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Scouting drone as Zerg, needed?

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
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Hetz
Profile Joined September 2010
196 Posts
January 24 2011 08:41 GMT
#1
Hi folks!

Great forum btw.

I was wondering, do I need to send a scouting drone as Zerg? (in ZvT and ZvP that is)

I mean, you don't get to see much you didn't already expect these first 2-3 minutes of the game. Wouldn't it be better to keep the drone mining and sac an OV at 5-7 minutes?

omnic
Profile Joined July 2010
United States188 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-01-24 08:47:37
January 24 2011 08:44 GMT
#2
It depends on the build you're doing, but one of the big assets of using a drone to scout early is you're able to take one of the terrans gas then you delay any sort of banshee with cloak play for quite a bit as well as knowing where his initial few marines are on the map which means you don't have to be quite as worried about being bunker rushed (at least as long as they are attacking the gas). Scouting really helps in higher level leagues though compared to lower level leagues because the builds are more streamlined and are hurt by a late gas more than a guy thats just sort of randomly doing stuff.

EDIT: It is however not 100% needed to do depending on your build though. Think about scouting like this: "Does my build get punished harshly if the enemy does ______?" if yes than you want to figure out a way to scout for that specific strategy in a way that gives you enough time to adjust your build on the fly so you are not crippled by it.
notmyday
Profile Joined December 2010
Poland31 Posts
January 24 2011 08:45 GMT
#3
Zerg is the race which needs to scout ALL the time, even from te beggining is always good to scout. YOU MUST SCOUT. I offer scouting at 14, if u go fast expand take always 2 drones, if he blocks it you will be able to kill scv/probe fast, after building hatch second drone go to scout. You need to know if he goes for 2 rax pressure, 2 gateways zealot rush, zealot canonn rush etc. In later stage of the game you need to scout all the time, suicide you zerglings to know what composition of army he has to be prepared.
Yokoblue
Profile Joined March 2010
Canada594 Posts
January 24 2011 08:45 GMT
#4
Overlord is worth more... First

Second: For any 2 rax or 2 gate pressure you want to scout so i wouldnt do that. Against a proxy you want that scout too. + that scout give valuable information... How many gas, how many Chrono boost saved up...

You can easily see a really fast 4 gate way ahead that way.
Master League playing Protoss and Zerg
Orcanex
Profile Joined December 2010
United States7 Posts
January 24 2011 08:46 GMT
#5
On 4 player maps, it lets you know what spawn they are at an adjust accordingly. For example, its pretty important to discover that you spawned close positions on meta vs p or t... And the drone scout lets you know that before youre already dead

Also, it lets you know if they are doing something cheesy/unusual. As in, 2 rax play from t or 2 gate pressure from p (a bit less common). Also, lets you know how much room you have to expand/drone. If p or t is going for a fast expand for heavy tech, you know that you can drone up harder and not have to worry about early pressure.

Once your drone is in their base, you have 2 options, gas steal and severely hurt their early teching ability/force early pressure (if you know you are competent at dealing with it) or you can try to hide your drone somewhere in their base to scout a bit later without having to sac an overlord (save that ovie for later).

Basically, scouting drone is pretty important
Okay, here's the plan...
Azzur
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Australia6259 Posts
January 24 2011 08:59 GMT
#6
It depends. For example, if you're going to 14-hatch, drone patrol your ramp and then build a spinecrawler no matter what, then maybe you don't need to scout. However, if your opening will change depending on your opponent, then send the scout out.
Ketch
Profile Joined October 2010
Netherlands7285 Posts
January 24 2011 09:06 GMT
#7
I always scout at 10 before I put down my expansion at 14 or 15, I always like to see if I'm not cheesed or anything before I put my expo down, but I think its also personal opinion ofcourse.
zatic
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
Zurich15345 Posts
January 24 2011 11:36 GMT
#8
If you don't know why you are sending a drone don't send it. Never do stuff just you don't understand just because others are doing it.

If you find you feel uncomfortable not sending the drone then start sending it again.
ModeratorI know Teamliquid is known as a massive building
Metaspace
Profile Joined November 2006
Austria670 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-01-24 14:38:14
January 24 2011 14:36 GMT
#9
You need to drone scout to see bunker rushes, absence of buildings in their main (=proxy) etc.
The overlord would arrive to late.

