Zerg players need to expand fast or else they will fall behind in their economy. It is common for them to set down the Hatchery even before a Spawning Pool. They can defend it very well with Zerglings, Queens, and Spine Crawlers.
There is not a lot you can do to stop it. But you can delay it by building a Supply Depot in the way of the Hatchery and then right before they take it down cancel it to preserve some minerals.
But once it goes down they will likely send out Zerglings. You can try to rush them with Marines but if you are in the upper leagues they will probably be fast enough to defend it. They will transition into Bane lings or Roaches. You need to scout their main to see if they are spawning a Bane lings Nest or a Roach Warren.
Against Bane lings
A very common strategy that works for Zerg is the Bane ling Bust. It is the strategy of using about 6 Bane lings to blow up your Supply Depots and then rushing the Zerglings past your army to harass your workers.
But there is definitely a way to counter it as always. To prevent this from happening get Marauders and research Concussive Shells at the Tech Lab. Have a small army of them with your Marines behind the wall to slow them down making it difficult for them to reach the Supply Depots. You should be able to withstand it.
You can also get Hellions out to kite the Bane lings and Zerglings. Bane lings are slow at first so to speed up the Bane ling Bust the Zerg player will morph the Zerglings into Bane ling’s right outside your base. Try to find them and take them out with ease.
It is always a great idea to get a Factory with a Reactor for Hellion harassment. It takes good micro to make them worth the money. Be sure to practice shooting the Zerglings and pulling back.
Hellion Harassment
Using Hellions early in the game is always a good idea. Hellions are not used a lot in the game but are great to have early on when facing a Zerg player. They are fast and can outrun Zerglings before they have their speed upgrade.
Send a small army of Hellions to take out some workers at their expansion. Try to kill as many as you can to delay their economy. Just watch out for Roaches since they do well against Hellions. Some players will even get 2 Factories and 1 Barracks to mass up Hellions. This is actually a great strategy because you can then have a Reactor on one for double the Hellion production and a Tech Lab on the other to get the flamethrower upgrade to make the Hellions more powerful.
Reaper Rushing
Not as popular when the game first came out but Reapers is still effective facing a Zerg player. They can kite Zerglings and harass their workers well. If you decide to go for Reapers then I suggest having two Barracks train them and get at least 3 since it takes 3 to one shot a Drone. Use them to hop up into their main base where they will not spot them and micro around the Queen to make them last long enough to kill some Drones.
Facing Roaches
Like I said Zerg players will most likely either tech to Bane lings or Roaches. It is important to find out as early as you can so be sure to scout with a worker, a scan, a Hellion, or even a Reaper.
If they are going for Roaches then Siege Tanks with Marines is a powerful build or just going the standard 3 Rax build of Marines and Marauders works great. Do not forget about researching Stim Pack to make them really effective.
Mid Game Transition
If you were not able to break through their forces and take out their expansion then you will need to expand. You must expand to avoid falling behind in your economy. Start working on a Command Center once you feel you have a good sized army to defend.
After they tech to either Bane lings or Roaches they will upgrade to a Lair and go Mutalisks, Hydralisks, or Investors with Fungal Growth. Massing Mutalisks is so common for Zerg players. They are very fast air units that are good at harassing.
You should be scouting to see what they are up to. Make sure they are not going for a second expansion because you will want to prevent it. If they are going for Mutalisks then be sure to get plenty of Marines. If they have Bane lings with the Mutalisks then teaching up to Thorns works very well. Put down 2 or 3 Missile Turrets to defend your mineral lines.
When in battle they will try to take out your Marines with the Bane lings. It is best to have them behind the Thorns because the Thorns can take a lot of damage from them. Having Marauders in your army with Concussive Shells works great to. It takes practice to micro your army well when facing Bane lings especially when they have the speed upgrade.
If your opponent goes Hydralisks and Roaches then massing up Siege Tanks with Marines and Marauders is definitely the way to go.
It is rare they will get Investors but it does happen. Just be sure to go easy on the Marines because Investors will try using Fungal Growth on them which is devastating. Have some Medivacs to heal them up. Ghosts can also be useful to use EMP shot making the Investors useless
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