this is going to be a long and rambly post all about starcraft2, so if you don't play or have no idea what it is about, it may not be for you. Just for me to rant rawrr.
So you should know (if you know me) that I'm quite crazy about Starcraft2. It's just about the only game I play now (barring games on the iPod Touch) . It's a Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game in which you build a base, train troops, and kill your opponents.
It's rightly called 'RTS' because it really is strategizing in real time, every second of the way. And that's what this post is ranting about. Even though I played Starcraft 1, I never really had a favourite race. When i played back then I didn't ladder or anything, mostly played against the computer and if I can't win I'll use cheat codes LOL. poweroverwhelming. operationcwal (cwal stands for 'cannot wait any longer' in case you didn't know)
When Starcraft2 came out, I knew my aim was to ladder, because before that I was playing Warcraft3 and was laddering alot and really enjoyed it. 1v1 is my favourite, because it is all about your own personal skills and your personal decisions that influence the outcome of the game.
I don't know what made me decide on Zerg, but I started playing zerg in SC2 and really liked it. Maybe it's the convenience of having everything train from just one building. Maybe because zerg seems the coolest. i don't know.
-SC2 jargon begins here-
So now, a few months down, the problem I find with Zerg is that it's the most reactionary race. What this means is that rarely can you start the game with a particular build in mind - you have to just macro up quickly and scout your opponent to know what to go for next. I say 'rarely' because there are of course some short strats such as baneling busts or 6pool that you can decide off the bat to do, but they are often countered and defended easily by better players.
zergs don't have a 4gate or a 3rax or a 1buildfitsall strategy, and gets even more complicated in ZvZ. Let me go through each matchup.
Zerg vs Terran
This used to be my worst matchup as I could not figure out how to beat the 'imba' Terran. But after the recent nerfs (i.e. Reapers) and reaching where I am on the ladder, the builds they throw out are all the same - infantry+tanks or thors or both, and the occasional hellions thrown in. But most of the time it's a mass infantry build. Which makes them now become my easiest matchup - I think i win easily 66% of the time against them.
What happened to the mass Thors? MMM? Everyone now seems to like using mass marines + a couple of tanks which is really easy to beat with banelings/speedlings/roach/mutas. Heck, i can even reduce it to baneling/muta sometimes I don't know why I don't really use Infestors, maybe because they are so flimsy and cost SO much gas. I should use them more though.
I think what separates a good Terran from an average one is the use of drops. I know I'm facing a strong opponent when I fight a small frontal assault force and see a group of infantry drop off in my mineral line. Annoying as hell, but that is what pro Terrans do. The average ones just use Medivacs as medics, totally neglecting to abuse the power of drops.
Zerg vs Protoss
This used to be my easiest matchup but now in the later diamond league stages I seem to have alot of problems with Protoss.
Almost all the time I'll go fast expand (14 hatch) into roaches (and once in a mutaling for fun) and while I have no problems holding off a 2gate zealot early push, the problem comes with an all-in 4 gate timing push. (4 gate is considered 'all-in' because if I can hold it off, he will be mineral strapped and waaay behind in economy - you can't produce off 4 gates for long on 1 base)
Apparently the correct defence is to throw up 3-4 spinecrawlers and fight in their range.. Have still yet to practise that.
If it's not a 4gate, then it's a phoenix rush. Good Protoss will hide their stargates and just pop into my base suddenly with 4-6 phoenixes - by that time it's too late to really do anything (e.g. pump up hydras). I guess the only way to really defend this is to throw up preemptive spore crawlers if I don't see a 4 gate.
PLUS, the upcoming patch is going to buff Phoenix(es?) by reducing their build time.. so I'll probably be seeing this alot more. bleahz.
Zerg vs Zerg
While I regard this as the most fun matchup, it is also the most complicated and challenging matchup. There are about a dozen different openings you can do in ZvZ.. let me see if i can list them
1) 6 (or 7 or 8) pool
2) 10 pool econ build
3) 10 pool all-in baneling rush
4) 13 gas 13 pool
5) 14 gas 13 pool
6) 14 hatch 14 pool (or even 15 hatch)
7) in-base hatch all in zergling rush
8) +1 melee upgrade all in zergling rush
Note that these are only OPENINGS, not the full strat that includes the transitions. 4 and 5 normally transits into roaches, but speedling/baneling is becoming very common as well, and that leads to the transitions
1) roaches +1 ranged attack timing pus
2) roach-fake (just a few roaches to block ramp)
3) zergling baneling rush
4) zergling spam into mutalisks
SO MANY VARIATIONS. And the thing is if you go the wrong build relative to what your opponent gets, it's an instant loss. No way of defending, you just lose straight out because you chose the wrong build. For instance, a 6 pool rapes a 14 hatch obviously. And a zerglingbaneling rapes a mass zergling. muta tech rapes a pure roach army.
And what makes it harder is that with a Queen in base, it's virtually impossible to scout with an Overlord like you do against T and P, you have to run some lings into their base to see their tech structures.
Nowadays I'm losing alot to some sort of all-in speedling push. My favourite opener is 14 hatch as I like econ games as it's good to train macro, but on small maps, especially with early lings pressure, it is not very viable. Then when I get roaches, my opponents do some fast tech to mutas with speedlings to pressure me and I lose again. highly frustrating!
And the hardest matchup of all is lingbanelings vs lingbanelings. It becomes a pure micro fight and given my lack of practice I don't dare rely on that. One wrong click and you lose your entire ling army to a baneling (or your banelings to a baneling) which really just makes you pound your keyboard.
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grawl. I hope by the end of this holidays, I would have hit top 20 in diamond at least (hmm, master league even?) and know how to beat the common strategies that beat me. grr.