You also need to drone scout on 3 or 4 player maps, if you get unlucky with your overlord, you'd scout too late even vs. non-cheese. Overlord to one location, drone to other(s).

I typically scout on 10.
Wir haben zuwenig Vespingas!
Zedders
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Canada450 Posts
January 24 2011 14:41 GMT
#10
another problem with scouting using an overlord is they can immediately know where your base is if they see your overlord coming
baconbits
Profile Joined April 2010
United States419 Posts
January 24 2011 15:10 GMT
#11
vPT the drone scout is pretty important, unless your overlord can scout them out in close positions.

vZ I think its pretty useless, as it will only show if they early pooled or not.
Offhand
Profile Joined June 2010
United States1869 Posts
January 24 2011 15:15 GMT
#12
On January 24 2011 17:41 Hetz wrote:
Hi folks!

Great forum btw.

I was wondering, do I need to send a scouting drone as Zerg? (in ZvT and ZvP that is)

I mean, you don't get to see much you didn't already expect these first 2-3 minutes of the game. Wouldn't it be better to keep the drone mining and sac an OV at 5-7 minutes?



A protoss player can't stop a scouting worker until their first stalker comes out. This lets you spot most early attacks or relevant buildings (forge FE, 2 gate, etc). When they finally deny your worker, pretty much the only "surprise" attack that can hit you is a 4 gate.
Bellygareth
Profile Joined October 2010
France512 Posts
January 24 2011 15:37 GMT
#13
On January 24 2011 20:36 zatic wrote:
If you don't know why you are sending a drone don't send it. Never do stuff just you don't understand just because others are doing it.

If you find you feel uncomfortable not sending the drone then start sending it again.


While this above is true, I'd rather tell you what to look for and why I myself send my drones.
If you agree with me send it, if not play as you like.

So:
- I send an earlyish drone against T and P both (11/12 food).
For T I look for :
a) Gas or not, and if it appears he is teching, I'll try to steal the second gas and adapt to get an earlier lair.
b) 1 rax or 2 rax. If 2 raxing I'll try to save my drone and prepare for the push (I usually fe against T so my scouting drone gets to be a spine crawler when/if he gets home). I'll pbly have to build a lot more lings than anticipated.

For P I look for:
a) cheese/proxy : by that time P playing standard should have a gateway down or very soon. Mb a gas. If I scout only a pylon I get very suspicious
b) Forge first - look for the P scouting probe, try and deny a contain, watch for the Forge FE build (I get to drone if he's FEing)
c) double gateway zealot (not really used anymore but sometimes...)
d) standard opening (gateway/core) I get to try to steal the second gas (will delay dt rush/vr rush)

teh_longinator
Profile Joined March 2010
Canada725 Posts
January 24 2011 16:09 GMT
#14
I always open with the 10 single-extractor trick, so I use my 11th drone as a scout. I usually use it just to look for the usual... are they looking to FE? did they get gas? how many barracks/gates do they have? Spawning pool going up? Basically, cheese.

Usually what I do is grab their gas, which uuussssually forces marines. Then I just FE and plop down a Baneling Nest. Of course, this is usually just when I DOUBLE gas steal.... which I used to do all the time. Force marines, and go banelings Made me happy... when it worked (my buddy is on to my tricks )
Truffy
Profile Joined May 2010
United States95 Posts
January 24 2011 16:33 GMT
#15
Usually no in my opinion, ZvZ you are just going to get killed by lings before your drone see's anything useful so you need to scout that with lings instead. As for the 6 pool, 6 pools are ridiculously easy to hold, if you want me to detail the process I use to hold 6 pools without drone scouting ask and i can. ZvP they will kill the drone before they reveal the tech path, the only thing you *might* see is them not taking a 2nd gas on 19 but I feel like the frequency of seeing that build vs the minerals lost is totally not worth it. Just sac an ovie or see if you can get lings past the walling zealot. ZvT is sort of an exception, you need to know if its a 1 rax expand, 1 rax then gas, gas before rax, or 2 rax. T has 30 openers they can use and you need to narrow that number to be safe. 2k+ master league zerg here btw.
1a2a3a-->gg
Zipp
Profile Joined February 2009
United States5 Posts
January 24 2011 16:39 GMT
#16
On January 24 2011 20:36 zatic wrote:
If you don't know why you are sending a drone don't send it. Never do stuff just you don't understand just because others are doing it.

