Mutalisks will be able to chase down your slower Scouts. With Scout speed, your Scouts are the same speed as the Mutaliks. This build isn't good for pros vs pros because you have much less minerals to change to Gateway for ground mass units. Scouts have 1 more range than Mutalisks, so like Dragoons against M&M, they should be able to outmicro Mutalisks if your micro is very good.
If you are winning in the air greatly PZxZZ with your Corsairs, you can make 1 Arbiter to cloak your army and to recall past Sunkens. It isn't very expensive considering you will already have the Templar
Archives/Stargate.
Note: Yan would put 4 Probes on gas not because it gave him more gas but
because it gave him faster gas. In a 5 minute game it will only give you
32 more gas, which is not worth much even if the game is very long. If
you are going DTs for map control, it takes 1 second for each Probe to
take 8 gas back. 32 dived by 8 is 4 seconds faster DTs. So his Dark
Templars can arrive 4 or 5 seconds faster if he puts a 4th Probe on his
gas when he is switching to Dark Templars.
Old 2v2 Proleague Rules
+ Show Spoiler +
*2v2 Proleague Rules
- Whether it be the old Korean 2v2 Proleague Rules, or current Korean 2v2
Tournament rules, they have always banned ZZ TT and PP teams from
tournaments. PP and TT are not good to play and simply not fun to play
against. Because Hunters was always a popular map for Koreans, they
disallowed ZZ teams. TZ is supposed to be an automatic win against ZZ
teams because it is so much harder to defend on rampless maps against an
M&M mass. Similarly, ZZ is supposed to be an automatic win against PZ
because it is so much harder to defend on rampless maps against a two
Zerg mass. So, ZZxTZ and ZZxPZ are both broken on the Hunters, but not on
ramped maps. On ramped maps ZZ is considered the best combination. ZT ZP
ZR and TP are allowed. Same Race ZZ TT PP is banned.
New RTS Unit Ideas From Old RTS Games and RTS Mods
+ Show Spoiler +
I read all the game manuals for all current and past released RTS games for new unit ideas. I also went the OCD route and read up on all the mods for all the SC, WC3, C&C, and Dune 2 games.
===Ground Units=== (57 ideas for ground units in a new RTS game)
- Ambulance
Anti-tank Dogs
Anti-infantry Dogs
Baneling
Battle Tortoise (super Tank)
Bomb Truck
Buzzsaw (tank with a saw to mow down infantry)
Cloaked Harvester/Miner
Colossus
Deviator
Devastator
Drone Host (Tank) has own drones
Flame Tank
Flak Tank
Gatling Tank
Grinder (Recycles any dead enemy vehicle or dead Infantry for a refund)
Ground Repair Drone
Jetpack Infantry
Magnetron (Levitates enemy units and draws in towards it)
Mechanic
Mobile Barracks
Mobile Construction Vehicle (Very first starting building)
Mobile Dropship Bay (Air production building)
Mobile Factory
Mobile Rail Gun Tank
Mobile Repair Vehicle
Nuke Cannon Tank
Observation Van (ground detector)
Radar Van
Radar Jammer
Ram for Against Buildings
Rocket Infantry
Refractor (Causes incoming attacks to be reflected)
Saboteur (Kills any building or unit)
Scout (which is a fast infantryman used for scouting)
Siege Infantry (have mortars and like Siege tanks)
Shade (invisible scout with no attack)
Shape-Shifter (invisible unit that captures buildings like Engineers)
Sniper
Spell Breaker (It steals enemies spells and does 1 damage for each magic point the unit has)
Stealth Tank
Sonic Tank
Supply Truck (Garrisonable supply provider)
Tesla Mammoth
Tesla Tank
Tsunami Tank (amphibious ground and water tank)
Wisp (miner that self-destructs)
===Air Units=== (13 ideas for air units in a new RTS game)
- Anti-Air Mines
Air Repair Drone
Banshee
Demolition Drone
Flame plane
Gunship
Logistics Blimp (gives mini-map sight but no attack)
Ornithopter (anti-air Drone)
Surveillance Drone
Kamikaze Plane
Stealth Bomber (Cloaked unless attacking)
Void Ray
Zeppelin
===Buildings=== (10 ideas for buildings in a new RTS game)
- Air Repair Bay
Dropship Bay (Air production building)
Flame Tower
Focus Beam Turret (Like a Void Ray from SC2)
Gate
Grand Cannon (Useable only once every 10min or so).
