Don't Fear the Reaper

The unit most likely to get hit with the Nerf Hammer when the first patch of SC2 comes out is the Reaper. Cheap, fast, faster with an upgrade, cliff-climbs, murders light units, 5 of them can kill a Pylon in 2 shots (no, really), I can keep going. I'm not sure who's idea it was at Blizzard who said, "Hey, instead of an activated ability that can have a high cooldown, let's just let them all do insane damage to buildings!" I hope he's unemployed now.

I can't say how much this affects Protoss. Having a unit that can kill Pylons that quickly, is faster than Zealots, and doesn't take the damage bonus from Stalkers looks really hard to deal with. You effectively need Zealots with Charge, which requires 2 buildings after a Gateway plus research. That's a long time to be vulnerable to Reapers.

As a Zerg player, not so much. Oh, don't get me wrong; if you're not expecting them, they will kill off something important. Queens are neither Light nor Armored, so they don't take damage bonuses from much. But a Reaper demolition squad can kill important tech buildings quickly.

I've learned, from online sources, how to deal with Reaper rushes. It's a really simple equation: fast Zerglings + Creep movement = Dead Reapers. Zerglings with speed on Creep move absolutely disgustingly fast. They may as well be ranged units.

Incidentally, I would love to see what Banelings with speed are able to do on creep. I've never really had the opportunity to use them effectively.

Anyway, speed-upgraded Zerglings are the key. So we craft a build order based on getting Zerglings with Speed. Reapers are not a fast unit to get out. A Terran needs to double-Barracks with Tech Labs, so they've got to get some gas. And then they've got to produce a pair of Reapers. If they want speed, they have to put down the Merc compound and research it.

The build:

10 Overlord

13 Pool

13 Extractor

15 Overlord


You want to have 3 control open when the Pool finishes. That gives you 1 Zergling pair and (more importantly) a Queen. When the second Overlord finishes, get however many Zerglings you feel comfortable with. When your Queen pops, use Spawn Larva on the Hatchery immediately. However, make sure that when you get 100 gas, you have 100 minerals to get the speed upgrade.

From here, it's just a matter of getting about 10-12 Zerglings, and then paying attention to your base. But of course, that's not all you want. You might want to drop a Creep Tumor (from your Queen) on the Creep, so you can extend the range of your super-speed Zerglings.

You need to make a decision. Since he went for fast Reapers, he's hurt his economy. So you have three choices: break the front with Banelings, break the front with Roaches, or expand. If you choose to expand, make sure that you use the Creep Tumor's ability to extend the Creep to connect your main to your natural. Later, you'll use Nydus Worms, but those are higher tech than you can afford right now.

If you choose to expand, you've basically decided to play a guessing game: you guess what his plans are after his failed harass. Scouting is possible with Overseers. If he goes for air, throw down a Spire and get Corruptors. Indeed, even if he doesn't, Corruptors and Mutalisks together (while very gas intensive) can harass very effectively. If he goes for Marauders, counter with +1 Zerglings. If he keeps going for light infantry, get speed Roaches or Banelings.

Also, one last thing. Creep is your friend. Use Overlords and Creep Tumors to extend the Creep whenever possible. Overlords are a good start, but CTs make permanent Creep. Connecting your bases is good for keeping a fast unit flow between them, pre-Nydus. All of your ground units are substantially better when fighting on Creep.

Note: the above does apply to ZvZ too. Though be aware that if you lose control over a patch of Creep, it can become a highway into your base.

Conquering 3-Gate Zealot

Well, I finally beat the 3-Gate Zealot build. That's less of an accomplishment than it sounds, as the metagame may be shifting away from that as people start to understand the game. But I'll take it.

I forget the name of the map it was on. But it was a 4-player map, with two pairs of spawn locations near each other. Kinda like Lost Temple, but that wasn't the map.

Looking at the replay, I'm not sure exactly why he went for the build the way he did. Not being a Protoss player, I can't say for sure what tech patterns work and what don't.

In any case, my Overlord scouted him before his Gateway even started. I was in the middle of my standard build (14-pool, 2 Drones, Overlord, Drone, Zerglings+Queen) when I saw the second Gateway go down. So I knew what was coming.

I also knew that Roaches or Banelings would be far, far away. Not to mention any Tier 2 tech. So I went for something else: Spine Crawlers. I put three of those down, two early on with a third added later as my Zergling army built.

