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The PiG Daily - Thinking critically about SC

Forum Index > Community Content
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PiGStarcraft
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Australia987 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-06-08 10:56:54
May 21 2016 00:03 GMT
#1
The PiG Daily aims to bring back high-knowledge, analytical and educational content that not only teaches core concepts of the game but also updates players on the meta and styles and habits they can learn from. The aim of the show is to teach players how to understand and learn to improve at Starcraft, by highlighting details of the game that often go unmentioned. I want to elucidate the smaller and more complicated aspects of Starcraft and help players to understand how all the moving parts in a game of Starcraft interact. The aim is for regular viewers of the show to steadily learn the core concepts of the game so they have the critical understanding to react to meta and style shifts without trying to copy pro play.

Even though some of the broad concepts in my early episodes apply to all races, it's all explained through the lens of a zerg player. I'm currently learning Protoss and Terran so I can expand the show to fully encompass all races and you will start seeing more and more Protoss and Terran themed episodes every week.

I will be updating this thread by posting the latest VoD and show notes as a post, and also into the OP so the most recent show is always featured in the OP, and the others are archived below.

Most Recent Episode:







Show Notes

http://lotv.spawningtool.com/build/52593

CURRENT ICYFAR CHALLENGE:

THIS WEEKS ICYFAR Challenge: "I aint no basic bitch!" - send in your best replays where you don't build any basic units lings/roaches, marines/marauders/reapers/hellions, zealots/stalkers/adepts. Send submissions to eonblu95@gmail.com as attachment AND only ICYFAR as title! Latest submission is 24 hours before the show airs on the tuesday (AM/EU) /wednesday (AU) daily.

Other Episodes:

Full Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFUDU8AOevUdOq5x--TBFC-p54CMWM4Fb

Terran Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFUDU8AOevUdGldXWE5C7U8H2cCB53RYU

Zerg Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFUDU8AOevUcJr5YGuAJRu_egZPNSAA0M

Protoss Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFUDU8AOevUc4Y10yIUlMsXSiy-F0LEgP

First Episodes
+ Show Spoiler +

PiG Daily #1 - ZvP - Snute vs PtitDrogo - Rock Tower maps


PiG Daily #2 - ZvZ Skipping Banelings and hitting fast roach attacks


PiG Daily #3 - Nerchio vs Polt - ZvT - Ravager defence into fast Ultras


PIG Daily #4 - Showtime vs Nerchio ZvP - Sick nydus + drop zerg multiprong, And how to stop it


PiG Daily #5 Understanding Economy - Mineral-Gas balance and why you're doing it wrong




We'll be giving away Co-op commander codes at the end of the show whenever we have some available.

The show airs on my twitch channel: http://www.twitch.tv/x5_pig

Sunday-Thursday at:

Europe: 22:00 CET
Americas: 16:00 EST/13:00 PST

Or for Asia/Pacific it's early on Monday-Friday at

05:00 - Beijing/Singapore time
07:00 Australian Eastern time (the next morning)

I'm always open to suggestions and criticism of the show, and will be actively seeking it from high-ranked Protoss and Terran players as I am still newer to those races. I have some things on my list to improve already both inside the content of the show and to do with the production. Also Doing more episodes like my one on understanding economy that look at the finer details rather than just analysing pro games.

Please shout out what you want to see more of in the show and any ways to overall make the show a better experience. Thanks in advance for taking the time to watch the show and give feedback!
Progamerwww.twitch.tv/x5_pig | pigrandom88@gmail.com | @x5_PiG | www.facebook.com/pigSC2
Aelendis
Profile Joined February 2011
Belgium892 Posts
May 21 2016 16:26 GMT
#2
Dude, your show is awsome. I can't really criticise it negatively because I'm really enjoying your content and also learning a lot.
Keep up with the good work.
Musicus
Profile Joined August 2011
Germany23576 Posts
May 21 2016 16:31 GMT
#3
Love your Daylies, can you please make one about scouting in the future?
Maru and Serral are probably top 5.
PiGStarcraft
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Australia987 Posts
May 22 2016 02:28 GMT
#4
On May 22 2016 01:31 Musicus wrote:
Love your Daylies, can you please make one about scouting in the future?