Hospital
Repair Bay
Sensor Tower
Tank Bunker
Terran 2v2 Guide
+ Show Spoiler +
2v2 Terran Guide
1 Barracks or 1 Factory proxy Firebats or Vultures in your opponents base is always a nice cheeze if you hide it.
=Terran===
*TZxTZ
-Standard 3Fact Expand
1) 3Factory +1 Goliaths with range because 3 Factories off 1base is the max you can make without it being considered all-in. If your Zerg opponent is right next to you, go 3 Factory Goliath drops. Put your Spider Mines in a tight line so they kill more Goliaths when your opponent moves out.
Unorthdox:
1) 2 Starport Cloaked Wraith Rush
1 hilarious cheeze you can do is to go 2 Starport cloaked Wraiths rush. You hide your tech and wait till you have 6 Wraiths and Cloak researched. You then go kill the Terran's economy and any Overlord his ally gives them. Usually Terran won't make a Comsat in the TZxTZ matchup. You can't switch to MM after your Wraiths because they are so bad in this matchup. Also, you can't switch to Mech off 1 gas in this matchup because you wasted so much gas on the Wraiths. Therefore, if the game is longer, you must use your Cloaked Wraiths to Cloaked Wraith expand and get a 2nd gas so you can switch from Wraiths to Mech off 2 gases. Note: If this matchup turns into a 1v1 TvT, and your opponent counters your BCs with mass Wraiths, you can go around 6 Valkyries. If your gas is stolen in this matchup, it is quite bad for you. It is standard in this case to go MM+Tanks. You can also go MM drops. One cheeze you can do is 6rax, 8depot rush build. Sometimes you might have to base trade with the opposing Terran.
2) MM + Tanks
Note: 4 Rax M&M and later 1 Fact Tanks off 1 Base In old times this was a common build for TZxTZ. You have to go 4
Barrackes Marines and Medics to counter the 3 Factory Vults/Goliaths/Tanks your opponent almost always goes. Later, while still on 1 base, you make Siege Tanks to help you against your opponents tanks. While it has fallen out of use on Python for the last several years, it is still a very common and good build for TZxTZ on the Hunters.
*TZxPZ
-Standard
1) Bio - 2 or 3 Rax Vessels AKA SK Teran (Note: It is easier to carry your ally with going Bio in this matchup compared to Mech) You don't just go pure Barrackes with mass Marines because it is all-in and you would have nothing to stop High Templars or spreadout DT harassing. You 2rax or 3rax M&M into Vessels. You make +1 attack and Stimpack/Marine Range. You can either EMP or Irradiate the opposing team's HTs. 3 Barrackes is the maximum you can make off 1 base without it being considered all-in. If you went Bio and Vessels, you can go 8 Ghosts to help you secure a third base. Ghosts are basically Terran's equivalent of Dark Templars in 2v2. Remember Ghosts don't fire on their own unless you H-click or A-click. Protoss will never make Observers against bio, but once they see you have Ghosts they will start making them. Ghosts and Observers have the same sight range, so it is beneficial for both players to get sight range upgrades for Ghosts and Observers. If your Ghosts have the Sight Range, they are able to snipe Obs without dying themselves. Going Ghosts are only good when both the Terran and Protoss are taking a third at the same time or if the game becomes 2v1 when your Zerg opponent dies. In those two cases just mentioned, there is no correct answer in whether it is better to go Ghosts or Science Vessels. You can keep going Science Vessels or you do the option of going Cloaked Ghosts. You scan Observers so your 8 Cloaked Ghosts can one-shot them. Then you one-shot
HTs so you get map control. You will want Ghost Sight Range. You can put your Ghosts in your ally's base to defend him from ling all-ins. Ghosts Melt mass lings extremely fast. Nukes are also good here when the Protoss still has no Obs or Cannons at expansions and if you want to snipe those. It is always good to 1 Wraith rush the Zerg in this matchup because if you went Bio you will already need the Starport for Vessels. If it is a long game, harass with a Dropship of 7 Marines and 1 Medic.
