SC2 - Zerg Vs. Zealot rush

[blomselomse]

Hey guys.
Atm im on a pretty neat streak in 1v1. but im having problems with zelot rushes. how do i counter them? 6pool and go for banelings? probably the only thing i havent tried yet ^^

oh. and roaches... never really liked them. dunno why. even more so now with the 2... whats it called... minion count?


.and as a note.
BSOS and Kreeper.

u 2 guys are the bomb i had i 1 week break where i only read your guides and strategies... and now i pwn ;D well. atleast copper league lol

[Arovien]

It would be best if you supplied us with one of your replays so we can help you in detail.

[Tysheth]

First off, whenever against protoss, you want a quick scout. Send a drone in around 11-13 supply or thereabouts. If he builds two gateways before a cybernetics core, he's going a zealot push. You'll have a rough time protecting an expansion against two gateways pumping zealots; you should go quick roaches and keep the pressure on him. Keep scouting. After you have 4-6 roaches, you can expand safely. Keep scouting. If he builds four gateways, transition into roaches+hydralisks, and you can end the game quickly. If he switches to a robotics facility, you will want to build a spire and watch out for a robotics bay which says a colossus is coming. What you should really watch out for is a hidden stargate massing up void rays.

But you were just asking about a zealot rush. Scout 2gate before cy core, go fast roaches before expanding.

[Kreeper]

First off, whenever against protoss, you want a quick scout. Send a drone in around 11-13 supply or thereabouts. If he builds two gateways before a cybernetics core, he's going a zealot push. You'll have a rough time protecting an expansion against two gateways pumping zealots; you should go quick roaches and keep the pressure on him. Keep scouting. After you have 4-6 roaches, you can expand safely. Keep scouting. If he builds four gateways, transition into roaches+hydralisks, and you can end the game quickly. If he switches to a robotics facility, you will want to build a spire and watch out for a robotics bay which says a colossus is coming. What you should really watch out for is a hidden stargate massing up void rays.

But you were just asking about a zealot rush. Scout 2gate before cy core, go fast roaches before expanding.

Yeah you need to quick scout you really do, I think my toughest fight is generally against protoss players.

[BSOS]

because of these early zealot pushes its kind of shy'd me away from fast expanding against protoss, actually scarred me.
so what i do is....
-scout once my 2nd overlord pops which is normally around 10/11 food

if he happens to be rushing i know this because i see
-2 gates being chrono boosted, no cybernetics core, or 3 or 4 gates

-build a 14 pool (if you want, make a roach warren immediately after the pool)
-build 2 spine crawlers AND advance the creep in your base to your choke with your queen (you're not going to need the larva if you can't use it)
-spawn about 12 zerglings just to hold the ramp while the spine crawler beat down upon the zealots or about 4 roaches to block the choke as well.
-get zergling speed if you plan on getting zerglings

then once the push is dealt with, expand, move your spine crawlers to the expansion and put some pressure on him with your left over zerglings/roaches. also try and scout his follow-up tech (robotics facility, stargate, citadel)

if you see a stargate, get 2 queens for every base you have, that should be enough to hold off any void rays or pheonix harass (and since your bases are now linked by creep, all the more reason to use all 4 queens against the air)
if you see a robotics you have 2 option: hydralisks with infestors or hydralisks with corruptors. I prefer infestors because they're a bit more versatile than corruptors, they can fungal growth zealots making them useless, and they can neural parasite the collosi or immortal and use it against your enemy.
if you see a citadel and then a dark shrine or templar archives... IDK i've had mixed success.
against dark templar make sure you have roaches or banelings AND (very important) detection. against high templar... you could go mutalisk... to snipe the high templar but that's a bit risky and you could very well lose half your mutas in the process. you could neural parasite them and use their storms on the enemy... but HT are such small units thats also a bit difficult to maneuver and micro.
against Archon... i would suggest roaches or infestors (again) for the neural parasite ability (its too good).

sorry for the ramble
to fend off early zealots, get spine crawlers.
that's what i say

[blomselomse]

Thanks for the replies guys. and thanks for the ramble Bsos

i guess id better start scouting

[Upper.Case]

because of these early zealot pushes its kind of shy'd me away from fast expanding against protoss, actually scarred me.
so what i do is....
-scout once my 2nd overlord pops which is normally around 10/11 food

if he happens to be rushing i know this because i see
-2 gates being chrono boosted, no cybernetics core, or 3 or 4 gates

-build a 14 pool (if you want, make a roach warren immediately after the pool)
-build 2 spine crawlers AND advance the creep in your base to your choke with your queen (you're not going to need the larva if you can't use it)
-spawn about 12 zerglings just to hold the ramp while the spine crawler beat down upon the zealots or about 4 roaches to block the choke as well.
-get zergling speed if you plan on getting zerglings

then once the push is dealt with, expand, move your spine crawlers to the expansion and put some pressure on him with your left over zerglings/roaches. also try and scout his follow-up tech (robotics facility, stargate, citadel)

if you see a stargate, get 2 queens for every base you have, that should be enough to hold off any void rays or pheonix harass (and since your bases are now linked by creep, all the more reason to use all 4 queens against the air)
if you see a robotics you have 2 option: hydralisks with infestors or hydralisks with corruptors. I prefer infestors because they're a bit more versatile than corruptors, they can fungal growth zealots making them useless, and they can neural parasite the collosi or immortal and use it against your enemy.
if you see a citadel and then a dark shrine or templar archives... IDK i've had mixed success.
against dark templar make sure you have roaches or banelings AND (very important) detection. against high templar... you could go mutalisk... to snipe the high templar but that's a bit risky and you could very well lose half your mutas in the process. you could neural parasite them and use their storms on the enemy... but HT are such small units thats also a bit difficult to maneuver and micro.
against Archon... i would suggest roaches or infestors (again) for the neural parasite ability (its too good).

sorry for the ramble
to fend off early zealots, get spine crawlers.
that's what i say

Just FYI, Hydras eat DT every hour of the day, at breakfast, lunch or even dinner.

Get some detection and hydras, I'd say late game, if you get a bunch of upgraded hydras with roaches/ultras in the front end, you'll win.

Your input on how to beat Toss rush is awesome, indeed. Its probably our worst match-up so far, fast zea rush on close rush position maps.

I can see you use infestors alot, I ought to see their utility yet, I gotta try em.

[BSOS]

the infestor is just an alternative to getting the spire, although a bit less effective, you can use infestors to neural parasite their immortals or collosi. It works better, but its a weaker defence since they can just as easily be sniped and lose control of said unit.
getting a spire to counter collosi in conjunction with your hydra army works fairly well, but is slower. The enemy has 3+ collosi, this means that your 5+ corruptors will take upwards of 20 shots to clean them up... and by that time ur hydras might already be dead.

its tough to say, but i like roach/hydra/infestor better than hydra/corruptor
its because the roaches are sort of like meat shields and can absorb the damage from the collosi. any immortals, NP and use to destroy the toss, its simple and works effectively when done correctly