If you find you feel uncomfortable not sending the drone then start sending it again.


This. That's one of the biggest newbie mistakes is doing things because other people are doing it without understanding WHY. I drone scout every game to make sure cheese isn't incoming or something like that (example: ZvZ being able to spot a 9 pool early is critical in defending against it)

I think in this case it's more "if you feel uncomfortable with the lack of information you have without scouting, you'd better get in the habit of doing it"
hello world.
Dominator1370
Profile Joined November 2010
United States111 Posts
January 24 2011 16:45 GMT
#17
As said already, if you can gain information that is actually going to cause you to react, scout. If not, don't.

However, if you say that there's nothing you can find that would actually be useful, it's probably a good idea to double-check what you can actually figure out. I guarantee you, there are reasons most pros Drone scout most of the time in most matchups. You should try to figure out why, which is actually a good general rule: if someone good is doing something and it's working, there's probably a reason. There might not be, and it might actually be terrible, but it doesn't hurt to try it and see if it works for you. If it doesn't, at least you've still learned something.
BlasiuS
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
United States2405 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-01-24 17:00:46
January 24 2011 16:59 GMT
#18
Yes you do need to send the scouting drone.

ZvT: drone can spot the following openings:

-2rax pressure (or all-in): drone will see 2 barracks before gas. The 2 rax may be just marines, or it could be an all-in with possible bunker + scvs will be coming, so make zerglings and put down at least 1 spine crawler at your natural.

-fast reaper: drone will see nearly completed or already completed barracks, refinery completed with 3 scvs on it, and lowered scv count (< 8 scvs mining minerals). Not common, but it can still happen. if you didn't expand, get roaches before expanding. If you did expand, don't get gas, make lings + queens at both bases.

-super fast tech: drone will see gas completed, or gas started before barracks. Terran will go for factory or starport tech (usually both), so get roaches + queens, with fast lair for overseer detection vs cloaked banshees.

-proxy barracks: drone sees nothing in-base. put down spine in-base as soon as pool completes, get speedlings asap.

ZvP: drone can spot the following openings:

-forge-first: you can be almost certain the protoss player will try to pylon-seal your ramp, or put cannons behind the mineral line of your natural. put a drone on patrol at your ramp, be ready to pull drones to kill pylons/cannons. delay gas and get zerglings + queen(s) out asap.

-2gate attack: drone will see 2 gates before gas, and will see chrono-boost not being used. Get roaches before expanding (or FE -> multiple spines on maps with easy-to-defend nats).

-proxy 2 gate: drone sees nothing in-base. get pool immediately -> put spine crawler in main as soon as pool finishes.
next week on Everybody Loves HypnoToad:
GreEny K
Profile Joined February 2008
Germany7312 Posts
January 24 2011 17:06 GMT
#19
Always scout, this is the same as the thread about Sjow not scouting. That is just a bad move, scouting gives you valuable information that can change the game, just a glimpse at the ramp can even tell you what kind of build he is doing based off his units and unit numbers. More scouting is better.
Why would you ever choose failure, when success is an option.
Sirion
Profile Joined August 2010
131 Posts
January 24 2011 17:42 GMT
#20
Well, there is a price for scouting. You might lose the drone, and you do lose quite a bit of mining time, lets say worth 100 minerals. So sometimes it might be better to put down a spine crawler (100 mins + drone) instead of scouting with a drone. I guess it depends where your weaknesses and where your strength are, and of course on the map.
Toxigen
Profile Joined July 2010
United States390 Posts
January 24 2011 18:34 GMT
#21
On January 24 2011 17:45 Yokoblue wrote:
Overlord is worth more... First

Second: For any 2 rax or 2 gate pressure you want to scout so i wouldnt do that. Against a proxy you want that scout too. + that scout give valuable information... How many gas, how many Chrono boost saved up...

You can easily see a really fast 4 gate way ahead that way.

Hold on, though. He's asking about a drone scout. You COULD count chronos with a drone -- or you could just send a ling up the ramp (which you'll probably do anyway after the drone dies). Why not save yourself the mining time?

At best, against P, a drone scout will give you a shot at seeing whether it's a normal 4-gate or a 1-gas korean 4-gate.

Against 2-rax, a late drone scout makes sense. Either he's walling with both barracks or you'll generally be able to get the drone in. If you see a gas, you know it's not 2-rax.

