• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 00:50
CET 06:50
KST 14:50
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL22] Finals Preview: Sweet Victory!12[ASL22] Ro4 Preview: Mirror Mirror6[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: Within Reach5[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: In A Tizzy11[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Holy Diver5
Community News
Weekly Cups (October 19-25): Clem triples first in 5.0.175Evil Geniuses - shutting down21ISSL (IntoTheTV x SOOP SC2 League): Premier7Weekly Cups (October 12-18): 5.0.17 era begins1[$1250] International ShieldBattery League99
StarCraft 2
General
No more SC2 streamers on team liquid? 5.0.17 Patch Notes - October 7, 2026 Evil Geniuses - shutting down Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book SC2 Power Rank: epic29
Tourneys
ISSL (IntoTheTV x SOOP SC2 League): Premier Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament RSL goes to London! 2026 Offline Finals Nov 21-22 RSL 2026 Offline Finals LCQ Sign-Ups
Strategy
[H] ZvP Mid-Late Game: Stalkers Collossi HT
Custom Maps
[D] the control group Simple Questions/Answers [G] How to playtest arcade maps [A] Nemrods 1/4 players
External Content
Mutation # 550 Graveyard Shift The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 549 Endless Sparkles Mutation # 548 Shining Bright
Brood War
General
Rollback Netcode in Brood War Mathematicians needed to calc "Low Econ Epicness" Top Players of October 2026 (EBPD Rankings) BW General Discussion [Megathread] Daily Funny Videos
Tourneys
2v2v2v2 Tournament Stage 1: Community Poll [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [IPSL] IPSL Winter 26-27 Ro24 is HERE! [$1250] International ShieldBattery League
Strategy
50,000-Word Terran Builds Memo 2026-10-22 Cliff Jump Revisited (1 in a 1000 strategy) Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Deus Ex 3!? Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Armies of Exigo - YesYes?
Dota 2
Dota 2 Champions League Season 3 Begins April 25!
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Canadian Politics Mega-thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
Reynor Fan Club The Flash Fan Club Serral Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
Recent Gifted Posts
Blogs
Why I built Repalyzer (1.1.…
BlueStar
Innovate or Game Over?
TrAiDoS
ShieldBattery on Mac
Kraekkling
[ASL22] Ro4 Day1 Ticket Giv…
bITt.mAN
Can Bots Beat Pros?? Starcr…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 9886 users

[H] ZvP can't beat 2gate-->4gate early pressure - Page 3

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 Next All
phrikshin
Profile Joined August 2010
2 Posts
September 07 2010 20:00 GMT
#41
ive started having really good results against the 4gate push while going mass slings with a few backup crawlers and then transition into hydra. The 2gate push is strong still, but i find i can fend it off well enough using 5rr or a crawler or 2 in the main and then move the crawlers to the nat. If the map has a backdoor it becomes more problematic but still defendable, just need to spread creep better.
fenster
Profile Joined July 2010
United States73 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-09-07 20:21:02
September 07 2010 20:20 GMT
#42
800 diamond here, but I have lately been having great results vs P who 2gate into 4gate, or just pure 4 gate.

If they 2gate, they will be sacrificing economy, no doubt. I do a 5RR opening against P if I scout 2 gate, throwing down my expo right as the roaches are rolling out and then droning hard for the next minute or so. This period will inevitably have to be a transition for P too -- he just invested in a line of zealots running to your base which are now ineffective. He has to be behind on core tech a little bit, allowing you to drone up and research speed while you harass a bit with your roaches (or just play D if you are not feeling well about a push).

I used to always lose to 4gate because I was too anxious to get lair tech. Yes - hydras are great against gateway units but it just takes too much time. Roaches and slings are surprisingly good against 4 gate if you have enough and flank with your slings. Continue droning, mixing in roaches and slings eventually once you start anticipating a push. Start making fewer drones and go to lair tech...from my experience right around this point is when they will push. It is pivotal that you know when they move out, crank units while they are approaching, and flank well with your speedlings. Once you defend the push, you can typically go pretty heavy mutas as he will be expecting hydras, or hive tech or do whatever you'd like.

