The PiG Daily - Thinking critically about SC

Most of my show notes were handwritten and in shorthand so they wouldn't mean much to you guys, but here's the build-order, at least where I'm up to at the moment with it.

TvP Oracle into blink-disruptor

14 pylon
16 gate + probe scout
16 gas
17 gas
19 pylon
@gate - core
@core - SG + adept + moco
29 pylon at 3rd base (checking if ebay block)
@SG oracle
@400minerals nexus
Robo + stalker
twilight --> blink
2-3 more gates
~55 supply 3rd nexus
Forge + 4 more gateways

Replay of Snow Diamond Player macroing
5:30 and 8:00 - benchmark
46 drones, 8 lings, 1 hydra, 3 queens
1-1 ⅓ done. Hydra den upgrade almost finished
0 creep spread
Vs
72 drones, 4 lings, 3 queen, 4th base started, all 6 gases mining.
+1 15% done
7:45
21 hydra, 28 lings, 2 lurkers, 62 drones
+2 range 35% done
Vs
13 hydras, 5 lurkers, 71 lings



Replay of Snute macroing
5:30 and 8:00 benchmark



Look at when the gas is taken in both games
Explain the builds/steps they’re taking
Just walk through how they get to the benchmarks
Obviously Snute makes less errors/mistakes, but in a passive game the difference really isn’t that huge. The big disparity that we find is due to the difference in structure - namely how the mineral/gas balance is prioritised in the earlygame


Here’s the issue:

Too much gas, too early
Not enough minerals, not using that 3rd base!
Initially faster tech/upgrades, but not using it effectively

So Why are people going for gas so much?

That’s how you used to play most of the time in WoL and HoTS:
People haven’t adjusted to LoTV yet - they’re building the faster 3rds but not making good use of them

Fear of certain problems
Phenix
Liberators
Fear of 1/100 losses - things like liberator range which players should only adapt to when it’s very popular in the meta - don’t change your whole build for super rare tactics!
They want to rush out hydras or mutas to make the defence EASY. But they’re sacrificing way too much economy when simpler options are available: Spores/queens, ravagers, and only later get the FULL easy response unit, once you can afford it.

Is it ALWAYS bad to go gas and tech up so fast?

No, a completely valid way of playing
Have to USE the tech immediately and LEVERAGE your investment
Economy can transform into any area of the game,: Army, tech, upgrades
FLEXIBLE, ADAPTIVE, REACTIVE
Tech/upgrades can’t be used for anything except a very narrow specific use
If you rush mutas - you need to go do damage with them
If you rush roach speed and upgrades, you need to go do damage with them

Too many players are rushing tech and upgrades, but have no set plan of how to leverage them to get an advantage over their opponent.
Not basing the rest of build/plan around the fast tech to make the damage happen
Sitting on upgrades/tech until opponent catches up/has response ready

Ok, so you want us to be greedier and build more economy, but we still need to scout and react/adjust when we scout timing attacks coming right?

Not greedier!
Just more focused on building our economy to what we want to achieve in the game!
For macro: Just change the balance of minerals/gas
BENEFIT: more mineral mining, more drones because less extractors, evos, later lair etc.
You can absorb harassment much easier and it’s OK to take damage
Many players I see get WAY behind when they take even a little damage with these tech builds
With stronger minerals you can bounce back so much easier!

Example:

5:00 into the game:

Tech player has gone for a faster lair, evo chamber and up to 4 gases. He is at 45 drones.

Economy player has just 2-gases and started her lair and evo chamber later. She’s on 55 drones

A helion runby comes into the base and kills 8 drones.

The tech player is knocked down to 37 drones total.

The eco player is knocked down to 47 drones total

Obviously 47 drones can recover faster than 37 right?

Yes. But the difference is actually greater, especially if they were all mineral drones that died.

The eco player is mining from only 2 gases, he still has 41 drones mining minerals.

The tech player is mining from 4 gases, he has 25 drones mining minerals.

The difference is HUGE.



QUESTIONS! ASK NOW With the @x5_PiG tag and I’ll answer them at the end!

Ok so what should we do differently in simple terms?

If you’re doing a tech build:

Make sure you base your whole build around gaining an advantage with that tech.
Maybe just a squad of mutas at a set timing then back to eco - but make sure you put a lot of focus into getting those mutas out fast and harassing your opponent

If you’re playing economy:

Have a set benchmark of drones before you add more than 2 gases
Try saturating your 3rd base completely (16+ drones on minerals on all 3-bases) then going up to 6-gas all at once
Make sure you delay Lair until after 4:00 in most games
If you go single evo chamber, drop it at 4:30 earliest. 5:00 for double evo chamber
Get used to defending PROBLEMS with a minimal change to your build.
Rely on basic units - roaches, lings, ravagers, queens and spores are the answer to 99% of your problems in the first 7 minutes of the game!
You can build more of all of these by default, even if you’re not sure pressure is coming because your mineral count will be so much higher - and still get a sick economy at the same time

I’m T or P, should I be adjusting too?

