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On May 01 2014 11:24 SC2John wrote:Show nested quote +On May 01 2014 11:10 MonkeyBot wrote:
Recently I was ahead of a 2 base toss economically, and he got a 120 supply-ish army of 4 colossi, 2 phoenix, a core and the rest stalkers. With equal upgrades and 4 hatches making larva, I couldn't fight that army. What do I need to do in terms of composition and positioning to beat it in a fight? I don't have a replay handy but I may be able to get it soon. Either a complete surround with roach/hydra or roach/hydra/corruptor should be good. It helps if you engage on his side of the map or the center. As long as you can kill off the colossus, most of the firepower in the composition is gone and you can just remax on roaches. A replay would help, of course.
Thanks John. Your posts are really high quality and I appreciate the time you put into this site and this thread.
One question, doesn't engaging on his side of the map give him defenders advantage, meaning closer reinforcements?
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United States4883 Posts
On May 01 2014 12:23 MonkeyBot wrote:Show nested quote +On May 01 2014 11:24 SC2John wrote:On May 01 2014 11:10 MonkeyBot wrote:
Recently I was ahead of a 2 base toss economically, and he got a 120 supply-ish army of 4 colossi, 2 phoenix, a core and the rest stalkers. With equal upgrades and 4 hatches making larva, I couldn't fight that army. What do I need to do in terms of composition and positioning to beat it in a fight? I don't have a replay handy but I may be able to get it soon. Either a complete surround with roach/hydra or roach/hydra/corruptor should be good. It helps if you engage on his side of the map or the center. As long as you can kill off the colossus, most of the firepower in the composition is gone and you can just remax on roaches. A replay would help, of course. Thanks John. Your posts are really high quality and I appreciate the time you put into this site and this thread. One question, doesn't engaging on his side of the map give him defenders advantage, meaning closer reinforcements?
He's Protoss, there's no such thing as defender's advantage in terms of reinforcements. The only difference is whether YOU have defender's advantage 20 seconds later. If you trade fairly evenly and kill the colossus, you can still lose to ~30 stalkers that just stand on top of your production and kill the roaches as they come out. That's why I say engage far away from your base.
EDIT: also, thanks  .
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On May 01 2014 12:26 SC2John wrote:Show nested quote +On May 01 2014 12:23 MonkeyBot wrote:On May 01 2014 11:24 SC2John wrote:On May 01 2014 11:10 MonkeyBot wrote:
Recently I was ahead of a 2 base toss economically, and he got a 120 supply-ish army of 4 colossi, 2 phoenix, a core and the rest stalkers. With equal upgrades and 4 hatches making larva, I couldn't fight that army. What do I need to do in terms of composition and positioning to beat it in a fight? I don't have a replay handy but I may be able to get it soon. Either a complete surround with roach/hydra or roach/hydra/corruptor should be good. It helps if you engage on his side of the map or the center. As long as you can kill off the colossus, most of the firepower in the composition is gone and you can just remax on roaches. A replay would help, of course. Thanks John. Your posts are really high quality and I appreciate the time you put into this site and this thread. One question, doesn't engaging on his side of the map give him defenders advantage, meaning closer reinforcements? He's Protoss, there's no such thing as defender's advantage in terms of reinforcements. The only difference is whether YOU have defender's advantage 20 seconds later. If you trade fairly evenly and kill the colossus, you can still lose to ~30 stalkers that just stand on top of your production and kill the roaches as they come out. That's why I say engage far away from your base. EDIT: also, thanks .
Got it. Great advice, thanks!
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Russian Federation34 Posts
Hey guys, I am not great at finding the appropriate place to post stuff so I wonder if anyone can help me out.
I wrote a fairly detailed guide to mastering the mechanics of Zerg play (5000 words). It's not matchup-specific but does have some diverse examples of things to work on for anyone who wants to overcome stagnation plateaus or incorporate higher-level tips and tricks into their self-management.
