Andy Montoya
Cheesing in StarCraft is a tactic that is considered to require more luck than skill, and is used to achieve a quick, effortless win. It is usually employed by players who are looking for an easy victory, and it can be very frustrating for those on the receiving end. However, there are ways to react and counter cheese strategies. Scouting, for example, is a key part of the game and can help players anticipate and prepare for cheese. Players can also modify their build, buying extra queens, spinecrawlers, or going for a wall-in. Additionally, learning from replays of games can help players identify areas for improvement and develop strategies to counter cheese. While it can be challenging, reacting to cheese in StarCraft involves a combination of scouting, build modifications, and continuous learning and adaptation.
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What You'll Learn
Learn common cheese locations and reactions
Cheesing is a strategy that relies on the opponent's mistakes to work. It is a risky move that can result in a quick and effortless win, but if it fails, the player will likely lose the game. The term "cheese" is derived from the word "cheaters" and is often used to describe annoying and cheap strategies that take advantage of an opponent's lack of information.
To learn common cheese locations and reactions, it is important to understand the different types of cheese strategies employed in Starcraft. Here are some common cheese openings and how to react to them:
- Bunker Rush: This is a common cheese strategy where players build bunkers close to their opponent's base to launch an early attack. To counter this, you can focus on early scouting to detect the bunkers and prepare your defence accordingly.
- Cannon Rush (Protoss): This strategy involves building a forge before the gateway and placing pylons in the enemy mineral line, followed by photon cannons. A good reaction is to have proper scouting timings to detect this strategy early on and prepare your defence.
- Proxy Rush: This strategy involves building proxy gates or proxy raxes near the opponent's base. If scouted in time, it can be defended, but it is challenging if it comes as a surprise.
- 6/7/10 Pool: This strategy involves investing in early tech that must be countered specifically. A reaction could be to modify your build, buying extra queens, spine crawlers, or opting for a wall-in.
- Roach into Speedling Zerg vs Protoss: This is a more nuanced strategy where players use roaches to bust through walls and force the opponent to deploy stalkers. A reaction could be to have proper countermeasures in place, such as speed/spines/queens/roaches.
- Hellion into two-port Banshee pressure Terran vs Zerg: This strategy relies on forcing the opponent to choose a certain tech, which is then decisively countered. A reaction could be to delay the lair and focus on speed/spines/queens/roaches.
It is important to note that the best way to counter cheese strategies is to gain familiarity with them. Watch your replays, analyse your games, and identify patterns to improve your scouting and decision-making. Additionally, finding a practice partner can help you test different strategies and improve your gameplay.
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Watch replays to understand your opponent's strategy
Watching replays is a great way to understand your opponent's strategy and improve your gameplay. Here are some tips on how to effectively use replays to counter cheese strategies in StarCraft:
Analyze Your Replays: Take the time to review your gameplay replays, paying close attention to the strategies employed by your opponents. Look for patterns, such as the timing of their attacks, the composition of their armies, and any unusual tactics they employ. By identifying these patterns, you can anticipate their strategies in future games and develop effective countermeasures.
Focus on Scouting: Scouting is crucial in StarCraft, and reviewing your replays can help you refine your scouting techniques. Analyze the timing and placement of your scouting probes to identify areas where you can improve. Look for signs of proxy buildings, unusual army compositions, or early aggression that may indicate a cheese strategy. Use this information to adjust your scouting patterns and improve your ability to gather critical information about your opponent's strategy.
Identify Cheese Strategies: Familiarize yourself with common cheese strategies, such as proxy rushes, cannon rushes, and early tech investments. Replays can help you identify these strategies in action and understand how they are executed. By recognizing these strategies early on, you can develop specific countermeasures to neutralize their effectiveness.
Study Your Reactions: When reviewing replays, pay attention to how you react to your opponent's strategies. Analyze the decisions you made in response to their tactics and assess whether there were alternative approaches you could have taken. This reflective process will help you refine your decision-making skills and improve your ability to adapt to unexpected situations.
Learn from Losses: Don't be discouraged by losses; instead, use them as learning opportunities. Analyze your replays to identify the moments where your strategy could have been improved or where you missed key indicators of your opponent's strategy. By understanding your mistakes, you can make adjustments and develop more effective counterstrategies for future games.
Share Replays with Others: Consider sharing your replays with fellow StarCraft players or joining a community where you can discuss strategies. By gathering insights from others, you can gain new perspectives on how to counter specific cheese strategies. They may notice nuances or alternative approaches that you might have overlooked, further enhancing your understanding of the game.
By incorporating replay analysis into your StarCraft regimen, you will develop a deeper understanding of your opponents' strategies, improve your decision-making skills, and become more adept at countering cheese tactics. Remember, each replay is a valuable learning resource that can contribute to your long-term success in StarCraft.
