[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.