Please post some suggestions on where best to post that sort of thing. Thanks a lot!
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United States4883 Posts
On May 02 2014 04:55 TheZov wrote:
Hey guys, I am not great at finding the appropriate place to post stuff so I wonder if anyone can help me out.
I wrote a fairly detailed guide to mastering the mechanics of Zerg play (5000 words). It's not matchup-specific but does have some diverse examples of things to work on for anyone who wants to overcome stagnation plateaus or incorporate higher-level tips and tricks into their self-management.
Please post some suggestions on where best to post that sort of thing. Thanks a lot!
You can just post it as "[G] Mastering Zerg Mechanics" in the SC2 Strategy forum. I look forward to seeing it!
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United States248 Posts
On May 02 2014 04:55 TheZov wrote:
Hey guys, I am not great at finding the appropriate place to post stuff so I wonder if anyone can help me out.
I wrote a fairly detailed guide to mastering the mechanics of Zerg play (5000 words). It's not matchup-specific but does have some diverse examples of things to work on for anyone who wants to overcome stagnation plateaus or incorporate higher-level tips and tricks into their self-management.
Please post some suggestions on where best to post that sort of thing. Thanks a lot!
This sounds really interesting. I look forward to seeing it. Like John said, post it in the strat forum and people will see it. I would advise that you look at some of the other general "how to get better" threads that have been added to the recommended threads list and ensure that you are adding new things to the discussion. Good luck!
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Russian Federation34 Posts
On May 02 2014 05:44 SC2John wrote:Show nested quote +On May 02 2014 04:55 TheZov wrote:
Hey guys, I am not great at finding the appropriate place to post stuff so I wonder if anyone can help me out.
I wrote a fairly detailed guide to mastering the mechanics of Zerg play (5000 words). It's not matchup-specific but does have some diverse examples of things to work on for anyone who wants to overcome stagnation plateaus or incorporate higher-level tips and tricks into their self-management.
Please post some suggestions on where best to post that sort of thing. Thanks a lot! You can just post it as "[G] Mastering Zerg Mechanics" in the SC2 Strategy forum. I look forward to seeing it!
Thank you John! Posted under [G] Mastering Zerg Mechanics for high-level play. Look forward to hearing your feedback!
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Russian Federation34 Posts
On May 02 2014 06:53 Jowj wrote:Show nested quote +On May 02 2014 04:55 TheZov wrote:
Hey guys, I am not great at finding the appropriate place to post stuff so I wonder if anyone can help me out.
I wrote a fairly detailed guide to mastering the mechanics of Zerg play (5000 words). It's not matchup-specific but does have some diverse examples of things to work on for anyone who wants to overcome stagnation plateaus or incorporate higher-level tips and tricks into their self-management.
Please post some suggestions on where best to post that sort of thing. Thanks a lot! This sounds really interesting. I look forward to seeing it. Like John said, post it in the strat forum and people will see it. I would advise that you look at some of the other general "how to get better" threads that have been added to the recommended threads list and ensure that you are adding new things to the discussion. Good luck!
Thank you Jowj! Posted under [G] Mastering Zerg Mechanics for high-level play. I look forward to hearing your feedback!
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When playing ZvP, my preferred strategy is to do as much damage in the midgame with lings, roaches, and hydras as I can -- if not win outright -- before the Protoss gets out too many colossus/HT.
What I want to know is when and how many evo chambers to make. What I do, and what I see a lot of players doing, is to make a single evo around the time Lair starts, and research +1 ranged attack ASAP so it finishes at about the same time as roach speed. However, when I can't break the Protoss with just roach/ling/hydra, I transition into roach/hydra/viper, and I feel like in these types of situations where I have to play the late game, I would be better off if I had gone double evo earlier, and started +1/+1 ranged/carapace. That way when my vipers are ready, I can have 2/2 roach hydras. On the other hand, I don't want to weaken my early push by starting too many upgrades too soon, and not having enough roaches/hydras.
