14 Pool 15 Hatch

[e][h]14 Spawning Pool 15 Hatchery

Strategy Information

Matchups:

ZvT, ZvP

Type:

Opening

Popularized by:

IdrA

Overview

The 14 Pool, 15 Hatch is a general macro-oriented setup, popularized by IdrA as it is his standard opening. It is a build that focuses on establishing economic dominance early, and from which the player can simply power through an opponent due to the player's higher income. Thus, because of it puts low pressure, it is vital that the player does not fall behind on supply count, and always be ready in case of a push from the opponent. This build is not advisable to use in a ZvZ match-up because of the early aggression from Banelings or Speedlings. However, if the expansion is unscouted, the lategame income will pay off greatly,

Goal

Once you have 14 Supply, build a Spawning Pool. Once you reach 15 Supply, build a Hatchery at your Natural Expansion and a Queen at your main base.

Basic Build Order

Basic Build
9 Overlord 14 Spawning Pool 15 Hatchery 16 Queen 18 Extractor 18 Overlord

Notes

Being a macro-oriented build, it is vulnerable to all-in rushes or cheese techniques. Scout diligently and prepare accordingly. If necessary, delay the Queen to get Zerglings or a Spine Crawler at your Natural Expansion. Early pushes are likewise dangerous, so it would be a good idea to tech later, and get strong units (such as Roaches or Banelings). However, if the player manages to survive past the initial push, then the player will have a much better economy than the opponent. If you inadvertently see early units pushing up to your base while your Spawning Pool is building, you must mass build drones, in order to fight off the rushing units.

Scouting

Scouting is very crucial in this build. If you do not see what build your opponent is going, you probably will lose. The player should occasionally (every other Overlord or so) send a Zergling to scout what units, and how many units the other player has, and adapt accordingly.

Countered By

• Early pushes, cheeses, or all-in rushes.

Hard Counters

• Proxy Gates
• Proxy Rax
• 6 Pool
• 10 Pool
• 2 Gate

Soft Counters

• Reaper Harass (before your Queen is out)

Counter To

Hard Counters

Rushes (if the economical damage is minimal)

Soft Counters

• 1-base play

Transition

Once you've saturated your two bases, you can effectively transition into any build due to the high stream of income. In the HDH Invitational semifinals, IdrA transitioned from Speedlings into Hydralisks to great effect against NonY. This is an extremely versatile opening, though, and allows for many different tech choices depending on the opponent's build.

Vs. Protoss

• 2 Hatch Hydra (vs. Protoss)
• Mutalisk/Speedling

Vs. Terran

• Mutalisk/Speedling
• Hydralisk/Speedling

Notable Maps

Strong

Desert Oasis, or any 4-player map with players spawning at cross positions to maximize rush distance. The more space between bases, the safer.

Weak

Blistering Sands, Steppes of War, or any map with extremely short rush distance.

3 Queen Variant

This variant uses a precise timing to get a third Queen out before the second hatch finishes. This provides an option for better creep spread and defense. To achieve this, it sacrifices the early Extractor and for that reason it makes it hard to gain map control early on. It lends itself best to a no-gas opening similar to Spanishiwa's Ice Fisher but provides more resistance to early aggression like Bunker rushes, cannon rushes or Zergling/Baneling all-ins due to the faster pool and the fast first Queen.

Basic Build
9 Overlord 14 Spawning Pool 15 Hatchery 16 Overlord (@100% Spawning Pool) 18 Queen (@100% Overlord and @50% Hatchery) 22 Overlord @100% Hatchery Queens on both Hatcheries