One of the most requested topics and something which I'll no doubt revisit many times in the long-term. Will get on it SOONtm :D
Progamerwww.twitch.tv/x5_pig | pigrandom88@gmail.com | @x5_PiG | www.facebook.com/pigSC2
Garemie
Profile Joined April 2011
United States248 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-05-22 05:52:56
May 22 2016 04:27 GMT
#5
I didn't know you were doing a daily show.

This is so rad PiG, thanks man.

I can't wait to see you expand into the other races as well.
Bomber | CJ herO | Snute
Dabble
Profile Joined February 2016
39 Posts
May 22 2016 05:07 GMT
#6
You know if you keep talking like Day9 people are going to think you being named PiG has something to do with Day9, which of course doesn't make any sense, since for some reason there's more than one pro SC2 player with the word "pig" in their name and it's a normal thing. I'm just saying that's what people are going to think

I like this latest video, especially what you said about LotV being different than WoL, where there was so much weird early 1 and 2 base cheese that was practically undefendable if you didn't blindly tech and Zerg scouting was terrible especially because Protoss built a wall with cannons in literally every game so what were you even supposed to do?? Well, it's better now
LoveTool
Profile Joined April 2012
Sweden143 Posts
May 22 2016 21:35 GMT
#7
Sick City ! :D
BigRedDog
Profile Joined May 2012
461 Posts
May 23 2016 02:44 GMT
#8
Thanks for doing this. Very helpful.
Big Red Dog!
MadJack
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
Peru357 Posts
May 23 2016 03:16 GMT
#9
Ive seen your analisis even before this show, and your very good at talking, like those teachers that dont bore you to sleep, and tho I agree with most the things you have to say, I feel some things you say are not correct, maybe just me being a baddy lol.

Anyways, great effort for the community, it could probably fill the roll Day9s show had. The one thing I dislike is the name, the pig daily sounds almost as bad as the pig show lol. Good luck, ill be sure to try and tune in.
이제동 화이팅! / http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26jjD3ro-Xk /
DjayEl
Profile Joined August 2010
France252 Posts
May 23 2016 05:23 GMT
#10
Just awesome. Thank you for the work you're putting in.
Haku
Profile Joined August 2013
Germany550 Posts
May 23 2016 05:40 GMT
#11
I am normaly not posting that much, but your dailys are great and helping me out quite a lot in masters league. My best friend made also a big jump from low to high diamond, after going through a lot of your videos.
Keep it up!
Jaedong | Life | MKP | PartinG | LosirA | ByuN | TaeJa | TY | TLO | Bomber | HerO | Rotti | Dark | Stephano | Maru | Ragnarok | MC | IdrA | Serral | Creator | Bunny | INnoVation | Liquid | Prime | JinAir
Cascade
Profile Blog Joined March 2006
Australia5405 Posts
May 23 2016 06:40 GMT
#12
Ohh, cool! The void of Day9 finally being filled?
I can see pig doing a good job at it, as he is always good at explaining concepts on stream.

I'll have a look once I get home from work tonight.

Thanks peeeeeeeg!

Will you do Newbie Tuesday and Funday Monday as well??? :D
I'm already inspired to get back to laddering again!
PiGStarcraft
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Australia987 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-05-23 07:23:51
May 23 2016 07:17 GMT
#13
On May 23 2016 12:16 MadJack wrote:
Ive seen your analisis even before this show, and your very good at talking, like those teachers that dont bore you to sleep, and tho I agree with most the things you have to say, I feel some things you say are not correct, maybe just me being a baddy lol.

Anyways, great effort for the community, it could probably fill the roll Day9s show had. The one thing I dislike is the name, the pig daily sounds almost as bad as the pig show lol. Good luck, ill be sure to try and tune in.


haha I suck at naming things I know.

If you feel like I say something that's not correct, challenge me on it! Don't ever feel like your own skill level excludes you from the discussion. Debate and discussion is how we learn! SC is a complex game and we only really deepen our understanding when we have other opinions to clash with. Please, please do myself the favour of debating with me!