Any suggestions for evo/upgrade timings for Zergs who like to play aggressive, low tech styles vs Protoss?
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United States4883 Posts
On May 03 2014 08:52 Frankie Teardrop wrote:
When playing ZvP, my preferred strategy is to do as much damage in the midgame with lings, roaches, and hydras as I can -- if not win outright -- before the Protoss gets out too many colossus/HT.
What I want to know is when and how many evo chambers to make. What I do, and what I see a lot of players doing, is to make a single evo around the time Lair starts, and research +1 ranged attack ASAP so it finishes at about the same time as roach speed. However, when I can't break the Protoss with just roach/ling/hydra, I transition into roach/hydra/viper, and I feel like in these types of situations where I have to play the late game, I would be better off if I had gone double evo earlier, and started +1/+1 ranged/carapace. That way when my vipers are ready, I can have 2/2 roach hydras. On the other hand, I don't want to weaken my early push by starting too many upgrades too soon, and not having enough roaches/hydras.
Any suggestions for evo/upgrade timings for Zergs who like to play aggressive, low tech styles vs Protoss?
If you want to win on roach/hydra/viper, go double ups. Always think about what you're doing as part of your game plan and specifically, AT WHAT POINT do you want to win. If your goal is to win with a timing, you always want to play a little greedier earlier in the game; this is why you often seen players going for powerful 2-base allins in PvZ go FFE and play super greedy, etc. If you want to win with hydra/roach/viper, set yourself up to be as strong as possible at that point; everything in the game up until that point should be preparation for the strongest possible timing.
If your goal is to, for instance, deny the 3rd base as much as possible between lings and roach/hydra while securing your own 4-base economy and buying time for hive tech, you would go single upgrades. This is because your advantage doesn't lie with your upgrades, it lies in your economy advantage and allows you to transition into either SH, Blords, or ultras, whichever one fits the situation. In that scenario, you might get a few vipers out for safety, but your main concern is going to be getting out your "tier 3 unit" out to fight the Protoss deathball.
I hope this sheds some insight!
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On May 03 2014 12:27 SC2John wrote:Show nested quote +On May 03 2014 08:52 Frankie Teardrop wrote:
When playing ZvP, my preferred strategy is to do as much damage in the midgame with lings, roaches, and hydras as I can -- if not win outright -- before the Protoss gets out too many colossus/HT.
What I want to know is when and how many evo chambers to make. What I do, and what I see a lot of players doing, is to make a single evo around the time Lair starts, and research +1 ranged attack ASAP so it finishes at about the same time as roach speed. However, when I can't break the Protoss with just roach/ling/hydra, I transition into roach/hydra/viper, and I feel like in these types of situations where I have to play the late game, I would be better off if I had gone double evo earlier, and started +1/+1 ranged/carapace. That way when my vipers are ready, I can have 2/2 roach hydras. On the other hand, I don't want to weaken my early push by starting too many upgrades too soon, and not having enough roaches/hydras.
Any suggestions for evo/upgrade timings for Zergs who like to play aggressive, low tech styles vs Protoss? If you want to win on roach/hydra/viper, go double ups. Always think about what you're doing as part of your game plan and specifically, AT WHAT POINT do you want to win. If your goal is to win with a timing, you always want to play a little greedier earlier in the game; this is why you often seen players going for powerful 2-base allins in PvZ go FFE and play super greedy, etc. If you want to win with hydra/roach/viper, set yourself up to be as strong as possible at that point; everything in the game up until that point should be preparation for the strongest possible timing. If your goal is to, for instance, deny the 3rd base as much as possible between lings and roach/hydra while securing your own 4-base economy and buying time for hive tech, you would go single upgrades. This is because your advantage doesn't lie with your upgrades, it lies in your economy advantage and allows you to transition into either SH, Blords, or ultras, whichever one fits the situation. In that scenario, you might get a few vipers out for safety, but your main concern is going to be getting out your "tier 3 unit" out to fight the Protoss deathball. I hope this sheds some insight!
