Interview with CSL Waterloo player Tang and analysis of his ZvP Early Drop

We were joined by the hyper-aggressive CSL Zerg Tim 'Tang' Clark for a great interview about his thoughts about the matchups, his time with the Collegiate StarLeague as part of the Waterloo team, and his motivation for developing and refining particular openings.

On top of this, he has been grateful enough to talk about his very interesting fast ling/baneling drop timing designed to cause significant (possibly game-ending) damage and to keep the Protoss continuously contained.

With the patch buffing Queen range from 3 to 5 a few months ago, how have your "alternative" styles of play benefited as a result?

Tang: You know it's actually kind of funny. When the Queen range buff came out, most Zerg players were rejoicing. They're all thinking "great, this will make it easier to deal with zealots, stalkers, marines, and hellions." I'm sitting there thinking "damnit, this is going to hurt my relentless speedling aggression in ZvZ!" Haha, because Queens are now SO good at defending early pressure. As for ZvP/ZvT, I definitely feel safer squeezing out a few extra drones here and there - aggressive or not, you need to maximize your economy, every bit helps.

 

How do you feel about each of the Zerg matchups in their current state? What would you like changed or balanced?

Tang: I absolutely love the current state of the metagame for ZvP, ZvZ, and ZvT. There's lots of room to be creative and enjoy the game. Avoiding thoughts of balance/imbalance has always been a large part of my SC2 philosophy, I guess I just feel these types of things are out of my control. I don't want to be thinking "man hellions are overpowered" as they roast my mineral line, I want to be thinking "ok he killed my workers, time for me to make his command center burn!" My focus is on improving as many aspects of my own play as possible, not letting the little things get to me.

 

You have thoroughly analyzed players such as Stephano and DRG, but who is your absolute favorite Zerg player at the moment and why?

Tang: My favorite Zerg...that's tough, there's so many skilled players out there! I couldn't pick just one. In the beta stages when I was learning SC2, I learned a lot about mechanics/macro from IdrA - back then he, TLO, and WhiteRa were THE players to watch and since then I've always been a huge fan. I was also influenced a lot by aggressive Korean Zerg players like Nestea, Leenock, and DRG - I try to emulate their execution as much as possible.

In terms of mindset and manner, it's a split between Sheth and Stephano. I appreciate the good manner and respect of Sheth, as well as the confidence and the (seemingly) indifference of Stephano. Scarlett has really impressed me too...haha, there's so many.

 

Being well into university, how do you manage to balance your time between Starcraft and your other responsibilities during the school year?

Tang: The same way I manage SC2 games - solid planning and execution. Setting aside that time to "get stuff done" every day is really important, as well as prioritizing. Prioritizing has actually been an issue for me, because I have this burning love for all-things-SC2, so I end up doing tutorials and writing guides when really I should be studying for tests and writing essays!

The hardest part is that I can't work a part-time job like other students, because StarCraft is already a full-time occupation. I rely pretty heavily on my coaching to get me through school.

 

What do you feel went wrong for your Waterloo CSL team this season, considering the drop from 2nd place in last years finals to being narrowly knocked out by York University in the North division Round of 16?

Tang: The results were a bit disappointing, Waterloo has a great CSL team and so the expectations were definitely higher. A lot of our top players graduated last year, went inactive, or for another reason couldn't play.

We did make it to the semi-finals of the NASL CSL tournament, though we lose to the runner-up (University of Toronto). Rest assured, UWaterloo is going to have a commanding presence in future CSL events - Black and Yellow, yo.

 

When trying to come up with a new build, what is your general thought process in theory-crafting and testing your ideas?

Tang: Developing and refining builds can be extremely time-consuming, but it's also a lot of fun. The first step is trying to identify a weakness in the common builds that opponents use, like a timing that may catch Protoss before warp-gate is done. Once I figure out what units I want to hit them with at what time, it's a simple matter of optimizing the build. Mining with as many drones as possible early, cutting the necessary corners, and getting maximum value out of the units I build.

Setting clear goals for the mid-game is also very important. It's great to be able to execute an optimal timing attack, but it's even better if you use that timing attack to secure a higher-level economy to execute another, bigger attack. It's kind of like "sequenced" aggression and it forces you to multitasking, forces you to improve economic mechanics and unit control. It's the way I learned - and now teach - StarCraft II.

 

What are your plans for Starcraft in the future in terms of lectures, lessons, and streaming?

