Starcraft 2 Stratagems: Part Three .

Starcraft II Stratagems: Part Three 

By Cody Hargreaves Starcraftaholics Anonymous Doctrine #337: Though shalt not shout kekekekekeke loudly whilst attacking Terran SCVs with Zerglings.  
Three weeks. That how long it been since I last saw the Sun; since I last tasted restaurant food at that place on Main St; since I last saw a movie or played a game that wasn’t carefully nurtured against the loving bosom of Blizzard Entertainment. It been the best three weeks of my life. And the journey has only just begun. Hello, my name is Cody Hargreaves, and I’m a Starcraftaholic. No, I don’t have a problem with that. If you read the above passage and ended it thinking ‘LOL that dude needs a life’, then you need not continue reading further. This page isn’t for you. If, however, you read that passage and found yourself wondering whether or not you should also be admitted to SA (Starcraftaholics Anonymous), then welcome aboard; we have much to discuss. You see, this page, the two preceding it, and the many that are sure to follow have been designed with a very specific goal in mind; a goal that has already begun to enjoy the sweet taste of progression: improving our understanding and ability to play Starcraft 2. In the two weeks prior, we covered an introduction to Starcraft 2 and Battle.net 2.0; we took a brief look at the common terminology found within the Starcraft community, and we learned two basic opening builds for the Zerg and Protoss. This week, we’re going to learn a third, this time for Terran. But first, a little evolution. EVOLUTION IS NOW Like all life on Earth (probably), Starcraft 2, from my understanding of it at least, is a process of evolution. When you begin playing league game for the very first time, you’re pitched against an assortment of other players just like you: i.e. they don’t have a clue what the hell is going on. Blizzard have dubbed this the Practice League. When you leave the Practice League, and begin your placement matches, you’re pitted against an assortment of players from every bracket, and you learn” well, how to lose. Really quickly. Then, you place (most likely in Bronze), and the evolution begins. For me, it was learning first off that almost every single player in SC2 is going to rush you. Now, please bear in mind that I do live in Australia, and that I’m connected to the SEA (SouthEast Asia) servers, a place where SC2 is God and rushing is scripture. So if you play on the Euro/US servers, things might be a little different. But, my point remains the same. When you first begin playing, you learn how to rush. If your rush fails, you lose. That about all there is to it. Or so I thought” After a while, I started to notice a pattern in my SC2 gaming progress. I was losing a lot more than I was in the beginning. Initially I chalked it up to bad luck, but after a while, I learned the secret: good players don’t rush. Well, not as often as not-so-good players, anyway. They harass; i.e. they send specific units into your base to damage your economy, but they don’t attempt to end the game there, as they assume that you’ll have enough defence to prevent it. And you should. Or else you lose. You see, the difference I noticed was that I was playing against players that had a plan. At least, a plan that extended past the 8 minute mark. They were harassing me to lower my economy and give them an advantage in Mid-Game; a foreign concept to me, as I was playing the’all-or-nothing’ open rush style of play, and it wasn’t often that I made it past there. They were expanding. They were upgrading. And most of all, they were building an army no amount of rush tactics could prevent, and when they had finished, they were sending them into my undefended base and waving me off the stage. Smart buggers. But I’ve caught on. So I guess what I’m trying to say is this: I’m getting better. Hopefully, you are too. Hopefully, we can move through this behemoth of a game together, making similar sized steps in a similar direction, and meet each other in bloody battle before the end. But before that, let get another opener out of the way. Terran, hoy! THE TERRAN ‘TRIPLE M’ BUILD Strong Against: Early Zergling Rushes, Early Harass, Most Early-Game Builds Weak Against: Flyer Harass, Early Expand Builds Build Order: 9 Supply/11 RAX/11 Gas/13 Tech Lab/14 Orbital Command/15 RAX/16 Factory/18 Reactor/18 Supply/18 Stim/20 Starport/20 Gas/22 Shields – Strategy: The ‘Triple M’ here stand for Marine, Marauder, Medivac, and so as you might imagine, the focus here is on the delivery of that composition of units to your opponents base as fast as possible, and by researching Stim and Shield (and by keeping your micro up to scratch), this build can end a game minutes after you’re ready to push. Now, there are many ways to execute this style, and many build orders to follow. I’ve suggested one above as an outline; please modify it to suit your style. I already have. So, we begin with an early supply at 9, so that we don’t supply cap at 11 and always keep an SCV in production. Then, we get our first RAX (walling in here, depending on the map, can really help prevent any early rush play and give you a good footing for defence) and Gas when the supply is done. Now, I follow that with a Tech Lab and Orbital Command as soon as my RAX is out, but there are many other paths, and they all lead to the same point. Scouting is a good way to decide which to use. At 15, or when my Gas allows, I grab my second RAX and my Factory; then, at 18, my Reactor, another supply (though you could just upgrade one with your orbital command in place of a MULE, your choice) and I start researching Stim. I want that nice and early, to help keep off that initial rush. By this point I’ve usually got a Marauder or two, and a few Marines ready for action. Then, it time for our Starport and second Gas — somewhere around 20 supply.  When my Starport has arrived and I’ve accumulated 200 gas, I ‘hot-swap’ it with my Reactor RAX and pump out 2 Medivacs, grab another supply and as many Marines/Marauders as will fit. Grab Concussive Shells/Shields if you like; again, this is preference. Then, I take my 2 loaded Medivacs and drop in behind my opponent base. It a simple enough strategy, but it one that works flawlessly in almost all match-ups, and it a great place for a Terran player to begin climbing the ranks, as the Medivacs will keep your units alive, and your early tech choices should allow you to make short work of your opponent army, and then, their base. Oh, and the ability to cross the map quickly and land your troops wherever you choose, is always welcome. And there you have it. Simple tactics for all 3 races that will last you all the way to Gold League. Well, you’ll need a little more tactical flavour than that to survive Gold, but it a great start. Where do we go from here? Well, I still need to figure that out myself. Back to gaming I go!