David "stoicRegret" Tran will go through some of his replays on camera and describe his thought process vs these high level North American/Korean players. Shawn "stoicNuvo" Watkins will host the VODs and will ask questions that may seem more obvious to high level players. We'll include as many guest stars as we can get our hands on!
Team Stoic started off as a group of drinking buddies who found the greatest game ever created! Drinking games! And then we got into starcraft 2... And it was AWESOME!
First and foremost, Shawn and I are big Starcraft fans. We love the community, and more importantly, we love watching the pros duke it out! Our series of (never ending???) coaching vods are an attempt for us to express why we enjoy watching and playing starcraft 2 so very much. So please join us, wood leaguers, diamond potentials, masters generals, and Nestea-equivalents as Intimate ZvX with Stoic looks to bring Starcraft entertainment in the perspective of dedicated starcraft 2 fans!
Game 1 - Life vs Last Analyzing how Life deals with mech when severely behind due to a blue flame hellion run by.
Game 2 - Leenock vs BabyKnight Using the combination of hydralisks, lings and swarm hosts with viper support. Ultras are always nice in the late game.
Game 3 - David vs Friend David opens roach. DO NOT copy this opening. A general idea on how to gain an advantage in muta v muta.
Game 4 - David vs Friend Failed roach opening into muta strat. How to take advantage of bad widow mine placement
These are a compilation of tips that romelako has collected after watching basically every single episode from the beginning of time.
Intimate Mechanics:
Try to minimize looking at the main screen and focus on the minimap.
Always be anal when dealing with drone counts and saturation.
Hotkey your larva/eggs!
Intimate Macro:
Don't be afraid to save larva once you've hit your benchmark in regards to Drones. Larva doesn't disappear!
Try to make drones while looking at something else to make your APM as efficient as possible.
Always strive to minimally counter everything you're up against.
Intimate ZvP:
Always try to have an overlord spotting the gasses in the natural (after FFE)
There are two kinds of forcefields: offensive and defensive; make sure you can distinguish these FF's and only engage when your opponent utilizes offensive forcefields.
Deal with Stargate units with Queens and Spores
Roach/Hydra is generally a bad composition, but can be viable if you're behind (i.e. losing your third to gay zealot pressure)
If you can, going Roach/Ling is sometimes a better decision than just going pure roach as you can build up a gas deposit and tech easily because of the gas-less ling production.
Strive to build the units that take the longest to make first (roaches) when defending a push, so when the push comes, you can reinforce with faster-creating units (lings).
Intimate ZvT:
Don't be afraid to drop down a roach warren if you suspect a large hellion count or mech. It's a mineral-only investment and isn't detrimental to your tech and keeps you safe.
Mutas are never a good option when you're behind--always go Infestors!
Creep spread is important.
If you had the choice between dropping a spine or a spore (to mitigate drops), always opt for the spore as it really limits where the Terran can drop.
If you're on a low base count, infestors are always the way to go.
Always spread your army out when engaging the Terran to make Terran splitting ineffective.
Patrolling lings through drop paths is just as effective as a floating overlord and doesn't risk your supply cap from dropping.
Intimate ZvZ:
You should always try to be ahead "mentally" of your opponent.
In the mid game, a Roach/Hydra composition is more or less "equally as strong" as Roach/Infestor, but gains in advantage when the infestor player has no more energy.
You should always block your ramp with queens if you open 15h vs. 14/14 or any build where you are vulnerable to ling run-bys (usually when they have speed before you)
Skipping an early baneling nest allows you to have a slightly better mineral income, which means you can make extra queens and spines in the event of an attack before you have roach tech.
Keep in mind that a third is generally a huge investment and should be only taken when you have some sort of advantage. It costs 350 minerals, lowers your income, and doesn't take in effect until you actually have drones there.
I posted in the other thread, but I just wanted to thank you guys for the amazing analysis you guys have provided with this videos. I can definitely say that these videos have helped me A LOT, and has allowed me to notice things that I would not normally notice in my games (even at Mid-masters).
Please continue to do this!
quakerix Netherlands. January 18 2012 17:08. Posts 168
On January 18 2012 17:08 quakerix wrote: Subscribed!
Ever since mrbitter quit his live coaching and 12weeks with the pro's and stuff i was missing out on some high lvl zerg stuff.
Mr. Bitter's contributions to the community were enourmous at the time, but I think what's he's doing now is more important for eSports. He is a regular face that people associate with the industry. The downfall: he simply doesn't have as much time as he used to. He is still contributing in a way that may not directly help individuals, but helps us all as a group!
We can only hope to put out some content that's as valuable as 12 weeks with the pros.
On January 18 2012 20:17 Vortigan wrote: great vids... why no spines in ZvP?
Spines are useful in certain situations, but in others you simply don't need to waste the resources. For example, in the game vs ZeNEXYong, David elected to get burrow instead of spines; you don't need to invest in both becaues one will suffice. His scouting indicated a ground army pressure.
It is also very map dependent. What I mean by that is, on large maps (like Tal'darim) where it will take a protoss army a long time to get across the map, spines are not necessary because you can get your required tech ready before the push arrives. On Xel'Naga caverns, which is a very small map, spines are not as useful as burrow because there are basically 3 entrances to the natural and several choke points which are good for Protoss.
A good time to use spines would be if you are teching to something that may take a little more econ. Example: infestor play. It's hard to get enough infestors with lings to hold off a 6-7 gate all in that's executed properly at the correct timing without spine crawlers. It is possible, however, to hold this off without spines if you stay on a tier one roach ling army with creep spread and a macro hatch.
Archas United States. January 18 2012 23:54. Posts 5638
these are very good. Thank you Stoic for making this videos at the end of part 4 you guys mentioned past episodes are in vods. I'd just like to input that part 4 was well done on you tube and I think most people prefer that. So people can easily jump to the part with the match up they are looking for
GypsyBeast Canada. January 19 2012 02:14. Posts 630
Thanks for the videos! The ZvZ ones were especially useful for me in terms of scouting and what to look for... judging who is ahead and by how much in ZvZ is something I struggle with as well as when/how to transition safely to higher tech.
One thing is confusing me about the ZvP on Xel Naga: how does burrow allow you to defend that push? Five roaches is so few that I expected the protoss to just kill them without even thinking about it and move on to the drones... I was really surprised when he backed off after seeing burrow. Why didn't he just move forward and start attacking drones after the roaches burrowed?
edit: and if he had just moved forward instead of backing off, what could zerg have done about it?
Last edit: 2012-01-19 02:32:12
Saving the world, one kilobyte at a time.
sonigo Switzerland. January 19 2012 02:42. Posts 32
On January 19 2012 01:47 Northern_iight wrote: these are very good. Thank you Stoic for making this videos at the end of part 4 you guys mentioned past episodes are in vods. I'd just like to input that part 4 was well done on you tube and I think most people prefer that. So people can easily jump to the part with the match up they are looking for
Youtube will be the format from now on. We get much better quality that way.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/2wXgj.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/3Lwv1.jpg)
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vs Last 
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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/jfhX8.jpg)
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