The Best Brood War Unit, Part I- Zerg

The Best Brood War Unit, Part I- Zerg

With the work on Starcraft Co, I have Brood War on my mind. It is one of the greatest games of all time, full stop and I will die on that hill if anyone wants to argue it. What is amazing is it hasn't been rebalanced since 2001, so we have been operating on the same rules for 25 years. I can't think of another major competitive game that has stayed that consistent. What is really cool about that is instead of the creators constantly trying to balance, players have been left to figure out strategies. To this day, the meta is still evolving as professional players discover new strategies and tactics. The fact it hasn't fallen into a sort of steady state and a dominant strategy hasn't been discovered is a testament to what an incredible game it is. Anyway, enough fanboying on my part.

Many commentators and pro players have done their power rankings of the best units in the game, so I figured I would take a crack at it myself. I'm going to do it like this. I will go through each of the three races in a separate post, ranking each unit on a scale from one to five. Think of it like a star system:

***** = Legendary Unit, incredible utility throughout the game with minimal downside

**** = Excellent Unit, it's not perfect, may have some drawbacks or substantial counters but finds multiple uses in the game

*** = Decent Unit, either it only has specific use cases or if it is a generalist it has major drawbacks

** = Subpar Unit, has substantial drawbacks and isn't useful in most situations

*= Hot Garbage

I am only going to rank units that can attack or cast spells. I'm also not going to include workers. Sorry Probes, SCVs, Drones, Observers, Overlords, Dropships, Shuttles. It kind of muddies the waters because you need workers, always, and if you want to drop units you build something that can ferry them and if you need detection you build a detector. Down the line maybe I'll do some work on comparing these utility units.

Once I've ranked every unit, I will compare all the five star units to determine the GOAT.

So, to start- Zerg.

---

Zergling *****

The smallest and cheapest unit in the game is one of the best. Zerglings only have 35 hitpoints and only deal five damage. How can this be a five star unit? For one, it only requires half a control point. No other unit in the game has that. Zerg could theoretically field 400 zerglings. Second, it only costs 25 minerals. The next cheapest unit is workers or marines that cost 50 minerals. This means you can throw them away with reckless abandon. A single mineral patch usually contains 1500 minerals, which translates to 60 zerglings or five full control groups. Bonkers.

But really, the best part about the zergling is how it scales throughout the game. Each damage upgrade increases its damage output by 20%, since it goes from 5-6-7-8 damage. Adrenal upgrade increases attack rate by 33%, meaning DPS can be increased by over 113%. No other unit comes close. You can also upgrade movement speed. This means zerglings are dangerous throughout the game. They have a small footprint, so that means they can swarm a building or enemy unit and deal incredibly fast damage. A fully upgraded zergling has comparable DPS to a fully upgraded Battlecruiser, depsite the latter costing x28 as much. One could argue they become more dangerous, not less, as the game progresses.

Lastly, even the things that counter zerglings don't really counter them because of how cheap they are. Firebats? Sure they cost 3 times as much and aren't very good otherwise. Vultures? Get surrounded and dead. Reavers? Devestate zerglings but a full reaver is so expensive its worth burning a full dozen zerglings to kill it. Archons? great you killed some zerglings at the cost of 300 gas. Lurkers? Just go around them. And with their insane DPS, the fact they can't attack up isn't really an issue. They can just chew through your base before the air units can kill them all. So yeah, easy five star.

Hydralisk ****

Exceptional unit. 80 hitpoints, 10 explosive damage (which isn't the best against smaller units) and only 1 control point for 75 minerals and 25 gas. Nice attack rate and small footprint so they can really lay on the DPS. Solid at tackling air and ground. Can really fuck up Protoss, crushing them before storm is available, erasing archons and they are cheap enough where if you lose a bunch eating storms, so what? Spawn more. The reason they aren't a five star unit is they have a lot of counters. Siege tanks, spider mines, lurkers, high templar, reavers, zealots (if not in large numbers). Also a zergling is ¼ the cost of a hydra.

