• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 04:26
CEST 10:26
KST 17:26
  • 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
Code S Season 2 - RO4 & Finals Results (2025)2Code S RO4 & Finals Preview: herO, Rogue, Classic, GuMiho0TL Team Map Contest #5: Presented by Monster Energy4Code S RO8 Preview: herO, Zoun, Bunny, Classic7Code S RO8 Preview: Rogue, GuMiho, Solar, Maru3
Community News
Weekly Cups (June 9-15): herO doubles on GSL week0Firefly suspended by EWC, replaced by Lancer11Classic & herO RO8 Interviews: "I think it’s time to teach [Rogue] a lesson."2Rogue & GuMiho RO8 interviews: "Lifting that trophy would be a testament to all I’ve had to overcome over the years and how far I’ve come on this journey.8Code S RO8 Results + RO4 Bracket (2025 Season 2)14
StarCraft 2
General
How herO can make history in the Code S S2 finals Rain's Behind the Scenes Storytime Firefly suspended by EWC, replaced by Lancer Code S Season 2 - RO4 & Finals Results (2025) Weekly Cups (June 9-15): herO doubles on GSL week
Tourneys
RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series $3,500 WardiTV European League 2025 [GSL 2025] Code S: Season 2 - Semi Finals & Finals WardiTV Mondays Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament
Strategy
Simple Questions Simple Answers [G] Darkgrid Layout
Custom Maps
[UMS] Zillion Zerglings
External Content
Mutation # 478 Instant Karma Mutation # 477 Slow and Steady Mutation # 476 Charnel House Mutation # 475 Hard Target
Brood War
General
ASL20 Preliminary Maps BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion Recent recommended BW games FlaSh Witnesses SCV Pull Off the Impossible vs Shu
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL 2v2] ProLeague Season 3 - Friday 21:00 CET Small VOD Thread 2.0 [BSL20] ProLeague Bracket Stage - Day 4
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers I am doing this better than progamers do. [G] How to get started on ladder as a new Z player
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile Beyond All Reason What do you want from future RTS games?
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
Vanilla Mini Mafia TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine US Politics Mega-thread UK Politics Mega-thread Echoes of Revolution and Separation Russo-Ukrainian War Thread
Fan Clubs
SKT1 Classic Fan Club! Maru Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Korean Music Discussion [Manga] One Piece
Sports
2024 - 2025 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion NHL Playoffs 2024 TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
A Better Routine For Progame…
TrAiDoS
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Heero Yuy & the Tax…
KrillinFromwales
I was completely wrong ab…
jameswatts
Need Your Help/Advice
Glider
Trip to the Zoo
micronesia
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 33540 users

[R] characteristics of a diamond Zerg

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
Post a Reply
1 2 3 Next All
Mythol
Profile Joined October 2010
Sweden24 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-07 17:25:33
November 21 2010 17:44 GMT
#1
Hi there fellow starcraft 2 players. Lately i have been feeling like i dont improve my gameplay, its like i hit a brick wall at 1600 (Platinum Zerg) Im active in some starcraft communitys and read alot of strategy tips with good build orders etc. The problem is not that i dont know of a good build order or the games "unit counters"

I do often watch my own replays, and i always look at day9's videos but i dont seem to get better.

At the moment im around 350 wins / 350 losses with zerg as my main race. So i want to ask the forum, what makes a player diamond? Is it proper scouting, unit mixes? You tell me.

What difference have you learned from the platinum to the diamond?

sorry for the grammar/spelling.


**UPDATE thanks to you guys im currently at 2700 diamond!****
"We cant stop here, this is bat-country!"
love.less
Profile Joined May 2010
United Kingdom293 Posts
November 21 2010 17:48 GMT
#2
theres nothing anybody can tell you that you aint already heard but if you post some replays of wins and losses they can definately give you some advice on whatto improve=]
Vertig0
Profile Joined March 2009
United States196 Posts
November 21 2010 17:57 GMT
#3
If you haven't seen Day9 daily #208 (coaching DjWheat), I highly recommend it... It definitely taught me more things I could improve on.
#1 Fruitdealer fan!
Rockondudes
Profile Joined November 2010
Romania5 Posts
November 21 2010 18:12 GMT
#4
Decision making, build orders, making a plan before the game you enter, adapting your plan to what is your opponent doing .

Even apm has it's purpose.. (if you're a zerg or a protoss, as terran you just mass marines and close your eyes most of your games)..

My last advice is .. know the game, know every unit, every "counter"and all that. Basically it comes down to mechanics, the better you know them, the better you will be at this game
Moare mata impaiata daca faci marine rush
Mythol
Profile Joined October 2010
Sweden24 Posts
November 21 2010 18:57 GMT
#5
On November 22 2010 02:57 Vertig0 wrote:
If you haven't seen Day9 daily #208 (coaching DjWheat), I highly recommend it... It definitely taught me more things I could improve on.



thank you! That daily actually helped alot, cheers
"We cant stop here, this is bat-country!"
Antisocialmunky
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States5912 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-11-21 20:25:01
November 21 2010 19:01 GMT
#6
You know you are a diamond zerg if you die because you build too many drones.
[゚n゚] SSSSssssssSSsss ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Marine/Raven Guide:http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=163605
Acritter
Profile Joined August 2010
Syria7637 Posts
November 21 2010 19:22 GMT
#7
When you lose, why do you lose? Can you tell? If not, that's why you're not Diamond. If so, then fix those problems.

