TangSC Profile Blog Joined July 2011 Canada 1852 Posts Last Edited: 2013-03-18 15:26:12 #1 Spoiler Warning - You may want to watch the series before reading the post / comments.



Hey guys,



Yesterday I was scratching my head about how Zergs should play against Terran in HotS, but after watching



Openings



+ Show Spoiler + 10Pool Opening:



10 Pool

Double extractor trick to 12/10

12 Overlord

12-15 Lings

15 Queen

17 Ling

18 Drones

20 Hatch



I'm really impressed with how well this opening went for Life. Most early pools rely on killing workers, but Life's version seems economic enough to transition well even without doing much damage. He only makes 8 Zerglings (not a huge commitment), and goes into an expansion and gas afterwards. He generally gets 100 gas for Speed, and periodically builds some Lings to shut down pressure. Sacrificing some economy for Zerglings seems to be a recurring theme in Life's games.



Hatch-First Opening



15 Hatch

17 Gas

16 Pool

17 Overlord

Drones out of gas after 100 (Though sometimes he left 1 in gas)



I didn't actually see Life play against Reapers with this opening, but with the early speed he'd probably hold with good micro. If you're interested in the next-steps of this build, check out

10 PoolDouble extractor trick to 12/1012 Overlord12-15 Lings15 Queen17 Ling18 Drones20 HatchI'm really impressed with how well this opening went for Life. Most early pools rely on killing workers, but Life's version seems economic enough to transition well even without doing much damage. He only makes 8 Zerglings (not a huge commitment), and goes into an expansion and gas afterwards. He generally gets 100 gas for Speed, and periodically builds some Lings to shut down pressure. Sacrificing some economy for Zerglings seems to be a recurring theme in Life's games.15 Hatch17 Gas16 Pool17 OverlordDrones out of gas after 100 (Though sometimes he left 1 in gas)I didn't actually see Life play against Reapers with this opening, but with the early speed he'd probably hold with good micro. If you're interested in the next-steps of this build, check out Lowko's Video on Life



Transitions:



+ Show Spoiler + For the most part, Life played a +1/+1 Zergling-centric style of mid-game with Banelings and a delayed Lair for Mutalisks/Speed, but had a few variations:



Aggressive +1/+1 Speed-Baneling



This was just a sick timing that Life used to great effect in the finals. He went for very fast third and droned hard, but as usual still built enough Lings to get decent map control and vision. The vision was key for him, because he was able to hide a bunch of Lings mid-field to execute a massive +1/+1 Speedling/Baneling timings. The timing hit around 11 Minutes with about 30+ Banelings and who knows how many Zerglings. Perhaps an All-In (Or is it?) thread is in order. . .



Delayed-Lair Ling/Baneling/Mutalisk



By delaying Lair to 9:30/10:00, Life was able to keep a competitive economy while executing his usual +1/+1 Zergling-Centric mid-game. When Lair finished, he moved into Baneling Speed, 2/2, and Spire to complete a balanced mid-game. It seems inevitable that Widow Mines get some good connections with Zerg armies, but Life's army-splitting was on the ball. Once Overseers were on the field it was easier for Life to snipe those pesky mines. He used multi-pronged aggression to secure small leads, shut down drops with relative ease, and control the middle of the map. I wish I could multitask like that! In the later stages, Life added Ultralisks to tank/dps and Vipers to snag those Medivacs. So sick!



7:00 Lair / Mutalisk



After a few aggressive Baneling timings, Life switched it up and went for a 7:00 Lair, allowing him to start some unexpected Mutalisk harass as early as 11minutes.





I hope you all enjoyed the series as much as I did! Hey guys,Yesterday I was scratching my head about how Zergs should play against Terran in HotS, but after watching Life's sick run through The MLG Winter Championship , I don't think anyone can argue the effectiveness of a Zergling-centric style. I've written down some (incomplete) observations, and was hoping others could contribute their notes as well.I hope you all enjoyed the series as much as I did! Coaching www.allin-academy.com | Team www.All-Inspiration.com

ODKStevez Profile Joined February 2011 Ireland 1210 Posts #2 Thanks for this!! Can't wait to use it! Luppa <3

TangSC Profile Blog Joined July 2011 Canada 1852 Posts #3 On March 18 2013 10:19 ODKStevez wrote:

Thanks for this!! Can't wait to use it!

You and me both, what fantastic play! You and me both, what fantastic play! Coaching www.allin-academy.com | Team www.All-Inspiration.com

OhMyGhosty Profile Joined October 2012 40 Posts #4 Life, is The King of Blades.

