ZpuX ZvT Strategy

This is a strategy I used quite some time ago. It might be a bit outdated now but it is still good to refresh your play and maybe it will give you some new ideas. It was first developed to deal with fast hellion harass or reaper play and might not be perfect against a fast 2 rax pressure build. But for me it was solid for a long time and how I learnt how to play ZvT on a high level.


Opening build
14 Spawning pool
15 Hatchery

Make an overlord and start droning up to 18 supply. Do an extractor trick* and make one set of Zerglings and an overlord. When the overlord finishes start building a Queen and make another pair of Zerglings and use the rest of your larva for drones. When your first Queen is done, start you second Queen as you use your first Queen to inject larva. When she has injected her larva put her on the egde of your creep. When your second Queen finishes you should have 25 energy on your first to put down a Creep tumor. Then walk your first Queen to your expansion. Larva inject in your main with the second queen. This will make it so that both of the queens have 25 energy at the same time when then expansion hatch is ready, so be prepared to inject with both at the same time. Don't forget to keep making drones with your larva.

Save up to 150 minerals and build Roach Warren and make an Extractor at the same time. This will allow you to get enough gas for about three roaches when the Roach Warren finishes. The three roaches will be enough to fend off any early aggression. I usually put down a Spine crawler so that it finishes at the same time as the roaches. Then you can use the spine crawler to defend the ramp along with your queen while the roaches can take care of the mineral line. After your three roaches are done you should start your Lair as soon as you hit 100 gas also get a second Extractor. You will get your Lair faster than any speedling builds because three roaches only costs 75 gas when Metabolic boost costs 100 gas.

When your Lair is done you should have enough gas to get both Overlord speed and a Hydralisk den. Overlord speed is important to this build because this will give you a lot of vision around the map and you can fly an Overlord into the Terran's base without suiciding it. Use an Overlord to check the Terran's main to get an idea of what he is doing. Because of the quick Hydralisks and the Overlord speed you can easily defend against any kind of banshee harass as you will see it coming and you will have good anti-air. As soon as the Hydralisk Den finishes make a few hydras but mostly roaches. It is really hard to say which is the best Roach/Hydralisk ratio, but I would suggest to go with 2/3 Roach and 1/3 Hydralisk.

Due to your overlord speed you will have good map vision and the first Terran attack should be quite easy to fend off with your Hydralisk, Roach army. This is also when you want to expand again. Ideally you want to defeat his attack while your second expansion is building. When his army is defeated throw down a Baneling nest and an Infestation pit. This is a crucial moment, you have you to read your opponent. Either you prepare with Banelings for his next attack and delay your Hive a little bit. Or you try to reach Hive before the next big attack for the Terran.

So this is basically how you want to defend the Terran attacks:

First attack: Defend with Hydralisks/Roaches

Second attack: Defend with Hydralisks/Roaches/Banelings/Speedlings

Third attack: Defend with Hydralisks/Roaches/Banelings/Speedlings/Ultralisks or Brood lords.

When you have defeated his second attack take your third and fourth expansions. I can't really give you any exact timings for when you should upgrade Metabolic Boost or get your Evolution Chambers. But generally it is safe to do this after an attack has been fended off. Same goes for Drones. You always want to build Drones for as long as possible while still being safe. This means you should Drone as much as you can and when you see the Terran moving out make just enough units to beat his army. When you defeat his attack it is time to make drones once again. After the Terran third attack you should have around 70 drones and you will now be able to build only units the rest of the game.

Another thing to keep in mind is that in an aggressive game, fewer drones will help you because you are able to match his army size better. But when your Terran opponent is passive you'd rather want drones to build up a bigger bank. Because when he is defensive you are more likely to reach hive faster and relaying on more expensive units which require a better economy.



*An extractor trick is when you use a drone to make an extractor to free up some supply. You can then build something, like another drone and then cancel the extractor and you will have one extra drone before your overlord is done.

Strategy by: Tobias "ZpuX" Nilsson
Written by: Alexander "bread" Borggren

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