Double gas steal as zerg is never a good strategy, coz you would be 2 workers down. Let me explain.

If I were a P, and my Z opponent does this to me, I'd pump zealots off 4 gateways and rally them to the Z base. Since the Z is 2 drones down, his pool would be delayed, so there would be no queen/spines/lings to greet my zealots. Or I could go FFE and play normally, taking the geysers of my natural. I'd then be ahead in economy, and mass zealots and stalkers off 6 gates.

If I were a T, I'd do an MKP-style 3rax. Or more hilariously, TLO-style 7rax. I'd expand behind my first push, then play normally. When MKP was streaming, his 3rax is absurdly strong, the game would be over even before the natural CC is done. He wouldn't even take his main geysers until around 40 supply.

So there.

As a Zerg, on the rare times I do drone scout, instead of doing gas-steal, I'd make sure to keep the drone alive to get as much scouting info as I can. Then, just before the drone dies, and if there's an available geyser, I'd take it. But in the games I've played, Ps and Ts take both gases as early as they can so they could get their tech as fast as they can. Which I don't mind at all, because that tells me a lot already. Back in my base I pump drones and spread creep as much as I can.

There was a post on the Bnet forums which provided the number of points you need to have by the end of one season to be promoted when the next season comes in.

There, found it:

BNet - League Promotion

If you need practice, send me a PM here, and I'll be on Bnet. I don't have work this 28Jan to 30Jan so let me know.

My IGN is EnTaroAdun, character code 607 in SEA or 738 in NA.

I'm a gold/plat-level Zerg but I have taught a few of my then-bronze friends and they are now gold or better. I could play decent Protoss and Terran in practice too. I joined the FXO Malaysia Open #2 last December and I'm proud to say I gave one Master Terran (named imbaMong, who looks like IMNestea) and a Diamond Zerg (named Eve) a hard time, but I lost both series 1-2 before getting eliminated.

I'm also looking for a clan to join in to get better myself.

This post has been edited by EnTaroAdun23: Jan 27 2012, 07:58 PM

Sure thing. I'm at work right now and won't be home until around 9am tomorrow.

ZvT, I go 15hatch 16pool 18gas 17overlord. My first 100 gas goes to speed and make 4 lings. What I do from then on depends on what I scout. Regardless, I make sure I don't miss my injects and creep spread. 4 queens do the trick for me. One ling go to the nearest xelnaga tower to my opponent's base, the 3 stand guard in front of his natural. I constantly poke in to look at his wall or to check if he takes his natural.

I build buildings depending on how much gas i have. Above, I mentioned that my first 100 gas goes to ling speed. Against a Terran who does marine-tank pushes, I go: next 50 gas goes to Baneling Nest, next 100 gas goes to lair, next 100 goes to +1 melee, next 200 goes to Spire, next 150 goes to baneling speed and save gas from there, for mutas and +1 air attack. My mutas come out around the 10/11-minute mark. By this time, I should (or hope to) have a 3rd and a macro-hatch. Behind the muta harass, I go hivetech, get more upgrades and take more bases for more gas.

As for ZvP, I personally go 15hatch 16pool and delay my gas until around 30 supply. A handful of Protoss players in the Gold/Plat leagues go FFE, so I could safely take a 3rd around 20-ish supply, sometimes even as early as 16 (after the 16pool). But I don't forget to do is take the Roach Warren and Evo Chamber at around the 7minute mark then make (at least) one spore crawler per base when the evo pops.

I've heard over pro Zerg streams (Sheth, Destiny, CatZ, among others), "do not hatch-first against a Protoss". That's fine, you could go 13/14pool 15/16hatch (and 16 or 21 hatch again if he goes FFE). This build allows you to get queens/spines/lings earlier against one-base protoss all-ins.

But, yeah, this is just me. Doesn't work all the time, but it pays to have one solid build per match-up under your sleeve. Still took me to top 16 Platinum in NA last season (haven't played 1v1 ladder this season, but will go back when I get my new laptop).

Zergs in Plat league are macro-oriented, so sometimes I go 15hatch 15pool.

Safe build is 13gas 12pool, which according to IdrA (after he lost to Nestea in the Code S Ro32) is "pretty much a hard counter to 10pool baneling".

A nice build I use is Destiny's ZvZ 13roach push:



I modify this to keep myself economically ahead, so I eke out a few drones instead of lings and return the drones to gas.

And of course, don't forget the injects.

Like I said, it doesn't work all the time. But a Protoss who goes forge-first then cannon-rushes cannot take the nexus at 16, which is the normal FFE timing. And I doubt Master protosses need to cannon rush in the first place. The most they would do is pylon block the natural to delay the hatchery, which at this time the Zerg could get the pool or place the 2nd hatch on the 3rd expo (like Ret does).

I also get cannon-rushed myself. I respond by cancelling my natural hatchery (if I can), get ling speed and roach warren and rain the protoss with roaches and lings (or go lair for nydus or spire). Think about how much the Protoss is investing on his cannon-rush: 100 minerals per pylon, 150 minerals per cannon and the lost time delaying his gateway, cybernetics core and warpgate tech.

If I lose, it's fine. Not the end of the world. Like WhiteRa says, "more GG, more skill".

That's quite an investment for the Protoss to cannon rush wherever the zerg lays down the 2nd/3rd hatch.

I don't know what league you're in, but Plat level, cannon rushes don't happen often. My last ZvPs I played on NA ladder went FFE, 3gate-robo expand, FFE to DT rush, MC-style nexus-cancel 4gate, 2gate mass zealot. The last cannon-rush I remember being done on me was in Taldarim, where the protoss started the cannon rush inside my main base, at a corner where I don't normally scout. He lost. I rained roaches on his base which only had the nexus, gateway, forge, pylon and 16 or so probes. He invested too much on the cannon rush that he didn't get his economy going to put himself in a more advantageous position.

The only one I lost was against the MC-style nexus-cancel 4gate.

EDIT: and yeh, I went hatch-first on all these games.

This post has been edited by EnTaroAdun23: Jan 28 2012, 01:29 AM

LOL. Just, LOL.

I'll wait for you to get to Plat and let's see if you can pull of a cannon rush.

You should try to watch the streams of Ret, Sheth, Destiny, CatZ and IdrA. They sometimes get cannon-rushed by CombatEX or Deezer over their hatch-first builds. Unsurprisingly, our Zerg champions still win. For the simple reason that cannon rushes DO NOT work above Gold league.

The zerg doesn't even need to all-in after he is cannon rushed.

Just think: If cannon-rushing wins PvZ every time, why don't we see it in the pro tournaments?

And a transition to one stargate voidray? LOL. Please. I could have 2 (or possibly even 3) queens out before your void ray arrives at my base.

Get to Plat level playing Zerg as your main race, and maybe, just maybe, you'll learn 3 of the numerous ways to beat it.