A Guide on Zerg vs. Terran
I'm not a very good player, only C- rank nowadays so please take my advice with a grain of salt. This guide I hope helps out some of the beginners and does not prove too overwhelming. This guide is not complete and I plan to add on more sometime in the near future.
Table of Contents
1. Zerg vs. Terran Concepts
2. Zerg Complaints
3. 3 Hatch Lair Builds
4. Refining Responses
5. Versus 1 Base Plays
6. Basic Tactics
7. Micro
8. Versus Mech
9. Scouting
10. Miscellaneous Tips
1. Zerg vs. Terran Concepts
Zerg can be played in mainly two ways - they can hit a timing attack that defeats/cripples the opponent or they can defend the attacks thrown at them and slowly build up their own economy until they can power units nonstop alternating between pumping drones and powering attacking units.
The ZvT matchup is different compared to the other two matchups having a stronger emphasis on tactics including positioning, maneuvering, organization of the army, and zoning control using a few units to hold off a larger number of units Examples: 2 Lurkers at the top of a ramp to protect a Hatchery, or poofing down dark swarms to protect your burrowed Lurkers making them impervious to ranged attacks.
The ZvT matchup generally has two main strategies including either having a large midgame economy and large midgame army or having a smaller army and economy for quicker tech to Defilers. Both strategies are viable in dealing with the Terran and will be discussed in length later on.
2. Zerg Complaints
I just threw away tons of lurkers and lings hoping to catch the terran off guard and end the game RIGHT THERE
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Don't do that even when you have the urge to when you've gotten yourself a nice lead you want to ride that to victory. Don't lose that momentum by doing some nonsensical attack that accomplishes nothing. It's best to attack his army only when it starts to move out. If he just sits there you can expand everywhere, get defilers, etc. if he decides to play passively. Keep an end game plan like "Oh I want to have hive tech out, 5+ bases, tons and tons of upgrades and units, etc. Whatever it may be, keep it in mind so you don't feel lost and without direction in your overarching goal. If you do have the advantage and Terran is stuck in their base you have ma control, you can freely expand and tech, prevent any harass to your economy, and terran is completely in the dark as to what you're doing.
Marine medic micro is overpowered
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The thought that medic marine micro is overpowered versus Lurkers is a large misconception. If the Terran does get in a situation where they clobber your lurkers then most likely you’re taking a meaningless engagement, a losing engagement, or you’re fighting on the Terran’s terms in a big army vs. big army battle which is what Terran wants. When looking at the opponent's army, you want to see victory and then engage. Do not engage and then seek victory.
I feel like the only answer on why I lost was my defilers weren't fast enough.
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It’s not about what happens in the end, it’s about the journey. In your pursuit to defeating the Terran push be active with your units. It's important to use tactics, take the smart engagements, threaten the backstab, etc. The ideal thing is to try and delay the Terran for as long as possible so you can get out more units and or defilers by the time that big ball arrives knocking at your doorstep. Going for a fast Defiler is just one type of strategy as well, there's also the strategy of depending on a large mid game army and slower tech to defend against that seemingly impossible to defend against midgame push so it's not just limited to depending on getting fast defilers. Don't dig yourself into a logical corner. No.
3. 3 Hatch Lair Builds
The most typical builds in TvZ are 3 Hatch Lair builds most typically going Mutalisks, Lurkers, or sometimes both in certain circumstances all with their slight variations
3 Hatch Mutalisk build order
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12/17 - Hatchery (100% completion transfer 1-2 Drones)
11/17 Spawning Pool ((100% spawning pool) 4 Zerglings)
13-15/17 Hatchery
(100% spawning pool) 4 zerglings
12-14/17 - Extractor (100 gas make Lair)
Next 100 gas get Zergling speed
Note: Getting faster zergling speed allows for the potential to backstab if the Terran decides to push out early with their medic marine. They can also kill off the occasional 6 marines a Terran may push out with in case a Zerg skipped out on their first creep colony if you’re super lucky. It’s good to have around 8-12 lings in order to take full advantage of that early ling speed. Sometimes though, the Terran won’t push out and will stay at their base not allowing for the opportunity of a ling backstab to be doable. You can make sunkens later than sooner.
If you don’t go for the early ling speed you will have a stronger mid game economy with a faster 3rd hatchery base and you will be relying solely on sunken colonies and devoting all larva to drones instead of lings to defend versus Terran’s medic marine. This works well if you’re going for a large midgame and large army strategy.
16/18 – Overlord
Make a sunken colony
24/27 - make 2nd extractor
23/27 - Make Overlord
(100% Lair make Spire)
Make 2-4 Sunken Colonies
Note: Depending on how hard the Terran is pushing you with a large number of medic marine there’s a chance you may be able to get only 7 mutalisks depending on how much you invested into sunken colonies.
