[Top 5] Starcraft 2 Best Zerg Builds

Starcraft 2 Best Zerg Builds
Evolution Complete. Victory Obtained.


Looking for some great ladder builds? Look no further, Here is the top 5 Zerg builds at the moment. 

SC2, Zerg Victory

Wondering what the meta is for Zerg on the ladders these days? All you overminds of Zerg out there take out your play book and get ready to take some notes. We will look at some hot Zerg builds that the best Zergs in the world use to win big tournaments.    

In this article, we will study Zerg builds that are currently in fashion winning many great Zergs big titles over the years. At the end of it, hopefully we can also use them to get promoted to the next tier in our ladder leagues. 

#5. Bane bust V. Terran 

StarCraft 2: How-to Baneling Bust INTELLIGENTLY! (Guide)

What better way to beat Terrans in the supreme early game than to bane bust their depot wall and flood the main with lings. Sweet simple quick win. As one of the most well known early game Zerg cheese builds, bane bust is a great way to kill Terrans before they get too big. Since this build is one of the quickest hitting cheese in the entire game, Terrans may well be caught completely off guard. Even if they scout and do know that the bane bust is coming, successfully defending against it requires a high level of planning and execution in unit controls. Because splash damage from banes are insane, one small mistake from the defending Terran will end the game right there and then.        

What is Great about This Build: 

  • If you need a quick simple win, this build can do just that for you. Utilizing the earliest units in the game, lings and banes, the Zerg race is very well suited for early timing attacks that can often kill or at least severely cripple the Terran.
  • The scouting from Terran can see this coming, but it’s almost pointless because it hits so fast. Terran may panic and scramble to put some kind of wall to block incoming banes and lings, but with the right number of banes, Terran wall can easily be breached for the lings to wreak havoc in the main of Terran.    
  • Building walls for Terran is not cheap. Destroying parts of the Terran wall like the depots with the bane bust will significantly stunt the economy of Terran. So, even if the bane bust does not kill the Terran completely, it will definitely inflict huge economic damage to Terran. 

How it Works:  

  • An overlord followed by filling the initial full 10 worker supply 
  • Hatchery as soon as 300 mineral 
  • Spawning pool and gas 
  • Queens in each hatchery 
  • Ling speed as soon as 100 gas
  • Produce couple of lings 
  • Bane nest 
  • Once speed is finished, produce as many lings as possible and morph maximal number of banes 
  • Bust down the depot part of the Terran wall and flood the main with lings focusing on killing the workers  

#4. Nydus all in V. Protoss/Terran 

StarCraft 2: NYDUS WORM ALL-IN! (Zerg Build Order Guide)

Nydus is one of the scariest tools Zergs have at their disposal to allow extremely dynamic army movement around the map. Since Protoss and Terran rely heavily on building a good sim city/walls at the front line to deter any Zerg attacks, sneaky nydus at the back of the main can spell disaster. Popping up a nydus worm does require fairly high tech (lair), but nydus timing can be as quick as early-mid game consisting of ling floods and queens. With good overlord positioning around the base of your opponent, nydus is a great way to make the defense chaotic for your opponent.     

What is Great about This Build: 

  • Summoning nydus is not that expensive considering the potential damage it can inflict-simply hit one location with a good number of army supply and retreat into the safety of the nydus after maximal damage   
  • Multiple nydus worms in different locations around the opponent base can be very difficult to keep track of and defend properly (a great guerilla tactics to disorient and mess up the play rhythm of your opponent) 
  • There will always be some part of the map that your opponent does not have good vision on, this is a great place to pop up a nydus and surprise them with sudden flood of army  

How it Works:

  • Drone up fully without gas initially 
  • Hatchery in the natural and then the first gas 
  • Spawning pool and then the third  hatchery 
  • Queens on each hatchery 
  • Ling speed as soon as enough gas 
  • Good number of lings for early defense and map control 
  • Lair as soon as enough gas 
  • Build Nydus and pop the worm in the good location around enemy base
  • Flood the different parts of the base with lings and queens (other units work great with nydus as well such as roaches and hydras)

#3. Hydra/lurker V.Protoss   

GUIDE - 2021 ZERG VS PROTOSS - HYDRA LURKER STYLE - GRANDMASTER - StarCraft 2

Hydras and lurkers are the strongest ranged units for Zerg on the ground that deal an insane amount of DPS. Utilizing this superior range and DPS, Zerg can use this combo to dominate the later game. Since hydras and lurkers are both high quality later game units, Zerg will need to survive by defending any early attacks from the opposing race during early to mid game. Good set of early game units like lings, queens, and roaches can protect the early Zerg economy until the mighty hydra/lurker army is ready.    

