EPT+ Show Spoiler +
- Top 25Master Zerg in North America
- Played Zerg since beta
Nothing too outstanding, but I'm sure without posting this, there would be inevitable accusations about my personal level.
Now that the pleasantries are out of the Way, let's get right down to it.
Overview - Build Development concepts
Deciding on Passive/Aggressive Game play - Factors to Consider
- Map specific advantages (examples like open natural on Metalopolis, close air spawns, open thirds that are easy to deny)
- Player tendencies (in tournament settings or if you get paired vs the same player on ladder multiple times) IE. Taking advantage of particularly greedy players, or scouting more aggressively vs. typically cheesy players.
- Racial meta game trends, for example if you notice most Zerg players are trying to hatch first in ZvZ due to minimal early aggression, one can consider incorporating more early pool builds (anything before 14/14)
As most of us know though, deciding what you want to do is only the tip of the iceberg. The real battle comes down to executing the build, which leads us into the meat of this guide, the development section.
Build Development - Passive
Passive game play equates to sacrifice early pressure in order to saturate 2 bases, ideally before making any attacking units (save for scouting Zerglings), while absorbing aggressive play styles with the most minimal amount of defense.
Mini-Guide: Base Saturation:
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- 16 drones on minerals is optimal
+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/uV8H0.jpg)
Pressing Ctrl + Left clicking on drones at an optimally saturated base with 2 gases being harvested shows 2.5 rows of drones; 16 on minerals, and 2 on each gas, with the third being concealed within the geyser (indicated by red squares in reference picture) - 17-24 drones on minerals increases income yet yields diminishing returns
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As seen, even with only 20 drones on minerals(4 less than maximum saturation) a couple drones are noticeably wandering around, waiting for the next available mineral patch. With maximum saturation this only becomes more severe. - 24+ drones offers no additional income
+ Show Spoiler +![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/4Sz8k.jpg)
It is very simple to point out an over saturated base for two reasons: Firstly, you can see excessive drones wandering between patches, and secondly, if you press Ctrl + left click the drones at the base, we notice that there are multiple pages of units selected. Based on our knowledge of saturation, we know any more than 24 drones are useless, and since a single page shows 24 units (8 units per row x 3 columns) we know for a fact that there are too many drones at this base.
Since passive, macro centric play is geared towards saturating two bases as quickly as possible and securing a third for additional money, it's best to aim for optimal income. This is because after reaching 2 base saturation, 300 minerals will yield you the potential for 22 additional drones to harvest optimally (16 on minerals, 3 on each gas) if you invest it into a hatchery, as opposed to 6 drones, which will only add diminished income to your 2 base play.
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Some aggressive 2 base play styles might require additional minerals to execute effectively, but the timing would suffer from investing in a hatchery and waiting for it to finish. So in those cases sub optimal harvesting would be more beneficial, but we won't get into that right now.
Obviously, when playing this style, many people are aware that not all players will simply let you saturate two bases and allow you to stroll into the mid-game. Here are some harsh truths listed below, listed in spoilers to allow for mental preparation.
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- You WILL get all-inned
- You WILL get pressured
- You WILL get cheesed
This is an inevitability for all players, and these are variables that HAVE to be dealt with while playing this style, or you will simply get run over.
While this may seem like an obvious point, it's very easy for players to get into a dismissive mindset and brush these losses off as just another “noobie cannon rush” or what have you. The fact of the matter is, you didn't prepare for it properly, which equates to poor knowledge of the situation, which equates to poor scout timings.
Mini-Guide: Developing Scout Timings:
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- Begin by executing your build blindly, with no scout timings whatsoever.
- Take notes on every push that hits before your unit production kicks in at your 2 base saturation mark. Look for the following details:
- What time the push hit
- What infrastructure was required to execute that push
- Worker allocation. Were workers cut? Was gas taken at a seemingly very early time? Does this build require 2 early gas?
- How many of each unit were involved in the attack
- What time the push hit
- After losing to pushes like these, refine your build to account for them. Check replays and be aware of when the push hits. give yourself a good 1-2 minute window where you will be able to scout and prepare for it appropriately.
- If you repeatedly scout a particular build and still do not have time to prepare for it, you should look at your macro carefully, and provided your production is tight, consider getting that scouting information earlier
- Conversely if you handle a push too easily, consider being more greedy with your scout timings
Secondary to developing scout timings, the art of macro play for Zerg is the ability to defend aggression not only without suffering economic losses, but also with the most minimal amount of units possible.
Reference:+ Show Spoiler +
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/lkUE0.jpg)
This is a very easy ability to develop, and simply falls under the category of replay review. Once you defend a 4gate for example, go back and look at the engagement. Did you really need that second spine? Did you have units in production after the battle was essentially won? These are all integral questions to ask yourself as a macro Zerg player, and will increase your economic advantage after defending pressure dramatically. Because every pair of Zerglings you didn't have to make to defend a push could have easily been a drone instead.
