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I know many people complain that 3v3 and 4v4 are nothing like 1v1 and large team games are only for cheesers. However, you need to understand that the game is not perfectly balanced in team, but that does not mean you cannot win in most circumstances. I am going to break down many different topics on strategy in the following sections that will discuss the roles each race plays as well as map choices. Almost all 3v3 and 4v4 team games will have a great deal of aggression in them and your team generally should be the aggressors, so please read carefully and watch any videos to learn how to improve your team game win percentage.



Remember it is not uncommon for your team to be forced into a base trade situation or to lose 1 player to a more aggressive team. As Day9 has said in one of his Daily's, just die slowly so your allies have time to get involved. Teams that sacrifice economy early on to get units out quickly, will find themselves behind in the mid game assuming you can keep most of your team alive. It is also quite feasible for the player who lost his base to micro drops, cloaked units, or air units to do maximum damage while his partners gather themselves for a push.

Please forgive any formatting issues for the time being, I am working on fixing them as quickly as possible!Hello there friends. Have you ever been frustrated by team games? Have you ever lost to players who you feel are completely inferior to your 1v1 skills? Have you ever wondered how some people are able to get 75%+ win ratios in 3v3 and 4v4? If so, you're at the right place. In this guide I'm going to explain all aspects of team play. By the time you're done reading and/or checking out some of my videos from this guide, you will be knowledgeable on many of the topics in the Table of Contents.I know some of you might be telling yourselves that you only play team games for fun and you take 1v1 more seriously. We can all also agree that winning is more fun than losing. So if you want to improve your enjoyment of team games by winning more of them, then I recommend reading the guide I have shared below. I have many videos uploaded to go along with the guide and will continue adding videos until I feel all of the topics in this guide are covered thoroughly.TABLE OF CONTENTS:1. Continue with ling production2. Start making drones and potentially expand3. Switch to roaches or some other tech1. Keep making lings, drones, and tech2. Switch to roach after expanding3. Go banelings and eventually tech1. Proper 10 pool build2. Proper 12 pool build3. Proper 11 over-pool build4. Proper 14 pool build5. Proper 15 hatch build1. Gate Forge opening vs. 2+ early pools2. Proper 3 gate into robo, blink, and stargate builds3. Proper DT build4. Proper 4 gate build1. A timing push with marines, marauders, and 1 or more terrans getting tanks2. A slow expand and map control play where most of them get tanks and set up expands.3. Banshees or drops to keep you pinned in your base1. Proper 3 Barracks Bio Build2. Proper 1-1-1 Build3. Proper Mass Blue Flame Hellion Builda. Thor and mech follow-upb. Banshee follow-upc. Marauder follow-up1. ZERG 3V3 MAP SELECTION2. ZERG 3V3 MAP RECAP3. ZERG 4V4 MAP SELECTION4. ZERG 4V4 MAP RECAP1. PROTOSS 3V3 MAP SELECTION2. PROTOSS 3V3 MAP RECAP3. PROTOSS 4V4 MAP SELECTION4. PROTOSS 4V4 MAP RECAP1. TERRAN 3V3 MAP SELECTION2. TERRAN 3V3 MAP RECAP3. TERRAN 4V4 MAP SELECTION4. TERRAN 4V4 MAP RECAP I. 3V3 AND 4V4 STRATEGY:3v3 Videos for this section:This first video shows how to defend early pool pressure when the other team has 2 or more zergs:

This second video shows a variety of strategies from the ZZT perspective:

4v4 Videos for this section:

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The 10 pool is an extremely standard opening in team that you should disassociate with the term cheese. 10 pool allows you to get zerglings out early, but more importantly allows you to get speed before any other zerg players. 13 gas, 14 pool is the standard 1v1 opener for zerg and will also be used in team. 15 hatch will be used on rare occasion in 3v3 and 4v4 team games.



You should 10 pool when you have at least 2 zergs on your team and the other team is guaranteed to have an open base. For example on toxic slums, if the other team has at least one zerg, then you will want to 10 pool to try and take him out early and do significant damage. However, if the other team has all 4 players as protoss or terran or 3 players that are protoss and terran and 1 that is random, you should do a 14 pool or 15 hatch. The reason behind this is because smart players will block their ramp, and therefore keep you from taking one of them out. If you both 10 pool, you will put your team behind significantly in supply and economy and they will simply push and win.



The main purpose of zerg in teams is to obtain map control, punish greedy openings, and give your team the economic lead. This will either involve zergs doing early pool builds or more economically sound openings against non-zerg teams.

There are really only 5 basic openings that you should ever do as zerg in team. You must also be aware that these openings vary both based on your allies races and your opponents races. You should either do a 10 pool, 12 pool, 11 overpool roach build, 14 pool, or 15 hatch opening. I will explain the builds completely below as well as the situations in which you should use each build.



The 10 pool is a highly feared/hated build in 3v3 and 4v4 games. This build will get you ling speed earlier than any other build while still enabling you to follow it up with a reasonable economic play. You will want to do this build if the other team has at least 1 zerg or several random players that could potentially be zergs. This is considering that you have at least one other zerg on your team. If you are the only zerg on your team, then you should do a 14 pool or 15 hatch.

When your lings pop out, your terran or protoss allies should have scouted your opponents and revealed a suitable target for you and your zerg partners to attack. If there is a protoss who did not build his gateway on 12, meaning he chrono boosted workers before building his gateway, then he is a suitable target. If a zerg did a build other than a 10 pool, then they are a suitable target. I personally prefer going to protoss players because they pose the bigger threat later in the game and if the other team has 1 less zerg than your team, it is much easier to fight them without interference from workers or queens.



When you are attacking another zerg, you must never engage when he out numbers your lings. In most cases you will have speed before the opposing zerg, which means it is best for you to wait until speed if the numbers are even. However, if you and an ally greatly outnumber the zerg, then do your best to take out the other zerg while losing as few lings as possible. If you kill most of his lings, but he manages to get a spine up in the mean time, just return a minute or two later when you have speed. You would be surprised how many players unwisely have their lings chilling far away from their hatch when you return with speed. Not to mention that their allies will often try to help, so killing those units in the open with your lings will make it much easier to return to finish off the zerg. Once you do have speed, you should be able to easily wipe out the zerg even if he has a spine crawler up. Another option is bringing a drone along and building a spine crawler in range of his hatch, but out of range of your opponent's spine crawler. I frequently do this to opposing zergs because it is a good way to almost always guarantee a kill without needing your allies to get involved.



Just remember that if you take out a zerg on their team, it is a good idea to make a few drones afterwards. You will have to judge how many you can get away with, but I generally recommend only making 5-10 because you will still need units to defend what usually involves a counter attack at 7-9 minutes in. You should also spend that time hiding lings around the map to spot for expansions and when your enemies move out onto the map for a push.



Attacking protoss bases will go a little differently than fighting at a zerg's base. A protoss who does not open gateway forge, will almost always be vulnerable to be killed off at the start of the game. The reason is because even if he plugs the hole into his base with a zealot, he will not get a stalker or sentry out in time to kill the lings before they kill his gateway and/or cybernetics core. This means the protoss will lose his production building and have no way to help his allies other than suiciding drones into your speedlings. You will also be able to take out protoss players who do a gateway and forge build if they are close enough to one of your zergs. For example, on the map toxic slums if one of your zergs and a protoss on their team spawn next to each other, you should be able to kill his forge before the cannon finishes. This will give you around 5 seconds to kill the cannon before it completes. The reason you will want to target the forge instead of the gateway is because the forge has 400 hp/400 shields, which is 200 less life than a gateway, which is 500/500. Idealy it would be nice to kill the pylons powering the cannon, but smart players will have it powered by 2 pylons, which means targetting the cannon will be the best decision. The cannon has 100 less total health anyways.



Some games when you 10 pool, you will get extremely unlucky. For instance, it is a good idea to double 10 pool against 3 or more random players if the other team does not have a zerg. There is a high probability that one of them will be a zerg and you will be able to take them out reasonable early in the game. So you might be left with trying to break into a terrans base. If you are ever against a team with 3 randoms, I recommend one of your zergs leaves his drones in gas after he collects 100 for speed. That way if the other team does not have any zergs, one of you will be able to throw down a baneling nest and bust down a terrans ramp. Usually terrans are not the best choice to take out early game because they can lift off and many maps have islands, which means you really didn't kill anyone on the other team. However, there will be games where this will happen.



If you ever have a team full of zergs, 3 or more, you should all get a 10 pool. One of your team's zergs should get a baneling nest before he gets speed, so you have the potential to bust into an opponents base immediately after you take out a zerg or protoss on their team. With 3-4 zergs on your team, you will almost always be able to kill of 2 of the 4 players on the other team if you execute your aggression properly. Even if the other team gets hellions against 3-4 zergs, you will almost always have enough lings to surround the hellions and keep the aggression going. My suggestion if you scout a gas first terran is to baneling bust him first to remove the threat of hellions from the game. This will extend the useful life of your zerglings, since hellions will not be a threat early game. Especially if you have 3 or more zergs on your team, I would recommend killing the terran opening hellions before you even bother with other zergs or protoss players. Blue flame early in the game can really ruin your lings cost effectiveness.



Now you might be wondering why I am not suggesting you go double 14 pool or double 15 hatch against 3 random-4 random players with no zergs present. The reason for this is if they were to get 3-4 zergs, I can guarantee they will 10 pool you. So if you do not 10 pool, even against 2 zergs, one of you will die and you will be a man down all game. That is why you should 10 pool against multiple random players.



