• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 18:49
CEST 00:49
KST 07:49
  • 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
Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12TL.net Map Contest #22 - Voting & Ladder Map Selection7Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview7[ASL21] Finals Preview: Two Legacies21
Community News
Weekly Cups (June 8-14): Clem and Solar double, PTR tested0RSL: S6 Finals played at BlizzCon 202611Douyu Cup 2026: $20,000 Legends Event (June 26-28)10[BSL22] Non-Korean Championship from 13 to 28 June4Weekly Cups (May 25-31): Clem doubles, 2v2 circuit heads toward finale0
StarCraft 2
General
TL Poll: How do you feel about the 5.0.16 PTR balance changes? Code S Season 2 (2026) - RO8 Preview Updates to The Core/Core Lite for v5.0.16? RSL: S6 Finals played at BlizzCon 2026 Weekly Cups (June 8-14): Clem and Solar double, PTR tested
Tourneys
GSL CK #4 20-21th June Douyu Cup 2026: $20,000 Legends Event (June 26-28) Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule ! Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond)
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
Work In Progress Melee Maps [D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3
External Content
Mutation # 530 One For All The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 529 Opportunities Unleashed Mutation # 528 Infection Detected
Brood War
General
vespene.gg — BW replays in browser Where is EffOrt? BW General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Quality of life changes in BW that you will like ?
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL21] Grand Finals [BSL22] Grand Finals - Sunday 21:00 CEST Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2
Strategy
Relatively freeroll strategies Creating a full chart of Zerg builds Why doesn't anyone use restoration? Any training maps people recommend?
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Beyond All Reason ZeroSpace Megathread Total War: Warhammer 40K Path of Exile
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
Russo-Ukrainian War Thread US Politics Mega-thread UK Politics Mega-thread [H]Internet/Gaming Cafe Tips and Tricks Trading/Investing Thread
Fan Clubs
The HerO Fan Club! The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books [TV/BOOK] *SPOILERS* Game of Thrones Discussion [Manga] One Piece
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion Cricket [SPORT] NBA General Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Facing Challenges in Mobile App Development
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Does Workplace Frustration D…
TrAiDoS
An Exploration of th…
waywardstrategy
I'm an arrogant trash talke…
FlaShFTW
Gauntlet SC2: A Retrospectiv…
Ctone23
Why RTS gamers make better f…
gosubay
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 10155 users

[G] ZvP: I offer to TeamLiquid the Fail Pool - Page 3

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 Next All
Cyber_Cheese
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Australia3615 Posts
October 14 2010 15:40 GMT
#41
7 pool, redrone to 9, double extractor for initial lings then ovie
The moment you lose confidence in yourself, is the moment the world loses it's confidence in you.
Chriamon
Profile Joined April 2010
United States886 Posts
October 14 2010 15:48 GMT
#42
On October 14 2010 15:22 Adeny wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 14 2010 14:19 GoldenH wrote:
if you 8 pool, you can build 2 more drones (to 9), then use a double extractor trick to get back to 7, 3 zerglings, cancel extractor, build overlord, then queen. I think you'll find that's better than overlord first.

By the way this is hard countered easily by the protoss by simply blocking the bottom of zerg's ramp with 2 pylons, which seems un-intuitive but it delays for long enough to get a ling-proof wall at home.

Catz vs Time on Steppes. Check it out.
http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/profile/274906/1/Blaze/
Eknoid4
Profile Joined October 2010
United States902 Posts
October 14 2010 16:31 GMT
#43
forge first every single game guarantees zerg gets as early an expansion as he wants.
If you're mad that someone else is brazenly trumpeting their beliefs with ignorance, perhaps you should be mad that you are doing it too.
Crosswind
Profile Joined May 2010
United States279 Posts
October 14 2010 16:51 GMT
#44
Jermstuddog - This seems like a pain to deal with. What responses have you seen from Protoss that have dealt well with this?

-Cross
Jermstuddog
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
United States2231 Posts
October 14 2010 17:08 GMT
#45
Good responses by Protoss seem to be elusive.

