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[PiG Strategy Articles] A Zerg Build for Beginners

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
8 CommentsPost a Reply

[PiG Strategy Articles] A Zerg Build for Beginners

Text byTL Strategy
Graphics byNixer
May 10th, 2017 16:07 GMT
The PiG DailyA Zerg Build for BeginnersNotes on ImprovementScouting and Staying Safe



PiG Daily Articles




Welcome to the PiG Daily strategy article! The PiG Daily is a show by Jared "PiG" Krensel that focuses on StarCraft 2 strategy and becoming a better player. We've joined forces to create an article series that summarizes his dailies into short, digestible articles that provide insight on builds, tactics and game sense. By combining with Spawning Tool, this series will bring you the most comprehensive learning experience for build orders and strategies.

How to use Spawning Tool

We highly recommend using Spawning Tool in order to follow the basics of these builds. The PiG Daily and our strategy articles will serve as supplementary guides to understand the subtleties behind each decision.

On this episode, we take a step back and offer some advice for beginners.

Link to the Spawning Tool Build


A Zerg Build for Beginners






Learning so many builds for the different matchups can be difficult for newer players, and learning zerg is tantamount to learning how to adapt. However, this is a very safe and solid opening for beginners that works in all 3 matchups. It allows you to build a good economy and expand to 3 bases quickly. From there you can branch out to any composition you want.





As a beginner, your main focus should be learning the fundamentals of macro: constantly building workers, spending your money and not getting supply blocked. I talked about this in detail in Daily #16:





Basic Zerg Opening
17Spawning pool
17Hatchery
17Gas
@100% pool -> Build queen + 3 pairs of zerglings
Queue up a second queen before the first one finishes
Build a 3rd queen at the natural hatchery
@100 gas -> Start zergling speed
36Defensive Tech - Roach Warren or Baneling Nest (your choice)
44Take 3rd base (3:30-4:00)
50Lair, evo chamber, and 2x gasses



From here you can adjust and learn as you go. Choose which tech and upgrades to focus on. Learn how to build your economy from here naturally and enjoy figuring out the many details that will turn you into a great player!

Notes on Improvement



  • Information is one of the most vital resources in the game. Practice always sending lings to scout your opponent (and make sure to look at what you see!) and control the watchtowers across the map. This gives you early warning of attacks, or insight into your opponent's build.

  • Learn to control your first two overlords. They should head straight across the map and spot the areas around your opponent's base. Focus on trying to find your opponent's tech choice, which usually goes down before the 4 minute mark. Make sure to keep your overlords alive to keep your macro smooth.

  • Learn proper overlord placement. Finding a good high ground near their ramp is great for spotting buildings at their wall and incoming attacks.

  • Practice spreading your overlords around your bases. They can mean the difference between catastrophic damage and perfectly defending a drop.

  • Don't mindlessly build drones. If you see an attack coming, build units! But make sure to keep your macro going, especially larva injects.

  • Excess attention and APM should be spent spreading creep, not spamming hot keys.


Sorry, you don't have HTML5 video and we didn't catch this properly in javascript. You can try to view the gif directly: http://giant.gfycat.com/ImaginaryTangibleDove.gif.



Scouting and Staying Safe



  • At lower levels, you shouldn't expect your opponent to play as crisp and clean as the pros. Timings can therefore be a little variable, but here are a few baselines that you can keep an eye out for.

  • 3:00 - If your opponent hasn't expanded, then he's probably going to 1-base all in. Stop building drones and start building an army.

  • 4:00 - By this time, your opponent will have chosen his tech route or composition. Sacrifice an overlord to find out what he's up to.

  • Always send a zergling to their front. Most of the time, that's where there army will be hanging out. You can get a feel for how much stuff they have and react accordingly.

  • As a beginner, there's no need to try anything too fancy based on what you scout. At this level, it's all about learning when to drone and when to build an army. Learn how to control the map and see as much as you can.

