Starcraft 2 Stratagems: Part One .

Starcraft 2 Stratagems: Part One

Your bi-weekly guide to Starcraft 2 gaming strategy. So, it finally here. 12 long years and at least that many game-related Korean deaths later, and Starcraft 2 has arrived. Game stores across the globe opened their doors promptly at 12:01AM on the 27th of July, 2010, and the Starcraft community rejoiced; Starcraft 2 was here, and it was fantastic. It looked amazing, it leaked polish and perfection at the seams, and although not without its own flavour of launch day blues, the new and improved Battle.net system was live and almost entirely functional. It was a good couple of days, but now (almost a full week later) the dust has settled and the real game has begun. NOT AN MMO Now before we get down to brass tacks here and begin our decent into the madly competitive world of Starcraft 2 League Gaming, I’d like to clear up a little trouble I’ve been having with the definition of the MMO. Without delving too deeply into the subject matter and without choosing a side, I’d like to make one thing very, very clear: I don’t give a crap. “The definition of an MMO is a massively multiplayer online game, and Starcraft 2, with more than 5 million sales projected within the next 6 months definitely fits that category,” versus “In order for a game to qualify as an MMO it requires a persistent world and it cannot have a lobby.” Who. Gives. A. Crap. It a game. It online. We’re playing it. Nothing else much matters. Amirite? And let face facts here, even though it an RTS, and even though it lacking a persistent world, and even though it lobby-based; Battle.net puts it well within the confines of an MMO. It an amazing system, one that allows you to conduct multiple conversations with multiple players across multiple games, while playing in a game and voice-chatting with your ‘party’ members. It jam-packed with achievements of every type imaginable; it allows for every game type and variation known to Man, Protoss and Zerg alike, and best of all, it offers a standard of League Gaming I simply haven’t seen before, and one that in only a few short days, I’ve fallen truly, madly and deeply in love with. HOW DOES IT WORK? The league system used in Starcraft 2 is something that many players weren’t expecting, mostly because it isn’t the one used in the original Starcraft, and it isn’t one that has been used before. When you boot up Starcraft 2 Multiplayer for the first time you’ll find yourself a staple member of the ‘Practice League’. For up to 50 games, you’ll be able to play online against other players new to Starcraft 2, and all your games will be unranked. They’ll be recorded, meaning you’ll be able to view your progress, your replays and your game statistics at your leisure, but once you’ve finished your 50 games (or decided that you’re ready to move on without them), those records will be wiped, and you’ll be placed in the ‘Placement League’. The ‘Placement League’ isn’t really a league at all; it consists of 5 consecutive games against other players in the league that determine which league you will be placed in to begin. Depending on your success, you’ll find yourself placed in one of 5 ‘Real Leagues’, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum or Diamond. And from there, you begin the climb. Every time you win a game you gain points; every time you lose, you lose points. Your points determine your rank in your division; each division has 100 ranks and corresponds with you league. Okay, so it a little complicated and incredibly difficult to explain. Let have another shot. Within each league, there are divisions. Each has 100 spots, and your goal will be to get to rank 1, thereby increasing your odds of playing an opponent in the league above you, and allowing you to move into that league yourself. So, if you’re in the Bronze League, and you’re ranked 50th in your division and you win 10 games in a row —œ chances are you’re going to be getting very close to the top. However, it won’t be until you play an opponent in a league above yours. Win and you’ll find that you move up yourself. Or something like that. It new, okay?! Additionally, everything mentioned above (with the exception of the Practice League) can be applied not only to the 1v1 league, but to the 2v2, 3v3 and 4v4 leagues, too. Each league contains its own ladder and separate tally, as does each individual team. That is, if you 2v2 with your mate John, but also with your other mate, Shain, you’ll be registered in 2 separate 2v2 leagues, and you’ll maintain two separate league ranks. Pretty sweet, huh? Now, to business. THE DISCLAIMER Every fortnight, from now until… well, until I stop playing Starcraft 2 (those who follow the ‘Guide to the Godslayer’ periodical should know that my moving to Starcraft has put that on hold for the foreseeable future) I’ll be using this small, elegant patch of white space to detail stratagems I’ve picked up during my travels through the