Starcraft 2 Zerg Counters

Home --> Starcraft 2 Counters List --> Starcraft 2 Zerg Counters

Counters are more important for Zerg than any other race, so be sure to study the charts below well.

The importance placed upon counters for the Zerg is not necessarily a disadvantage for this race, but rather related to mechanics. In particular, since Zerg players produce units off of Larva instead of production facilities (like the Barracks or Warp Gate), the Zerg is much more readily able to switch between unit types.

This makes it much more viable for a Zerg player to heavily focus on just 1 or 3 primary unit types. The goal here is actually to try to get your opponent to over produce a certain unit type, which leaves them vulnerable to your reinforcement wave.

For example, a Zerg player with 5 Hatcheries and every tech structure can make 35 Roaches (7 Larva per Hatchery) with one Inject Larva wave, then 40 seconds later, make 30 pairs of Zerglings (should the Zerg have the resources). If the Zerg's opponent builds Immortals to stop the Roach wave, they will be weak to the Zergling reinforcement wave that follows.

Another example would be in Zerg vs Terran. Zergs typically open with several expansions followed by a lot of Zerglings, Mutalisks, and Banelings. The Terran responds to this primarily through units produced from the Barracks and Factory. The Terran typically will only add 1 Starport in the mid-game, as the only useful unit against Zergling, Mutalisk, Baneling combo in the early to mid-game is the Medivac (no gas to spare for Ravens or extra Starports this early).

No matter what units come out of the Barracks or Factory, they are all extremely weak against the Brood Lord. The Terran must get out a sizable force of Vikings if they to stop Brood Lords. However, if the Zerg saves a lot of resources and is able to get out 6+ Brood Lords backed up by 6 Corruptors and whatever Mutalisks are already on the field, it often is too late for the Terran to stop the attack.

Zerg

The chart below is organized such that the left side lists Zerg units and the right 3 columns identify which units easily counter the left side.

For example, in the "Roach" row, the units listed in the same row are all very effective versus Roaches. So, in the "Weak Against the Terran's" column next to "Roach", you will see that the Marauder and Siege Tank are both listed. The Siege Tank and Marauder are very strong versus the Roach.

To see which Zerg units beat other races' units, please see the second chart.

*The Phoenix and Tempest are strong against the Hydralisk when the numbers are small and decrease in effectiveness as the size of each army grows.

**The Battlecruiser and Carrier do well against the Hydralisk supply for supply, but the Viper's Abduct abilitycan be used in conjunction with the Hydralisk to counter these massive air units by pulling them over top of a Hydralisk ball.

In the second Starcraft 2 Zerg counters chart (below) highlights which units Zerg players should build in order to counter the enemy. So, if the left heading says "Zergling", you will want to build Zerglings to defeat all other units which are listed in the same row.

*Psionic Storm can be strong against Zerglings if they are clustered, but a few Zerglings can be microed to snipe unprotected High Templar, particularly when flanking or using a pincer attack.

**Not typically cost efficient. It takes several Baneling hits to destroy a Zealot. Zealots do not cost gas, Banelings do.

***The Viper has no attacks of its own, but using Abduct to snipe large enemy units is a great way to thin the opponent's army before engaging.

These two Starcraft 2 Zerg counters tables should help you out significantly in your online play. The strategy is simple: if you no longer have the element of surprise, plan on taking out your opponent with your reinforcement wave rather than your first attack. Use your first attack to inflict as much damage as possible and then with your reinforcement wave mass whatever units will be strong against whatever your enemy has remaining.

At first, this might take a long time to learn. After all, there are quite a few unit counters in game. Just keep playing and practicing the creation of units which counter the enemy. If you are a Zerg player or struggle beating Zerg players, I would recommend printing these charts out. Then, as you are playing, you could reference the tables to see what you are supposed to build (or avoid building) based on what units the enemy has.

These charts are very important Zerg. Since Zerg can rapidly go between producing dozens of air units to dozens of ground units, being familiar with all the Starcraft 2 Zerg counters can help you easily switch between unit types based on what your enemy has and what he is planning to get.