• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 07:19
CET 13:19
KST 21:19
  • 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
Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book7Clem wins HomeStory Cup 289HomeStory Cup 28 - Info & Preview13Rongyi Cup S3 - Preview & Info4herO wins SC2 All-Star Invitational14
Community News
Weekly Cups (Jan 26-Feb 1): herO, Clem, ByuN, Classic win2RSL Season 4 announced for March-April7Weekly Cups (Jan 19-25): Bunny, Trigger, MaxPax win3Weekly Cups (Jan 12-18): herO, MaxPax, Solar win0BSL Season 2025 - Full Overview and Conclusion8
StarCraft 2
General
Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book Clem wins HomeStory Cup 28 How do you think the 5.0.15 balance patch (Oct 2025) for StarCraft II has affected the game? Rongyi Cup S3 - Preview & Info HomeStory Cup 28 - Info & Preview
Tourneys
PIG STY FESTIVAL 7.0! (19 Feb - 1 Mar) WardiTV Mondays $21,000 Rongyi Cup Season 3 announced (Jan 22-Feb 7) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament $5,000 WardiTV Winter Championship 2026
Strategy
Custom Maps
Map Editor closed ? [A] Starcraft Sound Mod
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 511 Temple of Rebirth Mutation # 510 Safety Violation Mutation # 509 Doomsday Report
Brood War
General
StarCraft player reflex TE scores BW General Discussion Recent recommended BW games BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ Can someone share very abbreviated BW cliffnotes?
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 1 Small VOD Thread 2.0 KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 1
Strategy
Zealot bombing is no longer popular? Simple Questions, Simple Answers Current Meta Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2
Other Games
General Games
Diablo 2 thread Battle Aces/David Kim RTS Megathread EVE Corporation Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile
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
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread YouTube Thread The Games Industry And ATVI Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club! The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Play, Watch, Drink: Esports …
TrAiDoS
My 2025 Magic: The Gathering…
DARKING
Life Update and thoughts.
FuDDx
How do archons sleep?
8882
James Bond movies ranking - pa…
Topin
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1285 users

[G]HUARGH's 90+% winrate PvZ mothership build - Page 15

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
Post a Reply
Prev 1 13 14 15 16 17 21 Next All
marvellosity
Profile Joined January 2011
United Kingdom36161 Posts
October 13 2011 15:21 GMT
#281
Must say, IMRandom is coming across as a total douche. Either provide hard evidence to back up your claims, or shut the hell up.

Fantastic build and effort btw.
[15:15] <Palmar> and yes marv, you're a total hottie
the p00n
Profile Joined September 2010
Netherlands615 Posts
October 13 2011 16:20 GMT
#282
On October 13 2011 16:22 jemag wrote:
I played a little with the build and I think there's a lot of refinement that can be done.

One of the big advantages for me in using that build (and it doesn't seem to be given much emphasis in the guide) is how u can have a really strong defensive position but yet be really agressive on the map with chargelots drops.

Chargelot drops are extremely effective and were usually a little weird to try and incorporate mid-game in my usual builds.

I also think its fairly easy to do effective transitions when you start opening with that build.

What I usually prefer is to get my robo as I get my third so I can start becoming agressive with chargelot drops fairly early in the game. I also found that once I get a decent number of archons for archon toilet, just throwing several immortals into the mix and then slowly trading ur zealots for blink stalkers and HTs with storm makes up for a really strong late game composition (basically blink stalker immortal HTs archon mothership).





Yeh, I've actually thought about this yesterday, but more in the form of parking 2 warp prisms at 2 of his bases and remaxing on zealots after a big engagement right here. Also, I've been getting the stargate before the 4th sentry and the 2 gateways, kcdc's earlier stargate suggestion got me thinking.

I will play around with warp prisms and eventually update the guide.
Tantaburs
Profile Joined August 2010
Canada1825 Posts
October 13 2011 16:22 GMT
#283
forgive me if it has already been asked before but would it be better to FFE on maps such as Tal'darim/shakuras or still go gate first?
"One cannot play StarCraft with clenched fish.." ~Nick "Confucius" Plott
the p00n
Profile Joined September 2010
Netherlands615 Posts
October 13 2011 16:25 GMT
#284
On October 14 2011 01:22 Tantaburs wrote:
forgive me if it has already been asked before but would it be better to FFE on maps such as Tal'darim/shakuras or still go gate first?


