• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 14:50
CEST 20:50
KST 03:50
  • 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
RSL Season 1 - Final Week6[ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall12HomeStory Cup 27 - Info & Preview18Classic wins Code S Season 2 (2025)16Code S RO4 & Finals Preview: herO, Rogue, Classic, GuMiho0
Community News
Esports World Cup 2025 - Brackets Revealed10Weekly Cups (July 7-13): Classic continues to roll4Team TLMC #5 - Submission extension3Firefly given lifetime ban by ESIC following match-fixing investigation17$25,000 Streamerzone StarCraft Pro Series announced7
StarCraft 2
General
The GOAT ranking of GOAT rankings RSL Revival patreon money discussion thread Who will win EWC 2025? Weekly Cups (July 7-13): Classic continues to roll Esports World Cup 2025 - Brackets Revealed
Tourneys
FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $8000 live event RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series $5,100+ SEL Season 2 Championship (SC: Evo) WardiTV Mondays Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament
Strategy
How did i lose this ZvP, whats the proper response Simple Questions Simple Answers
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 482 Wheel of Misfortune Mutation # 481 Fear and Lava Mutation # 480 Moths to the Flame Mutation # 479 Worn Out Welcome
Brood War
General
Flash Announces (and Retracts) Hiatus From ASL BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion Starcraft in widescreen A cwal.gg Extension - Easily keep track of anyone
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues Cosmonarchy Pro Showmatches CSL Xiamen International Invitational [BSL20] Non-Korean Championship 4x BSL + 4x China
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers I am doing this better than progamers do.
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Path of Exile Nintendo Switch Thread CCLP - Command & Conquer League Project The PlayStation 5
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Future of Porn Stop Killing Games - European Citizens Initiative Summer Games Done Quick 2025!
Fan Clubs
SKT1 Classic Fan Club! Maru Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread
Sports
Formula 1 Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 2024 - 2025 Football Thread NBA General Discussion NHL Playoffs 2024
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Men Take Risks, Women Win Ga…
TrAiDoS
momentary artworks from des…
tankgirl
from making sc maps to makin…
Husyelt
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Trip to the Zoo
micronesia
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 738 users

[D] The 7 Pool Build

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
ZomgTossRush
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States1041 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-09-26 07:42:08
September 26 2010 04:57 GMT
#1
There have been quite a few discussions involving 7 pools lately on tl, but everyone seems to have a different way to 7 pool. I know mine is much different than what I have seen, and I am curious to see what others are doing. I think it would be wise to get everyone on the same page

This issue is that on the forums a Protoss player will say "I know how to beat a 7 pool, do X." But if for whatever reason he isn't playing a "correct" or optimal 7 pool, how can we decipher if he has good advice, or just a misunderstood game sense?

I checked the wiki, and there is no official 7 pool build. Here is what i do, and is what I think is optimal. And PLEASE don't turn this into a "how to defend/how to win" thread, as we already have 24 of those. This is strictly for HOW you 7 pool, and why you think its the most optimal.(or proven)


7/10 Make your pool
6/10 Make a drone
7/10 Make a drone
8/10 Make a drone

Now at 9/10, you start saving larva
Right as the pool pops, you do a double extractor trick, while both are forming make 6 lings
Then cancel both extractors.
Now you are at 12/10 supply with 6 lings being made
12/10 Make an overlord
Right when your overlord finishes you have just enough money for a queen PLUS more lings.

Why I like this build? It just feels right. You never really have to wait around forever and save up to 100 for an overlord. Then the queen timing is perfect. you can inject and have enough for a full batch of 10(actually 8 since i think you have to squeeze in another overlord) lings once the spawned larvae pop, really helping your follow up. And even after your queen pops, you have the money to consistently pump lings/drones. The other nice feature about this, is if you run into some brick wall with this build, you can just make 5 drones and crawl your way back into the game. By the time you get the front door, you can determine whether or not you will be able to win with the 10 reinforcement lings, or if you just need to damage what you can with your initial 6/8/10 (depending on map size and distance) and switch it to powering mode.

How do you 7 pool?

Thanks for reading.

