• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 23:29
CEST 05:29
KST 12:29
  • 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
Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2914Serral wins Maestros of the Game 243ByuL, and the Limitations of Standard Play3Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12
Community News
Weekly Cups (July 27-Aug 2): SHIN's big week0SC4ALL II: Brood War - $2500 - Dec 5-66SC4ALL II announced - $10,000 prize pool, Dec 5-64PIG STY FESTIVAL 8.0! (13 - 23 August)11Neeb returns to progaming; rejoins ONSYDE15
StarCraft 2
General
SC4ALL II: StarCraft 2 Player Announcement 2/8 Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16) August World Ranking: Clem climbs to #2 Daily SC2 Player Grid - feedback wanted Weekly Cups (July 27-Aug 2): SHIN's big week
Tourneys
SC4ALL II announced - $10,000 prize pool, Dec 5-6 Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament PIG STY FESTIVAL 8.0! (13 - 23 August) RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event INu's Battles #19 2-Days Event
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
Nexus Wars 2021 GUIDE [M] (2) Industrial Park
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 537 Hostile Territory Mutation # 536 Railroad Switch Mutation # 535 Assembly of Vengeance
Brood War
General
[Personal Project Share] Terran Defense v0.60 BW Drama: Terror's Debt Incident + C9 disbanding BW General Discussion Recent recommended BW games ASL22 General Discussion
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues 2v2v2v2 Tournament SC4ALL II: Brood War - $2500 - Dec 5-6 Escore Tournament - Season 3
Strategy
Any training maps people recommend? Fighting Spirit mining rates Simple Questions, Simple Answers Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation
Other Games
General Games
General RTS Discussion Thread ZeroSpace Early Access is Now Live! Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Beyond All Reason
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish TSM pausing esports and CLG Dead
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Power Rank TL Mafia Community Thread NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance
Community
General
European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread US Politics Mega-thread Artificial Intelligence Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine
Fan Clubs
The Clem Fan Club INnoVation Fan Club The Scarlett Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! Series you have seen recently... [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023 McBoner: A hockey love story
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Simple Questions Simple Answers FPS when play League Of Legend on laptop
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Northern Ireland Global Starcraft
Blogs
Please support my new stand…
Peanutsc
What is a Gamer?
TrAiDoS
Hello guys!
LIN1s
ASL S22 English Commentary…
namkraft
Poker (part 2)
Nebuchad
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 4367 users

[D] Is hatch first really more economical? - Page 3

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 8 9 10 Next All
kidcrash89
Profile Joined August 2010
198 Posts
November 27 2010 03:25 GMT
#41
On November 27 2010 11:33 dementrio wrote:
I also played with the evochamber software after seeing the thread about a 10 pool eco build. I cant remember the exact goal I entered but 10pool, 12queen seems to be the fastest way to get 1 base saturated. What Ive been doing is getting a second queen right after the fist one, it can lay down 3-4 tumors before going to vomit on the second hatch if you decide to get one early (around 20 food). that means that typically you have creep at your nat before the hatch finishes; im not sure how that compares to a hatch first build but I honestly dont think creep is enough of a reason to go hatch first - esp since with an early pool its easier to defend early pressure without crawlers.

if you're interested the build evochamber gave is:

10pool
10overlord
10extractor trick
12queen


I've been wondering about early queens for awhile. I remember Lolimar took early early queen production off of his program. If I recall correctly, 6 pool -> queen was actually the fastest way to saturate a main. Just tried 12 queen in a game and I was really surprised with how fast I got a third.
Shikyo
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
Finland33997 Posts
November 27 2010 03:31 GMT
#42
On November 27 2010 12:22 Hurkyl wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 27 2010 12:12 Shikyo wrote:Actually, if you do 14pool you won't have 150 min for the Queen right away assuming you did expand at around 16, so you won't get the Queen that much faster. You also lose the mining time from the drone building the pool as well as having slower consecutive drones. ALSO, with 14pool 16hatch, you will have 3 larvae sitting around for a LONG LONG TIME, since you can't make anything after the hatch because you must save for the Queen asap. You're going to waste about 2 full larvae like that. In theory you're correct, in practice it doesn't work like that.

I just did a test, and this doesn't seem to even resemble reality.

My comments aren't just theory -- they are the analysis of real world tests.

