• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 16:39
CEST 22:39
KST 05:39
  • 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
[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: Within Reach5[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: In A Tizzy11[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Holy Diver5[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Rough Waters10[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Siren's Call8
Community News
SC4ALL: II SC2 Complete Invited Player Lineup3StarCraft II 5.0.17 PTR Patch Notes (Sept 30, 2026)61Weekly Cups (Sept 21-27): herO and ByuN double2Weekly Cups (Sep 13-20): herO scores triple3BSL Season 2313
StarCraft 2
General
StarCraft II 5.0.17 PTR Patch Notes (Sept 30, 2026) How do you feel about the mass reverts in the 5.0.17 PTR? Awesome/Confusing SC2 BM SC4ALL: II SC2 Complete Invited Player Lineup [Old] StarCraft 3 Reportedly in Development
Tourneys
Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20) 2026 GSTL Grand Finals Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond) SC2 INu's Battles#21 [ 3-Days tournament ]
Strategy
[H] ZvP Mid-Late Game: Stalkers Collossi HT
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Sweltering Sands [M] (2) Frigid Storage
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 545 And Drops and Rifts Mutation # 544 Double Trouble Mutation # 543 Enhanced Defenses
Brood War
General
JaeDong's ASL S22 Ro. 8 Review Bot on ladder Data analysis on 8 million games BW General Discussion Fantasy returning?
Tourneys
[ASL22] Ro8 Day 4 [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL22] Ro8 Day 3 [ASL22] Ro8 Day 2
Strategy
Cliff Jump Revisited (1 in a 1000 strategy) Replay Review Process - What do you do? Simple Questions, Simple Answers Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread General RTS Discussion Thread Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Total Annihilation Zero
Dota 2
Dota 2 Champions League Season 3 Begins April 25! Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread Artificial Intelligence Thread
Fan Clubs
Serral Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Diablo Animated Series on Netflix
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
Recent Gifted Posts
Blogs
[ASL22] Ro4 Day1 Ticket Giv…
bITt.mAN
Escaping Into Video Games: G…
TrAiDoS
38 yo Retired SWE loo…
PurE)Rabbit-SF
Can Bots Beat Pros?? Starcr…
namkraft
[meme] I finally understa…
LUCKY_NOOB
Regacy Esports:Our Goa…
regacyesports
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 9026 users

BOs: The Importance of Build Orders

Forum Index > Brood War Strategy
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
ShadowMaster
Profile Joined September 2004
United States238 Posts
Last Edited: 2004-10-29 06:38:51
October 29 2004 06:36 GMT
#1
This old post is unavailable due to an encoding issue. Please contact an admin if you would like this post restored for historical reasons.
Orome
Profile Blog Joined June 2004
Switzerland11984 Posts
October 29 2004 06:47 GMT
#2
I've been telling people to do what you summarized in 2 for years... GJ, I totally agree.
On a purely personal note, I'd like to show Yellow the beauty of infinitely repeating Starcraft 2 bunkers. -Boxer
MPXMX
Profile Joined December 2002
Canada4309 Posts
October 29 2004 09:37 GMT
#3
I think this year's WCG has shown how important build orders are. I'm sure the vast majority of the top 32 practiced their builds for the specific maps countless times. It can be seen as their macro and timing were exceptional at all times, nothing like what they display in online tourneys. And it's obviously wrong to say that they never try their best online, WCG is simply something they specifically practiced a lot for, something they had hopes for

The importance of build order depends on how much you can scout, however the higher the skill level is the further into the "psi" players are able to follow build orders. (and they do). I think players of the highest tier have build orders worked out until 10 minutes or so into the game, slightly situational of course. If your macro is excellent and you know exactly what you are aiming for every step of the way and how to adapt to what you find out about your opponent's intentions, just a build order is essential to the game in a competitive environments.

Recall oov's comment about the restarted game (vs nada?) ; he said they knew each other's build orders but did them again anyway because they practiced them so much. But, for a simple player, it is too time consuming to learn a build order that well when he doesn't even have a firm grasp of game theory. The build order beyond the opening is just another of the things that separates average players from good ones
RuGbUg
Profile Joined June 2003
United States2347 Posts
October 29 2004 09:53 GMT
#4
pvz is very dependent on your build order and how you play it.

and yes in the same way toss can control the zerg's build order very strongly
anguish: its like that time i asked my bestfriend who happened to be black if his dick was bigger than mine anguish: he got angry anguish: and told me i was racist and gay
ShadowMaster
Profile Joined September 2004
United States238 Posts
October 29 2004 11:56 GMT
#5
On October 29 2004 18:37 MPXMX wrote:
I think this year's WCG has shown how important build orders are. I'm sure the vast majority of the top 32 practiced their builds for the specific maps countless times. It can be seen as their macro and timing were exceptional at all times, nothing like what they display in online tourneys. And it's obviously wrong to say that they never try their best online, WCG is simply something they specifically practiced a lot for, something they had hopes for

The importance of build order depends on how much you can scout, however the higher the skill level is the further into the "psi" players are able to follow build orders. (and they do). I think players of the highest tier have build orders worked out until 10 minutes or so into the game, slightly situational of course. If your macro is excellent and you know exactly what you are aiming for every step of the way and how to adapt to what you find out about your opponent's intentions, just a build order is essential to the game in a competitive environments.