Leaving an opening and blocking with ~4 probes while chrono boosting a single zealot is one of the better options I've come across. You will be about 4 probes ahead assuming you lose only 1 or 2 probes, but won't really be able to leave your base for the time being. From there, it really depends if you want to go for 2-gate pressure or rush straight to 4-gate or Void Ray. Nothing is particularly devastating to me and it feels like an easy expo, assuming I manage my map control well enough.

I have a buddy who turtles up very hard early game and does a 12 gate -> zealot -> cannon -> expand every game. He will get his zealot out early enough to minimize the damage I deal to his economy, but isn't really far enough ahead of me to take advantage of it.

The other major option is a complete wall with gateway + forge, cannon goes down immediately after forge finishes.

This will significantly slow your 4-gate push, but while that forge is there, you can use it to get +1 weapons, then go with a zealot/sentry heavy 5-gate. I mentioned this earlier and I typically counter by getting +1 carapace myself, but it can be a very strong push for those few seconds when your +1 weapons is done and my carapace is still in the works.


Really, I think this throws off all the timings for a strong 4-gate, so some new timing push that isn't common yet will be the proper response.
As it turns out, marines don't actually cost any money -Jinro
Pfeff
Profile Joined August 2010
United States270 Posts
October 14 2010 17:44 GMT
#46
On October 14 2010 22:27 Viruuus wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 14 2010 20:16 Jermstuddog wrote:
On October 14 2010 18:06 Viruuus wrote:
You didnt mention the only viable counter vs any early pool.
No Protoss should ever make a pylon that can be attacked from the ramp, but instead almost all of them make a gateway there, and then they just add a 2nd gateway such that there is one choke where a zealot fits in in the middle


Lets call it the "Double Gateway Wall-in." It is a complete wall in with 2 gateways exposed and a pylon holding the small area between unless I'm misunderstanding you.

I have encountered this quite often and it is one of my favorite ones to come across.

I can body block your gateways with my lings back and forth while you spam zealots, this will cause all your zealots to spawn inside your base rather than outside, so they're useless until I kill BOTH gateways. This gives me a massive lead due to the fact that you have to build ANOTHER gateway before you can even start your cybernetics core and get to teching.


You missunderstood me
I said, 2 gateway wall with a zealot in the middle, not a pylon. The zealot can easily kill the zerglings trying to kill the gateways, and he will soon have a 2nd zealot out. dont tell me you can micro against the zealot, because you cant.


Decent micro leave all 6 zerglings alive vs 1 zealot. It's very simple...take two hits, pull back an inch and go back to attacking, repeat
When your loading screen shows my name, just F10 -> N
OreoBoi
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
Canada1639 Posts
October 14 2010 19:09 GMT
#47
This is like the most retarded strategy to play against on scrap station because the only way to wall in is with 2 gateways and a forge. So if the zerg only makes 6 lings and then expos, I'm so far behind.
SmoKe93
Profile Joined July 2010
Germany162 Posts
October 14 2010 19:23 GMT
#48
On October 14 2010 16:49 Sterling wrote:
I was mid platinum with T and P then switched to Z and 6 pooled my way to 1500 diamond in 1 day


And you won GSL later in the weekend right
Dont-Panic
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Germany567 Posts
October 14 2010 19:51 GMT
#49
I don't know if XLorD read this thread but he played this exact strategy twice vs Insolence today and it was quite effective.
Here are the replays for those who are interested:
http://www.esl.eu/de/pro-series/season17/sc2/1on1/download/23538542/
http://www.esl.eu/de/pro-series/season17/sc2/1on1/download/23538573/
kcdc
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States2311 Posts
October 14 2010 20:36 GMT
#50
I've played against this a lot. It is frustrating to fend off the 6 lings with minimal losses and think you've won, only to push out, see spine crawlers at the nat, and not be able to push your advantage much. Z can eventually turtle and catch up on workers, and then you have to deal with muta harass. In this sense, the 7-pool isn't quite as all-in as it seems. It's a bad opening that puts Z behind if P micros well, but Z can catch up.