29 and 33 Make 3 Overlord to get 51-59 supply
Save Larvae when Spire is at half health (300/600)
100% Spire make 9 mutas (see note)
50 gas - Make Hydralisk Den
2 more Mutalisks
3rd Hatchery expand
Get Evolution Chamber (100% get +1 carapace)
Get more Overlords
Mentality: Attack the Terran where you can with your mutas. The overall objective here is to continually keep the Terran's medic marine in his base so you can get your 3rd base up, preferably at a far corner expansion like on FS and pump drones/Lurkers behind. Destroy turrets if they’re alone in numbers of one to two or even three if they have no nearby infantry support. This is not meant to cripple the terran, but if they're noob it probably will
Notes: Pick off scvs while taking as little turret damage as possible. If the turrets are placed in a manner that you can’t pick off one without being hit simultaneously by 5+ be more hesitant. Poke around but do not over commit into having to kill off SCV’s. If the Terran player commits something like 10 turrets then at the very least you made them spend money that could have been spent on barracks and marines. An overlooked aspect of 3 hatch muta is keeping your Mutalisks alive, after all if you have no Mutas to pose a sizable threat what is keeping Terran inside of their base? They're also good for their later use in mutaling backstabs. Make sure to hover around both the main base and natural mineral line, SCV's currently building, and the Barracks where marines spawn. I'd recommend running into a mineral line if Terran has neglected to place any turrets in their main base.
11/17 Spawning Pool ((100% spawning pool) 4 Zerglings)
13-15/17 Hatchery
(100% spawning pool) 4 zerglings
12-14/17 - Extractor (100 gas make Lair)
Next 100 gas get Zergling speed
Note: Getting faster zergling speed allows for the potential to backstab if the Terran decides to push out early with their medic marine. They can also kill off the occasional 6 marines a Terran may push out with in case a Zerg skipped out on their first creep colony if you’re super lucky. It’s good to have around 8-12 lings in order to take full advantage of that early ling speed. Sometimes though, the Terran won’t push out and will stay at their base not allowing for the opportunity of a ling backstab to be doable. You can make sunkens later than sooner.
If you don’t go for the early ling speed you will have a stronger mid game economy with a faster 3rd hatchery base and you will be relying solely on sunken colonies and devoting all larva to drones instead of lings to defend versus Terran’s medic marine. This works well if you’re going for a large midgame and large army strategy.
16/18 – Overlord
Make a sunken colony
24/27 - make 2nd extractor
23/27 - Make Overlord
(100% Lair make Spire)
Make 2-4 Sunken Colonies
Note: Depending on how hard the Terran is pushing you with a large number of medic marine there’s a chance you may be able to get only 7 mutalisks depending on how much you invested into sunken colonies.
29 and 33 Make 3 Overlord to get 51-59 supply
Save Larvae when Spire is at half health (300/600)
100% Spire make 9 mutas (see note)
50 gas - Make Hydralisk Den
2 more Mutalisks
3rd Hatchery expand
Get Evolution Chamber (100% get +1 carapace)
Get more Overlords
Mentality: Attack the Terran where you can with your mutas. The overall objective here is to continually keep the Terran's medic marine in his base so you can get your 3rd base up, preferably at a far corner expansion like on FS and pump drones/Lurkers behind. Destroy turrets if they’re alone in numbers of one to two or even three if they have no nearby infantry support. This is not meant to cripple the terran, but if they're noob it probably will
Notes: Pick off scvs while taking as little turret damage as possible. If the turrets are placed in a manner that you can’t pick off one without being hit simultaneously by 5+ be more hesitant. Poke around but do not over commit into having to kill off SCV’s. If the Terran player commits something like 10 turrets then at the very least you made them spend money that could have been spent on barracks and marines. An overlooked aspect of 3 hatch muta is keeping your Mutalisks alive, after all if you have no Mutas to pose a sizable threat what is keeping Terran inside of their base? They're also good for their later use in mutaling backstabs. Make sure to hover around both the main base and natural mineral line, SCV's currently building, and the Barracks where marines spawn. I'd recommend running into a mineral line if Terran has neglected to place any turrets in their main base.
3 Hatch Lurker Build Order
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The build order is basically the same thing that you do for 3 Hatch Muta except I get my Hydralisk Den when the Lair is 60 percent done I usually do not go for fast ling speed until my Lurker Aspect is about to be done or shortly after. After I get the Lurkers up I get the Spire before the 3rd base so I’m reversing the order with which I would normally get my Lair tech buildings for 3 Hatch Mutalisk. Sometimes you can even go late mutalisks saving larvae at 300/600 hp so you have 9 larvae for when the Spire pops up which can catch the Terran off guard with 1 turret at each base but it is very multi task heavy.
