TvT Strategy - Starcraft 2 Terran Strategy Guide

Proxy Thorship In TvT – Quick 1 Base Wins With Terran

by Taerix

February 10th, 2012

Hey guys, today I wanted to share a strategy that I just learned from HotKeyIt (a premium service where pros teach strategies). It’s called the Proxy Thorship strategy, and it looks totally fun. Keep in mind the guy teaching this strategy – vVvRuFF – is a Grandmaster Terran so it’s not like he’s trying these strats out on noobs.

Proxy Thorship Strategy:

The Proxy Thorship strategy is a 1 base aggressive play, and can transition into a macro play quite nicely if you don’t kill your opponent outright. It’s no Fast Expand though, so if you do no damage with your Thors you’re going to get beaten in the long run. The point is to get your Thors into the enemy base and do as much damage as possible. You’ll likely get a lot of quick wins if you execute the build well.

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The iEchoic Build – New Strat For Terran vs Terran

by Guest Strategist

June 7th, 2011

Ok, I understand the growing intensity of TvT. So I've been taught a strat that may even be new to most of the community. Ok so the basic idea of Terran is to have a good economy (check Taerix's Macro Mastery Guide) and to keep units producing out of structures constantly (hotkeys will help). There are only so many options for the terran race, but to be successful in TvT you will see that there are only so many options.

To find out your options you need to scout, if you see fast 2 Rax don't just play standard (you're being rushed) so react to your scouts. But with this build there is really only 1 unit that could hurt you… the Thor. But, you can easily react and if used right your opponent won't have a good enough economy to really afford Thors. The build is called the iEchoic build. Follow below as a display the build and when and what to do.

10/11 depot

12/19 barracks

13/19 gas

15/19 orbital command (manage between scv/marine)

16/19 depot

18/27 factory (sooner if you have 100 gas)

18/27 tech lab on barracks

Next….

switch barracks and factory
research blue flame
starport when barracks is done
keep making hellions
2nd starport when 1st is done
tech lab on starport
research cloak
reactor on barracks
drop off 4 hellions and try to do as much damage to the worker line as possible
build vikings out of 2nd starport
banshees out of 1st
harass opponent to death or attack if he suicides army/ takes heavy losses
expand at 35 supply
if opponent is not harassing/attacking tech to battle cruisers before attacking.

So see this build is all about air control, if you lose air control then you lose the battle. The first 4 hellions should do lots of damage, but do not lose them. The main idea is for the banshees to kill any tanks, hellions for the light units, vikings for the air control (can upgrade if opponent is enlarging air force) and the marines help with air/support for the army.

Basic idea was not to engage until you had battlecruisers, but every time I've done this build it has been successful without BC's, because all the harassment usually forces them to go all in and they die. But if your opponent uses thors (with harassment they will probably not) add on a barracks.

This build can only afford really just 1 scan if your on 1 base, so mules are the best thing to make this build work and run fast.

So this is the iEchoic build, enjoy and tell your friends about it , because i believe this build will change the face of TvT.

This strategy brought to you by…

Gage Gibson

How To Counter a Banshee Rush – Dealing With Early Banshees

by Taerix

October 14th, 2010

Early Banshees in Terran vs Terran can be devastating to your army and the rest of the game if you aren't prepared for it. Banshees will take out your SCVs in just 2 hits and can quickly destroy your economy. They also kill Marines very fast so they aren't a great counter to Banshees rushes. Here's one way for you to defend yourself against early Banshees.

In Terran vs Terran there is usually a lot of play with Siege Tanks, so Marines aren't a very viable strategy anyway. But if you go for an early Tank/Marine push you could be very vulnerable to Banshees.

It's very important to scout your opponent early in the game and as it progresses as well. After your first SCV dies, wait a little bit then suicide another SCV into the Terran base to see what he's up to. If you see a Starport being built or a Tech Lab added onto it then there's a very good chance some Banshees will be coming out.

One way to protect yourself is to go with a 1-1-1 Terran build order. This is where you start your base off with 1 Barracks, 1 Factory, and 1 Starport. Right when your Starport is done, build a Viking. If you have 1 Viking you can protect yourself quite well against Banshees. The only big problem comes when Cloak is finished being researched and you can't see the Banshees.

To deal with this, as soon as you know Banshees are coming, stop calling down MULEs. Save all the energy on your Orbital Command for scans so you can reveal the Banshees and take them down. Another great thing to do is get an engineering bay up and build just 1 Missile Turret right in your mineral line. While Missile Turrets can shoot at a range of 7, they can reveal cloaked units much further away than that. This can save you a lot of minerals in the long run, letting you call down MULEs instead of scan.

