[SC2 Q&A #11] Countering The MMM Rush As Terran

by Taerix

January 6th, 2011

Hey hey, the Q&A is back! It's been pretty busy around here, I finally got my Starcraft 2 Campaign guide released…which you should definitely check out if you're struggling to beat the Campaign on Brutal and/or get the achievements. It's available for a short time at a low introductory price, so get it before the price increase!

Other than that I'm working on another project that I think I'll be selling if I can get it completed and finalized, it's going to be all about Map strategies…what tactics you can use to your advantage depending on the map you're playing on.

So I've been busy! But I want to keep this Q&A going, so let's move on to today's question!

It's from King_Bob

QUESTION:

"First of all thank you for all of the great tips, they have helped a lot… seocondly I have a few problems actualy that i can not overcome.

1) I recently tried making the transition from terran to protos but got totally destroyed. I can not counter basic rushed and strategies with the same ease that i could do with terran, maybe its becaue i go for higher tier units too early? But never mind that.

2) The most annoying thing I have to say is that the last few games I have been getting MMM rushes. I can sometimes stop them but quite often they overrun me. I relly dislike early rushes because feel that if they do not work then your macro will be behind for the rest of the game. So i never really try them. I like to put out 2 siege tanks to defend the choke point then i go for a reasnably early push with a few banshees. But by the time I get my 1st banshee out he already has a army that is to large to counter effectively. I want to know how to counter an MMM rush without giving up my own banshee push. The generic strategies on the net are not really wotking for me. PLZ help! THANX A LOT"

ANSWER:

This is somewhat of a 2 part question, but King_Bob said to never mind the first part, so I'll just answer it briefly.

PART 1:

Judging by what you said in your question, it sounds like you are trying to tech too high too fast. As Protoss, if you tech directly to Colossi you're going to sacrifice too much in the beginning to stay alive under early pressure. Plus playing a different race is a HUGE change if you've been getting used to one already. Things change quite a bit from race to race, and surviving different rushes will take some getting used to. So don't get discouraged if you lose a few games right out of the gate if you switch.

That said, I would encourage you to play one race and stick with it! Switching races all the time makes it very hard to learn the game unless you can play ALOT of games everyday.

PART 2:

Now onto the Terran part of your question, how to survive a MMM rush and still use Banshees.

First off is you need to take a look at some of your replays and see how your food count is compared to your opponent when they attack. If you are way behind then you may not want to go for higher tech units until you've expanded and have more of an income. Or maybe you need to create more Marines to use up the extra minerals you have.

Assuming that your macro is on par with your opponents and you're spending your resources fairly well, maybe the order that you're creating units is the main problem. If you build 2 Tanks for defense then start to get Banshees, you're way behind on your Banshee production. Instead, try teching straight to a Banshee and moving it into their base to harass and slow them down.

Then while that is happening get your defense up to defend the push that's coming.

Also keep in mind that Tanks are really good when you get enough of them. For example, if you only have 2 Tanks it only takes a small force of Marines & Marauders to kill them. But if you have 12 Tanks, it will take an enormous force to take them out and is much less cost-effective for the attacker. So having those 2 Tanks in the beginning really isn't going to help a ton because there's just not enough time to get that critical mass of Tanks out where they are super-effective.

So instead of getting those 2 Tanks out first, tech straight to Banshees, get one out and harass with it. Scout him out while you're over there and see what he's up to. If he's going MMM then put up a couple Bunkers and station some Tanks safely behind those. Then expand.

That way you'll be set up for the mid game with an expansion and his only choice will be to try to push through your heavy defense to win the game quickly. Bring some SCVs up to repair the Bunkers so they die a little slower, and bring your Banshees back to help kill the infantry off.

Then once you have 2 bases running (4 gas instead of just 2) you can ramp up your Banshee production and push out with Banshees, Tanks and Marines.

If you have some more questions about details or comments let us know in the comments below!

Categories Terran Strategy
Comments (4)

The Importance And Power of a Great Build Order In Starcraft 2

by Taerix

December 31st, 2010

If you’ve been playing starcraft 2 for any amount of time you’ve probably at least heard of a build order. But do you really know what they are and why having one is so important?

What Is a Build Order In Starcraft 2

It’s fairly self explanatory really, a build order is a strict guide to follow that will give you an a order to build things in. This way you will build the exact same units in the exact same order every time.

Here’s what a typical Terran build order will look like:

10 Supply Depot
12 Barracks
13 Refinery
15 Orbital Command
16 Marine

What all this means is that you will build the designated unit or structure when your supply hits the number on the left. You can find your supply in the upper right corner of your screen, it is displayed like this: “Supply used/Max Supply” ie. 12/19

It’s generally assumed that you are producing SCV’s constantly so those aren’t usually added in the build order. So in the example above you would create SCV’s until your supply hit 10, then build a supply depot. Then train 2 more SCVs and at 12 build a Barracks. Then build one more and at 13 make a Refinery.

Build orders cannot, for obvious reasons, continue through the whole game. Starcraft 2 is a dynamic game, so every game is different; when you get attacked, what units you lose, etc. Because of this a typical build order will only take you a few minutes into the game.

At that point strategies come more into play where you think about expanding, which unit compositions to use against your particular opponent, how many buildings to create, and so on.