Yes, absolutely. My goal is to win -- or at least severely cripple the Protoss -- by swarming him early on with low-tech units. I transition into roach/hydra/viper if I don't do enough damage to keep the pressure on with roaches, hydras, and lings. So since my primary goal lies in the early-midgame with low tech units, I would be better off going single upgrades? That is very good to know. Since I will only have time for one upgrade before my attack hits (usually between 11-13 minutes, depending on whether or not he harasses) would you recommend +1 ranged for increased dps or +1 carapace because it benefits lings as well as my ranged units?
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So I have a question; more or less several questions.
When I'm against P, I find that I don't really know what to look for in scouting. I'm starting to get the hang of figuring out what things mean. Vs. T, it's easy to scout mech/bio/banshee early against the reaper opening, however I find that Vs. P I'm not 100 percent sure what to look for- especially against in base gate-core expands. I always feel the most vulnerable against these expands, because I know it leaves so many tech choices available to the protoss early, and I don't know what to look for or necessarily how to react. If I see a starport as a first tech choice, for example, how do I react? If I see a forge +1 early, how (and when) do I respond? And same for a robotics facility. Also, I'm starting to get that late natural gas means early aggression, but what are the timings behind that? When is "late", and what kind of composition can I expect? Zealot/Immortal?
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Been out of the game for awhile... My question is what is thecurrent metagame for each machup?
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Can someone comment on the best methods to scout for cheese like 11/11rax bunker rush and proxy 2gate in ZvT and ZvP?
I have my first overlord sweep through the natural and the "normal third" and then to the back of the enemy base for tech scouting later. I have the second overlord sweep through the "alternate" third before sending it to its final destination which varies depending on the map. I will send my scouting drone through the "alternate third" and then usually have it hit whatever watchtower is closest to me before sending it to the enemy base. I try to have both these overlords cover the areas that are close enough to the natural that they are likely proxy locations, and the third base locations are among the most common sites.
I suppose you could just go earlier to the opponent's base and if you don't see anything there assume there is a proxy, but it doesn't give you a chance to snipe workers building rax etc. Can anyone comment on improvements I can make to the scouting patterns, or other tricks they use?
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On May 04 2014 00:07 MrAgony wrote:
Been out of the game for awhile... My question is what is thecurrent metagame for each machup?
I only play Zerg. Here is what I'm doing (diamond)
ZvT - 15 hatch and 16 pool, get at least 4 lings out as soon as pool finishes to deal with early reapers. Roach Hydra is becoming very popular against almost all compositions. I only go ling bling against PURE Marine Maruder Medivac, and sometimes Bio/Mine. BatMan (Hellbat/bio) takes a lot of banelings to fight though. Get mutas, keep up production if he seems to be a player that drops to harass a lot. Anything with Mech heavy or mine heavy composition can be fought with Roach Hydra. It does surprisingly well against bio units these days with good upgrades.
ZvP - 15 pool. 4 lings. Expand as fast as you can. Defend expansion and check for protoss tech. Fast forge means take a 3rd but use lings to make sure it's not cannon'd. Fast Gate/Cyber means get some units (usually go with extra Queens) and sac an overlord earlier to check tech path. Basically, Robo = Mutas. Stargate = Hydra/Ling but only until colossus come out. Mass phoenix/sky toss needs infestors. Try to hold any 2 base gate all ins with ling/hydra if you have it.