With 3 Hatch Lurker you expand at the next closest expansion/natural 3rd. When you do finally get Lurkers out the Terran will most likely try to prevent your 3rd base as long as possible which is why you get ling speed right when Lurkers pop and a good 1 and maybe 1 control group of lings to shut the marine/medic groups so you can get a quick 3rd base and 3rd gas. Make sure not to over drone at this point. This build is good against heavy barracks builds since it negates any economic damage they could do and you are freely allowed to go Hive tech with no early tank pressure to hinder you.
With 3 Hatch Lurker you expand at the next closest expansion/natural 3rd. When you do finally get Lurkers out the Terran will most likely try to prevent your 3rd base as long as possible which is why you get ling speed right when Lurkers pop and a good 1 and maybe 1 control group of lings to shut the marine/medic groups so you can get a quick 3rd base and 3rd gas. Make sure not to over drone at this point. This build is good against heavy barracks builds since it negates any economic damage they could do and you are freely allowed to go Hive tech with no early tank pressure to hinder you.
4. Refining Responses
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The Terran’s goals may differ depending on the strategy they use whether it be going heavy barracks, mech, fast Vessel, or some other funky build. Whatever the build they're going it's important to formulate a response and knowing the strengths and weaknesses behind their strategy and their goals.
At the end of the road there are a lot of variations, all of them different and I can't possibly list all of the proper responses. A lot of responding versus different variations is slowly constructing a response against them through logic in an incremental method slowly refining and narrowing down how you should respond to thing "A" by doing thing "B" which is a very critical way of thinking. This way of building responses is pretty general and doesn't only apply to the ZvT matchup but is pretty important anyway.
The way to start you on this road of refining responses is by starting off by seeing some Terran going a particular build order you might have trouble playing against. Let's figuratively say you're working on building a proper response to a 4 Barracks aggressive marine medic build. You can think "Okay, I'm going to take my 3rd base only when I have Lurkers out." That's actually a really bad idea and your 3rd will be delayed for so long. It's best to get a muta/ling combo to defend a Terran using lots of medic marine aggression.
Plan on what supply you're going to stop making drones and start making lings, just any random number that's logical. Let's say 59 supply after mutalisks are out. If you notice his marines and medics are coming out later than that you can slowly adjust and pump zerglings a little later. If you find that you've defended your 3rd base just fine with that timing then see how much you can get away with by pumping more drones than usual and getting lings later, or just making fewer lings while still being able to defend that 3rd base properly. Time when you can stop building lings, presumably until Lurkers can start holding the ramps.
The trigger to start building lings and cutting drones doesn't always have to be based on supply or just anything in any build order. It can be based on the timing of buildings, upgrades, or anything wonky as long as it works for you. Just like with saving larvae when the spire is 300/600 hp so by the time the spire completes you will have 3 larvae at each base ready to be morphed into 9 mutas you think in terms of the timing of buildings, not how much supply you have for when you want to save larvae. That's an example of a trigger. For example let's say you only want to start making lings and cutting drones based on when you plant your evolution chamber down or when zergling speed is 75 percent done. Whatever trigger you're most comfortable with, go for it. You can make those subtle changes in your responses basing them off of triggers this way. This is just one example and you can apply this type of thinking to almost any matchup and situation
At the end of the road there are a lot of variations, all of them different and I can't possibly list all of the proper responses. A lot of responding versus different variations is slowly constructing a response against them through logic in an incremental method slowly refining and narrowing down how you should respond to thing "A" by doing thing "B" which is a very critical way of thinking. This way of building responses is pretty general and doesn't only apply to the ZvT matchup but is pretty important anyway.
The way to start you on this road of refining responses is by starting off by seeing some Terran going a particular build order you might have trouble playing against. Let's figuratively say you're working on building a proper response to a 4 Barracks aggressive marine medic build. You can think "Okay, I'm going to take my 3rd base only when I have Lurkers out." That's actually a really bad idea and your 3rd will be delayed for so long. It's best to get a muta/ling combo to defend a Terran using lots of medic marine aggression.
Plan on what supply you're going to stop making drones and start making lings, just any random number that's logical. Let's say 59 supply after mutalisks are out. If you notice his marines and medics are coming out later than that you can slowly adjust and pump zerglings a little later. If you find that you've defended your 3rd base just fine with that timing then see how much you can get away with by pumping more drones than usual and getting lings later, or just making fewer lings while still being able to defend that 3rd base properly. Time when you can stop building lings, presumably until Lurkers can start holding the ramps.