The Benefits of a Having a Great Build Order

While having a strick build order to follow may not seem all that necessary on the surface if you dig in and look at it you’ll see some big changes that take place over time.

A good build order will help you make the most out of your resources in the early game and help you get as many units out as possible to carry you into the mid-game.

If you compare the unit counts of a casual player that just builds things as he feels they’re necessary vs. an experienced player that follows a strict build order, you’ll find that the latter has more units (sometimes a lot more) which can lead to an early win (or loss, depending on which player you are).

The reason for this is that a good build order will keep your resources spent and units consantly being created. Plus you’ll have the perfect balance of unit-producing structures vs units being built, so you won’t suffer from either of the following two common problems…

Having too many buildings and not enough resources to keep them producing units or
Having too few buildings and having to queue units up or just stockpile resources (both of which are bad!)

Where To Find The Best Build Orders

Finding good build orders can be pretty hard, because there’s a lot of junk out there on the net. Most sites that are just trying to sell you something will just put up any old information they can find to attract visitors and hopefully make a sale. So there’s a lot of un-tested junk out there on Google.

Fortunately there are some good places to look for build orders that you can rely on. Here’s a short list:

This site! Sure I may be a little biased but I do lots of testing with the build orders that I publish (which is why there’s not more)
Download replays of pro and high level players and write down their beginning build order to make your own.
Some YouTube channels release good build orders, one of my favorites is ForceStrategy
Browse forums at your own risk! Everyone is allowed to post on those and lots of info is incomplete or uninformed.
Team Liquid’s Starcraft Wiki seems to have some pretty reliable build orders as well

Build Orders – Not Just For Multiplayer

Having trouble with the Starcraft 2 Campaign?

Believe it or not, build orders can be very helpful in the Starcraft 2 Campaign as well. To get the most out of your early game resources and get as many units out as possible to accomplish objectives, it’s important to have a plan going into each mission.

Most of the missions are on some sort of time limit too (whether it’s before Kerrigan finds something or nearby Terran colonies get infested) so build orders are even more helpful on these.

As far as I know, the only place you can find build orders for the Campaign is in my Starcraft 2 Campaign Domination guide. Plus I practiced each build a lot to make sure you don’t build too many buildings or queue up any units.

The result is the biggest army possible to set you up with an advantage early on in every mission. If you’ve been struggling to get through the Campaign on Brutal Difficulty, click here to learn more.

Do you have other places where you go to find great build orders? Let us know in the comments below!

Categories Terran Strategy
Comments (1)

[SC2 Q&A #10] Beating Void Rays With Zerg

by Taerix

December 29th, 2010

Ever get bugged by those pesky Void Rays when you're playing Zerg, or any other race for that matter? Well today we're going to learn how to take out Void Rays with ease and help you win against these nasty flying units.

Today's question comes from Jonathan Wallis, he asks:

QUESTION:

"Well, void rays seem to be really hard to stop as zerg. Patches helped a little, but it doesn’t change the the fact smart protoss will always charge up on rocks or their own buildings. How can you stop fully charged void rays?

If I can out macro them by a wide margin, I can beat them. But beyond that, I can’t find a good combination for a solid counter."

ANSWER:

Before we take a look at how to counter Void Rays with Zerg (or any race for that matter) let's first take a look at the Void Ray and find out where it's strengths & weaknesses are.

All About The Void Ray

Minerals: 250
Gas: 150
Supply: 3
HP: 150
Shields: 100

Void Rays have a unique damage dealing aspect, as they can charge up and they will do more damage when fully charged. It takes just over 7 seconds for the Void Ray to charge and do maximum damage (which is 12 attacks).

Visually you will see the 3 tendrils on the Void Ray light up and the central "attack" beam get thick when it is fully charged. If it doesn't attack any for 5 seconds then it will lose it's charge.

Here's how much damage it does at the different levels:

	vs. all targets	vs. armored targets
No Charge:	6 dmg every 0.6 sec	10 dmg every 0.6 sec
Charged:	8 dmg every 0.6 sec	16 dmg every 0.6 sec

So the Void Ray's main strength is killing Armored targets when fully charged. It has a very fast attack rate so the damage adds up quick, especially with multiple Void Rays.

Knowing this, let's take a look at what units Zerg should use.

Countering Void Rays With Zerg Early Game

Many Protoss players like doing some sort of Void Ray rush to catch players off guard and do a lot of damage to their base. At first glance this can be hard to defend against because it's just too early to get up Mutalisks or Hydralisks to successfully defend this sort of early air aggression.

This is where the most overlooked Zerg anti-air weapon comes into play…the Queen! Queen's are Biological – Psionic unit type so Void Rays don't do extra damage to them. But that doesn't make them invincible!

In a head-to-head battle 1 Void Ray will kill 1 Queen. But this is to be expected, if you look at unit costs, the Void Ray costs 100 more minerals and 150 more gas to build than a Queen does. Queens only cost 150 minerals and don't use your precious larva, they are very cost effective.

When you have more than one Queen, focus fire on Void Rays and don't forget to use Tranfusion [T] on your Queens. For just 50 energy it will heal 125 life on a Queen. With Transfusion and a little stored energy, 3 Queens can take out 3 Void Rays easily without 1 dying. This means you can destroy 750M & 450G worth of units for just 450M.

