SC Guide: How to PWN with TERRAN STRATEGY

Alright, as any player would agree with, it's important what qualities each race has. In this case, we're talking about Terran. They have a few unique qualities that allow them to rule supreme and it's important you remind yourself of these and use them more promptly and repeatedly.

PROs

Upgrades

• Terran has the best upgrades in the game, by far, and hence rule an equal resourced late game over Zerg or Protoss; both weapons/armor upgrades and Tech research (ie. EMP, Cloaking, Mines, etc.).


• As you notice from replays and pro matches, Terran players usually rush upgrades and are ahead of the game with it, don't forget to upgrade! It's essential to secure the win.

Attack Range

• The majority of Terran units all have good range. You could say it's the Terran trademark-how Koreans would love to call it. Range provides Terran ground a great advantage when it comes to micromanagement.


• For instance, a beautifully designed base can easily prevent any early zealot harassment. Here's an example of this on youtube. Also, map terrains like cliffs and hills can provide leverage, so map awareness is also very important to keep in mind.

Heal/Repair/Liftoff

• Another unique quality of Terran is their healing/repairing ability. A better micromanagement of medics can impact a battle tremendously. Also, don't slack on repairing damaged turrets or tanks.


• Lift-off is probably one of my favorite Terran moves, it gives you a slight harassing capability and expoing advantage. A great plus to have nonetheless and shouldn't be overlooked.

CONs

Micro & Macro

• Unit Control is likely to be the hardest or should I say the most tedious, then Zerg and last, Protoss. I would say you need at least 150APM on average without excessive, unnecessary clicking. If you're going Mech, macro is everything, high APM is not that important.


• Memorizing build-orders and rush timing is important for any race, but it's imperative with Terran, practice until it's a habit. Think of it as business planning, start with a plan, your macro will sure to improve.

Expos

• Yup, Terran expands the latest, but there's a good side to it, you'll read about it later. Try not to feel pressured and get a sense of urgency about this, Terran plays off of little resources, while Z or P need to have high resources to battle your army.

In spite of Terran's offensive and defensive advantages, the whole Terran army in one way or the other supports or needs to support--shall I say--each other in order to be effective. If done properly, it's highly effective. But this provides more multitasking responsibilities. Terran needs a lot of microing and controlling, especially as the game progresses further into a late game stand-off, which is a trend I see more and more these days. I personally enjoy the extra microing involved, consider it more practice. But honestly, isn't this what Starcraft is all about?

to show off your stylish skillz!

"Survival of the Fittest" - Darwin

Terran has evolved quite a bit over the years. The game is like life itself, it usually matures and changes every year or so. Remember when you were going to school? You look back after summer and you're like wow, 'I was lame last year'. ^^ It's hard to say what's gonna happen next, but it's up to you to stay a step ahead or you'll be kicked to the curb. This is where you need to be open minded and actually think, lol%u2026

Game-play changes only because people just keep getting better and find holes or weak points into older builds and learn to penetrate it. Sadly for Terran, their weaknesses have been pointed out all too clear since the reign of the Terran race in Starleague. Now, there's a clear anti-Terran organization out to get Terran! usually made up of Toss players.

Important to know:

MACRO > MICRO

Micromanaging isn't obsolete now... Good micro is still important, it's just everyone's so good now. They can pull off some stylish Boxer micros, while macroing back home. How is it done? It's quite simple, practice build orders and make it a habit, keep in mind, your primary focus is still the units you have outside. It may sound a bit difficult to grasp, but make your actions feel like a habit, something you'd you automatically. Imagine the Terminator, then think of Flash. See what I'm getting at? A tip is to learn more about timing.

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A lot has changed over the years, Terran gameplay is getting more, more in par with Zerg and Protoss. In any competitive plays, you have to think either offensive or defensive. The latter is what's being used more often since IloveOOV's induction a few years back. It all depends on the player's preferences and styles pick whichever you're better at and work it, then learn the other.