On May 23 2016 15:40 Cascade wrote:
Ohh, cool! The void of Day9 finally being filled?
I can see pig doing a good job at it, as he is always good at explaining concepts on stream.

I'll have a look once I get home from work tonight.

Thanks peeeeeeeg!

Will you do Newbie Tuesday and Funday Monday as well??? :D
I'm already inspired to get back to laddering again!


I'll mix up the topics and plan on doing some fundamental and noob-friendly ones for sure. I do feel a bit uncomfortable just blatantly copying Day9's content though, and also would prefer to find my own flavour as much as possible. Also going to get some pros in to give some deep insight, or maybe even insight into their own point of view during a famous series (if they're willing - that one will be hard)



Thanks everyone for the support so far. I'm incredibly happy doing this show (though still very unsatisfied with its current state) so don't expect it to be going anywhere anytime soon.
Progamerwww.twitch.tv/x5_pig | pigrandom88@gmail.com | @x5_PiG | www.facebook.com/pigSC2
Cascade
Profile Blog Joined March 2006
Australia5405 Posts
May 23 2016 07:53 GMT
#14
Something that I would find awesome is this:

Take some educational game between foreign pros. Get the two players on your show (together with the replay) and have them discuss the game. Why did you win/lose? Identify deciding moments. "If you have turned back instead of attacking here, you could've won." That kind of things. Would allow a very deep analysis of what is going on in pro games.

Then, and this is the twist, have them jump into the replay and replay the game with the corrected decision. Restart the replay just before a deciding decision is made, and do it differently. It'll be like a what-if scenario turned real. You can even try this at a few different point if you got the time. I think it can be great for analysis, great for spectators, and potentially educational for the pros as well.
JackONeill
Profile Joined September 2013
861 Posts
May 23 2016 08:08 GMT
#15
Hi Pig :
first, you deserve a whole fucking wagon, plus a locomotive, plus a trainstation of love for what you're trying to do. It's an awesome project, and I think that people trying to get better at the game are looking exactly for this kind of stuff.
This kind of videos (from day9) were, back in WOL, what helped me get from plat to masters.

I listened to it while laddering so maybe I missed something, but your main point was that zergs tended to tech too hard and ended up with a strong tech on a shallow economy, right?
I'm not sure however if you can defend the same thesis for terran. I feel like terran players, in the opposite, are still used to HOTS economy, going 3CC/mineral heavy, and macroing very hard.As a whole, in TvZ, I think you're better off trying to tech quickly to go for the strong harass options that help you limit zerg economy. And, in TvP, your bio and rax production only serves to support the liberator, since adept/immo wins vs bio... So I dunno, i've tried many different builds in TvP but i'm not sure going for 1reaper expo => 3 raxes is very good anymore. For exemple, take game 1 from Masa vs Neeb at DH : Neeb goes for drop disruptors, and Masa goes 1/1/1 after his expo, to get a viking. If he had gone for 3 raxes, he'd have taken so much damage against the disruptor drops.
Also, terran is in a weird spot atm because some openings from HOTS don't really work any more. I mean going for 1reaper expo => reactored hellions is (I feel) much weaker now because you simply don't have the money to sustain the 200min per 30secs this requires, without delaying your additionnal production.
And finally, in TvZ, I feel like terran has to tech pretty quickly to defend allins and early agression. You're not gonna survive a ravager allin without a tankivac, so...

I dunno, the subject is very interesting, and my opinon might be biased and ignorant because i still can't really figure out how to balance my economy, but as I said : great project, and very interesting topic.
PiGStarcraft
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Australia987 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-05-23 08:13:53
May 23 2016 08:10 GMT
#16
I had a very busy weekend (almost qualified for IEM Shanghai!) so this episode wasn't as well prepared and is a little slow at a few points, but I think the message is very important and something we should encourage every player to do more and more

"Just because the best players in the world are playing a certain way doesn't mean you should"
-

the latest episode "PiG Daily #7 - How to make your own build and learn the game naturally!"