There is one other circumstance where you will want to do a slight variation on the 10 pool build. It is called the 11 overpool build. You should use this build when you are the sole zerg on the team and there could potentially be 2 or more zergs on the other team. For example, if there is 1 z, 2 t, and 1 r, then you should 11 overpool incase the other player gets zerg. The 11 overpool build will have you get a spawning pool after you drone to 11 and get an overlord. This build is slightly less economical than a 14 pool build, but the bonus is you will be able to have a spine up by the time 10 pools get to your base. This doesn't mean you will live for sure, but it beats the hell out of doing a 10 pool against a 1 z, 2 t, 1 r team that turns out to only have 1 zerg who 14 pools. A 14 pool will shut down a 10 pool, like a 10 pool will shut down a 6-8 pool build. The 11 overpool build will at least allow you the option of getting a queen early to keep up in larva production and the safety of a spinecrawler if need be.

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Hopefully by now you understand when and how to be aggressive against opponents using the 10 pool. However, what seperates the top masters players from those in diamond and lower is how they transition after a 10 pool build. Just because you kill off a zerg on the oppossing team does not mean you will be able to win the game when your allies get involved. There are three primary transitions you will do after the initial push that hopefully takes out an opponent.



1. Continue with ling production



If it is obvious that with a little help you can break into the remaining players bases, then you will want to continue making lings to help your allies with their strategies. 6-7 minutes in the game is usually when your non zerg allies will be able to do some kind of bio, or 4 gate push to help you win the game. If you and your teammates decide that you could take out another player, then continue ling production to ensure your allies have plenty of support to keep losses to a minimal.



2. Start making drones and potentially expand



For example, if the other team had 1 zerg who you killed and has 3 terran or protoss players remaining, you will want to make a few drones to improve your economy. Many protoss players will get a forge early to defend against your 10 pool, and they will usually follow this up with void rays or dark templar. Both of these problems have the same solution, get an evolution chamber around 6 minutes and get 1-2 spores in your base. If you make a few extra drones after killing the zerg, you will be able to fit these buildings in easily and eventually macro up later in the game. On occasion you will be able to drone and expand at the same time, but the more competent your opponents are the more likely you will only be able to make 5-10 drones and not expand.



3. Switch to roaches or some other tech



If the other team got hellions or banelings, then you will most likely need to get roaches to continue to help your team. I will normally make 5-6 drones after I take out an opposing player with my allies and use the extra drones to build a roach warren and 1 spine or 2 spines. If I did not react quickly enough to the hellions, I will be better off getting 2 spines because they will finish a lot earlier than my roaches could ever get out. If I get roaches and 1 spine, but the hellions are already heading across the map towards my base, then I will lose all my drones and get a few useless roaches to pop out after they all die. You will learn what you can get away with as you play more, but if you kill the zerg off and you know you cannot kill another player immediately, then drone up and stop making lings.



Also, be sure to keep in mind that banshees and Dts will hit your mineral line around 7 mins, so you need to have an evo chamber up no later than 6:30. I usually try to build mine at 5:45-6 mins just to be on the safe side. One spine and one spore is all you'll need for DTS and 1 spore with a queen is all you need to defend banshees. If someone commits heavily to banshees or DTS, then get more spines or queens depending on the situation.



Okay, now that I have covered the 10 pool I will now divulge into appropriate times for the 14 pool and eventually the 15 hatch builds. The 14 pool is the most economical build that gets you lings out before an expansion. It is the standard build in 1v1, but should not be used as frequently in 3v3 and 4v4.

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You will want to use the 14 pool build when the other team can only have 1 zerg. If the other team could have 2 or more zergs, it is extremely risky to go a 14 pool build. Even though your lings will get out right when a 10 pool build reaches your base, you will have half as many lings as they do. Two 10 pools will at the very least kill at least 2-4 drones, and all of your lings. If you're lucky you might get a spine crawler up and lose 2 drones, but that will basically put you even in drones with the other zergs. Then you will be behind in speed research, which will come back to haunt you. Anyways, if the other team only has 1 zerg, then the 14 pool build is probably your best bet. You will be able to expand on 21 and out produce the opposing zerg if he does not 14 pool as well. Of course, if your allies are sharing a base with you, then a 14 pool is much more viable than if you are in a separate base.



If you're fortunate enough to have another zerg 15 hatch when you go 14 pool and the expansion is in the open, feel free to mass lings and cancel his expand. If you manage to take out his expand he will certainly be behind in production if you expand on 21 and you will have speed well before he does. This will give you a good opportunity to take him out early. If you're against another zerg who 10 pooled, just play conservative by making a lot of lings and waiting to engage him until you have speed. He will get speed about 30 seconds or more before you, so if you're caught in the open, he will be able to take out all of your lings. Once you get speed, you will easily be able to outproduce the 10 pooler, then it is just a matter of finding the right opportunity to take him out. Banelings are also a good choice because he is unlikely to be able to afford any tech choice other than banes himself.



You will have three primary transitions after opening with a 14 pool.



1. Keep making lings, drones, and tech



I will do this if I have no fear of hellions or banelings. Those two units, however, will force me to invest in spines or go with another option of getting roaches. I personally like to tech to infestor and switch to muta, or tech to muta and switch to infestor. Infestors are great against bunched up low hit point units, as well as gateway units. Mutas tend to force players to get units such as blink stalkers, marines, mutas, and hydras, which infestors are particularly good at killing. You can tech to whatever you are comfortable with, just remember that there is almost always an opening in air defense that mutas can exploit and there is almost always uses for infestors. Area of effect abilities and attacks are especially potent in 3v3 and 4v4, so you cannot really go wrong with either, unless blink stalkers or phoenix are already on the field, then don't go muta.



One great idea you can do with infestors is killing expansions and workers when you're not in a fight. Sending 2 burrowed infestors near a newly constructed expansion can easily get you 10+ worker kills and no losses. Also, infested terrans can take down expansions pretty quickly in large numbers. This may require 5 or more infestors, but energy is free, so exploit it all you can.



2. Switch to roach after expanding



If you are against banelings or hellions, then this may be your best option for continuing to contribute to your team. You obviously can switch to another unit composition later, but if you are against banelings and hellions, roaches are your only tier 1 option to help your allies. Normally if I am forced into roaches, I will get infestors at tier 2 to help with bunches of gateway units, masses of lings, or bunched up bio armies.



3. Go banelings and eventually tech



If I am against a single zerg opponent, this is a good way to force the other zerg into roaches or banelings. If you get banelings he will not be able to drone up, which can work to your teams favor. The banelings are also quite strong against gateway units and marines. If my opponents have open bases and an easy way for me to get lings into their base, then I often prefer going ling baneling and use mobility to my advantage. Your main goal will be to use lings to distract your opponents while you attempt to kill their workers with banelings. Against many terran opponents, this might be your best opening.



Alas, I have not forgotten about the 15 hatch. After all this build has a place in 3v3 and 4v4. You will not get to do 15 hatch builds often because there will almost always be a zerg on the other team or at least a few random players. However, in the circumstance that there are no zergs on the other team, or there is a place where you can make an expansion inside your base, such as on district 10, then 15 hatch is quite viable. However, you can only 15 hatch against zerg opponents if your allies are able to block the ramps into your base. Even a single hole can mean game over. If you know you are against all protoss and terran players, then you and any other zergs on your team can 15 hatch safely if they want to.



This is sometimes the strongest strategy because it forces the other team to push. If the other team does not push early in the game, they will fall far behind because your mutas, infestors, and/or your own teams push will crush them when they attempt to expand. For example, if you and another zerg on your team expand and the other team does not attempt to stop you. You will easily be 15-20 supply ahead by 8-10 minutes into the game. You will also be mining at least 20% more than your opponents, which gives you a huge advantage.

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When you open 15 hatch you will likely make one of the same transitions I discussed in the 14 pool section. The only difference is you will have speed a lot later, so I would recommend playing mostly defensive until you have speed complete. If you are against mostly protoss opponents, i will recommend you make mostly lings with a few roaches to stop any gateway pushes. Against mostly terran opponents, you are best off sticking with pure ling and baneling. Just remember that even though your 15 hatch can get your team ahead, if you fail to stop droning, your allies will suffer or you will lose your expansion. Most protoss pushes come around 6-7 minutes and most terran pushes come around 7-8 minutes in, so keep that in mind. I cannot give you an exact amount of drones you should make because that is all going to depend on your allies and the specific game you are in.



Regardless of the build you decide to use, just remember that zerg has immense macro potential late in the game. Since most of the time you will be multi tasking harassment with economy, you can always use the share resources button to get rid of excess minerals. If you are going a heavy muta army, but fear that your lings will not be very useful, then send your extra minerals to a terran on your team. If you got too much gas, then share it with someone going collosus, templar, or mech units. Likewise, if you are teching to mutas, don't be afraid to ask for extra gas when your spire completes. I can tell you that gas feeding is extremely powerful in team games, especially when a zerg comes out with 20 mutas at 10 minutes instead of 8-10 because his allies fed him gas.

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Before I move on to the other races I will list all of the build orders for zerg that I have mentioned above. These are fairly simple to follow.



1. Proper 10 pool build:

Drone to 10

Spawning pool on 10

Extractor on 9

Drone to 10 again

Overlord when you have the minerals, usually when your gas finishes

3 sets of zerglings when the pool finishes

Pull workers off gas starting on 92 gas

Queen on 16 or 17 with the extractor trick

Overlord



I see a lot of players mistakenly make a drone after they make their spawning pool. The result is they have zergling speed 15 seconds later, which often lets me exploit that advantage, since speedlings will absolutely demolish regular lings. If you need banelings, just get the baneling nest before you get speed or after you get speed depending on how early you need the banelings.