Ehh... It's like 10 seconds, then you will get supply capped right after making your Queen. Guess you only lose 1 larva, but I'm not sure how I'd weigh the supply cap.
League of Legends EU West, Platinum III | Yousei Teikoku is the best thing that has ever happened to music.
Dragar
Profile Joined October 2010
United Kingdom971 Posts
November 27 2010 03:35 GMT
#43
On November 27 2010 12:12 Shikyo wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 27 2010 12:00 Hurkyl wrote:
If you're saying you can get a 12/14 pool without letting your larva count reach 3 and thus become wasteful, that may be true (not sure), but even so, it's still worse for your economy than not cutting (delaying) drones at all.

No, it's merely different for your economy. When you build the Spawning Pool is a trade-off.
  • Early pool = earlier queen = a couple larva
  • Late pool = a couple drones hatch earlier = a couple bonus minerals


I'm having great difficulty imagining any case where 20 extra minerals at that point in the game could be worth sacrificing a not much later larva. (And I think you don't even get that much by choosing 16 pool over 14 pool)

Actually, if you do 14pool you won't have 150 min for the Queen right away assuming you did expand at around 16, so you won't get the Queen that much faster. You also lose the mining time from the drone building the pool as well as having slower consecutive drones. ALSO, with 14pool 16hatch, you will have 3 larvae sitting around for a LONG LONG TIME, since you can't make anything after the hatch because you must save for the Queen asap. You're going to waste about 2 full larvae like that. In theory you're correct, in practice it doesn't work like that.


I just tested; it simply isn't true.

You have 3 larvae appear when you get are at 125 minerals (25 short of the queen), and 17/18 supply. So it will be spent in 75 minerals time, which appear very quickly from 15 mining drones. A nice way to proceed is to build a drone and then an ovelord, before an extractor and another drone (you will need the extractor now anyway, so it's the 'trick' without the cancel).
Dragar
Profile Joined October 2010
United Kingdom971 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-11-27 03:37:39
November 27 2010 03:35 GMT
#44
On November 27 2010 12:31 Shikyo wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 27 2010 12:22 Hurkyl wrote:
On November 27 2010 12:12 Shikyo wrote:Actually, if you do 14pool you won't have 150 min for the Queen right away assuming you did expand at around 16, so you won't get the Queen that much faster. You also lose the mining time from the drone building the pool as well as having slower consecutive drones. ALSO, with 14pool 16hatch, you will have 3 larvae sitting around for a LONG LONG TIME, since you can't make anything after the hatch because you must save for the Queen asap. You're going to waste about 2 full larvae like that. In theory you're correct, in practice it doesn't work like that.

I just did a test, and this doesn't seem to even resemble reality.

My comments aren't just theory -- they are the analysis of real world tests.

Ehh... It's like 10 seconds, then you will get supply capped right after making your Queen. Guess you only lose 1 larva, but I'm not sure how I'd weigh the supply cap.


You're not suppply capped after making the queen. 16 hatch, 15 queen, takes you to 17/18. Have you actually tested this?
Shikyo
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
Finland33997 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-11-27 03:41:11
November 27 2010 03:39 GMT
#45
On November 27 2010 12:35 Dragar wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 27 2010 12:31 Shikyo wrote:
On November 27 2010 12:22 Hurkyl wrote:
On November 27 2010 12:12 Shikyo wrote:Actually, if you do 14pool you won't have 150 min for the Queen right away assuming you did expand at around 16, so you won't get the Queen that much faster. You also lose the mining time from the drone building the pool as well as having slower consecutive drones. ALSO, with 14pool 16hatch, you will have 3 larvae sitting around for a LONG LONG TIME, since you can't make anything after the hatch because you must save for the Queen asap. You're going to waste about 2 full larvae like that. In theory you're correct, in practice it doesn't work like that.

I just did a test, and this doesn't seem to even resemble reality.

My comments aren't just theory -- they are the analysis of real world tests.

Ehh... It's like 10 seconds, then you will get supply capped right after making your Queen. Guess you only lose 1 larva, but I'm not sure how I'd weigh the supply cap.


You're not suppply capped after making the queen. 16 hatch, 15 queen, takes you to 17/18. Have you actually tested this?

Oh, so you were planning on sitting on 3 larvae at 17/18? You make an overlord, you make a pair of lings, you're supply capped

EDIT: Also doing what you suggested loses to 2 marines but okay
League of Legends EU West, Platinum III | Yousei Teikoku is the best thing that has ever happened to music.
Dragar
Profile Joined October 2010
United Kingdom971 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-11-27 03:41:21
November 27 2010 03:41 GMT
#46
No, you make an overlord, an extractor and two drones. Then you wait for larvae to spawn.
Severedevil
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States4839 Posts
November 27 2010 03:41 GMT
#47
I'm curious about hatch-gas-pool --> Lair & Queen. Just building an early hatch for creep/larva seems rather weak since a Queen performs the same tasks better for less money.
My strategy is to fork people.
Dragar
Profile Joined October 2010
United Kingdom971 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-11-27 03:47:17
November 27 2010 03:42 GMT
#48
On November 27 2010 12:39 Shikyo wrote:
EDIT: Also doing what you suggested loses to 2 marines but okay


Hatching so early is in trouble against an awful lot of builds. We're not discussing that. We're discussing economy.

