The original Starcraft was a world-wide phenomenon that captivated RTS players for over a decade. Now that Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty has arrived, it is time for the global obsession to revive in all of its glorious fragging! When you go into multiplayer, you will see that most players favor the Terran and Protoss races, which gives Zerg players a distinct advantage. This guide is meant to give you a race-specific strategy that will give you an edge over your enemies.
As a Zerg player, people often underestimate the Swarm. Terrans, specifically, are incredibly foolhardy in thinking that their technology will save them from the primitive Zerg.
Terran Weakness
Terran players are more common because they are the easiest race to play and understand. At the upper echelons of the technology tree, these players can wield considerable power. However, in lower tech levels, they do not have the firepower or the numbers to withstand a Zerg invasion. Many Terrans will construct a powerful defensive wall early on to prevent Zergling rushes from penetrating their defenses.
“Destroy All Humans”
The universal trick to victory in this game is resources and playing against the Terrans is no exception. If you cripple your opponent’s resource gathering capability, you end their ability to wage war. The earlier you accomplish this with Terran players, the better off you are in the long run. The easiest way to destroy an opponent’s economy is with a Zergling rush.
Your strategy will be determined by a number of factors. First, are there any obstructions keeping you from getting ground units to their base? Obstacles could be destructible walls built into a newbie map or Terran-made wall of Supply Depots and bunkers. Second, are they massing low-tier units or are they skimping on the base units for technology?
Zerglings are great tools for early game harassment. Here is the best way to gain an early advantage.
Upon starting out, build three drones. While those are being built, send your Overlord to scout the enemy base. They will not have any firepower to take it down but keep an eye on it. Spawn another Overlord after the three drones, which should be harvesting crystals. After that Overlord is in action, build three more drones.
One of those drones will be morphed into a spawning pool for Zergling production. The others will be sent to the mineral patch for crystal mining. Once the Pool has been created, spawn a Queen to augment your larvae production. Then upgrade your Hatchery to a Lair.
Upgrade your Zergling Speed at the Spawning Pool and continue to crank out some drones and one more Overlord. After your third Overlord is out, build nothing but Zerglings for two cycles. With a Queen working, you should be able to get 14 to 20 Zerglings popped out in less than 45 seconds, since Zerglings come two per larvae.
Immediately send them to your opponent’s base if the Terrans have not set up a Supply Depot chokepoint. If you send your Zerglings at that, you will only be wasting your money because it will take too long to break down the barrier and the Terrans will have their forces on you in an instant. If they do not have any barriers, you can have your Zerglings make a beeline to their SCV’s and start annihilating them as quickly as possible.
With the speed upgrade, your foe will have little time to react to the sudden appearance of twenty Zerglings. Ignore any enemy defense in your first wave. Your goal is to impede their supply chain. These Zerg will die and that is okay. They are cheap units that are meant to be slaughtered, after they cripple your enemy’s economy.
If your Zerg are successful in destroying even half of the enemy workers, you will have gained a significant advantage. If you are lucky enough to wipe out all of his workers, before your first wave is destroyed, keep churning out more Zerglings and Hydralisks. Without his economy, a new attack every minute or so will whittle down his meager defenses and he will fall quickly.
What if your opponent has blocked off his base by building supply depots at his choke point? Do not fret because if you construct Banelings, you’ll easily be able to destroy his depots allowing your Zergling swarm to infiltrate the base. Send a wave of Banelings at his barrier first, then send the Zerglings after an opening has been made.
However, there is an alternate strategy that most people do not expect. If you upgrade your Overlord with Ventral Sacs and Pneumatized Carapace, you can load your Zergling force into your Overlords and have them drop your troops off, inside their base, past their wall. All you have to do is hurl them at the enemy workers. Most players will not expect an air drop from the Zerg as it is rarely used tactic.
As a final word of caution, human players learn from their mistakes and usually, the first time you use this tactic will probably be the only time that it will be effective in that match. If your rush fails, do not reattempt the same tactic by simply throwing bigger quantities at your opponent. They will start building Siege Tanks and other counter units that will annihilate your waves of Zerglings with minimal losses to their defenses. You must adapt your tactics, as your opponent most certainly will.
Good luck and happy hunting!
