• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 11:43
CET 17:43
KST 01:43
  • 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] Finals Preview: Sweet Victory!12[ASL22] Ro4 Preview: Mirror Mirror6[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: Within Reach5[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: In A Tizzy11[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Holy Diver5
Community News
Weekly Cups (October 19-25): Clem triples first in 5.0.175Evil Geniuses - shutting down21ISSL (IntoTheTV x SOOP SC2 League): Premier7Weekly Cups (October 12-18): 5.0.17 era begins1[$1250] International ShieldBattery League99
StarCraft 2
General
How do you feel about the mass reverts in the 5.0.17 PTR? No more SC2 streamers on team liquid? Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book 5.0.17 Patch Notes - October 7, 2026 Evil Geniuses - shutting down
Tourneys
ISSL (IntoTheTV x SOOP SC2 League): Premier Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament RSL goes to London! 2026 Offline Finals Nov 21-22 RSL 2026 Offline Finals LCQ Sign-Ups
Strategy
[H] ZvP Mid-Late Game: Stalkers Collossi HT
Custom Maps
[D] the control group Simple Questions/Answers [G] How to playtest arcade maps [A] Nemrods 1/4 players
External Content
Mutation # 550 Graveyard Shift The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 549 Endless Sparkles Mutation # 548 Shining Bright
Brood War
General
Top Players of October 2026 (EBPD Rankings) BW General Discussion Rollback Netcode in Brood War Sagi.gg Launcher Released Mathematicians needed to calc "Low Econ Epicness"
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues 2v2v2v2 Tournament Stage 1: Community Poll [IPSL] IPSL Winter 26-27 Ro24 is HERE! [$1250] International ShieldBattery League
Strategy
50,000-Word Terran Builds Memo 2026-10-22 Cliff Jump Revisited (1 in a 1000 strategy) Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Deus Ex 3!? Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Armies of Exigo - YesYes?
Dota 2
Dota 2 Champions League Season 3 Begins April 25!
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
Russo-Ukrainian War Thread US Politics Mega-thread The Chess Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
Fan Club Resource Thread Reynor Fan Club The Flash Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
Recent Gifted Posts
Blogs
Why I built Repalyzer (1.1.…
BlueStar
Innovate or Game Over?
TrAiDoS
ShieldBattery on Mac
Kraekkling
[ASL22] Ro4 Day1 Ticket Giv…
bITt.mAN
Can Bots Beat Pros?? Starcr…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 9766 users

Any love for the Lurker Builds?

Forum Index > Brood War Strategy
Post a Reply
Jaevlaterran
Profile Joined April 2012
Sweden578 Posts
September 07 2012 00:59 GMT
#1
So, I was considering some of the lurker builds vs T. Are they out of fashion or why do I never see anyone going 2-3 hatch lurker?
Is 3 hatch lurker effective in macro games?
About the 3 hatch lurker, does it work as an alternative for 3 hatch muta? How "solid" is it?
Need a light?
Pucca
Profile Blog Joined January 2012
Taiwan1280 Posts
September 07 2012 01:07 GMT
#2
On September 07 2012 09:59 Jaevlaterran wrote:
So, I was considering some of the lurker builds vs T. Are they out of fashion or why do I never see anyone going 2-3 hatch lurker?
Is 3 hatch lurker effective in macro games?
About the 3 hatch lurker, does it work as an alternative for 3 hatch muta? How "solid" is it?

I've done a 2 hatch Lurker build against Terrans on iCCup before I was winning 4 of every 5 ZvT's I played. More or less it was because its all lin and they don't expect it because its D Ranks. I just don't know how violable after the C- and up ranks.
Master Chief
Xiphos
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
Canada7507 Posts
September 07 2012 01:26 GMT
#3
Watch JulyZerg vs FBH on Sin of ChupYung.

As for my personal favourite is to go 2 Hatch Lurker into 3 Hatch Mutalisks.

