mass carriers vs zerg rush

Mass Carriers isn't an auto-win build. Devourers, cloaked Wraiths and Goliaths are great at killing them. Besides, you will need a decisive advantage to even tech to Carriers without the other player rolling over you.

What kind of Zerg rush are you talking about? Rushing with a bunch of Zerglings doesn't automatically beat your opponent, especially if they're even halfway decent.

If you are fighting normal mode computers, it's a instant win if you mass Carriers, as to the stupidity of the comp. who can't tell which to attack and attacked the interceptors while your Carriers are unhurt. But if you are fighting a human player or a insane mode comp., (which can be picked in Editorial) they will be smart enough to take down the Carriers. Unless, that person is a noob.

Zergling rush is not all that good when the opponent is far off the map. To have an instant win, the opponent must be next or shortly across the map in order for you to have a good supply of reinforcements to get there in time. So.. it's not always that will executed..

Protoss is something to consider of since they can do their Proxy move which builds near the opponent's base. (normally gateways + cannons) A risky move, but when you build up 4 or so Zealots, they can hold out until more gets there to reinforce them.

*Overall, not everything is instant.

Zerglings are great at frontal attacks, not just drops. Lurkeres are much better as drop units. Lings are the main unit of the Zerg ground force. They are excellent at taking fire while Lurkers get set up.

quote Ghost Lover

12 Ghosts will destroy a carrier rush. Maybe add a couple Science Vessels, but have at least 1. First scope it out with a Science Vessel. If there's an observer, this'll be more difficult. First cloak the ghosts, and lockdown the observer by scouting slightly ahead with a Science Vessel, quickly following up with the ghosts. Now lockdown the carriers. Then, the Science Vessels EMP, and nuke. The non-nuking ghosts can give occasional relockdowns. If there is no observer, the same!

The point of going Carriers most of the time is to hide the tech. Most Protoss players will hide their Stargates and Fleet Beacon somewhere that Terran will not scan. After building up a decent Carrier group, they will attack the unsuspecting Vults/Tanks. Terran players will not have Ghosts and Lockdown ready. And it is common to use Zealots and Dragoons to back up Carriers. Zealots and Dragoons will take out the Ghosts easily.
Going Carriers also depends on the map. If the terrain is made up of many ramps and cliffs (think Sin Peaks), then Carriers will be much more effective. If they map tends to me flatter(Tau Cross), then Carriers can easily get owned by Goliaths.

quote Josh17

There's also the fact that most players will not build 12 ghosts. Sure you can have 12 ghost ready, but you'll need lockdown researched, and you'll need all of them fully charged before being ready. Although if you're good with their control, using lockdown will end up being very successful against carriers.

I think mass carriers can go either way. They can dominate if used properly, but they can be easily countered if used wrong. It's all a matter of who's using them.

It's not the issue of the Ghost's need for energy, 100 energy is quite easy to obtain, especially since they spawn with 50. It's the fact that they are incredibly easy to kill. 45 health for a late-game tech unit is just not enough. Especially since Carrier users will have more than enough Observers to spot the Ghosts and pick them off with Speedlots or Dragoons.

The viability of massing Carriers depends if the Terran scanned and if the map is Carrier-friendly. It's quite easy to micro Carriers vs Goliaths, but if the map tends to be flat like Python the Goliath's superior range will kick in.
If a good Protoss went mass Carriers against a good Terran it would really go down on the map, so it's not all about who's using them. I guess it would matter in pub games where skill gaps can be quite significant.

Yea, the Ghost's high gas requirements, upgrade requirements and low HP really makes it nothing more but an art unit. A unit only made by players to look flashy, such as Lim Yo-Hwan aka Boxer. Especially since going Goliath/Tank is already gas heavy.

quote Khala

Zergling hydra pwns ghosts, with a few overlords as detectors,

Rofl, why would a Terran even use Ghosts vs Zerg? Good luck nuking with all the Overlords.