Really defending the 4gate is just timing and knowing when to drone and when not to. You probably feel behind because you are over-anticipating the attack and not droning when you should. Proper injects are also crucial so have you the larvae when you need it. Just my two cents.
hakundo
Profile Joined August 2010
25 Posts
September 07 2010 20:33 GMT
#43
Also having my up's and down's with ZVP...

...couldn't test it yet, but do slings/roaches counter gateway units, like zealots/sentries/stalkers or is slings/hydras more powerful?
Skarra
Profile Joined August 2010
39 Posts
September 07 2010 20:33 GMT
#44
900 diamond zerg here..
I've found that this entire match up is an entire crap-shoot. Baneling busting into mass ling wins me about 85% of my ZvP games even at my level as they usually don't have enough sentry to FF ramp and they usually shit themselves and pull probes to deal with early zerg pressure, usually ending the game within 5 min or so. However, this isn't full proof, as a good wall off or a decent microing of sentry FF rapes this pressure. When I'm not baneling busting, I'm beginning to favor expanding at around 20-21, but not droning my expo until he carries out his first attack. Also, getting 200 gas and spending it on +1 attk and ling speed is great, and then taking drones of gas until lair tech. This allows you to produce a ridiculous amount of lings (upwards of 60) by the time he attacks around 8 min into the game.

Micro is a big player, as if your ling ball gets FF zealots will just destory everything. Some games these strats work well and sometimes they don't. I still don't think there is a concrete solution.
comis
Profile Joined April 2010
United States333 Posts
September 07 2010 20:40 GMT
#45
I played Zerg since beta. Early on I constantly loss to 2 gate --> 4 gate. I learned how to stop the initial push and won most ZvP 'til I started playing people ~1,000 Diamond. I then started losing to 4 gate again.

A good P can 2 gate into 4 gate and keep constant pressure on the Zerg while taking nearly no economy hit and establishing an expansion for a comfortable, game-ending transition into Colossi or HT.

For this reason, I started playing P. I've won every PvZ so far with this build (despite only playing maybe 5 games total as P beforehand and going up against ~800-1000 Diamond Z's).

I don't personally think a perfectly-executed 2 gate into 4 gate is beatable by any perfectly-executed Z strat.
comis
Profile Joined April 2010
United States333 Posts
September 07 2010 20:43 GMT
#46
On September 08 2010 05:20 fenster wrote:
800 diamond here, but I have lately been having great results vs P who 2gate into 4gate, or just pure 4 gate.

If they 2gate, they will be sacrificing economy, no doubt. I do a 5RR opening against P if I scout 2 gate, throwing down my expo right as the roaches are rolling out and then droning hard for the next minute or so. This period will inevitably have to be a transition for P too -- he just invested in a line of zealots running to your base which are now ineffective. He has to be behind on core tech a little bit, allowing you to drone up and research speed while you harass a bit with your roaches (or just play D if you are not feeling well about a push).

I used to always lose to 4gate because I was too anxious to get lair tech. Yes - hydras are great against gateway units but it just takes too much time. Roaches and slings are surprisingly good against 4 gate if you have enough and flank with your slings. Continue droning, mixing in roaches and slings eventually once you start anticipating a push. Start making fewer drones and go to lair tech...from my experience right around this point is when they will push. It is pivotal that you know when they move out, crank units while they are approaching, and flank well with your speedlings. Once you defend the push, you can typically go pretty heavy mutas as he will be expecting hydras, or hive tech or do whatever you'd like.

Really defending the 4gate is just timing and knowing when to drone and when not to. You probably feel behind because you are over-anticipating the attack and not droning when you should. Proper injects are also crucial so have you the larvae when you need it. Just my two cents.


