[teexxx]

Hi all,

So out there, Zergs have been 14 hatch, 14 pool forever and the 2 rax marines harass to thor drop or tank push have been a great to counter that.

So now my question is how to deal with 1 base Zerg.

Cheers

[Xeen]

1 base Z loses to 1 base other races so I'm not really sure what to say here. Go make a ton of units and kill them.

Alternatively, play exactly the same once they eventually expand anyways, only they'll have slightly slower econ.

[ProAnnn]

1 base zerg just cant fight other race on equal grounds. Just go 1 base terran on almost ANY strat will win 1 base zerg.

[Satu]

The best way to play vs a one base zerg is to know what they are making, make units that counter that, then macro up, expand, and win. Zergs usually need one base more than their opponents. If you have one base more than what a zerg has, and are able to hold it for a large period of time, it can often be a guaranteed win. I reccommend the use of bunkers and turrets, just turtle up to the max and scan their base like crazy.

Also keep in mind that if you're having a lot of trouble with this one base zerg, he may not be one base at all. Look at the amount of army units they have compared to yours and you can sometimes assume they have an expansion hidden somewhere. Yet again, scout.

If you play it correctly, you should always win, as it is usually a big mistake for a zerg not to early expand (Unless ZvZ, sometimes). Make less mistakes in SC2 than your opponent and you'll often win.

Edit: Btw, yes 2rax marines can work well vs 14hatch 14pool, but I think a lot more zergs go for 14pool 15hatch with early gas as well vs terran. 2rax is much less effective vs that once a bling next is thrown up. Kinda depends which level you're playing at, I guess?

[Skitz]

Wall in?

Problem solved.

[nard]

Originally Posted by Skitz

Wall in?

Problem solved.

bling bust. i usually encounter bling bust if the Z is one-basing. but like what Zergtastic said, bunkers n turrets and macro up, and non stop harassing with drops and what not...

[Satu]

Originally Posted by nard

bling bust. i usually encounter bling bust if the Z is one-basing. but like what Zergtastic said, bunkers n turrets and macro up, and non stop harassing with drops and what not...

Marauders and spread buildings out. Tbh, I shouldn't be telling terran players how to deal with this stuff too much, because I haven't been in the situation too much.

[HDPhoenix]

If the zerg is playing 1 base, it means he has to be aggresive so just scout and wait for the attack. Its either going to be Banelings or Roaches so scout and make the proper counter =)

[DenverLee]

What if 1 base 2 Hatchery ?

[PhilipScrewdriver]

Originally Posted by DenverLee

What if 1 base 2 Hatchery ?

Expect a lot of lings...

[GorE]

you would think that there is only afew viable options for them off one base..

roaches would be the strongest i think...
or they will baneling bust you...
so scout well..

if they bust you and you hold it off, it's almost instant win if they do it on 1 base...

as terran if they go mass roaches just make a heap of marauders or get out some banshees and you will most likely win any engagement...

if they do go one base you can continually just pump marines and trade supply with them over and over until they just cant keep up after they have used all their lava on attacking units and you have a huge econ by that time...

i think one base zerg can kinda just be beaten down... they cant keep up with the other races..

[sunsetkid]

1 base zerg isn't very good for a protracted game.
the only viable options are banelings, zerglings, roaches.
notice that none of them can hit air.
a simple counter is just banshees to wall him off. he might get spores, but so long as you get map control, he's almost certainly finished. it seems that zergs need 1 more base to be on even footing in most games i've seen.

i think the value in 1 base zerg is more of a surprise factor, since most would go for an early expansion

[TAVoices]

Run your SCV out of their base once u find them. Run it back in about the 4minute mark and check if he's getting ling speed (pool will pulsate). If he's not its roach rush or baneling bust, or sometimes rarely 1 hatch lair. Just build all depots and buildings at ur wall and do whateva u want (tank, banshee, mmm, hellion whatever really).

When you wall, wall with 1 supply depot, and the other depots behind it. Eg. Wall will have 1 factory 1 rax and depots, or 2rax and depots.

[Eljimo]

as long as you can defend his first push, you should do fine later on, best way to wall in is to use a factory and rax or 2 raxes if you can.

[user151]

Not an expert but going 111 (aka Destiny Cloud Fist) and reacting to what he throws at you might be really good. Banelings ... Rax Fac wall in + marauders will own them. Roaches Banshees... will own them (I hope they'll be out in time, if not marauders on high ground will still own roaches).

