StarCraft 2: Dark's AMAZING Strategic Variety! (Best-of-5)

Dark versus HeroMarine in a best-of-5 series of StarCraft 2. It turns out these two pro gamers are incredibly close in skill level.
Support my work on Patreon: / lowkotv
Become a KZbin member: lowko.tv/join
My second channel: lowko.tv/morelowko
Lowko Merch: lowko.tv/merch
Be part of the community on Discord: / discord
The hardware setup I use: lowko.tv/setup/
StarCraft 2 is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed and released by Blizzard Entertainment.
#StarCraft2 #SC2 #RTS
--
lowko.tv
/ lowkotv
/ lowkotv
/ lowkotv
/ lowkotv

[@mZStarCraft]

22:18 that drone block was chefs kiss. 👌

[@TheGreatMoonFrog]

"What build do you typically use?" Dark: "Yes."

[@Eyriour]

Came here to say the same without the meme. This is such an exhibition of Dark's adaptability. Each game won used a different build. So proud of our Zerg boi

[@titocristobal5573]

Epitome of Zerg in the Lore. Whatever technology you come up with, Zerg evolves something to fight against that.

[@Pr4n4v13]

@@titocristobal5573 love stuff like this, protoss defending until they just lazer everything to the ground, Terran using scrappy guerilla tactics and parade pushes, zerg being adaptable and swarmy. Love this game

[@shiny4102]

"Dark's 6 minute hive!!!" Me a year ago in gold league with my 2m lair with 2 gas before pool and hatch:

[@billl.2441]

Lol. Highlight comment!

[@joshuakim5240]

To be fair, the impressive part is actually getting away with doing that in a successful maneuver. Plenty of cool ideas require build orders that...uh...don't work if the opponent decides to be aggressive (had plenty of times when i didn't to make many units to reach certain tech faster only to get rekt lol).

[@rapteroker7845]

@@joshuakim5240 r/woosh

[@Jimknopf-1960]

Yeah, whos Dark ?

[@bronzefather5426]

I watch pro Zerg in the hope I one day grow another hand.

[@4theswarm473]

Yes that is exactly what i am hoping will happen too.

[@storm8192]

Lowko should pin this comment 🤣

[@honeysal]

I’m up to six, you’ll make it one day comrade

[@st4ndby]

Essence assimilated. Terran gets additional arm. Third arm is usefull. Will adapt to terran species.

[@executorarktanis2323]

Shift to living near a nuclear plant your hope can turn into reality

[@Pyriin]

Lowko: "gabe thinks its safe because he can look at one thing at once" Me trying to play like heromarine or dark: "I think these players have 8 arms and 2 heads"

[@mstandenberg1421]

A typical 1v1 has 8 limbs and 2 heads. I may have misunderstood something.

[@filipbitala2624]

I mean thats an understatement, more like having four brains, half a second reaction at most and like three hands with gamerfuel imstead of blood

[@nickmeisters2491]

@@filipbitala2624 hahaha

[@ignaciojimenez4786]

Heromarine actually kept a few marines over the burrowed lings, so he new!

[@Baleur]

Dark is so impressive, its like he's one of the few zerg that actually uses the unit abilities as intended. I've seen SO many pro zerg players just run straight up chokepoints defended by 6 siege tanks, just taking the hits. Dark is like, nah, why do that? Just use abduction, siege tanks completely nullified. Finally a zerg like this.

[@danielskrivan6921]

Apparently there's a game of Zest vs. Vanya a few weeks ago in which Zest has an amazing game. I can't find any casts of it, though.

[@LowkoTV]

I’ll have a look. Thanks for the recommendation.

[@daethalion1725]

Dark: *snipes his own roach with a bile* Me: Riley, nooo!

[@alantanmiaothong635]

Dark showed spectacular game sense. Think I'm going to defend and mass army? Nope, I'm going to counterattack while getting adrenal. Roach push? Nah, I'm rushing Hive Viper-Lurker. Think I'm just going to run around you with mutas? How about I just flood in lings on your bases. On the other hand, HeroMarine looked as if he lacked confidence making changes in his strategy. Makes me wonder if Dark purposely used the second game as a loss to set up the viper-lurker push. While Heromarine was playing the game, Dark was PLAYING the game.