Scout your opponent early and often, sacrificing a Zergling at the front ramp to see their units and sending an Overlord in over his base (yes, it will probably die). If you see he's got a Stargate up or very few Gateway units, make a couple extra Queens. Even if you don't end up using them they will come in handy when you expand and help you spread creep ultra fast.

Beating Void Rays In The Late Game As Zerg

As a Zerg player, you've probably got the easiest time defending against any kind of mass Void Ray attack in the late game, as long as he doesn't catch you by surprise. If you are both turtling and not scouting and you make a lot of Ultras, Roaches, and Zerglings, then you'll be in trouble.

But other than that if you have an equal cost army of Mutalisks or Hydralisks even fully charged Void Rays will go down fast. Void Rays don't do extra damage to either of these units so they should be your weapon of choice. Because Corruptors are armored, they are not as good of a choice to kill Void Rays with.

As long as you do your job macroing and you don't blindly make a ton of ground-only units, then you should be fine against any late game Void Ray attacks. Be sure to scout throughout the game to see what they are up to so you don't get taken by surprise.

If you have other strats or thoughts about taking out Void Rays, let us know in the comments below! Also if you play Protoss and you see a weakness here, let us know so we can check it out and learn from it.

Categories Terran Strategy
Comments (9)

[SC2 Q&A #9] Executing The Terran MMM Strategy

by Taerix

December 28th, 2010

So far I’ve gotten a few questions about this topic: how to execute Terran MMM most effectively. My random choice of today was a question dealing with Terran MMM, so I’m going to lump all the questions together since they are all basically the same.

Here’s 2 questions on specifics:

QUESTION #1:

“…generally looking at Terran MMM builds. How many rax, when gas, when second gas, when starport, when to attack/harass, when to go by land with medivacs hovering and when to pack up and go by air, when to wait for his attack first and when not to etc. There may probably be differences depending on the enemy race and build.

Cheers,
Luke”

QUESTION #2:

William asks…

“hey im a new terran player and i have been hearing about a terran strategy called MMM. can u plz upload the perfect build up for this strategy?”

Terran MMM is a very popular strategy and a great one to start out with. It’s very powerful against a lot of builds and when it’s executed correctly it can move you up the ladder fast.

So today’s answer is going to be all about the MMM build.

ANSWER:

As with all strategies, it’s best to start with a build order to get you off on the right foot. In case you don’t know, build orders basically tell you what to build and when to make the most out of your resources in the first few minutse of the game.

In a build order you’ll see numbers associated with a unit or building, like this: 12 Barracks. The number is the population of your army (in the upper right corner) when you should create said unit or building. So in the example above you would build a Barracks when you’re at 12 supply. All the gaps will be filled with constant SCV production.

That said, there are a lot of varieties of MMM you can do, but I’ll talk about a one base MMM build that will put a lot of pressure on your opponent fairly early. With all this pressure you should be able to get an expansion up to get the economic advantage and finish the game.

Here’s the beginning build order:

10 Supply Depot
12 Barracks
13 Refinery
15 Orbital Command
15 Marine
16 Supply Depot
16 Tech Lab
17 Marauder
19 Barracks
20 Marauder
24 Barracks
24 Supply Depot
25 Refinery

At this point the build order becomes too hard to follow as you may experience early aggression and lose some units or other unforeseen events. So from here on out instead of a supply dependent build order, it’s best to use a relative build order.

1. When your Barracks get done, add on a Reactor to the second Barracks and a Tech Lab to the third. Constantly create Marines & Marauders out of them without queuing up units. Don’t forget to create Supply Depots so you don’t get supply blocked!

2. Research Stim Packs as soon as you have 100 energy stored up. Research Combat Shield with your other Tech Lab.

3. Build a Factory when you reach 100 gas again. When it is done add on a Reactor to it and build a Starport right next to it.

4. Build an Engineering Bay while your Factory is building, and research +1 weapon upgrades when it’s finished.

5. Reseach Concussive Grenades when Stim Packs are finished.

6. When your Starport and Factory Reactor is done, lift off both buildings and swap them so your Starport is attached to the Reactor. Build 2 Medivacs.

7. When your Medivacs are about half done, take your growing Marine/Marauder army out into the center of the map to take map control. Hotkey your buildings for easy unit production and rally your Starport to your troops.

8. When your Medivacs reach your army you should have a pretty big force of Marines and Marauders with 2 Medivacs to support. The +1 weapons upgrade along with Stim Packs, Combat Shield, and Concussive Grenades should all be finished, making your force much stronger.

9. Move in to your opponent’s base and attack!

10. Keep creating more units and reinforcing your army that is attacking. You should be able to push your opponent back pretty hard if you don’t take the game outright.

11. Get an expansion up to get the economic lead and create more Barracks to build up an even bigger army to attack again.

What Else To Keep In Mind

When you move in to attack, use Stim Packs and move-attack micro to get the most out of your units against enemy melee units. Stimmed MM are very good against melee since they are so fast.

Use your hotkeys to constantly create more units (workers too!) without going back to your base. Rally them to your army for automatic reinforcement (or somewhere close so the rally point doesn’t get reset if a unit dies).

If you get blocked out of the enemy base by Sentries, use your Medivacs to spot the high ground for your units, or pick them up and attack somewhere else that’s more vulnerable.

Remember there’s a lot of variations to this strategy, so if you find something that seems to work well, go with it!