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Improve your scouting to prepare for cheese
Improving your scouting techniques is a great way to prepare for cheese strategies in StarCraft. Here are some tips to enhance your scouting and counter cheese:
Firstly, understand the importance of scouting. Scouting provides valuable information about your opponent's strategies, allowing you to identify potential cheese tactics early on. Make scouting a fundamental part of your gameplay, and incorporate it into your build timings and patterns.
Next, scout heavily and frequently, especially around your base. Keep an eye out for common cheese openings like Bunker, Cannon, 6/7/10pool, and Proxy rushes. These strategies often target the economic style's need for early defence, so ensure you have good vision around your base to spot any incoming threats.
Additionally, pay attention to your opponent's tech choices. Cheese strategies often rely on forcing a certain tech choice and then countering it. For example, look out for signs like your opponent building a Forge before a Gateway or investing in early tech that requires specific counters.
Make sure to scout for proxy rushes as well. A proxy rush is when your opponent builds their production facilities near your base, allowing them to quickly produce units and attack. If you scout this early, you can prepare accordingly and defend against the rush.
Finally, analyze your replays to improve your scouting. After each game, review your replays to identify areas where you could have scouted better. Look for patterns and adjust your scouting techniques accordingly. This will help you anticipate cheese strategies and react effectively.
By implementing these scouting tips, you'll be better prepared to counter cheese in StarCraft and improve your overall gameplay.
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Modify your build to counter cheese
Cheesing in StarCraft is a strategy that relies on the opponent's mistakes, such as a lack of detection or certain oversights in their build. It involves high-risk, high-reward tactics that are difficult to detect and can leave the attacker vulnerable if they fail.
To modify your build to counter cheese, you can employ the following strategies:
Scout and Adapt
Scouting is crucial to countering cheese. Pay close attention to your opponent's actions and adapt your strategy accordingly. Keep an eye out for common cheese openings like Bunker, Cannon, 6/7/10pool, and Proxy rushes. If you can detect the cheese early on, you can formulate a strong counterattack.
Focus on Economy
Cheese strategies often involve sacrificing long-term economic growth for a short-term advantage. To counter this, focus on maintaining and growing your economy. Continue building workers and production buildings, and keep pumping out units. This will give you a strong economic and military advantage that your opponent will struggle to catch up with.
Be Aggressive
Once you have defeated the cheese, consider being aggressive and expanding earlier than usual. Take advantage of your opponent's weakened state and launch a counterattack while their defenses are low. However, avoid an all-in push, as this could backfire if your opponent manages to catch up.
Know Common Counters
Familiarize yourself with the counters to common cheese strategies. For example, if you're playing as Protoss against a Zerg player's Baneling Bust, build units that are not light in armor and have plenty of hitpoints. Against a Terran player's Proxy Reaper Rush, get a stalker as soon as possible. Knowing these specific counters can help you react quickly and effectively.
Learn from Losses
If you find yourself falling victim to cheese strategies, take the time to analyze your losses and identify the mistakes that led to your defeat. Learn from these mistakes and adjust your build and strategy accordingly. Over time, you'll become more adept at countering cheese and exploiting your opponent's weaknesses.
Remember, the key to countering cheese is to be prepared, adaptive, and aggressive when necessary. By modifying your build and strategy to counter your opponent's cheese, you can turn the tables and gain the upper hand in the game.
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Understand the timings of certain buildings
StarCraft is a complex game with many variables and win conditions. A "cheese" strategy is an all-in strategy that relies on a quick, effortless win, often preying upon the opponent's economic need for workers in early defence. If the player fails to inflict damage or win the game outright, they will be at an economic disadvantage.
Understanding timings and benchmarks is an important step to becoming a solid StarCraft player. For example, ByuN builds his first Barracks at 16 Supply and 40 seconds. Many players in the lower leagues struggle with the first two buildings and hitting that timing.
To improve your understanding of timings, it is important to watch replays of your games and analyse your performance. You can then identify mistakes and areas for improvement. For example, you might notice that your money was too high in the first 5 minutes, or that you missed that you only had 23 SCVs.
Additionally, you can practice hitting your timings for certain buildings, such as your Cybernetics Core. You can also work on your scouting skills to better anticipate your opponent's moves and react accordingly.
By focusing on understanding timings and improving your scouting skills, you can better react to cheese strategies and improve your overall performance in StarCraft.
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Frequently asked questions
Cheese is a strategy executed early in the game to take advantage of the fact that your opponent does not have many units or production out. It relies on your opponent not reacting well or fast enough, giving you an extreme advantage.
Scouting is key. Make good scouting timings and patterns be a part of your build so you can prepare against them. Modify your build a little bit, for example, buying some extra queens, spinecrawlers, going for a wall-in, or more lings or roaches/banelings can help.
Common cheese openings include Bunker, Cannon, 6/7/10pool, Proxy rushes, and 2 Rax, which is hyper-aggressive early in the game.