2) Mech - 3 Fact Expand
You 3Fact because making any more off 1base is considered all-in. You make about 6 Vultures to Mine the map before switching to mass ranged Goliaths. Make a couple Tanks to Siege the opponents if your ally is winning in the air. If your opponent made 1 Arbiter after having 3 bases, you make 1 Science Vessel to detect/EMP it.
-Unorthodox
Note: You can shoot while moving with Valkyries if you P-click away from scourges. Valkyries with Wraiths are micro'd just like Devourers when paired with Mutalisks.
Valkyrie builds are decent but not a best build. When deciding if it is a good game to go Valkyries, the most important thing is you don't want to go Valkyries if your ally is diagonal from you, because you won't be able
to defend both him and your own base.
1) 1st Valkyrie Build (Vs Cannons Valks into Mech Build)
If the opposing Protoss makes Cannons at his ally's ramp or expansion in order to rush Mutalisks, this build is good. You open 2 Starport +1 attack Valkyries until you have 5 or 6 max (if they 2gas Muta rushed) for a critical mass. Then you switch to Mech and Mine pressure the Protoss while making a few Siege tanks. You switch to Mech instead of Bio because the Protoss will have Slower Observers from opening Cannons first. Also, you don't want to switch to bio because you won't have gas for Science Vessels and therefore you would die to spreadout DT harassing. Since your
ally will be going mass Zerglings into late Muta this build is doable. It becomes 2 1v1s, TvZ, and ZvP. Doing this build makes the game similar to a 1v1. Therefore, the Protoss player will make +1 armor first if he knows what he is doing. Protoss units are supposed to "tank heavy damage" from the Siege Tanks. It is good in 1v1 PvT so he can his Probes at his expansion die in 3 hits instead of 2 to Vultures. Terran counter to your build is expanding since he will have ground map control while you have air map control. 2 Starport Valkyries is good against a Zerg who rushes 1hatch Mutalisks.
2) 2nd Valkyrie Build (Valks + Mines into MM + Tanks Build) (You switch to MM instead of Goliaths because Bio is better)
If your ally gets Gassed or if the opposing Zerg is rushing Mutas, this build is good. Or you can simply do this to carry a Zerg ally that is worse than the opposing team's Zerg player. You make 4 Valkyries off 1 Starport with +1 air attack for a critical mass while using 1 Factory to Pressure Mine the Protoss. Make 4 Vultures while making the 4 Valkyries. If you keep the 4 Vultures alive, which is important to do, you can use them to one-shot HTs later in the game after you switch to MM + Tanks. After you have 4 Valkyries, you switch to 3 rax M&M. You make a few Siege Tanks if you are winning in the air. Since your ally will be going mass Zerglings and delayed Mutas this build is doable. It is good to mech switch if it is a long game when you do this build because you don't want to make an Engineering bay, and because you already have an armory.
3) 3rd Valkyrie Build (MM + Valks Build)
Instead of making Science Vessels, you can just go 2rax or 3rax Valkyries. Scan used to do this build a lot to carry his allies that were worse than him. You must use your Comsat sparingly or rely on your ally to make Speed Overlords. You just make 3 Valkyries off 1 Starport. Your ally must snipe the opponent's HTs. Keep your Valkyries near your M&M so they aren't sniped by Scourges.