Because regardless, defense is the first priority. A recent game from IEF2009 Idra(USA) vs. Stork(Korea) on Outsider show how being offensive doesn't round up to much if you can't defend properly. It's safer and more probable to go defense for Terran.

Keep in mind, on most maps against either Protoss or Zerg, securing the first natural expo promptly and early is key whether you decide to push or turle the game.

Terran gameplay can be summed up into 2 main categories:

PUSHER

The Pusher defines basically defines a terran gameplay often seen where the player aims for a timing push out to mid map and begin to dominate the center of the map early on. As a pusher, it's important you don't lose the center ground even though your push is stopped from advancing. Most likely, Zerg or Protoss will be buying time in this stage of the game, and as for a Terran, here's where timing is most crucial.
If you're more of an offensive Terran and you lack macro the longer the game persists, first focus on a mid-game push. Usually a 1Rax expo against Zerg or a 1Fact expo against Protoss. It's important you understand timing for this to work out effectively.

Terran is ahead when expo's are equal with either Zerg or Protoss, so this push aims at the weakest point while Zerg is securing their 3rd gas expo or Protoss is just starting to receive dividends from it's 3rd. And there's no need to harass besides sending your marines out with your first firebat/medic to a Zerg's natural expo. Just to have them invest in some sunkens. I discuss this in detail in Terran vs. Zerg.

Against toss, scouting is all you have to do while you defend against a likely Reaver or Dark Templar drop. Note, having a defense against this is what will give you timing leverage, so make sure you keep yourself alert and aware at all costs.

TURTLE

The concept of "Turtleling" means full macro. You expo, lengthen & strengthen your front lines to the next expo, and expo again. All the while, harassing your opponent to slow down his pace while you gain yourself more time. You're basically pushing for an equal resource(EXPO) consumption and pushing out once your upgrades hit 3/3 and you've got 200 food count. Vulture and Dropship plays are important as well as being aware of your opponent's attacks. It doesn't apply if you're going BIO against Zerg, you can't sit around waiting for darkswarm... Mech against Zerg, is OK, mine the floor!

Here's a cartoon that explains everything! Thanks to Saracen

(visual aids rock)

BUILD-ORDERS

I. 2 Rax, early Stimpack- This is quite common against Zerg. It starts off as a typical 2rax build:

• 10th SCV -------->RAX
• 12-13th SCV ---->RAX(2)

Except you should control and limit SCV production to build your refinery and academy with 15-16 SCVs. Upgrade Stimpack ASAP once your academy is complete, and you rush out when your Marine Range Upgrade is about halfway past completion. You should have 2-3Medics to accompany your 12Marines+ and 2/3firebats.

Just as a reminder, this isn't an 'all-in' play and you should think about building an Engineering bay and expo. But keep in mind, you have to push through sunken lines as best you can, killing drones that come to help defend as well, otherwise, you've blown your timing and now lag behind. So killing drones is a plus even if you lose your squad, since they're not going to have many farming at this time. Note: you're likely to be countered by Mutalisk stacking or Lurkers, hope for the latter, a bunker or 2 infront of your expo will do the trick.

II. 1 Rax, natural expo- Simple build, scout, if Zerg pulls a 12Drone Hatchery without a spawning pool, just go straight EXPO first.

• 11th SCV ------> RAX
or
• 13th SCV ------> CC on expo(no lift-off)

Get your second Rax ASAP, slightly controlling SCV production and follow a typical MM build. Make sure your scout lives long enough to see either a Lair go up or a 3 Hatchery build. Build anti-air accordingly. If you have to(probably), build at least 2turrets always together at locations or it's pointless.

If you see your opponent go early Lair(from 2 hatchery) he's likely to go Mutas, wait to see the spire completed before actually building any turrets. Timing is everything... this buys as much timing as you can. Note: SCV scouting is the best thing, if you don't know what to practice first, practice that, keeping it alive as long as possible.