Recall oov's comment about the restarted game (vs nada?) ; he said they knew each other's build orders but did them again anyway because they practiced them so much. But, for a simple player, it is too time consuming to learn a build order that well when he doesn't even have a firm grasp of game theory. The build order beyond the opening is just another of the things that separates average players from good ones


Thanks for an excellent post. I wonder if you're right about them knowing the BOs that deep; personally, I think that sounds a little extreme. The game isn't old enough for that yet.
Nal_Testie
Profile Joined April 2004
Canada1257 Posts
October 29 2004 12:04 GMT
#6
A bunch of little things amount to one big thing.
Everything matters.
Everything.
The fact that we have flamethrowers means at some point someone said to himself - Gee I sure would like to set those people on fire over there but im just not close enough to get the job done, if only I had something that would throw the flame on them
AznSkillz88
Profile Joined July 2003
52 Posts
October 29 2004 12:04 GMT
#7
well they have to train and practice for hours to prepare for a certain matchup on a certain map. and they train for a lot of hours before their actual game so i think that they would know the timing. they would only have to know how to react to what their opponent does. and this game is pretty old compared to other games
Blue(o.O)Berry
IA-Taiyoushin
Profile Joined October 2004
United States33 Posts
October 29 2004 12:25 GMT
#8
On October 29 2004 21:04 Nal_Testie wrote:
A bunch of little things amount to one big thing.
Everything matters.
Everything.


so true. in ZvZ, most of the time the winner is the one who makes the least mistakes during the game.
AMD_STorM
Profile Joined July 2004
China50 Posts
October 29 2004 12:27 GMT
#9
can show some pics?
I love Sinky, I love STAR, I love Boxer
RuGbUg
Profile Joined June 2003
United States2347 Posts
October 29 2004 13:40 GMT
#10
On October 29 2004 21:04 Nal_Testie wrote:
A bunch of little things amount to one big thing.
Everything matters.
Everything.
just because you think you're badass doesn't mean you gotta start getting all chuck norris on us. do you think it matters if i jammed d-d-d-d-d for my very first drone?
anguish: its like that time i asked my bestfriend who happened to be black if his dick was bigger than mine anguish: he got angry anguish: and told me i was racist and gay
NeverTheEndlessWiz
Profile Joined November 2003
Singapore827 Posts
October 29 2004 13:50 GMT
#11
to me (as a terran player), a build order is fixed with minor changes to suit the game
e.g
TvZ 2 rax academy ->fact -> port -> ebay
if lurker add fact addon, 4 tanks and 1 dropship
if muta add sc fac, 2 vessels and irradiate

its like you make the same buildings (base) but make diff units out of them (specific)
Retired Brood War player / WCG SG Top 8 for 2002, 2003, 2004, retired, then made minor comeback to Top 8 at 2008. 2009 = bleh xD
pheered.user
Profile Joined March 2003
United States2603 Posts
October 29 2004 14:46 GMT
#12
On October 29 2004 22:40 RuGbUg wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 29 2004 21:04 Nal_Testie wrote:
A bunch of little things amount to one big thing.
Everything matters.
Everything.
just because you think you're badass doesn't mean you gotta start getting all chuck norris on us. do you think it matters if i jammed d-d-d-d-d for my very first drone?


i was thinking the same thing but chuck norris kicks my idea in the ass :O
Looking for Skilled players to join an Active, Involved clan. PM Me for Details.
PtL)ZerG
Profile Joined October 2004
64 Posts
October 29 2004 15:25 GMT
#13
cooooool !
Just one Of those PatheicGamers
ToKoreaWithLove
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
Norway10161 Posts
October 29 2004 16:08 GMT
#14
Impressive post Shadow. However, I think zerg/terran is a lot more controllable than classic play has led us to belive. Just take a look at all July vs oov games, esp the ones from the bo5 in last OSL. July refused to play defensively and oov suddenly realized his whole knowledge of tvz was reduced to nothing when facing a totally different opponent.

And to answer your post. I've been playing this game a long time, and its prequel as well. I don't think memorizing build orders is worth anything in general play. You can pretty much feel when you should build stuff anyway. For example, if I see a VOD with a cool strat I can pretty much duplicate the strat later after trying it a game or 3.