4) 2 Starport Wraiths into M&M
You would normally think that this build would suck because the Protoss can simply give his ally Dragoons. However, your Zerg ally should be aware to snipe the Dragoons. Especially, if a Terran and his ally are diagonal, making their opponents diagonal, this build is good. Your Wraiths will win if the Zerg in ZP team doesn't make fast Mutas like is
standard. Your opponents will be losing in the air so this build is good. If the Protoss player knows what he is doing he will send his first Dragoon to his ally and ask for Speed Overlords. He should try to get Maelstrom/Storms to catch up in the air. Using your 1 Dark Archon you can also Feedback to kill Wraiths with a lot of energy. 10 Wraiths, if you can keep them alive the whole game, will one-shot HTs when they are Cloaked. You can also snipe any Obs, if you Comsat them, that your opponents have. Surprisingly, this is a common build, and not a cheese. Olympic A++ players Scan T + Plus Z used to do this a lot against Yan P and Nizzy Z. The Protoss counter to this build is macro because his team will have map control since the Terran has a slower ground army. With good Micro you can pick off Mutas out of Overlord detection range, despite Overlords having an absurdly long sight range of 9. This is because Overlords are slower than Mutalisks, the Overlords will fall behind. Also, because Wraiths have 1 more range than Mutalisks. You can either a-click the Mutalisks and Overlords or you can p-click your own Wraiths like Muta vs Muta micro is done. Have 1 control group of Wraiths + the unit to stack them and 1 control group without the unit so you can Cloak the Wraiths. You rush the Zerg on the ZP team with 2 Wraiths coming from 2 Starports. If his Mutalisks are slow, anything slower than
standard Muta rush, you have won the game. After you sent your first 2 Wraiths out to rush the Zerg for economy harassment, you make Cloak. Wait till you have a control group of Wraiths (11) before switching to M&M. This build helps your team win the air battle. It might not seem like a good build to use but A++ pros use it all the time against A++ opponents. Scan used to use this build frequently against Yan's Protoss and Nizzy's Zerg. The Zerg on the ZT team wants to stop the Protoss opponent from sending his ally his first Dragoon or Dragoons. The PZ team counters this by having the Zerg make speed Overlords for both players. The PZ team should just focus on ground mass of Dragoons/High Templars/Dark Archons since he is ahead on map control. The PZ team can expand sooner for these reasons. You always make 1 Bunker when do a 2 Starport build. If your Protoss opponent has a big mass of units you can make a 2nd Bunker to keep you alive until your tech switch kicks in. This isn't bad to do.
5) (Outdated Old School) M&M + Mines Build
This build doesn't work for A+ pros against A+ pros. However, against anyone but progamers, you can go 3rax M&M into 1 Factory Vultures + Spider Mines. You always go M&M before Vultures because it is better. You can't only go M&M against Protoss in the late game, so you need the Vultures to kill DT's/HT's. The whole point of this build is that it counters Dark Templars, because you need the Spider Mines for them when you don't have Science Vessels. The Vultures are good in sniping HT's instead of using the normal Science Vessels or Ghosts. Note that only 4 Vultures are needed to one-shot 1 HT, and it is good to snipe the HTs with your Vultures. Protoss should not make Observers to counter this build. He should just rely on good Dragoon mine defusing micro and Dragoon vs MM Micro. The Protoss player might counter the Vultures in this build by putting his HTs in Shuttles. A Protoss player counters this build by having his ally go speed Overlords to help him against the Spider Mines. It is bad for the Protoss to go Observers against MM + Mines. Instead, he should go Dragoons + HTs and later Dark Archons to help his ally when the air battle. Your ally doesn't have to worry about Science Vessels, and it is normal for ZP to have Mutals earlier than ZT, so he can afford going Speed Overlord with his Mutas.
6) Bunker Ally for Muta Rush
If the opposing team's Protoss cannon's his ally's and his own ramps for Muta rush, and if your ally had already gone 9pool, you can Bunker your ally so his Mutas arrive just as fast as your opponents. You don't even need to proxy your Barracks in the middle. You don't give your ally your 2nd Barracks because that would divide your troops too much. You just have your ally make 1 Sunken to defend against the opponents first 3-5 Zealot and Zergling push. You make him 1 Bunker with 1 SCV and after make a couple more buildlings to help block his ramp. Example: Depots or an Engineering Bay.
7) 1 Starport With 4 Wraiths
This build is just to help your ally win the air battle. It is an especially good build if your ally's gas gets stolen. Otherwise, it can be good because PZ team gets Mutas faster in this matchup because PZ has more map control than the TZ team. Zealots and Zerglings cause the Zerg on the TZ team to have to turtle up and therefore have slower Mutalisks. Eventually you can use the Starport for Vessels in this matchup. You will be needing it anyway, so this is a viable build. The Wraiths are for killing 2-3 Overlords to supply block the Zerg and make him have less Mutas than your ally.
8) 4th Valkyrie Build (3Fact Goliaths into 1 Starport Valkyries)
You play the normal 3 Factory Vults/Goliaths/Tanks build until you have 2gases. After you make 1 Starport and 3 Valkyries to help your ally win the air. The opposing teams' Mutalisks become unuseable since Valkyries are so strong. It is just a midgame Valkyrie build.