At the same time, I used extra money to throw down an extractor and get a Roach Warren. They may not arrive in time to save me, but I'd need them after the initial phase was over.

Things go as predicted. A team of Zealots enter the base and quickly back off; he's good enough to know when he's out-matched. However, they do erect a solid contain. Without marching Creep over to him, I don't have a shot at pushing them out without Roaches.

The other thing I did was take 4 Roaches worth of gas and invest in a Lair. Getting Roach speed is pretty important when dueling Zealots. You can kite them if you have speed. This delays my breakout, theoretically.

Unfortunately, in reality, I throw my Zerglings at the contain, expecting them to somehow break it. Um... they didn't.

I'm stupid sometimes.

However, the good thing about Zerglings is that they don't cost much. And they weren't exactly integral to my defense, because by then, I had my Roach production going. Also, they didn't die in vane, because it made him cocky.

So even gross stupidity can work itself out in the end.

After melting my Zerglings, he holds off his alive-but-damaged group of Zealots until reinforcements arrive. At that point, I get the impression that he decided that I'd held him off, so he was teching. He dropped a Forge and a Robo Facility.

That was when I decided that he needed to die.

Effectively, we had switched places. That is, I was rushing him. He Zealot rushed, but failed. I countered with a Roach rush.

However, he didn't see it coming. When I threw away my Zerglings, he figured he could just contain and tech. 8 Roaches taught him otherwise; they devoured his Zealots. And, like a good StarCraft player, I sent them straight into his base, and started rallying Roaches there.

We did some micro dancing at his ramp, and he even pushed my Roaches back after a little mis-micro on my part. But my next Queen-forged brood of Roaches was arriving to turn the tide. And then I gutted his base.

In the end, I found out that he actually out-resourced me, with almost 2x the number of workers I had. That's why I say we exchanged places; I was all-in. He lost because he had the wrong tech and was doing the wrong thing.

I have no idea what it was he wanted to build with that Robo bay, as he never did anything with it. I suspect that he was going to flank me with a Phase Prism, knowing how vulnerable the Zerg are to air attacks. But once he saw my Roach production, he knew it was all over.

First Impressions: Zerg

Welcome to the StarCraft II Beta, build version 0.2.0.13891.

I played 10 games as Zerg. I'll talk more about the specifics a bit later, but here are my impressions of the game from a Zerg perspective.

It works.

The overall hectic feel that SC1 had is retained in this game. I can't guarantee that everything will feel the same for someone with 300+APM and the multitasking skills to match. But for me, there was always something better that I could do.

The Zerg themselves don't feel finished. At all. There are a number of just flat-out odd things.

Roaches at Tier 1, but without their trademark regen. Indeed, they don't get their regen until Hive tech. What they are at Tier 1 is a Zerg Zealot: 16 damage and 145 Hp, for 75/25/1 cost. I'm not sure what burrowed movement is really supposed to do to these guys, but it isn't really helping. To make them useful at Tier 2, you have to research 2 upgrades, as well as do a lot of burrow micro. That just isn't worthwhile.

Also, Roach regen only works (unless it's the Tier 3 upgrade) when the Roach is burrowed. But this upgrade doesn't give Roaches burrow; that has to be researched separately, thus driving up the cost of Tier 2 Roaches.

Overseers also are very odd. They don't give extra control when made. All they are is detectors that can create Changelings. The Zerg only have 3 spellcasters to begin with: Queens who are stuck in your base casting Spawn Larva, Infestors, and Overseers. And now Overseers are practically useless.

Corruptors have an ability that shuts down any building for 30 seconds. This feels very... strange. It's an AtA unit, but unlike the Phoenix, it's spell has nothing to do with its AtA powers. The Phoenix's Graviton Beam allows other Phoenixes to shoot at ground targets. The Corruptor's corruption ability doesn't. It's simply an alternate reason to get Corruptors. I never got the chance to abuse this ability, but I will in the future.

Ultralisks were nerfed hard. They're basically 600 Hp versions of their SC1 incarnation. No linear AoE attack, no double attack, and no research upgrade for either. Their research is exactly their SC1 research: +2 armor and extra speed. On the plus side they can still burrow and they still have their 60-point anti-building attack.