2. Proper 12 pool build:

Drone to 10

Double extractor trick for 2 more drones (hence the 12 pool)

Spawning pool on 12

Overlord

Extractor on 11

2 drones

3 sets of lings when pool finishes

Pull workers off gas at 92 (unless going banes)

Queen on 16



The 12 pool build is very similar to the 10 pool build and if you are even on zergs, this is actually the best build you can do in team to ensure map control. The queen gets out roughly the time 10 pool zerglings would get to your base. Your speed is almost as fast as a 10 pool (within about 10 seconds). You will only briefly be behind in lings, until your first inject larvae pops out. The other nice thing about this build is if you are against a bunch of random players and you decide to early pool, you can get the fastest possible banes without saccing all of your economy. If your team is even on zergs, I recommend doing this build.



3. Proper 11 overpool build:

Drones to 11 using the extractor trick

Overlord on 11

Spawning pool as soon as you have 200 minerals

Continue making drones for as long as you feel safe

Extractor on 13-14

Spine crawler as soon as your spawning pool finishes

Queen once you make the spine crawler

Roach warren after the queen if you want to go roaches



I use this build frequently if I am out numbered by other zergs. If you spawn close to other zergs, you will have to defend your spine crawler briefly until it gets up. However, at the very worst, the spine will be 80% done by the time lings make it to your base. If you know a zerg spawned near you and did a 10 pool opening, cut drones sooner and save some larvae for lings of your own. That will buy you all the time you need to get the spine crawler up. Against a team with 2 zergs and 1 terran who does hellion this is a very strong build in 3v3. You can easily follow it up with a roach timing push when your allies have stim or 4 gate finished. I have beat many top teams by doing this build when we did not have 2 z and 1 t ourselves.



4. Proper 14 pool build:

Drone to 9

Overlord on 9

Drone to 13

Gas on 13

Drone to 14

Spawning pool on 14

Queen when spawning pool finishes

Speed when you collect 100 gas

Expand on 21



You should take notice that the build has you get gas before the pool, not after. This is because you want to get ling speed as soon as your spawning pool finishes. The timing should work out if you do the gas on 13 and get your drones in the geyser on time. If you were going to follow up your speedlings with banelings, then obviously you should get a baneling nest after you get ling speed. Even if you make all lings once your pool finishes, you should be able to afford the queen, speed, and an expo by 21 supply. Just remember this build should only be used when you are only facing 1 zerg opponent.



5. Proper 15 hatch build:

Drone to 9

Overlord on 9

Drone to 15

Hatch on 15

Drone up to 17 at most

Spawning pool on 14-17 based on opponents build

Gas after pool



There is some variation that you can do in this build based on your opponents builds. For instance, if there are several terrans who are all opening with 2 barracks builds, then you should drone to no more than 15. However, if your opponents are doing passive openings then you can drone up to 17 without fear. This build will force your opponents to be extremely aggressive with tech play or a timing push. If they allow you or other zergs on your team to 15 hatch and drone up like crazy, then you can count on a win most of the time.



Well I think that covers the facets of zerg fairly well. Now it is time I explain to you how you should play the other races in team. I'll start with protoss, which in my opinion is the hardest race to play properly in 3v3 and 4v4 because of their early game vulnerabilities.

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You will be scouting after you place your pylon on 9 supply. Your goal is to determine how many of each race there are and the specific builds your opponents are going. The most important thing you need to determine is how many zergs there are and what builds they are doing.

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In the case of 2 zergs or more doing 10 pools or any other early pool builds you should do a gateway on 12 and forge on 13-14. You will need the cannon to properly hold off early aggression. It is possible to get away with a gate cyber build, but only if you are cross map and the ramp can be blocked with 3 buildings (a gateway, cybernetics core, and pylon. You will be able to get away with 2 chrono boosts on your workers before your gateway finishes, if you do more, you won’t have enough minerals to both get a cannon and continue worker production. I recommend placing the cannon before your 2nd pylon if you are short on minerals because every second counts. You will want to chrono boost your first zealot to plug the 1 hole you have into your base and put him on hold position. He will be able to hold the line until your cannon gets done, at which point you will be safe for a short period of time. If you believe the lings will get in your base before the zealot is out, then just leave a probe at your ramp ready to plug the hole with a pylon. You can always cancel it once the cannon is done and the zealot is out.



Now what would happen if you didn’t take my advice and decided to go gate cyber when you spawned next to a zerg on toxic slums for example. What will happen is by the time your cyber finishes it will have lost all of its shields. This means even if you chrono boost out a sentry, he is going to kill your cyber, get into your base, and ruin your day. Unless he is the only zerg, then you should be able to hold it. However, in the case of 2 zergs or more, you will lose your base and your team will be down a player in the first 4-5 minutes of the game. This means their team is free to drone up afterwards, expand, or go kill another person on your team.



If you happen to be against a 6 pool, then you need to completely block your ramp because the zealot will not get out in time to plug the hole into your base. Make sure you place your cannon asap and both pylons should be powering your cannon, otherwise he will kill the pylon powering the cannon, then proceed to ruin your day. I would also recommend pulling about half of your workers to block the entrance to your base when one of your buildings goes down. This will ensure you kill his lings without sustaining any significant damage. It will also prevent him from getting into your mineral line and keep you from mining. It's better to lose a few probes than to be harassed constantly by 6+ lings still chilling in your base. Afterall, your cyber core will be late, so you will have nothing to chrono boost except zealots and probes.

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Even though holding off the 2 zergs won’t be an issue most of the time, if they have a terran partner who goes hellions or marauders, you are going to have some real problems. That zealot you used to block your ramp will die very quickly to hellions, then the lings are free to stream into your base and finish you off. There are only 3 real options against mass speedling hellion that protoss can do.

3 gate stargate (described below)

Blink stalkers (because this is the only cost effective way your stalkers can live against lings, since hellions make zealots and sentries useless)

DTs to give your team a little map control (also described below)



The blink stalker build will be effective at countering opponents to kill their mains, defending and taking out hellions, and breaking even against zerglings. I think this is one of the few effective ways to deal with ling hellion that does not compromise your allies.



Now many games you will not face 10 pools because the zergs opt to go a 14 pool build, or there is only 1 zerg, or there are no zergs. In those games I will list the recommended builds and the reason I recommend the following builds.

What if the zergs don’t do 10 pools and build a 15 hatch instead? In that case you should do a timing push with a 4 gate or you can do a gate forge opening and cannon the expand out of sight.

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If you see only 14 pools, just play it standard like you would in 1v1 ladder.

If you face 2 or more protoss, I can almost guarantee one of them will go DTs in 4v4. So you either need to do the fastest 4 gate possible and push before he gets DTs, go DTs yourself, or you need to do a 3 gate robo build.

I personally prefer 3 gate robo as a standard against 2 protoss or more because if they don’t go DT and they decide to go 4 gate instead, your immortals will wreck their stalkers and you will have a significant tech advantage. Also, if your team is doing a timing push, but has no mobile detection, you will have the advantage of having observers on the field to ensure you punish the other team for going DTs. The tech advantage lies in the fact that if they go blink stalkers, you already have the solution by having immortals in your army. If they try and get colossus, you will have 2 colossi with range before they get 1 onto the field if they opened with a 4 gate.



Normally if they do DT or 4 gate, I will expand while we counter push and get a forge to put 1 cannon at my expansion and in my main. The cannon ensures that I do not have to return to my base to defend against DTs, which means we can take advantage of their lack of units instead of being pinned in our base. After that I’ll get colossus with range, +1 attack for my units, and add a twilight council for charge and blink when I have colossus range researched. I prefer getting charge before blink in most cases because you are going to have more zealots since most of your gas will go to colossi production. You will need 3 gas to afford constant colossi production and get range. Once you have both bases fully saturated and 4 gasses taken, you should have 5-6 gateways, 1 robo, 1 forge, and 1 twilight council.

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In all cases you will want to complete your warp gate research as quickly as possible, so I recommend always chrono boosting it from start to finish.

1. Gate Forge opening vs 2+ early pools:

Pylon on 9, scout as well

Gateway as soon as you can afford it (about 12)

Chrono boost workers 2x, gas on 13-14

Forge on 14-16, depending when you scout the zergs

Cannon on 16 if 10 pool scouted, otherwise get pylon on 16

Chrono boost zealot when gateway finishes

Cyber when you can afford, then proceed with build as usual



You may want to cancel your gas if you spot a 10 pool early. This way you do not have to risk losing a gateway or forge early in the game. Gate forge is about the safest build you can do without delaying your cyber more than a minute. On maps where you share a base with an ally, you usually won't need to do this opening.



2. Proper 3 gate into robo, blink and stargate builds:



I recommend doing 3 gates before you try and go for any tech choices because most games you need the units early.



Pylon on 9

Gate on 12

Chrono boost workers 2x

gas on 13-14

2nd pylon on 16

cyber when your gate finishes

3rd pylon after stalker and warp gate are started

2nd and 3rd gateways when you can afford them

2nd gas after 3rd gate

robo, stargate, or twilight after 2nd gas



Blink or immortals often leave you with few other units to help your allies early and that can cost your team the game. That is why it is important to get 3 gates before you bother going for higher tech units. If you are on a team play map and share a base with your allies, by all means you can tech to those units much quicker. However, on most of the maps and in most situations it is better to be safe than sorry.



3. Proper DT build:



You will need a cannon if you suspect the other team is getting DTs as well or banshees.



Pylon on 9

Gate on 12

Chrono boost workers 2x

Gas on 13-14

Pylon on 16

2nd gas when you can afford it

Cyber when you can afford

3rd pylon when you can afford

Twilight council

2nd and 3rd gateways

Dark Shrine

Forge if you suspect cloaked units



Try not to get more than 1 sentry or 2 stalkers if you do this build because that will cut into your gas and delay your dark shrine.