Edit: But if you want to feel safer, putting down a spinecrawler at 18/18 and pumping another drone while waiting for the overlord to pop is pretty good, as you can wander it down to the natural immediately. It finishes within a second or two of the hatchery. It would be interesting to see marine timings on this.
Hurkyl
Profile Joined October 2010
304 Posts
November 27 2010 03:49 GMT
#49
On November 27 2010 12:31 Shikyo wrote:Ehh... It's like 10 seconds, then you will get supply capped right after making your Queen. Guess you only lose 1 larva, but I'm not sure how I'd weigh the supply cap.

I was able to do it with no time wasted at 3 larvae. And it's not a larva wasting supply cap -- as the others said you can build an overlord/zergling, or overlord/extractor/zergling/zergling.
Shikyo
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
Finland33997 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-11-27 03:54:11
November 27 2010 03:50 GMT
#50
Well according to this test I did now, 14pool 16hatch -> get to 18 supply with extractor and wait gets 250 minerals by 4 minutes, 16pool 16hatch doing the same thing and waiting at 18 supply gets 360 minerals by 4 minutes, so I'd say that the difference is kind of significant.

On November 27 2010 12:49 Hurkyl wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 27 2010 12:31 Shikyo wrote:Ehh... It's like 10 seconds, then you will get supply capped right after making your Queen. Guess you only lose 1 larva, but I'm not sure how I'd weigh the supply cap.

I was able to do it with no time wasted at 3 larvae. And it's not a larva wasting supply cap -- as the others said you can build an overlord/zergling, or overlord/extractor/zergling/zergling.

Well I always send my 10th drone to scout in these so that might affect things


What I like about 16p 16h is that I can build overlord before Queen and not need to build the extractor yet, since that timing for extractor is imo a bit too early if you're planning on using Roaches to defend, which I almost always do. I also am able to build a pair of lings the second the pool finishes unlike with 14p.
League of Legends EU West, Platinum III | Yousei Teikoku is the best thing that has ever happened to music.
Madkipz
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Norway1643 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-11-27 04:03:10
November 27 2010 03:54 GMT
#51
On November 27 2010 12:50 Shikyo wrote:
Well according to this test I did now, 14pool 16hatch -> get to 18 supply with extractor and wait gets 250 minerals by 4 minutes, 16pool 16hatch doing the same thing and waiting at 18 supply gets 360 minerals by 4 minutes, so I'd say that the difference is kind of significant.

Show nested quote +
On November 27 2010 12:49 Hurkyl wrote:
On November 27 2010 12:31 Shikyo wrote:Ehh... It's like 10 seconds, then you will get supply capped right after making your Queen. Guess you only lose 1 larva, but I'm not sure how I'd weigh the supply cap.

I was able to do it with no time wasted at 3 larvae. And it's not a larva wasting supply cap -- as the others said you can build an overlord/zergling, or overlord/extractor/zergling/zergling.

Well I always send my 10th drone to scout in these so that might affect things


14 hatch 16 pool is a terrible build. dont do that, you wont have the zerglings out to get the hatch down against a worker block at 16 supply and usually you get to expand at the exact same time as a 14 gas, 14 pool, speedling opener.


guys for mineral measurements use the ingame clock not supply.
"Mudkip"
Hurkyl
Profile Joined October 2010
304 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-11-27 04:07:12
November 27 2010 04:01 GMT
#52
On November 27 2010 12:50 Shikyo wrote:
Well according to this test I did now, 14pool 16hatch -> get to 18 supply with extractor and wait gets 250 minerals by 4 minutes, 16pool 16hatch doing the same thing and waiting at 18 supply gets 360 minerals by 4 minutes, so I'd say that the difference is kind of significant.

I'm not sure what you're doing wrong -- I get the same for both of them. Actually, I had 494 minerals with the 14 pool and 489 minerals with the 16 pool.

Finishing with 16 drones, queen, 18/26 supply, pool, extractor, and some unspent larvae right?


