Campaign Creations

So now two people have been asking me about Zerg, and Zerg's options, and how to better play Zerg ect. So I'm gonna write this little mini guide here and also explain what are Zerg's major weaknesses in sc2.



Fact - Zerg are missing around 3 units including a second combat caster. Another fact is that you are highly unlikely to see their unit count change until HoTS. That means that what you see is what you get and they probably won't change enormously.

As a result, Zerg has many less options available to them than T or P. Knowing what to do, and when, is key.

Most NA, SEA, and UK players will probably either tell you that T is OP or Zerg is UP. I'd go with the latter, personally. But the versatility of P and T compared to Z is what makes shit hard.

Core Concepts

Queens

Okay, I get it, you hate Inject Larva. Well if you're going to play Z you better get damned used to it. Building that second hatch that isn't an expansion early on is going to hurt you more than you think. I don't bother hotkeying my queens, but ALWAYS hotkey all of your hatcheries. I throw them onto one hotkey, make their rallies go to their respective minerals and then unit rallies to my main, usually above my ramp. Then I go from hatch to hatch manually making drones as needed.

Zerg are Gas intensive. But most Zerg at high level will probably tell you to go pool before FE. So probably pool around 12 and hatch around 15 or so - just guessing. I usually FE, anyway. We aren't playing top diamond level games, so when I make a hatch or whatnot and someone shows up with reapers in my base I know how to deal with it. Playing chicken with lings and controlling your queen properly are key to dealing with harass.

But there's the thing most people don't get.

You need to use creep tumor aggressively. Usually when I make my queen I use inject 1-2 times and then throw down a tumor. Same thing with every new queen. I'm too tunnel vision-y to pay attention and keep growing it every time the cd is up, but keep it going. You're aiming to cover the map in creep. Remember, creep = speed.

If your nat is close you can get away with injecting both hatches with the first queen for a short time once your highway is down. But after a few injects you WILL need a second queen to keep up with both. It doesn't matter if you're making units or not, the larva stack up to 19. Keep it coming.

"Help, I'm floating minerals early on! What do I do?!"

Expand. Zerg need gas. There's no easy way about that. Make expansions if you have money. If it's just a bit of money, and it's an FFA or team game, 1-2 crawlers behind your mineral line help. These totally shut down reapers and protect you from ling/zealot attacks. If it's an FFA, consider getting a fast evo chamber and 1-2 spore crawlers, one of which always behind your minerals, to defend against air. Otherwise you always want to expand.

If you've expanded and find you're still floating minerals and gas, it's time to make that new hatchery.

"I'm fast teching to lair. What can I do to not get fucked over in the process?"

Almost everyone I see who goes fast lair gets speed for lings and FE's before the lair comes up. You'll need the gas, and the delay between lair is worth it because speedlings will keep you safe and maybe let you do a bit of harass in the process. Most Zerg seem to like that tech option early on, but it will make you sorely vulnerable if you're not careful. This is where it can pay to be a bit extra cautious and throw down some crawlers.

Zerg is definitely my weakest race but I've still had success with them in big games. Most people will tell me, "I have problems early game".

Consider watching this video;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eot2U8D9ySY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NflEgP0mRQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx8H9fH4IM0


You want 20 drones on your minerals per base. Some people don't get this, but as soon as you expand as zerg you make extractors and get them saturated. Some people will FE and make extractors afterwards, like after their lair is done, but most of you guys seem to forget long enough that such a decision will hurt.

Get gas. That's your priority.

Unit compositions

Mutalisks suck. They suck as combat units. They didn't hitch a ride on the Faster, More Intense! Dustin Browder express to numbersville. They get annihilated by Thors, Phoenixes, Archons, Storm, Carriers, BC's, Vikings, Marines, Snow Globes, Hydras, Spore Crawlers, Missile Turrets, and Aids. If you're making Mutalisks I would really advise against pulling an HKS and investing solely into them unless you know exactly what you're getting yourself into. Mutas are a huge gas investment and take forever to get a large number of.