4. Proper 4 gate build:



Pylon on 9

Gate on 12

Chrono boost workers 2x

Gas on 13-14

Cyber when gate finishes

Pylon immediately after cyber

Probes to 19 (16 on minerals, 3 on gas)

2nd gateway

3rd pylon (idealy proxied)

3rd and 4th gateways

Chrono boost warp gate non stop



Do not get a sentry with this build if you want the fastest warp gate possible. However, if you have a lot of terrans on your team and the push will come later than 6 minutes because stim usually doesn’t finish until 6:30 to 7ish minutes, then feel free to grab a 2nd gas once you build your 4 gates. If you do the build properly you will have warp gate finished around 5:40 and your units warped in around 6 mins. It also helps to have a proxy pylon when warp gate is finished so you can take out an opposing player before cloak or DTs normally get out.



I know some of you are thinking, “What about stargate? You never mentioned stargate, I use it all the time in 4’s.” Stargate builds have one specific purpose in 3v3 and 4v4. I use them to punish teams of 2 zergs and 1 terran that do hellion ling pressure at the start of the game. You should do a 3 gate stargate build that involves 2 gas and 3rd pylon before you build your stargate. If there is one weakness to double 10 pool and hellion, it is the fact that they cannot deal with air very effectively. The zergs already have a queen and can get spores, so usually they can defend against 1-2 void rays. However, terrans who go hellion, often forget to get an engineering bay or make any marines. The result is you can level their entire base with void rays while you mass up gateway units inside your base.



This build works a lot better in 3’s than it does in 4v4, because most players in 4v4 will have at least one player getting stalkers, marines, or some form of anti air.

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Now I still have not covered if the other team has no zergs and what you should do as protoss. If the other team has no zergs, your team has 2 options essentially. You can either do a 3 or 4 gate timing push and take advantage of split bases, or you can expand first and try to deny their expos for as long as possible.



If you are going to expand against terrans, you must remember that this is team and not 1v1. If you decide to do a 1 gate expand, you will get messed up or your allies will. 3 gate expand or 3 gate robo expand are the only solid options in team that won’t auto-lose your team the game against terran. I normally wait until I start a forge before I try to expand. The last thing you want to do is get stuck defending an expansion when your team needs to be pressuring your opponents. If the other team has a lot of terrans, they will likely do one of the following strategies.



A timing push with marines, marauders, and 1 or more of terrans getting tanks.

A Slow expand and map control play where most of them get tanks and set up expands.

Banshees or drops to keep you in your base while they set up expands.



The earliest any terran push will come, besides a proxy, is about 5:30 into the game. That is if they are doing a mass marine play where each of them gets 4-6 barracks and masses marines or if they do hellion. If you have zergs who go banes, blink stalkers, and/or hellions with blue flame, you should win in the long run against such a play.



During a normal game your scouting will be able to determine exactly what kind of play terrans are going for. I will try and explain the best strategies to execute based on what you see.



1. A timing push with marines, marauders, and 1 or more terrans getting tanks



You will be able to determine this by the number of marines they get at their ramp, add ons, gas count and timing, and the lack of bunkers. Terrans who are going for a 3 barracks (with add ons) push will usually get a tech lab on their first barracks at or before 3 marines. Also, if you see marauders, you can be assured it is a stim timing push. Some players open it with a reaper, then get stim and doing a timing push after. Anyone getting a reaper is doing an early stim play and will do a timing push. This means you have until about 6:30 to expand, tech, etc. before the terrans will be on your side of the map.



As protoss I recommend doing a 3 gate robo build, 4 gate push to hit before stim finishes, or 3 gate with forge and blink expand. The 3 gate expand play is a good option if the other team has 1 or no zergs. As long as you make units non stop, you should have enough to defend a timing push with stim as long as you’re with your allies.



2. A slow expand and map control play where most of them get tanks and set up expands.



Terran has the ability to turtle up and expand pretty safely, of course the expansion comes much later than the other races. When terrans do this play, you are best off expanding yourself and/or keeping them contained with DTs and units at their front to slow their expand. They will eventually be able to take their expansions anyways, but the purpose isn’t to outright win the game against this turtle style of play, it is to get map control. The map control you obtain will allow you to take a 2nd or 3rd much sooner and/or have a tech advantage to keep them contained on 2 bases at the most. Then it’s just a matter of getting colossus, brood lords, and other such units to eventually finish them off.



The biggest mistake I see teams make against teams who play this way is try and all in them when they know the terrans have bunkers and tanks set up. The only thing that ends up happening is you’re really far behind in tech and economy and as soon as drops, cloaked banshees, and hellion drops start, your team loses map control and they push and win.



3. Banshees or drops to keep you pinned in your base.



The way you’ll know if terrans are doing this is if they do not get a tech lab on to their barracks, they get 2 gas before a factory, or have a bunker at the front and very few units and no marauders. If terrans do this, your plan as protoss should be much the same if they do a slow tank expand. Get a 3 gate robo or 3 gate forge build and expand. If they have banshees or use drops, you are probably not going to be able to set up a contain on their base for nearly as long, so you should just keep an eye on when they try to take an expand and play defensive.



Now this does not mean you will play a passive macro game, it just means you are going to delay your push as a team until the terrans attempt to expand. If they go banshees or drops, they are not going to have as many tanks, which means when they do try and expand, you will have much larger armies and take 1 or more of them out.



Your other option against a tech play to banshees or drops is to take advantage of the lack of units they have. This means you do a very early 4 gate push or an immortal and 1 observer push to break down their bunker and punish them for teching. You will have to determine which style fits your team best and a lot of that will come down to what races your teammates are. If you have a lot of zergs on your team, just have them 15 hatch and use your economy to get so far ahead of the non-zergs you can shut them down mid to late game with superior armies.



When you do an aggressive push, you do need to be ready to counter the drop, so this might mean setting up a cannon or two in your mineral line, leaving a few units in your mineral line, or having an observer on patrol to detect drops. I think the defensive and delayed push is the better play, but both can work if you execute them properly.

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Terrans have 5 basic openings that will work consistently based on different circumstances. Your strategies are going to rely heavily on your allies’ builds and decisions. I typically do a blue flame drop play, banshees, hellions with/without marauders, 3 barracks (2 tech lab, 1 reactor), or a 1-1-1 style build with primarily marines and tanks.

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Okay, so what circumstances do I choose each of these builds? I can tell you right now, I will almost ALWAYS do a 3 rax build against 2 or more protoss for the simple reason that you need the mobility and dps to assist your allies. If you do a 1-1-1 build and the other team 4 gates one of your allies, you will not get there in time, will be caught in the open siegeing, or will siege and they’ll fight out of range of your tanks. I lost enough games doing this playstyle to know it is not the most effective. 1-1-1 is a decent build against protoss in team, but 3 barracks bio does a way better job in terms of mobility. Having a lack of mobility in team will cost you many losses. Plus, tanks tend to just melt your allies lings, while stimmed bio can keep up with more mobile units.

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Ok, so if I don’t get a 1-1-1 against 2 or more protoss, when do I get it? I will do a 1-1-1 build if I have at least 1 terran partner going 3 barracks and the other team has a lot of terran or zerg players. A timing push with 1-1-1 is solid against zerg and terrans because tanks are a key unit in both those match ups and it can help you set up contains. This means if you are siegeing a terran player, it keeps his teammates from helping without taking significant unit losses.

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Many games it will pay off to be extremely aggressive. If your team has 2 zergs and the other team is not completely walled in, then the best strategy and most feared in 4’s is mass blue flame hellion. I will explain the specifics of each build order below, but the basic idea of the build is to get blue flame researched as early as possible while massing essentially only blue flame hellions.



This is an extremely potent unit when mixed with the mobility of speedlings. Your basic role for the team is to roast up any light units, especially workers. If you have two teammates who are zergs and they 10 pool, any zerg on the other team will be forced to early pool or lose his base. This pigeon holes the other team into getting lings, which hellions just so happen to roast up quite easily. That is why mass speedlings with hellions are such a pain to fight in team games. If the other team has a protoss or any zergs, they are almost guaranteed to lose a player against 2 10 pools and a hellion player. Protoss players who do not get cannons will guaranteed lose their base because blocking their ramp with a zealot might work against lings, but it will not work against hellions. Even a sentry or two might not be enough.



Blue flame hellions combined with lings will beat almost all tier 1 unit compositions if the lings can get a surround. Marines, blue flame hellions, and zealots which are about the only reasonable counter to mass speedling hellion are easily overwhelmed early in the game. Even though your allies might lose a lot of lings to hellions, you will be able to roast up his hellions just as quick, without losing any of your own hellions. Blue flame hellions will also do nicely against marine marauder because once the marines are gone, lings absolutely demolish marauders. The same is true against early game protoss armies. Zealots and sentries die extremely quickly to blue flame hellions and stalkers die quickly to lings.



Lings and hellions can also take out terrans early if they do not have a bunker. Even though lings themselves cannot break into terrans without banelings, you can use hellions to roast up the marines and the scvs that try to protect their wall. Once the wall breaks down, it’s all over for the terran if they don’t have tanks or bunkers. Even if they do have a tank or a bunker, you can still destroy all of his workers and put your team up another player. If a bunker is up, then you should use banes to break the wall so you don't sacrifice a bunch of lings.



Now some games, it is not going to make sense to go hellions because the other team has all protoss or terran players. In this case, going exclusively hellions means you have very little way to stop a timing push with mass marauder, marine, stalker, zealot, and sentry. Even though stalkers and marauders are not particularly great against lings, if you have enough of them, it’s hard for lings to surround them. That is why you will want bio, or a mix of bio and other units against a 6-7 min timing push. Marauder hellion is also a good choice if you still like the early map control from the hellions.

