Why don't players drone scout in ZvZ?

Question

I know that in professional play, a lot of players don't scout with a Drone in ZvZ. As a gold league zerg player, I like to go hatch first, but I usually worker scout anyway because I'm worried that my opponent will do a <10 pool on me.

At high levels of play, I've seen players go hatch first without drone scouting in ZvZ. I'm wondering if it's possible to hold, for example, a 6 pool, with a hatchery first build. Is it okay to use one of my drones for scouting at low levels of play, or is it really that important? How can pro players go for economic builds without knowing if their opponent is cheesing or not?

Answer 1

There's no reason to scout because even with a hatch first build your drone scout won't get to the enemy in time for you to change anything about your build. You're not going to cancel the hatch, because your pool will already be started or just about to be. Yes, you can hold a 6 pool with hatch first- it's gotten easier as maps have gotten larger but it takes a lot of tough drone micro to stall for your pool to complete without losing anything.