Most Zerg will just go for the cookie cutter Roach/Hydra/Infestor. Well, most besides you guys. Infestors are not hard to use, but targeting priority means they'll die a lot faster than Defilers.

Infestors are there for Aids. It's a plague that immobilizes and kills. It doesn't do the same damage of plague but the immobilizing and killing part is important. Infestors are gas intensive, so try to avoid getting them killed. You'll almost always want burrowing if you're getting them. Just don't forget to have other units, too.

Use aids to catch vikings for your hydras to kill. Use aids to deal damage to that stack of void rays before engaging it. Use aids on carriers repeatedly.

You've also got Tentacle Therapy, aka mind control. Remember, this effects air units again! Grab Carriers, Motherships, bcs... anything big and juicy. Just make note that enemies will not auto attack your guys you MC'd. So you can't mc a tank to get his friends to splash themselves.

Speaking of tanks, the biggest change between BW and SC2 for ZvT is the fact that tanks don't overkill anymore. This makes mech totally viable and most people will either make bcs or gundams and tanks.

Hellions suck balls, even when upgraded, so don't worry too much about them. Hydras, despite being light, will most often decimate Hellions mano-a-mano because their dps is still significantly higher. The problem is if you get flanked or there's a LOT of hellions and they get very close, making their splash stack. In such an instance it's always nice to have roaches and Infestors.

But you see, this is the thing. Once Terran gets a deathball of Gundams and Tanks and maybe some other shit mixed in, you'll find your hydras, roaches, and short-ranged infestors are actually kind of useless. This is where you absolutely must get Mustaches. Don't even TOUCH Ultras unless you've got upgrades, and even then they'll still melt up front to these units - Gundams especially will rip their anuses open. They are even more useless against infantry since their damage got lopped off.

No, you want Mustaches.



Mustaches are the only Zerg unit in SC2 that really stands above the crowd, unless you like Roach rushing and enjoying their absolutely insane health pool like I do. Mustaches not only spawn biting mustaches that screw with unit AI and make pathing a nightmare, but they also absorb damage from Gundams like a sponge. Gundams lose their + to light against Mustaches that make them a nightmare vs Mutas, just be sure to keep them spread out.

To make Mustaches you'll need a Golden Bust of Elvis Presley, built from the Towering Dick. This is an expensive venture that requires a Hive. You may not be tempted to make a fast hive as Ultras don't seem very inviting, but do it. You want 3/3 anyways.

You'll also want Corruptors - you know, that air unit that sucks vs everything but Carriers and BC's. But this is the fun part. Once you get the Towering Dick you've got the solution for BC's and Carriers. If Krazy's sitting back on his 20 carriers, what do you do? Get gas and build like 40 fucking Corruptors. Keep them secret, keep them safe, until you have a LOT of them. Yes, it's expensive, and yes you'll want other shit to deal with other dudes. But if you're going to be fighting carriers or bcs this is the only sure-fire way to win. They don't work so well vs Void Rays, but still not terrible. They are terrible vs vikings and mutas. If the Protoss starts making Phoenixes to fight your Corruptors just laugh at him - he's an idiot and you're about to win. Corruptors have more range and take almost no damage from them.

Oh yeah, and Corruptors turn into Mustaches. So basically, the ideal Zerg army is Hydras, Corruptors, Mustaches, and Infestors. That's what I like to make. I always get a Spinning Anus (nydus canal), too. Not many people use it anymore because they're under the delusional impression that the build time nerf for worms makes them useless. Well, it doesn't. People still won't kill them if they don't know they're there, right? You can even use worms for remote mining if you're efficient about your APM. I wouldn't recommend anyone but Mantits to try that though. In the most basic of instances, you can use it to drop drones on islands or whatever and expand. You can use it to save your drones or units from a dying base, to attack enemy expansions, whatever.

Learn to love the Spinning Anus. It's your friend.

Upgrade. Often.

As soon as your eco is solid and you've got your sights on making some Hydras or Roaches, throw down two evo chambers and get upgrading.