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Against a team of mostly terrans and protoss, I usually do a blue flame drop or banshees. I am not attempting to kill of any player, but rather give my team and I the opportunity to get ahead in expansions. The threat of drops and banshees means they have to invest time and infrastructure into defending their base when they move out.



I typically do a hellion drop play when there is only 1 protoss because I am only going to have marines, blue flame hellions, and a medivac to defend against a push. That combo of units is not good against stalkers, so if there is a lot of protoss and I suspect a 4 gate push, it would be idiotic of me to use that build. What normally will happen is I’ll roast a few workers, he’ll warp in 2-3 stalkers to defend, they’ll push, and my partners will die because I only have 8 or so marines to help defend. However, when they only have 1 protoss, a hellion drop can completely cripple a terran player who did not leave sufficient units behind to defend against the drop. The blue flame drop is great against terran opponents in team because marines and hellions are good against everything but tanks. However, if an opponent goes tanks, he is going to have primarily marines, which means once you roast his marines, your allies can easily destroy the tanks. You obviously do not need to drop a zerg player with hellions, but sometimes it will catch the zerg off guard and get you a few more unit kills.

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Banshees can either be extremely useful and win your team the game or be useless and cost your team the game. Of all the strategies you can do in 4v4, I think banshees are the riskiest. A blue flame drop is not vulnerable or limited by a turret in the mineral line, however, banshees are. Banshees are however, much better against teams with protoss if you want to go for a tech play. If a protoss player forgets detection, it is game over for him, whereas a blue flame drop will be cleaned up before I can completely cripple the protoss. Cloaked banshees are also a great way to punish teams that did an early pool build because most zergs will not have enough spores to defend all sides of their hatch. So even if you can’t pick off their workers, you’ll be able to kill their hatch with 2-3 banshees. Banshees are a bit of a coin flip unit, so use them at your own discretion.

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Now that I have covered all of the different scenarios that you would opt for each build, I will explain the build orders for each.



1. Proper 3 rax bio build:

Depo on 10

Barracks on 12

Gas on 13

Orbital command on 15

2nd depo when you can afford it

2nd and 3rd barracks when you can afford them

Tech lab on first barracks AFTER 2 marines (you won’t have enough gas for stim if you get it sooner)

Tech lab or reactors on the other 2 barracks

3rd depo once you you build all of your add ons



On some maps you will have a large ramp that requires 4 buildings to block it off. If you scouted early pools from zergs, then the only modification you need to make is to get your 2nd barracks and 2nd depo before you get an orbital command or gas geyser. If there are 2 protoss on the other team I will always get a engineering bay around 6:00 into the game because of DTs. If I have no fear of DTs, then I will build a 2nd command center when I can afford it and delay the engineering bay for a few minutes. You should also notice that I said you can get either 1 tech lab and 2 reactors or 2 tech labs and 1 reactor in this build. If you want a lot more marines and just a few marauders, then the 2 reactor build will give you a few more units, but if you want all the unit upgrades, then you will be better off with the two tech lab build.



2. Proper 1-1-1 build:

Depo on 10

Barracks on 12

Gas on 13

Orbital command on 15

2nd depo when you can afford it

Factory when you can afford it

2nd gas when you can afford it

Reactor on barracks

Starport after factory is done or 2nd barracks then starport (your choice)



Normally when I do a marine and tank push with a raven, a few Vikings, or banshees I will start siege mode as soon as I can and add the star port after I begin research of siege mode. You do not want to delay siege mode research if you are trying to do a timing push with your allies because delaying your push even 1-2 minutes could mean your opponents have just enough time to get the proper counter.



3. Proper mass blue flame hellion build:

Depo on 10

Gas when you can afford it

Barracks when you can afford it

Factory when barracks finishes

Orbital command on 16

Reactor on barracks

2nd depo

2nd factory at 100 gas

Switch factory with barracks and build tech lab on the barracks for the 2nd factory



Now the one thing I did not cover with this build is proper transitions afterwards. Even though many games will end before you can do a proper transition, some games will not. I do 3 transitions depending on how the game is going.



a. Thor and Mech follow-up:



I usually go mass mech when I do the hellion build because it is super strong against terrans and zergs. Thors, hellions, and tanks beat every unit composition terran and zerg has except for battle cruisers and brood lords. Most games will never get to this point, so you can see that mech will give you game long viability. Just be sure to use this option only on smaller maps where mobility is not an issue.



b. Banshee follow-up:



Banshees are a great way to continue a contain that was started by hellions. The only time I would not recommend this follow up is if there are doing a timing push and your allies do not have any real meat in the army to stop the push. Banshees are a bit fragile and against a push with lots of stalkers or marines, they will not hold up like thors or tanks and marauders will.



c. Marauder follow-up



If you want the early hellions, but you are fearful of a roach push, 4 gate, or some other kind of counter attack, then marauder hellion might be a good option. The only real difference in the build is once you build the reactor for the factory, you just build a tech lab on the barracks and start a 2nd barracks when you can afford it. You will be able to afford stim, concussive shells, and constant marauder production with just one gas. Against a team of few terrans, this is a solid transition.

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Your army composition is probably the single most important thing in 4v4. A team of 4 armies that is only 70 supply each will in most cases beat 3 armies of 90-100 supply. Causing the other team to fight separately, will give you many opportunities to team up on individual players. The great thing about lings and fast moving units like hellions, lings, and blink stalkers is that you can quickly team up on one player, then retreat before their allies can help. Proper 3v3 and 4v4 play will often be based around this type of strategy, which will buy your team time and more of a supply lead.



The army compositions that are extremely potent in 1v1 and 2v2 are not always potent in large team games. On maps such as Ulaan Deeps in 3v3, it can be an extremely poor idea to go marine tank against a team of all protoss and zerg players. Even though your army might seem like the ideal composition to deal with a mixed zerg and protoss force, your tanks lack mobility. Tanks most certainly have their place in large team games, but mobile units such as hellions and bio are far more useful early in the game. I have learned this the hard way by losing or prolonging games because I decided to go with the “ideal” composition instead of just making mobile units that could quickly reach and support my allies.



You will also find that area of effect abilities or units become exponentially more potent as the games goes on. Collosus in the mid to late game are even better in team than they are in 1v1.

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Map selection is more important than most people give it credit for. I have played with people who do not down any maps even though their race composition was not ideal on several of the maps. In the following section I will discuss what I believe are unfavorable maps for each race. Map selection does come down to personal preference and play style, but there are a few maps that should always be downed if you are a certain race.



If you would like the entire analysis of each map discussed by race then keep reading, otherwise you could check out this video I made that summarizes how most maps are played and the most viable strategies on each.

The following is for 3v3 and 4v4, I will get to 2v2 later. A. ZERG STRATEGY: B. Zerg Transitions (10 pool) C. Zerg Transitions (14 pool) D. Zerg Transitions (15 hatch) E. ZERG BUILD ORDERS: F. PROTOSS STRATEGY: G. Protoss Transitions (vs. Early Lings Only) H. Protoss Transitions (vs. early pools and ranged units) I. Protoss Transitions (vs. standard builds) J. PROTOSS BUILD ORDERS: K. Non-Zerg Team Transitions: L. TERRAN STRATEGY: M. Terran Transitions (vs. 2+ protoss) N. Terran Transitions (the 1-1-1 build) O. Terran Transitions (Hellion transitions) P. Terran Transitions (Drops) Q. Terran Transitions (Banshees) R. TERRAN BUILD ORDERS: S. TEAM ARMY COMPOSITIONS: II. MAP SELECTION:4v4 Map Pool Analysis:

3v3 Map Pool Analysis:

2v2 Map Pool Analysis:

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I think the maps that are least favorable to zerg are maps with a giant shared base. These types of maps where players can easily wall off their front make a lot more work for your zergs and can protect their entire team. Normally as a zerg you would want to punish an opposing zerg for making drones up to 21 without making any units or take out players who tech hard. Maps that have very few or small ramps are the ones that you should be downing based on my recommended play style. Also, maps with few or hard to defend expansions that are on the front side of your base facing towards the enemy are also not favorable to zergs.



1. ZERG 3V3 MAP SELECTION:



Arakan Citadel – I believe this is one of my least favorite maps as zerg for several reasons. If the other team is all terran and protoss, they can easily block the ramps into their base and set up tanks/cannons on the high ground to protect 2 expansions. The natural expansions on this map inside your base have rocks that must be taken out, which means you are forced to expand in a location that is far from your base and vulnerable. It also doesn't help that terran and protoss players who love to tech always select this map. If there is one map you should always down as zerg, this is it.



Cinder Fortress – This is a good map for zerg for two primary reasons. The expansion locations are all fairly close to your base or they are easily defended. Each team also has 2 rocked expansions that make for a great 3rd you can take in a long macro game. If there is a single zerg on the opposing team, it is very difficult for their team to block the entire ramp. This means you will almost always be able to bust into your opponents base and do some damage. Once you're into their base, you can very easily do damage to all 3 players.



Dig Site – Another good map for zerg because the ramps are fairly large and there is no way for allies to block the ramp into a zerg partners base. The rush distances are really short on this map as well. You can also easily set up overlords near ledges the long ledges into each base, which makes it easy to warp in protoss units directly into your opponents base. There are two expansion spots that are fairly easy to defend. The gold expansion and the one in the middle of all 3 players, however, the expansions on the ouside are all fairly difficult to defend. Overall though, this is a good map for zerg and I recommend you keep it up.



Frontier – This is probably one of the best zerg maps in the pool because every single base has two entrances. Terrans and protoss players will not be able to wall their ramps, in fact, walling one side will leave their workers extremely vulnerable from the other entrance. This map also has a lot of expansions that are close to the original spawning points and the expansions are easily defended.