9) 5th Valkyrie Build (MM + Wraiths + Valks Build)
You go 2 or 3rax Marines while 1 Starport is making Wraiths to help your ally win the Muta vs Muta air battle. While on 1 gas, after you have 6 Wraiths, you make 4 Valkyries. This is how Scan does this build. The first 6 Wraiths are for killing 2-3 Overlords to supply block the Zerg and make him behind in Mutas compared to your Zerg ally. You can also try to snipe some Drones. If you want to you can make Cloak for a better Wraith harass after your finished making the 4 Valkyries.
*TZxZZ
Note: Against ZZ, +1 attack and +2 attack is always very good because a ZZ team has so many units.
Valkyries kill Overlords twice as fast as Corsairs, and you only need about half as many Valkyries as you do Corsairs in TZxZZ compared to PZxZZ. Keep in mind Valkyries have nearly identically the same cost as Scouts. In TZxZZ especially, because you need more Valkyries against 2 Zergs instead of 1, Valkyries are worse than in TZxPZ. Valkyries are like going Scouts PZxZZ where you use most of your minerals on them and have a later tech switch to ground units.
-Standard
1) Bio
It is always better to go Bio than Mech in this matchup because you need Science Vessels with their Irradiate and detection to defend against Mass Mutalisk and Lurkers. You open 2rax or 3rax into Vessels. If the game is long, harass with drops. Use 2 Science Vessels to D-Matrix and Irradiate each other to do the "Eraser Trick" on the enemy team's Drones. You can make them Patrol so you can multitask.
2) 2 Starport Wraiths into M&M
Just send from your first two Wraiths one to each opponent. After making 2 Wraiths, get the Cloak and Energy upgrade. You don't want to get +1 upgrades for Wraiths because it is better to get M&M upgrades for your tech switch. Wraiths have 5 range while Mutalisks only have 3. You micro against Scourges the same way Mutalisks do. If the Terran has good micro he can snipe his opponents Overlords while still out of the Overlords' detection range. He doesn't want to fight the Mutalisks head on. With good Micro you can pick off Mutas out of Overlord detection range, despite Overlords having an absurdly long sight range of 9. This is because Overlords are slower than Mutalisks, the Overlords will fall
behind. Also, because Wraiths have 2 more range than Mutalisks. You can either a-click the Mutalisks and Overlords or you can p-click your own Wraiths like Muta vs Muta micro is done. Have 1 control group of Wraiths + the unit to stack them and 1 control group without the unit so you can Cloak the Wraiths.
-Unorthodox
1) Mech
This is much worse than going bio against ZZ, but it can work because it is so hard to micro Mutalisks vs mass Goliaths. You go 3Factory expand. You can try to all-in with Vultures or you can simply make mass ranged Goliaths and a few tanks.
Note: You can shoot while moving with Valkyries if you P-click away from scourges.
Valkyrie builds are decent but not a best build. When deciding if it is a
good game to go Valkyries, the most important thing is you don't want to
go Valkyries if your ally is diagonal from you, because you won't be able
to defend both him and your own base.
2) 1st Valkyrie Build (Valks into MM)
You open 2 Starport Valkyries until you have 6 or 7 with +1 attack for a critical mass. Then you switch to M&M and Bunker expand. You must hide your tech if you are going this build, otherwise it is not good to use. You don't usually want to switch to mech because you would have no gas and no detection, even if you were to open 1 Port and go Mech. Normally, you always make 1 Vulture to help your ally stay alive from dual Zergling attacks before going 2 Starport Valkyries.
3) 2nd Valkyrie Build (Valks into Mech) (Not as good as the build right
above this)
You open 2 Starport Valkyries untill you have 6 or 7 with +1 attack for a critical mass. Then you switch to Mech with only Tanks and Vultures. This is inferior to the above, but it can work if you keep your Valkyries alive the whole game. Good opponents will keep going air until you have no anti-air left. So this build won't work versus A/A+ players. You must
hide your tech if you are going this build, otherwise it is not good to use. Valkyries are good if the opposing Zerg is to one of your sides or across from you.
