7 Roach Rush / Expand / Lair

[e][h]7 Roach Rush (7RR)

Strategy Information

Matchups:

All

Type:

Opening

Popularized by:

Incinerate

Overview

This build is designed to use 7 Roaches for some early pressure to cover your own expansion and tech-ing up.

See also: vs Terran Econ Roach, Roach FE for the basic ZvT openers. Vs Protoss see Roach Pressure (vs Protoss) for all the possible Roach openings and rushes.

Goal

This build is unique in that there is no scout denial or scouting. Instead the goal is to let the enemy know you are going 7 Roaches, so he is forced to defend instead of tech-ing up or expanding. And your own scouting is done when you actually attack your opponent's base, where you will clearly see what units he has. At the same time you open up a window to expand and tech up yourself.

This build is NOT all-in and leaves you in a solid position even if the initial Rush fails. In fact if you see the enemy have lots of hard counters against Roaches (Immortals, Marauders) it is better to retreat and save your Roaches.

Basic Build Order

See the basic build order and common transpositions below.

Double Extractor Trick 10 [10] - Double Extractor trick 12 [10] - Overlord 12 [18] - Spawning Pool 11 [18] - Drone X 5 16 [18] - Extractor (right after 16th drone) (3 Drones on gas as soon as possible) 15 [18] - Drone

Single Extractor Trick - see 11 OP 10 [10] - Extractor trick 11 [10] - Overlord 11 [18] - Spawning Pool 10 [18] - Drone X 5 15 [18] - Extractor 14 [18] - Drone x2 (3 Drones on gas when Extractor finishes)

Transition
16 [18] - Queen (cast Larva as soon as possible) 18 [18] - Overlord

Continuation 1 18 [26] - Drone X 2 20 [26] - Roach Warren (@ 35/50 Queen) 19 [26] - Overlord 19 [34] - Roach X7 (send to attack enemy as soon as possible) 33 [34] - Drone 34 [34] - Overlord 34 [34] - Hatchery (expand) 33 [42] - Drone X3 36 [42] - Lair 36 [42] - Extractor X3 (optional) (expansion geysers @ 75/100 Hatchery)

Continuation 2 18 [26] - Roach Warren (@ 35/50 Queen) 17 [26] - Overlord 17 [34] - Roach X7 31 [34] - Drone x3 34 [34] - Overlord 34 [34] - Hatchery (expand) 33 [42] - Drone X3 36 [42] - Lair 36 [42] - Extractor X3 (optional - expansion geysers @ 75/100 Hatchery)

Notes

• The difference between 7RR and 5RR is the 2 extra Roaches, increasing the offensive power by 40%. This is a serious threat and can be game ending if not treated properly. The enemy will have no choice but to plan a tactic against these Roaches.
• Another difference is the lack of Zergling follow up. Instead once those 7 Roaches are done the focus should be on droning, expanding and tech-ing.
• Focus on gaining instead of game ending. Do not let too many Roaches die. You are already expanding and tech-ing up during this attack so there is no need to rush to victory.
• Never forget to inject Larva or the effectiveness of this build will suffer GREATLY!
• Build the Hatchery at your Natural Expansion as soon as you start moving out with your Roaches.
• After the Roaches you can start building a few Drones to allow for an easier transition if the rush is repelled.
• Switch tech as needed after the initial 7 Roach push.

Scouting

You only need to scout if the enemy have multiple possible spawn points. You can send a Drone Scout but the Roaches will scout your opponent's base early enough.

Against Protoss it is safe to bring an Overlord to scout the high ground for your Roaches. This should allow you to pick off a Warpgate if they walled off. It's possible but more dangerous against Terran.

Execution

If you executed the build order successfully, your expansion should start at roughly the same time that your 7 Roaches heads out for an attack. The Roaches are born at around 4:50. If the enemy built a Pylon or Engineering Bay to block your expansion you can kill it along the way.

When you move your Roaches up your opponent's ramp, start shooting stuff in the following order:

• The wall: Kill the wall before anything else. The weakest spot is usually the Supply Depot and Pylons.
• Repairing SCVs need to be taken care of as soon as possible.
• Soft units: Once you break in focus on the softer units: Marines, Zealots, Zerglings. Use hit and run. Do not just stand and fight.
• Hard units: Marauders and Immortals hard counters Roaches. Depending on their numbers you should consider either carry on with the push or retreat.
• Any worker that you see along the way: Those workers might be moving out to build another base somewhere. Prevent them from doing that.
• Supply Depot and Pylons: If you can supply block the enemy it is usually 'gg' at this early stage of the game. It does not even matter if your opponent's workers are mining.
• Workers.

If it is working, keep pumping Zerglings/Roaches for the win. There is no need to force the issue. If you see the battle going badly you can retreat any time. If the Terran is Bunkering up you may want to avoid the Bunker and go for the Production or Minerals (depending on where the Bunker is).

Adaptation

If your opponent has a very solid wall blocking the way, retreat to his expansion to deny him from expanding instead. Remember the key is to make good use of your Roaches. Make sure you have a way to retreat when their main army does push out.

You have 2 Bases, a Lair and at least 22 Drones (most likely more) if your push is repelled. This is a great position to transition into any midgame. Grabbing 4 gas and going Muta/Ling/Baneling is a good idea most of the time.

Counter

Immortals, Marauders and Roaches will counter you. However do not take that as a loss. This means they have to delay Colossi, Banshees and Mutalisks until later.

Maps

Pro features

• Short Ground Rush Distance
• Large/Wide Ramps
• Backdoor Entrance
• Example: Blistering Sands, Steppes of War

Con features

• Long Rush Distance
• Example: Desert Oasis
• But this build can be done on any 1v1 Map in the current pool.

Notes

• A sample replay [1]
• Discussion on Battlenet [2]
• A French tutorial [3]