Green Acres – This map is awful for zerg for the simple reason that the only entrance into the shared base is fairly easy to wall off with 2 players. The expansions are also difficult to harass because they sit in the middle of all 3 players and a few well placed tanks, bunkers, cannons, or turrets can easily keep opposing players safe. The rush distance on this map is also quite large, which means doing an early pool will lose some of its effectiveness. Unless you plan on doing a tech strategy that involves feeding one of your allies for muta, void rays, or something else, I would definitely down this map.



Temple of the Preservers – This is a decent map for zerg, except for the fairly long rush distance and small ramps. All of your opponents are in separated bases, so a 10 pool strategy can be quite viable. This map does have some significant down sides though. For starters, one of your allies bases has a very close air distance to the enemy, which means counter drops or air harassment can be a real problem. Also, only the player who is farthest from his allies has an easily defended expansion. The other expansions are out in the open at the base of the ramp making it hard to defend pushes and save your expansion. There is also a corner island expansion that terrans can take advantage of quite easily, giving your opponents a significant economic advantage with little risk of harassment. The gold expansion can also be shelled by siege tanks from the high ground, which means only a terran ally can truly take advantage of this expansion. As you can see there are a lot more disadvantages than advantages on this map for zerg. I personally dislike this map as zerg, so I almost always down it.



The Bio Lab – Many players hate this map, but I feel it is a solid map for zerg if you play it right. The rush distance is a little long, but all the bases are seperated. Another nice thing about the separated bases is that they all share the same common area for expansions. This means getting a contain with lings can give your team a significant lead in map control. The expansions are also quite easy to defend because they are in such close proximity and there are lots of them on this map. Since the map is fairly large, zergs can take advantage of their mobility and take a 3rd base at the gold or the corner blue mineral fields safely. Lastly, the ledges along the outside bases are quite long, which makes it easy to hide an overlord there. This can allow you to gather intel on your enemies with ease or help a protoss player warp in units. This is a good map for zerg, I recommend keeping it up.



Ulaan Deeps – This map is similar to temple of the preservers except the bases run north to south instead of east to west. This map is much better for zerg than temple of the preservers for a number of reasons. The rush distance is quite short, which makes it very easy to get to your opponents base before they are ready. The separated bases also make it difficult to defend, especially the top base on the left side of the map and the bottom base on the right side of the map. This can mean a guaranteed kill some games. The expansions are quite easy to defend since two of them are in a narrow choke between two of your teams bases. Additionally, you can position overlords at the center cliff on this map giving you sight of the center expansions and if your opponents are moving out along the bottom or top of the map. This is one of the better maps for zerg, definitely keep this up.



2. ZERG 3V3 MAP RECAP:



To recap zergs map choices in 3v3, remember that maps with wide ramps, short rush distances, easy to take expands, and separated bases are the best for zerg. In 3v3 I tend to keep Frontier, The Bio Lab, Dig Site, Temple of the Preservers, and Ulaan Deeps up. While, I prefer to keep the shared base maps down of Araken Citadel, Cinder Fortress, and Green Acres down. All of those maps are easy to block off and have long rush distances.



3. ZERG 4V4 MAP SELECTION:



There are a lot more zerg favored maps in 4v4 because most of the maps are more open and have larger ramps into bases.



Deadlock Ridge – This is a good map for zergs despite the long rush distance. The ramps into the bases are not very large, but you can easily get map control and keep your opponents contained. This will at the very least delay their expansions. If there is a zerg near the ramp, it will be very difficult for their partners to block the ramp. If the other team happens to be all protoss and terran players, then a 15 hatch can be easily defended because 3 of your teams expansions are behind the entrance to your bases. There are also easy 3rd bases to take on this map, which is also advantageous to macro oriented zergs. The three xel naga watch towers also give vision across almost the entire map, so this will make drops very easy to spot. The large rush distance can also work in your favor against timing pushes because you can get another round of units out by the time they reach your side of the map. I keep this map up as zerg.



District 10 – This map is pretty good for zerg although the base is shared making it difficult to ling harass your opponents if they wall off. There is, however, back door rocks that can create a large entrance into your opponents base. If your team has a lot of protoss or terran players, they can easily break the rocks down for you, giving you a giant entrance to run lings aggressively throughout your opponents bases. Even though the map is fairly easy to wall off, there are a lot of expansions on this map, most of which are easy to defend. There even happens to be an expansion in the back corner of your teams base that is nearly impossible to harass. This is a really safe spot for a zerg player to 15 hatch if his allies can wall off or if he is against no zerg opponents. If you are confident in your macro, then this is a good map to keep up.



Extinction – I have mixed feelings about this map. On one hand it is awesome for 10 pool openings because the rush distance is ridiculously short between the front bases. On the other hand, if the other team has more zergs than you, it can be a real headache to defend. Wherever there is a zerg player, their ramp is wide open, so if the other team has more zergs, they basically have a free entrance into your base allowing them to exploit any weaknesses in base lay out. If your team is fortunate enough to have as many or more zergs, then this map can be great because there are 5 easily defended expansions. If you have at least 2 zergs on your team, you should probably keep this map up, if not, I would recommend putting it down.



Fossil Quarry – This map is great for zerg and the reasons why are much the same as on Extinction. The ramps are pretty darn big, which means you can almost always get inside your enemies base. Once you get inside, you can pick and choose who to harass. This, of course, can be problematic if you have less zergs than the other team because you will be stuck chasing down lings inside your wide open base. The expansions are also fairly open to harassment and pushes, especially if they break down the rocks to the outside of the xel naga towers. I personally like this map because the xel naga towers give you a ton of vision on the center of the map and you can normally see when your enemies expand.



Lava Flow – This map is also fairly good for zerg, although the rush distances to enemy bases is longer than most of the maps. The ramps into each base are also large making them easier to break into. This map does have one tactic that is very difficult to counter if you have a protoss partner. Overlord cannon rushes can be extremely potent against the players in the center of the map and in the bottom left and top right bases. Cannons can be placed on the low ground and with the help of an overlord can shoot into the mineral lines of your opponents. Economically this map is also quite good for zerg because all of the expands are close to your main and facing away from your enemies. The gold expansions are also not covered by rocks, which makes them easy to take if your team is able to gain some map control. This map is a real pain for non zerg players, so keep it up.



Outpost – This map is not particularly great for zerg because of the shared bases. This can be a real problem because if they break in one side, they will likely lose both players. The ramps into each base are really far apart from your allies, so if your team has fewer zergs, you could have more problems defending early pressure. Timing pushes are extremely hard to defend on this map if your team gets split up, but the same can be true for your opponents. Most of the expansions are safe to take, but terrans with siege tanks are a real pain on this map because just a few siege tanks can easily defend or contain one side of the map. This is the spot where the ramp and the wall around your natural expansions meets. Terran and protoss players tend to keep this map up, which means you are likely not going to be able to break into their base early. I personally down this map because it is too much of a coin flip, especially if the other team pushes first.



Sand Canyon – This map has safe natural expansions and two additional expansions that are easily defended by your xel naga tower. So economically this map is good for zerg players since your expansions are not exposed directly to enemy players. Just like lava flow the ramps are large and players are all separated. The rush distance from the bottom and top bases is also short, so early pool builds are even more potent on this map. Plus the xel naga towers give a huge advantage in map control to the teams that occupy them. This makes it very easy to team up on your opponent's allies who are trying to move up or down the side of the map. If your team has plenty of zergs or random players, you should probably keep this map up.



Toxic Slums – This map has one of the shortest rush distances between bases, which makes it very easy to harass your enemies with lings early game. There is also a pretty large distance to travel to defend your allies, so fast units like blink stalkers, speedlings, and hellions are especially potent on this map. The only offensive down side to this map is the ramps are really small and can easily be blocked. This map also has well defended expansions, which makes it easy to take a 2nd base. Although terrans are probably the best race on this map. Mass reaper plays can be extremely deadly to the players who boarder their opponents. There is a cliff next that can be scaled and used to harass players closest in proximity to the enemy. Medivac drops are extremely annoying to deal with on this map because of the short air distances between bases, plus they can use the space between the top left corner and bottom right corner bases to abuse vision and make their units unengageable. Lastly, the corner expansions in the top left and bottom right are only really accessable by terran players and if you do manage to take out a terran's base early, they will often just fly to one of these bases. As you can see this map can be good for zerg, or very very bad. If you have competent terran and protoss allies it is a good map, but without them, I think this map does not favor zerg.



4. ZERG 4V4 MAP RECAP:



Zerg in 4v4 is either a blessing or a curse. If you have lots of zergs, then 4v4 will be great for you, but if you are the lone wolf zerg, then you are going to live a hard life. Just like the 3v3 maps, the ones with separated bases are the best maps for zergs, especially those with large ramps. Most of the team fortress maps are not the best for zerg, but do offer plenty of macro opportunities. I usually down the following maps as zerg: Deadlock Ridge, District 10, and Outpost.

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The maps that are hardest for protoss are those with large ramps and short rush distances. Protoss is in some ways the most vulnerable to early game pressure. A double ten pool at your front can be an automatic loss if you do not have a stalker, sentry, or cannons up in time. Protoss does have a very strong late game in team because of all of their area of effect abilities and because their army is very mobile. I guess you could say as a joke that there is no map that is favorable to protoss, but there are definitely some maps that you should down in team. That is mostly because protoss is not really useful before they get warp gate done, so even if they are safe their allies often times are not.