Lings suck.

Lings got a DPS nerf in SC2. Yeah, auto surround makes them mean, but workers are just as mean and a 6 ling attack early into the game will reward you with nothing but 150 minerals down the drain. You absolutely must get speed if you want lings to have any value. That value dramatically decreases as the game goes on, AND adrenaline glands got nerfed from 50% to 20%. 3/3 lings with Adrenaline Glands aren't cracklings anymore, they're Scenelings. Scenesters who want to be something but are just lying to themselves and making everyone else laugh.

There is a time to make lings, though. They surround Gundams and make it hard for them to move, they can kill tanks (very slowly), and they are great to dump that copious amounts of minerals you're floating into. Just remember to use Inject Larva because you'll go through your larva in an instant. Throwing lings at people's undefended expansions is a good way to punish them, but make note that reveals your knowledge about that expansion's existence and if you fail they'll probably reinforce it and make life difficult.

Playing Zerg is all about being a Dick. Because Dicks fuck Assholes.

Don't forget about Banelings. They die quickly, they're gas expensive, and they fuck shit up. Most people just use them for bust-ins, but when I use them (which admittedly isn't terribly often), I use them to be an asshole. I suicide Lairs, Thors, ect. If you distract a mass of Gundams with your Hydras and circle around to rape them with Banelings like I did that one guy, they're fucked.

Target Supply Depot and Pylon stacks. Remember, they have less HP now. A big group of Banelings can fuck a dude's supply and drop him dead in the water. They aren't so useful against workers unless you have a lot of them, so make them count.

Protect your Overlards

With so much insane AA in the game now, you've gotta keep your flying emus safe. That Void Ray rush might not harm your base but if he snipes all those Ol's hanging around like I love to do then you're in just as much trouble. As soon as you hit lair you should think about getting Ol speed. It's cheap and keeps them out of harms way in addition to giving you scouting ability. That brings us to our next important chapter.

SCOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe how many of you guys don't scout regularly. Knowing what your enemy is doing is the first step to doing something about it. Creep doubles as a scout, too - make tumors everywhere and you get free vision. Have lings or drones sit on Esports towers, free maphack. You can sac overlords with speed into enemy bases and get a glimpse of their buildings.

If a Terran is behind a wall, throw an overlord into his base. Chances are he's teching. If he isn't, you want to be ready. Always know what your enemy is doing. The most fundamental basic skill to playing any race is to scout, and scout often. Recognizing your enemy's buildings and getting an idea of what he or it wants to do is the first step to making an accurate response and putting the game in your hands.

You'll notice I don't always scout, but in some games I use Changelings. In the public FFA's I always try to keep tabs on T and P. Chances are they're massing carriers. If I see they're massing Carriers, I expand and get my Golden Bust of Elvis Presley. Then, when they come out, I've got a big stack of upgraded Corruptors waiting to shift click their carriers and make them ragequit.

Some more games from Beta.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqHpDuQMKbM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d1j0sIZEXc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQc6ZD5L-to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acWxS-eREa0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Vk2lVqulMI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wk2mmjGPEU


Conclusion

- Expand. Often.
- When in doubt, Expand.
- When still in doubt, upgrade and tech to Mustaches.
- Mutalisks won't kill a fleet of carriers. Corruptors will. Don't forget to use their jizz ability, too. 20% damage buff. Not great but not terrible.
- Hydras are 2 supply marines. Without medivacs.
- Infestors are your only way to even the odds. Get used to spamming aids and getting Infestors. They ONLY REQUIRE A LAIR! A lot of the time I see Zerg throw down the infestation pit as soon as his lair is up and he's got some spare gas.
- Use your overlord to scout but try not to get them all killed. Don't be afraid to sacrifice a few of them to get much-needed intel.
- 1-2 crawlers behind your minerals will shut down Reapers. If you have the spare money and suspect reapers might show up, feel free to get them. Remember you can unburrow them to reposition them later on. Some Zerg will get those early crawlers then move them to their nat once it's up.