That said, a properly executed FFE will rock this every time on most maps. Forge at the bottom of the ramp to wall off and a quick cannon repels the lings, and then P has both more workers and an earlier expansion. On Xel'Naga Caverns, it's a little tougher to press the advantage with a super-early expansion because you need multiple cannons to cover your ramp and defend your nexus at the nat. Still, Z is far behind unless you screw up.
Vei
Profile Joined March 2010
United States2845 Posts
October 14 2010 20:43 GMT
#51
Failpool bahhaa, awesome thread title. ^^
www.justin.tv/veisc2 ~ 720p + commentary
colmanaburn
Profile Joined October 2010
United States3 Posts
October 14 2010 20:51 GMT
#52
Anytime I get early pooled I have already got the cannon up and my chocke blocked, I proceed to tech sprint to stargate and get 2 phoenix and 1 Void ray. If the queens shoot i pick them up and roast them. Hydras, Mutas all the same. the minerals you sunk into those 6 zerglins are equal to my cannon, and I was going to make the forge anyway. How do you counter this? I can have have my three units out at around 7-8 minutes. I post a couple of replays when I get home if you wish.

How would you respond to this (seeing as you didnt see it coming since I am walled in).
"Never underestimate your enemy til they are dead on the ground before you"
iSTime
Profile Joined November 2006
1579 Posts
October 14 2010 20:58 GMT
#53
IMO just go study catz' replays if you want to see how to transition out of 7 pool well.
www.infinityseven.net
iSTime
Profile Joined November 2006
1579 Posts
October 14 2010 21:01 GMT
#54
On October 15 2010 00:48 Chriamon wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 14 2010 15:22 Adeny wrote:
On October 14 2010 14:19 GoldenH wrote:
if you 8 pool, you can build 2 more drones (to 9), then use a double extractor trick to get back to 7, 3 zerglings, cancel extractor, build overlord, then queen. I think you'll find that's better than overlord first.

By the way this is hard countered easily by the protoss by simply blocking the bottom of zerg's ramp with 2 pylons, which seems un-intuitive but it delays for long enough to get a ling-proof wall at home.

Catz vs Time on Steppes. Check it out.


I don't remember exactly what happened that game, but I'm pretty sure the double pylon worked out pretty well for me, and I lost later due to banelings/getting outplayed. I think the double pylon wall at the bottom of your/the zerg's ramp is pretty cost-effective.
www.infinityseven.net
Jermstuddog
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
United States2231 Posts
October 14 2010 23:15 GMT
#55
On October 15 2010 05:51 colmanaburn wrote:
Anytime I get early pooled I have already got the cannon up and my chocke blocked, I proceed to tech sprint to stargate and get 2 phoenix and 1 Void ray. If the queens shoot i pick them up and roast them. Hydras, Mutas all the same. the minerals you sunk into those 6 zerglins are equal to my cannon, and I was going to make the forge anyway. How do you counter this? I can have have my three units out at around 7-8 minutes. I post a couple of replays when I get home if you wish.

How would you respond to this (seeing as you didnt see it coming since I am walled in).


This can be hard if you don't scout it. This can be compounded by the fact that it can be hard to scout.

My solution is to scout aggressively, sacrificing an overlord at around 40 supply if I don't see anything satisfying.

I like to make an extra queen for creep spreading and extra AA. I will already have an evo chamber down, so I can always slap down a few spore colonies if needed.

The biggest risk is this going unscouted. If I can find the starport, there is very little risk for me.

As it turns out, marines don't actually cost any money -Jinro
Obsolescence
Profile Joined August 2010
United States270 Posts
October 15 2010 01:40 GMT
#56
Here is a thread which has the quality and effort behind it to be deserving of the [G] tag:
[G] Fighting Muta/Ling as Toss

You've got a cute idea, but I fail to see how this OP, the idea, or the effort you've put into it warrant a [G] (guide) tag. Please don't dilute the meaning of [G].

This is a [D] (discussion) thread at best. Probably needs to be a [H] (help) thread.