4) 3rd Valkyrie Build (Wraiths into Valks into Wraiths Build)
You open 6 Wraiths into 5 Valks (because there are 2 Zergs not 1 like above). Then you switch to M&M. Split rush your first two Wraiths with one going to each of the two Zerg opponents, and then make Cloak and Energy upgrade. When you fight you don't want to attack the Mutas head on. Rather you want to snipe Overlords beforehand. If you have good micro you can snipe Overlords out of their detection range. When you have Valks and Wraiths in the same control group, you only need to a-click because the Valkyries attack is so slow you can't mis-micro here. The Valkyries act as meatshields while your Wraiths retreat and re-engage. If you want to you can make Cloak for a better Wraith harass after your finished making the 4 Valkyries.
5) Proxy Rax/Bunker/Turrets in Ally's Base
You give your ally your 2nd Rax and make him a Bunker and several turrets so he can Rush Mutalisks. Your ally should go +1 attack Mutalisks because he is on the offensive. It is an interesting build because both teams can
1hatch with 9pool Muta rush. Besides the Olympic A++ builds mentioned above, a Pimpest Play a Terran can do is to Mech Switch in TZxPZ. You never do vice versa. If it is a long game, you can switch from M&M to Mech. It is also good if your Zerg opponent dies making the game 2v1 TZxP. Switching to Mech is a trademark of Nizzy whom said "Bio is newb compared to Mech in Broodwar". There is more room for error if you went Mech than Bio. Bio will have a hard time in a long game because the Protoss will have mass Storms. It is better to switch to Mech against a Protoss in a long game for this reason. You don't ever Mech switch in TZxZZ because you can't make that much Tech against 2 Zergs since a dual Zerg team has map control and is ahead macrowise.
|TZxZZ and TZxPZ|
The build order for TZxZZ and TZxPZ is the following:
Note: 11rax/13rax is safe against all rushes.
11rax/13rax
14depot
17 gas
academy stim
marine range +1 same time as +1 attack
|TZxTZ|
The build order for TZxTZ is the following:
9 Depot
1 scv goes to scout and steal gas if he can of T/Z
11 Rax
11gas
1 marine
16Factory
16depot
4 vults max only
New Micro Map Ideas for Rounds
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Below are some of my ideas for a new ums micro map to make of 1 player against the computer.
I put a whole lot of thought into this. (Spells to detect invisible units. Splash damage to kill invisible units, etc.)
Protoss micro round ideas:
- 1. 6 dragoons with range and micro can win against 14 marines/2 firebats/and 2 medics
2. Goons vs scvs, mines, tank
3. Goons vs spider mines with no obs
4. Goons + dweb vs mech
5. Hallucinated zealots/goons vs mech pvt
6. Use your High Templars to make Hallucinated Zealots to clear Spider Mine fields.
7. Dark Archons/Archons and Maelstrom his Ultras
8. Sair-Reaver-Disruption Web against mass Hydras
9. Shutte+Zealot vs 100 Spider Mines to Mine Defuse/Drag
10. Sair-reaver-dweb vs ultras
11. Corsairs vs Cloaked Wraiths
12. DT with no detection vs Spider Mines
13. DT + Arbiter with Stasis against Hydralisks and an Overlord
14. 2 Archons vs 1 DT
15. 5 Dark Archons with full energy to Maelstrom then Mind Control 5 Ultraslisks
16. 1 Dark Archon with Maelstrom and 1 HT vs 12 Mutalisks
17. 1 Dark Archon with full energy and Feedback against 4 HTs with full energy
18. 1 Dark Archon with full energy and Feedback against 4 Wraiths with full energy
19. Feedback is good to keep Battlecruisers energy low so they cannot Yamato. Feedback resets the targeted units energy to 0. 4 Dark Archons with Feedback (but no Mind Control) and Carriers against 12 Battlecruisers with Yamato. Use shift click micro to spread out the Feedbacks.