I downvote tal'darim (but would still go 1gate expo) and it is never better to go FFE imo. FFE is a very silly opening.
Gerike
Profile Joined September 2011
Hungary14 Posts
October 13 2011 21:18 GMT
#285
my problem is that around 14 min mark when my 3 rd should really kick in
he come with hidra roach infestor queens vs i have alrdy 4 maybe even 6 (have to look replay )
tons of zealots + i had like 5 stalker but i still had only 1 vortex energy i preatty good catch him
what did not entered the vortex i killed off and than i jumped into vortex with all.
he did win.asap i did push gua shield and pulled back mother ship ,but it was sniped my army was preatty much raped i did stay there with like 1 archon + 4-5 zealot vs mass speed roach rally there.

- yes my mothership was a lil bit later popped than it suppose to be
- yes i had +2 attack
- yea maybe my macro slipped a lil bit ( but i bet my oppo did not played perf either )

so what should i do if he dont play the max out macro game , he just secure 3 base and start to pressure arround so i have to move to def my 3rd. I have the mothership ( low enery 1 vortex max )
+ like 8-10 gate support.
the p00n
Profile Joined September 2010
Netherlands615 Posts
October 13 2011 21:39 GMT
#286
On October 14 2011 06:18 Gerike wrote:
my problem is that around 14 min mark when my 3 rd should really kick in
he come with hidra roach infestor queens vs i have alrdy 4 maybe even 6 (have to look replay )
tons of zealots + i had like 5 stalker but i still had only 1 vortex energy i preatty good catch him
what did not entered the vortex i killed off and than i jumped into vortex with all.
he did win.asap i did push gua shield and pulled back mother ship ,but it was sniped my army was preatty much raped i did stay there with like 1 archon + 4-5 zealot vs mass speed roach rally there.

- yes my mothership was a lil bit later popped than it suppose to be
- yes i had +2 attack
- yea maybe my macro slipped a lil bit ( but i bet my oppo did not played perf either )

so what should i do if he dont play the max out macro game , he just secure 3 base and start to pressure arround so i have to move to def my 3rd. I have the mothership ( low enery 1 vortex max )
+ like 8-10 gate support.


It's hard to exactly make out what you're saying, could you post the replay?
IMRandom
Profile Joined October 2011
Korea (South)34 Posts
October 13 2011 22:04 GMT
#287
On October 14 2011 00:21 marvellosity wrote:
Must say, IMRandom is coming across as a total douche. Either provide hard evidence to back up your claims, or shut the hell up.

Fantastic build and effort btw.

I'm a douche cause i dislike plagiarism? I provided hard evidence. go look at the link I posted. If u can't read korean, how is does that invalidate anything? Even if u can't read korean, even the title's the same.

He was lying about being in GM, he edited that out. He LIES. U gonna believe him about plagiarism?

User was warned for this post
CtrlAltGG
Profile Joined October 2010
United States36 Posts
October 13 2011 22:18 GMT
#288
On October 14 2011 01:25 the p00n wrote:
I downvote tal'darim (but would still go 1gate expo) and it is never better to go FFE imo. FFE is a very silly opening.


Could you expand on this a little bit because it seems to me that this style of play would actually go very well with the FFE? Especially given that you recommend a larger gateway composition as a follow-up. To me the economic boost of a forge FFE would allow for a heavier ground army whil;e still being able to expand.I'm just theory-crafting but i would like to hear your reasons for not liking the FFE.
the p00n
Profile Joined September 2010
Netherlands615 Posts
October 13 2011 22:27 GMT
#289
I would like to ask everyone to stop responding to IMRandom.

On October 14 2011 07:18 CtrlAltGG wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 14 2011 01:25 the p00n wrote:
I downvote tal'darim (but would still go 1gate expo) and it is never better to go FFE imo. FFE is a very silly opening.


Could you expand on this a little bit because it seems to me that this style of play would actually go very well with the FFE? Especially given that you recommend a larger gateway composition as a follow-up. To me the economic boost of a forge FFE would allow for a heavier ground army whil;e still being able to expand.I'm just theory-crafting but i would like to hear your reasons for not liking the FFE.