Having two gas Geysers in your base (that provide half the total gas of one in SC1, so you don't get more gas) is actually quite a boon, particularly for the Zerg. Roaches and Banelings are Tier 1 units. Being able to throw down an Extractor at 25 less minerals than SC1, and only put 2 Drones on it to give you just enough gas to power out a few supporting Banelings or Roaches to compliment your Zergling army. It's not really much of a difference, but you can control your gas income a bit better. The double-geyser also makes gas more valuable: you have to pay almost twice as much to get the same income rate as SC1, so teching has more of a cost to it.

On to the games.

ZvZ: I can't say what this match will ultimately be like, as my only ZvZ match was against someone even less skilled than me. Mutalisks were annoying due to the only GtA being Hydralisks, who are 100/50 and quite strong. I suspect that any ZvZ that survives past the initial Roach spam will likely become a war for air supremacy. Tier 3 tech is utterly useless against someone massing Tier 2: I eventually won with mass Hydra, slaughtering 10+ Ultralisks.

ZvT: I have a pretty solid opening build for this game. I feel it's pretty safe, though I won't know until I play more than 3 games of it.

It's 10-Overlord-Pool. While the pool is making, Drone to 13 and save Larva. At the moment the Pool spawns, you should have ~300 minerals. Enough for instantly 3 Zerglings and a Queen, taking up up to the 18 unit cap.

With Terran Reapers and other tricks, plus the fact that they easily deny you a scout, I find this is about as econ-heavy as you can afford in ZvT. Zerg fast expansions are too easy for the Terran to punish without having some Hydra or Muta around. So you'll probably want to scout the Terran to see if he's expanding. If he did, mass Zerglings/Banelings and attack. If not, expand yourself.

Note: I've since heard that the extractor trick works in SC2. This might be worked into this build.

ZvP: If you're playing any game against Protoss, you're going to see one build 80% of the time: 3-gate Zealot. I played 6 games vs. Protoss, and lost 5 of them (winning only to someone who really had no idea what they were doing). Of those 6 games, 4 players went 3-gate Zealot.

The problem with 3-Gate is Chrono Boost. Oddly enough, it isn't the effect on Probe production that is the problem. The problem is if they save up 100 energy (4-casts worth), throw down 3 gates, and dump all of that energy into Zealot production. That's pretty much death. It's too many Zealots too fast.

I'd heard about this build before the Beta finished downloading. And despite going 0-4 to it, I don't think it's invincible. You just have to know about it. And SC1 Zerg are so used to relying on Overlord scouting and being the aggressor in ZvP that it's mentally hard to take a defensive posture. That means one thing: Drone Scouting. You must know that this is coming before your pool finishes.

Since 3-gate Zealot is a rush build, it auto-kills any fast expand. So you need to know if they're going for it before you expand. Also, Tier 2 is not going to save you from this; you will die while whatever Tier 2 building you're going for is still being produced. If the Zerg are going to be able to deal with 3-gate Zealot, it will have to do so at Tier 1.

Being hyper-defensive probably works. If you throw down 5 Sunkens, you'll probably survive. But it's not going to let you win, because 3-gate Zealot isn't very econ-damaging. You'll be stuck behind your Sunken line in your main, so you'll have to go for Lair tech on one base. This isn't going to work, since they have contained you. They can expand and build a devastating economy.

So you need to do the containing. That means you need units. Since it's Tier 1, it has to be Zergings plus either Banelings or Roaches. I tried Banelings, and they might have worked if my enemy hadn't attacked while my Ling/Bane army was about to attack them. I was out of position and killed. But I don't think Banelings do enough damage per their cost to Zealots (despite Zealots being Light). Also, the Baneling Nest itself costs gas.

The Roach Warren does not. Roaches do of course, but this buys you valuable time. So if you see 3-gate Zealot, instead of instantly getting a Queen with the extra 150 when your Pool pops, get a Roach Warren. You're really going to need the Queen's Spawn Larva, so don't forget to get her too. You'll also need gas. Whether you get an extractor before or after the pool, you'll need one quickly.

Your goal with a Zergling/Roach build is to contain your enemy and expand. You don't want to overextend yourself and get your army cut down, but you want to make your expansion safe. You'll probably need at least one Sunken to help with the defense against the initial attack. This buys you time to Drone up to getting a good gas and mineral flow. Once you have that, pump Lings and Roaches, then go for the contain. Try to periodically enter his base and kill Zealots before they build up into too big of a ball.

I can't guarantee that this will work, of course. But it has a chance.