If you have any questions of ideas that have worked well for you with this strategy please let us know in the comments below!

Categories Terran Strategy
Comments (5)

[SC2 Q&A #7] 2v2 Matchups – Fighting Against Early Terran Strats

by Taerix

December 17th, 2010

For round 3 of my triple header, this question is all about 2v2 games

It comes from Raoni Novellino and it's actually part of his other question that I pulled out to do separate (It was FAQ #2 – Zerg vs Terran Mech).

He's a Zerg player and is having trouble in team games against double Terran opponents putting on early pressure. Some of the things I'll be talking about today were addressed in the FAQ #2, but things change in 2v2 a bit so they are both worth a read.

QUESTION:

2×2 Games:
TT: – Rush Marines;
– Early Siege Tank;
– Early Thor/VCEs and few marines/marauders;

It's a brief question, though it was mixed with the #2 Q&A I did. You can check out that question to read the rest of his thoughts. I'm going to go ahead and assume that VCE = SCV =)

ANSWER:

I'll split this question into three parts to address defending against each of the 3 strats he listed…here we go!

Against The Early Double Terran Marine Rush

2 Terran players rushing to get a lot of un-upgraded Marines can be a devastating combo to fight against. Marines go down fairly quickly, but when there's a large group of them together they do a ton of damage. In a 2v2 team game, you're definitely going to need your partner's help to defend against a well timed Marine push.

As Zerg you have access to the cheapest scouts in the game, which you should use a lot! Don't be afraid to suicide a Zergling up the ramp once in awhile and scout out as much of your opponent as you can in the early game. Look for tell tale signs of a Marine rush like no Refineries and lots of Barracks or 1 Refinery and multiple Barracks with Reactors being built.

Your best defense against this sort of early Marine-only pressure is going to be Roaches. They have a ton of hp and 1 armor, so it takes forever for Marines to take 'em down. I believe it takes 29 Marine shots to kill one Roach, whereas Roaches kill Marines in 3 shots.

So get an extractor and build your Roach Warren early, even if they aren't Marine rushing you Roaches are a very strong unit to have access to. Keep your scout outside his base so you can see when they move out to attack you. When you see them build a bunch of Roaches and you should have no problem fending them off.

The key is to have enough supply and larvae to make a sufficient number of Roaches to defend with.

Fending Off Early Tanks And Thors In 2v2 As Zerg

Again one of the most important things you can do is scout out your opponent often so they don't take you by surprise with their builds. Sacrifice Zerglings at their ramp every minute or so and send some Overlords in from side angles to get a peek at what they're up to. Be prepared to replace them.

If your opponent's puts down a Barracks or 2 then a Factory and has 2 Refineries up early, there's a good chance you'll see some early Tanks or Thors. But don't fret! Neither Tanks nor Thors are really that great until there's a critical number of them.

Don't try to out tech the Terran player, instead get a lot of Roaches and Zerglings (with speed). One of the biggest mistakes made by players is to try and tech too fast, then if you get pressured you don't have enough units to defend with. So instead of trying to get higher tech units that are "good" against Tanks or Thors, just get a lot of Roaches and Speedlings to defend with.

Having a lot of lower tier units is the way to go!

Also keep in mind that Tanks and Thors are very slow and immobile. If you get pushed with them, send some Speedlings around their army and do some damage to their front wall or get in and harass their SCV's. You can even use sneaky tactics like Nydus Worms and Drops to keep the Terran player pinned down.

The #1 thing to do is focus on your macro and larva management with Zerg. You should try and power your economy by making only Drones for as long as you can. Then when the attack comes you'll have a nice economy to make a lot of combat units and defend.

Personally I think Zerg is the hardest race to macro with and manage right now, so don't get discouraged! Keep practicing and focus on your economy and using lower tier units and you'll start winning more.

Also check out Q&A #2 where I addressed this situation in 1v1s.

If you're finding yourself with lots of questions and need them answered immediately, take a look at Shokz guide. It has a ton of information on strategies and unit info to get your questions answered faster than I can do it!

Click here to learn more about it

As always if you have questions or comments let me know below!

Categories Terran Strategy
Comments (0)

[SC2 Q&A #6] Defending The Zerg 6 Pool

by Taerix

December 16th, 2010

Today's question comes from Raziel, here it is:

QUESTION:

"Zerg opponents using 5 or 6 pool

I play zerg, and I can’t figure out any better way to counter this than to just do an instant pool like my opponent and have a shitty 5 minute game. maybe thats just the way things are meant to be, ZvZ (quick and dirty)

Is there anything you can do that lays a big ‘%$#@ you’ on zerg cheese like that?

Do I really need to rush and cheese every single match to rapidly climb the ladder? Is there no honor in this game!?"

ANSWER:

Zerg vs Zerg matchups have always caused a lot of frustration among players, I'd say more so than any other mirror match. But with all things as the game evolves and the players learn the ins and outs of the strategies used, usually things get a little better and more fun.

ZvZ can often times be early Zergling battles, then transition into Baneling fights where micro rules. This is an extremely hard way to play the Zerg vs Zerg matchup, so I'd avoid it if it doesn't fit your playstyle. Regardless though, that's later in the game than the question pertains to.

Defending The Zerg 6 Pool As Zerg

The Zerg 6 pool should be fairly easy to defend against as long as you prepare for it and are ready. Be sure to pay attention to the map you're playing on, as a 6 pool cheese against you will be much more effective on small 1v1 maps like Steppes of War.