The critical flaw here is assuming he is making zealots. A good P who scouts fast roaches will simply make 1 zealot to block, get warp up fast and crush you with 4 gate stalkers/zeal/sentry. Best case scenario you stop his push, but at what cost? He's now at 30 probe to your 15-20 drones and is working on his expansion. Meanwhile you're frantically rebuilding to hold off another attack which may or may not happen while he's comfortably grabbing upgrades and moving on to Colossi or HT for the final push.
fenster
Profile Joined July 2010
United States73 Posts
September 07 2010 20:48 GMT
#47
On September 08 2010 05:43 comis wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 08 2010 05:20 fenster wrote:
800 diamond here, but I have lately been having great results vs P who 2gate into 4gate, or just pure 4 gate.

If they 2gate, they will be sacrificing economy, no doubt. I do a 5RR opening against P if I scout 2 gate, throwing down my expo right as the roaches are rolling out and then droning hard for the next minute or so. This period will inevitably have to be a transition for P too -- he just invested in a line of zealots running to your base which are now ineffective. He has to be behind on core tech a little bit, allowing you to drone up and research speed while you harass a bit with your roaches (or just play D if you are not feeling well about a push).

I used to always lose to 4gate because I was too anxious to get lair tech. Yes - hydras are great against gateway units but it just takes too much time. Roaches and slings are surprisingly good against 4 gate if you have enough and flank with your slings. Continue droning, mixing in roaches and slings eventually once you start anticipating a push. Start making fewer drones and go to lair tech...from my experience right around this point is when they will push. It is pivotal that you know when they move out, crank units while they are approaching, and flank well with your speedlings. Once you defend the push, you can typically go pretty heavy mutas as he will be expecting hydras, or hive tech or do whatever you'd like.

Really defending the 4gate is just timing and knowing when to drone and when not to. You probably feel behind because you are over-anticipating the attack and not droning when you should. Proper injects are also crucial so have you the larvae when you need it. Just my two cents.


The critical flaw here is assuming he is making zealots. A good P who scouts fast roaches will simply make 1 zealot to block, get warp up fast and crush you with 4 gate stalkers/zeal/sentry. Best case scenario you stop his push, but at what cost? He's now at 30 probe to your 15-20 drones and is working on his expansion. Meanwhile you're frantically rebuilding to hold off another attack which may or may not happen while he's comfortably grabbing upgrades and moving on to Colossi or HT for the final push.


Sorry - I should have specified. Good scouting will let me know if he's making an expo and what kind of an army composition he has. Until he starts taking a second base, I assume 4 gate or some sort of large 1-base push (since this is pretty much his only option). If I DO see an expo go down, I drone much harder and throw down some crawlers in case he tries some sort of sneaky timing push while I get mutas on 2 base. And if he's 1-basing, I poke in with lings to see his composition...if it's mostly stalker/sentry, I pump slings and so on.
zyzski
Profile Joined May 2010
United States698 Posts
September 07 2010 20:51 GMT
#48
1 spine + roach warren can hold it

you can even push+win if you get like 8 roaches before he gets any stalkers pumping
TYBG
Antares777
Profile Joined June 2010
United States1971 Posts
September 07 2010 21:04 GMT
#49
On September 06 2010 17:22 whomybuddy wrote:
.............1 base zerg vs 1 base toss isn't GG. I mean you gain the same amount of mineral and gas. You only lose because you have bad macro and slow tech or not enough army. You can have an extra hatchery nearby your main for extra lava to produce more lings. Just try to tech to hydra fast and you'll be fine expanding later.


1 base toss/terran beats 1 base zerg like 95% of the time in my experience as zerg.
JamieDukes
Profile Joined August 2010
Russian Federation82 Posts
September 07 2010 21:08 GMT
#50
i'm not a zerg or protoss player (majored in Terran play) but my off races aint shabyb
against 2 gate pressure jsut get an evo chamber up asap for the +1 damage
zealots go down so fast
then when they come in with mass templar/zealot/colossus army just send in your brood lords which outrange everything
))))
teamsolid
Profile Joined October 2007
Canada3668 Posts
September 07 2010 21:21 GMT
#51
Even the best Zerg in the world Cool aka Fruitseller almost lost to 1 gate stalker pressure into 4-gate on scrap (arguably a good zerg map) in the GSL. So it's no joke to hold off if well executed by the P.
McCormick
Profile Joined September 2010
France2 Posts
September 08 2010 13:34 GMT
#52
I totally agree with JamieDukes and, as a 700+ Zerg player, it really improved my play :

GET EVOS !!


