My StarCraft 2 beta tips

I went to Buffalo on the May 2-4 weekend. Victoria Day. The same. Anyway, I left the photos at home so I don't have anything to link to. I haven't much in terms of a story to tell anyway, other than why would anyone go to Buffalo? Shopping? Sure. Some historical buildings, of which we saw a few. The most upsetting bit was that the swimming pool of the Holiday Inn was closed for the weekend! Much grumbling ensued.

Ok, whatever. I've been playing Starcraft 2 regularly since I got it a couple weeks ago, and I'm slowly polishing my Zerg play. Here are a few mental notes I've developed in that time.

Practice:

• Concentrate on one race, one map, one match up (although these last two are not directly supported by the Quick Match system).
• Often not that easy to hold an early expansion -- scouting is very key here.

As Zerg:

• Use Overlords to lay down Creep highways to expansion, on important corridors.
• Consider using a few burrowed Roaches to sneak behind their front lines.
• Sneak Nydus Networks behind enemy lines, or ideally in a dark patch of their main.
• Use Mutas for harass, map control.
• Remember to pull back, hide or protect scouting Overlords.
• Don't be afraid to build Spine Crawlers if you sense early rushes.

Zerg versus Terran:

• Burrowed Banelings to stifle large groups of Marines.
• Mutas to prevent drops, deny Siege-Tank placements, punish Terrans who don't have anti-air in their bases.
• Watch for Reaper early harassment.
• Large groups of Marines with Medivacs and Siege Tanks can ruin your day, but they are slow to move; set up burrowed-unit traps to get better angles of attack.
• This is actually my weakest match-up; I'll often steal a win by busting their wall-in early on.

Zerg versus Zerg:

• 10 Overlord, 13 Pool, scout with Drone, Extractor.
• If they're going mass ling, build Spine Crawlers, Baneling Nest, lings.
• If they're going Roach, go mass ling and hurry to Mutas.
• If they're going Mutas, go Hydras. In such a case I usually also build a Spore Crawler at each Hatchery, depending.
• I often build 6 lings regardless of what the opponent is doing, for scouting/harass/protection.

Zerg versus Protoss:

• I've found that a mix of Roach/Hydra or Ling/Roach/Hydra works best.
• If they're going 2 Gateway, early expansion will be hard to hold.. if more than 2 Gate, stay on defence and tech to counter.
• If they're going Robotics Facility, go speed/crack lings with Hydra. Build another Queen or Hatchery if you're too money-heavy and unable to spend it on units.
• If they expand early, you can probably safely expand twice or take a farther gold expansion.

I played a few games last night, not really enough time for more than that. I'm currently in the top ten of my league, Gold Something-Or-Other, but I'm not sure how accurate the standings are. The game that sticks out in my mind is one where I thought I was playing Zerg and so scouted very late, at which point I realized I was actually up against Protoss, and that he'd two-Gated me outside my ramp. How embarrassing!