"there was a rather large thread, devoted to the unveiling of Blizzard's plans for Starcraft 2.
"Neat," I thought to myself, "I'll probably have to check that out when it gets released."
Then, as I thought about it a little bit more, I began to realize the significance of a sequel to the best video game ever made, and promptly orgasmed all over my keyboard."
-Decay
|
| I am schooled in the ways of island. | | | Author: | | | IP: | XXXX | | Date: | 07/09/99 10:07 | | Game Type: | Starcraft | | Labels: | Starcraft(1), Problem: Broken Images(1) | | Report Rating: , # of Ratings: 2, Max: 9, Min: 9
Lifetime Rating for MikeyMonty: 7.8571 |  |
BattleReports.com
I Am Schooled In The Ways Of Island
The Cast
MikeyMonty(myself): Yellow Zerg, Top Left
[G]-Ryder: White Protoss, Top Right
The Map: Dire Straights
The
Game: Vanilla SC
My opponent had already beaten me once today, irradiating my
Zerg into pools of blood with his control group of science vessels.
Both of us were looking for another game, and Dire Straights was
agreed upon to be the source of our conflict.
I went for an
early power hydra drop, and morphed double layers for overlord
upgrades. Unfortunately, I accidentally evolved a second hydralisk
den instead of a second evolution chamber, and this error
significantly slowed down my build. Scouting overlords and after the
game conversation revealed that my opponent had gone for a standard
toss tech build, with a late refinery and gateway, cyber core, etc.
He was uncertain whether I planned on mass mutas or hydras, and so
went for the solid defense of mass goons (seems like we've heard
that before).
As soon as my layer upgrades were completed, I
dropped four drones and 2 hydras at the lower left starting position
and instantly got my expansion up and running. I made a few sunkens
and spores, and hatched some hydras to defend it. While jumpstarting
my expansion I loaded 12 of my 16 1/1 range and speed upgrade hydras
into overlords and dropped my hydras near the minerals of
[G]-Ryder's main island, which was defended by 5 goons and a cannon,
and had three partially completed goons in its gates. Using good
micro, [G]-Ryder held off my hydras long enough and did enough
damage to them to allow the three goons from his gates to finish
them before they did significant probe line damage.
I loaded
up a second drop of twelve more hydras, but his range upgraded goons
ambushed the transporting overlords and only three hydras managed to
unload in an undefended peon line. However, the goons moved in and
finished them off again before they did more than minimal damage.
My opponent warped in a second robotics facility, and soon
everywhere my traveling overlords went, they noticed either shuttles
(which I was later told were hallucinated) or observers. My opponent
must have had total map recon.
I saw my opponent had
consolidated an expansion, and defended it with cannons, goons, and
temps. I felt that hydras and mutas would not cut it, and switched
gears to a different strat (one of the benefits of being zerg). I
placed a queens nest, hived, and put up a defiler mound. I upgraded
melee attack and carapace upgrade, as well as speed and adrenal
glands. I researched plague, consume, and broodling (for temps), and
began cranking spellcasters and lings like there was no tomorrow.
Parasite revealed no temps in his main. So I loaded up 26 2/3
zerglings and 3 defilers. I snuck to the back of his main and
dropped, and again used this distraction to try to expand again. I
swarmed areas of his base, and managed to take out his templar
archives and a few key buildings, but unfortunately I could not get
to the pylons powereing his gateways. During the attack I noticed
starports and a fleet beacon up, and a few scouts.
My defilers and cracklings go to work.
The game began to lag up here. I commented on this, and my
opponent's reply of "Dual attack" was not totally unexpected. He had
been quiet up to this point. My island expansion was soon visited by
six fully loaded shuttles of 11 goons, a zealot, and a temp. It was
burned to the ground, despite everything a pair of sunkens and a few
hydras could do. All that was left was a receding carpet of purple
goo and some mounds of torn up flesh.
My expansion is razed rapidly by mass goons.
In retaliation I sent my queens out templar hunting and some
scourge out shuttle hunting, but more often then not my vengeful
units wasted their talents on decietful hallucinations. Instead I
switched to parasiting, as my opponent was beginning to go overlord
hunting and I was losing recon.
Back at his main, my
opponent used the distraction of his attack to draw my lings out of
swarm with zealots, and killed my defilers with dragoons. His main
was already mined out, and mine was near dry, so I desperately tried
to expand to two places at once. One overlord I sent witha drone and
three hydras stealthily to the bottom middle island, hoping my
opponent wouldn't notice it for a while. At the same time I brazenly
sent three full overlords of hydras, lings, defilers, and drones, to
the island to the right of my main. However, all three overlords
were quickly popped by the massve force of goons, scouts, and the
pair of carriers stationed there. I cursed his damn overlord
hunting. I had little recon anymore now that my opponent had begun
overlord hunting with his scouts, and I hadn't seen that fleet
assemble.
My other overlord was heading to the bottom center
island, but I doubted it would be undiscovered, as it passed no
fewer than five observers along its path. When my overlord got to
the island, it found it already occupied by some cannons, a
monolithic Nexus, and a band of happily working probes. I turned the
ol around, but it was hammered by scouts and popped.
This
was the final nail in my coffin, as the last of my resources had
been bundled up in those transports looking to expand. At home I had
nothing but a few zerglings, a few hydras, and a few defilers. My
opponent was surely taking over the map, and had me safely
contained. I knew it was lost. We chatted friendlily for a time
while he amassed a killing force and went on hit and runs against my
more expensive defilers.
Eventually, [G]-Ryder dropped the
hammer. 12 goons, 3 carriers, and an arbiter rolled in. I put up a
last futile defense with my defilers and hydras, plagueing what I
could and then swarming the hydras.
My final line of defense.
It was in vain however, as my defiler was hunted down by the
great range of the carrier, and my hydras slaughtered as soon as my
swarm disappeared. In a last moment of comedy my army of drones
managed to bring down a plagued dragoon before the rest of his
forces mopped up my main.
His army finishes the job.
Lessons Learned
-One big drop is usually more effective than
two little ones. If I had dropped my hydras all at once instead of
in two groups, I could have maybe crippled his main.
-Don't
be predictable. Had I not dropped in the same place the second time,
I could have landed all my hydras in his probe line and done some
severe damage to his economy.
-Hold your expansions at all
costs. They make or break the game.
-Recon is key, he knew
everything I did, and the few units I did parasite he either killed
or stuck someplace where they wouldn't show me anything new. He also
forced me to bottle up my ols as his scouts roamed the map.
Well, once again advice, questions, and comments are
welcome.
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