The trigger to start building lings and cutting drones doesn't always have to be based on supply or just anything in any build order. It can be based on the timing of buildings, upgrades, or anything wonky as long as it works for you. Just like with saving larvae when the spire is 300/600 hp so by the time the spire completes you will have 3 larvae at each base ready to be morphed into 9 mutas you think in terms of the timing of buildings, not how much supply you have for when you want to save larvae. That's an example of a trigger. For example let's say you only want to start making lings and cutting drones based on when you plant your evolution chamber down or when zergling speed is 75 percent done. Whatever trigger you're most comfortable with, go for it. You can make those subtle changes in your responses basing them off of triggers this way. This is just one example and you can apply this type of thinking to almost any matchup and situation
Common Build Orders
For my explanations I will be talking about how to deal with some terran build orders from the perspective of a 3 hatch muta player since that is the most popular build and just feels more flexible in terms of how to respond compared to the 3 hatch lurker.
Fast +1 weapons 4-5 rax.
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This nefarious build order is a soft counter against 3 Hatch Muta with that advantageous fast +1 that deals with mutalisks especially well. Its ultimate goals are to, deny your 3rd, threaten to sunken bust your natural, and make you use larva for zerglings instead of drones to defend your 3rd base. Terran starts moving out just as mutalisks are about to pop.
An option is to take two separate 3rd bases; preferably the far main bases at the corners if the map is like Fighting Spirit. Cancel the hatchery that gets targeted down. Make around 5-6 sunken colonies at your natural since the Terran will have a large barracks count. You will mostly rely on mutalisk/zergling to combat the early part of this build. If they do try to sunken bust you have to bring back mutalisks and zerglings to support the sunkens
It’s not always best to attack the main ball of marine medic especially in an open field. Instead, perform those Mutalisk/Ling backstabs at his natural or just pick off reinforcing, smaller groups of marines with those Mutalisks. The Terran will sometimes skimp on turrets. It's important to at least get some scv kills. The guidelines here apply to almost all heavy rax builds.
In this game between Jaedong and Really Jaedong initally takes the top left corner for his 3rd base but promptly cancels it after a firebat denies it. Really also had a marine medic group at the 12 O'clock in position. Jaedong then takes a hidden expansion at the top right. In the middle of all of this Jaedong harasses with his Mutas picking off SCV''s taking advantage of the ridge of Really's natural. There were no turrets in Really's main base mineral line and Jaedong ran in with his mutas from the top angle to pick off even more scvs.Take note of his 4 sunken colonies ready to defend since Really's marine medic force is still outside.
An option is to take two separate 3rd bases; preferably the far main bases at the corners if the map is like Fighting Spirit. Cancel the hatchery that gets targeted down. Make around 5-6 sunken colonies at your natural since the Terran will have a large barracks count. You will mostly rely on mutalisk/zergling to combat the early part of this build. If they do try to sunken bust you have to bring back mutalisks and zerglings to support the sunkens
It’s not always best to attack the main ball of marine medic especially in an open field. Instead, perform those Mutalisk/Ling backstabs at his natural or just pick off reinforcing, smaller groups of marines with those Mutalisks. The Terran will sometimes skimp on turrets. It's important to at least get some scv kills. The guidelines here apply to almost all heavy rax builds.
In this game between Jaedong and Really Jaedong initally takes the top left corner for his 3rd base but promptly cancels it after a firebat denies it. Really also had a marine medic group at the 12 O'clock in position. Jaedong then takes a hidden expansion at the top right. In the middle of all of this Jaedong harasses with his Mutas picking off SCV''s taking advantage of the ridge of Really's natural. There were no turrets in Really's main base mineral line and Jaedong ran in with his mutas from the top angle to pick off even more scvs.Take note of his 4 sunken colonies ready to defend since Really's marine medic force is still outside.
Ayumi Build
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The Ayumi Build is semi all in cutting scvs to quickly get 4 Barracks aiming to either cause significant economic damage or outright win the game with a sunken colony bust before Lurkers or Mutalisks pop out. The Ayumi build does not get the range upgrade for its marines though so it’s very weak against 4-5 sunken colonies. Some support lings are not bad to have either when defending and if they do not do damage they will be enormously behind tech/economy wise.
4 Barracks play
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The 4 Barracks cuts scvs and is closely related to the Ayumi Build. It mainly threatens to sunken bust a Zerg player if their Mutalisks aren't defending. I advise you to make 5-6 sunken colonies to prevent your natural from dying and Mutalisk harass the Terran since it is most likely they will have very few turrets at home.