If you see a 3rd Hatchery, it means later Mutalisks, gives you an amble opportunity to send out your Marines right away when you get your first medic & firebat. Be careful of hidden Lings coming in as you move out. Also, this is only to pressure him into building 2-3 sunkens. If he has less lings and sunkens are equal to your number of medics(1 medic for 1 sunken), you can break through that. And if drones come out, micro on killing some drones, it helps in the long run, rather than killing lings.

III. 1 Rax, 1 Fact,(1 Star) natural expo- This follows the exact same build as teching against Protoss. You control Gas-mining once you reach enough to build a Factory(1 SCV on gas). Have no more than 2-4marines and build 2vultures before building the add-on. To be safe, build your CC after your Fact is completed (likely to build CC in base and float it across). Note: It's important you blockade your choke. And the slight delay on securing your expo is made up by your tech(having even just 1 Vessel can stop any Mutalisks from harassing).

From here on... you can decide whether to go Mech of Bio. If you go Mech, you're massing goliaths with at least 2-3 tanks for Hydra cover. If you go Bio, follow same MM build, but tech Vessels ASAP. But here's the catch: your vultures. I can't express how fond I am of these bikers. Regardless of Mech or Bio, I recommend a researching mines and saving those first 2 vultures with the utmost care. This is explained in the Vulture section.

An important thing to remember is your timing is a bit slower than the 1rax CC so you have to do some harassing to make up for the time, which is the main purpose of this build! vulture plays and/or dropships are essential. If you went BIO, an early 1-2 Wraith rush to kill overlords is another good idea(also helps with scouting). Watch Fantasy VODs to help you practice this build.

ZERG TIMING

Now keep in mind I'm not talking about early timings, such as 4 or 5 pool ling rushes. Notice I didn't put any BBS Terran rush builds either

I. 2 Hatch/Lair (2 gas)Mutalisks- this is a common build against Terran. It means early mutalisks will be at your doorstep and you'll have a hand full of marines and only turrets to defend. Counter: Turret formations should be around resources and barracks at least, with at least 2 together always. It's imperative you mass marines, and keep them together with medics sticking to em like white on paper constantly and consistently. Depending on how well you've defended, you can begin your outward push once you have secured a good amount of M&M, which should be done right away. Flash is the best I've seen against stacked Mutalisks.
Note: The purpose of this play is for Zerg to buy time(either securing their 3rd gas expo or Lurkers), don't let them!

I. 3 Hatch/Lair (3 gas)Mutalisks- this is a more common build I see to counter a Terran's early expo, it's a slightly slower Mutalisk build than the 2 hatch play but it's power will accumulate over time--significantly. A faster Defiler Mound and/or mass mutalisks. Counter: Same Turret formations apply. Zerg tech is slow so it means you can do some harassing: vultures can come in handy, it will sometimes force Zerg to build a Hydralisk Den simultaneously with a Spire to counter Hydras. Killing drones early game when Zerg is trying to tech up is critical. Mines will also stop any lings from doing anything. An early 1 or 2 wraiths to kill overlords can also benefit, be careful not losing them easily to scourages. And make sure you upgrade promptly.
Note: Mass goliaths are not effective against mass mutalisks. In case you see Zerg going mass mutalisks, you could get a group of about 6 valkries(for Mech) or a quick vessel that will likely have Zerg change game plays.

III.Lurker + Defiler + Darkswarm- This is the next timing to watch out for after mutalisks. It usually happens after Mutalisk harassment and when Zerg has secured their 3rd gas EXPO. Counter This is the strongest opportunity to attack Zerg, before they reach defiler tech with consume. In case you've missed that chance, Vessels(irradiate), Tanks is all you have to counter it. It's important to always send dropships to weaken Zerg expos or prevent a 4th gas expo. In a mid-game battle against, Lurker+Darkswarm, it's important to position your units properly. Have them spread wide apart, a good way to accomplish this is to walk in zigzags towards the middle than running straight in. Always micro your units to move in a block than in a line. Have at least 2 facts with add-ons. I prefer sieging tanks a step back from where you'd siege them in a battle against toss.
Note: Vultures+Mines are very effective!