1. PROTOSS 3V3 MAP SELECTION:



Arakan Citadel – I guess I should take back the part where I said there are no maps favorable to protoss on ladder. Arakan Citadel has some nice advantages for protoss players. The entrances to your base are pretty easily walled off by only 2 players and there is a large rush distance across the map. This means that warp ins and early game pressure work in your favor as protoss. Many tech plays that protoss players love are good on this map. There are lots of cliffs, so going voids rays or phoenix is viable, Dts are viable, especially if you can have a partner reveal the high ground cliffs overlooking your enemy's base, warp prisms are also very useful because the cliffs make for easy entrance and exit. The safest expansions have rocks that need to be cleared, but by the time you should expand you can have them cleared anyways. The other expansions on this map are defendable with a few cannons and blink stalkers and collosus can take advantage of the cliffs. As a protoss you should keep this map up.



Cinder Fortress – This is a decent map for protoss because your allies are in the same base as you. The rush distance on this map is pretty long, so that will usually give you enough time to make a proper wall. The expansions are all easily defended even though the bottom left and top right expands will probably need a few cannons. The long rush distance works in the favor of protoss because you can easily hide a proxy pylon on this giant map making the travel time for your units extremely low. This map can be hard for protoss if you have only 1 zerg ally because trying to block the large center ramp from other zerg players can slow you down immensely.



Dig Site – This map does have large ledges making it easy to hide a plyon to warp into enemy bases. However, the rush distance is pretty short and the ramp is large as well. The expansions also will require you to have cannons to properly defend. Your partners are pretty close by, which makes defending a little easier. I still feel this map is not good for protoss unless you have a zerg partner or two. If you're searching without zerg partners, I would probably down this map.



Frontier – This map is terrible for protoss. This is probably the single worst map for protoss in all team game formats. The double entrance means you could not block even if you wanted to. If you're playing against 2 or more zergs, you are basically forced to do a gateway forge opening. Hellions are nearly impossible to defend on this map because even if you put a cannon in your mineral line, they can simply sit outside the range of it and harass your workers. If you are fortunate enough to survive until warp gate is finished, you will probably have lost a partner because you were not able to help early game. The only advantage for protoss on this map is that the center base on both sides can sometimes be cannoned without them noticing. Besides that, horrendous map for protoss that you should not think twice about downing.



Green Acres – I do not typically pick a race because I play random, but this is a good map for protoss. I almost always down this one because my partners and I like to be aggressive and you cannot do it on this map. The ramp can easily be blocked and everyone’s base is so close together that there is little chance of teaming up on one player. Two of the expansions can be defended with ease and are nearly impossible to harass making it safe for protoss, zerg, or terran players to expand early. There are also a ton of cliffs, so collosus, air units, and blink stalkers will be even more effective on this map. Warping units directly into an enemy base is not too difficult either with a little vision or the use of a warp prism. This map is a good one to keep up if you are protoss.



Temple of the Preservers – The map does have a small ramp and fairly long rush distance, so early pressure is easy to defend. Terran players can be a menace on this map though if you are on the left or right side of the map. Terran players love doing drops on this map and your base is only about 1 screen length away from theirs. This does make void rays and phoenix more useable on this map though. There is another significant advantage for protoss on this map because you can build a proxy pylon on your side of the map in the bottom right and the top left that can reach into your opponent's base. This means you do not even need to build a pylon on their side of the map to do warp ins directly into their base. The expansions are also wide open, making them easy to harass. Plus, the corner expansion behind your teams base is an island, which only really favors terran. As a terran player you should love this map, but as protoss I would maybe consider downing this map.



The Bio Lab – This is a good map for protoss for three primary reasons. First, your base is close to your allies, so you can help defend them quite easily. Second, the expansions are also easy to defend since they are right outside your main base and close to your allies. Third, since the rush distance is fairly large and the map is quite big as well, you can easily hide proxy pylons. The large ledges along the outside bases also make warping units directly into your opponent's main a devastating strategy. I would recommend keeping this map up because Frontier and Dig Site are far worse for protoss.



Ulaan Deeps – This map is pretty hard for protoss throughout most of the game. This map has one of the shortest rush distances except for maybe Dig Site. The bottom base on the right and the top base on the left side of the map are also really far apart, so defending your allies or getting help from your allies can be a real problem. The good thing is the ramp can be blocked with a single force field, so that can give your allies some time if you're facing timing pushes. The expansions are pretty easy to defend, but if they get to your expansion in any of the positions, you will lose all of your probes because they will have to go through the enemy to get back to your main base. The top right and bottom left bases are a little more vulnerable to warp ins with an overseer, but if your team does not have 2 zergs, I would probably down this map as protoss. Otherwise one of you will get separated and teamed before they can be helped. This is the third map I would down as protoss.



2. PROTOSS 3V3 MAP RECAP:



To recap, maps that have large rush distances, small ramps, close proximity to allies, and easy to defend expansions are the best for protoss. Ulaan Deeps, Dig Site, and Frontier are in my opinion the three worst maps for protoss in 3v3.



3. PROTOSS 4V4 MAP SELECTION:



Deadlock Ridge – I really like this map as protoss. The ramps can potentially be blocked by one player and if you spawn with a terran or protoss partner, you can easily get away with a gate cyber opening. This will ensure you are not vulnerable to 4 gate pushes because the zergs on the other team delay your cyber timing by forcing a gate forge opening. The rush distance is long, so you should always be able to have a zealot out in time to plug the hole into your base. This will also give you a little extra time to prepare for timing pushes, especially if someone on your team can spot when they move out of their base. There is also not a lot of distance between the two ramps, so you aren't as likely to be split up when a push comes than you would be on outpost. The bases each player starts in are fairly large and with help from an overlord you can easily find a spot to warp directly into your opponent's base.

Economically the map is also really safe because 3 of the expansions are behind the ramps to your main base and even the ones out front can be protected with a few cannons. Protoss also can easily control the top left and bottom right corner expansions by hiding pylons there. Protoss players can contribute a lot to their team on this map, and frankly, this might be the best protoss map in the map pool.



District 10 – This is a nice map for protoss assuming two things: 1. You have 3 or more people to wall OR 2. You have more zergs than the opposing team. Most teams with 2+ zergs will down this map, but if you have a zerg on the end with the smaller ramp, it can be a real pain to try and block for them. If your team does have 3 or more terran/protoss it will be easy to block off on this map. That will leave you to mostly worry about the destructable rocks. However, if you camp some marines or a stalker there, you do not have to worry about them falling until 7-8 mins into the game, which is more than enough time to prepare a defense.

This map is great for players who like to get 2 bases up, since most of the expands are closer to each other and very easy to hold. You will find that controlling the xel naga towers will be critical in defending properly on this map. Most of the 4v4 maps are not favorable to protoss, but since you share a base with your allies, this is about as good as it gets. Keep District 10 up.



Extinction – This map can be either really bad or really good for protoss. The nice part is there are a few safe expands inside your base, the bad side is the rush distance is the shortest of all the maps. The wide ramps also pose a problem against early rushes because they cannot be blocked with a single force field. Also, if you have any zergs on your team, there will always be a way into your base, which will make blocking your ramp worthless. You will find that later in the game the narrow walk ways between bases is great for splitting forces with force fields.

I would only recommend you to keep this map up if you have multiple zergs on your team or you have a team with only protoss and terran. It is very easy for opposing teams to exploit a hole into your base, so choose your vetoes well.



Fossil Quarry – It will take 4 players to block the ramp properly on this map. Not to mention that the ramp is ungodly far from the innermost bases. The expand areas are pretty far apart from each other, since only 2 expansions are on either side of the ramps. This means it will be difficult to defend both sides at the same time unless you can control the center of the map. This map favors the aggressor, so unless your team has a great strategy to be aggressive, I recommend keeping this map down.



Lava Flow – The ramps on this map are wide, your bases are seperated, and the ramps are really far from your nexus. If you've followed my logic up to this point, I am sure you can figure out what I think of this map for protoss. There are two cheesey spots you can cannon on each side of the map, but if you aren't cannoning your opponents, then you better have more zergs than them. In general keep this map down, unless you are playing with at least two zergs.



Outpost – I generally keep this map up as protoss because the ramp is so small. You also share a base with an ally, so if you have another protoss or terran partner in your base, you will have 0 problems walling off effectively against early game rushes. The rush distance is pretty average between the closest points, but the cross map rush distance is pretty far. With proper scouting, you should not have problems defending properly on this map. The nice part about this map is if you get to the mid game, the shared expansion area makes it easy to defend. Overall a pretty nice map for protoss.



Sand Canyon – The short rush distances, long walks between your allies bases, and large ramps make this map ideal for zerg, but poor for protoss. The only real plus side to this map is that the expansions are tucked away in the corners, so if you survive the early game, they are fairly easy to defend. However, if you have less zergs than your opponents' team then you will probably find yourself stuck in your base until 1-2 of your allies die. You will almost always have to do a delayed cyber build by getting a forge or 2nd gateway early, which means you will be extremely vulnerable to hellions, quick marauders, or 4 gate builds that will hit before your delayed warp gate finishes. This might be the worst map for protoss in 4v4. Obviously, you should keep it down unless you have a team full of zergs.



Toxic Slums – This map has an extremely short rush distance between the boarder start locations on each team. Even though this does pose a problem, this map is not too bad for protoss. The ramps are small enough to block with 1 force field and there are narrow chokes separating your enemies bases from yours. The expands are all tucked away behind your ramps, which makes them much easier to defend.

There are a few strategies that are really problematic for your opponents if you execute them right. The travel distance by air is extremely short, so collosus can easily trek the cliffs between the boarder bases. Blink stalkers are also really strong on this map because with an ally’s overlord or an observer you can blink between bases and harass your opponents almost non-stop. This can contain one player on the other team giving your allies a chance to do some work on the other side of the map. Warp prisms are also really useful on this map because you can take the island expansions and warp in harass all of your opponents. Despite the short rush distance and separated bases, this map is decent for protoss, so keep it up.