Lurker ****

Insane splash damage. If not detected, can shred a large Terran infantry army with ease. When paired with zerglings and defilers, creates one of the most powerful late game synergies in the game. Awesom defensively or offensively to trap an opponent in their base. The Zerg equivalent of a siege tank. Why not five stars? Two reasons. One, 125 gas and 125 minerals is pricey, 4 lurkers could buy you five Mutalisks. Second, they are vulnerable when moving, can't attack and are squishy. Still, a lot of people would probably give me a hard time for not giving this guy five stars.

Ultralisk ***

This may be controversial, but I think Ultralisks are decent but not great. When upgraded they have incredible durability, deal a lot of damage and can absolutely overwhelm opponents. I mark them down becaues of opportunity cost. at 200 minerals, 200 gas and 4 control, an Ultralisk could be two mutalisks. It could be a deflier and 6 zerglings with 50 gas left over. And they have a big footprint so they can be jammed up. Juicy targets for queens in zvz. Against Terran they do decently but mech + science vessels can stop them, as can a powerful marine medic ball if upgraded enough. Against Protoss they take full damage from dragoons which is no bueno. It's not a bad unit, I just think the money could be better spent elsewhere in the late game. You can't get them until you have hive and build an ultralisk cavern, and even then they aren't great until you upgrade them a bunch. it's a commitment, and at that point lurker/ling/deflier is just better.

Mutalisk *****

Best flier in the game. So overpowered that when Brood War came out the literally created 3 new units to counter it: The Valkyrie, Corsair and Devourer. They can stack, attack in unison, their attack hits up to 3 targets, and you can get them relatively early in the game. Their speed and versatility makes them a nightmare to deal with. If a Terran isn't solid in their macro and micro, early game muta harass snowballs and they just lose. I'm not sure I can overstate the versatility of this unit. It can be used to end a game, harass an enemy to weaken their economy, force countermeasures while you pivot to a different composition, pick off spell casters, delete workers... the list goes on. After Zerg plagues a group of science vessels, a single mutalisk can destroy the entire group. They are cheap- 100 gas and 100 minerals. So 1 gas geyser and 3 and change mineral patches = 50 mutalisks. And you can always pivot back to them later, so the enemy may think you are done with air and slouch on their anti air, and next thing they know 20 mutalisks are shredding their base.

So why isn't this just it, Mutalisks are the best unit? They can attack air and ground and fly and do all the aforementioned. Well, they have some serious counters. A group of Corsairs shreds them. Maelstrom + Storm can delete 11 of them. Valkyries splash damage can devastate a group. Marine + medic or goliath can old its own. Irradiate is a pain. A rival Zerg with Scourge and Devourers in the mix can be trouble. So, that's the rub. Still, Mutas fucking rock.

Queen ****

Many people would probably give queens a ***, but I think to this day they are one of the most underutilized units in Brood War. Let's look at their spells. Parasite- 75 energy, lets you see through another units eyes. It's not the best, but great for map vision and you can force an enemy (except Terran with medics) to make awkward choice of sacking a unit or feeding you intel. Ensare- 75 energy. This is the underutilized spell I was thinking of. It reduces movement speed and attack rate of an entire group of units. Devastating to clumped units, especially fliers or units with a small footprint like marines. And then Spawn Broodling (150 energy). It's a lot of energy, but it is an instant kill on anything biological and then deals some damage after the fact. A queen costs the same as a siege tank, so one spawn broodling and its paid for itself. 2 and its awesome. Plus siege tanks are a nightmare so its even worth paying more to get rid of them. Popping one Ultralisk more than pays for the queen.

So to summarize- cheap way to melt clumped fliers. Counter to siege tanks and ultralisks. Heck, you can even use them against High Templar. I think the Queen deserves more love.