Notice in the reference tag, there is a screenshot of myself versus some random scrub in a custom. He's pushing into my third, and I've pretty much got it on lock + Show Spoiler +
cause I'm a boss
Even though I held the push, I produced 8 more roaches than were necessary. That's a fair chunk of change. Imagine if those would have been drones, an expansion, upgrades, or a faster hive. Any of those options would have been infinitely more useful right then and there over 8 roaches
And that does it for the guide to passive zerg build development! Take a break, get some popcorn, take a bathroom break, because here comes part two.
Build Development - Aggressive
Aggressive game play equates to sacrificing early economic advantages in exchange for map control, punishing excessively greedy play, and blind countering early aggression from your opponent.
The Approach: Aggression as zerg can be approached in two fundamental ways; preemptively or reactively
The Preemptive Approach: Sometimes there is a deciding factor before the game begins that dictates your decision on wanting to be aggressive early on. These factors include (but are not limited to):
- Playing a game in a series after a string of long macro games or after losing to aggression yourself
- Being paired on a map that either favors aggression or you feel would result in you being at a disadvantage going into the mid-game or beyond
- Exploiting current meta-game trends (either a current racial/map specific weakness in opponents, or attempting to mitigate a current statistical weakness of your own race)
The Reactive Approach: The more popular, and often times more affective type of aggression one might employ in their strategic arsenal is reactive aggression. This type of aggression is provoked based on two key factors:
- Scouting information
- Personal meta-game information based on said scouting information
What I mean by this is simple; you can't see a one barracks fast expand for the first time in your life and know exactly how to break it. You need multiple personal experiences against a build in order to know how to exploit it. As we all know, there's one sure fire way to learn from our mistakes, and that's: Replay analysis
Replay Analysis and Developing Aggressive Builds
The crux of developing reactive aggression is the simple fact that it has to be based off of a solid build. Since you're developing your aggression to be a specific reaction to information you get in game, the build simply becomes a variation of a build you have already developed.
Procedure for Replay Analysis Regarding Aggressive Build Development:
- Begin watching the replay with a purpose (ex. Exploiting a one barracks fast expand before their economy kicks in and army size is minimal)
- Write down all significant unit counts and their corresponding timings (ex. First marine @ X:XX, etc.)
- Note telltale build timings. These will be used as indicators of scout timings in build development, allowing you to smoothly transition into aggression.
- Note spawn locations and exploitable terrain
- Determine the absolute latest time your army can arrive before production kicks in, or they acquire the desired tech they're rushing to.
Procedure for Aggressive Build Development: Now that you have gathered sufficient information to the point where you know what you're trying to exploit and you know the time frame and maximum army size you'll be working with, it's time to get down to the nitty gritty.
Playing Against the Clock: You know exactly what you're up against, so it's time to figure out two things:
- What you need to make
- How to fit the “What” into the “When”
All this means is you figure out the bare minimum of what you need to kill your opponent's army, and make that happen in the time frame you provide for yourself in replay analysis.
Things to Consider:
- Play a standard game one time and just look at your own timings, and see what you have normally at the time frame you wrote down. This is often a good place to start in developing your aggressive build as you simply begin peeling off your unnecessary economy in favor of attaining your desired army
- Once you have your benchmark, simply begin cutting drones and dropping your tech buildings where you see fit.
- Take note of when you drop your tech buildings. While this is aggressive play, the goal is always to be as economically optimal as possible. As such, you should be aware of any time your tech idles. (ex. Making a roach warren to do early pressure, and even though you get the appropriate amount of roaches to hit your timing, your warren was idle for one minute before making any roaches). All little timings such as this should be refined to the point where they should go down as late as humanly possible without interfering with your desired push.
Transitioning Out of Aggression: One of the toughest things for many people implementing aggression is what comes after. Some people simply want the game to be over, and that's all fine and well, but if you want to have a matured, developed aggressive play style, you're going to want to have follow ups.
Here's a quick list of potential follow-ups to aggressive play:
- Using your aggressive timing to facilitate aggressive expansion while your opponent is busy trying to defend.
- Exploiting a tech option that can potentially be much stronger due to an excessive commitment to defend the pressure. (ex. Say you opt for early roach pressure and your opponent techs heavily into immortals. A two-base Mutalisk timing could be very potent in this situation)
- The All-in option: Continue doing what you're doing and hope to break your opponent with sheer willpower.
Choosing a Follow up option should be done with several factors in mind, including (but not limited to):
- How affective your aggression was (obviously if your opponent handles your aggression with minimal losses, further aggression is almost suicidal. Conversely, an under-commitment to defense should be exploited)
- How you scout your opponent adapting to your aggression(Scouting static defense to defend aggression would optimally be met with aggressive expansion and droning, while defending with a robust unit composition might encourage a tech switch)
- Always keep in mind what your original strategy was. Often times converging your aggressive response back into your traditional macro-centric build will put you farther ahead than trying something cute.
Closing Thoughts:
So yeah, that's my guide. Hope you liked it everybody. Again, just to clarify, I made this guide specifically for Zerg as some of the ideas I express in it are very Zerg-specific, but there are plenty of concepts Protoss and Terran players can take from this and apply to their own build development.
Thanks for your time, and let me know what you think!