Against Z, I typically don't drone scout unless it's a small map and I'm wary of 11-overpool shenanigans. Then again, I typically 15 hatch / 15 pool ZvZ per Ret's latest coaching session with MrBitter. In fact, I tend to 15 hatch / 15 pool in every matchup if I can get away with it. I 14gas/14pool on small maps or close position Metal.

Personally, I only drone scout on the maps in which it would actually make a difference in my build (I early scout the close position on Metal to see if I can 15 hatch against T & P, for example).
Liquid`Sheth
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States2095 Posts
January 24 2011 18:39 GMT
#22
Yes in all builds that start with a hatch first, aka ZvT mostly, sence in ZvP its kind of a mistake to go hatch first because of cannons or harass! ZvZ you generally don't need a scouting drone, (I know that last part wasn't in his question.
Team LiquidUnderneath it all they were really quite nice. They just got screwed up. Mostly by stuff that wasn't entirely their fault.
Xeken
Profile Joined May 2010
United States77 Posts
January 24 2011 18:39 GMT
#23
Against T, you need to figure out if they are going for quick pressure/expand or timing push/tech, based on the timing on the gas and the second rax, so you have to scout.

Against P, you need to check forge/gate, or proxy.

Against Z, you should keep the drone there till you absolutely have to leave (5 seconds prior to first lings popping). You will either see what the other Z decides to do, or he will wait till you leave, which gives you a time advantage. You can come back with lings 30 seconds later to note exactly what he is doing.
faust_ix
Profile Joined January 2011
Singapore15 Posts
January 24 2011 18:58 GMT
#24
Scouting vital for T and P as mentioned but I do think a drone scout is absolutely necessary for Z contrary to popular belief just to check for that early pool. If nothing else it lets you know where he is so your OL can park there till a queen pops.
LWr
Profile Joined October 2010
60 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-01-24 21:46:25
January 24 2011 21:44 GMT
#25
On January 24 2011 20:36 zatic wrote:
If you don't know why you are sending a drone don't send it.


I kinda disagree with that. Not missing drones/overlord/putting down your pool at exactly 200 minerals etc while micro-ing your scouting drone is a good thing to get used to since at some point you will want to be able to do that.

You also get to see your opponents opening every game ; at some point you will learn and know what to look for.
Valckrie
Profile Joined August 2010
United Kingdom533 Posts
January 24 2011 22:10 GMT
#26
With initial drone scouting vs T you can see if it's a 2 rax, proxy rax or some fast gas, or even take his gas to delay tech orientated builds. After his marine's out you either have to get out of his base or take the gas.

With P, most protoss will build a zealot first which won't be able to catch the drone until the stalker/sentry pops out. Also in the rare event they proxy 2 gate you... you will know, and be more prepared than if you didn't know.
Fear is a 4 letter word. Why be afraid?
Amaterasu1234
Profile Joined November 2010
United States317 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-01-24 22:35:03
January 24 2011 22:34 GMT
#27
On January 25 2011 03:39 Sheth wrote:
Yes in all builds that start with a hatch first, aka ZvT mostly, sence in ZvP its kind of a mistake to go hatch first because of cannons or harass! ZvZ you generally don't need a scouting drone, (I know that last part wasn't in his question.


Attempting to qualify my post in accordance to Zerg~Legend's "Appeal To The Community", I'm gonna go ahead and quote Sheth and say I agree 100%!

You're extremely susceptible to cheese if you go hatch first, and the information is useful simply to make sure you're safe. Otherwise, with pool first, you'll be ready for most cheese.

Someone mentioned that it's good to send a drone to see if you're in close positions in a zvp, but, I'm going to counter with one of Mr. Bitter's VOD's with EG. Machine and his solution without a drone scout: send the first ovy to the close position by ground rather than to the one by air.

ZvP w/ Machine at about the 8 minute mark...he doesn't really explain it...it's glossed over...but given the context of the conversation, it's pretty easy to figure out...

And personally, I rarely drone scout, myself...but then again...I really enjoy the 14 gas 14 pool...
Toxigen
Profile Joined July 2010
United States390 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-01-25 01:54:30
January 24 2011 23:58 GMT
#28
Yeah, I think everybody should pretty much defer to Sheth on this one. I'd like to derail the thread a bit and ask him a couple of questions (if nobody minds) about scouting:

Sheth, it's interesting that you make it sound like you don't drone scout in ZvP. Does this mean you 14gas/14pool regardless of the map (even Shakuras)?