3 hatch have a stronger economy but a slower transition. Try doing 3 Hatch+ 1 Carapace Lurker/Ling into either Hydralisk/Lurker composition vs Mech plays or Hive for Bio.

2014 - ᕙ( •̀ل͜•́) ϡ Raise your bows brood warriors! ᕙ( •̀ل͜•́) ϡ
FlaShFTW
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
United States10602 Posts
September 07 2012 01:30 GMT
#4
pros still use 2 hatch all ins so i guess works at A+ level xD

3 hatch lurk is only if ur not confident in ur micro with mutas watsoever. ive used it sometimes, it just feels weird. i mean u still need to go scourge anyway to deal with vessels.

some pros have gone for a fake muta. so they'll plant their spire somewhere and their hydra den in another. usually which ever one is scanned, they go for the other one. if it so happens both are scanned, then they choose either one.

since all pros are confident in muta micro, they all prefer the 3 hatch muta over 3 hatch lurker. you can deal econ damage and mutas are really annoying anyways.
Writer#1 KT and FlaSh Fanboy || Woo Jung Ho Never Forget || Teamliquid Political Decision Desk
TL+ Member
13Julia
Profile Joined November 2004
Canada231 Posts
September 07 2012 01:48 GMT
#5
It's good and solid, you can rotate both strats and they're simillarly effective. It's viable up to A, in the end it all comes down to control and understanding what you play, that is more important. 2hatch is fine too ^^
SatelliteNoodles
Profile Joined June 2011
220 Posts
September 07 2012 02:20 GMT
#6
I do 2/3 hatch lurker 60% of my ZvT's... Fake 2 hatch muta---> 2 hatch lurker is quite fun to do too! Mind games lol.
GIVE ME COMMAND... - Yell0w ­­­
Xiphos
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
Canada7507 Posts
September 07 2012 02:57 GMT
#7
Oh yeah to the SBWI guy on the top, by the way thanks for that.

You can actually proxy a hatchery on the map and use the creep to hide a tech structure for a special surprise.
2014 - ᕙ( •̀ل͜•́) ϡ Raise your bows brood warriors! ᕙ( •̀ل͜•́) ϡ
Birdie
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
New Zealand4438 Posts
September 07 2012 03:43 GMT
#8
I find 2 hatch lurker to be effective all the way up against C-/C, although I'm only D+ at best. I haven't tried it against better players though, but it seems a pretty solid build and once you get the economic damage done, even if you don't outright win you can normally take a third while busting his nat and either macro up or tech to defilers or go mutas, it's a nice opening piece to have in your arsenal.
Red classic | A butterfly dreamed he was Zhuangzi | 4.5k, heading to 5k as support!
ninini
Profile Joined June 2010
Sweden1204 Posts
September 07 2012 04:12 GMT
#9
Mutas can harass and stall. Lurkers can just stall. In theory, muta builds are just superior in every possible way, but in practice it depends on how good your muta micro is, and how well the terran can deal with lurkers. I can't see any other reason to go lurkers first, than to drop a massive lurkerling bomb on the terran ball, and then finish him off. Compared to going mutas first, your force will be bigger (although so will his), and you will have a greater chance of disarming his 9 min push, before he reaches your base. This mass lurker style works well against low level terrans, because they don't have the apm to deal with it, but the moment that you play a good terran, he will peal off your lurkerling army little by little and then walk all over you, because your defilers are delayed. Lurker builds are pretty lame for this reason. They are builds that strictly targets lower level opponents. That's why lurker builds are common among D rank players, and non-existent among progamers. It's a bit like fast reaver builds in PvT. Progamers negate it so easily that it's not even worth trying.
asiantraceur
Profile Joined April 2012
United States94 Posts
September 07 2012 04:26 GMT
#10
1 Hatch Lurker Rush :D Love to do this even though it doesnt work that often xD
SC:BW
puppykiller
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
United States3137 Posts
September 07 2012 05:13 GMT
#11
3 hat lurker works fine on iccup.
Why would I play sctoo when I can play BW?
Release
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
United States4397 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-09-07 06:08:42
September 07 2012 06:08 GMT
#12
2 hatch lurker drop is king at D/D-.