If you end up on a 4 player map the Zerg player will have to get lucky or send a scout out which will delay his Zerglings just a little bit. The longer distances will also give you more time to get defenses up.

On the smaller maps where you suspect an early zergling rush, don't hesitate to send out and early Drone! Scout on 7/10, get that Drone in there and see what he's up to. If there's only 6 Drones and a new Spawning Pool, start preparing!

You can either start a Spawning Pool as soon as you see what he's up to, or keep Droning and prepare to micro your Drones a bit. Just don't do something silly like early expand or do a super late Pool.

If you don't scout…

When you're up against a good player 6-pooling you, his Zerglings will be in your base before your Queen gets up and sometimes before your Spawning Pool is finished (depending when you build it). So you won't have much except for Drones to defend with.

But that's OK! Drones are actually quite strong and can kill Zerglings fairly well. You'll have 6 Zerglings in your base to start with, and you should have around 12 Drones. When the Zerglings get close, attack-move your Drones at the Zerglings, if you get a surround on them it's likely that you'll kill them all, and you'll be in a good position.

Assuming you don't kill them, keep attacking then running away while you create some Zerglings when your Spawning Pool finishes. It will take some micro practice to be able to fend off the lings most effectively, but once you get it down you'll be almost immune to a Zerg 6 pool.

Just don't discount how effective your Drones are against Zerglings. Lings only have 35 health so they go down fairly quickly. And if you can get some Zerglings out to help you'll be in a good position.

Never Give Up When You're Rushed!

So let's say you get rushed, and you fend it off but you've taken some losses. Whatever you do, don't give up!

It's very important to think about your opponent's side of the equation before you think he's ahead and the game is lost. By 6-pooling you, your opponent has severely crippled his economy and is basically all-in.

If he doesn't kill you with this first attack he's hoping that you'll quit or else he's probably planning on losing. Remember he only has 6 Drones mining minerals and just 1 Overlord. If you lose a few Drones and some mining time, you'll still be ahead in the economy game and in a good position to win.

Final Thoughts

Unfortunately there's no great way to defend against this strategy that will work every time no matter the skill of your opponent. Some Zerg players are very good with their Zergling micro and may be able to take out more of your Drones because of it.

If you lose to these types of play try not to get too discouraged! Watch the replay and figure out what you could have done to win or end up in a better position. Just don't start thinking you have to do the same thing! At the higher levels of play you don't see Zerglings rushes anymore because the players know how to defend them.

The opponents you're up against are probably just uncomfortable playing against other Zerg (or just not good in general) so they rush to get a quick win or loss then move on, which is NOT a good way to get better at the game!

If you have another great way to defend against Zerg rushes let us know! Or if you have a question leave a comment below and I'll be sure to answer it!

Categories Terran Strategy
Comments (6)

[SC2 Q&A #5] Placement and Matchmaking for Teams

by Taerix

December 15th, 2010

Hey guys!

I've gotten a little behind schedule, so I'm going to do a triple header…3 questions answered over the next 3 days.

Today's question comes from Chris, here it is:

QUESTION:

"What me and my friends don’t understand in our 3v3 games is the battle.net match system. We’re top ten ranked in silver, and battle.net frequently matches us up against a team of all gold, diamond or platinum 3v3 player AND it shows that the match is even or we’re slightly favored (HOW?).

So then (no surprise) we end up loosing against a gold or better team and loose points. Since we got to the silver league we’ve been treading water, not being able to advance to gold.

I get that there may not be enough silver teams online when we play, but don’t show that the match is even or we’re favored when playing against a gold or higher 3v3 team.

Any ideas?"

ANSWER:

I'm going to split this question up into 2 parts, the first directly answering the question, and the second part talking a bit about the reasoning behind the question.

Here it goes…

Part 1: 3v3 and other Team Matchmaking System

Unfortunately I can't answer this question concretely, since Blizzard keeps much of their matchmaking system a secret so it can't be exploited. But here's what I do know…

Blizzard's main purpose with their matchmaking system was to tune it as best they can for 1v1 play. This is how they balance the game and it is the most important matchup to get correct, so obviously the most effort went into it. Team games are very popular though, so they are doing what they can to make the whole system better for team games as well.

Here's a chunk of an article I found on the Blizzard site about team matchmaking and the improvements they are making:

Improved Matchmaking for Teams

While the matchmaking system as a whole is looking very strong, one area we identified for improvement was matchmaking for arranged teams that were still in placement matches. We found these first few matches for arranged teams were giving them an unfair advantage against their opponents. Since so many new arranged teams were being created every day, this was resulting in a noticeable amount of imbalanced matches for team games. The corrections we've made should show an improvement for many team players, especially in the sub-Gold leagues.

Improved Placement for Teams

Another related issue we've received feedback on and experienced firsthand is the difficulty of placing in a high league while in an arranged team. We made two changes that should improve the experience. 1) The improved matchmaking mentioned above will help teams find opponents of similar skill sooner and, as a result, help to more quickly place teams in the league in which they belong. 2) We also found we were being too conservative in how teams were being placed in leagues and have made some adjustmentsto allow teams to be more easily placed in higher leagues. 3v3 random and arranged teams will likely notice this change the most.