I'll go ahead and post the guidelines found in the 2nd thread of SC2 Strategy in case you feel my assessment is invalid.

On February 24 2010 00:47 zatic wrote:
[G] Guides

Know what you are talking about

Guides are complete, detailed, and comprehensive advice for a specific strategy or tactic that can be generally executed and is not situational. Guides are held up against the highest standards of quality in this forum. They are the most valuable resource for the average player. Writing a good guide may yield you wide appreciation and e-fame, but comes with a lot of work and responsibility.

Naturally, do not write a guide about something you are not experienced with. If you have come up with a new build and you just won 6 games in a row with it, do not start writing a guide. Play your build more, tweak it, find out it’s weaknesses and follow-ups and branches. A good rule of thumb is to play a strategy until you lose a couple of times with it against different counters, then modify it until you win most games again, then start to think about writing a guide.

A good guide does not necessarily have to be written about a build in a specific matchup, although that is most common. If you have found a new, incredibly effective way to micro Helions you can write a generic Helion micro guide.

Most of the time guides will introduce builds in specific matchups though. Look through our legacy Strategy forum to get an idea on how to write good matchup build guides. There is no perfect recipe, but a few things to take care of: State the goal of the build, strengths, weaknesses, possible follow-up, and adaptations to what the opponent does. Dedicate a chapter to scouting and how to react to what you see within your build.

To give you an idea of the quality we are eventually aiming for have a look at this incredible SC:BW guide:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=89265
It doesn't think. It doesn't feel. It doesn't laugh or cry. All it does from dusk till dawn is make the soldiers die. -Phyrexian Hulk
Subversion
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
South Africa3627 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-15 01:51:00
October 15 2010 01:49 GMT
#57
On October 14 2010 20:16 Jermstuddog wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 14 2010 18:06 Viruuus wrote:
You didnt mention the only viable counter vs any early pool.
No Protoss should ever make a pylon that can be attacked from the ramp, but instead almost all of them make a gateway there, and then they just add a 2nd gateway such that there is one choke where a zealot fits in in the middle


Lets call it the "Double Gateway Wall-in." It is a complete wall in with 2 gateways exposed and a pylon holding the small area between unless I'm misunderstanding you.

I have encountered this quite often and it is one of my favorite ones to come across.

I can body block your gateways with my lings back and forth while you spam zealots, this will cause all your zealots to spawn inside your base rather than outside, so they're useless until I kill BOTH gateways. This gives me a massive lead due to the fact that you have to build ANOTHER gateway before you can even start your cybernetics core and get to teching.


I also saw somebody mention the 2 pylon + cannon block at the Zergs ramp.

7 Pool will have lings out fast enough to kill both pylons at the bottom of the ramp before the cannon finishes.

It is the same effect as a blind forge -> cannon build where you know he is not going to be aggressive for the next few minutes so you can feel free to power drone quite heavily.

As far as the +1 upgrade, I will say that this is one of the stronger follow-ups that I have come up against. I personally prefer to ling until I have 60-80 lings, so this is particularly potent against my follow-up build as well.

What I have found is placing an overlord to keep watch of the protoss players forge helps. If I see it upgrading, I will slap down a 2nd evo chamber and get +1 carapace ASAP. Still, there are some very strong timing windows that appear as protoss can chronoboost their +1 weapons before my +1 carapace is finished.

And +1 weapons 5 gate pushes are completely viable if you go very zealot/sentry heavy. 4 stalkers = 500 minerals, 5 zealots also = 500 minerals.

I am not calling this fool-proof, there is a lot of skill involved on both sides, but at the current time, I am finding it to be a viable opening that puts me at an advantage unless I mess up.



hey man, cool thread. i like this idea and I've actually seen CatZ use it quite a few times. he does a 7pool that forces opponent to make cannons or whatever, then just transitions into totally normal game and ends up stomping the guy on 5 bases xD

I just wanted to ask you if you could clarifiy the "body block" that forces the zealot to spawn on the inside?