Scourge- ****

They have terrible vision, low HP, and die when they attack. Why 4 stars? It's all economics. 2 scourge cost 75 gas and 25 minerals. 5 can take down a fully loaded carrier, which would cost 550 minerals and 250 gas. They delete air units, period. That's what they do and they are really good at it. A cheap way to get rid of Science Vessels, Battlecruisers, Carriers, and effective but not quite as OP against Wraiths, Mutalisks, Corsairs, etc. They struggle against grouped Corsairs and usually aren't worth it against Overlords, but otherwise they are the answer to air. They do eat up larva though and you generally have to build a lot of them, so there is an early game opportunity cost. 2 scourge could be a drone ore mutalisk. Also I just realized I keep alternating between capitalizing or not capitalizing units. Sorry this is a late night rant. Actually, not sorry.

Guardian- **

Very long range, can outrange anti air turrets. High damage output. Tanky. Why only 2 stars? Well, they are expensive. 200 gas and 150 minerals. Second, they require a greater spire, so late game tech. Third, they can't shoot other air units, which is a huge problem. Four, they are slow as hell. Five, by the time you an afford them, there are simply better options. The gas cost is more than a defiler and much more than a lurker. It just has limited uses. Maybe surprise attacks on Terran.

Devourer- **

Incredibly high durability flier. BUT, it can only attack air, you can only get it late game, and its really expensive. 250 minerals and 150 gas. In 9/10 cases I'd rather have 2 mutalisks. It has a really low rate of attack to. But there is one case where it is useful— when your opponent has a group of smaller fliers. A large group of mutalisks, wraiths, scouts (not sure why this would ever happen unless you are getting trolled) or corsairs. In this case, a devourer makes sense. Its attack has splash damage, and the splash damage adds acid spores. Acid spores increase damage it takes from other attacks. Mutalisk attacks hit three times. So each devourer attack adds 3 damage to each mutalisk attack. So its a massive force mutliplier for mutalisks against large groups of air units. But that's pretty damn specific.

Defiler- *****

Most OP unit in the game. Doesn't mean its the best. So, its a caster. But it can eat units to regain energy, so it essentially has infinite mana since zerglings are so cheap. Plague is an amazing ability, Large AOE, constant damage over time. Can make it so an army melts to a few mutas, hydras or zerglings. But Dark Swarm is the real broken spell. Large AOE, nothing can take damage except from splash or melee under it. And Zerg has zerglings (melee), ultralisks (melee) and lurkers (splash). It's an absurd spell that shouldn't exist. One defiler and one lurker can destroy a terran base and there isn't much they can do to stop it. Firebats are the only real counter, and they kind of suck. Siege tanks can deal splash damage, but that doesn't work on one lurker. So suddenly you have a spell that for 37.8 seconds, locks a space down. And they can just eat zerglings and keep casting it to move forward. I could never be a professional Terran. Dark Swarm would break me. I just lack the spiritual constitution to deal with that kind of humiliation. Protoss can fair a little better with zealots, reavers and storm, but it is still tough.

So lets get this straight. Unlimited energy, crazy AOE damage spell, spell that makes units basically invincible. How is this post not over, Defiler is the best unit in the game? Well, a few things. For one, it costs 150 gas and 50 minerals, that's a decent chunk of gas. Zerg is usually flush with minerals and starved for gas. Second, you need to make spawning pool, then a lair, then a queens nest, then a hive, then a defiler mound, then research consume, and then plague. It takes a long time to get one out, and you are vulnerable the entire time if you dedicate too many resources to it. So its a late game unit, and I can't stress how meaningful that is. If players know you are going for it, they will try to kill you before you get there. If it wasn't for that, Defliers would be completely and utterly busted. Maybe they still are.

Infested Terran- *

You have to damage an enemy command center severely without killing it, then get a queen to it to infest it, then spend as much as you'd spend on a goliath. Then you get a unit that is like ground scourge, and if it makes it to the opponent deals a stupid amount of damage. As a troll move, A tier. IRL... basically useless.

So yes, if we are trying to determine the best unit in Brood War, zerglings, mutalisks and defilers are all in contention.

Also I didn't include defensive structures but I'll just say spore colonies and sunken colonies are fine but pretty expensive. You burn a drone, which means a larva and lost mining time. And for that, its 175 minerals for one defensive structure. If you need them you need them. Otherwise, just build more zerglings.

Terran next!