Also, you say you don't scout in ZvZ. Is this because you get 14gas/14pool every game and scout with 'lings or are you of the same opinion as Ret and think that 15 hatching into blind roach in ZvZ should become the standard on all but the smallest maps (Steppes, close-position Metal/LT)?

Finally, do you ever go 14gas/14pool when you suspect the Terran is going aggressive 2-rax (perhaps even all-in)?

Thanks for the answers (if you find the time). (EDIT: Thanks Sheth -- you rock!)
aquanda
Profile Joined January 2003
United States477 Posts
January 25 2011 00:20 GMT
#29
Always drone scout vs t or p. If they are doing a super greedy fe build your ol won't scout it in time to react properly. U will also see if they went gas before rax or gate which allows u to drone harder and anticipate a fast tech build. I've also won a few games because I scouted that he fucked up his wall and was able to apply enough ling pressure to put me ahead. Scouting later than 10 on a 4 player map is bad IMO, because your drone will get there and see 2 rines or a sentry which is useless.
Mystgun
Profile Joined September 2010
Hong Kong311 Posts
January 25 2011 00:23 GMT
#30
Definitely, I play P and in PvZ a lot of zergs opt not to scout on scrap station with drone and send OL instead even at Diamond level. I generally exploit this by getting proxy 2 gate and can end the game relatively quickly with zealot cheese. A scouting overlord gets into your opponents base way too late for you to react to early pressure
Kornholi0
Profile Joined November 2010
Canada634 Posts
January 25 2011 00:30 GMT
#31
Zatic makes a great point... You don't "need" to scout, scouting is apart of peoples over all strategy. You can either have a build that requires you to know what the other person is always doing, or you can have a build that requires no info. But because zerg is such a reactive race scouting is usually crucial in getting any sort of upper hand and not losing key structures to drops/losing tons of drones to banshee harass, things you could of defended if you scouted.
Team Channel: VTeX Team Co-leader: AGGhost 223 Stream: http://www.twitch.tv/agghost
Liquid`Sheth
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States2095 Posts
January 25 2011 01:52 GMT
#32
Toxigen :

I 14 gas 14 pool every game v p generally.

I also get 14 gas 14 pool most zvz games.

Nope 14 gas 14pool doens't work at all vs marine all ins. (at high levels)
Team LiquidUnderneath it all they were really quite nice. They just got screwed up. Mostly by stuff that wasn't entirely their fault.
Noob3rt
Profile Joined January 2011
Canada114 Posts
January 25 2011 02:00 GMT
#33
You always scout. Regardless. I don't care who you are. If you don't scout, you deserve to lose.

Scouting at 5-7 mark gives you no information, and scouting earlier gives you the ability to detect Proxies, and possible build orders the player is going.

Example: 1 Rax Expand.
Example: Forge FE.
"What is life without happiness?"
Br3ezy
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States720 Posts
January 25 2011 02:01 GMT
#34
i honestly only scout sometimes when i go 14 hatch, but lately ive been going just 14 pool/gas and getting fast speed/lings it really is super safe and stops the terran from being able to do anything tricky
Check out my guide to mechanics http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=319876
DarkRise
Profile Joined November 2010
1644 Posts
January 25 2011 04:13 GMT
#35
you need to, checking if gas was taken for terran ( 2 rax or fast banshees) and checking for save up nexus energy for protoss (4 gate or if 2nd gas was might be FE or DT)
obsid
Profile Joined November 2008
United States389 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-01-25 06:14:12
January 25 2011 06:10 GMT
#36
The question is not "if" to scout, its "when" to scout. Or in other words how much to sacrifice to scout. The earliest scout is around 11 (right after an extrancter trick), but this is very rarly needed. When sending an early scout make SURE you harras the worker building a rax, as you can almost always get him to pull an scv off to follow your drone (there by making the cost of scouting very small).

The latest scout is going for a pool, then scouting with zerglings (and not drones at all). This can be fine if you have a build planned which doesnt change no matter what your opponent does. A good example is a fast roach warren off 1 base, against a toss or terran (and even then your taking a chance that your opponent wont proxy, but even if he proxies you can usualy defened it if your good). Just get a quick pair of zerglings to scout while your roach warren goes up, and no matter what he goes you should be ok at least.