I mostly notice zergs making these errors, but some T and P do too

In general follow the same rules!
With fast tech - always aim to get damage done with it! Make sure you put focus on leveraging that advantage!
In macro - focus on delaying gas on your natural until it is nearly saturated, and do the same on your 3rd.
Always search for the smallest change or refinement in your build to answer a problem, don’t look for the hard-counter or EASY defence option.

ANSWER QUESTIONS!

Outro!

Giveaway!

Intro:

Weirdest game of DH Tours. Dismissed as a dumb strategy by most players, yet Guru came very close to beating the eventual champion. Mindless, gambley, dumb? Well let’s break it down and actually try and understand exactly how it works - not just dismiss it with elitist labels.

Load game - Lock on cam

Very DIFFERENT economic and tech-choices by guru
Guru plays with very little gas
SUPER high drone count

But:
The night is full and dark of gambles, it’s a legitimate choice
It’s a style that will probably never work vs perfect play but no-one has EVER played a perfect game of Starcraft
The smallest mistakes can be punished suddenly and absolutely with this style
Guru has room for error - he can mess up 5 fights in a row as long as he gets the 6th one right


So how does it work?

Mass hydra ling bane lurker
Hyper-mobile
The fastest damage output of any mid-game composition in the game
Ridiculously powerful if it can surround the enemy force - could kill a toss army instantly
All light units - no bonus damage for immortals
Fast-moving front running lings and banes set off the immortal shields early so it wears off often before the rest of the battle even begins
Incredibly high damage output, yet fragile units - can’t force their way into chokes, especially vs splash damage - but will always win a basetrade!
Countered by storms and forcefields
However these abilities are only good at defending from one direction
If showtime comes out too far and gets flanked he might get crushed very suddenly

Cost-inefficient, but Guru’s economy is built around allowing that
He doesn’t lose his hydras too often, and often has 20 dishing out damage from behind
He goes up to 90 drones.
Typically we see a 70-80 drone economy in ZvP. That’s using 8-gases though.

Maths
8x3gas = 24 gas drones. So 80-24 = 56 mineral drones
Vs
5x3gas = 15 gas drones. So 90 - 15 = 75 mineral drones

Pretty big difference! And keep in mind often players only have 70 drones, so in that case it’s 75 drones vs 46.

Guru often sits at over 4kminerals harvested/minute. That’s 160 lings he can build EVERY MINUTE


Why was this so difficult for Showtime to play vs?

Different to what he’s used to playing against, makes him play differently, forces him to be on his toes:
Outside the Meta:
No practice vs this
Forces him to play very different to his normal style
Has to be super patient
If his army is ever out of position it can be surrounded and crushed in an instant - Showtime needs to stare at his army and map much harder than vs a more regular army
Has to be super careful with his workers - Guru can afford to trade vast amounts of units to kill workers and be ok with the trade -

Pinned Back
Guru has so much damage output (pure hydra-ling, + banes to crash through walls
Guru will win a basetrade easily and has so much money to spare he could build an endless spine forest
Showtime can’t risk taking any trade unless it’s VERY good, because guru’s on his side of the map looking for the trades, even if showtime wins a fight, guru can reproduce so much easier.
The risk of counters and basetrade, inferior economy and being surrounded by a hyper mobile army


Questions!


Summary: Overall Showtime play a very crisp mid-game, slaying so many zerg armies. But at a point he leaves a few too many opportunities for Guru to get damage and Guru’s whole style has allowed him to absorb those bad fights and bounce back, whereas Showtime’s damage is much harder to recover from.

What should showtime have done differently?
Locked down his bases even more, walled off cannons, wall-ins where necessary, dt warpins, archons or whatever
Scout more and not be in such a rush to get tempests since there were no broods on the way - it was great foresight and he should have been able to get them AND protect his economy, but it didn’t need to be so high on his priority list
Potentially build a prism to put some counter-pressure on
Maybe trade off immortals and go for a lot more archon-templar and start pushing through guru - the immortal chargelot was struggling

How does this style help me understand the game if I never use it? What if I’m Terran, how do I apply this knowledge?

This same situation can be seen across all matchups. At its core it’s just a high damage, high mobility, heavy-mineral army, facing off against a higher tech and “better” quality army that costs a lot more gas.
The mobile army has more units that deal more consistent damage overall, but it lacks tankiness, splash damage, etc etc.
So it could be the same sort of army for showtime vs mass bio, PURE MM like Maru used to do. Where the toss looks unstoppable in a front on fight, but if Maru finds the holes and strikes the economy he can knock them over very suddenly.
Likewise a heavy chargelot/archon style pvt or pvz - it’s super mobile and hard hitting, but gets rekt by defensive mines, infestors, broods etc. But if it can find the openings with prisms etc it can tear the slower “higher quality” army apart.

Conceptual summary:

Mobility and high damage = you can afford to build a bigger economy because your army is better in the open, better in the basetrade
The Higher-tech, higher quality army has to be patient and defend very well, locking down all the bases and waiting until it’s so high quality it can actually move out and fight in the middle of the map