Zerg 1v1 Plat Div, 10 Pool Theory

currently im like 12th ranked platinum, workin hard to go further but from what Ive learned and experimented with is 10 pool, drone, lord, mix and match the rest tends to be the best beginning BO than anything.

Ive tried many different variations but not only in 1v1 but also 2s/3s/4s this strat typically allows you to either build defense or offense right off the bat, quicker than your opponents.

If you try to get a 13 pool or anything other than a 10 pool, you will be dead to any other zerg player that does this correctly. either dead or far behind, not many terran or protoss players would be able to fend it off but i could imagine a good protoss or terran blocking one in quickly with a few marines+.

Since I've played 1v1s, I was placed in gold, really had no problem with zerg or protoss opponents, but mainly terran would be the problem. I'd try everything, read up everything, and still no avail. My strats vs every comp will be as followed, dont know how many care to read it but maybe someone will.

Zerg: 10 Pool, Lord, Drone, 6 Lings, Send them to check his defense, could be a kill or large economic gain after (Killing 3+ Drones equals out your lings). When lings are finished, go Queen+Drones, pumping either defense or offense depending. I've found roaches/hydras tend to be the quickest way to succeed. You can easily control the match with upgraded masses of lings.

Protoss: Scariest factor here is a void rush, always fending off zealots with roaches, lings just dont cut it for me. I typically never baneling as well since ive found it harder to go to banelings than rather tech up and have that available the remainder of the match. Mass roaches/hydras/lings if you want and that will more than likely be a kill. Problem is getting to hydras +Roaches when he has void rays...cuz you will get zealots. Always check if he goes stalkers though, seems to be a lot of the ways of the toss in platinum.

Terran: Hardest comp, Same strat 10 pool blah blah. Dont have to build all 6 lings, just like 4 to check if he walled/keep them at expansion to see when he does it. What ive done successfully so far has been mutas+upgraded lings, seems to be the best counter for MMM which is like all they do. Thors are a ***** though, i recommend a ****tt load of lings if it comes to that. You can more times than not break the game with a well timed expansion and control of the match with speedlings asap.

Hope this helps some players, From any other build order you can do this. But you can easily become hit by gateways built in base/bunker outside. Best to be safe. And this build allows you to do that. If any disagree, feel free to post. Good luck all.

 

I too have a lot of problems against terran as zerg. They always wall off...so the earliest legit push I can get is off roaches, but their range leaves much to be desired, and by the time I get hydras, they've got siege tanks raining down by their wall. I try to make enough speedlings/hydras/spine crawlers to hold off any sort of major push they bring, while expanding as much as possible while keeping them turtled off one base. I'll try to nydus inside their base after lair tech, but they often see it coming. About 90% of my wins against terran are with an end-game broodlord push (4-8). I only win against terran maybe a third of the time tho (top 10 in a gold league)...z v z is pretty easy to rush against since most good players 13/14 pool. I usually go 14 pool/15 hatch against toss and terran, which works except when I get some bunker cheese or the like. Your build protects against that, but for how often it happens (maybe 10-15% of the time?), not sure if its worth the early game economic hit you take.

 

Though i'm somewhat new, couldn't you upgrade roaches with burrowing along with tunneling claws? I've seen that used against terran with somewhat good effect, depending on the situation of course. The player would set up they're economy and then develop 6-10 roaches with that, and just harrass the other players economy and then just disappear and burrow to another site within the base, and wreak some havoc, and repeat

 

The reason why 14/15 pool is so popular is because you don't have to stop any worker production to get the pool.

With 10 pool, you stop worker production for the pool + Ovie and have to take out some of their workers to just be even in worker count. I don't have any objections to this build however, since it gives you more time to prepare for rushes.

