Garm Brood
The GARM BROOD is the epitome of all that is Zerg. All other Broods are merely distractions for those that are not ready for the true glory of the Hive.
The GARM BROOD has several important mathematical properties.
- GARM BROOD PWNS N00BS. This is an axiom and cannot be proven, though once in a while it proves you. Right in the face.
- For all x in the set of things that exist, and all natural numbers n, nx < GARM BROOD.
- No open cover of GARM BROOD has a finite subcover. However, GARM BROOD can still compact you.
The GARM BROOD is so awesome, that more often than not, at least two people are required to play the GARM BROOD in a game in order to properly approximate its might. Once in a while, two halves of the GARM BROOD will attack each other simply for the entertainment of getting lesser Tribes and Colonies to senselessly slaughter each other at the same time.
Contents
General Zerg Garm Brood Strategy
- When in doubt, build more Hatcheries. Unlike other races, building tech does not increase your production at all. At its very highest, your production will never exceed three morphs per Hatchery per minute (and we only specify "morphs" because Zerglings and Scourge spawn in pairs).
- Get Burrow early if you can afford the resources and attention. It allows Zerglings to counter land-based ranged units more effectively, since they don't have to give chase (this is especially important against early Terran infantry, for which one Medic nullifies one Sunken Colony). As a side bonus, Burrowed units block building construction; this can give hilarious results against an opponent who desperately needs to expand, or a Zerg-rushed Terran who has lifted his Command Center as a defensive option.
- Expand virally. Hatcheries are 100 minerals cheaper than their racial analogues, and you want more of them anyways.
- Don't be afraid to switch tech spontaneously. As long as you have the tech buildings, your Hatcheries can switch from massing Zerglings to massing Mutalisks in a heartbeat.
- Get Overlord movement early; it's your cheapest mobile detection unit, and it is slooooow.
- Queens (Ensnare) and Defilers (Plague) can create detection on its targets. For similar reasons, Devourers work well against clusters of Wraiths and any group of flying units hidden under an Arbiter.
Construction and Spawning
Zerg building construction and spawning mechanics are very different from those of other races, and therefore deserve special mention.
In constructing a base, Zerg sacrifices Drones and evolves them into buildings on Creep (contrast with other races, where a mining unit is merely occupied for a short amount of time). There are several notable effects of this mechanic:
- It is important for Zerg players to continue spawning Drones during periods of (heavy) construction, or they will suddenly find themselves much shorter on minerals than they should be (if you are taking Drones out of your Vespene line, you're doing it wrong!).
- Zerg can defeat population limit issues by morphing Drones into buildings, starting the construction of other units, and then unmorphing the Drones (if a building has not completed construction, you get the Drone back upon cancelling the build).
- Hatcheries can be built anywhere, but every other building must be spawned on Creep. To put Creep somewhere it isn't, Zerg must extend already existing Creep with Creep Colonies, or build a Hatchery.
- Zerg expansions are easier to take down when they are going up, since Zerg must wait until after the main building completes before starting turret construction.
- Silly strategies involving Nydus Canals work best against other Zerg players, who will already have Creep in their bases ready for you.
- Sunken Colony rushes with a Drone only works against other Zerg players, whereas Bunker/Photon Cannon rushes are much less restricted.
In spawning an army, all Zerg units are created from a Hatchery or one of its evolved states; tech buildings are auxiliary in this sense (contrast with other races, where units are spawned from a corresponding tech building).