The reason why I dislike FFE is because the zerg does not have to be very conservative with his droning, and can get an immediate 3rd base. A gateway/core opening may branch into a 1-base all-in. It also allows for more metagaming. If I play against an opponent on ladder for the 3rd time and I went for this build 2 games in a row, I may go for a 1base all-in with a fake nexus or do a 6gate instead of transitioning into mothership. With a FFE, your options are very limited.
Trusty
Profile Joined July 2010
New Zealand520 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-10-13 22:33:28
October 13 2011 22:30 GMT
#290
On October 14 2011 07:27 the p00n wrote:
If I play against an opponent on ladder for the 3rd time and I went for this build 2 games in a row, I may go for a 1base all-in with a fake nexus or do a 6gate instead of transitioning into mothership. With a FFE, your options are very limited.


Hey, just a general question about this remark.

Why would you change your build if you met the same person on the ladder 3 times?

If he knows you are doing this strategy, what in particular are you worried about?

Just trying to see weakness in this build, and the easiest way to tell if a strategy has a weakness, is when the user is worried that the opponent knows what they are doing.

So a better way to ask: What are you scared of when doing this build, if you told your opponent you're doing it at the start of the game?

EDIT: Obviously there will be things you are worried about, as a player.
For example, regardless of what I'm doing in PvZ, I'm always worried about Mutas, because I have poor track record against muta play - nothing to do with my builds, just me as a player, does poorly against mutas
habermas
Profile Joined June 2010
United Kingdom304 Posts
October 13 2011 23:11 GMT
#291
HUARGH, I checked the build: 2 easy wins against master zergs, 1 loss so far.

The last game I played against rank 1 guy from your division, but I made a mistake in reading. I saw spire with phoenix so I thought he's gonna go muta, (and I also saw like 8 spore crawlers so I thought he must be bad, lol) but he actually went corruptors and infestors with some roaches. I made to many phoenixes, still won first battle, but he than made shitloads of banelings and I couldn't get 4th then eventually lost to broodlords and his superior econ.

I noticed you get excess of minerals soon after taking 3rd and you also make robo around that time, so getting few warp prisms around the map and warping +3 speed zealots from 20 warp gates seems to fit in pretty nicely. Also you could mention that against infestors you should get obs with your army asap in case of NP. Great guide.
the p00n
Profile Joined September 2010
Netherlands615 Posts
October 14 2011 00:12 GMT
#292
On October 14 2011 07:30 Trusty wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 14 2011 07:27 the p00n wrote:
If I play against an opponent on ladder for the 3rd time and I went for this build 2 games in a row, I may go for a 1base all-in with a fake nexus or do a 6gate instead of transitioning into mothership. With a FFE, your options are very limited.


So a better way to ask: What are you scared of when doing this build, if you told your opponent you're doing it at the start of the game?


Roach/queen all-in (with like 7-8 queens and mass creep), double expanding, extremely fast drops + tunneling claws (can be prevented though, but hard to play against/to scout).
the p00n
Profile Joined September 2010
Netherlands615 Posts
October 14 2011 00:14 GMT
#293
On October 14 2011 08:11 habermas wrote:
HUARGH, I checked the build: 2 easy wins against master zergs, 1 loss so far.

The last game I played against rank 1 guy from your division, but I made a mistake in reading. I saw spire with phoenix so I thought he's gonna go muta, (and I also saw like 8 spore crawlers so I thought he must be bad, lol) but he actually went corruptors and infestors with some roaches. I made to many phoenixes, still won first battle, but he than made shitloads of banelings and I couldn't get 4th then eventually lost to broodlords and his superior econ.

I noticed you get excess of minerals soon after taking 3rd and you also make robo around that time, so getting few warp prisms around the map and warping +3 speed zealots from 20 warp gates seems to fit in pretty nicely. Also you could mention that against infestors you should get obs with your army asap in case of NP. Great guide.


Glad you like the build could you post the replay you lost? I haven't really lost with it yet, even though I almost lost against Snute (because I made a shitton of mistakes).
Carbonthief
Profile Joined October 2010
United States289 Posts
October 14 2011 02:12 GMT
#294
Question for OP: which replay do you feel executed the build with the best precision in regards to macro, scouting, and reacting to the scouting, up the point of your 3rd base kicking in? I'm going to be watching replays to study the build, and would just like to know which one you think has the fewest actual mistakes.