So with your issue, you may have faced teams with good players in placement matches that just weren't ranked correctly yet. Another common problem is that new teams are always being created, and even if it's 3 Diamond players on a 3v3 team, if it is new and they lost a couple games they could end up in your league and look as if they are lower ranked (even if their skill is higher).

The whole system is definitely not perfect, and it will take some time for it to get there I'm sure. But I do believe they will keep striving for that goal and won't just leave it with mistakes.

Part 2: Ranking Isn't That Important

Aside from the direct question itself, I'd also like to address the reason behind the question in the first place. The reason this question is asked is because we want to be in a higher league or have more points associated with our name. We all want to be as highly ranked as possible right? I know I do.

But instead of focusing on your specific Ladder league and rank, focus on your gameplay and how you can get better. If you're up against players that are better than you, try to see it as a good thing and a time to learn how to improve your own game rather than thinking it was an unfair matchup.

The only real way you get better is by playing other players that are more skilled than you, and learning where your weaknesses are so you can overcome them. If you're Gold ranked and you played against Bronze players all the time, sure you'd have a good win/loss ratio and lots of points, but you wouldn't be improving your game at all. So when you did hit that Diamond player, you would be way underprepared and wouldn't stand a chance.

I want to make it clear that I mean no disrespect to Chris or anyone else that is frustrated by their Ladder rank or score, but that the most important thing to focus on it beating your opponents, no matter how good they are. Improve your mechanics and gameplay first and the rank will follow automatically, no matter how bizarre the matchmaking system gets.

Have questions or something to add about the matchmaking system that I missed? Please leave a comment below!

Categories Terran Strategy
Comments (4)

[SC2 Q&A] How To Micro and Macro At The Same Time

by Taerix

December 7th, 2010

Hey guys! Hope you've had a great weekend and if you play WoW, how's Cataclysm going so far?

Today's question comes from Victor about Terran micro/macro:

QUESTION:

"I’m a Brazilian #1 on my 1v1 platinum and average 2v2 3v3 4v4 diamond player.
The big question: I have pretty decent openings and I usually make the right choices, however I find myself falling behind on micro..

For instance, let’s say the zerg player fast expands, and I see it, so I make a push with 5 marines and one hellion, which does f*k them up early, because instead of drones they have to make lings, who then get roasted by hellions while I expand and make a bunker on my exp…

However, when the little “attack” is finished, I’ve had summed up to 1500 minerals.. I just can’t seem to do it… You might say “just work on multitasking, making production facilities, etc”… but HOW DO I WORK EXACTLY ON THAT?? like, what do I have to do not to get so carried away in the action?"

My Answer:

This is a great question!

You are definitely not alone, I struggle with the same thing a lot of the time. Getting so caught up in the battle and forgetting to macro is a very common problem. Here's a couple ideas to help you work on this:

#1: Evaluate Your Results

The next time this happens to you, go back and watch the replay. Put it on slow mode and hang around your base while your small army is being microed. It will give you a pretty good perspective about what's going on in the game as a whole.

Here's what to look for: Was it worth microing and killing 4 extra Zerglings when you could have been macroing and produced 10 Marines, 2 Tanks, and SCVs?

If you look closely at the reality of the gains you make microing versus what you could have done just macroing it will help see which is the higher priority. Sure you may hamper his economy a little bit, but you also hurt your own, so is it worth it?

#2: Hit and Run

After you get your mindset changed a bit you'll start to value good macro over good micro. When you're caught up in a micro battle, train yourself to glance at your mineral count to see if it's getting high.

If it is, retreat your army into the enemy's fog of war and do some macro. Then head back in and continue your attack. With practice you'll be able to see opportunities while you're microing where you can fit in some quick macro.

Just try to keep it always at the top of your mind. Am I Macroing? Am I Macroing? Kite that zergling..Am I Macroing?

Another great thing about doing this is that you keep the threat against your opponent alive. If you have a small army right outside his base he will be forced to make Zerglings instead of Drones to defend.

#3: Use Hotkeys!

If you aren't using hotkeys for almost every action you take then you need to get used to them A.S.A.P! Figure out a key set that you are comfortable with and use them every game.

Before you train a unit or make a building, mouse over to see the hotkeys, then take your mouse off and build/train with the hotkey only. This will help you learn them quick.

To get good with your hotkeys it takes a lot of practice! The high APM that you see Pro's have is a result of a well-practiced hotkey set up. They know what they need to do, and they know how to do it fast using their hotkeys.

So right now decide on a hotkey set up that you like and practice it every game. Here's my setup:

Command Centers
Scout/Spellcasting combat units
Main army
Air units
Barracks
Factories
Starports

I should get in the habit of putting my Armory and Engineering Bays on hotkeys too, but hey nobody's perfect!

By having a setup like this I can quickly make units when I'm focusing on a micro battle. If I see my resource count getting high, I can hit 1,s,s,5,a,a,d,6,e,7,d. Assuming I had the resources, this would allow me to create 2 SCVs, 2 Marines, 1 Marauder, 1 Hellion, and 1 Medivac without ever taking my screen off of my army.

The real trick is practicing enough to know what unit you need to create and not queueing any up =)

I wrote another article awhile back about learning Terran hotkeys that you may want to read over as well.