ZvZ - 15 hatch on most maps except Habitation, King Segong and close WayStation. Here I 15 pool, 15 hatch, 15 gas. General game is: Get speed fast, get blings but I like to play defensive, so make minimal. Good overlord spread on line between bases. Horde drones early as much as you can safely. Use a spine and sim city if he is speedling making. Queen good unit. Take a 3rd as fast as possible. I cant count the games I've won/lost because of 3rd base successfully taken faster. Roach Hydra is by far the strongest. Mutal is still used, but only to secure a 3rd. If roaches are pusing your base float on them with mutas. Muta gains map control while you take third, vs roaches get about 10, then kill overlords, anything without a spore ... while expanding. Then you still go roach hydra. If it goes muta vs muta the most important thing is # of gasses followed by upgrades. Muta upgrade is always +1 armor first, then go all Attack - 1 2 then 3.
Scout with an overlord @ 7 in all matchups. Overlord speed is always worth it. I scout super heavy vs Protoss that goes Gate + Cyber fast.
GL!
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On May 04 2014 02:35 LordYama wrote:
Can someone comment on the best methods to scout for cheese like 11/11rax bunker rush and proxy 2gate in ZvT and ZvP?
I have my first overlord sweep through the natural and the "normal third" and then to the back of the enemy base for tech scouting later. I have the second overlord sweep through the "alternate" third before sending it to its final destination which varies depending on the map. I will send my scouting drone through the "alternate third" and then usually have it hit whatever watchtower is closest to me before sending it to the enemy base. I try to have both these overlords cover the areas that are close enough to the natural that they are likely proxy locations, and the third base locations are among the most common sites.
I suppose you could just go earlier to the opponent's base and if you don't see anything there assume there is a proxy, but it doesn't give you a chance to snipe workers building rax etc. Can anyone comment on improvements I can make to the scouting patterns, or other tricks they use?
your first overlord should almost always be going to your opponent's natural to look at his expo timing/check if protoss is FFEing. if your opponent sees the forward overlord and you're not paying attention, he can just duck around it and still build the proxy. your second overlord can either go straight to the back of his base or you can be super safe and use it to look for proxies first and then shift rally it to his base. (some of this depends on map layout as you said). you don't need to scout tech until 6-7 minutes unless you spot a late expo
so i think you're trying to play way too safe. if you're drone scouting for proxies, you should just cover your main if it's a large main like habitation, then your natural, and then poke around the other most likely proxy spots. drone scouting your opponent's base is kinda acceptable/sometimes useful but not necessary in any matchup, so you can just send it home if you don't think you're being proxied.
overlords aren't going to guarantee finding a proxy even if you send them in the right direction, and it's more important in the vast majority of games to know your opponent's expansion timing. drone scouting for 11/11 is fine, 2gate is less common and not as strong but that's fine too if it's happening to you a lot in your league. you don't need to deny barracks to hold 11/11, that's just you getting really lucky and pretty much autowinning. most likely you could benefit more from just learning how to hold proxies rather than trying too hard to scout them
ZvT - 15 hatch and 16 pool, get at least 4 lings out as soon as pool finishes to deal with early reapers. Roach Hydra is becoming very popular against almost all compositions. I only go ling bling against PURE Marine Maruder Medivac, and sometimes Bio/Mine. BatMan (Hellbat/bio) takes a lot of banelings to fight though. Get mutas, keep up production if he seems to be a player that drops to harass a lot. Anything with Mech heavy or mine heavy composition can be fought with Roach Hydra. It does surprisingly well against bio units these days with good upgrades. this is all true but i think you're making it sound like roach hydra is standard and superior. at top level play people are still almost overwhelmingly using ling bane muta against any form of terran bio. i'm not trying to discourage roach/hydra, but someone who's been gone and is asking about the meta should get accurate answers
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double psot by mistake, sorry
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On May 04 2014 03:26 Waise wrote:
... this is all true but i think you're making it sound like roach hydra is standard and superior. at top level play people are still almost overwhelmingly using ling bane muta against any form of terran bio. i'm not trying to discourage roach/hydra, but someone who's been gone and is asking about the meta should get accurate answers
This is correct. At my play level, in ZvT, this is working very well. If you are higher than mid diamond it may not work as well, or at all. Good point here.