Show notes:
+ Show Spoiler +

Most of my show notes were handwritten and in shorthand so they wouldn't mean much to you guys, but here's the build-order, at least where I'm up to at the moment with it.

TvP Oracle into blink-disruptor

14 pylon
16 gate + probe scout
16 gas
17 gas
19 pylon
@gate - core
@core - SG + adept + moco
29 pylon at 3rd base (checking if ebay block)
@SG oracle
@400minerals nexus
Robo + stalker
twilight --> blink
2-3 more gates
~55 supply 3rd nexus
Forge + 4 more gateways
Progamerwww.twitch.tv/x5_pig | pigrandom88@gmail.com | @x5_PiG | www.facebook.com/pigSC2
PiGStarcraft
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Australia987 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-05-24 04:06:48
May 23 2016 09:48 GMT
#17
On May 23 2016 16:53 Cascade wrote:
Something that I would find awesome is this:

Take some educational game between foreign pros. Get the two players on your show (together with the replay) and have them discuss the game. Why did you win/lose? Identify deciding moments. "If you have turned back instead of attacking here, you could've won." That kind of things. Would allow a very deep analysis of what is going on in pro games.

Then, and this is the twist, have them jump into the replay and replay the game with the corrected decision. Restart the replay just before a deciding decision is made, and do it differently. It'll be like a what-if scenario turned real. You can even try this at a few different point if you got the time. I think it can be great for analysis, great for spectators, and potentially educational for the pros as well.


Well that idea is damn sick! I'll start planning how to make that work immediately.


On May 23 2016 17:08 JackONeill wrote:
Hi Pig :
first, you deserve a whole fucking wagon, plus a locomotive, plus a trainstation of love for what you're trying to do. It's an awesome project, and I think that people trying to get better at the game are looking exactly for this kind of stuff.
This kind of videos (from day9) were, back in WOL, what helped me get from plat to masters.

I listened to it while laddering so maybe I missed something, but your main point was that zergs tended to tech too hard and ended up with a strong tech on a shallow economy, right?
I'm not sure however if you can defend the same thesis for terran. I feel like terran players, in the opposite, are still used to HOTS economy, going 3CC/mineral heavy, and macroing very hard.As a whole, in TvZ, I think you're better off trying to tech quickly to go for the strong harass options that help you limit zerg economy. And, in TvP, your bio and rax production only serves to support the liberator, since adept/immo wins vs bio... So I dunno, i've tried many different builds in TvP but i'm not sure going for 1reaper expo => 3 raxes is very good anymore. For exemple, take game 1 from Masa vs Neeb at DH : Neeb goes for drop disruptors, and Masa goes 1/1/1 after his expo, to get a viking. If he had gone for 3 raxes, he'd have taken so much damage against the disruptor drops.
Also, terran is in a weird spot atm because some openings from HOTS don't really work any more. I mean going for 1reaper expo => reactored hellions is (I feel) much weaker now because you simply don't have the money to sustain the 200min per 30secs this requires, without delaying your additionnal production.
And finally, in TvZ, I feel like terran has to tech pretty quickly to defend allins and early agression. You're not gonna survive a ravager allin without a tankivac, so...

I dunno, the subject is very interesting, and my opinon might be biased and ignorant because i still can't really figure out how to balance my economy, but as I said : great project, and very interesting topic.


I tend to agree with all your points. I think terran doesn't have the same fast-moving and flexible roach-ling-queen-spore sort of earlygame as Zerg, and also tends to be the race that has more onus on them to get aggressive. Terran is less flexible and so often relies on aggression to keep their opponent in check rather than going greedy themselves. This episode was mostly aimed at zergs, though I think lower ranked Terrans will benefit from the same focus. Once you hit high diamond or masters+ as T you can do those 1-1-1 type openings and use them for both defence and harass really well, and still transition nicely. Though at lower levels players jumping into those sort of openings often aren't transitioning into economy at all behind it as well as not putting enough focus on those harass units. So I guess the idea has some merits for lower Terrans, but for higher ones I agree it's a different story.