Tang: Let's just say I have a full agenda ;)

 

Build Talk

Just a forward note that this supply list follows the replay, though variations are possible based upon stylistic choices or scouting reactions.
10 Overlord
Extractor trick
15 Extractor → do not stop mining gas
15 Pool
Queen + 4 lings ASAP
22 Expansion

21 Lair
23 Extractor
29 Ventral Sacs
Rally new workers to natural rather than splitting current workers off
Second Queen at natural
40 Baneling Nest
40 Pneumatized Carapace (at natural expansion)
Lings from 40 onwards

The Lair and the Ventral Sacs both line up perfectly to the gas requirements, which is why you do not stop mining gas. The Baneling Nest and Pneumatized Carapace also line up in timing with the Ventral Sacs completing for that optimal timing window. From this point, you can choose to continue the aggression, simply drone some more, do a quick tech switch, or get your third up as this should keep the Protoss sufficiently contained to allow you to do whatever you want.

Any particular reason for the extractor trick rather than the more standard 9 overlord?

Tang: I've seen top Korean pros favor the overlord on 10 followed by an extractor trick. I pay very close attention to which patches my drones are mining, so I get good use out of that extra drone right away. It's not a huge difference, but the earlier I can get my drones double-mining all the closer patches, the better.

 

What other maps do you find this viable on?

Tang: This is a style I originally developed specifically for Shakuras Plateau, around Season 2. I was struggling a lot against the two-base timings on that map so I started messing around with "alternative styles", 1-base baneling or roach/ling busts, spine-crawler rushes, nydus worms, that kind of stuff (*cough* cheese *cough*). I refined this drop-style build to be a precisely timed all-in for a long time, trying to end the games with constant ling/baneling drops and aggression. It caught players off guard and worked really well, so I kept practicing with it and experimenting with transitions.

Since then, I started using it on all maps against FFE or Nexus-First Protoss, with all kinds of crazy followups. I would move into a hydra den and drop hydra/ling after the first drop. Next game I'd go quick spire and multi-prong harass with drops and mutalisks. It quickly became clear that although the first drop could win the game outright, there were a lot of other advantages to early overlord drop - Protoss is almost always guaranteed to lose some probes, mining time, units, etc. He's also contained - if he leaves his base at anytime, you have overlords ready to drop. It buys you some unique opportunities to drone and tech, and I've been leaning towards a macro-oriented style.

Is there anything you may scout that would make you not want to do this build, and how to you adjust accordingly?

Tang: I think it can be hard to do against a Protoss player who doesn't FFE, like if he goes gateway first, because their warp tech tends to finish earlier so they can defend their main and natural a bit better. Still viable, but if they counter you when you only have lings you're in trouble.

Past the third hatch and spire going down, what would your next steps be in preparing and going into the mid and late game?

Tang: The options are endless, but I think the mutalisk transition is a very effective component because it gives you so much mobility to harass. If you've kept on top of your macro while managing all the aggression, there are so many effective ways to play out the mid-game so that Protoss never gets a third. You can continue producing Mutas, aim for three fully saturated bases with all the gas and a macro hatch, and mass Muta/Ling with speed and lots of upgrades (usually roaches mixed in if they go templar/archon).

The army is so mobile that it's almost impossible for Protoss to take a third, then he has to all-in you. If you set up a flank with a maxed roach/ling/muta army, I don't care how good his forcefields and blinks are. You can also the drop-style opening and still max-out with Stephano-Style roaches by 14:00, or even play a more passive Roach/Infestor/Corruptor/Broodlord style, since you can start those air upgrades so early.

Do you try and incorperate drops into your other builds or potential late-game play, or do you view it as more of a specific timing?

Tang: I've started to use drops pretty frequently in ZvZ as well. If you can manage multi-pronged infestor drops with burrow, you can do some sick infested terran/fungal harassment when it comes to 3-4 base ZvZ. Then they have to send overseers in the clean up your burrowed infestors and you drop him somewhere else, it takes up a lot of your opponent's focus. That's what it's all about, forcing your opponent to multi-task and deal with situations he's not used to.

Do you have any closing words or remarks?

Tang: Absolutely! I'm deeply proud of the SC2 community, I think ours is among the most open-minded and intellectual groups. It's very rewarding to contribute my part because I believe in it, and I know it will continue to develop and grow. I just want to encourage as many players as possible to keep gaming hard, get to the ladder and punch through that ceiling that's holding them back. If there's one thing I've learned this past year, it's that players just need to be positive, focused and confident in their edge - with the right motivation and direction anyone could be the next big pro.

I'd like to give a shout-out to all the organizations, teams, writers, coaches, casters, etc. that are contributing so much to this community and industry. I'd also like to thank all of my students, friends, and fans who have supported me over the past year. Big props to Anthony, Alexandra, and others from eSports Canada for bringing some amazing live events to my doorstep. Lots of love and respect for UWaterloo CSL - Grant and Dustin for displaying unfathomable results in 2v2s, Steve for keeping the whole thing together. And thank you, Shane, for the invitation to do an interview and all the readers for checking it out. GLHF

 

The replay can be found at http://drop.sc/236761

For more information on Tang's builds, guides, and videos, check out www.TangStarcraft.com