In this Overview of Shokz Starcraft 2 Terran Strategies, we explore commonly used strategies in mid to high level of play. Below are some rush-type openings as well as more general gameplay strategies.

Marine Rush

With a bunch of Marines, send them to the enemy base. After getting the 1st Barracks and Orbital command, add 3 more barracks before the 2nd supply depot, and mass produce marines. Take advantage of the long weapon range of marines and concetrated DPS to painlessly and quickly take down any target. Using MICRO, run back the marines after each firing cycle. this enables them to take less hits from melee units and to prevent the melee attackers from surrounding them. Shorter ranged units will also find it hard to engage with their full attack potential. When the Marine force is ready, supplemented by waves of rallied reinforcements, the chance to deal a knock-out blow to the economy of the enemy is very great. And the game is then decided right at that point.

Counters:

• Bunkers, especially w Reapers OR Siege Tanks
• Quick Colossus, Cannons + Force Field in chokes, dancing Stalkers, Charging Zealots
• Spine Crawlers, Banelings, and/or Roaches in sufficient numbers

Fast Banshees

The Terran’s rotor-spaceships, the Banshees can’t take a lot of hits and are somewhat slow, but dish out damage at an incredible rate. the Terran’s walling-off abilities make this strategy both relatively safe and hard to scout, despite being relatively high on the tech tree.

The banshees are capable at hit & run attacks against anti-air defenses and units. Wear down the opponents until the mineral line is exposed.

This would give Terran player a good chance to find opponents lacking any meaningful anti-air if you get these out to the field quickly. But one Banshees can take out their immediate counters in one on one battles – Both Stalkers & Queens lose to a Banshee in a head-on fight, and groups of Marines may not repel it still. Delaying the Banshee attack can allow the Terran to research Cloak for it, making its harassment even more effective.

Counters:

• Missile Turrets with quick Vikings, marines, Ravens
• Stalkers with Observers added later on, Photon Cannons
• Quick Hydralisks with Overseers, Spore Colonies

Reaper Rush

The Terran’s jetpack-equipped infantry unit, has been hotly discussed from the beginning. They are ranged, superfast, light-damage dealing, cliff-jumping, tier 1.1 unit takes down workers in three rapid shots and can infiltrate mineral line before he’s able to produce a single unit. The fastest one calls to build Barracks and Refinery before the first supply depot. Then attaching a tech-lab to it, then getting a Reaper out as soon as possible.

The goal in this rush is to inflict more economy damage to the opponent than the Terran player has sacrificed for it, and this is an economy-crippling build. Groups of 2-3 reapers will be gathered first before attacking in low-mid levels of play. Players might send his first reaper to attack as soon as it emerges.

Reapers are invulnerable to tier 1 melee units, except for Zerglings on creep and Speedlings, which can catch up with the Reapers and quickly surround them. But with the Reapers’ ability to jump up and down cliffs, their harassment and survivability potential are great.

Reaper rushes can be defended against as well if enemy scouts ahead and prepares.

Counters:

• about ~2 Marines per Reaper
• Marauder or stalker in the mineral line, Roaches
• Photon Cannon or Spine Colony + whatever units are at hand to chase the Reapers

Standard M3 Ball

Many are afraid of the M&M&M army. Much has been said about this unit composition – comprising Marines, Marauders and Medivacs combo – and not surprisingly so, as it can be seen in the vast majority of Terran games, in all match-ups.

This is composed of easy to mass units, capable in both offense and defense, mobile to the extreme yet beefy enough for a stand-up fight, is clearly the “correct” go-to strategy in many situations. With Marauders dishing out heavy anti-armor damage, Marines – the highest DPS/cost ranged unit in the game, who have a great anti-air weapon – and Medivacs, the mobility and healing granting fliers, the M3 ball can be where it needs quickly, counter almost any unit composition, and stay alive long enough to get the job done. With the three upgrades added – Combat Shields, Concussive Shells and Stim Packs – the ball can serve many Terran players for the entire match.

Set up 2 extra barrack after upgrading to an orbital command. 1 Barracks should have the Reactor addon while the rest get a Tech-Lab. Then pump out units is an easy affair, and the ball is quickly formed by continually building two Marauders and two Marines at a time. This build allows the production of a relatively heavy army while still teching up and/or getting unit upgrades – a must for a dedicated M3 ball. A starport is built when a small complement of M&Ms is gathered, to supplement them with Medivacs.

This is then made, and this well-rounded army can push out, look for weaknesses, drop on unsuspecting mineral lines, or serve as cannon fodder for Siege Tanks.

Counters

• Brood Lords in the late game, Fungal Growth, Banelings + Swarm
• Cloaked Banshees, Siege Tanks
• Charging Zealots, Colossi

Mid-game transitions: Siege Tanks, Thors – Once the terran has opened and transitioned into the mid-game.

Hellion Opening

This StarCraft 2 Firebat/Vulture hybrid may be used throughout all stages of the game. But still, their most effective uses is early in the game, where there are few offensive units. Their splash damage makes them effective for killing workers. Terran needs to get a fast factory right after the 1st barrack. Hellions remain very handy later on, if Hydralisks, Zealots, Zerglings, Banelings, and Dark Templars come into play. They have relatively long range to stay out of trouble.

Counters

• Blocked ramps and choke points (units on Hold Position work well!)
• Static defense in the mineral line

Thors

Thor has many advantages and is very useful in many army compositions – and sometimes, even just by itself, despite its cost.

Thor drops to enemy mineral line are deadly if done right. The Thor’s special Strike Cannon ability is good against other Massive targets, since, despite not dealing much more DPS than its normal attack, the bombardment stuns the unit until it dies.

Siege Tanks

This is one of Terran’s most symbolic and powerful units for ground-control and crowd-control. It has huge damage and also splash effect, and they are effective in numbers.

Most of the time, terran player will get a couple of siege tanks after settling into the game, then go to enemy lines, the siege tank push.

Counters

• Banshees, Siege Tanks
• Swarm the tanks when unsiege, Brood Lords
• Dark Templars, Immortals, Phoenix Gravity Beam, carefully managed Charging Zealots

The Standard

Wall-up inside their base while gathering the standard M&M force, when Terran players wish to play it safe and solid.
Additional units will supplement this army to counter threats :

• Hellions for masses of light units; Vikings for heavy air unit
• Siege Tanks to deal with masses of tier 1 & 2 units, Thors to deal with light-air swarms
• Battlecrusiers, and some pressure can be applied using Reapers, Banshees or Hellions, as described above, until the Terran player is ready to seal the deal with a well-timed push.

Terran as the Real Infestation

Terran can also play the infestation game, “infesting” the battlefield and never releasing their hold on it. About every Terran unit can be treated like a mobile turret with various properties designed to keep enemies away from mining operations. They have the longest range, their buildings are durable, and their defense is robust.

The Thor can be a walking turret, guarding the base from Mutalisk invasions; Vikings have an incredible range of 9, and are more than suitable for taking down Void Rays. Terran fortress is the hardest to break.

For now, this ends here. For advanced and secret strategies & techniques, I recommend checking out the guide below:

Starcraft_2_Strategy_Guides_Terran_Protoss_Zerg