Don't go overboard on Missile Turrets, those resources are better spent getting an expansion out or building more units. One of the worst things you can do is over react to early Banshees and waste too many minerals on static defenses. Stay calm, protect your economy and don't get distracted from your macro. If your macro slips then you've let the rush get to you and you'll probably get beat later in the game.

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TvT Strategy – Thors & Hellions To Fight Siege Tanks & Marines

by Taerix

October 11th, 2010

I’ve been trying out new ways to play the Terran vs Terran matchup since the Tanks & Vikings way is boring to me. The last thing I want to do is get in a stalemate where both players are inching forward trying to take out just 1 Tank at a time, these games take forever!

Instead lets look at a recent game played between Nada and TLO. These are 2 Pro Terran players that know what they’re doing. It’s a good example of a different strategy you can use against the Tank/Viking combo.

In this game, TLO gets out a couple Marines then techs up to a Thor very fast. He make a couple more Factories and puts a Reactor on one to make Hellions. He then uses a Hellion & Thor combo to kill his opponents Tanks and Marines.

This is a pretty micro intensive Terran vs Terran strategy, so if you want to give it a shot try it more than once, as it’s gonna take some practice. If your opponent has several Siege Tanks in a position, move out with your Thor first to take the Tank shots, then move in with the Hellions close to the Marines and roast them. The splash damage from the Hellions kills Marines extremely fast when you micro them in close.

Getting a lot of Thors is a great way to bust Tanks positions in small numbers, but in the late game if your opponent has a lot of Siege Tanks, don’t even try to take them head on. If you can get in when they are not Sieged you’ll have a chance, but Siege Tanks get much more effective the higher their number gets, so keep that in mind.

To check out the build order for a strategy like this check out my Terran build orders page

Check out this cool Thor/Hellion strategy below:

TLO vs Nada

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Super Aggressive Terran vs Terran Strategy – The Ghost Rush

by Taerix

October 5th, 2010

I just watched a game that I thought there was quite a bit to learn from. It's pretty short, but there's some good strategy in there when you look for it.

I'm always looking for new ways to play my Terran vs Terran games, and while this is a little odd, it certainly is creative and looks pretty fun. The goal is to get some Ghosts out extremely early and into your opponents base. This isn't a nuke rush or cloaked attack, just plain Ghosts.

Now one thing to remember is Ghosts are extremely expensive on gas, costing 150 gas/min for each one. Because of this, you're going to need your second Refinery almost immediately. Now in this game he made a Ghost Academy and Barracks out on the map to hide it, which is creative but not really necessary.

The power of Ghosts in the early game is their snipe ability. If you get just a couple Marauders you can have them take out any early Tanks that get built while your Ghosts snipe and shoot infantry. Ghosts are neither armored or light units so they don't take max damage from Tanks, Marauders or Hellions, they're quite strong.

Think about this…if you have just 3 Ghosts they'll have a combined energy of around 225 (if you make them all out of 1 Barracks). That's enough snipes to instantly kill 3 Marauders or 9 Marines. Plus Ghosts do 20 damage to light units and slightly outrange Marines.

It may not prove to be the strongest starting build, but if your opponent is going infantry you can inflict some heavy casualties on them with just a few Ghosts. Remember to scan to make the most out of the long Snipe range.

Check out the game below

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Epic Terran vs Terran Matchup – Constant Action & Great Strategies

by Taerix

October 4th, 2010

This is a truly epic battle between two Pro Terran players. This game just goes on and on and has so much action I had to do a post on it. The players are Morrow and Select and it's casted by HD. This game showcases some great Terran vs Terran strategies and is well worth the watch.

The part I really want to focus on is the beginning of the matchup. One Terran opts for some quick Reapers out of a proxy Barracks while the other does a standard Terran build order. You'll notice that even though it looks cool and makes some kill, the early Reaper harass doesn't really pay off that well.

Both players have around the same income when it's finished, but Morrow ends up with a bigger army because he just focuses on building Barracks and getting Marines to defend.

The harassing Terran then gets a Banshee out and this is what keeps him in the game. He is able to pin down Morrow and keep all his forces back in his base to avoid losing all his SCV's. This gives him a chance to get Tanks and an army out to defend himself.

Harassing your opponent can be very effective but it is also very risky. If you fail you could end up losing the game immediately. It also requires and extreme amount of APM and concentration, so if you're just learning how to play Terran, I wouldn't suggest trying to harass your opponent. Instead work on your macro and building a big army.