Overview

Be sure to get yourself to understand that macro truly is more important than micro. Micro looks cool and can definitely help you win games, but when it's at the expense of your macro it usually puts you behind.

Use hit and run tactics to do a little damage and keep the pressure up, then back off and do some macro to keep your economy advantage.

And finally practice your hotkeys so you can make units fast without ever looking at your base.

Hope these tips help out!

Let me know what other struggles you have or how you've overcome these issues in the comments below!

Categories Terran Strategy
Comments (5)

[SC2 Q&A] #3: Protoss Against Early Rushes

by Taerix

December 2nd, 2010

The next question comes from ciaus, he asks:

QUESTION:

"First off, thanks for the regular tips and emails.

secondly, my main problem:

I normally play as protoss, and this is great for later game, but early game I often am having trouble with zergling/ speedling rushes and very large groups of marines ripping through my units.

The main problem I need help with is finding a good counter to large groups of marines without simply overdoing zealots leaving me very open to air."

ANSWER:

As a Protoss player, your main defense in the early game should be only Gateway units. Colossus are very good against both Zerglings and Marines, but it takes too long to get them if you are getting rushed or pressured early. Trying to tech too fast will result in a low number of Gateway units which will likely cause you to get overrun by a player massing low-tier units.

So to deal with this, you should practice your early game macro so you are always making Probes (but no queuing!) and spending all your available resources on Gateways and more units. A mix of Gateway units is the best way to deal with both of these threats.

Against Speed Zerglings

If you find yourself against Zerg, then you should always block off the front of your ramp with your first 2 tech buildings; Gateway & Cybernetics Core. Keep your Pylon back so you don't lose it to early Baneling busts. Keep enough space between your Cybernetics Core and Gateway to be able to get a Stalker through, but small enough to be able to block your ramp with your first Zealot. Put your Zealot on hold position to be sure your opponent can't sneak Speedlings into your mineral line.

Many times you'll see a lot of speed Zerglings then a transition into Mutalisks, so like you said you don't want to overdo the Zealots and be vulnerable to air attacks. To deal most effectively with mass Speedlings, get a combo of Sentries, Zealots and Stalkers.

It will take some practice to be able to micro most effectively, but the better you can micro the more units will survive. Try to channel the Zerglings into a smaller space with your Sentries' Force Fields so they can't get a surround on you. Trapping small groups at a time against a wall is also a great way to widdle down their numbers.

Try to keep your Zealots out front and micro your Stalkers around so they don't get surrounded. Stalkers are quite fast right out of the gate so they can kite fairly well.

Defending Early Mass Marines

If you're up against a Terran player that is going to hit you with a lot of Marines early on they are going to try to attack before you have Colossus. So instead of teching as fast as you can and sacrificing Gateway units, just focus on your early macro and Gateway unit production.

To deal with Marines effectively before Colossus get out, the best thing is a mix of Gateway units (yup, again!). Get a few Zealots, a couple Sentries, and mostly Stalkers (Sentries aren't as vital as they are against Zerglings).

When you're up against Marines, all you really have to do is attack-move at them as long as you have both Zealots and Stalkers. If the Marines try to kite, your Stalkers will keep up and shoot them while your Zealots take the brunt of the damage. If the Marines decide not to kite, your Zealots will still take the damage and get up close to rip them apart.

If your Zealots get killed, use your Stalkers to kite the Marines. Stalkers are faster and outrange marines so if you move back, shoot, move, shoot, you'll take a lot less damage and kill the Marines with minimal casualties.

As long as you have enough units you'll have nothing to worry about! If you have some Sentries, use them to block off the escape route of your Marines so they can't kite and your Zealots can get up close to take them out.

Final Thoughts

So here's a couple things to think about when you start up your next game against Terran or Zerg.

Focus a lot on your macro, making Probes and enough Gateways to make Units constantly and keep your resources spent
Don't try to tech too fast, you'll get behind in the early game
Instead of focusing all on one unit, get a mix of Gateway units to be the most effective and versatile
Use your Zealots as a meat shield for your Stalkers
Kite with your Stalkers when you can – they are fast and have great range

Another great thing you can do is watch your replays when you die to early pressure. Pay close attention to your macro first to see if you just plain fell behind. Then take a look at unit compositions, micro problems that may have happened, and figure out how you could have defended. Sometimes a well placed force field is all it would have taken to stay in the game.

If you have any followup questions or comments, please leave them below!

Categories Terran Strategy
Comments (8)

Q&A Begins! Terran Air Strategies And Build Order

by Taerix

November 29th, 2010

Hey guys, I'd like to thank you all again for participating in my first ever Starcraft 2 Q&A. So far we've had over 65 comments and 27 questions posted on the blog, so it's time for me to get to work!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Personally it was very relaxing for myself, pretty much hung out with my family and played WoW all weekend (I know I'm a traitor!) I did play some SC2 as well though =)

Anyone else play both games?

I'm fully rested and ready to hit this Q&A hard to give you guys some great answers to help you climb up your Battle.net ladder, so let's get started!

The first question I'll do (chosen at random) comes from WildSnake.

QUESTION:

"Hey all. A lot of thanks for the tips!!

I have a question as Starcraft Noob. I use to play Terran with MMs and Siege Tanks. I would like to try something different, like air, but I fear I will be rushed if I go directly teching. Which would be the best build order for teching into air with terran?

br,
WildSnake"

ANSWER:

I'm going to split this question up into 2 and address one at a time. First off let's address this part:

"I use to play Terran with MMs and Siege Tanks. I would like to try something different, like air, but I fear I will be rushed if I go directly teching."