The main thrust of that episode was pretty much changing people's (zergs for the most part) assumptions about what a macro build looks like in LOTV and encouraging them to delay their gas a lot more in macro play, or if they still want to tech fast realise they're cutting lots of economy and need to put on hard pressure with that tech, not just netflix and chill.
Progamerwww.twitch.tv/x5_pig | pigrandom88@gmail.com | @x5_PiG | www.facebook.com/pigSC2
Cascade
Profile Blog Joined March 2006
Australia5405 Posts
May 23 2016 12:35 GMT
#18
On May 23 2016 18:48 PiGStarcraft wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 23 2016 16:53 Cascade wrote:
Something that I would find awesome is this:

Take some educational game between foreign pros. Get the two players on your show (together with the replay) and have them discuss the game. Why did you win/lose? Identify deciding moments. "If you have turned back instead of attacking here, you could've won." That kind of things. Would allow a very deep analysis of what is going on in pro games.

Then, and this is the twist, have them jump into the replay and replay the game with the corrected decision. Restart the replay just before a deciding decision is made, and do it differently. It'll be like a what-if scenario turned real. You can even try this at a few different point if you got the time. I think it can be great for analysis, great for spectators, and potentially educational for the pros as well.


Well that idea is damn sick! I'll start planning how to make that work immediately.

<3

"What-if Wednesday"? :o)
PiGStarcraft
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Australia987 Posts
May 24 2016 10:42 GMT
#19
I realised I won't be able to have all the show notes archived in the OP - it'd just become too cumbersome so I will only have the most recent show notes up there and the others will be archived with their posts for their VoDs in this thread. Since the notes for #5 were quite long and might be useful I'll repost those here:

Notes for Episode #5 - Understanding Economy - mineral gas balance and why you're doing it wrong
+ Show Spoiler +
Replay of Snow Diamond Player macroing
5:30 and 8:00 - benchmark
46 drones, 8 lings, 1 hydra, 3 queens
1-1 ⅓ done. Hydra den upgrade almost finished
0 creep spread
Vs
72 drones, 4 lings, 3 queen, 4th base started, all 6 gases mining.
+1 15% done
7:45
21 hydra, 28 lings, 2 lurkers, 62 drones
+2 range 35% done
Vs
13 hydras, 5 lurkers, 71 lings



Replay of Snute macroing
5:30 and 8:00 benchmark



Look at when the gas is taken in both games
Explain the builds/steps they’re taking
Just walk through how they get to the benchmarks
Obviously Snute makes less errors/mistakes, but in a passive game the difference really isn’t that huge. The big disparity that we find is due to the difference in structure - namely how the mineral/gas balance is prioritised in the earlygame


Here’s the issue:

Too much gas, too early
Not enough minerals, not using that 3rd base!
Initially faster tech/upgrades, but not using it effectively

So Why are people going for gas so much?

That’s how you used to play most of the time in WoL and HoTS:

People haven’t adjusted to LoTV yet - they’re building the faster 3rds but not making good use of them

Fear of certain problems
Phenix
Liberators
Fear of 1/100 losses - things like liberator range which players should only adapt to when it’s very popular in the meta - don’t change your whole build for super rare tactics!
They want to rush out hydras or mutas to make the defence EASY. But they’re sacrificing way too much economy when simpler options are available: Spores/queens, ravagers, and only later get the FULL easy response unit, once you can afford it.

Is it ALWAYS bad to go gas and tech up so fast?

No, a completely valid way of playing
Have to USE the tech immediately and LEVERAGE your investment
Economy can transform into any area of the game,: Army, tech, upgrades
FLEXIBLE, ADAPTIVE, REACTIVE
Tech/upgrades can’t be used for anything except a very narrow specific use
If you rush mutas - you need to go do damage with them
If you rush roach speed and upgrades, you need to go do damage with them

Too many players are rushing tech and upgrades, but have no set plan of how to leverage them to get an advantage over their opponent.
Not basing the rest of build/plan around the fast tech to make the damage happen
Sitting on upgrades/tech until opponent catches up/has response ready

Ok, so you want us to be greedier and build more economy, but we still need to scout and react/adjust when we scout timing attacks coming right?