 

If you'd be up for it I'd like to test your theory that 13/14 pool will lose to another zerg. I'm still trying to gear back up for competitive play (being able to kick back and relax for customs like battlecraft has made it hard for me to get motivated again), but this is something I'd like to experiment with. I still think 13/14 pool can easily fend off anything but 'cheese' rushes, and that the economic loss to a player 6 pooling will be greater than the damage they do to someone 13/14 pooling.

edit: also note that killing 3 drones does not necesarily equal your 6 lings. You need to look at comparative minerals harvested/invested (e.g. building/ovie count, etc).

 

no doubt i will take a bit of a macro hit with this build but not a big one none the less. if you go 13/14 pool, ill have 6 lings in about the time it completes. I forgot to say i typically do an extractor 11/10 during my first lord to give me alittle bit more of a push. If i get 6 lings in before you have a queen or any lings, you will have more than 3 drones dead. with the push i give many zerg or protoss players with just those 6 zerglings, allows me to do whatever i like. If i see he pushed gas and only 1 gateway, easily push it to hydra before he has a good mass to get me with. When you get hit with 6 lings quick you do 1 of 2 things, make a huge army to swarm me or defend up. while i already have a queen, massing my production value, and quickly getting a lair. Problem that most zerg have against protoss or even some zerg is that they get to gas so early sometimes, this will negate that and put you in the more dominant position.

In no way am i saying the 13/14 pool isnt worth it because i can def see it useful. I just feel the early stability of a pool/queen early push/heavy scout lets me do manyyyy things. I've studied my graphs and a couple replays, mostly against really solid zerg i encounter in 1s or any other comp i do. Most of the time i tend to not see a big difference with economy. You may be able to push better minerals during that time but once my queen pops and i have 2 sunkens in the back, ill easily be able to mass up some drones for production and start my heavy offense.

@Anti: Dude I used to go roaches/hydras/lings to try and handle terran since that typically works majority of the time and i have the easiest conversion to that since i already have lings 2 minutes in or so. I seriously out expanded a terran, had a massive army of ground, and still couldnt handle siege +thors in NO WAY whatsoever. I thought hey best bet would be to push brood lords since they can push me so hard and thors (i used to think) destroyed mutas. but thats what you need. You need mutas/lings for terran. any Solid terran you will have to use that somewhat in what you do. Ive tried banelings, but any good terran will see that coming and just turtle even more. Sure you can get a door down but only to say hi to 4 thors and 5 siege with massive marines. Zerglings with upgraded speed maybe +melee upgrade and a ****LOAD of them. +Mutas and you will be successful. If you used correctly, will swarm your opponents and be able to smother them enough to win it easily. Thors are the problem though, if you have a masssss of lings, you will win.

 

Like I said, I would be interested in testing it.

The rushes I've defended against don't seem to come early enough to be able to "pay off". By the time the lings arrive I usually have my own queen/spine crawler/lings at least in the queue and I'm able to get the better deal out of the outcome by simply running my drones around like a bastard until my units finish building, only engaging in feinted harassment with my drones when the lings try to do something like take out the pool.

btw, you almost had me typing "sunkens". This is SCII dammit! Get off the old skool terminology

 

like, by no means is this supposed to be a continuous rush of lings, just enough to push you off your mins for a bit, just to slow you down. If you have every drone off your line for 8 seconds...thats a lot of money lost, but it also has you in a defensive mode. I could already be getting gas by that time as well, meaning a sooner lair which puts most ahead if your not in a defense position.

 

I'm not sure of the actual statistics, but I'm sure if you rushed someone who 14 pooled, and they ran around for a full minute with their drones, and stopped your rush, they might still be at an economic advantage. Not to mention they'll still have more drones than you if you didn't kill off too many, as well as a spine up for additional defense. Then their queen is out, ling rushes aren't as effective, and you're in an economic hole. Early rushes are risky because if you get stonewalled against a decent player, they'll take advantage of their better econ and run you over

 

speed banelings even's out the game for me against terran, speed lings for protoss, and more banelings vs zerg

i do a 12 pool 14 hatch, if its a big map, i do a 14 pool 15 hatch.