Don't Be Afraid!

One of the biggest problems that is common in the game is fear of trying something new. Many times we are so afraid of losing a game that we feel we need to always do the most popular and proven strategy since that gives us the highest chance to win (and yes, I'm the same way).

So before talking about air strategies that may work, first just give it a shot! Think about a strategy you'd like to try and just play some games using it to see how it does. You'll be able to find the weaknesses and address them accordingly.

Just don't let the fear of losing a few spots in your division drive you back to an old strategy that was boring you. This game is all about having fun, and trying new things is a great way to do just that.

Plus losing games is actually a very valuable experience and should be seen as a good thing instead of something to avoid at all costs. It's hard to get your mind to this point, but it's very helpful.

On To The Good Stuff

That said, you're probably right. If you directly tech to a Banshee or similar then you'll lose to early aggression. But that's where trial and error comes in.

Try out the build you want, and if you get killed early go back and watch the replay. Check out how many units your opponent killed you with, and figure out what you'll need to defend successfully.

EXAMPLE: Let's say you try teching straight to banshees the first time, but then you get hit early with some Stalkers and Zealots and lose. What would you need to live through that first push? Would it help to build a couple Bunkers and fill them with Marines? Or maybe you need a couple Marauders.

Figure out what you would have needed, then write it down in your SC2 journal and play again with that in mind.

Terran Air Build Order

Now for the second part of the question:

"Which would be the best build order for teching into air with terran?"

I think without a doubt the best Terran build order you're going to have at your disposal is a 1-1-1 build order. This will get your Starport up as fast as possible and help you get early air out to start harassing with.

Start off with the basic build order of 10 Supply, 12 Barracks, 13 Refinery, 15 Orbital Command & Marine, 16 Supply. Train 1 Marine then when you have 100 Gas build a Factory. Train another Marine and put up your 2nd Refinery when your Factory is about a quarter done. Build a Starport right when the Factory is done.

If you add on your Tech Lab to your Factory then switch it to your Starport this should give you about enough Gas to build 1 Banshee and research Cloak almost immediately. Keep building Marines and Hellions and make a couple Bunkers if you're afraid of early pressure.

From this point you can adapt to what your opponent is doing or simply build another Starport and start massing air units.

Terran Air Strategies

If you're going to stick with an air strategy then you should focus on a few things. Every matchup will be different too, (TvZ, TvT, TvP) so keep that in mind. This post is already getting really long so I can't get too specific for brevity sake.

With air control you are free to harass multiple locations at once and do surprise attacks to keep your opponent pinned in their base. Banshees do a ton of damage, but are fairly flimsy, so use Cloak to it's fullest. Against Protoss, scan and take out Observers with Vikings or Thors then Cloak your Banshees and destroy the ground forces. Same with Zerg (take out Overseers) but don't use your Thors to kill them =P

An all air build will be very Gas heavy too, so you'll end up having a lot of extra minerals. If you've established map control and have them pinned, use them to expand a lot to take more Gas Geysers.

Also don't be afraid to build a lot of Barracks to pump Marines out of. Marines do a lot of damage and are a great mineral dump. Plus if you make a few Medivacs you can drop Marines at one location while you send your Banshees into another part of their base to harass.

Air Strategy Recap

So remember to try new things and don't be afraid of losing! When you lose watch the replays and see what you could have done differently. It helps a ton!

Use the 1-1-1 Terran build order to get your Starport up fast and do some early harassment with a Cloaked Banshee. Then transition into more Starports and an air heavy build.

Keep your opponent pinned in their base with hit and run attacks with your Banshees and Killing Overlords with your Vikings.

I hadn't really thought of doing an air heavy build before, but I'm starting to like the idea. I'm going to have to give it a shot.

If you have any follow up questions or comments leave them below. And if you've been doing some air heavy Terran gameplay let us know, we'd all love your suggestions and thoughts!

Categories Terran Strategy
Comments (4)

Are You a Struggling Bronze Player?

Want To Get Better At Starcraft 2?

Archive for Terran Strategy – Page 2

What Is a Build Order In Starcraft 2

The Benefits of a Having a Great Build Order

Where To Find The Best Build Orders

Build Orders – Not Just For Multiplayer

All About The Void Ray

Countering Void Rays With Zerg Early Game

Beating Void Rays In The Late Game As Zerg

What Else To Keep In Mind

Against The Early Double Terran Marine Rush

Fending Off Early Tanks And Thors In 2v2 As Zerg

Defending The Zerg 6 Pool As Zerg

If you don't scout…

Never Give Up When You're Rushed!

Final Thoughts

Part 1: 3v3 and other Team Matchmaking System

Part 2: Ranking Isn't That Important

#1: Evaluate Your Results

#2: Hit and Run

#3: Use Hotkeys!

Overview

Against Speed Zerglings

Defending Early Mass Marines

Final Thoughts

Don't Be Afraid!

On To The Good Stuff

Terran Air Build Order

Terran Air Strategies

Air Strategy Recap

Stuck in Bronze?

Strategy Guides

Get Top Starcraft 2 Training Straight From The Pros

Recent Posts

Blogroll