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United States248 Posts
On May 04 2014 02:35 LordYama wrote:
Can someone comment on the best methods to scout for cheese like 11/11rax bunker rush and proxy 2gate in ZvT and ZvP?
I have my first overlord sweep through the natural and the "normal third" and then to the back of the enemy base for tech scouting later. I have the second overlord sweep through the "alternate" third before sending it to its final destination which varies depending on the map. I will send my scouting drone through the "alternate third" and then usually have it hit whatever watchtower is closest to me before sending it to the enemy base. I try to have both these overlords cover the areas that are close enough to the natural that they are likely proxy locations, and the third base locations are among the most common sites.
I suppose you could just go earlier to the opponent's base and if you don't see anything there assume there is a proxy, but it doesn't give you a chance to snipe workers building rax etc. Can anyone comment on improvements I can make to the scouting patterns, or other tricks they use?
Hey Yama! This is the first time I've seen you outside of the stream :3
The best methods to SCOUT for these things would be something like a 12 scout (I really my 10/10 drone when I do this, it spawns as you start your 11/12th eggs). However, you definitely do not need to scout That Hard for those particular cheeses, those are more designed to counter greedy openings and if you open more conservatively you'll hold no problem.
ZvT vs 11/11 bunker rush:
15 hatch 15pool will be able to hold this with good micro. I use my first overlord to go right to my opponents natural, and my second OL pathed through my natural > behind my opponents main. You can make this take a bit longer on its way over and scout some common proxy locations if you're extra worried about it on bigger maps
ZvP vs proxy 2gate:
15pool 16h holds this easy peasy. If the gates are in your base (heh) then you are forced to scout them and attack them going up or you lose. You can set up your OL to scout in your base before going to your opponents bases or you can just retask like a 15th drone or so to check around your base just to eliminate any proxy IN BASE possibilities.
Ultimately these things come down to control if you are still having trouble with them after opening standard. I'd post a replay or practice those aspects that give you the most trouble (like abusive bunker positioning, etc)
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United States4883 Posts
On May 03 2014 13:53 Frankie Teardrop wrote:Show nested quote +On May 03 2014 12:27 SC2John wrote:On May 03 2014 08:52 Frankie Teardrop wrote:
When playing ZvP, my preferred strategy is to do as much damage in the midgame with lings, roaches, and hydras as I can -- if not win outright -- before the Protoss gets out too many colossus/HT.
What I want to know is when and how many evo chambers to make. What I do, and what I see a lot of players doing, is to make a single evo around the time Lair starts, and research +1 ranged attack ASAP so it finishes at about the same time as roach speed. However, when I can't break the Protoss with just roach/ling/hydra, I transition into roach/hydra/viper, and I feel like in these types of situations where I have to play the late game, I would be better off if I had gone double evo earlier, and started +1/+1 ranged/carapace. That way when my vipers are ready, I can have 2/2 roach hydras. On the other hand, I don't want to weaken my early push by starting too many upgrades too soon, and not having enough roaches/hydras.
Any suggestions for evo/upgrade timings for Zergs who like to play aggressive, low tech styles vs Protoss? If you want to win on roach/hydra/viper, go double ups. Always think about what you're doing as part of your game plan and specifically, AT WHAT POINT do you want to win. If your goal is to win with a timing, you always want to play a little greedier earlier in the game; this is why you often seen players going for powerful 2-base allins in PvZ go FFE and play super greedy, etc. If you want to win with hydra/roach/viper, set yourself up to be as strong as possible at that point; everything in the game up until that point should be preparation for the strongest possible timing. If your goal is to, for instance, deny the 3rd base as much as possible between lings and roach/hydra while securing your own 4-base economy and buying time for hive tech, you would go single upgrades. This is because your advantage doesn't lie with your upgrades, it lies in your economy advantage and allows you to transition into either SH, Blords, or ultras, whichever one fits the situation. In that scenario, you might get a few vipers out for safety, but your main concern is going to be getting out your "tier 3 unit" out to fight the Protoss deathball. I hope this sheds some insight! Yes, absolutely. My goal is to win -- or at least severely cripple the Protoss -- by swarming him early on with low-tech units. I transition into roach/hydra/viper if I don't do enough damage to keep the pressure on with roaches, hydras, and lings. So since my primary goal lies in the early-midgame with low tech units, I would be better off going single upgrades? That is very good to know. Since I will only have time for one upgrade before my attack hits (usually between 11-13 minutes, depending on whether or not he harasses) would you recommend +1 ranged for increased dps or +1 carapace because it benefits lings as well as my ranged units?