3 Barracks
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3 Barracks plays are pretty safe/standard and generally do not pose the same aggression that 4-5 rax plays would have. You’re pretty much free to expand+mutalisk harass where you can. At the most you’ll have to create 3 sunken colonies. The 3 rax sets itself up for a tank and science vessel push with a faster Factory that the 4-5 rax variations delay. The Terran will most likely defend versus a 3 Hatch Mutalisk play. Most of the time Terrans play passively and don’t intend to go across the map so you can sometimes get away with only 2 sunken colonies but having 3 sunken colonies is the safest.
1 Rax Fast Vessel
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This build sacrifices lots of marines and medics to go for a quick irradiate by the time 3 hatch mutalisks arrive. The Terran will be having lots of science vessels than they would with the standard push so be aware, they however will have less medic marine to work with earlier in the game. Make sure to fan your mutas out like so: Hiya's Muta Split! Thanks to gurd for sharing the video
Valkyrie+bio
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Just go muta/scourge/ling. M'kay?
5. Versus 1 Base Plays
Terrans on one base have the option to go either 3 rax academy all in, 2 rax academy expand, 2 rax no academy expand, 2 fac aggression, 2 Port Wraith, or some strange combination of the two such as a fast siege tank all in with medic marine or a medic marine drop. Sometimes you're left in the dark about what the Terran is doing and you don't know whether he went early gas or not. The trick is to be able to deduce what build the Terran is using to have a better idea on how to respond by spotting the subtle timings and differences each build has. This is a bit of a throwback to the refining responses point I made earlier.
Builds
Day9’s Build - A build taken from one of Day9's podcasts
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12 Hatchery
11 - Spawning Pool
14 - Hatchery
100% Spawning Pool – 4 zerglings
18 - Extractor
50 gas- Hydralisk Den
150 gas-Hydralisk Speed
100 gas – Lair, do not get Hydra range
Make between 6-10 Hydralisks while doing this build, get a Spire afterwards.
Note: Place Overlords in a clustered manner where they’re not vulnerable if Terran goes 2 port wraith, but in a position where they’re ready to spread out to spot for spider mines at expansions. If a terran went fast academy, you're not dead since you have hydras to help you out.
11 - Spawning Pool
14 - Hatchery
100% Spawning Pool – 4 zerglings
18 - Extractor
50 gas- Hydralisk Den
150 gas-Hydralisk Speed
100 gas – Lair, do not get Hydra range
Make between 6-10 Hydralisks while doing this build, get a Spire afterwards.
Note: Place Overlords in a clustered manner where they’re not vulnerable if Terran goes 2 port wraith, but in a position where they’re ready to spread out to spot for spider mines at expansions. If a terran went fast academy, you're not dead since you have hydras to help you out.
Zerg Build for Mech
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12 - Expansion Hatchery
11 - Spawning Pool
14-15 - Hatchery
13-14 - Extractor
100 gas – Lair
50 gas – Hydra Den
100% Hydra Den – Make Hydralisks, Hydra Speed
Scouting: When scouting a 1 basing Terran send out an overlord as early as possible to his base to find out what's up. Suicide a ling up his ramp, have a ling camping outside of his base, or suiciding an overlord, all of these things can help. If you make too many sunken colonies in fear he went a fast academy that's not a terrible position to be put in but don't make a hasty judgement, think logically and calmly.
Try and notice the subtle differences (like how high his marine count is, if his barracks is still blinking, etc.so you can recognize what build order the Terran might be going. One way to do this is by just doing one build constantly versus a 1 base play. To start off let's say Terran goes 2 port wraith. You notice the first two wraiths hit when you have 3-4 hydras at 29 supply or something. You can take note of different timings through how many hydras you have, the supply, even how much percent your hydra speed is done, whatever works. If you see that the timing 2 port wraiths usually hit has passed, you can safely narrow down what build your opponent is doing. If he's doing a 2 rax academy expand you can take note of when that command center is being built, maybe it's around the time your Lair is finished. Narrow the builds down slowly like this so you can deduce whether he's going something as wonky as vulture drops or a 3 rax academy all in. If you need to, save the replays of each 1 base variation and compare them!
Against 2 rax academy builds it's most common to place the Spire and Hydralisk Den at the same time to get 2-3 Lurkers to establish your 3rd + 6 Mutas to harass since that 3rd base is going to be delayed for some time from the early marine medic. Versus 3 rax it's an all in. Just make 8+ sunkens. More if you have to just to defend since terran probably has cut so many SCV's.