[@chaoxyz8183]

Dark's 8 minute lurker army was like the Zerg version of a turtle skytoss rush.

[@jeremyadamson9618]

Lowko I love it when you talk about the keyboard mechanics. It’s one of the most fascinating parts - like how casters of the Olympics explain how insane it is what your watching.

[@everacalm8410]

Really been watching a lot of pro SC2 lately and may I just say "NO ONE" is more entertaining with the commentary than Lowko. In some other channels not gonna say names, the games can be awesome but the commentators can put you to sleep with their tone or lack of energy. KEEP IT UP LOWKO

[@lyxnyte9239]

Yeah, I like watching Winter and Lowko, the're great at this.

[@agloggen]

Adding Vipers to negate siege tanks in game 3 was a brilliant move that I had not seen before. Great games and great casting. Thank you.

[@goldensea03idk51]

You always say HeroMarine is super underrated and is super good. I mostly watch your videos and some live streamed games. And I have never seen you cast a game of Gabe winning or seen it in stream. I can tell he’s good but I’ve never seen him win a pro game.

[@GBS4893]

As someone who plays a very consistent, standard focused style his victories are probably often very standard situations too, probably not the best to cast to attract interest from the public.

[@davidholland4713]

I'm impressed Lowko is trying to learn from Dark. How can you learn all his builds when every game is a different one? He really believes in being unpredictable. He's like the anti-Serral. Great cast and great series.

[@yurigoncharov8336]

Interesting fact. I'm not paying StarCraft, but really enjoy watching Lowko's videos. Moreover I'm not native English speaking 😅

[@balckdwarf2]

Same for me exactly and has been so for years

[@TheBucLeXx12]

Dude I was going to write that exact comment I do not play SC2 but love watching these videos. Keep up the hard work lowko!!! Big fan

[@migykiwa7296]

Me 2

[@Alloran]

Seems like Dark has decided that 6 lings is the appropriate early answer against Terran. He doesn't take any damage other than the 1 drone he loses for making the extra 2 lings.

[@patximartel]

Dark is so great. He doesn't gives to dimes and makes it work to sheer power of will and mechanics.

[@TritonTv69420]

Dude that thumbnail is epic Could be the cover of a game. You know if people still bought cd's. 55:00 i love when lowko starts talking faster and faster hahaha.

[@drazw5705]

Lowko: Dark has been doing roach ravager long before the cool kids did. Me: GASP!! Dark is a cool kid.

[@billl.2441]

After that match vs Clem, Dark is my new favorite pro SC2 to watch. Games just so much more exciting.

[@houstonlambert3097]

Yes lowko my cat hears your voice and starts meowing cause she knows I’m waking up or going to sleep! We love you and hope your doing good brother!!! Please don’t stop doing the sc2:)

[@billl.2441]

That 1st game. HOLY SHIT!! How many of us would of GG'd

[@GBS4893]

41:02 That lurker and that widow mine, sleeping near each other xD

[@sorinrobinson9237]

9:07 ahhh man you can hear the heartbeat in Lowkos voice

[@jeromenewsome2596]

Game 1 was sooo close. My adrenaline was pumping lol

[@cykonot]

"Rank 45... NA server" We see what you're doing

[@legion8863]

5:42 spots banshee, drone hides behind vespene

[@jasonlynch282]

"Fear the banshee." -some banshee pilot

[@Nikirawruwu]

11:58 I was sure I heard some misspronunciation! The creems!

[@calineos6770]

"Kartoffel und Bratwurst. Schnitzel." Oh come on Lowko, now I'm hungry... This reminds me, I didn't have much Sauerkraut lately. Speaking of food: Very exited for the next viewer cheese, even though these pro games surely are enjoyable to watch.

