• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 12:17
CEST 18:17
KST 01:17
  • 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
Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2914Serral wins Maestros of the Game 243ByuL, and the Limitations of Standard Play3Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12
Community News
IntoTheTV X SOOP SC2 League : Weekly & Monthly4Clem: "I don't have that much hope in Blizzard"2ZeroSpace Early Access is Now Live!28Weekly Cups (July 13-19): Terran & Protoss rise; Zerg falters2Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16)93
StarCraft 2
General
Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16) How would you feel about frequent/monthly balance patches for SC2? Reynor: GSL Loss Wasn't About Preparation Format What's the best tug of war? Clem: "I don't have that much hope in Blizzard"
Tourneys
RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event PIG STY FESTIVAL 8.0! (13 - 23 August) IntoTheTV X SOOP SC2 League : Weekly & Monthly INu's Battles#18 - Cure, herO, Rogue & ByuN Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2)
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Industrial Park New Map Maker - Looking for Advice - Love or Hate
External Content
Mutation # 535 Assembly of Vengeance The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 534 Burning Evacuation Mutation # 533 Die Together
Brood War
General
BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion Recent recommended BW games screpdb: new Starcraft reporting tool ASL22 General Discussion
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues Star Con San Diego 2026 BSL LAN Party - Kraków 29-30 August - OPEN SIGNUPS Escore Tournament - Season 3
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers PvT advise for noobs Fighting Spirit mining rates Creating a full chart of Zerg builds
Other Games
General Games
ZeroSpace Early Access is Now Live! General RTS Discussion Thread Nintendo Switch Thread Path of Exile Diablo IV
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
TSM pausing esports and CLG Dead
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Power Rank TL Mafia Community Thread NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance
Community
General
European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Artificial Intelligence Thread US Politics Mega-thread How to buy a book - shipping from Korea to Europe
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club The HerO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread Series you have seen recently... [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread 2026-27 Football Thread placeholder TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Simple Questions Simple Answers FPS when play League Of Legend on laptop
TL Community
Northern Ireland Global Starcraft The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Games, Hormones, and "Dark" …
TrAiDoS
Hello guys!
LIN1s
ASL S22 English Commentary…
namkraft
Poker (part 2)
Nebuchad
An Exploration of th…
waywardstrategy
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 12059 users

[Q] Overlord Scouting Techniques

Forum Index > Brood War Strategy
Post a Reply
traceurling
Profile Joined December 2012
United States1240 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-03-03 18:11:41
March 03 2013 06:13 GMT
#1
Hey guys, so this has been something I've been planning on learning for a long time as Overlord scouting is a pretty small thing to do, but also very important, and a forum search turned up some info but not everything I wanted to know...So I was wondering if you guys could give me a quick lesson on how to scout with my overlord for each matchup properly, I know there are like rules of thumbs and minor tricks to follow...this is what I know so far...

General
-On (2) player maps, send the overlord to their natural to see if they're going early expo or not
-On (3) and (4) player maps, scout the main where your overlord will pass over their natural as it travels to the main

vZ
-If your initial overlord meets their overlord halfway or 3/4 of the way towards a main, they are there
-if your second overlord meets their overlord 1/4 of the way towards a main, they are there
-if possible, know where you should have vision of their creep so you can turn your overlord faster
-if you want to 12 hatch, send overlord to scout cross map on (4) player maps so your overlords won't run into eachother

vP

vT
-keep overlord outside their natural, don't lose it to marines.
-use second overlord to scout for bunker rush

Some things I don't understand
-In one of Day[9]'s Dailies, he analyzed a ZvP where the Zerg send I believe his second overlord to the middle of the map, Day[9] said something along the lines that by being in the center of the map, this overlord can reach any of the other 3 spawn locations really quickly...how is this beneficial why didnt he just scout another main?
-Why do some people (in ZvP) send their overlord to just outside their natural, I know it's in the hope they can see which direction the probe comes from, but does the benefits really outweight the costs?

