Zerg | 12 Pool Speedling Rush | Strategy Guide

[Kreeper]

Overview :
The 12 Pool Speedling Push is a more reliable form of overwhelming your opponent with Zerglings whilst maintaining a satisfactory economy. This strategy can be played out in several ways, you may want to constantly send Zerglings in small groups as they spawn straight to your opponent or you can save them all up and attack with up to 20 Speedlings all in one huge group.


The purpose of the 12 Pool Speedling Push ideally is to surprise your opponent with 20 Speedlings however you can consistently harass your opponent as your Zerglings spawn if you prefer. The idea behind 12 Pool Speedling Push is really to make a huge group of Zerglings all at roughly the same time with the help of the Spawn Larva ability and catch your opponent off guard. This can be achieved quite successfully as long as you prevent your opponent from properly scouting or seeing anymore then just 2 Zerglings then they will not be ready for when you spawn almost all of your Zergling army in one go. By the time you hit your opponent with your group of 20 Speedlings it will be too late for them to react accordingly.


Build order :
This build order is designed as a straight forward build to forming the strategy, it does not consider any of the multiple various enemy threats that you may encounter. You should only deviate away from the build order to build appropriate counters (an army or static defence) should your opponent threaten your survivability. Try to stick to the build order as best as you can to achieve maximum results.

• Text in BOLD CAPITAL letters – refers to units & buildings that you will build.
• Text in Italics - refers to what action you need to take with the unit or building)
• Text in underline – refers to a mechanic or ability you need to use.

1. DRONE
2. DRONE
3. DRONE
4. DRONE
5. Gather 150 minerals & build 2 EXTRACTORS
6. DRONE
7. DRONE
8. Cancel the 2 Extractors that you built & send the Drones back onto minerals(This is known as the Extractor Trick, see the “Macro” section for a clarification on the purpose of the Extractor Trick)
9. BUILD SPAWNING POOL
10. Send a Drone to scout for the enemy base
11. OVERLORD
12. EXTRACTOR
13. Gather 75 minerals & build an EXTRACTOR
14. Cancel the second Extractor (make sure you don’t cancel the first Extractor you built)
15. DRONE
16. DRONE
17. DRONE
18. QUEEN
19. ZERGLING (These Zerglings are built with the main priority of killing any enemy scouts. After that the Zerglings purpose is to scout& harass – first scout your main and natural expansion area quickly, then send one of each of the two zerglings to each Xel Naga Tower, then scout the enemy base as you see appropriate with either one or both of the zerglings. When you are satisfied with your scouting/harass you can either keep a zergling just outside by their natural expansion to keep a check on your opponent or bring it back to the xel naga tower nearest your enemy)
20. DRONE
21. METABOLIC BOOST (Research at Spawning Pool)
22. Take all 3 Drones from the Extractor and put them onto minerals
23. OVERLORD
24. ZERGLING
25. The Queen you built at your Main Hatchery will spawn(Use her Spawn Larva ability on your Main Hatchery – Use this ability every 40 seconds from now on)
26. ZERGLING
27. ZERGLING
28. ZERGLING
29. ZERGLING
30. ZERGLING x4
31. OVERLORD

• From this point on you need to build in reaction to how your opponent is playing (See “Play style“). If you would like some suggestions then you could continue onwards using either of these:

1. Continue massing Zerglings (If your opponent can be easily outnumbered & overwhelmed) Continue making Zerglings & an Expansion (If you can do good damage to your opponent but are unable to finish them off)
2. Put 3 Drones back onto an Extractor & build a Baneling Nest whilst continuing to make Zerglings so you can eventually morph them into Banelings – Maybe take a 2nd Extractor to ensure you have enough Vespine Gas (If your opponent is focusing on creating ‘Light’ armoured units – also for blowing up workers)
3. Start making Drones (if there is no way you can beat your opponent so you can boost your economy and prepare for a longer game)

Play style :
With a 12 Pool Speedling Push you want to surprise your opponent with a large group of up to 20 Speedlings at once. If you follow the build order closely then you will finish researching Metabolic Boost by the time your last lot of Zerglings spawn from your Hatchery, this will give you an immense advantage if you are able to get inside your opponent’s base as the speed will make it very hard for your opponent to control you effectively.

You need to focus on killing enemy workers or buildings that will help slow down the enemy production rate (such as Pylons). You will increase your chances of winning a great deal more by killing workers over army units as this will slow down the enemy economy and do greater overall damage. The other reason for focusing enemy workers over army units with your Zerglings is that should the rush become stoppable by your opponent then at least you will have slowed down their economy enough to reduce their ability to outnumber you with units.