They always leave; no gg, no re
☺
don_kyuhote
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
3007 Posts
September 07 2012 08:45 GMT
#13
On September 07 2012 11:20 SatelliteNoodles wrote:
I do 2/3 hatch lurker 60% of my ZvT's... Fake 2 hatch muta---> 2 hatch lurker is quite fun to do too! Mind games lol.

This gives me nightmares...
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Djagulingu
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Germany3605 Posts
September 07 2012 10:56 GMT
#14
I only do a lurker build as a fake muta. If I somehow see that he made a stupid amount of investment in turrets, I just don't make mutas. Once it was 10 turrets, I just threw down a hydra den and didn't make mutas.
"windows bash is a steaming heap of shit" tofucake
TheShimmy
Profile Joined January 2011
United States1808 Posts
September 07 2012 11:36 GMT
#15
On September 07 2012 11:57 Xiphos wrote:
Oh yeah to the SBWI guy on the top, by the way thanks for that.

You can actually proxy a hatchery on the map and use the creep to hide a tech structure for a special surprise.


Mind games.
Hyvaa #1 Fan. Gogo STX, Dear, Bogus, Classic, and Mini! Always a BW fan!
Jukado
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
805 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-09-07 11:45:11
September 07 2012 11:39 GMT
#16
Heres an example of 3 hatchery Lurker.
Jaedong vs Paino.
Jaedong goes 3 hatchery before pool, but Piano makes cc before barracks.
Jaedong gets evolution chamber, then spire, then hydra den.
Piano uses a vessel build.

Star Tale Public Domain project. Maps: (2)Gates Of Memphis, (2)Marshmallow Toast, (4)Bubbles, (4)Clay Fields, (6)Numbskull Desert. Also the Vaylu Public Domain Tileset. Also Ramp Palettes, Brood War guides and some fun stuff. Links in my profile
Djagulingu
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Germany3605 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-09-07 12:36:28
September 07 2012 12:36 GMT
#17
On September 07 2012 20:39 CardinalAllin wrote:
Heres an example of 3 hatchery Lurker.
Jaedong vs Paino.
Jaedong goes 3 hatchery before pool, but Piano makes cc before barracks.
Jaedong gets evolution chamber, then spire, then hydra den.
Piano uses a vessel build.

+ Show Spoiler +
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r45ynR4RU-4

It's a very specific example though. Fast vessel build is very good against mutas first and equally as bad against lurkers first.
"windows bash is a steaming heap of shit" tofucake
vOdToasT
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Sweden2870 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-09-07 14:13:24
September 07 2012 14:09 GMT
#18
On September 07 2012 13:12 ninini wrote:
Mutas can harass and stall. Lurkers can just stall. In theory, muta builds are just superior in every possible way, but in practice it depends on how good your muta micro is, and how well the terran can deal with lurkers.


I find lurker first to be difficult unless the Terran doesn't realize you're doing lurkers first, because he can just stand outside your natural and kite you all day long. With mutalisks, you threaten counter attacks, which lets you expand. With his SCV scout, he can determine when he needs to scan. And if he then scans at good times, he WILL know that you are going lurkers. If he scans to see that you are not saving larva, that's a tell. If you are saving larva and you make 9 hydralisks at once (lol) he can still scan when the mutalisks would come out of the eggs, and see hydralisks. At this point he can simply move out to kite your army and keep you from getting a third base up.

