I. Style breakdown
II. Doing the "Vin Diesel"
III. The aftermath
IV. Build counters
V. Video analysis
Fear the Reaper…and the Widow Mine
Initial Build:
Barracks -> Gas
Marine -> Reaper- > Marine
Command Center -> Factory -> Reactor on Barracks after fourth Marine
Starport as Factory finishes -> Make one Widow Mine out of un-reactor’d Factory
Switch Reactor to Factory -> Continue Widow Mine production
Important note: Stay on one geyser this entire time
Barracks -> Gas
Marine -> Reaper- > Marine
Command Center -> Factory -> Reactor on Barracks after fourth Marine
Starport as Factory finishes -> Make one Widow Mine out of un-reactor’d Factory
Switch Reactor to Factory -> Continue Widow Mine production
Important note: Stay on one geyser this entire time
Polt gets one reaper to start things off, and he puts it to work. You won’t have the control of Polt, but that’s ok, just keep it alive. The reaper can deny creep tumors, keep tabs on the zerg, and force extra lings.
The real goal is to keep the zerg distracted long enough to start planting your widow mines. You get one out of your factory before you attach the reactor, send that one straight to the third base of zerg. If he’s not making a third, just send it straight outside his natural. Using your reactor factory, continue to make widow mines for five total.
Use the first two out of the reactor to get out on that map and potentially deny another base, packs of lings, or more creep tumors. These things are cheap and get incredible map vision and control for this part of the game. Now that you have some good scouting and map control, it’s time to hit the nitrus.
Third base “Sit and Wait” game
Fourth base DENIED
Vin Diesel his ass
Build Progression:
6:30 – Third CC and second geyser
Viking- > Medivac
2nd and 3rd Barracks -> Double Engineering Bay + Stim
Transition Factory into Tech Lab -> Tank production
Pick up fourth and fifth Widow Mines -> Boost to main
6:30 – Third CC and second geyser
Viking- > Medivac
2nd and 3rd Barracks -> Double Engineering Bay + Stim
Transition Factory into Tech Lab -> Tank production
Pick up fourth and fifth Widow Mines -> Boost to main
GSL Commentator Khaldor loves the new medivac boost upgrade, and who can blame him? It’s so fun to watch, and he calls it the “Vin Diesel” Upgrade, referencing his fellow buff bald companion. Well, when Khaldor and everyone at home is having a good laugh over that, people in Heart of the Swarm are raging at how good this new ability is.
Most people associate this ability with hellbats because of how powerful that drop is, but Polt shows that Widow mines drops are just as tough to deal with.
Notice that Polt hasn’t rushed to this drop, he has three other widow mines scattered around the map that keep him safe, disrupt HyuN’s economy and flow, and give him great map vision. He uses his last two to nitrus his way straight in and the results are good. 11 drones good.
Using only two more widow mines, polt manages to get eleven kills. For those saying HyuN should’ve been better prepared, we’re talking about HyuNstoppable here. If he has trouble dealing with this, the next poor soul you face on ladder will lose some drones.
The Aftermath
Now this is definitely some cool play, but why is it so great? He just used some widow mines and killed a handful of workers right?
Look at this position at ~10:30 and tell me if you wouldn’t want to be in the same spot. He is nearly even on upgrades with the zerg, medivac and tank production along with third base being established. He even has a worker lead. A worker lead, against HyuN. I’ve made my point.
Use the tabs below as a benchmark to see how well your macro compares with Polt himself.
Potential Counters
Since this is not a gimmicky opener, there shouldn’t be a hard counter. I’m assuming with what feels like a lot of greed at some points, potential counters could be:
1) Big Roach Aggression with Burrow – Since Burrow is now available on Hatchery tech, HyuN could’ve macroed up a strong Roach force with burrow to put sufficient pressure on Polt, who only had a few widow mines covering his ass for a lot of the early game. An emergency bunker with those four marines he has would be pivotal in holding off big early aggression, and hitting Polt with bigger roach numbers before bunkers finish at his third could stop his economy and production from skyrocketing.
2) Baneling Bust – Again, Something on the aggressive end could disrupt Polt’s strong 3-base economy by the 10:30 mark. However, it’s a huge commitment, and one that a lot of you should be familiar with.
Video Analysis
From here, it’s classic Polt. Marines, Marauders, Medivacs, and Tanks roll through HyuN’s Roach/Hydra composition until he has to tap out. Just note that HyuN tried ling/bling/muta against this style the very next game and died a similarly timed death.
In here, I show you just how Polt utilizes his initial widow mines, and how he gets himself into such a great spot. I also show the rest of the game, but be sure to check out the GD Invitational VoDs and replays that are available on GosuGamers.