What is Great about This Build: 

  • Build up a great early/mid economy while preparing for the zerg death ball backed by limitless well of resources 
  • Both ranged and high damage output, hydra/lurker is a great combo to dominate both ground and air fight-add to this good creep spread that will make them move faster and 4 more extra upgrades will truly make this composition a Zerg death ball   
  • The hydra/lurker death ball is fairly easy to create and maintain since all you have to do is produce mass hydras once you have big enough bank and morph some of them into lurkers

How it Works:

  • Full 16 drone  followed by the natural hatchery 
  • Gas and then spawning pool 
  • Queens for each hatchery and whenever there is enough money for extra creep spread and injects 
  • The third  hatchery 
  • Roach warren for the early defense against gateway units 
  • Lair and continued macro (drone up and overlords)
  • Evo chambers 
  • Roach speed and ranged attack upgrade 
  • Hydra den and armor upgrade 
  • Hydra speed and range upgrade while producing hydras 
  • Lurker den and infestation pit for lurker upgrades 
  • Continued production of hydras and lurkers 
  • Hive and continue upgrades           

#2. Muta/ling/bane V. Terran 

StarCraft 2: MUTA LING BANE IS BACK!

This long time ZvT gold standard build has been utilized by many great Zergs over the years to win them big tournaments. If there is one solid standard ZvT build any Zerg wants to learn, this is it. Utilizing 2 of the fastest moving units in the game, muta/ling/bane is a great unit composition for harassing Terran to slow them down and whittle them down until the Zerg is just simply too big to fail. Well upgraded speed lings and  a flock of mutas terrorizing the mineral line is the toughest Zerg play style to deal with as a Terran. The combination of simultaneous fast hitting ground and air harass from Zerg can very easily dismantle the Terran economy and slowly reduce them to a puny little army that stands no chance against the swarm.       

What is Great about This Build: 

  • Huge harass potential- the units have high DPS and splash damage and extremely fast moving/versatile; they are capable of quick attacks and defense all around the map
  • When controlled correctly, building and maintaining the muta/ling/bane army is one of the cheapest yet deadly in the game
  • The army composition can be achieved fairly quickly and transition extremely well into the late game (muta/ling/bane as early as early/mid game into the ultra and greater spire tech in the late game that utilizes exactly the same set of upgrades)  

How it Works:

  • 16 full drone followed by hatchery 
  • Spawning pool and then gas 
  • Ling speed once enough gas 
  • Queens as hatcheries come online 
  • The third hatchery and then roach warren 
  • Roach/ling for the early defense/push  
  • Lair and then roach speed 
  • Spire and evo chambers 
  • Mutas and ling productions with upgrades for each when enough money 
  • Bane nest and speed upgrade 
  • Continuous muta/ling/bane production while hitting multiple locations 
  • Continuous upgrades and macro (creeps, expand)

#1. Mass Roach/Ravager V. Terran 

[ENG] 2021 GSL S1 Finals Rogue vs Maru (Start at: 53:40)

This old famous build has made a flashy come back at the recent big SC2 stage winning Rogue yet another GSL title where he beat none other than Maru in the finals. By producing a mass roach based army very quickly and simply crushing Terran over and over until it’s dead, there is no build more Zerg-like than this one. This build utilizes a solid macro earlier in the game allowing Zerg to build a cheap yet enormous and sturdy army that seems to be too much for Terran to handle. If you want to smother Terran in the true Zerg style swarm fashion, this build is a great one to learn to crush your Terran opponents on the ladders.       

What is Great about This Build: 

  • The build starts with a solid macro and good economy that will support continuous mass army production allowing continuous pressure to be put on Terran throughout the game 
  • Roaches are extremely cheap yet durable units-with decent economy backing the army production, maintaining max army supply is not difficult
  • The build is very straightforward and easy to execute and follow through- simply continue to produce well upgraded roaches (simple unit compositions that puts very little strain on planning) and pressure Terran while keeping the macro engine going back at home  

How it Works:

  • Hatchery first followed by full 16 drone 
  • Gas and then spawning pool 
  • Queens for each hatchery and whenever possible for creep spreads and injects 
  • The third hatchery and then ling speed upgrade 
  • 2 evo chambers for ranged attack and armor upgrade for roaches 
  • Lair and then roach warrens 
  • Roach speed and +1 attack/armor upgrade for roaches 
  • The fourth hatchery and mass roach/ling/ravager productions 
  • Nonstop pressure with mass roach based army with continued unit productions and upgrades as allowed  

SC2, Zerg swarm 

There are many great builds that capitalize on the nature of the Zerg race- an endless swarm that will swallow everything. I have been seeing a lot of these builds on the ladders recently being utilized well to crush the other races. Join your fellow Zergs on the ladders to dominate the game with overwhelming swarms.  

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As a legit "Goinmul" with easily more than 10,000 hours of his life dedicated to the wonderful world of the NERDs, Ki continues to rank up in gaming and anime; glhf and yabai all day everyday.
Gamer Since: 2007
Favorite Genre: RTS
Currently Playing: StarCraft 2 (Legacy of the void), Call of duty (Black Ops 4)
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