A little off topic but I also have a question. On 4 P maps can I go 1 base 2 hatch first to trick the opponent of thinking an attack is coming and then setup a hidden expo? Would it be viable or too mineral intensive to actually pull off? I'm in bronze league so everything and nothing is possimpible :P.

[Jaii]

Originally Posted by user151

A little off topic but I also have a question. On 4 P maps can I go 1 base 2 hatch first to trick the opponent of thinking an attack is coming and then setup a hidden expo? Would it be viable or too mineral intensive to actually pull off? I'm in bronze league so everything and nothing is possimpible :P.

You would essentially be driving a double expo but trying to sell it as a 1 base all in, threatening the opponent, prompting them to build more units to stay alive. Obviously that can backfire spectacularly if / when they figure out the scam and just a-move your base with the more-units. You also wont get any effective use out of that second in-base hatch until your economy can support it, so its essentially 300 minerals and a drone put on ice.

I feel the grand deception ploy runs better in the other direction. Make it look like you are expanding economically when in fact you are planning to kill them in the near future. The best way to do this as zerg is to simply hide a large portion of your army while leaving the rest in an obvious scoutable location, eg, the bottom of your ramp or just outside your natural.

Of course in Bronze you have to wonder what value you get out of any deceptive play. You cant bluff strength or weakness to someone who cant recognise strength or weakness when it holding a parade through his living room with a marching band and streamers.

You should just focus on straight up solid play in Bronze and power your way out. Ignore when you lose to a "trick" build (fast pool, DTs, air rushes) and instead of trying to use (or create) tricks of your own, just improve your scouting and learn to respond to the tricks while maintaining solid play. Thats the fast track from the bottom of Bronze to the middle of Platinum, IMO.

[user151]

Originally Posted by Jaii

You should just focus on straight up solid play in Bronze and power your way out. Ignore when you lose to a "trick" build (fast pool, DTs, air rushes) and instead of trying to use (or create) tricks of your own, just improve your scouting and learn to respond to the tricks while maintaining solid play. Thats the fast track from the bottom of Bronze to the middle of Platinum, IMO.

Hey Thanks. That's one great advice. Really appreciated.

[DrunkPanda]

expand then own them

[dennistoo]

1 base zerg can't win any other races. Enuff said.

[dKiWi]

Originally Posted by dennistoo

1 base zerg can't win any other races. Enuff said.

Partially agree. You can open 1-base to pressure your opponent and from my experience, 1-base zerg pressure is very strong but that's because roaches are 145 hp for 75/25, which makes roach rushes very potent. So if you're terran, opening marauder first will crush most 1-base zerg play. But because hardly any terran players (in diamond) open marauder first usually, 1-base zerg play is a viable threat. This is because opening marauder first will not allow you to place any pressure on the zerg player, which is exactly what you should do if zerg is opening 2-base (which 90% of zerg players do). It is however hard to tell whether zerg is going 1-base or 2-base without sacrificing a mule to scan, so most terran players generally don't open marauder first, or assume zerg is going 2-base blindly.

Another way to stop 1-base zerg as terran is to open gas first siege tank, but similar to marauder openings it removes your ability to pressure the zerg which presents risk. So not many terran players open gas first siege tank either.

As a rule of thumb, opening 111 is very very bad against 1-base zerg, so if you want to open 111 u must be sure zerg isnt going 1-base. 1-base roach play also directly counters gas first hellions, so if u open gas first hellions and zerg goes 1-base roach u essentially have just lost. 2rax is better than 111 and thus opening 2rax is less risky than 111, but depending on ramp location u might not be able to make a tech lab to pump marauders. So you should take that into account as well.

In general (also for protoss) try to kill the overlord hovering near your ramp if possible without losing too many marines to roaches, because if u can kill the overlord then the overlord cannot give sight for roaches to attack up your ramp, which is exactly what makes 1-base zerg work.

Another last thing for terran is to get a zerg practice partner and ask him to do roach/baneling rushes on you and practice building placement to fend off the rushes. Top terran players shud be able to place buildings well, but an unbelievable amount of terran players are horrible at building placement.

For protoss, if you see zerg going for the 3 roach + speedling build then the best counter is to wall off with another gateway. Otherwise try to kill the overlord and forcefield well so his speedling swarm doesnt stream into your base and do too much damage.