[Trick] Hold position workers - Page 6

On February 23 2012 06:38 darkcloud8282 wrote:
I thought everyone does hold position with their lings?

On February 23 2012 11:05 BoxingKangaroo wrote:
For those still not getting it:

The a-moved probe in the middle of the ball is key. Even though it doesn't attack the lings, it pulls the aggro. If the lings are on a-move, then they will attempt to get at that probe which they cannot do on account of the other probes on hold position.

Even though it doesn't attack the lings, it pulls the aggro. This is the novel part of this post and shows that you can help save your workers better when a ranged unit is not immediately nearby.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's how I see it.

On February 23 2012 11:23 Lumi wrote:


Hate myself for being so bad of a player that I would actually find myself in a situation theorycrafted by a silver league understanding of the game and its likely scenarios.

But seriously, what I would do is not have a bunch of probes hanging out at an undefended expansion. Nothing about that circumstance is plausible. Let's stick to reasonable scenarios and try to address the points I've made, because they refute the sense of this idea quite well. And look man, I'm not trying to be closed-minded and avoid things that would help me out in this game - that would be plain dumb. It just doesn't stand up to the points I've made.

And Kevin, do you know what rally commands are? And while you m ention one point that I just shit on, I provide a comprehensive host of reasoning on the matter, to which you pointedly did not, and presumably cannot address. I've gotta get out of here, I knew this should have been posted in the strategy forums that I so long ago learned to stay away from!

On February 23 2012 12:37 naux wrote:
the OP is just trying to help people out.. just because "some" people already know about this doesnt mean the other 90 percent do..

On February 23 2012 12:09 kevinthemighty wrote:


I do know what rally commands are. Your point being?

Your main point is that this is a "bad" idea, and your "host" of reasoning is limited to two points—the "minimal" effects of putting probes on hold position in regards to the rate at which they will die, and the tremendous amount of mineral time lost by putting them on hold position—both of which I explicitly addressed in my post. But seeing how you missed it, I'll restate it in more detail.

Your claim that this is only effective if your opponent is not looking is flat out wrong, as mentioned by Tyler/Nony and displayed in the OP's video. Only 3-4 probes are exposed at a time, meaning only 3-4 probes can be killed per hold position. Whether or not the Zerg opponent is looking has no effect on this.

And while your statement that this will adversely effect one's economy is completely true, the alternative you pose—that it would be better to just attack the lings with your probes—leads to an even worse outcome: the death of all your probes. Also, the amount of APM required to put guys back on gas is reduced by the fact that in hold position, the probes aren't moving.

Lastly, saying that this is simply silver-level theorycrafting with implausible scenarios blatantly ignores the high frequency of ling run-bys even in pro-level games. While it may be a simplified version of what takes place, to dismiss it as irrelevant in higher leagues of play is downright ignorant.

Believe me, with this kind of logic and flat-out arrogance, the void from your absence from the Strategy section on TL is not missed.

On February 23 2012 13:21 Lumi wrote:
Kevin, I'm a high masters zerg player and I'd love it if people did this. Where's your credibility coming from? And how do you address that this doesn't get done by pro players, ever, in any of those games where ling run-bys take place at the pro level? I hate to burst your bubble but this isn't some groundbreaking thought that's going to change the game. It's a basic abuse of very simple ai that many people understand would, could w ork, but that is just plain garbage. But I'll let every game of high level SC you ever watch do the talking for me, since you're not listening.