IV.Ultralisks+CrackLings- This is the last and final timing you have to worry about. Zerg will be sending a group of Ultras and Lings to your expos again and again, and make life crazy for you. The worst thing about this is in their speed.Counter: This late in the game, it's important you dominate the middle of the map. Have spider-mines placed infront of expos, etc. And for luxury items, a group of 2-4 Battlecruisers can really do a lot of damage. Ultras will be dessert to these badboys and they're a pain to get rid of, just be careful of plague. And dropship plays are also important, remember, later games mean more macro, you can't just be defending all the time, you have to be doing the same. Fast macro is what you need to handle this.
Note: A few weaknesses I've noticed were, 1. Irradiate the Ultras and 2. attack! its good not to let them mass or give them time to group units, don't just sit there anymore.

The later the game gets, Mech becomes more useful, a Turtle Terran can really be indestructible late game.

SKT T1 Fantasy a.k.a. Terrorist Terran is known for great Vulture harassing.He is Boxer's prodigy after all

TERRAN STRATEGY v ZERG:

• Zerg relies heavily on gas, so don't allow Zerg to get their 4th gas.
• Dropship and/or Vulture harassment at Zerg expos while engaging in a center battle is something to do, always
• Using and clicking on mini-map more often late game helps your macro and map awareness

BUILD ORDERS

I. 2 Fact Push- is one of my favorite ways to play Mech. It's important you blockade and stop Protoss scouting, harness the element of surprise. Here's a way to get your first tank out extra early to counter dragoon harassment early in the game.

• 1th SCV --------> Refinery & Barracks Simultaneously.

For units you either can go all-in vultures, establish a 3rd factory and mass vultures rush. Or you can get a mixture of tanks/vultures/5-8 marines and push early, while securing an expo. Note:If Protoss goes for an early 1 gateway expo, you should be able to pull this off, if he went 2 gateways early without expo, just grab an expo instead of pushing. If you lose your tanks this early, you're finished.

Always consider your opponent on the offensive as well, so be alert for reaver drops or DTs.

II. 1 Fact CC natural expo-: is another favorite and is the most played build of today. You start off:

• 11th SCV ------> REFINERY & RAX
• SCV on RAX ------> FACT
• limit gas extraction to one SCV
• 21st SCV ------> CCul

Build the Fact add-on and get your first tank, upgrade mines first, get 1 vulture, then back to tanks. Have 5-6marines if you plan to do an early push or 2-3 if not. You should also consider upgrading siege tech first if you have less marines. Note: Always be scouting, you're keen on getting harassed by reaver drops, if Protoss goes for their 3rd, you can time a push with about 8-10 tanks early before it gets established. If Protoss doesn't expo, he's likely to be planning an assault with shuttles.

With this build you have two game-play options. The first is you're going to expo again with 1 Fact and Tech,increasing Fact Production after building your 3rd CC(Turtle). Or you will be planning your attack. If the build was done flawlessly, you'll get 2 assault timing, the first is a push while Protoss is securing their 3rd Gas. The second is a bigger, fuller assault with right before Protoss Arbiter timing.

PROTOSS TIMING

I. Zeolot/Dragoon push early These are common against any TvP game. Protoss is simply doing this to try and find a weakpoint to take advantage of early game to buy timing. It will either come in the form of 1 or 2 zeolots and 1 dragoon or all dragoons.Counter: Typically, you should have a blockade, have 1 scv for one zeolot or dragoon attacking you buildings. Once you get your tank, it's safe to say the Protoss attempt is over. If you don't have a blockade at your choke, have a few more marines(about 4-5) and keep them grouped together.
Note: Be careful not to lose any tanks, it will cost you a lot of time this early in the game.