Maybe you could open with 9 pool to get lings out on the map, and get two hydralisks early and send them to your third, along wtih a drone, then morph them as soon as lurker aspect is evolved. You need to buy time for your third somehow. Perhaps speedlings could accomplish this, since Terran needs a critical amount of bio units to make zerglings ineffective. Before then, he'll be scared of a ling surround as soon as he leaves, and also counter attacks.

If you can deal with the problem of the Terran not being scared of mutalisk counter attacks, and get your third base up in a timely fashion, then it's viable. Just remember to get scourge for dropships and vessels, and have your overlords spread out in good positions.

Or you could go 2 base lurker into fast defiler :D


lolol

+ Show Spoiler +
Just kidding.
+ Show Spoiler +
Or am I???????????
If it's stupid but it works, then it's not stupid* (*Or: You are stupid for losing to it, and gotta git gud)
Pulimuli
Profile Blog Joined February 2007
Sweden2766 Posts
September 07 2012 14:41 GMT
#19
When i played BW i hated lurker builds since i usually went for late tanks and very marineheavy at the start. It raped muta builds but were alot harder vs something like 2 hatch lurker
kade
Profile Joined March 2011
94 Posts
September 11 2012 02:07 GMT
#20
2 base lurker to hive rush with no spire is very good, especially in this era where fe is the most common tvz build
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 17m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Lowko582
RotterdaM 112
StarCraft: Brood War
Calm 4042
Shuttle 1855
Jaedong 1340
Bisu 959
Mini 476
Larva 339
Light 291
Snow 231
hero 169
firebathero 129
[ Show more ]
Stork 117
ggaemo 89
Hyuk 78
sorry 62
Terrorterran 30
Killer 25
ToSsGirL 24
Aegong 21
HiyA 19
zelot 19
Yoon 17
scan(afreeca) 17
Bishop 15
Hm[arnc] 13
Sacsri 12
yabsab 9
Dota 2
qojqva2244
Cr1tdota1843
syndereN415
BananaSlamJamma302
PGG 189
420jenkins185
monkeys_forever171
Counter-Strike
pashabiceps1543
ceh9371
x6flipin275
edward24
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King153
Heroes of the Storm
Liquid`Hasu2088
crisheroes530
MindelVK14
Other Games
singsing2379
Liquid`RaSZi1348
B2W.Neo1295
hiko878
Beastyqt835
Livibee187
Liquid`VortiX183
ArmadaUGS130
TKL 99
QueenE82
Organizations
Other Games
WardiTV421
StarCraft 2
TaKeTV 16
StarCraft: Brood War
lovetv 7
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hui .265
• Adnapsc2 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Laughngamez YouTube
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• HerbMon 38
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• C_a_k_e 4005
• WagamamaTV663
League of Legends
• Nemesis3716
Other Games
• Shiphtur568
Upcoming Events
Monday Night Weeklies
17m
Replay Cast
6h 17m
Rogue vs Classic
Patches Events
20h 17m
PiGosaur Cup
1d 8h
Kung Fu Cup
1d 18h
Replay Cast
2 days
The PondCast
2 days
KCM Race Survival
2 days
IntoTheTV X SOOP
4 days
Reynor vs Solar
ByuN vs SHIN
Clem vs MaxPax
herO vs Rogue
WardiTV Invitational
4 days
[ Show More ]
IPSL
5 days
WorsT vs nOmaD
Dewalt vs andersOn
IntoTheTV X SOOP
5 days
WardiTV Invitational
5 days
IPSL
6 days
Azhi_Dahaki vs ggnore13
Double vs WIZARD
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-11-01
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
HCC Season 3

Ongoing

Acropolis #5
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 4
International ShieldBattery League
BSL Season 23
IPSL Winter 2026-27
CC Div. A S8
IEM Beijing 2026
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
1win Private Club #2
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
ESL Pro League Season 24
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

Upcoming

1xBet Invitational
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
BLAST Bounty Winter 2027
eXTREMESLAND 2026
PGL Major Singapore 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 6
BLAST Rivals Fall 2026
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.