Whether you get +1 attack or +1 carapace depends on your emphasis on lings, I guess. Focusing on the ling pressure -> roach ling -> hydra/roach/ling pressure would probably better fit into your "continuous low tech pressure" model, in which case +1 carapace makes a little more sense. Then again, you can also use ~30 lings to slow down the third base and buy time for extra economy and pump purely roach/hydra, in which case +1 attack makes more sense.
On May 03 2014 17:31 gumbum8 wrote:
So I have a question; more or less several questions.
When I'm against P, I find that I don't really know what to look for in scouting. I'm starting to get the hang of figuring out what things mean. Vs. T, it's easy to scout mech/bio/banshee early against the reaper opening, however I find that Vs. P I'm not 100 percent sure what to look for- especially against in base gate-core expands. I always feel the most vulnerable against these expands, because I know it leaves so many tech choices available to the protoss early, and I don't know what to look for or necessarily how to react. If I see a starport as a first tech choice, for example, how do I react? If I see a forge +1 early, how (and when) do I respond? And same for a robotics facility. Also, I'm starting to get that late natural gas means early aggression, but what are the timings behind that? When is "late", and what kind of composition can I expect? Zealot/Immortal?
I'm actually writing a guide on this right now to be released as a front page TL Strat article. To put it simply, you need to look at big windows of aggression an prepare for those (minute later for all FFE):
1) 6:00-6:30 is warp gate pressure
2) 8:00-9:00 are early all-ins/aggression (7-gate, 6-gate blink, mantrain, etc.)
3) 9:30-10:30 are standard 2-base all-ins (soultrain, +2 blink, etc.)
4) 10:30+ are delayed 2-base all-ins (usually 2-2-2 or all-ins AFTER phoenix opening)
Aside from these timings, the most pressure the Protoss will put on you is just little pokes with gateway units. This is why generally players get single gas at 3:00 vs gateway expand...they get ling speed out by 6:00, just in time for the first phase of aggression. From here, it's simply checking the front to check for 3 gateways vs. 2-gates/forge vs. early stargate, to constantly spotting for the third base, and sacking an overlord or two at 6:00-6:30 for a confirmation scout on the tech of your opponent. If you don't see any tech out by a certain point, you build blind spores to account for DTs and phoenixes (usually ~6:30). Oh, and also spotting for the natural gases of the Protoss is helpful too, but not nearly as definitive as it was in WoL.
Simply put, between all this scouting, you should be able to identify exactly what your up against, whether it's phoenixes into a fast 3rd, DTs into an archon/chargelot all-in, a soultrain or mantrain, or a later all-in like 2-2-2. Once you can identify what you're up against, you know the time you need to be prepared, so all you need to do is prepare accordingly at that time (i.e., cut drones at ~66 on 4 gases and pump nothing but roach/ling to defend @9:30). If you know the time the attack will hit, you don't need to worry about the response because it will almost always be the exact same response (i.e. cut drones @particular time on Q number of gases and start X unit and/or Y unit production).
If you want to post some replays, I'll be glad to go over it and give you more specific advice. Like I said, I'm working on a guide on this subject RIGHT NOW, so hopefully that will get released shortly in the future!
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