Zerg is unpolished and vastly incomplete compared to T and P but you can still pull games with them. Korean zergs are apparently doing quite well. Maybe Amerikans just SUCK

This was a great post, Mesk! I learned a lot from it. I avoid playing Zerg simply because of the spawn larva function. I just don't have the macro skills to maintain those Queens, so I avoid playing what could be a very fun race.

I agree with all of the disadvantages you pointed out. Zerg are seriously flawed when it comes to late game mass air or mass ground attacks. Mustache Lords are the only late game option to assure victory. I did like how you pointed out solutions to these handicaps to help the players who still enjoy playing Zerg.

Yes, gas is absolutely critical!

One suggestion I would like to add to your guide is the map superiority the Zerg has. Hardly anyone does this, but if you research Burrow and send out a few zerglings to every expansion on the map, YOU HAVE CONTROL OF THE MAP. You can cock block any attempted expansion by the other player because they cannot build a base over a burrowed zergling. This forces them to reveal their intentions of expanding, waste time bringing detection to that area, and ultimately delays them from gaining more resources at a critical juncture in the game.

Seriously, no race can better do this than the Zerg. It is awesome when you burrow into every expansion on the map. Since you are floating minerals more than you are gas, it is a minimal investment to assure victory.

You don't even need burrow for that, you can just have an overlord blowing his load all over the expansion. Even if the overlord is killed or forced to run away the creep remains for quite some time. Really there's plenty of opportunities to abuse either option.

Not to mention there's a little trick on the start, which's useful, briefly, for Zerg. The Extractor Hack.

I learned this somewhere (I can't remember where, precisely...). You reach that 10 supply cap, make a Drone build an Extractor on a geyser. As it removes 1 supply, start making another Drone. Then you CANCEL the Extractor build, you get your Drone back. And 11 Drones, in a cap where you could have only 10.

... Hack? That's one of the oldest tricks in the book.

Oh, and I do the dual extractor trick in sc2. Yes, two extractors instead of one/

I'd think that a x2 Extractor trick would eventually slow you down a bit too much. I prefer using it once at 10 and when I'm about to receive my next mineral wave, around 55-65 minerals, and sending out my 9th drone (while it is still building, rallying it) for scouting purposes (CTRL+1). At this point, I have CTRL+0 assigned for the Hatchery.

Usually, I can get a pretty early pool, maybe a second or two after a 9ovie, sometimes early if I get the movement timing down pat.
And, sometimes, I have to adapt for some stupid rush. So be it; with my [1] drone, it's ez to scout and harass.

I never do the extractor trick. It's not worth the minerals lost through canceling, and you're limited by the larva spawns anyway.

extractor is 25 minerals you get 75% back? I dunno the math behind any benefits though.

For 18.75 -> 19 minerals, you can extractor trick. That's a deficiency of a mere 6 minerals. You receive 5 minerals per mineral retrieval. Based on your timing and speed, it's possible to lose less than a second in extractor tricking and regain your loss instantly, with surplus thanks to the quickness of the 11drone. Even though I've heard claims that a 9ovie is better for Z's economy, I've tried both strategies out.

It's always worth the minerals lost through canceling.
Early game, you're not limited by the larva spawns.

I really don't see what you're using as a basis for your claims. This is something that can be figured out in the second or third game with Zerg.

Unless I get hard data for your claims, I really really don't see where you're coming from.

You have to take into account the time to move, cancel, and move back to mining. Though I wont disagree it's not a huge loss, I rather start building an Overlord then the extractors while they're being made to continue pumping out Drones after and not be limited by wait time.

Personally I think the Extractor trick slows things down too much and it's much more beneficial to get another Overlord, especially if you're someone who likes to constantly spray the Hatch like I do.

IMO, the total wait time is insignificant, especially once you get the hang of it - ideally, there will be one extractor on each side of the mineral line, and at least 1 drone mining from the furthest fields form the centre of the line.