FrisTheB Profile Joined March 2013 Canada 1 Post #5 Life's imba, Life is not fair!!!!!!..... Just kidding!! honestly he pulled out something special just like when FruitDealer won his tournament. He's going to be the most analysed zerg player until now..... Wonderworld!!! Wonderworld!!! the happiness is free.....!!!!!!

WNxTbatz Profile Joined February 2013 Canada 7 Posts #6 This strat was amazing, definitely going to shift the meta.Awesome Review Tim!!

Cyro Profile Blog Joined June 2011 United Kingdom 19832 Posts #7 He was able to hit wall vs safe cc first several times and come out completely fine, flash was 9scouting 2 player maps and going cc first after the nat hatch got scouted with his CC on lowground, or on highground as part of wall on 4 player maps - without a scout because you cant confirm early pool or not in time, very efficient play but Life somehow manages to come out of 10pool completely ok without breaking the wall or doing any conventional damage, just causing quite some delays "oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88

TangSC Profile Blog Joined July 2011 Canada 1852 Posts Last Edited: 2013-03-18 01:32:35 #8 On March 18 2013 10:30 Cyro wrote:

He was able to hit wall vs safe cc first several times and come out completely fine

Exactly! That's why I was so baffled by game one. Exactly! That's why I was so baffled by game one. Coaching www.allin-academy.com | Team www.All-Inspiration.com

Cyro Profile Blog Joined June 2011 United Kingdom 19832 Posts #9 I loved the play on both sides, Life is definately the one to copy.. making flash's early third cc double ebay with fastish medivacs after double ups look silly "oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88

Thieflord Profile Joined November 2012 United States 4 Posts #10 When would you suggest the third to be grabbed safely? Does he get 2 creep queens as well?

avilo Profile Blog Joined November 2007 United States 4099 Posts #11 On March 18 2013 10:30 Cyro wrote:

He was able to hit wall vs safe cc first several times and come out completely fine, flash was 9scouting 2 player maps and going cc first after the nat hatch got scouted with his CC on lowground, or on highground as part of wall on 4 player maps - without a scout because you cant confirm early pool or not in time, very efficient play but Life somehow manages to come out of 10pool completely ok without breaking the wall or doing any conventional damage, just causing quite some delays



This is because of larva inject and certain defensive measures from Terran and metagame on some maps. If Zerg economy is left untouched larva inject always out economies Protoss/Terran economy.



The reason this 10 pool has zero drawback is because on maps like whirlwind or any large map (or if you know the opponent opens 14 CC) the map is favored to Zerg due to the huge distance in the first place.



Metagame-wise this means Terran has to go with a massive all-in, proxy 11/11 or go for the 14/15 CC to have a chance. Zerg can then go 10 pool to punish this and be unpunishable due to the map distance which allows pure droning meaning Zerg will catch-up and exceed T economy while still possibly auto-winning vs a low ground CC and forcing 2-4 SCVs to be pulled to repair the walled up 15 CC variation.



10 pool basically has no drawback if the map is whirlwind or any map of similar size. This is because of larva inject and certain defensive measures from Terran and metagame on some maps. If Zerg economy is left untouched larva inject always out economies Protoss/Terran economy.The reason this 10 pool has zero drawback is because on maps like whirlwind or any large map (or if you know the opponent opens 14 CC) the map is favored to Zerg due to the huge distance in the first place.Metagame-wise this means Terran has to go with a massive all-in, proxy 11/11 or go for the 14/15 CC to have a chance. Zerg can then go 10 pool to punish this and be unpunishable due to the map distance which allows pure droning meaning Zerg will catch-up and exceed T economy while still possibly auto-winning vs a low ground CC and forcing 2-4 SCVs to be pulled to repair the walled up 15 CC variation.10 pool basically has no drawback if the map is whirlwind or any map of similar size. Sup

FeyFey Profile Joined September 2010 Germany 10106 Posts #12 Terrans think Mines are able to replace the Siege Tank in the early game, but if you prevent critical mine hits which is really hard with Lings, then the 10 minute move out of the Terran just won't work. Toss can do something similar with Oracles. I think Terrans will have to come up with something new or their strong push timing will just be reflected everytime soon.

VillageBC Profile Joined January 2011 322 Posts #13 I definitely do not have the skill required to replicate Lifes play as a Zerg. His play was awesome, but there is no way I can see me incorporating that into my 85apm. =)

cerebralz Profile Joined August 2009 United States 443 Posts #14 The thing is, as entertaining and awesome Life's play was, if all zergs have to play like that to win, i really don't think we will see any foreigner zergs beat any Koreans...ever. I know i can't duplicate that effort at the NA plat level against equal opponents and i don't see our pros doing it either. Makes me sad and i hope i'm wrong, but that was a performance that someone works their whole career to achieve, maybe holds it once or twice, then has a letdown.