universe (and most of Korea). Today we’re going to be looking at what I’m coining the Nydus Roach Rush; a subtle combination of a Nydus Zergling Rush and a standard Roach Rush. Now before we continue, let go over some ground rules. First things first, I’m not very good at Starcraft 2. I wasn’t very good at Starcraft 1, either. But when I play online, occasionally, I win a game here and there. Most of the time, I lose. But in losing, I learn. And when I learn, I teach. So in less convoluted words, what I show you in this piece and those that follow it may not be the best advice available. Hell, it may not be good advice at all. But it worked for me, (I’ll be including videos with each strategy to back that up) and hopefully, it’ll work for you, too. If it doesn’t… well, you’re doing it wrong. Leave me alone. Or something. THE NYDUS ROACH RUSH ZERG — 1v1 And so we begin. The key to playing as the Zerg (and let face it, to playing Starcraft well in general) is to play fast. Hotkeys are vital and multitasking is more important that just about everything else. The video included below will show you exactly what I mean by not doing any of that. I barely used hotkeys and my multitasking was poor form at best (it was one of my first games; back off). This strategy can be pulled off much faster, and much more successfully. And if you want to get above the Gold League, you’ll need to do just that. But it is a good strategy, and it one that should see you moving forward through the ranks with ease, as it eliminates one of the most fundamental Terran and Protoss strategies — the Rush Defence — by allowing you to bypass their defences entirely and hit them where it hurts. First, send your 5 starting Drones to your minerals; set your gather point to your minerals (Hotkey G); send out your Overlord to begin scouting for your opponents’ location, and build drones until you’ve reached your 10/10 maximum (Hotkey S, then D). Second, build another Overlord and send him out scouting, while simultaneously building another 3 Drones.  Third, build a spawning pool and an extractor, and as soon as you can, build another 3 Drones and rally them at the extractor. Fourth, as soon as your spawning pool is up, spawn a Queen (Hotkey Q) at your Hatchery and build a Roach Warren. Fifth, build one or two Overlords and another Drone or two for your minerals. Sixth, as soon as your Queen is ready, have her use skill-I-can’t-remember-then-name-of-and-am-too-lazy-to-check (Hotkey V) which will spawn an additional 4 larva (continue to do this as soon as your are able throughout the match to allow for a continuous flow of seven larva; spawn more Overlords accordingly), and upgrade your Hatchery into a Lair. At this point your basic preparations are complete. Now, it time to assemble the troops. Seventh, start building Roaches, and (assuming you’ve located your enemy with your Overlords) begin looking for a good spot to place your Nydus Worm (preferably behind their base to avoid any defences, and in a place where they can’t see it). Eighth, build your Nydus Network somewhere convenient and close to your Roach squad (at the time of the video recording I was not aware that the Nydus Network served as a Nydus Tunnel; you are, don’t make my mistake there), and as soon as you are able plant a Nydus Worm in their base. Ninth, load your army into your tunnel and (if you haven’t already) bind your Lair to Hotkey 1, your Nydus Worm to Hotkey 2, and set your troop rally point on the Nydus Network (Hotkey Y). This will allow you to continue a steady flow of troops while you’re destroying their base, without having to look back at your base (unless you need to use your Queen for additional reinforcements). Tenth, let all hell break loose. Release your troops from your conveniently placed Nydus Worm (Hotkey D) near their base and continue loading troops in and releasing them until your enemy is defeated. GG. As you’ll no doubt have guessed, this strategy isn’t going to work every time. Eventually, you’re going to find someone that knows of it (or something similar) and they’re going to prevent you from setting up a worm, or they’re going to rush you well before you’ve had a chance to destroy them. Modifying this strategy to suit your needs on the fly is your job (and be sure to let me know if you find any good ones!), as is it mine and every other players. And, of course, there are MANY other strategies you can use instead (such as an additional extractor and/or an evolution hub), or create on your own once you’ve got this one down. This is a very basic opener, and not much else, but it won me more than a few games in days since, and it one I continue to come back to time and time again. That it for this week folks; I sincerely hope you’ve got something out of your read here today, and look forward to your return next fortnight for Starcraft 2 Stratagems Part Two, and all the juicy goodness it may hold. Until next we meet, wherever that may be.