Zerg Strategy Discussion

The opener strategies are on the first page of this forum. The #/# is the amount of food (supply) you have currently being used. If it says "9pool" you are essentially at 9/10 food and you should create your Spawning Pool at that point to stay true to a build order. I hope this message helps you understand. Welcome to StarCraft 2! :]

 

I just tried the 15Hatch/14Pool/13Gas/17Overlord strategy. I got an achievement called 'Fast Expand - finish an expansion with a Hatchery, Nexus or Command Center in under 270 seconds.'

And not only that, I was able to defend against a Protoss Zealot Pressure build (which is two gateways, and chronoboosting Zealots outwards to overwhelm the Zerg). I'm very happy with this build. I recommend it on larger maps.

P.S. I won with Speedlings. Nothing but Speedlings, that's how many I was able to create with this build.


On a smaller map, I would 13Pool/14Gas/15OL/15Queen and scout the enemy frequently to avoid getting proxied or cheesed. This build can go directly into Speedlings or Roaches or Lair Tech. Versatile.

 

Nice, i'll give it a try tonight (not only to earn that achievment tough).

PS: i like speedlings

 

Give it a whirl, even if it's your first time making a fast hatchery! It teaches you the feel for an economic macro build. You may or may not like it, but it's great on larger maps. I tried it more than once and I found that a Roach transition would most definitely be appropriate. Roach/Hydra or something.

EDIT: Also, if you're doing an economic build like this, scout with your 9Drone, just incase of something cheesy.

 

Micro Strategy

Hey everyone, I've a micro question for you.

I was curious as to how you guys controlled the different units when in a battle. Do you sent all your zerglings to one macro, the hydras to another, etc., or something else? I'm starting to get the hang of macro, but I still feel like most of the time I'm just grouping a large group of mixed units and throwing them into the mix.

 

Sometimes I have a mixed control group, but yes I also have several separate control groups for different unit types, and sometimes separate ones for different flanking groups (e.g. baneling group 1 and 2).

I would consider this a kind of um, "macro-micro", since you still will be selecting individual units or small groups to issue other commands too separate from the control group, if that makes sense (e.g. dancing a group to the back, or manually breaking up a control group of zerg/banelings to different targets, etc).

 

Ah okay, that's what was I was thinking. I've been trying to practice using different control groups with muta harass on 2v2 with a friend vs AI, sending one small group of mutas to attack this mineral, the other group to attack the other, and bouncing back and forth to deal with issues. It's been giving me good practice with dealing with more than one situation at a time on the map, and controlling groups without actually having them on the screen.

(Now if I could just get the hang of continuing to build units and spawn larva while doing all this, I think I'll be in a good spot!)

 

You can also hotkey buildings so you can make more units, etc w/o having them on screen.

My guess is you probably already knew that, but on the off chance you didn't it is a pretty important thing to know

Now actually remembering to build those units, well that is what good macro is all about.....practice, lol.

 

What would work against a collosi-stalker-army (with some zealot support) as collosi rule out hydras and stalkers apparently do well against roaches? Are speedlings an option? Or should I just mass roaches?

 

I got steamrolled by just that combo 2 days ago and I had hydras and infestors, unfortunately in hindsight, I probably should've gone for some mutas or corruptors and speed banelings... any surprise attack was ruled out by at least 2 observers in the fray which even with detection I wouldn't have been able to spot hence the speed on banelings. Might not have worked, but for the cost of all those hydras I would've had an insane number of banelings... some would've got there with a nice flank, as I saw them coming thanks to my tumours. That doesn't sound right lol.

 

I'm helpless against this strategy, some stalkers, zealots plus 2 colossi and I loose.

 

This page has been revamped! Check out Page 1!

CHANGES:
I made it more clear which builds are to go for against certain races.
Seperated the 1v1 strategies from the 2v2 strategies.
Revamped the color-coding of what to look for.
Removed the "old strategies" list as they were from Beta testing.
The Roach build has been revamped to match todays patch notes. It now correctly states to make more Overlords. (I have been lazy, but am now spending my energy into making this post very clear and up-to-date).
I updated my signature.
I changed my avatar.
I now check this forum daily.

 

According to IdrA ultras (with lings) are the appropriate answer to collossi-stalkers.

 

Hey great job EmpyroN. Definitely a good thread. Thanks for all the helpful advice keep it up cutie

Update: Just made it into top 50 Platinum league as Zerg with a new build order I got from this thread Thanks again.. Playing Terran ain't so bad anymore!

 

@domanz
According to Heidegger, Lings + Ultralisks would do the best vs. Collossi and Stalkers.
Ultralisks and Collossi both cost 300MIN and 200GAS. Stalkers cost 125MIN and 50 to 75GAS... Stalkers do well until you gain Speed for your Roaches. But against Speedling, Stalkers are helpless. They just simply get outnumbered.

@Heidegger
That does make a lot of sense. What you said 'clicked' in my mind that that would actually work. Corrupters do well against Massive units, but Ultralisks also do extra damage vs. Armored. Ultralisks would Tank AND DPS more units than a Corrupter would be able to.

The lings with speed would make microing hell for the Protoss player. Collossi cannot outrun Speedlings. Stalkers can only blink every 10 seconds and even if they do blink, Speedlings catch right up as if they haven't. xD


@CaptnSpankey
You're welcome, CaptnSpankey, I sure love helping people out with the Zerg. They're a difficult race to master and I'm trying to make it more clear or easier to understand for others.

 

Two new strategies have been added on the 1v1 strategies section of the first page of this forum topic. They are the bottom two on the 1v1 list. One specializes in ZvT and the other for ZvZ.

 

So what's the best strat to counter Terran going Marines Maruaders? That crap is so freakin stupid. Way too easy and cheap to mass that up and even worse on a small map when its easy to just set rally and spam marines.

 

generally, i'd look to go some sort of baneling combination into mutas...I think that tech path makes fundamental sense and there is a lot of potency about it early on, particularly defensively. Maybe that's a false sense of security but I've found success with it. It gets messy once medivacs are in play, and you really need mutas for map control an dshutting down the drops, but otherwise I'm a fan of that solution.

I have been going corruptor/mutas against colossi strictly because I've found that many protoss players will eventually get void rays and I need to counter that anyway. They are addicted to those stupid white lines...lol It's funny how predictable it is too. Thank you whiteRa.

 

Are you implying Protoss players all snort coke?

 

GOSU TIP:
Mutalisks are actually very good against lone thors. Just don't attack them directly, clicking on thor from long distance, but move mutas right next to thor/s and let them attack on they own. Mutas, if they are not ordered to attack, are nicely spread and when you attack a target they tend to stack. This way in last game I killed 6 thors using like 20 mutas and some lings (lings had to deal with hellions first so they wer not that many).