Not greedier!
Just more focused on building our economy to what we want to achieve in the game!
For macro: Just change the balance of minerals/gas
BENEFIT: more mineral mining, more drones because less extractors, evos, later lair etc.
You can absorb harassment much easier and it’s OK to take damage
Many players I see get WAY behind when they take even a little damage with these tech builds
With stronger minerals you can bounce back so much easier!

Example:

5:00 into the game:

Tech player has gone for a faster lair, evo chamber and up to 4 gases. He is at 45 drones.

Economy player has just 2-gases and started her lair and evo chamber later. She’s on 55 drones

A helion runby comes into the base and kills 8 drones.

The tech player is knocked down to 37 drones total.

The eco player is knocked down to 47 drones total

Obviously 47 drones can recover faster than 37 right?

Yes. But the difference is actually greater, especially if they were all mineral drones that died.

The eco player is mining from only 2 gases, he still has 41 drones mining minerals.

The tech player is mining from 4 gases, he has 25 drones mining minerals.

The difference is HUGE.



QUESTIONS! ASK NOW With the @x5_PiG tag and I’ll answer them at the end!

Ok so what should we do differently in simple terms?

If you’re doing a tech build:

Make sure you base your whole build around gaining an advantage with that tech.
Maybe just a squad of mutas at a set timing then back to eco - but make sure you put a lot of focus into getting those mutas out fast and harassing your opponent

If you’re playing economy:

Have a set benchmark of drones before you add more than 2 gases
Try saturating your 3rd base completely (16+ drones on minerals on all 3-bases) then going up to 6-gas all at once
Make sure you delay Lair until after 4:00 in most games
If you go single evo chamber, drop it at 4:30 earliest. 5:00 for double evo chamber
Get used to defending PROBLEMS with a minimal change to your build.
Rely on basic units - roaches, lings, ravagers, queens and spores are the answer to 99% of your problems in the first 7 minutes of the game!
You can build more of all of these by default, even if you’re not sure pressure is coming because your mineral count will be so much higher - and still get a sick economy at the same time

I’m T or P, should I be adjusting too?

I mostly notice zergs making these errors, but some T and P do too

In general follow the same rules!
With fast tech - always aim to get damage done with it! Make sure you put focus on leveraging that advantage!
In macro - focus on delaying gas on your natural until it is nearly saturated, and do the same on your 3rd.
Always search for the smallest change or refinement in your build to answer a problem, don’t look for the hard-counter or EASY defence option.

ANSWER QUESTIONS!

Outro!

Giveaway!




And here's my latest episode: PiG Daily #8 - Guru's Full Swarm ZvP - Guru vs Showtime!

"Everyone said this is a gamble, it's dumb, it's bad... I don't think it's helpful to throw out dismissive labels about a style, I think talking about how this actually worked is going to help our core understanding... whenever we lose to something that seems dumb, we clearly didn't have a good understanding of the situation if we lost to it"

"Perfect play might beat it, but perfect play is a Starcraft myth"



Show Notes
+ Show Spoiler +

Intro:

Weirdest game of DH Tours. Dismissed as a dumb strategy by most players, yet Guru came very close to beating the eventual champion. Mindless, gambley, dumb? Well let’s break it down and actually try and understand exactly how it works - not just dismiss it with elitist labels.

Load game - Lock on cam

Very DIFFERENT economic and tech-choices by guru
Guru plays with very little gas
SUPER high drone count

But:
The night is full and dark of gambles, it’s a legitimate choice
It’s a style that will probably never work vs perfect play but no-one has EVER played a perfect game of Starcraft
The smallest mistakes can be punished suddenly and absolutely with this style
Guru has room for error - he can mess up 5 fights in a row as long as he gets the 6th one right


So how does it work?