II. DTs- DTs can come fairly early in the game. Or can come a tad later from the air! Watch out for DThese. Counter: It's fairly easy to thwarted if they come from ground, a blockade is sufficient with turrets, mines and scans. DT's that come from Shuttle drops is a lot more difficult to defend against. Scaning is limited, they will just lift them back up and drop them again. It's worth it to invest in an early starport and make a single wraith to stop Shuttle plays. Beware of dragoon pushes at your front when you're focusing on following the DT/Shuttle around your base.
Note: Turrets get taken down rather quickly with a DT so it's a good idea to have a couple tanks sieged at your expo and the rest follow the shuttle around until a wraith is out or of the sort.

III. Reaver Drop- This is one of my favorite plays when using Protoss. It'll typically come in the form of a shuttle carrying 1 reaver and 2 zeolots. A reaver scarab is capable of taking out 4-5 SCVs at a time. The reaver drop comes either as a rush early or after Protoss has secured their expo.Counter: There's a fairly easy counter for this, here's what you need, a couple tanks, turrets. You need to have mobile anti-air so either have a group of 4-5 marines from which you made earlier or just invest in one wraith. For 150min/100gas you're sure to take out a 200min Shuttle to prevent further harassment and leave the fat and slow reaver open for a kill.
Note: Make sure not to lose tanks from the Dragoon push or you're likely to take damage, move SCVs to expos or vise versa right away when you see a shuttle, and force attack the reaver first than firing on zeolots... You want to get the reaver in a state where one siege blast will kill it.

IV. Artiber Tech- Arbiters are pretty annoying early on and drive you insane late game with mass recalls here and there. If you see an Arbiter, it means you're going to 1st face cloaked units, 2nd stasis field and 3rd recall, typically in that order. Your solution, apply pressure constantly and consistently. Counter: Artbiters are not difficult to counter. Vessels should do the trick--against cloaking and stasis fields. You need to rush upgrades anyways as a Terran player, might as well Vessel tech early. Make a couple goliaths, you should not slack, a couple goliaths will help against shuttles, killing observers and artbiters.
Note: mass turret your base perimeter, place mines in empty land inside your base, away from SCVs and Factories of course, if you're rich, have vessels stationed near usual Arbiter drop points. If a recall went in and failed horribly, this is your timing, un-siege everything and push out right away.

V. Carriers- I personally love it when Protoss goes Carriers. If you see Carriers, there's two things, 1, he's over supplied with resources, or he's rushed it. The best thing you can do to prevent this is just applying pressure and scouting often. It's important you don't allow him to mass Carriers and let him get away with it. Counter: Best counter is mass Goliaths. You don't even have to attack the carriers, just have them hold position firing at intercepters, and you'll see them explode left and right, draining Protoss minerals.
Note: It's a lot better facing carriers while defending than attacking, so position the bulk your army in the middle of the map than pushing inward to an expo with all your units. You could receive heavy casualties. Also watch out for Psi Storms.

Vulture plays(harassing), upgrades are always important. Vultures are 75 minerals and you can produce in mass bulk quickly, when you're pushing, try and save your tanks as best you can, while macroing vulture production to reinforce. Don't slack with mining!

BUILD ORDERS

QUICK TIP: Scouting is always important, knowing what your opponent is up to, but in any mirror match, it's even more important

I.1 FACT, CC natural expo:right, this is probably the most common build order for TvT mirror matches. It's similar with the 'vs Protoss' 1 fact CC:

• 09th SCV------> DEPOT
• 11th SCV ------> RAX<12th SCV ------> REFINERY
• once your RAX is finished use that SCV to build a DEPOT and build FACT when you have 100gas
• Also, build at least 2 marines to counter floating RAX scout and build 1 Vulture before add-on(I usually do, good for early scouting SCV and to harass SCV incase he's building CC on expo & not in base)
• Build CC when you have 400minerals(typically in base, but you would get a slight advantage if you can get away with building it outside)