20. Archons vs Cloaked Wraiths
21. Corsairs against Cloaked Wraiths
22. Reavers against a Dark Templar
23. 1 Archon/1 Dark Archon with Mind Control .(MC makes DA lose all shields so player must not Mind Control) (and don't have Maelstrom researched) against 1 Arbiter and 1 DT
Terran Micro round ideas:
- 1. Mm vs carriers
2. M&m vs goons/ht's
3. 1 Goliath and 1 Dropship vs 1 Guardian
4. Optical Flare helps M&M against Lurkers to Lurker break
5. Firebats vs DT’s
6. Sieged Siege Tanks + SCVs against Lurkers
7. Ghosts and Vessel are good against Lurkers.They have 7 range compared to Lurkers range of 6.
8. Goliaths vs Mutas. You use hold position to not waste shots.
9. Mm vs lurker
10. Emp/plague/1 rine vs carrier
11. Marines vs Carriers (Carriers have built in 4 armor. So Marines do 2 damage or down to .5 damage if P has more armor.)
12. Shift cloning lockdown against BC's
13. Ghosts and m&m & comsat against goons/ht's/obs
14. Vulture spider mine surround against Dragoons
15. 2 tanks + 1 dropship vs 2 Dragoons
16. 2 Science Vessels with Eraser trick against 1 Devourer
17. Valkyries against Cloaked Wraiths
18. Firebats against a Dark Templar
19. Sieged Siege Tanks against a Dark Templar
20. M&M/Vessel/Cloaked Ghosts against Dragoons/HTs/Observer (Ghosts will snipe Observer first and then HTs.)
Zerg Micro round ideas:
- 1. Ensnare and acid spores vs valks
2. Swarm + ultras vs archons
3. Zvt ensnare m&m
4. Ensnare interceptors so they don't fire
5. Fast Hydras + Queen with Ensnare vs Archons.
6. Ensnare + acid spores against valkyries on a micro map
7. Cracklings + ensnare vs mm
8. Mutas + ensare vs cloaked wraiths
9. Shift cloning queens broodling vs tanks
10. Acid Spores and Ensnare both slowing down Valkyries rate of fire and making them Purple and Green.
11. 3 devourers/guardians/mutas vs mm/3 valkyries
12. Mutas/ensnare vs cloaked wraiths
13. Queen broodling clonining vs sieged tanks (by deselecting not shift clicking)
14. Lurkers/Scourges/Fast Overlord against Dragoons and an Observer
15. Scourges vs BCs (called divine wind)
16. Mutas/3 Devourers vs a lot of Mutas
17. Queen with Parasite and Mutas vs Cloaked Wraiths and 1 Vessel
18. Queen with Parasite/Overlord/1 Scourge and Zerglings vs 1 Dark Templar and 1 Observer
19. 1 Infested Terran against 1 DT
20. 2 Devourers against 1 Cloaked Wraith
21.Mutas vs MM
22. Overlords doom dropping Ultras/Hydras/Lings against Sieged Siege Tanks/Mines/Vultures/Goliaths
List of Old Island Maps For Fun
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*List of the Best Island Maps from History
- Beat Box from WGTour
Dire Straits
Island Hop
Symmetry of Psy
Charity
Snowbound
No Way Out
Hall of Valhalla
Neo Forbidden Zone
Hunters Islands
Bakuryu Islands from broodwarmaps.net
Diamond Island from iTV Starleague
Gorky Island
Tiniest Possible Islands (8 islands 64x64)
Frostbite from Blizzard additional maps
Dream of Balhae
U-Boat 2004
Crimsom Islands
Mirage from broodwarmaps.net
Sparkle
Estrella
Player Color Disadvantages On The Mini-Map
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Player Color Disadvantages on the Minimap
Red (Hard to see on Ashworld maps)
Blue
Teal
Purple
Orange (Big advantage on desert maps as oppponent won't see you on the
minimap)
Brown (Becomes Green on desert maps)
White (Becomes Green on ice maps)
Yellow
Sea alt tabs the minimap so it is black. It might help on maps to see drops better.
Players use shift-tab to make their opponents color red on the minimap. It makes incoming drops easier to see. This is different from just blacking out the minimap by pressing tab. On maps where the player color and terrain makes colors of units difficult to see, shift+tab to change colors is helpful. (Think orange color on desert maps and white color on snow maps.)
“Shift+Tab Once: Change Opponent/Allies/Self colors in the minimap to red/yellow/teal respectively. Twice: Make the change of colors on main screen & minimap. Three times: back to original colors on main screen & minimap.”
Balance of 4p vs 4t Hunters Race Wars, 4p vs 4z Hunters Race Wars and 4t vs 4z Hunters Race Wars
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4Z vs 4T favors the Zerg.
