Starcraft 2 Skills: Yin/Yang or push/pull Strategy

TSL Polt vs Monchi on Bel'Shir Beach, cast by Crota.

This is a beautiful little game.  Toss uses a DT opening that has a lot of flexibility.  I think of this as forcing an opponent down a path that you want them on, or as Yin/Yang.  Yin/Yang because your pushing in one direction, and if enemy pushes back, you just start pulling, either way you take them off balance.

This game has very tight, or close timing, the push by Terran is barely held.  But that is the strongest way to defend in early stages of the game, if you barely hold it, that means your not wasting any resources on defense that didn't need to be spent on defense!!!

This game shows how difficult DT really are for Terran in the early stages of the game, if Terran doesn't have detection it is GG.

But every Scan is worth ~270 minerals, every Turret is worth 100 minerals.  So every Turret forced out of Terran after he realizes DT is one less Marauder or Medivac he can make!  This also means with a tight build the gas he planned to use for Marauder or Medivac is wasted, because it can't be spent.

And if Terran does build those Turrets, then he has to deal with a big ball of lightning!  As this games shows.

Starcraft 2 Thoughts: Simple, Direct Attack vs enemy that doesn't Scout

This game:  TSL Polt vs Monchi, a TvP, cast by Crota, shows how effect a simple direct attack can be vs an unprepared opponent.

My thoughts below the VOD, for more on Scouting see Learning Starcraft 2: Scouting vs Terran




The other day I was talking to a GM Zerg friend of mine about how I felt that even many pro players were lazy about scouting, that they tended to assume way to much about what the other person was doing or not doing.

He agreed with me instantly.

I think this game is a good example of this, Terran does an initial Scout, but doesn't learn anything from it at all really.

Not even the second gas timing, then he doesn't even bother to take control of a Xel Naga Tower.

Now Protoss opened with a very greedy build, which mean Toss took some risk, he would have probably lost to early aggression.

But note at about the 8:55 mark, right before Toss does last warp in prior to attacking, he had enough minerals he could have taken a 3rd and still had a 10 food advantage.

Ask yourself what did Terran know about Toss right before that push? Well he knew Toss had two bases, and where they were, nothing else.

Kinda hard to prepare for something when you don't have any idea what your enemy is doing.

Kinda like a Zombie or Horror movie were somebody walks outside or into a basement, where it is dark, without even looking or turning on a light at first.