This strategy is dependent upon tricking your opponent into thinking you are no threat early game & refusing them access and sight of your main base (Especially when you are about to make a ton of Zerglings at once with Spawn Larva or if you decide to build a Baneling Nest). If your opponent scouts you mass producing Zerglings or a Baneling Nest then he will have precious extra time to create counters like Photon Cannons, Sentries (for Force Field) or Chrono Boost (to mass produce an army) so it is crucial you keep your opponent in the dark and keep them thinking you are not a threat for the time being.

Using only a couple of Zerglings to harass and then backing off when they respond to the harass will help fool your opponent and mislead them into thinking they has control of the situation (hopefully they will decide to put extra resources into tech should they feel you aren’t a threat) giving you the perfect opportunity to overwhelm them with Speedlings in one huge push later on.




Micro :

• Focus on killing workers with your Zerglings
• Hit and run the workers; Attack the workers with your Zerglings and provoke your opponent into dragging all of his workers away from the mineral line to defend himself, at this point you simply run your Zerglings back and wait for him to return his workers to the mineral line, that’s when you strike again with the Zerglings! Rinse & repeat this method whenever possible. This allows you to efficiently damage your opponent’s economy whilst taking as little damage as possible.
• Kill the enemy army units only if you can still put the pressure on after inevitably losing some Zerglings in the process otherwise dodge the enemy army units and harass their workers instead.
• Kill any key buildings like Pylons should you have the chance (Especially if there is only Pylon powering Protoss buildings)
• 
  See “Support” for advice on how to use Banelings if you have the chance to make them

Macro :

• Spawn Larva whenever possible to increase the number of Zerglings you can create
• Start spawning Creep Tumors only once your Queen has enough energy to continually Spawn Larva first
• The “Extractor Trick” is a method Zerg players use to temporarily exceed their supply limit so they can build a extra Drones or Zerglings before needing to make an Overlord.

Upgrades :
This is a list of the preferred upgrades for this strategy should you have the chance to research them.
[Some of the upgrades further down the list may be not be necessary depending upon the units & playstyle you choose to use]

1. Metabolic Boost (Increases the movement speed of Zerglings)
   [Requires: Hatchery, Spawning Pool]This is an exceptional ability that will boost the effectiveness of your Zerglings greatly. They will move much faster and will be able to perform hit and run attacks on workers whilst being able to dodge enemy army units with much more ease. You will gain a lot more control with this upgrade allowing you to really put the pressure on your opponent.
2. Evolve Centrifugal Hooks (Increases the movement speed of all Banelings)
   [Requires: Hatchery, Baneling Nest]
   This greatly improves your Banelings ability to surprise your opponents army without losing so much.
3. Evolve Burrow (Enables all Zerg ground units to burrow making it invisible unless detected)
   [Requires: Lair]
   This ability is useful for both Zerglings and Banelings in particular. Burrowed Zerglings, if placed carefully, will prevent your opponent from building on the same spot you have burrowed that Zergling. I suggest using this ability with Zerglings at places you expect your opponent to build (like expansion areas) so he will need to go to the effort of detecting your Zergling and killing it before he can build anything. Burrowed Banelings can act as land mines because you are able to explode them whilst they are burrowed. This can be absolutely devastating if used correctly. The best way to use burrowed Banelings is to spread them out across choke points (most likely your own natural expansion choke point) and wait for your opponent to march his army right over them then highlight the ones in range of his army and press X to explode the Banelings. You can also use burrowed Banelings as a pre-emptive strike, for example, if you suspect your opponent is going to expand then you can burrow several banelings along the gap in between where his expansion and the mineral line is. Then you wait for the appropriate time (preferably when the mineral line is fully saturated with workers) and blow up all of his workers at once. In both cases I suggest you use Banelings in situations where they are unlikely to be detected or if your opponent puts little effort into scouting and detecting.
4. Pneumatized Carapace (Increases the movement speed of Overlords and Overseers)
   [Requires: Lair] This is necessary as you will need to keep checks on your opponent so you can build units/buildings in accordance to how he is playing. Using your Overlords with this upgrade allows you to scout with multiple moderately fast air units (Overlords) which will give you a larger scope of what is happening on the map.

Support :



The only unit that you will be able to realistically build to assist with this Strategy will be the Baneling, if you are able to create anymore units then it is likely you are going to be playing a longer game than the strategy intends.

• Use Banelings to deal great area of effect damage to ‘light’ armoured units such as Probes or Zealots
• You may need Banelings to bust into your opponents base should he be blocking his ramp with buildings or Zealots at a Choke point

[Rukgo]

shouldnt there be a spawning pool somewhere in that order :?

[Septumus]

shouldnt there be a spawning pool somewhere in that order :?

no, this build is so pro you can build speedlings without a spawning pool