ZvT Help

[moosh]

The only matches i've lost are against T. I'm yet to win against a T player. How do you Zerg players do it? Also, what league are you in?

[Jdawsman]

Is there no specific strategy or unit composition that your opponent is using that you are losing to?

[imdrunkontea]

if he's going MMM, try a baneling bust early on. If he gets to MMM and tanks, you'll have to snipe his tanks (try luring with your main force, then attacking with mutas/lings when his marines leave his sieged tanks behind).

Another thing to keep in mind is to avoid a direct fight, if possible. Terrans have a huge advantage going toe-to-toe with zerg, esp once they get to mech. However, they are incredibly slow and vulnerable when expanding. Try to keep map control (keep vikings at bay with mutas/hydras while spreading overlords) and harass as much as you can whenever he moves his army. If you get to late game, try using ultras or brood lords with hydra/roach support.

Obviously, it's much easier said than done. I find ZvT my hardest matchup as well, but it just means you have to play a lot better than your opponent.

[moosh]

Is there no specific strategy or unit composition that your opponent is using that you are losing to?

Tanks and Marines, Marauder Drops

Everything!

[MulletBen]

Just play more.

If you are losing to "everything," the first thing you want to do is figure out what "everything" is. I also have problems with Terran. I used to have problems with toss, but I eventually realized that a toss player has a few options: early aggression, void ray rush, dt rush, robo, or high templar. Each of these units has counters, and the more you play, the more familiar you will get with the timings. Simply play against different Terran players as much as possible. Consider talking to Terran you have just lost against about rematches. Watching replays can also give you information about what builds Terran do.

As for tanks and marines, infestors work great. Fungal growth destroys marines, and neural parasite can steal tanks. It's best if you catch the tanks unsieged, or else they will kill your infestors before they can cast. If the tanks are sieged, pop up infested marines in the middle of his marine ball. This will cause his tanks to splash his marines. Another good strategy is to use speed upgraded or burrowed banelings to catch him while his tanks are unsieged, and destroy his marine ball. Once his marines are gone, it should be easy to kill the tanks with lings or mutas, if you have them.

As for marauder drops, mutas will attack them without being hit, and can follow dropships to take them out in transit.

[xIHyIDraX]

I'd pick up some new build orders as an answer to losing against everything because properly used zerg build orders can influence the entire game practically. A good way to open any TvZ is ling speed with baneling bust prior to him getting siege. I make 5 banelings for wall, 3 in reserve and send lings in after supply explodes. Another is roach xpo, sometimes terrans like early marine rauder stim push, well doing roach build make first seven larva from queen into roachs then xpo and make 3 or 2 spines works decent but don't get stuck on 2 bases and expect siege. Ultimately vs T biggest problem is transitioning to tier 3 tech to destroy army comp of terran bc without ultras hydras/roachs are out ranged and lings die fast to tanks.

Spreading creep is paramount two esp with ultras latter on. Make one queen just to spread creep. When you get 4+ creep tumors spreading outside your natural your in good shape, but envelop key areas that will be fought over like your 3rd or gold min ect.

[Todie]

for opening vs terran it can be good to grab an early gas to get that ling speed going asap. that is a grea foundation for defense. from there, its about scotuing and adapting; most of the times, their opening isnt too agressive - so expo asap after pool usually works..

if you see helions, spread out & block your choke - get roaches if he keeps massing helion.

vs reactor marines, get banelings.

later on, i find sneaky drops most problematic; its all about seeing them comming and having your army organized to be able to mobilize quickly enough to face it.

... come ier2 you want to scout him more carefully, as you have the tools. overseers, maybe mutalisks (bt not too many unless youre sure theyre worth it)

against heavy mech play with an intimidating number of tanks, its more important than ever to spread your creep proper, so that you can abuse your mobility to catch him off guard whenever hes making a move.

tier3 is great against terran, but dont expect to get it + numbers before a timing push happens use your units right and reinforce properly and you should be ok

lastly, infestors. use them. even harass wih them (especially infested terran from the high / low ground directly on-to mineral lines)
- there's some good examples of this in my latest batch of uploaded replays
(link below my signature)

.. ofcourse, his is jsust my approach, at my level of play. play to your strenghths, abuse the weakneses of your enemy and his race, at the same time try to identify and improve upon specific shortcommings in your game.

analysing your own approach to the game is obviously key for improving.

.... if things still feel hopeless, post a replay so we can get a bit more concrete with the advice.

peace.

[dynamiK-]

Upgraded hydras can do the job. Also, if he is just building up try to harass with Mutas and then expand to a couple different locations.

I can't stand Roaches. I've only built one Roach Warren in probably 20+ games as Zerg.

I know, not that amazing of advice, but whatever. I tried.

[TheStigma]

I'll just say what I do.

Against MMMs:
- I make sure to have banelings. Burrowed. In a choke point in front of my base. Make a third of them explode, then another third, and finish the last few stragglers by unborrowing the last bit.
- Burrow Roaches with tunneling claws. Move into the middle of the army, unborrow, when your Roaches start dying, burrow them again. (Can't be used against anyone with detectors. Obviously.) Nice to be combined with banelings.
- Infestors mixed in with a Roach/Hydra army. Fungal Growth freezes the army and allows you to attack. Mix Banelings in with this, and you have yourself an amazing display of fireworks.

Against Tanks:
- Air. Tanks can't hit air, but usually there are marines or Thors. Broodlords are awesome, but very late tier units, but if you can get them, your doing good. If they build Vikings though, you'd be toast. Unless you made Hydras or Corrupters.
- Infestors are beast. Neural Parasite with sight can make the tanks destroy each other or your enemies base. Infested Terran work as well, surrounding the tank to draw splash damage in from other tanks.
- Overlord drops/Nydus Worms in the back of the base with any ground unit (excluding queens, unless you have more than ten.) can get the job done also. Just make sure you don't give away your secret before you can finish off your opponent.

Against Vikings:
- Hydras. And get upgrades fast. Spread creep. Make sure you have secrets hidden around. Burrowed Hydralisks are a good start. Don't let him mass up a ton, because it could be very nasty. Mutalisks mixed into the batch could work good too, because they can attack ground mode and air mode, same as the Hydras.

General Ideas:
- Always know what your opponent is doing. Scout with drones, zerglings, overlords/seers and anything else you have at your disposal. Know what he is building, and what to counter with.
- Spread Creep. It makes all your ground forces quicker, and allows for an easy defense maneuver. It also allows sight for a large distance, announcing when your opponent is coming.
- Hide your tech. It allows you to keep your moves a secret. Which equals a very good strategic play. Attack with your hidden tech when you are pretty sure you will win. It may take awhile to learn when this is.
- Try having at least one more base then your opponent. You need more minerals and gas than an opponent to be sure that you can defeat him. Also, lots of Hatcheries allows a fast replenish of units, so that you can fortify your army if you lose a lot.
- Remember to tech swap if someone is beating your current units! This goes for all races! Never keep building the same units just because you assume that mass units can win!
- Have diversity in your army. Don't mass one unit type, because they can be very easily countered.

Don't be an Idra Zerg! Nobody likes a sore loser!

[Rezildur]

I think people underestimate the roach/hydra mixture. It's powerful because of their different armor types, roachs have more hp, and because of their differing attack rates.