Thanks for the guide, sounds awesome and can't wait to practice it and try it out.
RafaellO)))
Profile Joined July 2011
Brazil13 Posts
October 14 2011 04:05 GMT
#295
Just wanted to say, you saved my PvZ.

I was losing to a shitton of platinum zergs these past few days, now I beat 3 master zergs today and a ton of diamonds.

This build is really great, and more safe and powerful than I'd expect from something with a mothership included.
Thank you for the guide and the replays.
the p00n
Profile Joined September 2010
Netherlands615 Posts
October 14 2011 04:16 GMT
#296
On October 14 2011 11:12 Carbonthief wrote:
Question for OP: which replay do you feel executed the build with the best precision in regards to macro, scouting, and reacting to the scouting, up the point of your 3rd base kicking in? I'm going to be watching replays to study the build, and would just like to know which one you think has the fewest actual mistakes.

Thanks for the guide, sounds awesome and can't wait to practice it and try it out.


Hard to say. I would say the one against Snute, with the following exceptions:

1. constantly chrono your mothership, so you don't lose all your shit to banelings
2. retreat when zealots are gone, at my first big engagement I basically won the game but threw away my advantage by having only archons fight only roaches in a huge concave
3. better initial vortexes
4. faster 4th and +3 weapons
Carbonthief
Profile Joined October 2010
United States289 Posts
October 14 2011 04:39 GMT
#297
On October 14 2011 13:16 the p00n wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 14 2011 11:12 Carbonthief wrote:
Question for OP: which replay do you feel executed the build with the best precision in regards to macro, scouting, and reacting to the scouting, up the point of your 3rd base kicking in? I'm going to be watching replays to study the build, and would just like to know which one you think has the fewest actual mistakes.

Thanks for the guide, sounds awesome and can't wait to practice it and try it out.


Hard to say. I would say the one against Snute, with the following exceptions:

1. constantly chrono your mothership, so you don't lose all your shit to banelings
2. retreat when zealots are gone, at my first big engagement I basically won the game but threw away my advantage by having only archons fight only roaches in a huge concave
3. better initial vortexes
4. faster 4th and +3 weapons


Thankyou... also a question, do you ever have trouble with just, a bunch of lings denying your 1 gate fe? You seem to stay on 1 zealot and a few sentries for longer time than I feel comfortable doing. Once I get like, 6 sentries, pretty invincible, but that span of time before you get all the sentries out feels really dangerous. Do you just, gauge whether or not you can do this, certain pool timings, basically what I'm asking is, is there anything you ever scout that makes you decide to 3 gate expand instead of 1 gate expand because it simply isn't safe, or do you feel you can pretty much always hold it if you do it right?
RafaellO)))
Profile Joined July 2011
Brazil13 Posts
October 14 2011 04:40 GMT
#298
I find it really good to have a second forge up after you get the third base.
It's cheap, and getting the shield upgrades is awesome for both zealots and archons.
kcdc
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States2311 Posts
October 14 2011 16:54 GMT
#299
On October 14 2011 01:20 the p00n wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 13 2011 16:22 jemag wrote:
I played a little with the build and I think there's a lot of refinement that can be done.

One of the big advantages for me in using that build (and it doesn't seem to be given much emphasis in the guide) is how u can have a really strong defensive position but yet be really agressive on the map with chargelots drops.

Chargelot drops are extremely effective and were usually a little weird to try and incorporate mid-game in my usual builds.

I also think its fairly easy to do effective transitions when you start opening with that build.

What I usually prefer is to get my robo as I get my third so I can start becoming agressive with chargelot drops fairly early in the game. I also found that once I get a decent number of archons for archon toilet, just throwing several immortals into the mix and then slowly trading ur zealots for blink stalkers and HTs with storm makes up for a really strong late game composition (basically blink stalker immortal HTs archon mothership).





I've been getting the stargate before the 4th sentry and the 2 gateways, kcdc's earlier stargate suggestion got me thinking.


