In the rear with the gear

So last night I had a revelation. Something I already knew but perhaps didn't understand its power fully. The secret to success with Zerg, is to build a massive economy. Zerg do not win fights with superior units, they win with superior numbers. To do this they need to have a huge economy, Zerg players have to have great macro games.

I did know this already, but I didn't know to what extent I had to build my economy. Apparently I still play in the mindset of the many team games I have played where you are limited to only 1 or 2 expo's (expansions) each. This means that you have to fully saturate each base with 3 drones per mineral patch and gas, roughly 30 workers per base.

However in 1v1's a lot of maps offer you way more potential expo's that need to be taken advantage off. But hey 60 workers spread over 3 bases is the same as 60 workers spread over 4 bases right? Well no. No times a thousand.

This is the part where anyone who considers themselves experienced or above average in Starcraft 2 looks away in derision. As I discovered last night the third worker on each mineral patch is only 50% efficient as the first two. This is huge! Understanding this one basic rule of Starcratt 2 will increase my economy by 50%. Now, say instead of getting 1000 minerals per minute, I can get 1500. That's like 20 zerglings worth per minute. That builds up over time to a lot and can mean the difference between victory and crushing defeat.

Or that extra 50% will mean I can build my Evolution Chamber earlier and get those critical upgrades or vital stealth detection out earlier. 50% might not sound much but in a game where every second you can shave off a build or that 1 extra Colossus you can squeeze out can make such a huge difference. If you can rush 20 seconds earlier the other guy is going to have less stuff to defend with. If you have 3 Colossi and the other guy only has 2, you are going to win (ignoring my horrible micro of course).

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To prove this point my friend Coma Devil suggested to play vs the AI and just expand a lot. As one of my goals this week was to get used to expanding a lot, I gave it a go. So for the first 10 minutes or so I just built Zerglings and expanded like crazy, making sure not to over saturate my bases and grab all the gases. At the 12 minute mark my economy started to sky rocket. I had so many minerals and enough gas to build an army of Mutalisks. Never during my ladder games could I afford so many mutas at once. With them I devoured the enemy army then ripped apart their base. And still I had enough resources to do what ever I wanted after.

How could I have not seen this before? Just expand. Always. Build enough to survive and then when you have 3 or 4 bases up build an army. This way you can just replace your losses instantly and easily afford it. Sticking to 2 bases for so long and then building a 3rd only once I have fully saturated my other bases has cost me more than I know. How many times have I lost 1 base and just fell apart because of lack of income? How many times have I mined out my main base and not had another base to send my Drones to?

Its past time I realized that expanding is the key to Zerg success and now I know how to distribute my Drones. Its time to stop focusing on my army and focus more on those hard working under appreciated guys in back who do all the heavy lifting and are the true key to victory. So in honor of the hardest working of all the worker units, the SCV, I will sign out saying:

In the rear with the gear!