General 2v2 strategy

From Liquipedia Starcraft 2 Wiki

[edit] Overview

2v2 requires collaboration. Effective communication (preferably through voice chat) is necessary to react uniformly to scouting information, devise battlefield tactics, and plan strategy.

[edit] Races

A brief consideration of 2v2 in Brood War will illuminate 2v2 in Starcraft 2. In Brood War, a viable team needs to have at least one zerg player, and a team of two zerg players is considered imbalanced. This is because the mobility of the zerg arsenal, particularly mutalisks and speedlings, allows players to keep their opponent's forces apart while keeping their own in one large ball, only having to fight 2v1 at any given time. Most games end within ten minutes. To make every team composition viable, Blizzard introduced shared bases into the map designs of Starcraft 2. Additionally, warpgates and medivacs greatly increase the mobility of the protoss and terran arsenals. With maps like Twilight Fortress and High Orbit, players can now safely choose any race combination. At the time of writing, no race combination has been proven more effective than others.

See the respective team strategy pages for each race combination:

[edit] Mirror Teams

[edit] Mixed Teams

[edit] Scouting

Having two opponents means digesting twice the amount of scouting information. It is important to keep up with your opponents' expansion timings, tech structures, production facilities, army composition, and upgrades in order to facilitate potent reactions. Moreover, since 2v2 is generally more obscure than 1v1, players will often attempt more unorthodox strategies that you can prepare for if properly scouted. As a rule, always occupy all Xel'Naga Watchtowers and formulate a plan that emphasizes information rather than brute warfare.

[edit] General Strategy

These strategies are general,

Dual Cheese: esp. Arid Wastes
Dual Rush: esp. Tempest
Dual Tech: esp. High Orbit, Discord IV
1 Defense 1 Tech: esp. Twilight Fortress
1 Agro 1 Tech

[edit] Team Mechanics

Shared Control: Being able to control your ally's units has several advantages and disadvantages. For teams with poor communication, it allows you to block ramps and react to enemy positioning that your teammate didn't see. If one player is eliminated or marginalized, they can assist the surviving player by controlling harassment, scouting, spreading creep, and handling macro mechanics such as casting Spawn Larva. You cannot spend your ally's resources and therefore cannot construct buildings or units with this mechanic. Players may find that Shared Control hinders their micro when they accidentally select their ally's units or inadvertently misplace overlords or workers. Some high level teams will leave Shared Control off, especially in battles, to ensure both players' micro is focused on different units.
Shared Resources: After the 5:00 minute mark, allies are allowed to send or request minerals and gas in 50 or 100 unit increments (holding control will increment by 100 per click; the mouse wheel can be used to quickly select larger values). This enables teams to create unconventional push timings or tech switches at the temporary cost of one player's economy. This mechanic can also be used to stabilize a teammate's economy if they have have suffered worker losses.

[edit] Maps

Strategies are not applicable across the entire map pool. Consider the following elements of 2v2 map design.

[edit] Proximity to Partner

There are currently three types of 2v2 maps in terms of your partner's proximity:

Maps with shared bases like Twilight Fortress, High Orbit, and Discord IV. These maps allow you to keep your forces and buildings clustered together, fighting as one army.
Maps with split but close bases like Monlyth Ridge, Tempest, and Scorched Haven. These maps allow for some abuse of mobility or use of contain to keep your opponents forces split.
Maps with split bases like Arid Wastes. These maps allow for a great deal of abuse of mobility. Slow armies cannot reinforce their partner's bases as easily. These maps are generally more volatile and require a greater deal of caution, scouting, and mobility.

[edit] Map Pool

Be sure to familiarize yourself with the current 2v2 map pool:

[edit] 2v2

2v2 Ladder Maps
Discord IV (4) Controlling each of the center Xel'Naga Towers provides vision to more easily defend the side expansions. Check the other attack route before attacking, as opposing forces may be attacking through that route.
High Orbit (4) A double expansion is located close by for you and your ally. Xel'Naga Towers provide vision over the various paths to the enemy. Additional resources are hard to secure.
Lunar Colony V (4) Team play map, you share a fortress with your ally. Moving out of your base there are many additional resource locations. Watch Towers overlook all ground paths. Destroy rocks to expand at rich mineral locations.
Scorched Haven (4) Defend the choke that leads into your team's bases. Use the different elevations of terrain as well as the Xel'naga Watch Towers when going on the offensive.
The Ruins of Tarsonis (4) Team play map, you share a fortress with your ally. One main path leads to the enemy. Destroy rocks to attack the enemy from the side.
Tyrador Keep (6) Team play map, you share a fortress with your ally. Your first expansion is easy to secure but additional resources are scarce on this map. Try to secure the third fortress or go for the rich mineral expansions.
Magma Core (8) Team play map, you share a fortress with your ally. Opponents cannot start in the adjacent fortress, so use it for early expansions. Control of Watch Towers will grant visibility over many key areas of the map.
The Boneyard (8) Team play map, you share a fortress with your ally. Enemy locations are not far away so be prepared for a possible rush. Watch Towers may provide early warning so controlling them is important.