4. PROTOSS 4V4 MAP RECAP:



To recap, maps that have large rush distances, small ramps, close proximity to allies, and easy to defend expansions are the best for protoss. In my opinion, fossil quary, lava flow, and sand canyon are the worst maps for protoss in 4v4.

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Terran is a very versatile race. In some ways, there aren't really any maps that are bad for terran since they can wall off on maps that have large ramps. If you have any zerg or protoss allies, you can pretty much count on the other team going after them first. The only real weakness of terran is that they are not very mobile if their army isn't 100% bio or hellions. Also, if your allies get in trouble early game, small groups of bio without upgrades are extremely vulnerable to hellions, lings, and stalkers in the open field.



1. TERRAN 3V3 MAP SELECTION:



Arakan Citadel – This is a decent map for terran because it doesn't take much to wall off the front. The map has an in base expansion, which is great for terran because you can build your command center in base, then float it over to the expansion once you clear the rocks. Tanks are also extremely strong on this map because of the position of the xel naga towers. You do not need to win the air war to make tanks useful on this map because the xel naga towers provide more than enough vision to easily defend your shared base. Terran is also very powerful on this map because of all the ledges that they can abuse with drops and banshees will have an easy time escaping if they come under fire. The only down side for terran on this map is if they are unable to take one of the expansions in base, then their expand will be fairly vulnerable. Besides that, there is no reason to down this map unless most of your allies are zerg.



Cinder Fortress – The nice thing about this map is your allies are very close to you, so having a slow moving army is not a hindrance. The expansions are all quite easy to defend, especially the middle expansion with the destructible rocks. Enemies who try and fight up that choke will be in a lot of trouble against tanks and bio. If you have 2 zerg partners and open hellions, all you'll need is one opening in your enemies defenses to be able to punish them. If you have terran or protoss partners, you'll have the luxury of being blocked off and keeping your opponents mostly in the dark about your strategy. This is a pretty good map for terran, I would recommend keeping it up.



Dig Site – This map can be good for the same reasons it can be bad. If you happen to have 2 zerg allies, it's a great map because you don't have to block the large ramp. However, if you are against a bunch of zergs who are making 10 pools, then you are basically forced to delay your orbital command so you can build 2 barracks and 2 supply depos to block your ramp. This means if you wanted to get hellions to deal with your opponents lings, you are going to have a heavily delayed factory. Despite that minor disadvantage this map has a gold island expansion in the corners that is perfectly suited for terran. I would keep this map up, unless you are with 1 or more protoss partners.



Frontier – This map is great for aggression if you are planning on going bio or hellions and have as many or more zergs on your team as your opponents. However, if your team has less zergs than the other team, you are going to have some serious trouble on this map. Since every base has 2 entrances, there is no way to block off against ling aggression, which forces you into making a bunker. You will also have a hard time defending your allies without hellions because until you get a large bio ball, lings will tear you apart in the open. The other down side is you cannot easily hide tech because you are not going to be able to wall off. In most cases I will down this map unless I am playing with 2 zergs or 1 zerg and 1 random player.



Green Acres – This is a great map for a team oriented terran player. If you are going tanks, even if it's after a banshee opening, you will be able to easily defend the two center expansions on this map. The cliffs on this map are ideal for a player who plans on using drops and/or banshees. Reapers can also be a good strategy on this map if you can conceal them and then leap into their main base as they move out to attack. The ramp can also be blocked by 2 players without much trouble, so even if you were to face 2 or more zergs on this map, you will easily be able to repel their aggression. This is a good map for terran, especially because of the shared base and close proximity to allies.



Temple of the Preservers – This map has a few features that are good for and bad for terran. The separated bases are usually a bad thing for terran, unless of course your team is being the aggressors. The bottom left and top right bases are vulnerable to terran timing attacks with tanks because they can set up on the opposite side of the rocks and lay siege to the entrance of those bases. Since the rocks are there, there is no option for the opposing team to engage the terran army before it is sieged up. Drops are also especially potent on this map because of the ledges and close by air bases on the right and left sides of the map. There also happens to be an island expansion tucked in the back corner that can provide a nearly risk free expansion for terran if they are unable to take an expansion on the front side of their base. Overall this map is designed well for terran, so keep this one up.



The Bio Lab – The separate bases make it hard to defend your allies initially, but once your team takes your expansions, it's pretty easy to defend as terran. The long ledge along the outside bases is nice for drops, siegeing opponents, and banshee harass, but it can be difficult to spot an overlord and pylon. Terran has the added benefit on this map of being able to block the ramp in the right position on the top of the map with only 2 buildings. This makes it very easy to deny scouting and make the other team suicide an overlord, wait for observers, use a reaper, or use a scan to gather info on you. If you are afraid of being punished for having separate bases you should probably down this map.



Ulaan Deeps – The small ramp makes this map very easy to block, but the bottom right and top left base are far away from their allies. This can be a real problem if you do not go a mobile bio ball or hellions. However, this map can easily be split in half with tanks in the mid game. Tanks can also easily make contains in very annoying spots on this map, such as cutting off the the bottom of the map from the top. You can set up tanks on the ledge in the middle of the map to siege the expansion for the center player. If you are with zerg or terran partners this map is pretty solid, otherwise I would down it.



2. TERRAN 3V3 MAP RECAP:



The decisions you make for maps in 3v3 are complicated. The maps are either really good or bad for terran depending if your team is the aggressors or if you are with mostly non-zerg partners, then the fortress type maps are best. In either case I usually keep Temple of the Preservers up because of its favorable features to terran. If you are with 2 zergs or 1 zerg and 1 random, then you should veto araken citadel, cinder fortress, and green acres. However, if you are with an entirely non-zerg team, then I would probably down vote Dig Site, Frontier, and Ulaan Deeps.



3. TERRAN 4V4 MAP SELECTION:



Deadlock Ridge – If there are many zergs on the other team and you share a base with a zerg, you could find yourself in trouble. The ramp is large enough that it will take 2 players to block it off properly. The good part is the map is pretty long, so it will take a while for any ling pressure to reach your base. Once you reach the mid game you will find that it is very easy to defend your allies expansions because three of the expansions are located in the back corner of the map. Even the expansions out front are not too hard to defend, especially if you can get a tank and a bunker set up there. Warp ins are hard to spot on this map and that can cause your team to be contained longer than you would like. The long rush distance will also punish your team if you move out for a timing push and the other team drops your base or attacks with cloaked units. The size of the map is the worst part, but still this map is decent for terran.



District 10 – The shared base, close proximity to allies, and the easily walled ramps are great for terran. The inside expansion and easily defended naturals are also an added bonus. The watch towers are in perfect position to essentially split the map if you use tanks. The long ledge makes it easy to drop the enemy, another nice advantage for terrans on this map. The back door rocks will also open up the enemy base making it very easy to do ling and hellion run bys if your team happens to have several zergs. There aren't really any disadvantages to terran on this map, so you should keep it up.



Extinction – This map can either be really great for terran or really awful. The down side of this map happens to be the shared base. If there happens to be a hole into a base on your team, your whole team will have difficulty defending early pressure. The good part is you can wall in below your ramp to the 3rd bases that are rocked in and make the ally on your side better protected. You will also have a really short distance to push on your side to get to the enemy base, which is great for tanks. Tanks also make it very easy to cut this map in half and leap frog to the enemy base. There is also short distance by air and a very large area to land, except you will likely be spotted by the xel naga tower or an expansion on the front side between your starting locations and the enemy starting locations. There is an easily defended island expansion in the back that is perfect for terran.

This map also features a few cheesy strategies that only terran can execute. One strategy is making a reaper early in the game and going on top of the ledge overlooking the front bases. You can deny mining at one or two of the mineral patches or hit a players buildings who is trying to wall in the back side. A similar strategy is floating a barracks up there to make marines, but that is far less efficient than the reaper. This is one of the few maps that a planetary fortress rush can be executed on and not looked down upon as a bronze level strategy. If your team starts on the bottom left side of the map, you can land a command center on either of the top ledges overlooking the mineral lines and deny mining. So as long as the other team does not have more zergs than your team, you should have no problems doing well as terran on this map.



Fossil Quarry – This is not a very good map for terran because of how wide open it is, the large ramps, and all the expansions are facing your opponents. If your team has even one zerg, it will be nearly impossible to block the ramp completely before the opposing team reaches your side with lings. Since the map is so wide open, it will make it easy for the other team to catch your units out of position. Tanks are pretty poor on this map and because of how wide open it is, bio is going to have a hard time dealing with banes. I would recommend downing this map as terran.



Lava Flow – I really dislike this map in general because the ramps are large and the center base is so vulnerable to cannon rushes. If the other team is aggressive with lings, you will be forced to wall off with 2 depos and 2 barracks, which means if you get cannoned as well, you will not have the minerals to build a bunker immediately. That could end up being just enough to lose you the game. The fact that you are separated from your allies only compounds the problem, since it will be difficult to defend them from early pressure. The only plus side of this map is that there is an island expo that can be nice for terrans on your team. You should definitely down this map as terran though, unless you are playing with a bunch of zergs.



Outpost – Terran has a few nice advantages on this map, the first being the shared base with a fairly small ramp. The second being the effectiveness of tanks in defending and cutting the map in half. The third nice advantage is banshees and drops will be hard to scout and defend against because your opponents are unlikely to spot them on the outside of the map. The only real downside for terran on this map is the ramps between the two bases are fairly far apart, so it can be hard to defend your allies in time. Besides that, there is no reason to down this map, unless your partners are zergs and they want open maps that allow for hyper aggression.



Sand Canyon – This map is similar to Lava Flow in many aspects. The ramps are large, the rush distance is shorter, and you are all in separate bases.