4 Tips for Surviving in 2v2 Team Ranked Play

Ranked 2v2 play continues to be an under-appreciated aspect of Starcraft 2 play. Part of the reason for this is due to the fact that Starcraft 2 is not really balanced for a longer 2v2 strategy game. In fact, I would argue that it is almost impossible to balance both 1v1 and 2v2 matches in order to encourage longer macro games.

Lets do the math for a second. The total number of races is 3, each one of those races can be played as a team, ZZ - TT - PP (3 combinations), and each team can play against itself or others (ZZ v. ZZ, ZZ v. TT, ZZ v. PP, etc.). This makes a total of 6 team combinations to balance without consideration for mixed teams. To make matters worse, you also have to apply all of your balance tweaks to 1v1 matches. When you start to crunch the numbers, the total number of combinations that you have to account for when balancing is dizzying.

This general imbalance can result in some serious domination by teams savvy in the ways of 2v2 cheese. Nevertheless, despite the imbalances, 2v2 play can also be the source of a lot of fun. A budding 2v2 match team need only be aware of a few strategy principles in order to survive the fray. Here is what I have learned after clawing my way to the Diamond league with 2 separate teammates.

Tips after the jump.

Killer 2v2 Protoss Zerg Strategy

This 2v2 strategy is one of the most effective ways of reaching the Plat/Diamond tiers with the minimal amount of time. A buddy of mine and I went about 30 wins to 2 losses using this strategy about a month ago. It has now become extremely popular so its effectiveness has been reduced but it is still really powerful in Plat leagues and below.

Beware that implementing this strategy means that when you finally do start losing games you will not have the requisite skill level to take on your opponents since you cheesed your way into the higher leagues =(

The concept:


The killing blow comes from the Protoss player who will warp in zealots directly into the enemy base. This is achieved by having the Zerg player provide vision with the overlord and protection/harass with the 24 speedlings produced at around the 5 minute mark.

Build order and replays after the jump.

Floating Minerals

Don't do it. Just don't. Floating minerals is the bane of my existence. In order to get past the gold league, I have to stop floating. What is it that is so hard about spending your resources? Here is a replay that shows just how bad I do it on occasion. I don't even want to look. Sure we won in the end but seriously, what is up with not building units?