4Z vs 4P favors the Zerg.
4P vs 4T favors the Protoss.
Trivia
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When Dark Archons Mind Control something they lose all their Shields.
To quickly load a lot of units into transports: Select group of units while holding shift and right click each dropship once.
The order your load units in a transport determines the order they are unloaded. This matters if you want spellcasters to be unloaded last or if you want meat shields like Ultralisks unloaded first.
HT's are more defensive as they only damage units and Reavers are more offensive as they do damage to buildings. Irradiate is offensive while D-Matrix is defensive. Dark Swarm is defensive while Plague is offensive.
Hydra+Plague in ZvT:
Hydra+Plague+Swarm+Lurkers+Spore Colonies is used in ZvT when Z does not yet have the economy for Ultralisks. It helps the Zerg by Plaguing the Science Vessel ball. Plague is used on the attack to kill M&M and Dark Swarm is used on defense to survive Terran pushes. After the Science Vessels are Plagued, all you need is one Mutalisk to kill of many Vessels since he splash damage and the fact the Vessels will have 1 health point. It is so hard to kill Science Vessels with Scourges compared to how easy it is in PvZ to kill Observers that Zergs are now using Plague+Hydras in lieu of Scourges to counter M&M+Vessels.
According to Scan: PvZ a strong opening to make up for PvZ imbalance is to 12 nexus. To make up for TvP imbalance a strong build is 1 rax expand. And to make up for ZvT imbalance a strong build is 12 hatch.
Psi Storms is how you kill a 3-3 maxed out Terran lategame army.
1 Dark Archon with Maelstrom and 1 HT are often keep in a shuttle at island expansions to prevent Zergs from killing the expansion with Mutalisks.
The best time to harass is when your opponent is attacking you.
Work on always remembering to upgrade to 3-3.
Part of getting better is remembering to harass your opponents economy every game.
You can go Carriers in PvZ to end a long game if you are ahead macro wise.
Mass DA with Mind Control is an ultra lategame strat in PvZ that puts Z on a timer to end the game and they end up taking unfavorable fights (into Storm/Reavers/Cannons/Dark Archons). You can Maelstrom the Zerg's units first to give you a few more seconds to Mind Control the units.
The 2v2 player Yan got A rank in PvZ on Iccup playing opening with 2gate off 1base every single game and he won all the best Zergs on Iccup.
The most funny troll unit Terrans can go is Ghosts. Make mass Ghosts in TvP and Lockdown like crazy. Ghosts are good against Lurkers if you want to try a for fun strategy. They have 7 range compared to Lurkers range of 6. It is a legimate way of breaking Lurker contains instead of getting Siege Tanks. You don't even have to Cloak them since Zerg has detectors all over always.
The most funny troll unit Protoss can go is Arbiters. I have seen them use in mass as a joke in PvT. They do next to no damage whatsoever that is why it is so funny to try to win with them.
In TvP, you can Blind the Protoss players Shuttle so that he can't Reaver harass you early game or Storm drop you lategame. His Shuttle won't have vision so he won't see to know where to harass.
Maelstrom does not affect burrowed units.
Feedback is a lot like EMP Shockwave being that Feedback removes the targeted units energy as well as dealing damage that equals the total energy removed. For example you could use Feedback on Battlecruisers so that they would not be able to Yamato in order to help your own Carriers win.
Understanding how splash damage affects Zerg's burrowed units helps you since all but one of the Zergs ground units burrow. Burrowed units do not take damage from radial splash under Dark Swarm.
Splash Damage does either 50% or 25% depending on how far out the unit is.
On maps with 2 gases in main, Low mineral/High gas expensive units like Archons become better to mass. This is why P>Z on 2gas main maps since in PvZ P makes mass Archons with his excess gas.
2v2 Players Strongest 1v1 Matchups
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If a player that plays only 2v2 plays some 1v1 for fun, his strongest matchup will always be vZerg and th Timings as a reason 2v2 players are bad at TvP, PvT, ZvT 1v1 matchups.
PvT from not knowing how to play lategame against 200-200 deathball
TvP from not knowing the timings of when to push out
ZvT from not knowing the timings of when T attacks happen