  • If you're constantly worried about flying units or invisible units, just drop a few spore crawlers per base every game at 4:00. This is the earliest that good tech rushes can hit, so try not to play in constant fear. You can get away with getting detection even later if you scout properly and know what's coming.



Remember that there’s no absolute guide that will just make you win every game - your opponents are also intelligent people using all of their brain power to overcome you. Always look for areas to improve, always look to understand and experiment new units, styles or ideas in Starcraft. If you keep this critical and learning-focused mindset you’ll fall in love with Starcraft very fast. Gl learning the best and hardest game in the world!


Brought to you by the TL Strategy Team
Writer: PiG/TL Strategy
Graphics: shiroiusagi
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maitiky
Profile Joined November 2016
Czech Republic54 Posts
May 11 2017 09:18 GMT
#2
GJ PiG and TeamLiquid, this is perfect stuff for new players Simple yet covering the most important aspects of zerg play. Would be awesome, if you could make a similar guide/build also for T and P
"Riggs... I'm too old for this shit!"
PeppamintGaming
Profile Joined May 2017
2 Posts
May 11 2017 11:31 GMT
#3
This has been really helpful for someone getting back into SC2, It helps me just focus on my mechanics and not worry about timings or build orders too much.
lichter
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
1001 YEARS KESPAJAIL22272 Posts
May 12 2017 05:39 GMT
#4
On May 11 2017 18:18 maitiky wrote:
GJ PiG and TeamLiquid, this is perfect stuff for new players Simple yet covering the most important aspects of zerg play. Would be awesome, if you could make a similar guide/build also for T and P


Soon!
AdministratorYOU MUST HEED MY INSTRUCTIONS TAKE OFF YOUR THIIIINGS
Wolfthenoob
Profile Joined April 2017
3 Posts
May 12 2017 11:56 GMT
#5
Very Simple Guide, are you going to follow it up with advanced guides towards mid and late game transitions? or add the full spectrum of builds, counter builds and build order wins against specific strategies or style of play.

Styles like Turtle Terran or Turtle Protoss for Example, and how it would compare to game play styles such as Hyper Aggression demonstrated by players like 'Life' and how specific play styles or past play styles would fair for the current meta.

Id trust PiG for this project, he has the full broad range of knowledge and expertise on all races. His game analysis is always up to date and on point.
lichter
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
1001 YEARS KESPAJAIL22272 Posts
May 12 2017 15:51 GMT
#6
On May 12 2017 20:56 Wolfthenoob wrote:
Very Simple Guide, are you going to follow it up with advanced guides towards mid and late game transitions? or add the full spectrum of builds, counter builds and build order wins against specific strategies or style of play.

Styles like Turtle Terran or Turtle Protoss for Example, and how it would compare to game play styles such as Hyper Aggression demonstrated by players like 'Life' and how specific play styles or past play styles would fair for the current meta.

Id trust PiG for this project, he has the full broad range of knowledge and expertise on all races. His game analysis is always up to date and on point.


http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/sc2-strategy/521453-tl-strategy-spawning-tool-build-thread
AdministratorYOU MUST HEED MY INSTRUCTIONS TAKE OFF YOUR THIIIINGS
TyrianSC2
Profile Joined January 2012
Canada52 Posts
May 26 2017 04:37 GMT
#7
Seriously just want to give some star cred to the authors of this post. This is brilliant for beginners, and layers on the new skills just perfectly. Haven't played since HotS (I stopped playing around the time of the 2 hour stephano/scarlett swarm host battle) and just came back, switched over to The Core hotkeys. Naturally, I'm as noob as it gets right now, and the reminders of getting back to the basics and getting those hands familiar again is just stellar. Seriously. Well written. Have my internet cred.
JackPonting
Profile Joined February 2019
1 Post
Last Edited: 2019-02-19 10:33:41
February 19 2019 10:33 GMT
#8
--- Nuked ---
kaiaseamus
Profile Joined March 2019
3 Posts
March 13 2019 13:06 GMT
#9
--- Nuked ---
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