Could you explain how you do that? If you give a screenshot that would be awesome, but I understand if thats too much trouble


Edit:
On October 15 2010 05:58 PJA wrote:
IMO just go study catz' replays if you want to see how to transition out of 7 pool well.


See this guy beat me to the catz thing
ittarter
Profile Joined October 2010
United States13 Posts
October 15 2010 02:15 GMT
#58
This seems a good counter to the all-in 6 pool. Dunno if you guys were aware of it.
I am the voice of the eclipse.
Jermstuddog
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
United States2231 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-15 02:52:06
October 15 2010 02:47 GMT
#59
@Obsolescence

Sorry for not including enough pretty pictures.

I am not asking for help on how to properly execute a Fail Pool rush. I know very well how to do it and I am sharing that knowledge with TL.

I could have labelled it [D] as I intended to answer any questions people may have about it that I didn't cover specifically in the OP, but I figured the [G] tag fit best with what I wanted to do, which is share a strategy that I have found to be viable at mid-diamond levels.

I will add more bold text to the OP if it makes you feel better.

edit: Bolds added sir, sorry for the inconvenience.
As it turns out, marines don't actually cost any money -Jinro
Adeny
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Norway1233 Posts
October 15 2010 03:12 GMT
#60
On October 15 2010 00:48 Chriamon wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 14 2010 15:22 Adeny wrote:
On October 14 2010 14:19 GoldenH wrote:
if you 8 pool, you can build 2 more drones (to 9), then use a double extractor trick to get back to 7, 3 zerglings, cancel extractor, build overlord, then queen. I think you'll find that's better than overlord first.

By the way this is hard countered easily by the protoss by simply blocking the bottom of zerg's ramp with 2 pylons, which seems un-intuitive but it delays for long enough to get a ling-proof wall at home.

Catz vs Time on Steppes. Check it out.


http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=catz vs time&aq=f

I haven't seen every single vod, check it out.
Prev 1 2 3 4 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 1h 12m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
BRAT_OK 72
CosmosSc2 39
StarCraft: Brood War
Sea 385
Artosis 382
Dota 2
monkeys_forever379
canceldota93
Super Smash Bros
hungrybox521
AZ_Axe73
Other Games
Grubby3885
shahzam577
C9.Mang0329
mouzStarbuck215
ROOTCatZ138
ViBE94
Trikslyr36
PPMD16
OptimusSC29
minikerr1
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream3404
Other Games
BasetradeTV278
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 15 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 82
• musti20045 37
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• blackmanpl 27
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota21143
Other Games
• imaqtpie898
Upcoming Events
PiGosaur Cup
1h 12m
Replay Cast
10h 12m
The PondCast
1d 11h
OSC
2 days
CranKy Ducklings
2 days
GSL
3 days
Maru vs ShoWTimE
Classic vs Reynor
herO vs Lambo
Solar vs Clem
BSL22 NKC (BSL vs China)
3 days
XuanXuan vs Jaystar
Mihu vs Messiah
eOnzErG vs Dewalt
Bonyth vs Jaystar
TerrOr vs Messiah
XuanXuan vs Mihu
eOnzErG vs Jaystar
Replay Cast
4 days
GSL
4 days
Patches Events
4 days
[ Show More ]
BSL22 NKC (BSL vs China)
4 days
Dewalt vs Messiah
Bonyth vs Mihu
TerrOr vs XuanXuan
eOnzErG vs Messiah
Jaystar vs Mihu
Dewalt vs XuanXuan
Bonyth vs TerrOr
Replay Cast
5 days
WardiTV Weekly
5 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-06-15
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Heroes Pulsing #1

Ongoing

IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
Acropolis #4
CSCL: Masked Kings S4
YSL S3
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
SCTL 2026 Spring
Maestros of the Game 2
WardiTV Spring 2026
Murky Cup 2026
Heroes Pulsing #2
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1

Upcoming

CSL 2026 Summer (S21)
CSLAN 4
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Revival: Season 6
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
HSC XXIX
Douyu Cup 2026
BCC 2026
Heroes Pulsing #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 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.