My guess is that your mechanics are just not quite at a Diamond level. Keep practicing, and focus on one thing to work on each game (Queens, supply block, low money for example) so that you don't get overwhelmed.
dont let your memes be dreams - konydora, motivational speaker | not actually living in syria
Vaporized
Profile Joined July 2010
United States1471 Posts
November 21 2010 19:24 GMT
#8
scouting i think is key. sacrifice that overlord at 30 supply to see what they are doing. this is crucial.

also other things that will specifically help ur game improve:

do not get supply blocked, ever.

do not miss injections. no one is perfect, but try to be as on top of them as possible.

spread creep asap.

these are the things that got me to diamond.
Dysk
Profile Joined November 2010
Singapore44 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-11-21 19:27:44
November 21 2010 19:25 GMT
#9
One main change that helped me into diamond was watching a video about making just enough units to fend off early pressure and nothing more. I think it was a day9 daily, and the main point it made was that every excess unit that you make to deal with pressure early means one less drone. and for Zerg, drones are everything.

Another, to have a zergling at the bottom of your opponent's ramp, and to periodically scout.

Overlord spreading around to make to alert you to drops mainly.

And perhaps the biggest change to my play that got me to diamond is that I began to win games by starving the opponent out on his 2 bases to my 3/4 and crushing his final all-in push, rather than going in for the kill myself. It may be just personal preference, but I've felt like playing zerg passively is what plays to their strength.

Spreading creep helps, of course, but to me it isn't essential to get into diamond. It may separate the 2000's from the 1000's, but ultimately it's just an extension of controlling the map as zerg, and knowing what's going on.
FrostedMiniWeet
Profile Joined July 2009
United States636 Posts
November 21 2010 19:35 GMT
#10
Your problem is almost certainly macro related, as pretty much any opponent below low diamond can be defeated with decent macro. Do you spend all your money? Do you build drones when your opponent is not attacking? Do you get all your larva injects? Do you get supply blocked all the time? Do you scout your opponents to see what they are doing tech-wise? So many people below diamond think their problem is strategy or unit composition, but its nearly always macro. MACRO MACRO MACRO.
Endorsed
Profile Joined May 2010
Netherlands1221 Posts
November 21 2010 19:36 GMT
#11
Macro. Just macro, expand at the right times. Suicide an overlord on the right time, react. Diamond!

Gnorme
Profile Joined October 2010
Canada5 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-11-21 19:38:57
November 21 2010 19:38 GMT
#12
On November 22 2010 04:25 Dysk wrote:
One main change that helped me into diamond was watching a video about making just enough units to fend off early pressure and nothing more. I think it was a day9 daily, and the main point it made was that every excess unit that you make to deal with pressure early means one less drone. and for Zerg, drones are everything.

Another, to have a zergling at the bottom of your opponent's ramp, and to periodically scout.

Overlord spreading around to make to alert you to drops mainly.

And perhaps the biggest change to my play that got me to diamond is that I began to win games by starving the opponent out on his 2 bases to my 3/4 and crushing his final all-in push, rather than going in for the kill myself. It may be just personal preference, but I've felt like playing zerg passively is what plays to their strength.

Spreading creep helps, of course, but to me it isn't essential to get into diamond. It may separate the 2000's from the 1000's, but ultimately it's just an extension of controlling the map as zerg, and knowing what's going on.


This is what really made the difference for me. Learning to play the passive zerg style, and just out macro the opponent. Scouting is really important when playing passive.
DarkOmen
Profile Joined September 2010
Canada72 Posts
November 21 2010 20:02 GMT
#13
Another thing that I don't think anyone has mentioned here is actively thinking about what you make with each larva. In SC1 (where I never played competetively) and when I started SC2, I had a huge tendency to just select all my larvae and spam units, drones, and ovies without really contemplating whether or not it was a good time to make said unit type.

In other words, I had a decent ability to macro, but I was doing it mindlessly on autopilot. After reading/hearing so much about when to build drones, I really started focusing on that and it improved my play a LOT. Every time you're about to spam out 10 drones, think about whether it's safe to do so. Are you going to need units in 30-40 seconds from now? If so, you better not make drones right now.

The opposite is also true. As I'm sure you've heard many times, it's very bad to build a large standing army that just, sorta.. stands around. Especially as zerg, since that army COULD have been drones.

I would say it took me a good 20 games of focusing on scout timing (which allows you to more accurately determine appropriate drone timing) before I really started to feel I had a decent grasp on it, but it's still a work in progress.