6. Basic Tactics
The Backstab
When you backstab you take advantage of zerg's mobility. A backstab will not work if the terran has his army nearby to intercept the attack or if the terran has left enough units to defend at home properly which at the same time leaves his army not as large as he may want it to be. A common tactic is to threaten the backstab, moving your units weaving in and out of the terran front door to make the terran nervous. This will stall for Defilers, more units, threaten an attack on the terran army, defending your expansions, and cutting off reinforcements.
Flank
Lazily drawn but you get the idea.
Not ideally the best position to be in when Terran is at your doorstep with sieged tanks unless you've already amassed a ridiculous number of units that it doesn't matter. To maximize the surface area of your army so they can all attack at once it is best to perform the flank maneuver detaching a large portion of your army outside of the doorstep if you are expecting the Terran army to come. However, the Terran will be expecting this and position his marines accordingly which is why this isn't always the most optimal situation. Either you have the first dark swarm of the game to fend off the push or you have a large army. You should have plenty of lurkers and lings on hold position at your main base so they don't get agrroed by siege tank fire. When you launch your attack just click drag click drag those units and get your flanking army to your control groups.
Engaging when tanks aren't sieged
You either hold off tanks with defilers or you can engage them in the middle of the map when they're not at your front door. Many a time you will catch an unsieged tank peppering shots away at a burrowed Lurker just so the Terran can move fast without delay. What you can do is then charge a bunch of your zerg units right up in the faces of those tanks and just kill them with your zerlings or hydras. Attacking the Terran when he has no sieged tanks is a good time to take that engagement. Terran may be caught off guard and is weaker when tanks are not sieged.
7. Micro
Positioning
When you're microing Lurkers with any sort of combination of Hydra/ling you want to have the Lurkers up front and when they burrow your lings can move forward to grasp any marines that try to retreat.
Drop it
When it comes to burrowing Lurkers you want to burrow when tanks are in range of lurker fire, don't burrow incredibly close to the tanks or you'll leave yourself vulnerable to medic marines.
illustration.
In the scenario that you have plenty of lurkers, hydras, and zerglings and terran is just sitting in their base waiting for science vessels or something make sure to create a preemptive concave for when the Terran army does move out like the above picture shows. Have Lurkers be up front and zerglings in the back. It's a good idea to put a single zergling at the very front to spot when Terran is moving out or to spot incoming science vessels that want to irradiate, again, have some scourge ready. Be very patient here because you want the Terran army to stick out enough like a protruding blob. If you attack too soon it'll be less like a concave and more like a parallel wall of units vs. another parallel wall. When the opportunity shows, just 1a2a3a4a5a.
If you don't have intent to set up this "siege" have your zerglings at your expansions to defend rather than doing nothing.
8. Versus Mech
I can't explain it better than day9
Day9 Stopping Mech
Against mech you have the freedom to expand everywhere because mech is not good at applying early-midgame pressure and mobility that marine medic has. Outside of speed vultures which aren't even that good Terran cannot harass your economy. Mech's biggest strengths is doing a big push with a large accumulation of units that is near maxed which is when they're strongest vs. zerg and their ability to turtle and become almost unbreakable.
You just want to expand a lot since you have tons more freedom and less pressure than you would with bio. You want to start massing lots of hydra/ling, it's all about massing tons of units rather than an emphasis on getting spellcasters and doing cute stuff with dark swarm.
9. Scouting
Overlord Scouting
You want to scout in the clockwise direction and put your scouting overlord in the orange circle area on FS and almost all of the modern kespa maps follow this trend where you should scout clockwise. This way you know if the Terran might be doing a proxy, fast expanding, when they're moving out, how big their marine medic count is, if they're no longer producing SCVs at their natural, if they're not doing a fast expand at all, etc. Scouting like this also prevents any marines if the Terran went 8 rax from killing your overlord.
A common mistake zergs make when Terran is cross positions is they will send their first overlord one way to a ridge and then they'll move that overlord the second way to the ridge over the terran's natural. A good terran will take 3-4 marines when that overlord is midway to his base and snipe it long before any zerglings could possibly prevent it just because almost all zergs follow the clockwise trend of overlord scouting.
Zergling Scouting
You can have two zerglings positioned: one out his front door and one somewhere around the back where it could sneak into the Terran's base. If you notice his army moving out you can sometimes sneak a single zergling inside checking up on his tech, how many barracks he has, etc. This is also ehlpful for sizing up how big the marine medic ball is. You always want to know where Terran's army is so send out some lone zerglings if you need to.