Part 1: Terran vs Terran matchup

Part 2

Part 3

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Terran vs Terran – Infantry, Banshees, and Tanks!

by Taerix

September 28th, 2010

This is a great match between 2 Terran players: NeedBBackup and MakaPrime. It's played on Xel'Naga Caverns and has intense action right from the beginning. This game shows the overwhelming importance of having a strong economy in the Terran vs Terran matchup. Both players use strategies that are very close to one another's, but the player with the economic advantage ends up winning.

Maka starts off with a Proxy Barracks and quick Marine + SCV push. This forces NeedBBackup to pull SCVs off his mineral line and chase down the Marine since his Barracks isn't even done when the Marine gets in his base. Though this is very early pressure, it doesn't look like it was worth it for Maka as Need had more SCVs after the exchange.

Both players then expand and transition to cloaked Banshees at the same time. They both get a few kills on SCVs before the Ravens come out to detect and prevent further harassment. In Terran vs Terran cloaked Banshees are very powerful since they can cause your opponent to waste his scans to find you (which means he doesn't get to use a MULE). Plus Banshees take out SCVs very quickly which can allow you to pull ahead economically.

From here it goes into a macro heavy Viking, Marauder and Siege Tank build on each side to defend expansions and gain the lead. I won't spoil it but it all comes down to economy and macro from this point on. As you can see from the unit counting station, one player gets way ahead in the worker count which means a bigger income and more units being made.

Overall this is a very intense game to watch and showcases some great Terran vs Terran strategies. I think the key takeaways are the importance of economic harassment and keeping your own macro up as best you can…. enjoy!

Part 1: Terran vs Terran match

Part 2: Terran vs Terran match

Categories TvT Strategy
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Early Banshee Push – Terran vs Terran Strategy

by Taerix

September 5th, 2010

I'm always looking for new ways to play the Terran vs Terran matchup, especially ways to attack early and keep the pressure on my opponent. There are a few good openers out there, and this is one that is very effective against any strategy that your opponent may be going for. Your goal is to get a Banshee out extremely early and use it in an attack instead of rushing over to kill a few SCVs.

To do this Banshee push strategy, you should get your Refinery before you build a Barracks. This will help you get up to 100 gas by the time your Barracks is finished so you can immediately build a Factory. Your Orbital Command will be slightly delayed, but that's no big deal. Build a couple Hellions and Marines to make a push as soon as your Banshee comes out.

While your Starport is being built, add a Tech Lab onto your Barracks, then lift it off once it's done building to make more Marines. When the Starport is done lift it onto the Tech Lab and make your first Banshee right away. As soon as your Banshee is done, push out with your Hellions & Marines to attack. Bring along a couple SCVs to absorb some initial damage.

When you head out of your base, you should have enough minerals to build a second Command Center at your natural expansion. Your goal with this first attack will not necessarily be to win the game, but to kill off all of his army (or almost all). This will force somewhat of a stalemate which is what you want in order to get your expansion up & established.

From here you should start building an army of Tanks & Vikings or go into whatever mid game Terran strategy you prefer. It's a good idea to get your third base up fairly quickly, as you will need a lot of resources to beat a fellow Terran player. Another great Terran vs Terran strategy for the early game is the Starcraft 2 Terran Thor Rush. It's a pretty good counter to this since Thors are so good against Banshees.

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Starcraft 2 Terran vs Terran Strategy – Overview of the Mirror Match

by Taerix

August 16th, 2010

When you start a 1v1 game and get thrown into a Terran vs Terran matchup, there's a lot of different strategies that you can begin with, so you better decide quick! I'm going to give you an overview of the basic Terran vs Terran strategies that you can use to win more of these mirror matches and have more fun doing it.

Let's get started…

Early Game

Since this is a mirror match, you're going to have to play better and more cunning than your opponent to win. Whatever you do, he can do, so it's a little different than the other two matchups.

When you first start out, you can choose to harass your opponent if that's your play style. There are a few rush builds that you can use to weaken his economy or take him out entirely if you're lucky.

Banshee rushes are very effective, especially if you get cloak early on. Just by getting a couple Banshees with cloak and separating them, you can get your opponent to blow a couple scans, which can really help you pull ahead in the economic battle.

The Thor rush is a strategy that I personally love doing and is pretty hard to defend against. Thors are so powerful, especially with SCV backup, they can take out Tanks and Marines with impunity. A big group of Marauders may give your Thor trouble, but that's about it.

A Reaper rush is another strat that works pretty good against Terran. If you get your Reaper over their early enough you'll be able to take out SCV's and his Marines that he is defending with. Marine/Marauder rushing can be viable if you're quick enough. Many times your opponent with have a Bunker down too soon to be able to bust it, so use this at your discretion.

