All comments posted by Seven :
Nice write-up, Oversear. I think it's awesome how you did this after I did my baneling break guide. It's like we're thinking the exact same thing at the exact same time :P
Its important to know how much information you need, as the terran, to know if the zerg is doing this build. Keep your scv in their base as long as possible, and note how many lings they are making. If you lose your first scv, don't hesitate to send a second one to count his lings. If he's not making any more drones (and thus, exponential increase in lings), then he might be going for it. Of course, scouting the early baneling nest helps a lot.
Don't forget, however, that hellions are light, which banelings do +20 against. So make sure you don't mis-micro any of them, or you will have a tough time trying to pump enough hellions to stop an "all-in" zerg, committing all his larva to lings.
It helps to understand, as a terran, that simply defending from this attack would put you ahead already.
Thanks for the tips. And thanks to whoever prettied up my write up :)
Mass reapers definitely give u mobility, but when the zerg starts to realize you have committed to it, they could simply turtle in their two bases (put down a few spine crawlers, cover his base w/ creep), and use speedling+roaches to defend his drones. Then he just has to tech to mutas off 4 gas.
The ghost sniping idea is a great harass strat. I'd like to see that too.
I think hunter seeker missiles don't do splash damage underground, so if the zerg burrows his drones, u might only get one kill.
Banshee's are definitely annoying harasses, but by the time u get ravens the zerg might have a relatively strong army.
The hellion raids work great since lots of zergs love to use banelings against T.
Mass vikings are so strong on maps like Kulas Ravine, where they can just land on the cliff and attack ur drones, as well as snipe overlords.
It boils down to how good your micro is, to determine if you moved ahead with an economic advantage. Cause for most of these "unconventional armies", you'd have to put down a few different buildings just to get your conventional army back. And if your opponent defends well, then you might not have a very large economic advantage.
When your opponent realizes you are going all in zergling, he'll make a bunker in his main. I suggest timing an overlord to drop creep around his command center. The marines will most likely try and target it, which might provide less defence at his choke for your lings to break through. Even better if he's fast expanding, cause you can just drop creep at his natural to slow it down.
I can give a few tips for Kulas Ravine.
Against protoss, early mutas can harass his workers because of the cliffs. He will then get paranoid about the mutas, and tech phoenix. This is when you take your 3rd (destroy it with spare lings and roaches at the start of the game, so you have access to it) and transition to hydra/roach, upgrade carapace and missile. Put down a spore crawler to defend ur overlords. Trade armies with him (taking out his immortals, stalkers, etc.) while expanding and pumping out more hydra roach.
You'll have spare minerals, make sure you keep injecting larva to get a good size group of lings w/ your spare minerals. Nydus his 3rd, and have some roach/hydra join in on your harass. Have the roach/hydra target buildings, while u run your lings into his mineral line. If you've succesfully sniped enough phoenix, transition back into muta/corruptor, corrupting cannons if he has resorted to that. Zergs transition very well. Finish off with broodlords.
Try to avoid expanding before pool. I always think getting your queen out first is better.
Rushing, or just being aggressive right off the bat, isn't always the best. The defender would always have more units because of the distance you have to travel to get to them. If you're saying an early rax/gate/pool to get him before he even starts making units, well you are economically behind, and the amount of workers you kill may at the very least only break even for you.
Good write up! You were quite detailed on all of your topics, and it seemed to flow very nicely. Just a tiiiiiny nitpick, the build order example you used comes from Broodwar, as SC2 now gives you 10 supply with your hatchery. I'll just add a few additional comments on each of your topics :)
Many people say "stop practicing rushes/cheeses, you'll never get good at the game". I disagree on this statement, because as Buzzjuice mentions, rushes/cheeses pull your opponent out of their comfort zone. Practicing a rush/cheese to perfection gives you a strong weapon in your repetoire, able to come out at anytime to psychologically attack your opponent (especially in Best of 3's or 5's). The main reason I would suggest practicing rushes and cheeses, is to practice microing your units while macroing your base. If you cannot micro your units while pumping more units and sending them to your opponent's base, you cannot play a late game where you are controlling multiple expansions while microing your army.
On the flip side, Turtling is great to allow you to practice the late game more often, and how to manipulate your entire army, and the best way to position spell casters, etc.
Your discussion of not queueing units is great. A lot of players complain, "how can I get my APM up?" The real question they should be asking is, "how can I upgrade my game play to the point where my APM needs to race to keep up with it." The answer is simple: Do not take the lazy way out (and, for example, queue up your units). Play with the bare minimum of build units, and force yourself to have to move all over the map more often just to keep up with macro. With enough practice, your APM will sore.
As you requested, a bit of color :)
Thanks for voting for my stuff, Killborne. I really want to get that beta key :)
I play zerg so I'll contribute a bit of stuff I found out:
Overseers move faster than Overlords, so if you don't have fast Overlords, you can use an Overseer to check stuff quicker.
Burrow banelings at typical chokes where your opponent might be. Press "X" to have them explode from below.
If you 15pool14gas, you'll have enough minerals to make a Queen and a Roach Warren the second your pool is done.
For beginners who are unfamiliar with the "extractor trick": At 10/10 after you make your overlord (or before, its really up to you), send a drone to make an extractor. Make sure you have at least 75 minerals (25 for the extractor, 50 for another drone), as your drone is making the extractor, morph another drone (make sure you have the larvae for it too). Immediately cancel your drone, giving you 11 drones on 10 supply. If you cancel fast enough you get all your money back i believe. I like to drag a box over the extractor to cancel, because sometimes I accidentally click on the actual geyser, and not my extractor. I generally like doing this after I make my overlord (I want my overlord out as early as possible to get more drones), but this trick allows me to get my 11th drone out earlier than normal.
After your maynard (sending workers to a fresh mineral line) your workers, hitting "c" lets them return whatever they are holding, and then go to the mineral patch you clicked.
Two Infestors (with enough energy for one fungal growth each) can burrow and move (only need to upgrade burrow) to your opponent's expansions (@ only lair tech too!). Have one fungal growth the workers. Wait for the HP of the unit to get around half (takes a bit longer if they are scvs), and then have the other one fungal growth to kill all the workers. It works especially well since Fungal growth holds units down.
Oh and I also found it neat, that you wouldn't have to worry about all your battlecruisers (or any other spell casters, like HT) yamatoing (or storming) the same unit at once. One command of yamato would only be dealt by one battlecruiser.
Also, if you select your workers and send them to mine gas on an extractor that has not yet been finished (maybe like, 2 seconds to finish), they will wait there until its done and then start mining right away.