T.O.P. Profile Blog Joined January 2009 Hong Kong 4684 Posts Last Edited: 2013-03-18 02:53:34 #15 On March 18 2013 11:45 cerebralz wrote:

The thing is, as entertaining and awesome Life's play was, if all zergs have to play like that to win, i really don't think we will see any foreigner zergs beat any Koreans...ever. I know i can't duplicate that effort at the NA plat level against equal opponents and i don't see our pros doing it either. Makes me sad and i hope i'm wrong, but that was a performance that someone works their whole career to achieve, maybe holds it once or twice, then has a letdown.

Good. I want to see lazy foreigners get completely crushed by koreans. This isn't a bad thing. We might see the return of the foreigner terran.



Life's style isn't about the builds. It's about how he moves his lings around to pressure the terran and find openings in the terran player's defense. Good. I want to see lazy foreigners get completely crushed by koreans. This isn't a bad thing. We might see the return of the foreigner terran.Life's style isn't about the builds. It's about how he moves his lings around to pressure the terran and find openings in the terran player's defense. Oracle comes in, Scvs go down, never a miscommunication.

HeeroFX Profile Blog Joined November 2010 United States 2619 Posts #16 Already seeing this on the ladder and lost to it like flash lol so I don't feel bad if flash died to it.

govie Profile Blog Joined November 2012 4058 Posts #17



It was a good MLG, ots of stuff to think about Indeed impressive. I liked mc's builds too. He shut terrans down completely. Ofcourse, with mc's and life's strategies micro-ing well is important, need more apm!It was a good MLG, ots of stuff to think about The two NBA teams in states with legal weed are called the Nuggets and the Blazers...

Spyko Profile Joined April 2010 France 5 Posts Last Edited: 2013-03-18 04:41:10 #18 Game 3 Life vs Flash.



15~ Hatch

15 ~ Extra

15 ~ Pool

At 100 gas -> only 1 drone at gas with speed upgrade

At 100 gas -> add 2 drones gas+2 extractor

At 200 gas -> 2 evo chamber with +1 def/+1 attack melee

At 100 gas -> Lair

At 50 gas -> Bling nest

When u can after Lair pop Bling speed (before spire)

Then +2 attack/+2 def when +1/+1 is done.



Dunno about the timing when he can expand. I think it was when he have just enough gold to do.



Game 5 Life vs Flash



15 Hatch

18 hatch

17 Extractor

17 Pool

18 Over

At 100 gas Speed lings-> move worker from extractor to mineral

(Speed before any queen)

25 Queen

27 Queen+2x2 lings

29 over

When speed is done +2 extractor with 3 worker gas

Macro hatch on the main before lair

When 100 gas lair

When 150 gas start double evo

After bling nest when he can

When evo pop +1/+1

Speed bling when nest pop (lair is up).



Game 6 Life vs Flash



15 Hatch

17 Extractor

17 Pool

18 Over

20 Hatch

At 100 gas Speed lings-> 0 drone gas

22 2sets of lings

26 2xQueen

When speed is done 3 drones gas

At 100 gas lair+3 extractor

At 200 gas start 2 evolution chamber

When lair pop Spire

+1def/+1 atk melee when 2 evo pop

Dunno if mistake or not but at 1/2 spire bling nest launch

When Spire pop +1 air dmg for muta

+2def/+2 atj melee when +1/+1 done



Ps : Sorry if my english is bad.

ahw Profile Blog Joined April 2011 Canada 136 Posts #19 i hope everyone copies this because delaying double ups for 45 seconds and getting an early tank out on the high ground would end this.

Danglars Profile Blog Joined August 2010 United States 11601 Posts #20

You pretty much nailed the transitions, this is exactly the themes I saw after watching the mlg. On March 18 2013 13:18 ahw wrote:

i hope everyone copies this because delaying double ups for 45 seconds and getting an early tank out on the high ground would end this.

You underestimate both the midgame presence and scouting potential of the build, as well as the strengths of the economy for zerglings, to think this has a chance to shut it down. In the dark theorycraft backrooms, it might seem brutal.



You underestimate both the midgame presence and scouting potential of the build, as well as the strengths of the economy for zerglings, to think this has a chance to shut it down. In the dark theorycraft backrooms, it might seem brutal. Perhaps an All-In (Or is it?) thread is in order. . .

Like Bear Grylls, Tang says, "Sunny outside? Better write up an All-In build!"



Viva la lings. It truly is an exciting style to play even at low levels to watch the terran struggle at their third! Like Bear Grylls, Tang says, "Sunny outside? Better write up an All-In build!"Viva la lings. It truly is an exciting style to play even at low levels to watch the terran struggle at their third! Great armies come from happy zealots, and happy zealots come from California!

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