...and specially the +1 attack on zerglings (if no +1attack for lots ==>+1 carapace), you'd be amazed by what it can do.

If you feel confident on the timing, u can even get +1melee before speed (risky). The 2 evos then complete about the same time and when they kick in, your zerglings are unstoppable.

Geo.Rion
Profile Blog Joined October 2008
7377 Posts
September 08 2010 13:58 GMT
#53
On September 08 2010 06:21 teamsolid wrote:
Even the best Zerg in the world Cool aka Fruitseller almost lost to 1 gate stalker pressure into 4-gate on scrap (arguably a good zerg map) in the GSL. So it's no joke to hold off if well executed by the P.

arguably a good Zerg map? Definetly the best Zerg map at least for ZvP surely. Btw i was shocked too that it almost killed him. But still, almost won still means he lost.
"Protoss is a joke" Liquid`Jinro Okt.1. 2011
Kelsin
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States253 Posts
September 08 2010 15:48 GMT
#54
700 platinum (just got plat last night) so take this with a grain of salt:

But so far the best luck I've had so far against 4 gate is to try and expand with slings (+1 attack) and if he pushes right then, cancel and build the hatch in my main instead to try and keep up with production. At that point I just try to keep him on his toes (he normally gets an expansion up, but if he does I try to grab two). The amount of sling/roach/hydra with two hatches (and two queens obviously) has kept me up to speed.

The problem is I'm very scared of meeting more people in platinum that can play the 4gate a bit better
Warrior Madness
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
Canada3791 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-09-18 00:37:02
September 18 2010 00:33 GMT
#55
Okay against a pure 4 gate with a 1 gate core opening, it's relatively easy to defend with pure slings. The problem is of course finding all his gates (You don't want to be making a ton of slings and an evo chamber for nothing). But peaking in at the edge of his base with multiple ovies and running slings up and down his ramp will give you a better guess to whether he's 4gating or not. So once you know for sure the best build against that is speed then +1 attack. You just have to be very careful of a good FF user.

Against a 4 gate with a 2 gate opening things get trickier imo. Pure slings is a lot harder to pull off here. And after you defend his initial wave of zealots you're still dealing with a massive loss to your economy. He's been pumping probes this entire time while you've been making slings a spiney and getting a late hatch.

But is 5RR any better? Maybe. You actually do save more in the long run since roaches are so much more cost effective than defending with pure slings.

But I don't know it's not something I've drilled with practice partners yet. Can someone with more experience dealing with this give me some help?
The Past: Yellow, Julyzerg, Chojja, Savior, GGplay -- The Present: Luxury, Jae- The Future: -Dong, maGma, Zero, Effort, Hoejja, hyvaa, by.hero, calm, Action ---> SC2 (Ret?? Kolll Idra!! SEN, Cool, ZergBong, Leenock)
aztrorisk
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States896 Posts
September 18 2010 01:00 GMT
#56
roach + baneling combo. SOO EFFECTIVE
A lock that opens to many keys is a bad lock. A key that opens many locks is a master key.
Authweight
Profile Joined May 2010
United States304 Posts
September 18 2010 05:46 GMT
#57
As a protoss player who favors two gate into 4-warpgate play, I've noticed that two hatches inside your base can be an effective strategy. Build your spine crawler and early lings, then grab another hatch inside your main, preferably right next to your first hatch (for easier defense). You can build an unbelievable number of roaches and lings off those two hatches, especially if you get two queens. Just keep droning, and expand when you get a chance, transferring all the extra workers.