[@blazepond5518]

watching this directly after the HeroMarine vs Reynor bo5 you casted from Feb 2021, so cool to see the progression , SC2 is such a great game for that ever evolving meta. incredible. thanks Lowko, always the best casts

[@pops1cle187]

"6 minute hive!?" Me, who makes hives at the 4 minute mark

[@jasonlynch282]

Multiple hives huh? Nice.

[@PenguinIceDelta]

@@jasonlynch282 redundancy, they always expect the one they scout

[@RoastingPotPieMonkey]

lol the title was cut off for me reading "starcraft 2: dark's ama" . I was mildly disappointed but loved the cast nonetheless : D

[@DavyMaxwell3D]

Wow, great series, amazing demonstration of strategy and adaptability by Dark

[@peewypeabody4284]

Wow. Dark is really on top of his game again!

[@Sprayer-px3tu]

It's 225 minerals per mule @lowko, it's well researched.

[@Neloish]

I knew you were a PRO, part of mousesports huh. Time for Lowko vs the world.

[@CloudSephiroth]

Back when I played SC2- like 10 years ago, I would just destroy everyone with marines and Thors. Hopefully, I’ll see that again one day.

[@onyxfinger7431]

would be fun unless it's because of imba

[@scottmadsen9964]

@@onyxfinger7431 it is because of imba lol marine medivac is so broken and this is coming from a protoss main though i never went skytoss lol i usually just mass spammed immortals

[@onyxfinger7431]

@@scottmadsen9964 we weren't even talking about that how do you connect thors being fun to marine medivac being imba ?

[@GBS4893]

9:01 That was both surprising and as a zerg enthusiast much of a treat.

[@gbell6973]

22:25 using that drone on hold position to block the hellions?

[@game_jinx]

i'd like to see hellions burn enemies on contact, or does that sound like it would be to tough to fight off, like banes, for a zerg. we better keep it easy for em

[@nemigazhogynincsszab]

in the first game it happened several times that zergling got into the natural because of improper walling... don't forget about that

[@alucardsamararadiant952]

It reminded me of the time when you start with 4 marin to do a rush, but on steroids, amazing.

[@beardedzeus1337]

I was literally writing a comment about how flexible Dark is and then you started talking about it lol. But yeah I think thats what makes Dark so powerful hes so hard to predict that the only way to play against him is purely reactionary, while most of his opponents can be predicted by him quite well. "If you know your enemy and know yourself then you need not fear the result of a hundred battles, if you know your enemy and not yourself then for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat, if you know neither the enemy nor yourself then you will succumb in every battle." Dark lives and breathes Sun Tzu

[@cedardmd]

9:00 Lowko's voice is high as squealing banelings

[@ostrava2859]

"most common on is a factory" Me *Ghost go brrrr*

[@Maleficarum999]

Dark brought back that Scarlett vs Bomber memories by getting rid of OC and planting banelings for kabooms

[@1389Chopin]

Good cast - had me laughing at some points. As someone who knows nothing about sc2 like the detailed commentary and keeping it light

[@GBS4893]

Dayum, that game n°1 really showed us how tight the zvt match up is. Those midgame terran pushes definitely are scary but the zerg can always come back at any point after just one mistake from the terran player.

[@Baleur]

51:10 i mean it doesnt, it takes about half the APM that is actually displayed, because players double-triple click every single move order (on the same spot), which isnt necessary or improve anything about the way units behave.

[@Sirmartinii]

lowko questioning the double inject when i thought that what u normally do and im diamond :D

[@MrCokewithice]

love the 4k video quality from lowko

[@anonymous255]

I got a whiplash from how much you switched between heromarine and "Gabe".

[@HISteve808]

Tomorrow's GSL Final Dark vs Trap is going to be great! Dark has been so sick with infestors lately too. One more style he's got on deck.

[@dado380]

Tht Dark burrow was so clutch!!

[@tricide7274]

Surprisingly those Hive upgrades by Dark in the first match were really worth it.

[@gh0str4nger49]

dutch be like: uwu our twaine got stukkie wukkie!