Mass hydra ling bane lurker
Hyper-mobile
The fastest damage output of any mid-game composition in the game
Ridiculously powerful if it can surround the enemy force - could kill a toss army instantly
All light units - no bonus damage for immortals
Fast-moving front running lings and banes set off the immortal shields early so it wears off often before the rest of the battle even begins
Incredibly high damage output, yet fragile units - can’t force their way into chokes, especially vs splash damage - but will always win a basetrade!
Countered by storms and forcefields
However these abilities are only good at defending from one direction
If showtime comes out too far and gets flanked he might get crushed very suddenly

Cost-inefficient, but Guru’s economy is built around allowing that
He doesn’t lose his hydras too often, and often has 20 dishing out damage from behind
He goes up to 90 drones.
Typically we see a 70-80 drone economy in ZvP. That’s using 8-gases though.

Maths
8x3gas = 24 gas drones. So 80-24 = 56 mineral drones
Vs
5x3gas = 15 gas drones. So 90 - 15 = 75 mineral drones

Pretty big difference! And keep in mind often players only have 70 drones, so in that case it’s 75 drones vs 46.

Guru often sits at over 4kminerals harvested/minute. That’s 160 lings he can build EVERY MINUTE


Why was this so difficult for Showtime to play vs?

Different to what he’s used to playing against, makes him play differently, forces him to be on his toes:
Outside the Meta:
No practice vs this
Forces him to play very different to his normal style
Has to be super patient
If his army is ever out of position it can be surrounded and crushed in an instant - Showtime needs to stare at his army and map much harder than vs a more regular army
Has to be super careful with his workers - Guru can afford to trade vast amounts of units to kill workers and be ok with the trade -

Pinned Back
Guru has so much damage output (pure hydra-ling, + banes to crash through walls
Guru will win a basetrade easily and has so much money to spare he could build an endless spine forest
Showtime can’t risk taking any trade unless it’s VERY good, because guru’s on his side of the map looking for the trades, even if showtime wins a fight, guru can reproduce so much easier.
The risk of counters and basetrade, inferior economy and being surrounded by a hyper mobile army


Questions!


Summary: Overall Showtime play a very crisp mid-game, slaying so many zerg armies. But at a point he leaves a few too many opportunities for Guru to get damage and Guru’s whole style has allowed him to absorb those bad fights and bounce back, whereas Showtime’s damage is much harder to recover from.

What should showtime have done differently?
Locked down his bases even more, walled off cannons, wall-ins where necessary, dt warpins, archons or whatever
Scout more and not be in such a rush to get tempests since there were no broods on the way - it was great foresight and he should have been able to get them AND protect his economy, but it didn’t need to be so high on his priority list
Potentially build a prism to put some counter-pressure on
Maybe trade off immortals and go for a lot more archon-templar and start pushing through guru - the immortal chargelot was struggling

How does this style help me understand the game if I never use it? What if I’m Terran, how do I apply this knowledge?

This same situation can be seen across all matchups. At its core it’s just a high damage, high mobility, heavy-mineral army, facing off against a higher tech and “better” quality army that costs a lot more gas.
The mobile army has more units that deal more consistent damage overall, but it lacks tankiness, splash damage, etc etc.
So it could be the same sort of army for showtime vs mass bio, PURE MM like Maru used to do. Where the toss looks unstoppable in a front on fight, but if Maru finds the holes and strikes the economy he can knock them over very suddenly.
Likewise a heavy chargelot/archon style pvt or pvz - it’s super mobile and hard hitting, but gets rekt by defensive mines, infestors, broods etc. But if it can find the openings with prisms etc it can tear the slower “higher quality” army apart.

Conceptual summary:

Mobility and high damage = you can afford to build a bigger economy because your army is better in the open, better in the basetrade
The Higher-tech, higher quality army has to be patient and defend very well, locking down all the bases and waiting until it’s so high quality it can actually move out and fight in the middle of the map



Progamerwww.twitch.tv/x5_pig | pigrandom88@gmail.com | @x5_PiG | www.facebook.com/pigSC2
Nemo Ulysses
Profile Joined May 2011
France21 Posts
May 24 2016 12:33 GMT
#20
Thanks PiG, it's excellent !
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