Drone Scouting
If you're 12 hatching you want to send that drone out the same time you plant your hatchery down moving the two drones together and on this great romantic journey just as soon as they grow in love with each other they are separated. One is destined to become the hatchery they've always wanted to be and the other, a scout longing for the days when his friend was still a normal drone. He speaks to the expansion hatchery, whispering to the soul of his long gone friend out of the loneliness. He wonders what is the meaning of life? Is life just droning on and on at the workplace working like a zombie to get your fair share of money? Why do I do any of this? Where am I going in life?
You want to send the scouting drone opposite of where you sent the overlord so you'd send it counter clockwise if you were playing on Fighting Spirit. Sometimes Zerg opponents will scout diagonally to check for proxies in the middle of the map which is probably the best thing to do.
10. Miscellaneous Tips
Dealing with Science Vessels
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Science Vessels when allowed to accumulate into large, insurmountable numbers can be devastating when in the hands of a strong player. Don’t let the Terran get to this point by sniping off Vessels when you can. In this segment I will inform you of visual cues and situations where Science Vessels will likely try to irradiate your units giving you opportune moments to keep the Science Vessel count down:
1.) You’ve attacked one of the Terran’s bases, this will prompt the Terran to divide his attention and send his army along with Science Vessels to irradiate Lurkers/Defilers. Always have Scourge at the ready hiding in the back of your Zerg army and reveal them only when the Vessels come crawling out in the open unprotected by the cover of marines. Scourge naturally outrun Science Vessels by about 1.66 speed so use this to your advantage!
2.) The Terran has casted down a scan at your front door or on your Zerg army. Sometimes a Terran won’t even scan and send in stray science vessels to irradiate grouped up rally pointed units. Make sure to have some Scourge all the time so the Terran doesn’t get away scot free by doing such a noob move.
3.) When the Terran’s about to move out he can predict your army will be sitting right outside/near his door. Again, have some Scourge ready so he can’t kill off Lurkers for free. Maybe even send a stray ling ahead to spot this.
4.) If you ever kill Terran's army blood galore pick off those vulnerable science vessels from the skies with those scourge/hydras.
5.) Science Vessels take a long time and need to be in a certain range to cast irradiate and are slower than hydras. Science Vessels will pick off your units when you're not paying attention.
Plague is incredibly good along with a single Mutalisk to kill off the weakened Science Vessels since the Muta does 9 damage initially, dividing each subsequent hit by 3 every time it bounces. Ultimately the Mutalisk does 9-3-1 bounce damage which can kill off multiple science vessels in just one hit. Also, making a few speed Hydras doesn't hurt. Some Zergs will even make a single spore colony at their natural to fend off Science Vessels.
1.) You’ve attacked one of the Terran’s bases, this will prompt the Terran to divide his attention and send his army along with Science Vessels to irradiate Lurkers/Defilers. Always have Scourge at the ready hiding in the back of your Zerg army and reveal them only when the Vessels come crawling out in the open unprotected by the cover of marines. Scourge naturally outrun Science Vessels by about 1.66 speed so use this to your advantage!
2.) The Terran has casted down a scan at your front door or on your Zerg army. Sometimes a Terran won’t even scan and send in stray science vessels to irradiate grouped up rally pointed units. Make sure to have some Scourge all the time so the Terran doesn’t get away scot free by doing such a noob move.
3.) When the Terran’s about to move out he can predict your army will be sitting right outside/near his door. Again, have some Scourge ready so he can’t kill off Lurkers for free. Maybe even send a stray ling ahead to spot this.
4.) If you ever kill Terran's army blood galore pick off those vulnerable science vessels from the skies with those scourge/hydras.
5.) Science Vessels take a long time and need to be in a certain range to cast irradiate and are slower than hydras. Science Vessels will pick off your units when you're not paying attention.
Plague is incredibly good along with a single Mutalisk to kill off the weakened Science Vessels since the Muta does 9 damage initially, dividing each subsequent hit by 3 every time it bounces. Ultimately the Mutalisk does 9-3-1 bounce damage which can kill off multiple science vessels in just one hit. Also, making a few speed Hydras doesn't hurt. Some Zergs will even make a single spore colony at their natural to fend off Science Vessels.
Sunken Colony Efficiency
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The idea behind getting sunken colonies as efficiently as possible is to get them as late and as few as you can get away with. You’re going to have to judge when the Terran moves out and morph those Sunken Colonies only when the army is close to halfway across the map.
If a Terran moves 6 marines towards you what do you do to defend? Do you go sunken colonies? Zerglings? The best option is to go sunken colonies and not zerglings in most cases. This is because the option of creating zerglings uses larva where the option to make sunken colonies does not use larva. With the extra larva you have available to you if you go sunken colonies you can devote them to make more drones. While it is true a combination of speedlings+sunken colonies can be cost effective versus marine medic balls most of the time this is not the case.