[@Spartsou]

*sees an hour-long vid* Me: yeahhh, keep these vids coming! don't wear yourself out tho!

[@raycavazos8927]

The only thing more fun to watch than dark's wonderfully unorthodox strategies own complete face is watching a good old fashion serral/maru/marinelord/byun straight up beatdown. I am loving dark. Long story short!

[@WRJara]

Amazing work Lowko, keep it up!

[@panner11]

I feel like the LOTV release Mule changes really went under the radar. Mules mine 25 per trip now down from 30 and the mining time was tweaked, so they don't mine 270 or 300 minerals, they mine 225 minerals. I've heard many non-terran gms continue to mention this 300 number.

[@game_jinx]

mules are not extra economy. they are a mineral and time investment into making up for lost mining for building scvs. think. how much does a orbital cost. 400+150+scv lost mining. at any given time a good terran has 3-6 scvs that can readily build sim city, increase production, and build ccs at any given time. again, mules are not extra economy. it is retribution for lost mining

[@ProfMaddex]

Makes me remember a dark game in shoutcraft kings with 6min maxed out Roaches ^^

[@jhetao]

Watching Heromarine's worker count at 12:00 is painful

[@damedley75]

As a low APM player (about 70 as zerg), I totally disagree with your Muta shade! Get 5 or 6 (if behind on air attack vs infantry armor) and you can swoop in, one-shot SCVs, and escape when you see something come for you. I know you know this better than I, but maybe you don't realize how much easier this is for a low APM player than other behind-the-lines harass like transport drops and Nydus. Plus you get a lot of vision which is hard to come by when you don't have time for great creep spread. Plus you are ready to make Corruptors, which mostly suck, but are the only way I can counter BCs. Thanks for the content!!

[@Melanrick]

HOLY SHIT that game number one man! I was out of breath just watching it. Man... That was amazing!

[@Rockpet]

one of my favorite games so far my favorite terran vs my favorite zerg

[@huntervkiller]

Dark has for a long time been the solo champion of burrow. Other zergs have dipped their toes in the water but Dark has been swimming all this time.

[@atrtsh]

I use it most games, it's actually really handy, less so though at pro level as they can all see the burrowed unit marks

[@robinheizler2828]

KARTOFFEL UND BRATWURST HMMMM JUICY Thats why we call Lowko a man of culture

[@schippes24]

34:20 i think dark plays a lot out of experience or feelings.. my bet for this series would be that he tried to cut a corner in game two and realized that it probably wasnt worth it and so he gets it in game three

[@DarkMoonGreatsword]

Jeez Lowko you've been flaming HeroMarine lately

[@moritzgraber9962]

46:41 perfect german as always

[@ethanaleman]

Big Gab just put Clem in his place won 3 v 0

[@TubeTAG]

Out of curiosity, are there ever any competitive tournaments for Team vs. Team (2v2, 3v3, etc.)? I know that 1v1 is obviously the focus but I'm curious if 2v2 is a thing outside of PvE. Even when you do cast big, 3+ player games, they always seem to be free for alls.

[@game_jinx]

they tried, but no professional gamers took it seriously. the games turned into mono battles, with minimal to no strategies other than mass gimmicky play

[@damedley75]

I love Burrow, too. The real cost isn't the 100/100. It's not being able to make anything else (queens, hive, OL speed) for 71 seconds.

[@MsHojat]

I liked Dark's playstyle aside from the muta-ling-bane), it fits mine. I don't really like the current zerg convention/meta. I kind of lost interest in the game when they did the starting worker change because it forces the game to be even more of a macro game rather than a micro game, and also reduces the number of viable strategies in my opinion as well (but not a huge amount)

[@patximartel]

Adrenal glands is so powerful

[@ascetahedonista7161]

Game 1: "That game must have been for HeroMarine" Game 2: "30 seconds more and Dark could have defeat that push"

[@andrew3203]

HeroMarine is always getting flanked at his expansion, and never builds a planetary fortress as backup. You see like 7 supply depots getting built, then razed by a zerg run-by, and he still never learns, even when losing a dozen workers! Oh well, I guess he knows better?