Coaching for 1v1 and Team games at Gosucoaching.com
sob3k
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
United States7572 Posts
September 26 2010 05:01 GMT
#2
cool, thanks
In Hungry Hungry Hippos there are no such constraints—one can constantly attempt to collect marbles with one’s hippo, limited only by one’s hippo-levering capabilities.
Elevenst
Profile Joined April 2010
Canada249 Posts
September 26 2010 05:04 GMT
#3
what's the point of this build when you can just like 14 pool or 15 pool if you wanna 6 pool then 6 pool i really don't get it
sob3k
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
United States7572 Posts
September 26 2010 05:22 GMT
#4
On September 26 2010 14:04 Elevenst wrote:
what's the point of this build when you can just like 14 pool or 15 pool if you wanna 6 pool then 6 pool i really don't get it


So when you 7pool you get the best 7pool possible. Whats the point of learning any build? Why don't you just freestyle and build random shit?
In Hungry Hungry Hippos there are no such constraints—one can constantly attempt to collect marbles with one’s hippo, limited only by one’s hippo-levering capabilities.
GWash
Profile Joined May 2010
United States153 Posts
September 26 2010 05:44 GMT
#5
On September 26 2010 14:22 sob3k wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 26 2010 14:04 Elevenst wrote:
what's the point of this build when you can just like 14 pool or 15 pool if you wanna 6 pool then 6 pool i really don't get it


So when you 7pool you get the best 7pool possible. Whats the point of learning any build? Why don't you just freestyle and build random shit?


I think what he's asking is why you aren't doing a 6pool. The idea behind a 6pool is to kill them right now, because you will have zero econ later. The idea behind the 14/15pool is to have a better econ later, and win via macro. The 7pool is worse at instawinning than the 6pool, meaning you are more likely to reach a midgame. The 7pool still had a shitty econ so if it fails, you will lose the midgame anyway. 6pool maximizes the cheese, 15pool maximizes the econ, and 7pool is left in the middle, where it basically doesn't bring anything valuable to the table.
ZomgTossRush
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States1041 Posts
September 26 2010 05:46 GMT
#6
On September 26 2010 14:44 GWash wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 26 2010 14:22 sob3k wrote:
On September 26 2010 14:04 Elevenst wrote:
what's the point of this build when you can just like 14 pool or 15 pool if you wanna 6 pool then 6 pool i really don't get it


So when you 7pool you get the best 7pool possible. Whats the point of learning any build? Why don't you just freestyle and build random shit?


I think what he's asking is why you aren't doing a 6pool. The idea behind a 6pool is to kill them right now, because you will have zero econ later. The idea behind the 14/15pool is to have a better econ later, and win via macro. The 7pool is worse at instawinning than the 6pool, meaning you are more likely to reach a midgame. The 7pool still had a shitty econ so if it fails, you will lose the midgame anyway. 6pool maximizes the cheese, 15pool maximizes the econ, and 7pool is left in the middle, where it basically doesn't bring anything valuable to the table.



I am pretty sure that even though 7 pool lings(at least mine) are going to come later, you get a swarm of lings more slightly later, something i think that 6 pools probably cant do.
Coaching for 1v1 and Team games at Gosucoaching.com
Tarrot
Profile Joined September 2010
Taiwan85 Posts
September 26 2010 05:49 GMT
#7
I'll have to look at one of my old builds, but I did a 7 pool worker rush, where I was able to get an extra 150 minerals to get 3 more sets of lings out by the time my first batch of lings popped out. A 7 pool could add more offense to a rush, rather than just throwing lings out there.
Jaeger
Profile Joined December 2009
United States1150 Posts
September 26 2010 06:04 GMT
#8
7pool isn't all in, it's just an extremely aggressive opener. It works out nicely such that you get a surplus of minerals while waiting for your first overlord to finish and get an insanely fast queen. When the lings pop on a 6 pool you have 5 drones, when the lings pop on a 7 pool you have 9, almost twice the economy. If you do any damage you can drone very hard afterwards and often you outright win. Even if you do no damage you are quite behind but you can pull yourself back into the game.

One of my favorite replays CatZ vs Huk, 7 pool does next to no damage cause well its huk, but even still CatZ takes it into the midgame and has chances.
http://www.root-gaming.com/replay/catz-vs-huk-metalopolis
https://www.dotabuff.com/players/8137911
Ogyusuh
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
United States52 Posts
September 26 2010 06:08 GMT
#9
Back in BW a 5 pool was only 2 seconds slower than a 4 pool so I feel as though in SC2 the difference should be too great from a 6 and a 7 pool although the delay maybe 1-2 seconds higher because you start with 6 drones that mine 5 minerals instead of 4 drones that mine 8 each
RIP Brood War: July 27, 2010 T.T We will always remember.
Chocobo
Profile Joined November 2006
United States1108 Posts
September 26 2010 06:12 GMT
#10
The point of the 6 pool is to have an unstoppable force of lings ASAP, before they have anything to counter it. This build gives you 6 lings and then no more additional lings for quite a while.