That's all I know, are there any more tips and tricks and general rules? I found out the thing about scouting cross map when you 12 hatch from Bakuryu(I think it was him) commenting on one of Sayle's casts...I thought it was really cool and I was wondering if there were any other neat tricks...I guess I'll update the OP with what you guys say so other people can use this as a resource...
"Appreciate the things you have before they become the things you had."
Birdie
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
New Zealand4438 Posts
March 03 2013 06:30 GMT
#2
-Why do some people (in ZvP) send their overlord to just outside their natural, I know it's in the hope they can see which direction the probe comes from, but does the benefits really outweight the costs?

If you keep it at your natural I believe it's to watch for cannon rushing inside your mineral line, so you usually move it so that you can see the mineral line.

In ZvP (let's say you're bottom right, you send first overlord to bottom left) you send your scouting drone to top right anyway so you don't have to send the overlord there, you can send it to the middle instead where it can see proxy gates and can go to either top right or top left naturals quickly depending on what your drone and first overlord scout. So if your drone scouts top right and nothing's there, and your first overlord scouts bottom left and nothing's there, your second overlord is already on its way to the top left and you've also got a chance of seeing proxy gates.
Red classic | A butterfly dreamed he was Zhuangzi | 4.5k, heading to 5k as support!
Harem
Profile Joined November 2007
United States11393 Posts
March 03 2013 07:07 GMT
#3
They send it outside natural so that they know if they can 12hat safely or have to overpool if they see a probe. In addition, they know where the protoss is. Now, since every P will double scout assuming FE, you'll eventually start to be wary if you don't see a probe by x time, this means that you send that ovie through middle in case of proxy gates (or they are 1basing)

However, you can also accomplish this by drone scouting which arguably is even better on iccup esp with how much 1base and 2gate people like to do. Send that drone cross-map, first ovie to nearest nat ie fs bott left to top left and then second ovie to bott right.

Also for zvz, on maps like ground zero, if you are 9pooling then you send the first ovie horizontally. This is because lings will see their overlord as they see ramp. If they don't see ovie and your first ovie doesn't see them, then they are cross-spawn.
Moderator。◕‿◕。
Slayer_Chessi
Profile Joined January 2013
Czech Republic30 Posts
March 03 2013 11:26 GMT
#4
dont forget ZVT, when u 12hatch, u always got to place ovie infront of your naturl to see bunker making, on destination u preferably want to see if hes making bunkers early midgame behind the bridges too.
traceurling
Profile Joined December 2012
United States1240 Posts
March 03 2013 16:39 GMT
#5
Oh also, on a related note, when should I drone scout on ZvP? Ive been relyin on overlord scouts but I've seen good players drone scout...
"Appreciate the things you have before they become the things you had."
Bakuryu
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Germany1065 Posts
March 03 2013 17:31 GMT
#6
11th drone when u go overpool and 12th drone when u go fe.
traceurling
Profile Joined December 2012
United States1240 Posts
March 03 2013 18:11 GMT
#7
Should I drone scout every game or only in some games?
"Appreciate the things you have before they become the things you had."
Bakuryu
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Germany1065 Posts
March 03 2013 18:32 GMT
#8
u must have a reason to drone scout, otherwise u dont drone scout.
if u have a reason to drone scout, u can play safe by always drone scouting, or u play risky and dont drone scout.
FlaShFTW
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
United States10529 Posts
March 05 2013 04:54 GMT
#9
vP should be something like...
send to natural first before the main to see if they are forge fe, 2 gate aggro, or 1 base play.
Writer#1 KT and FlaSh Fanboy || Woo Jung Ho Never Forget || Teamliquid Political Decision Desk
TL+ Member
LRM)INF3cted
Profile Joined October 2012
Bulgaria242 Posts
March 05 2013 21:55 GMT
#10
They send it outside natural so that they know if they can 12hat safely or have to overpool if they see a probe. In addition, they know where the protoss is. Now, since every P will double scout assuming FE, you'll eventually start to be wary if you don't see a probe by x time, this means that you send that ovie through middle in case of proxy gates (or they are 1basing)

However, you can also accomplish this by drone scouting which arguably is even better on iccup esp with how much 1base and 2gate people like to do. Send that drone cross-map, first ovie to nearest nat ie fs bott left to top left and then second ovie to bott right.