The vast majority of builds fall between these two extreemes, usualy most people send thier drone at about 13-14 food. A good example of when to scout is when you want to go for a fast hatch, but your on metal. You can send the overlord to scout the close by air position, and if he is there, expand with no drone scout, but if he isnt, you send your drone right away and you can see if he is in close positions before you put down your hatch (and still get the hatch down on 14).
Truffy
Profile Joined May 2010
United States95 Posts
January 25 2011 07:04 GMT
#37
On January 25 2011 10:52 Sheth wrote:


Nope 14 gas 14pool doens't work at all vs marine all ins. (at high levels)



Thank god someone good realizes this, there is a timing at which you don't have enough larvae to combat constant marine production.
1a2a3a-->gg
Kornholi0
Profile Joined November 2010
Canada634 Posts
January 25 2011 07:11 GMT
#38
On January 25 2011 16:04 Truffy wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 25 2011 10:52 Sheth wrote:


Nope 14 gas 14pool doens't work at all vs marine all ins. (at high levels)



Thank god someone good realizes this, there is a timing at which you don't have enough larvae to combat constant marine production.

Thats cause you are doing the 14 gas 14 pool wrong, all you silly zergs think you can follow a strict xml sheet and you'll be fine as long as you counter everything... My friend can do his version of the 14 gas 14 pool and beat any terran all in. Of course he won't come out unscratched but the terran wont have anything and he'll still have stuff counter = win. Simple as that. You guys need to stop crying that something aint working if you haven't stopped to figure out why it doesn't work. You have plenty of larva, maybe you just should of scouted and made lings or 2 spines instead of those 4 drones.
Team Channel: VTeX Team Co-leader: AGGhost 223 Stream: http://www.twitch.tv/agghost
obsid
Profile Joined November 2008
United States389 Posts
January 25 2011 07:54 GMT
#39
@Kornholi0

There is no special xml sheet to "solve" 2 rax play. It just comes down to who can micro better, just because your friend can beat you and everyone he has ever played with doesnt mean he can kill marine king's 2 rax attack.
Creegz
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Canada354 Posts
January 25 2011 08:15 GMT
#40
I still make an effort to scout with a drone, the Overlord is very slow. I can't stand how slow it is, and if you use an Overlord as a scout, you inevitably get rid of 8 supply, so it's a bit of a sacrifice since it costs 100 mineral to restore that, and sometimes it can bring your supply down at a key point where you're not 100% prepared to take that loss.
Who is this guy? ^
Chaosvuistje
Profile Joined April 2010
Netherlands2581 Posts
January 25 2011 08:20 GMT
#41
I always use my 9th drone to scout. If I were to lose games because I have 50 minerals less in the midgame, someone is allowed to shoot me.

I much preffer scouting that proxy 2 gate soon than having to mentally deal with it when the zealots are pounding on my spawning pool.
Metaspace
Profile Joined November 2006
Austria670 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-01-25 09:09:47
January 25 2011 09:07 GMT
#42
On January 25 2011 00:10 baconbits wrote:
vZ I think its pretty useless, as it will only show if they early pooled or not.

It will show you a 7pool or the like and is thus needed. Also, you cannot leave your overlord in his main due to (potential) queen, and need the drone to see his initial tech choice (banelings, roaches), and if he is perssuring or not (how many initial lings).
Wir haben zuwenig Vespingas!
RainFall
Profile Joined July 2010
United States24 Posts
April 04 2011 15:36 GMT
#43
Please excuse this thread necromancy, but this question has come up with someone i know.

I checked July Zerg's GSL games. He never drone scouted in the 5 ZvTs i checked. Idra didn't drone scout in any of the MLGs replays i watched. Neither did Liquid haypro? or the other couple zergs i checked. Dimaga didn't drone scout in a couple of the games i watched. Is drone scouting dead?
goiflin
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Canada1218 Posts
April 04 2011 15:45 GMT
#44
On April 05 2011 00:36 RainFall wrote:
Please excuse this thread necromancy, but this question has come up with someone i know.

I checked July Zerg's GSL games. He never drone scouted in the 5 ZvTs i checked. Idra didn't drone scout in any of the MLGs replays i watched. Neither did Liquid haypro? or the other couple zergs i checked. Dimaga didn't drone scout in a couple of the games i watched. Is drone scouting dead?


