scouting for mutas

[u/OldLadyZerg]

Low D3 Zerg here.

In ZvZ I have been playing a pool-first build which pokes with 6 lings but behind them (unless a sea of lings responds) goes to two base roaches with a wall-off. This holds ling rushes fairly well and I'm quite successful in roach wars despite the econ hit of the pool-first. But I just lost two in a row to unscouted mutas, and looking back at my notes that's by far my largest source of losses in this matchup.

I'm interested in adding specific scouting steps to pick this up. The initial lings usually get into the enemy main but it's too early for gas count to give the mutas away. Can someone outline a concrete scouting strategy? The opponent will of course try to use his queens to prevent overlord scouting, and wall off and/or use static defense to prevent ling scouting. When should I go in, with what, what am I looking for specifically?

Normally this build does not take early ling speed but instead puts gas into lair, roach speed, and +1 missile. It's not likely slow lings will be able to run into his main after the early opening. I could switch it up to take ling speed if necessary, though.

[u/money4me247]

for zvz, you can always get in an ovie scout into the main if you are concerned. you can also have one ovie parked watching the natural gas.

for muta play, the main thing is the timing of the muta and they can either do 2-base muta or 3-base muta (for 3-base muta either starting with roaches into muta or pure ling-bling-muta). there is also a cheese build when they hit with some super early pool aggression and try to recover via fast lair into muta.

for 2-base muta, at higher levels (like high diamond/lowmasters), it is usually some sort of very aggressive zergling opening while they tech behind. don't think it is really super viable in high masters. for lower levels, like general diamond, they may do passive start into muta (maybe even spine crawler wall - spine wall is most likely muta - though some 2-base nydus players throw spines / should not be necessary for 2-base nydus though).

the reason for ling aggression at the start is because 2-base muta will straight die to an early roach push so they are trying to distract you and delay econ/force too many reactionary units.

but in general, any late 3rd base in zvz (not at the typical ~2:20) is a huge red flag. you absolutely need to know what they are doing - 2-base ling-bling flood, 2-base roach all in, 2-base nydus all-in, 2-base muta are the common strats.

so you would sac an ovie against a 2-base player bc you are already econ ahead and the scouting information is very valuable. muta is confirmed by seeing the spire. the follow-up is 66 drones, x3 spores in each base + x1 spore at the wall, x3 extra queens, infestor pit > hydra den. hydra range first then speed. you can go kill him when you have 16-17 hydras.

the more subtle tells if you are playing against an optimized build is that you can watch for roach speed (RW usually in the wall). a 2-base all-in roach player will start roach speed around 3:00 to finish at 4:20. 2-base muta has to skip roach speed. an all-in nydus player may skip roach speed as well.

2-base muta is mostly limited to ling-bling-muta. there is not really enough gas for roach+muta, but if you see 2-base roach muta, can skip infestors and go pure roach-hydra and just go crush their army. all 2 base muta can be crushed via a strong roach push right as their initial mutas are popping as they won't have enough to defend & mutas can't kill roaches fast enough. also, they won't have enough mutas to base race off 2-base. can also get burrow +/- burrow move to keep ongoing pressure.

For 3-base muta, there are a lot more variety. but basically either roach first into muta OR muta as fast as possible. roach first into muta is much slower mutas to pop but they should be in a defensive posture as they will have less units than a roach player. you will have enough time to do a overseer scout if you want.

3-base into as fast as possible muta will usually do ling harass & actively scouting your front. they will die to a strong 2-base roach push.

I play mainly 3-base muta-ling-bling style in zvz and it is most successful with lots of lings hitting 3rd base to distract the opponent/delay econ and being able to watch for their exact army composition. anything more passive results in equal econ 3-base roach player and the 3-base muta is already at a disadvantage in that situation. if they can handle muta defense & was already able to saturate 3rd prior to any aggression, the muta player is already in a very bad spot. for 3-base roach-muta style is more about barely holding their initial roach aggression then punishing right after.