If a Terran moves 6 marines towards you what do you do to defend? Do you go sunken colonies? Zerglings? The best option is to go sunken colonies and not zerglings in most cases. This is because the option of creating zerglings uses larva where the option to make sunken colonies does not use larva. With the extra larva you have available to you if you go sunken colonies you can devote them to make more drones. While it is true a combination of speedlings+sunken colonies can be cost effective versus marine medic balls most of the time this is not the case.
Mind Games
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When playing StarCraft you always want to think in the mind of what your opponent will do and the motives behind their actions especially when they try to fake something to make you overcompensate with defense. A common psych out tactic of Terrans is to move their units halfway across the map coming to make you think that they're going to try and kill you or sometimes they have marines stim at the edge of your creep without attacking. The Terran wants to slow you down by making you create more zerglings and sunken colonies out of being scared rather than having that money put into drones and more hatcheries. Don't play scared and by all means do not under or over compensate if Terran does a push.
Timing of Evolution Chamber Upgrades
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The standard thing to do is to get +1 carapace first. If you're doing a 3 hatch lair build you get your evolution chamber a little before or after you plant your 3rd base hatchery down. You get your 2nd evolution chamber to start producing +1 melee attack when your +2 carapace is in the middle of upgrading. I've also seen some Zerg players skip the +1 carapace to reserve gas for hive tech defilers and then they do double upgrades upgrading melee and carapace at the same time. You rarely start the +1 melee upgrade before your +1 carapace has already finished unless you have the economic resources to do so and have a good advantage.
Preventing Drops
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Putting 2 sunken colonies near a nydus canal prevents too much damage. Having pairs of scourge on the patrol command is also good along with good overlord spread. Having a control group of lings in your main is also not a bad idea. Dropships are most likely going to arrive in conjunction with the Terran army to provide a distraction and to disorganize you as much as possible. Keep your mind on the minimap at these times.
Helpful Links
Bunker Rush
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My method of countering bunker rushes is different, and it may not even be that good but I've found some relative success with it. If I'm going against the typical 8 rax build as soon as I identify it I will pull 5-6 drones away(enough to two shot a marine). I still follow the guidelines that Day9 details in his "how to counter bunker rushes" post which there is a link to below but I do not pull 8-9 drones to kill off the marines. The 5 drones are going to kill off reinforcing marines and avoid the 2-3 marine ball that the Terran has. I let the bunker finish. When I've saved larvae on 13/17 supply and my spawning pool is done I get 8-10 lings. I then coordinate my 5 drones and 8-10 lings to kill off the bunker while picking off repairing scvs with a few lings and drones. Avoid the 2-3 marine ball and often times the Terran will retreat the marine ball to protect reinforcements. Avoid the ball and pick off other marines.
Against a normally timed 11 rax sometimes Terran will pull scvs+marines. In this situation put down 2 creep colonies and make lings. Pull drones. Try to kill off those marines.
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/Zerg_Counter_to_Bunker_Rush
Against a normally timed 11 rax sometimes Terran will pull scvs+marines. In this situation put down 2 creep colonies and make lings. Pull drones. Try to kill off those marines.
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/Zerg_Counter_to_Bunker_Rush
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/final-edits/226236-god-of-the-battlefield-part-1 Must read. Too epic. This article talks about the pure domination and ultimate smackdown the longest dominating progamer in history, the bonjwa of bonjwas, sAviOr, laid down on the top TvZ'ers even on the most imbalanced Terran favored maps that were active in proleague/tournaments(Map fixing scandal?!). Where other Zergs faltered Savior shined through in a blaze of never ending glory through brilliant flashes of tactics and strategy, single handedly revolutionizing the ZvT matchup while looking more amazing than Bisu all at the same time. On second thought, I don't think you're ready to click that link. (yes you are)
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/Zerg_Counter_to_Bunker_Rush Day9's How to Counter Bunker Rushes
http://blip.tv/day9tv/day-9-daily-6-hogil-vs-mind-3517333 Day9 analyzing the patience of Hogil's mutalisks and heavy economy and late hive style.
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/Mutalisk_Harassment Mutalisk How Harassment
Savior compilation Fun hype.
First OSL zerg wins The first time Zerg won an OSL after 11 OSL's and four years of being denied the title. Bless Julyzerg's heart.
Jaedong vs. Really 3 Hatch Muta vs. +1 5 rax
Jaedong vs. Flash 3 Hatch Lurker
Savior vs. Scan +1 5 rax Skip to 8:21
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/Day(9)_Podcasts A collection of podcasts about StarCraft noting several fundamentals and aspects people tend to overlook and pointing out the mistakes in mainstream/common thinking that beginners may fall into.