For those who care, I'm approx. 1350-1400 diamond, with ~400 bonus pool.
"I'm on a pumpkin pie diet right now. It's all I eat. I feel like I'm gonna die, but it's so delicious." - Artosis
DiZasteR
Profile Joined May 2009
Netherlands84 Posts
November 21 2010 20:02 GMT
#14
What really helped me was good scouting, and knowing how to react to the intel. Good scouting gives you the ability to macro up as hard as you can, because you know when to drone and when not to.
Mythol
Profile Joined October 2010
Sweden24 Posts
November 21 2010 20:30 GMT
#15
wow thanks for all the feedback guys! really appreciate it. Ill let you know how things are going later <3
"We cant stop here, this is bat-country!"
BlasiuS
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
United States2405 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-11-21 20:47:57
November 21 2010 20:40 GMT
#16
You didn't post any replays, but I have seen replays of platinum & below players

Generally if you are below diamond, even at high platinum, chances are good that you are lacking macro. Either you are not expanding enough, not making enough hatcheries, not spending your money, or most commonly, you are not making enough drones.
next week on Everybody Loves HypnoToad:
hello31
Profile Joined October 2010
16 Posts
November 22 2010 01:38 GMT
#17
One thing that helped me become a better zerg was to stop thinking like a protoss/terran. Protoss and Terran have durable units, zerg has very frail units. So in order to win a battle, you need to rely more on zerg's macro abilities. Basically if you have 12 zergling to 6 zealots, you need to attack and run away as many times as you can without losing units. Buy time for you to reinforce your units using zerg macro. Artosis has a really good video about this.

Another thing is always be mindful of your position relative to the terrain on the map. For the most part you dont want to engage in a choke, unless they are bottlenecked and you have a concave at the top of the ramp. You want to engage in wide area's where you can surround their army.

Unlike protoss and terran when you make a building, you lose a drone. It might not seem like a lot but it easy to forget to replace the drone you used up and fall behind economically.

Overlord positioning and ling spotting will let you know when the other army moves out and gives you time to react.

Most likely though, its a macro issue thats holding you back. I'm pretty sure you can get into diamond if you mass well enough. Just watch one of your replays and note how many times you miss larva injections. And just make notes of your drone saturation and expansion timings. And make sure you are making units as you are fighting. Try to select your drones and actually count them when you play so you know if you have enough drones per base.
FuzzyLord
Profile Joined September 2010
253 Posts
November 22 2010 01:53 GMT
#18
As zerg, you should just work on your macro. Zerg's strength is that it is able to build a huge army in a short amount of time. Just keep on macroing, counter correctly,and you should be good.
TALegion
Profile Joined October 2010
United States1187 Posts
November 22 2010 02:03 GMT
#19
On November 22 2010 04:01 Antisocialmunky wrote:
You know you are a diamond zerg if you die because you build too many drones.

I must be better than FruitDealer then.
A person willing to die for a cause is a hero. A person willing to kill for a cause is a madman
Mythol
Profile Joined October 2010
Sweden24 Posts
November 22 2010 14:10 GMT
#20
hi everyone! after a long night of playing i finally reached #1 in my division with around 1750-1800 points. Your posts have really helped me alot

<3 / Mythol
"We cant stop here, this is bat-country!"
1 2 3 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 1h 34m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
mcanning 94
trigger 10
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 26350
Mong 561
BeSt 207
Zeus 191
EffOrt 165
JulyZerg 71
Movie 60
GoRush 45
Sharp 33
Noble 17
[ Show more ]
ajuk12(nOOB) 17
ivOry 2
Dota 2
XaKoH 417
XcaliburYe232
League of Legends
JimRising 375
Counter-Strike
olofmeister752
shoxiejesuss645
Stewie2K379
Other Games
C9.Mang0944
ceh9759
Mew2King90
Trikslyr22
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Secondary Stream7721
Other Games
gamesdonequick788
StarCraft: Brood War
UltimateBattle 65
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 17 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH263
• LUISG 16
• OhrlRock 1
• NRBsc1
• intothetv
• sooper7s
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• iopq 2
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
League of Legends
• Stunt788
• HappyZerGling110
Upcoming Events
RSL Revival
1h 34m
Cure vs Percival
ByuN vs Spirit
WardiTV Qualifier
7h 34m
PiGosaur Monday
15h 34m
RSL Revival
1d 1h
herO vs sOs
Zoun vs Clem
Replay Cast
1d 15h
The PondCast
2 days
RSL Revival
2 days
Harstem vs SHIN
Solar vs Cham
Replay Cast
2 days
RSL Revival
3 days
Reynor vs Scarlett
ShoWTimE vs Classic
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
3 days
[ Show More ]
SC Evo League
4 days
Circuito Brasileiro de…
4 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Acropolis #3 - GSC
2025 GSL S2
Heroes 10 EU

Ongoing

JPL Season 2
BSL 2v2 Season 3
BSL Season 20
Acropolis #3
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 2
NPSL S3
Rose Open S1
CSL 17: 2025 SUMMER
Copa Latinoamericana 4
RSL Revival: Season 1
Murky Cup #2
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
CCT Season 2 Global Finals
IEM Melbourne 2025
YaLLa Compass Qatar 2025
PGL Bucharest 2025

Upcoming

CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
K-Championship
SEL Season 2 Championship
Esports World Cup 2025
HSC XXVII
Championship of Russia 2025
BLAST Open Fall 2025
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
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.