Edit: Actually I did 15 pool not 16 pool -- I was able to harvest fast enough that I would have had 250 minerals when the larvae for the 16th drone popped.
Shikyo
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
Finland33997 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-11-27 04:08:16
November 27 2010 04:07 GMT
#53
How on earth would you have 489 or 494 minerals when I only barely got 390 and did the build exactly <_<

Well maybe its because I send a drone to chill in the middle of the map at 10 supply
League of Legends EU West, Platinum III | Yousei Teikoku is the best thing that has ever happened to music.
Hurkyl
Profile Joined October 2010
304 Posts
November 27 2010 04:12 GMT
#54
That would do it -- 2 and a half minutes of a drone not harvesting works out to about 100 minerals.

I usually include when to scout in a build, because it really does make a big difference like that if you're trying to really optimize timings.
Dragar
Profile Joined October 2010
United Kingdom971 Posts
November 27 2010 04:14 GMT
#55
Well, I scout with my 10/10 drone and ended up with 450 at 4 minutes, though I did use that same drone to drop the hatch.
Hurkyl
Profile Joined October 2010
304 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-11-27 04:18:13
November 27 2010 04:17 GMT
#56
To go off in a slight tangent... what are you looking for with your scouting drone? If you're mainly checking to see if it's safe to drone up, you might be better off with an early pool (say, 11 overlord 12 pool, or even 11 pool 10 overlord) and just build a couple extra Zerglings.

Both ways deprive you of early minerals, but the latter gives you an early queen and some zerglings as compensation.

(This ides is still in the brainstorming stage)
Leeto
Profile Joined August 2007
United States1320 Posts
November 27 2010 04:19 GMT
#57
Hatch first does give a small window where the opponent can cheese you, but if you can hold it off with minimal losses you're usually going to come out ahead. It also allows you to get the double queen right away and spread creep earlier, which helps tremendously against 4gate and stuff like that.
rick-dmg
Profile Joined September 2010
Canada36 Posts
November 27 2010 04:20 GMT
#58
I don't play zerg... but I'm guessing part of it has to do with making sure the hatch doesn't get blocked. Making it early assures it doesn't get blocked by an ebay or pillon... which makes a massive difference in production long-term.
.
Dragar
Profile Joined October 2010
United Kingdom971 Posts
November 27 2010 04:23 GMT
#59
Yes, that's the main hatch-first reason I think. Avoiding the block. Not economy.
Madkipz
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Norway1643 Posts
November 27 2010 04:38 GMT
#60
16 pool 17 hatch: Getting the fastest two queens, only making drones the bare minimum of overlords and never getting supply blocked:

6 minutes in: 910 mineralzz and 41 supply.


15 hatch 14 pool: Getting the fastest two queens, only making drones the bare minimum of overlords and never getting supply blocked:

6 minutes in 690mineralzz and 43 supply made an extra overlord though, because almost reached cap.
"Mudkip"
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 8 9 10 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 5h 31m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
PiGStarcraft496
RuFF_SC2 173
Ketroc 31
StarCraft: Brood War
Rain 4124
GuemChi 2578
Calm 760
Bale 18
Terrorterran 17
Noble 16
Dota 2
LuMiX1
Counter-Strike
summit1g9946
Coldzera 1483
minikerr110
Other Games
Fnx 924
JimRising 624
C9.Mang0503
Maynarde126
ViBE115
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick958
StarCraft: Brood War
UltimateBattle 72
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 17 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• davetesta34
• mYiSmile115
• CranKy Ducklings SOOP7
• sooper7s
• Migwel
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• IndyKCrew
• Kozan
• intothetv
• AfreecaTV YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
• Mapu174
• Azhi_Dahaki10
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Lourlo648
• Stunt141
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
5h 31m
Kung Fu Cup
7h 31m
Replay Cast
20h 31m
The PondCast
1d 6h
INu's Battles
1d 7h
Percival vs Cure
Classic vs Clem
Replay Cast
1d 20h
Escore
2 days
IntoTheTV X SOOP
2 days
RSL Revival
3 days
herO vs SHIN
Clem vs Solar
Serral vs Rogue
RSL Revival
4 days
[ Show More ]
WardiTV Weekly
5 days
The Patches Monday
5 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
6 days
PiG Sty Festival
6 days
PiGosaur Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-08-03
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
Eternal Conflict S2 Finale

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
K-JUNGMAN
Acropolis #5
RSL Revival: Season 6
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S3: W6
Escore Tournament S3: W7
CSLAN 4
ASL Season 22
Escore Tournament S3: W8
Acropolis #5 - TRS
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
HSC XXX
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
PiG Sty Festival 8.0
Big Dog Cup 2026 Div 1
Thunderpick World Champ.
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
Logitech G Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #5
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 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.