What is more important is a game plan. Knowing what you want to do, how you want to kill that pesky opponent, what grades to get for later use.

ModeratorFather of bunnies
RuGbUg
Profile Joined June 2003
United States2347 Posts
October 29 2004 16:31 GMT
#15
i was gonna argue some more just for arguments sake but TKWL is so hot
anguish: its like that time i asked my bestfriend who happened to be black if his dick was bigger than mine anguish: he got angry anguish: and told me i was racist and gay
j-man
Profile Joined August 2004
United States153 Posts
October 29 2004 17:42 GMT
#16
i think the most important aspect of knowing build orders is being able to relate them to strategies or intended strategies. For example in a TvP you see the toss put down 2 gates, cycore w/range and a healthy supply of pylons you expect that he wants to mass up some units before moving on to higher tech or expanding. Or probably the easiest example, if you scout a zerg with 1 hatch a very early -soon to be completed pool and 3 larva sitting around, you can damn well expect to find lings on your doorstep in the near future. Likewise you need to know what builds work best to support the strategies that you are going for.

In that regard i think it is much more important to know the strategies and effects of different build orders than simply knowing what to build and when to build it.

Fignuts!
zero89
Profile Joined September 2004
United States295 Posts
October 30 2004 01:23 GMT
#17
hmm im a newbie at sc
can anyone explain me what is "opening"?
Cause everything is nothing, and emptiness is in everything. Cause reality is really just a fuct up dream...
Yarertz
Profile Joined February 2003
Djibouti1891 Posts
October 30 2004 02:12 GMT
#18
OMG you dont know what is opening?;/
StarCraft : 26.IX.2001 - 8.XII.2004 (1167 days) R.I.P [`]
ShadowMaster
Profile Joined September 2004
United States238 Posts
October 30 2004 02:52 GMT
#19
On October 30 2004 10:23 zero89 wrote:
hmm im a newbie at sc
can anyone explain me what is "opening"?


In general, I define the opening as that phase of the game before both players have expansions.
IntoTheWow
Profile Blog Joined May 2004
is awesome32282 Posts
October 30 2004 02:57 GMT
#20
It would be your starting building choice and how soon or late you choose to do them.

example:

You can make Barracks as a terran at 10 supply or go fast expo at 14 supply and a barrack later on.

It depends in the choice your opponent had. And thats the main importance of scouting.
Moderator<:3-/-<
1 2 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 1h 21m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
UpATreeSC 146
ProTech138
JuggernautJason74
StarCraft: Brood War
White-Ra 185
Dewaltoss 103
Hyuk 69
Bale 18
League of Legends
Doublelift1790
Counter-Strike
fl0m1470
Fnx 780
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King93
Heroes of the Storm
Grubby4713
crisheroes966
Khaldor965
Liquid`Hasu640
Other Games
summit1g7137
FrodaN2344
shahzam403
KnowMe377
XBOCT329
C9.Mang0188
ArmadaUGS130
ZombieGrub43
Trikslyr31
CosmosSc2 21
Organizations
Other Games
BasetradeTV269
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream48
[ Show 13 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH362
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• FirePhoenix7
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• masondota2746
Other Games
• imaqtpie845
• Shiphtur287
Upcoming Events
OSC
1h 21m
CranKy Ducklings
13h 21m
Online Event
14h 21m
FEL
19h 21m
AI Arena Tournament
20h 21m
BSL: Ladder Tournament
22h 21m
Sparkling Tuna Cup
1d 13h
INu's Battles
1d 15h
herO vs Classic
Percival vs Rogue
BSL Open Qualifier
1d 22h
BSL Open Qualifier
1d 22h
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
2 days
Afreeca Starleague
2 days
Rush vs Light
WardiTV Weekly
2 days
Monday Night Weeklies
2 days
Afreeca Starleague
3 days
Soma vs Soulkey
INu's Battles
3 days
SHIN vs Cure
ByuN vs Zoun
PiGosaur Cup
4 days
The PondCast
5 days
INu's Battles
5 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-09-30
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Calamity Invitational

Ongoing

ASL Season 22
Super Anchor Qualifying S3
CSL 2026 AUTUMN (S22)
Acropolis #5
Stake Ranked Episode 4
1win Private Club #1
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual

Upcoming

Acropolis #5 - GSB
Acropolis #5 - GSC
BSL Season 23
SC4ALL II: Brood War
BSL 23: Non-Korean Championship
HSC XXX
Stellar Fest 2: Lunar Cup
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
Custodian Cup
Copium Cup
PGL Major Singapore 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 6
BLAST Rivals Fall 2026
IEM Beijing 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
1win Private Club #2
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
ESL Pro League Season 24
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.