Competitive Rules

From Liquipedia StarCraft Brood War Wiki

Overview[edit]

The rules for competitive play vary throughout different leagues, although some main issues always get tackled. Those are frequently concerned with inbuilt mechanics of StarCraft that could not be changed without radically altering the gameflow. The rules for various leagues are covered below, and are expanded upon later in the article.

Observer over Turret Plague on Interceptor Units pressed through Drops to Defuse Mines Mineral Walk Manner Pylon Lurker Hold Position Larvae Move Flying Drones and Templar Terran Sliding Buildings Gas Walk Allied Mines Cargo Glitch
International Cyber Cup (ICCup) legal legal legal legal legal legal legal legal illegal illegal illegal illegal illegal
Teamliquid Star League legal legal legal legal legal legal illegal illegal illegal illegal illegal
Korean E-Sports Association (Kespa) legal legal legal legal legal legal illegal illegal illegal illegal illegal

International Cyber Cup (ICCup)[edit]

The following bugs are legal for use in ICCup competitive play:

  • Observer over Turret
  • Plague on interceptor
  • Units pressed through
  • Drops to defuse mines
  • Mineral walk
  • Manner Pylon
  • Lurker hold position

Not allowed to use:

  • Flying drones and templars
  • Terran sliding buildings
  • A bug which allows your units to remain stacked while moving/attacking
  • Allied mines
  • Intentional dropping lurker and SCV — defined by referee
  • Gas walk to get through blocked entrances or ramps (Incredibly common bug, using a shift click on gas near opponent’s blocked entrance to slide through any possible unit or building wall.)

Teamliquid Star League[edit]

The following bugs are legal for use in LDT games:

  • Observer over turret
  • Units pressed through
  • Drops to defuse mines
  • Mineral walk
  • Hold lurker
  • Larvae Move

The following bugs are illegal for use in LDT:

  • Cargo glitch
  • Flying drones and templars
  • Terran sliding buildings
  • A bug which allows your units to remain stacked while moving/attacking
  • Allied mines

Korean E-Sports Association (Kespa)[edit]

Kespa has somewhat different rules than the other leagues because they have televised matches.

  • Pause rule - To request a pause, the player who wishes to do so must type in any number of 'p's. If a player pauses without requesting one, he/she will be disqualified.
  • Declaration of Loss - The player may only type in gg or GG to accept a loss.
  • Text in Game - No player can type any text in game other than a request for a pause, gg, or GG.

The following bugs are legal for use in Kespa regulated games:

  • Units pressed through
  • Drops to defuse mines
  • Mineral walk
  • Hold lurker
  • Larvae Move

The following bugs are illegal for use in Kespa regulated games:

  • Cargo glitch
  • Flying drones and templars
  • Terran sliding buildings
  • A bug which allows your units to remain stacked while moving/attacking
  • Allied mines

Source for some of the Kespa rules: https://tl.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=92917

Explanation of Game Bugs[edit]

For a complete list Game Bugs see: Bugs

Observer over Turret[edit]

In Protoss vs. Terran, if the Protoss player places an Observer over a Missile Turret, and places the Observer on Hold Position, then the Missile Turret will stop firing at the Observer. If the Terran player presses the stop command on the turret, then the turret will resume firing at the observer.

Plague on Interceptor[edit]

In Zerg vs. Protoss, if a Plague is cast on Interceptors, they will return to the carrier because the AI will believe that they need to be healed. Since the interceptors are constantly being damaged by plague for the duration of the spell, the interceptors that have been hit by plague will not come out of the carrier until they heal, some time after the spell dissipates.

Units Pressed Through[edit]

In any match up, a player can glitch a unit through minerals through various methods:

  • Protoss Pylon Trick - A Protoss player can glitch a probe through minerals by having a probe mine minerals, then building a pylon that will cause the probe to jump past the minerals. Then the pylon will be cancelled to save money.
  • Worker Trick - In any match up, a worker can be used in conjunction with any unit to push it through minerals. The unit that wants to be pressed through should move towards the minerals, and once it is in position, a worker unit should be told to mine the minerals, and once it is over the unit that wants to be pressed through, the worker should be told to stop mining. Since two units are on top of each other, the units will try to separate themselves. During this process, the player should constantly tell the units to move past the minerals.
  • Burrow Trick - This trick does not require a worker unit or minerals. It can only be done by Zerg. Tell two units to burrow on top of each other next to the area where they should be pressed through. Then, tell both units to unburrow at the same time, and constantly tell both units to move past the obstruction.

Drops to Defuse Mines[edit]

When facing Terran mech, the Terran player is likely going to use Vultures to place mines. If the opposing player has a unit that is capable of dropping such as a drop upgraded Overlord, a Shuttle, or a Dropship, then the player can drop units on top of the mines and before the mines explode, quickly pick up the unit again so the mines do no damage.

Mineral Walk[edit]

This trick is constantly used by all players. It is basically telling workers to mine a mineral patch or vespene geyser. They will then proceed to walk past all units until told to stop.

Manner Pylon[edit]

See this article.

Lurker Hold Position[edit]

See this article.

Larvae Move[edit]

See this article.

Flying Drones and Templar[edit]

The flying drones and templar glitch allows drones and templar to act like air units. This essentially means that drones can take an island expansion without drop tech and templar can storm worker lines without the use of shuttles.

Terran Sliding Buildings[edit]

This glitch allows Terran buildings to lift off and move while producing units.

Gas Trick[edit]

This glitch allows worker units to remain permanently stacked while moving and attacking.

Allied Mines[edit]

If Terran player allies the opponent, then any mines that he plants will not be triggered, thus deceiving the opponent to think that no mines are planted in the area. Then when the opponent moves his units into the minefield, the Terran player will un-ally the enemy player, and the mines will proceed to attack anything within their range.

Cargo Glitch[edit]

This glitch allows worker units to be pressed through any obstacle by repeatedly press "return cargo" (hotkey "c").