As theorycraft, I believe a double-expand while upgrading to lair could be an effective transition out of this, as the smart protoss player will retreat and expand when he sees your giant ball of death. I've never seen anyone try this, though, so I can't really say how it would work.
Vei
Profile Joined March 2010
United States2845 Posts
September 18 2010 06:10 GMT
#58
Hey I'm mid Diamond and can't offer you a super deep strat, but I'd advise practicing (preferrably with a protoss PP) spining your base with 1-2 spines depending on your confidence (1 does it for me) and then backstabbing with 6 lings and defending with your spine/queen/lings as they spawn. Because in my experience if you spine + defend with 100% of your lings+Queen, you overwhelm 2gate completely; however, this means you have room to send some lings to mess up his economy a bit.

This might be a little too much APM for high plat/low dia, but I'm sure you could pull it off. Also, don't miss ANY injects -- if you do that's hurting you way more than any 2gate pressure.
www.justin.tv/veisc2 ~ 720p + commentary
Scottymc
Profile Joined August 2010
Australia134 Posts
September 18 2010 07:58 GMT
#59
All of you people realise that 2 gate from a protoss only means he skips gas not probes.?
he is not sacrificing anything to 2gate exept tech. well maybe 1 probe but thats it.

I like the idea of spine crawlers then do a run by that would in my opinion be devestating.
Good call Vei.
If you think playing with under 100APM is noob try having a ping of 450. Welcome australians to BNET 2.0....
Danglars
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States12133 Posts
September 18 2010 08:12 GMT
#60
Don't over-react (3 spinecrawlers in main would be over-reaction from just scouted 2gate ) and tech to roaches to hold off the 2gate zealot pressure. Hydras fare very well against gateway only armies so really look for your timings to plant your expansion and micro those roaches until the hydras pop out.
Great armies come from happy zealots, and happy zealots come from California!
TL+ Member
Prev 1 2 3 4 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Replay Cast
08:00
QMC 2: Invitational Tournament
ChoboTeamLeague
06:30
Best Games SC
Discussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
WinterStarcraft631
NeuroSwarm 242
RuFF_SC2 196
Nina 104
StarCraft: Brood War
Rain 3001
GuemChi 1479
Hyuk 190
Bisu 145
Snow 106
Noble 19
ProTech15
yabsab 12
Icarus 8
Force[name] 6
Dota 2
LuMiX1
League of Legends
Doublelift4983
Counter-Strike
fl0m3607
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King177
Other Games
summit1g14481
JimRising 604
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick842
Counter-Strike
PGL350
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH278
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Laughngamez YouTube
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• Mapu66
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• lizZardDota2129
League of Legends
• Rush903
• Lourlo888
• Stunt325
Other Games
• Shiphtur493
Upcoming Events
WardiTV Weekly
6h 11m
Ultimate Battle
6h 11m
Rush vs BeSt
Replay Cast
17h 11m
Rogue vs Classic
Patches Events
1d 7h
PiGosaur Cup
1d 19h
Kung Fu Cup
2 days
Replay Cast
2 days
The PondCast
3 days
KCM Race Survival
3 days
IntoTheTV X SOOP
5 days
herO vs Rogue
Reynor vs Solar
ByuN vs SHIN
Clem vs MaxPax
[ Show More ]
WardiTV Invitational
5 days
IPSL
5 days
WorsT vs nOmaD
Dewalt vs andersOn
IntoTheTV X SOOP
6 days
WardiTV Invitational
6 days
IPSL
6 days
Azhi_Dahaki vs ggnore13
Double vs WIZARD
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-11-01
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
HCC Season 3

Ongoing

Acropolis #5
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 4
International ShieldBattery League
BSL Season 23
IPSL Winter 2026-27
IEM Beijing 2026
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
1win Private Club #2
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
1win Private Club #1
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026

Upcoming

1xBet Invitational
SC4ALL II: Brood War
BSL 23: Non-Korean Championship
HSC XXX
Stellar Fest 2: Lunar Cup
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
BLAST Bounty Winter 2027
eXTREMESLAND 2026
PGL Major Singapore 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 6
BLAST Rivals Fall 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.