No, but unless your opponent has a history of proxy-barracks cheesing, TvZ is pretty standardized, from what I can tell, in most pro matches. The only variables that actually harm you are stuff like proxy bunkers, which most pros have adapted to, and stuff that comes after your lings/OL are at his base.

I'd still scout because I don't like being proxy raxed unexpectedly, but pros play more consistently, so I can imagine that they wouldn't require the scouting drone as much as us mortals do.
Dragar
Profile Joined October 2010
United Kingdom971 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-04 16:15:50
April 04 2011 16:15 GMT
#45
MLG:

+ Show Spoiler +
Didn't Idra and Ret both get knocked out by bunkers (and in Idra's case, proxy rax?)


I don't think it's as easy to deal with as people claim, when faced with well controlled marines and SCVs.
T.O.P. *
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Hong Kong4685 Posts
April 04 2011 19:36 GMT
#46
If you don't drone scout, you have more minerals to defend a bunker rush with.
Oracle comes in, Scvs go down, never a miscommunication.
titaniumnuts
Profile Joined July 2010
United States38 Posts
April 04 2011 19:50 GMT
#47
In ZvP you can click on a mineral and the drone will go right past a zealot wall. This will let you catch a lot of shenanigans.
mansnicks
Profile Joined January 2010
Latvia120 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-04 20:05:25
April 04 2011 20:03 GMT
#48
On April 05 2011 00:36 RainFall wrote:
Please excuse this thread necromancy, but this question has come up with someone i know.

I checked July Zerg's GSL games. He never drone scouted in the 5 ZvTs i checked. Idra didn't drone scout in any of the MLGs replays i watched. Neither did Liquid haypro? or the other couple zergs i checked. Dimaga didn't drone scout in a couple of the games i watched. Is drone scouting dead?

I dont watch often pro replays. but i have seen one idras replay. and (on xel naga (2player map) ) and he scouted with a drone at 15 food. at the time when drone reached the T base - his pool was ready and he knew if he has to drone up or build zerglings instead (or spine crawler at expand as soon as expand ready). at least that what i thought watching that replay.
There was another game i remember watching lately. it was also on xel nagas - but this time it was an other player and he scouted with his drone at 13 food - he saw a gas ready and returned the drone to his base.

BTW. as i have readed somewhere - overlord sacrifice (early-mid game) is only good at lower level play. at higher level - they never do a overlord sacrifice.
BUT - on most maps you can go with the overlord BEHIND the terran mineral line. in this way you can easily see if and when he has 1 or 2 gases. with this information + the information from zerglings at the enemy ramp, you surerly will know what he is doing. but thats just at higher game play - when you have ALOT of experience.

for me - i do scout with drone. but when - it depends on the map. mostly its just to see if he does a 2rax or not. thats the only good reason for a drone scout really. because later you have zerglings (and at the drone scout time you couldnt see anything else. fast 2 gases you can see with overlord behing minerals as i mentioned).






ok this is just my thoughts from what i have readed. i want to know how far from the truth i am

edit: where did you get those replays? i want them. gimme link plz./
Super passive with no scouting is a recipe for disaster.
ThomasHobbes
Profile Joined October 2010
United States197 Posts
April 04 2011 20:30 GMT
#49
Always scout as long as you understand why you're scouting.

ZvZ - Scout early to determine when his pool goes down, the only exception is if you spawn close-air on maps like meta (in which case your ovie will serve as early scouting), certain openings in ZvZ are auto-losses against each other, so you'll want to make sure you aren't going 15 hatch vs a 9-pool opener. Make sure to withdraw the drone before his lings or queen come out, though, and switch to lings to determine his later tech path.

ZvP - You're going to want to watch for a FE, forge first, double-gate, double-gas, or a standard gate+core, in short, his entire opening. Lings and an ovie can serve that function later as you monitor his tech progression, but you're going to want to get in there early to make sure nothing weird is going down. Gas-steal if you can to deny any sort of fast-tech build and force him down a predictable, stream-lined path.

ZvT - Scouting is just as useful here as well. Make sure to note whether he's going double-gas, double-rax, or anything else out of the ordinary. Try to steal his gas if you can, and sniping his scv building his rax is always a plus. Again, you're going to want to withdraw the drone or gas-steal before his first few rines come out, and you're going to have to rely on lings / ovies for later scouting.
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