Taeja used the same build against Dark in today’s Code A matches. He used it in both of the games in his 2-0 victory.

This shows that the build is not a one-off to catch the opponent off guard, but rather it is an evolution of the metagame.

Taeja is famous for his command centre first opening against zerg, so I’m not exactly surprise to see him use this build. Interestingly, Taeja executed the timing differently for the two games. In the first game, he chose to load up the two medivac with marines and used the hellion to provide cover in the low ground. He probably wanted to do an elevator push but the medivacs were spotted.

In the second game, he adopted a more direct approach. He just attack with marines, hellions and medivac from the front. Obviously, his micro is top notch, and it is not going to be as effective for casual players like me.

I suppose the choice of execution approach depends on the map. Apart from the two approaches Taeja used, one can simply drop marines in the main and run the hellions to the third. This should be very effective in maps like Daybreak. Although it is counter intuitive, it requires less micro skill to execute a double prong attack. It is actually much harder than it looks to micro marines and hellions on creep against queen, zergling and baneling. Not everyone is Taeja. All I need to do is to click stim after I dropped the marines in the main, and focus on the hellions in opponent’s third. Then, load up the marines when the zerglings and banelings arrive. It is much more easier to execute than going head to head.

For both games, Dark opt for the mutalisk tech route by building his spire at around 10:00. The timing of this attack hits before the mutalisk can join the battle. However, it is unclear how well it works against infestor tech path. Although Sniper lost to INnoVation while getting infestor, the defeat is mainly due to his lack of awareness of the timing. I guess it should work fine as well.

If this build gets popular, then the metagame may shift again. Zerg might choose to do early roach pressure to throw the timing of the attack off.

This is a build designed for those who don’t like to use mech and wish to play a straight up macro game. There are several things that I like about this build.

First, the third base starts at around 7:20, which is considered to be relatively early compared to a typical one barrack fast expand into reactor hellion build.

Second, the two engineer bay timing are consistent with the overall game plan to play a long term game. +2/+2 is done at around 15:30, which lines up well for you to do a big push before broodlord appears (17:00).

Third, instead of a normal straight up game whereby you cannot really do much to the zerg, this build gives you a powerful timing at 9:45. You will have around 16 marines with stim, 6 hellions and 2 medivacs.

After trying this build today myself, I can conclude several things. One, I can’t even execute the build well because I have not played for several months. Two, it is not exactly worthy to build the command centre at the natural. It is too vulnerable to 6 pool and 10 pool, which are quite popular since Life won the GSL. If you want to build it in low ground, you have to scout after building the first supply depot. The amount of mining time lost just makes it more safe and worthy to build on the high ground and block the ramp with another barrack. Three, it is hard to execute to attack with everything from the front. Four, it is important to build three more barracks when the units are moving out at around 10:00, and move the third to the mining location. The battle requires too much apm and you won’t be able to build those barracks while engaging. If you miss those three barracks, it has tremendous impact on the overall game play. This is because you only have two barracks after the attack, and the amount of resources in the bank will go beyond 1000 mineral. More importantly, you left yourself vulnerable against a counter push or mutalisk harassment. It is also impossible to make a successful push when +2/+2 is up.

In sum, I’m going to practice this build!