I've been using this as my primary PvZ build and it's very strong. I do change a few things up tho. You can get a very fast stargate by building the stargate before your 4th sentry, but it's not very safe if Z just makes ~10 speedlings to pressure as your setting up your natural. Most of the time, Z doesn't do that, but it's a small investment from Z that will really screw you up if you don't chrono out those 4 sentries. I prefer to get my stargate after 4 sentries and my 2nd gate which is a little faster than the OP which gets 4 sentries and 3 gates before stargate. I don't get a third gate until after starting my mothership.

I put more emphasis on void rays than the OP suggests. Having a few voids (rather than 1 or 2) helps protect you from 2 and early 3-base timings because roaches can't hit them and they pop overseers very quickly. If you get into a fight where you're outnumbered, just focus the voids on the overseers and you're safe again.

I don't make as many archons. Archon+mothership is great, but it can be beaten by well-positioned roaches and/or broodlords. Having 4 HT with storm and a handful of void rays feels stronger and more versatile than just massing archons. I still make a lot of archons for the meat of my army--I just spread my gas slightly more than the OP suggests. Storm is much better for protecting your mothership+voids against corruptors than archons alone are, and storm's range is very helpful against broodlords. I will say that the control for mothership + archon/zealot + HT + void rays can be very difficult as each group should be controlled separately.

I'm not 100% sure charge is worth getting as early as the OP suggests. In that 10-13 min window where I'm setting up my third, I think I'd rather have an extra archon than have my zealots run a little faster.

I don't bother with trying to sneak a 9 minute expo. Z can easily shut it down if they're playing well, and the defensible 10:30 expo feels fast enough.
Botnot
Profile Joined August 2008
United States16 Posts
October 14 2011 18:48 GMT
#300
jesus i can finally win, it feels so good. thank you.
Build a man a fire, he's warm for a day, THROW the man in the fire, he's warm for the rest of his life.
Prev 1 13 14 15 16 17 21 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
12:00
Monthly #2 - February
WardiTV287
uThermal245
IndyStarCraft 78
SteadfastSC71
BRAT_OK 12
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
uThermal 245
IndyStarCraft 78
SteadfastSC 71
BRAT_OK 12
MindelVK 6
ForJumy 3
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 48827
Calm 7199
firebathero 1966
GuemChi 1718
Flash 1659
Horang2 990
Mini 457
Larva 296
actioN 287
ZerO 258
[ Show more ]
Soma 251
Last 211
Hyun 200
ggaemo 195
Mong 174
Leta 166
Sharp 133
Mind 98
Pusan 83
Sea.KH 52
Aegong 45
Shuttle 43
Barracks 40
ToSsGirL 35
Backho 28
Free 27
910 26
Movie 23
Yoon 21
sorry 20
sSak 20
GoRush 18
IntoTheRainbow 18
Shine 17
zelot 12
Sacsri 10
Dota 2
XcaliburYe289
Counter-Strike
fl0m144
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King94
Heroes of the Storm
Khaldor401
Other Games
gofns22279
B2W.Neo2496
singsing2051
Fuzer 229
ZerO(Twitch)14
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick1144
BasetradeTV90
StarCraft: Brood War
lovetv 23
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 13 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• StrangeGG 106
• Response 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Jankos5081
Upcoming Events
WardiTV Winter Champion…
2h 41m
OSC
11h 41m
Replay Cast
20h 41m
Wardi Open
23h 41m
Monday Night Weeklies
1d 4h
Sparkling Tuna Cup
1d 21h
LiuLi Cup
1d 22h
Reynor vs Creator
Maru vs Lambo
PiGosaur Monday
2 days
LiuLi Cup
2 days
Clem vs Rogue
SHIN vs Cyan
The PondCast
3 days
[ Show More ]
KCM Race Survival
3 days
LiuLi Cup
3 days
Scarlett vs TriGGeR
ByuN vs herO
Online Event
4 days
LiuLi Cup
4 days
Serral vs Zoun
Cure vs Classic
LiuLi Cup
5 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
6 days
LiuLi Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

CSL 2025 WINTER (S19)
Rongyi Cup S3
Underdog Cup #3

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 1
Nations Cup 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual
eXTREMESLAND 2025
SL Budapest Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S1: W8
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Bellum Gens Elite Stara Zagora 2026
RSL Revival: Season 4
WardiTV Winter 2026
LiuLi Cup: 2025 Grand Finals
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
FISSURE Playground #3
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League Season 23
ESL Pro League Season 23
PGL Cluj-Napoca 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.