Also for zvz, on maps like ground zero, if you are 9pooling then you send the first ovie horizontally. This is because lings will see their overlord as they see ramp. If they don't see ovie and your first ovie doesn't see them, then they are cross-spawn.


100% accurate.I have 2-3 secret overlord scouting in ZvZ but i can`t reveal it.Always scout whit drone and check proxy locations first.On maps like Ground Zero u can scout whit first overlord horizontally in ZvT match , just because your second overlord can safely fly over the natural and u get better position early in the game.
Play whit honor , die whit glory.
Freakling
Profile Joined October 2012
Germany1534 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-03-06 18:27:03
March 06 2013 18:26 GMT
#11
About ZvP drone scouting: You can also use your scouting drone to 3 hatch far expand to another nat, if you play standard.

If you send your ovi to scout your opponents main in a 3+ player map, it can pay off to not send it there directly, but directed a bit towards the middle, and then into the main in a diagonal angle, leaving your enemy guessing where it came from, but also delaying your scouting slightly, so this is most suited for builds like 12 hatch, where you are not going to be aggressive early, but need to be wary of enemy aggression.
It does not require additional micro, just shift-click the intended ovi path on the minimap. You also have to consider their scouting paths, of course, because your overlord could run into their scout. So this is somewhat map-specific.
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Platinum Heroes Events
16:00
PHSC2 Tour S26 Cup #6
RotterdaM105
Liquipedia
Online Event
15:00
Yamato Cup #7
killerbeecast28
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
ByuN 487
Harstem 311
elazer 170
RotterdaM 105
ProTech92
BRAT_OK 39
MindelVK 14
StarCraft: Brood War
Rain 2446
Shuttle 2373
EffOrt 877
Mini 819
Light 220
Larva 164
hero 153
JYJ 83
Mind 52
Free 50
[ Show more ]
Sharp 45
soO 39
ToSsGirL 33
Mong 31
Sexy 24
Shine 16
HiyA 16
IntoTheRainbow 15
Rock 14
zelot 12
yabsab 10
firebathero 0
Dota 2
Gorgc4484
420jenkins1394
Dendi1309
Counter-Strike
fl0m4833
byalli859
Heroes of the Storm
Khaldor474
Liquid`Hasu469
Other Games
B2W.Neo1608
singsing1605
Mew2King101
ArmadaUGS90
Livibee55
Organizations
StarCraft 2
WardiTV843
TaKeTV 202
angryscii 11
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• StrangeGG 45
• Airneanach7
• IndyKCrew
• sooper7s
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• FirePhoenix17
• Michael_bg 4
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
League of Legends
• Jankos1896
Other Games
• WagamamaTV338
Upcoming Events
WardiTV Weekly
18h 44m
Sparkling Tuna Cup
1d 17h
INu's Battles
1d 18h
Cure vs herO
ByuN vs Rogue
PiGosaur Cup
2 days
The PondCast
2 days
Kung Fu Cup
2 days
Patches Events
2 days
Replay Cast
3 days
CrankTV Team League
3 days
Replay Cast
4 days
[ Show More ]
CrankTV Team League
4 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Afreeca Starleague
5 days
RSL Revival
5 days
ByuN vs SHIN
Solar vs Lambo
WardiTV Summer Champion…
5 days
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
RSL Revival
6 days
Clem vs Serral
herO vs Rogue
WardiTV Summer Champion…
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

ASL S22 SEASON OPEN Day 2
HSC XXIX
Eternal Conflict S2 E3

Ongoing

CSL 2026 Summer (S21)
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
RSL Revival: Season 6
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
SCTL 2026 Spring
Eternal Conflict S2 Finale
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S3: W5
ASL Season 22: Qualifier #1
ASL Season 22: Qualifier #2
Acropolis #5
CSLAN 4
ASL Season 22
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
HSC XXX
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
PiG Sty Festival 8.0
Light Tournament 2026
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
Logitech G Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #5
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 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.