Nearly all of my 6 pool attempts do some initial damage, but I can't win the game until lings 7-8 and 9-10 show up, especially if I lose one or two of them. If I had to wait a while for more lings, they would often be able to deal with the lings and finish their walloff.
TheFinalWord
Profile Joined May 2010
Australia790 Posts
September 26 2010 06:14 GMT
#11
On September 26 2010 15:04 Jaeger wrote:
7pool isn't all in, it's just an extremely aggressive opener. It works out nicely such that you get a surplus of minerals while waiting for your first overlord to finish and get an insanely fast queen. When the lings pop on a 6 pool you have 5 drones, when the lings pop on a 7 pool you have 9, almost twice the economy. If you do any damage you can drone very hard afterwards and often you outright win. Even if you do no damage you are quite behind but you can pull yourself back into the game.

One of my favorite replays CatZ vs Huk, 7 pool does next to no damage cause well its huk, but even still CatZ takes it into the midgame and has chances.
http://www.root-gaming.com/replay/catz-vs-huk-metalopolis

Does he win? I've never seen anyone do no damage with a <10 pool and win.
Severedevil
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States4838 Posts
September 26 2010 06:49 GMT
#12
From BW, 4-pool was an all-in Zergling rush with little possibility of recovering if you failed to win outright. It was barely faster than 5pool, but the reinforcing Zerglings were available much sooner.

6pool is analogous to BW's 4pool. 7pool is analogous to BW's 5pool.
My strategy is to fork people.
Alegzandur
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Philippines52 Posts
September 26 2010 09:53 GMT
#13
Hmmm interesting, timing looks much better than mine.

7 Pool
6 Drone
Make 6 Lings
Overlord + Queen
From then on it's just a complete drone pump while microing the 6 lings

The point of my 7 pool isn't to win the game, it's to take him out of his comfort zone and scaring him into making more units than he'd like to. Normally after my harassment is done I actually have a better economy than my opponent. =P
Schnullerbacke13
Profile Joined August 2010
Germany1199 Posts
September 26 2010 10:01 GMT
#14
interesting .. anybody has some numbers how hard the eco is hit in case of the "eco-recovery-scenario" ? If you build 5 drones instead of scnd wave of lings, you are at 14 drones which does not sound that bad .. i'll try ;-). This will also shut down any protoss cheese quite easily because of early lings :-D
21 is half the truth
ZomgTossRush
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States1041 Posts
September 26 2010 10:18 GMT
#15
On September 26 2010 19:01 Schnullerbacke13 wrote:
interesting .. anybody has some numbers how hard the eco is hit in case of the "eco-recovery-scenario" ? If you build 5 drones instead of scnd wave of lings, you are at 14 drones which does not sound that bad .. i'll try ;-). This will also shut down any protoss cheese quite easily because of early lings :-D



I really should write a guide. Every "pool" post on tl has been complete garbage, both the advice for and against it.

Sadly though I don't look at the econ numbers after it. The problem now is that every time i 7 pool on ladder on steppes its autowin. So i rarely ever have to take the "econ route." But good suggestion, i'll try to save my next replay where i 7pool and turn it into an econ advantage. Basically you would have to do some sort of damage; take out a few probes, stop alot of mining time, kill a pylon; force a supply block; kill a stray zealot; kill a gateway. All very viable, even with proper 7 pool defense

I really feel like 7 pools are more of pressure builds, with a chance of winning right there, if the P doesn't know how to defend it correctly.
Coaching for 1v1 and Team games at Gosucoaching.com
Schnullerbacke13
Profile Joined August 2010
Germany1199 Posts
September 26 2010 10:38 GMT
#16
i tried .. if the rush fails and you drone after it, you are about 3 drones behind a 14 pool 17 gas, which should level out round 5:30, since you get your queen earlier (so spawn larva comes earlier) .. great i'll try .. this should be of advantage except at pro level (because they probably always will fend off the attack, so the early lings never pay off). Great work :-D. ling attack on xelnaga is round 3'30 ..
21 is half the truth
Schnullerbacke13
Profile Joined August 2010
Germany1199 Posts
September 26 2010 10:46 GMT
#17
at least you need to do very few damage to even the fields, if you kill 2 probes it should be sufficient, since T/P cannot replace them as fast as you .. however you may get counter rushed instantly ..
Also cool: you save the scouting drone, i did not incorporate this in my quick timing test.
21 is half the truth
Vazze
Profile Joined August 2009
Sweden279 Posts
September 26 2010 11:04 GMT
#18
When I was killing the Insane AI with Zerg, I did the following BO:
6 Drone
7 Pool
6 Drone
7 Overlord
7 6xZerglings
After this I just pump out lings. And also, when the 6 initial Zerglings pop I pull a drone for a spine crawler. It is possible to make one and keep constant zergling production.
This however is an even more all-in version of the 7pool then your versions.
Jung Myung Hoon and Doh Jae Wook fan!
EnderCN
Profile Joined May 2010
United States499 Posts
September 26 2010 12:35 GMT
#19
I'm not sure which is better but there are plenty of reasons a 7 pool or 8 pool could be better than a 6 pool. Larva management, better econ bringing out later zerglings a lot faster etc. There is no reason that everything between a 6 pool and a 12+ pool is a waste.
Sanchez_
Profile Joined October 2009
Australia40 Posts
September 26 2010 17:14 GMT
#20
I prefer to do this:

7 pool
drone
overlord
6 lings
keep making lings then drones if needed

I prefer this version because you can constantly be getting zerglings reinforcing and you will have 8 then 10 etc much faster than with the other method though you have 2 less drones.

There are too many times when 6 lings dont quite cut it and 10 can kill the zelot or whatever and keep doing the damage.

I prefer to 7 pool rather than 6 pool because there are definitely games where you can win with a transition after you get a bit of damage done. If you start pumping drones after about 10 lings and get your queen quick you can beat a toss that has gotten a few cannons and lost a few probes.
1 2 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
WardiTV European League
16:00
Swiss Groups Day 4
Harstem vs HeRoMaRinELIVE!
WardiTV1046
TKL 317
IndyStarCraft 279
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
mouzHeroMarine 566
TKL 307
IndyStarCraft 279
UpATreeSC 156
BRAT_OK 82
MindelVK 35
StarCraft: Brood War
EffOrt 687
Rush 615
BeSt 354
firebathero 346
Larva 60
PianO 52
Movie 42
Aegong 26
JulyZerg 23
sas.Sziky 23
[ Show more ]
yabsab 15
sSak 8
SilentControl 5
Dota 2
qojqva3888
canceldota66
League of Legends
Grubby3649
Counter-Strike
pashabiceps1197
flusha300
Heroes of the Storm
Liquid`Hasu137
Other Games
FrodaN4790
Beastyqt722
ceh9685
mouzStarbuck167
oskar140
Skadoodle137
elazer114
C9.Mang084
ArmadaUGS82
Mew2King62
Trikslyr61
QueenE60
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick3389
StarCraft 2
angryscii 9
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 18 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• davetesta23
• intothetv
• sooper7s
• Migwel
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• IndyKCrew
• Kozan
StarCraft: Brood War
• 80smullet 18
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• C_a_k_e 2615
League of Legends
• Nemesis2831
• Jankos1904
• TFBlade829
Other Games
• imaqtpie1592
• Shiphtur214
Upcoming Events
PiGosaur Monday
5h 10m
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
21h 10m
Replay Cast
1d 5h
The PondCast
1d 15h
WardiTV European League
1d 21h
Replay Cast
2 days
Epic.LAN
2 days
CranKy Ducklings
3 days
Epic.LAN
3 days
CSO Contender
3 days
[ Show More ]
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
3 days
Bonyth vs Sziky
Dewalt vs Hawk
Hawk vs QiaoGege
Sziky vs Dewalt
Mihu vs Bonyth
Zhanhun vs QiaoGege
QiaoGege vs Fengzi
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
Online Event
4 days
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
4 days
Bonyth vs Zhanhun
Dewalt vs Mihu
Hawk vs Sziky
Sziky vs QiaoGege
Mihu vs Hawk
Zhanhun vs Dewalt
Fengzi vs Bonyth
Esports World Cup
6 days
ByuN vs Astrea
Lambo vs HeRoMaRinE
Clem vs TBD
Solar vs Zoun
SHIN vs Reynor
Maru vs TriGGeR
herO vs Lancer
Cure vs ShoWTimE
Liquipedia Results

Completed

2025 ACS Season 2: Qualifier
RSL Revival: Season 1
Murky Cup #2

Ongoing

JPL Season 2
BSL 2v2 Season 3
Copa Latinoamericana 4
Jiahua Invitational
BSL20 Non-Korean Championship
Championship of Russia 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025
Asian Champions League '25
BLAST Rivals Spring 2025
MESA Nomadic Masters

Upcoming

CSL Xiamen Invitational
CSL Xiamen Invitational: ShowMatche
2025 ACS Season 2
CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
BSL Season 21
K-Championship
RSL Revival: Season 2
SEL Season 2 Championship
uThermal 2v2 Main Event
FEL Cracov 2025
Esports World Cup 2025
Underdog Cup #2
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
TLPD

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

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.