The best timings are when the drones are going out to start mining and immediately after mining a block such that it's holding it. Then, you build the extractor, hit 0 then S then D, reselect the extractor, then go right on back to mining/returning.

The entire process can take less than a second, and at most 2 seconds (this estimate is someone just starting it out), and it pays itself back with a 2s headstart on a new worker, which is needed both for minerals and buildings in the Z economy.

I conclude with saying that the wait time is pretty insignificant, and I don't really see any situations in which you would need that 2 seconds, except maybe against a rush. My habit of sending the 9drone out to scout saves me from rushes, so I don't see how the 1 second can really carry a significant impact into later stages of the game.

Eh, anyway. I'm just convinced that the 9ovie is inferior, which is why I keep ranting on this one particular issue. I guess the split second that you save can help in rushes, but, eh, it seems like splitting hairs for timing vs. maximizing economical advantage.

Still, I wouldn't mind seeing some hard data for 9ovie, 10ovie, extractor trick, etc. All I know is that from experience, extractor tricking works best for me. Though, I think I should advertise extractor tricking or something...

New-/Hydrolisk wrote:For 18.75 -> 19 minerals, you can extractor trick. That's a deficiency of a mere 6 minerals. You receive 5 minerals per mineral retrieval. Based on your timing and speed, it's possible to lose less than a second in extractor tricking and regain your loss instantly, with surplus thanks to the quickness of the 11drone. Even though I've heard claims that a 9ovie is better for Z's economy, I've tried both strategies out.

It's always worth the minerals lost through canceling.
Early game, you're not limited by the larva spawns.

I really don't see what you're using as a basis for your claims. This is something that can be figured out in the second or third game with Zerg.

Unless I get hard data for your claims, I really really don't see where you're coming from.

Erm, excuse me? Where's your hard data? Nowhere in this post or your next do you offer anything except that an extractor costs 25 minerals and that you lose 6 minerals for canceling one. Yet you're trying to champion the extractor trick as if the jury's in on it. Fret not however, for I've done the homework so that no one else in this thread has to.

9 overlord, no extractor trick, 15 spawning pool (1st attempt)

Pool starts at 2:05, 25 minerals
Pool finishes at 3:10, 375 minerals
Roach Warren starts at 3:12, 250 minerals
Queen starts at 3:13, 105 minerals

9 overlord, no extractor trick, 15 spawning pool (2nd attempt)

Pool starts at 2:02, 10 minerals
Pool finishes at 3:07, 330 minerals
Roach Warren starts at 3:09, 200 minerals
Queen starts at 3:09, 50 minerals

10, extractor trick -> overlord, 15 spawning pool (1st attempt)

Pool starts at 2:07, 49 minerals
Pool finishes at 3:12, 374 minerals
Roach Warren starts at 3:14, 244 minerals
Queen starts at 3:15, 104 minerals

10, extractor trick -> overlord, 15 spawning pool (2nd attempt)

Pool starts at 2:03, 19 minerals
Pool finishes at 3:08, 359 minerals
Queen starts at 3:09, 219 minerals (I actually started the queen first on this test)
Roach Warren starts at 3:10, 69 minerals

10, overlord -> extractor trick, 15 spawning pool

Pool starts at 2:01, 14 minerals
Pool finishes at 3:06, 369 minerals
Roach Warren starts at 3:09, 229 minerals
Queen starts at 3:11, 79 minerals

10 overlord, no extractor trick, 15 spawning pool

Pool starts at 2:03, 30 minerals
Pool finishes at 3:08, 360 minerals
Roach Warren starts at 3:09, 225 minerals
Queen starts at 3:10, 85 minerals

Eh, I go 10 > Pool > Drone > Overlord > 3 Zergling / Queen (back to 0 every time) but.. I've learnt it's not very beneficial for gathering minerals faster and only helps if you're rushing.

If I do the extractor trick I still end up making a pool at 12. Actually, I usually build pool at 12 if I'm going pool anyways, or hatch around 13.

I suck at build orders and numbers, I just do what feels right.