It's also Nada(a.k.a. genius terran or tornado terran)'s most desirable build against Terran. In an interview, at a time when Terrans would go no rax CC, he stated he's still staying with this build because it's both the most resourceful build while being the safest. Note: An academy+comsat, armory, starport should be built before getting an engineering bay unless you decide on going for an early vulture+tank timing. Always watch out for wraiths, having about 2-3 wraiths fairly early in the game is not a wasted investment. It gives you ample scouting capabilities and a lot of other benefits.

This is the only build I recommend for TvT mirrors, getting 2 FACTs or Starport before an expo and possible builds, but it's percentage for success is minimal, it can be pretty easily defended. And once you lose that timing, you're only going to get further behind.

TERRAN TIMING

I. 1-2 Fact Early Vultures- This can be dangerous. It's not even gonna be a mass vulture rush, it's going to start with about 3-4vultures + marines. Counter: This is why I highly recommend getting 1 vulture before attaching the machine shop add-on. You send your Vulture to the opponents base and you can see what units he has for it's likely he'll be blocking the choke or ramp with them. If he has 2 or 3 vultures, you make more vultures after you get the add-on. Don't lose your first!
Note: Flash's TvT style is just rock solid, he macros incredibly fast to hit perfect timing pushes. Sea[Shield] has a good TvT, he simply follows what the opponent is doing, and look for weaknesses as the game progresses. Watching Sea's reps can help improve your TvT. Flash's games are just at too high of a level to mimic, he's like the terminator when it comes to macro.

II. CC, 1 Starport Wraiths- This timing normally comes after both you and your opponent has secured your expos with only 2-4 wraiths. It's not a killing rush but it's capable to slow down your timing drastically. The wraiths are likely to attack defenseless tanks or SCVs. Counter: There are 2 ways to counter this play, the first way and best way is if you have followed a starport when you saw your opponent getting one. 1 wraith for 1 wraith. Normally your wraiths will appear later so you will get the first shot on and can always kill their wraiths. The 2nd method is building up your armory & academy.
Note: Securing the center(mid map) and the best positions early is important. So always be on the look out for enemy movements. You want your tanks to be sieged first. 2nd, a floating RAX or wraiths are always important to have in the center for Tank sight. Scanning has it's limits, so don't lose your RAX early.

Terran Mech can be described as the deadliest force in Starcraft. I don't want to sound bias towards the other races, but in all fairness, the game isn't fair, and as balanced as it might be, we know there will never be any real balance. A strong Mech Terran is impenetrable.

Here are the qualities of Terran Mech: (pros and cons)

• slow as a tortoise
• expensive
• heavy, sustainable, reliable
• defensive: turtle game-play
• strongest build late game in Starcraft
• heavyweight boxing > MuayThai
• relies heavily on quick & responsive macro game-play
• patient and intuitive

What you need to know to have a good Mech Play!

In order to play a good Mech, you have to put these into consideration:

• patience is important - you will need to be able to control those worries when you see Zerg or Protoss mass expanding, not to rush things. It's normal that they do that, you just move in and take control of those establishments as the game progresses.
• scouting & map awareness - with a constant group of Vulture cavalry roaming around and comsats, you should be well aware of anything that happens outside your base.(this is macro play)
• Occupying strategic positions of the map - basically, you need to secure mid(or center of the map).
• Offense is not one of Mech's higher qualities. Don't push it, don't rush it.
• Upgrades, this is why it's hard to compete with Terran Mech late game, investing in upgrades early is better than doubling your factories early

The Bulk of the Terran Mech Army is big and slow so securing the mid is imperative, to have good positioning and offensive maneuvering.

TERRAN VULTURE

Whether you're up against Protoss, Zerg, or Terran, this guy will be your best friend. Show him some love and give him more credit.