[@MrTacoSr]

Heromarine always lives up to his name with the marine splits and drop harass sheesh mans got 4 hands and two heads

[@DaR3b3L]

Another in the vaults. 5/5 stars keep up the great work

[@Yamato2012xdd]

The most gargantuan of gabes

[@ecotechpestservices]

I finally started playing again since brood war days thinking I can micro somewhat like these videos… I was so wrong lol

[@JG-ti7id]

Actually medivacs heal in and outside of combat 😁. As always, thankful Simon for all your hard work

[@cappachino20]

Anyone else also used to watch Huskystarcraft and whenever Lowko says "1-1-1" thinks "DestinyCloudFist" instead? I've always preferred that name for it lol

[@aarongazzaniga1929]

When I think Husky it's either, "BRONZE LEAGUE HEROOOOOOOES!" or "played 100 games never built a lair, ooh, girl look at that 6 pool"

[@Jones-ke6bt]

Banelings banelings ooooh.

[@eyesightc.o3016]

I've got responsibilities and you tempt me by uploading another amazing vid!! Curse you!!!

[@-42-47]

I don't really know anything about SC2 (though I did play some SC1 back in the days) but it feels weird not seeing players making more effort to take down Medivacs, are there no zerg units that can snipe them? Game 2 is a great example of this, the Roaches + Ravagers looks really powerful but they can't seem to kill anything when the medivacs are doing their thing, what would zerg have to invest in order to pick them off? Maybe have a small group of Mutalisk circle around and snipe them from behind while the enemy is focusing on your main force?

[@matteodv6407]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but at 11:46 when dark goes for a strike against the mineral line, wouldn't morphing banelings along the group of zerglings coming from uptop guarantee the kill on the SCVs? Why do we never see funnel pushing, basically doing a pinch manouver to guarantee the scv picks?

[@JohnSmith-hn7zj]

1 Lowko I've been watching your vids for a long time. I just subscribed today, keep up the awesome casts!

[@csmlouis]

By delaying ling speed, it is an absolute game changer because you can produce more unit. That's what she said!! Ahem...so errr... Have you seen this DronelyFans guy playing on just chilling stream? He looked so tense.

[@amormundi98]

Hi Lowko love your videos! Fan from the Philippines since 2019 :)

[@brad24077]

Dark is the best !! even lowko is confused with his build order :)

[@roncho]

I saw the last series of gsl dark vs trap... Dark is invincible these days letse how much time he can keep this monster level

[@misspurdy27288]

This game 1… How many times did these top level players throw? Both of them I mean. Game one was like they were both TRYING to lose.

[@SamKoekemoer]

Annoys me way more than it should that you get the mule mining amount wrong in so many videos: its 225 (25x9 trips) 😘 Thanks for the awesome content :D

[@megiemaster]

Last year i decided to find lowko video where he doesnt say tippity top. I am still searching...

[@b2spirit86]

35:12 how about 13 pool instead of 12 pool? 13 pool can get little more mineral while still can counter proxy gate or cannon rush

[@glowyboi7175]

12 pool in PvZ is a macro build - the purpose is to attack their wall & delay their tech by forcing a Zeolot. 13 pool can't do this if you delay and use a larva on a drone.

[@ddublu]

"big gabe" sounds like a typo in my search history.

[@yanagio5500]

Love your vids bro!!

[@jhsrules8010]

Perfect timing

[@BaufenBeast]

I've always wondered, why don't Terran players make two Thors, load them in medivacs, and boost them at the Mutalisk clump? Two volleys could annihilate the entire army.

[@Jones-ke6bt]

It feels like there is a lot terran can do that never really happens. I've always wanted to see terrans abandon there mains earlier than they do in the late game. So often they are being run around by the zerg, and I think: don't wait for your buildings be be destroyed before you leave, leave earlier and set up shop at fresh expos that are easier to defend. Can literally defend fresh expos but instead keep running back to main and then losing mining bases.

[@AD-lr6pc]

Game 1 was sick