Strat Corner #5: Stephano's roach/hydra/viper in ZvT

In this brief yet special edition of Strategy Corner, I wanted to bring you guys an analysis of a game that is fresh in many of our minds.

Stephano just took on his Group of Death at IEM CeBIT, and barely made it out in third place. While he had great performances in his ZvP, his ZvT was shaky against the top Koreans IMMvp and MVPDream. However, there was one game where Stephano took control - like Stephano should do - and showed how to properly play Roach/Hydra/Viper.

Let’s take a look at that very game.

Build Notes (The “Feel”)

Get one gas
Make ~ 4 roaches -> Get burrow on hatchery tech
Attack terran natural -> Force scans
Continue to get more roaches with 3rd hatchery – Force more trades
Get hydra + hydra upgrades -> 4th hatchery and hive
Get vipers (should be getting your first vipers as you start up 3/3 range + armor upgrades)
Attack terran once maxed + bank acquired
Profit!

So the build notes aren’t as well thought out as they usually are. While it looks like I’m being lazy, this is actually a common trait of Stephano’s play in HoTS right now. He “feels” things out since he’s relatively new. In this particular game, Dream happens to go triple CC off of very few factory units, so these four roaches put him in a fantastic position. Either way, it’s worth taking a look at this very well-played game by the French Zerg and seeing what it takes to bring down one of these unstoppable looking Korean Terrans.