In the early game keep in mind that you may have all these rushes coming against you as well, so scout often and prepare accordingly. It's a good idea to build all your buildings right around your base, so you won't have as big a problem with early Banshees and Reapers. Build a bunker right next to your Command Center so you can fight off any early attacks.

Mid to Late Game

When you're playing a Terran player, there is usually a lot of Siege Tanks involved. If you can take the middle of the map with Tanks, it will be very hard for him to break your position. One of the best ways to secure the middle is to build some Missile Turrets out there to keep any Banshees or Medivac drops away.

If you're on the other end of this, don't go for a frontal confrontation. Try to get air control, and sneak some Medivacs into your opponents base to take out his economy and key structures.

Always try to figure out where the weakness in his army is. If your opponent has a ton of Tanks, his army will be very slow, so use mobility to outmatch him and keep him guessing where you're coming from.

Having air control can be really helpful as it can allow you to use Medivacs. Drop your own Tanks onto high ground near his base, or drop Marines into his mineral line. Plus if you can get a group of Banshees over his Tanks they'll go down quick.

Many Terran vs Terran games will come down to a pure resource battle. Because there's no big unit counters (since you can each build the same) you're going to have to rely on your economy and micro skills to win the game. After the early game, these games tend to drag out for awhile, so expand early and often to keep up with resources.

Always upgrade your Command Centers to Orbital Commands and use your scans often to keep track of your opponents movement and base locations. Scout around the expansions with your Vikings and/or just plant a Marine at each one to give you an indicator of when your opponent is expanding. Letting him get free expansions will put you behind in resources, especially when they can be taken out so easily (most of the time)

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Starcraft 2 Thor Rush – Aggressive Terran vs Terran Strategy

by Taerix

July 24th, 2010

The Terran vs Terran matchup is one of the most dreaded games for many Terran players. This is because most Terran vs Terran games end up being huge Viking battles with a few tanks. So in an effort to win the air war the players will get 4 Starports with reactors and just endlessly pump Vikings until they're out of resources. These games get very boring and quite tedious so they aren't exciting at all.

I've been looking for new Terran vs Terran strategies to play in this matchup in an attempt to end the monotony. One strategy that I really enjoy is the early Thor against other Terran players. Thors are extremely powerful early in the game because of their high hp and damage.

A single Thor will one-shot Marines, SCV's and can kill Tanks and Marauders in just 3 shots. What makes them even better is the fact that they can be repaired by SCV's while they're in battle or after a quick retreat. So when you move out with your first Thor, be sure to send 6-8 SCV's or so to keep it alive efficiently.

The strength in the Terran Thor rush is the speed that you get it out onto the battlefield. If you are quick enough, your opponent will simply not have enough forces to push it back and/or kill it. Plus while you're keeping him busy with your first Thor you should be building another to finish him off. Just rally your Factory to your opponent's base and as soon as your second Thor is done he will charge directly into battle to help secure the win.

Starcraft 2 Terran Thor Rush Build Order

Start off with your standard Starcraft 2 Terran build order, getting supply depot at 10, Barracks at 12, and Refinery at 13 supply. While you wait for your gas to hit 100 to build a Factory, make marines and keep pumping SCV's and of course get your Orbital Command to boost your economy.

There's no reason to get a tech lab on your Barracks so just pop marines out 1 at a time for early defense. Grab that second refinery while your factory is building and make an armory as soon as you can. While your Armory is going up you should be getting a tech lab on your Factory.

Pro Tip: Build your armory in a corner where your opponent isn't likely to scan. The longer you can hide your tech the better this strategy will be.

The Armory takes quite a bit longer to build than your tech lab, so it's a good idea to create a hellion while you wait for it to finish to help hold off any early aggression. As soon as your Armory is done start your first Thor and rally it right over to your opponents base. When it's done move out with all your troops and follow your Thor with 6-8 SCV's, don't forget to put them on auto-repair! (right-click the repair button)

Pro Tip: Right when your Armory pops out start the +1 vehicle weapon upgrade. This will allow your Thor to kill enemy Marauders in just 2 shots. Note that it takes almost 2 full minutes longer than a Thor to build, but it may finish just in time to help you secure the win.

What To Do After The Thor Rush

If your Terran Thor rush strategy fails then you will need to transition fast into a very macro heavy style of play. With the early pressure that you put on your opponent and the strong defense of the Thors you can usually get an expansion out early to get your economy back up.

To refine your macro skills be sure to check out my Starcraft 2 Macro Guide.

Here's a great game from the King of the Beta tournament showing an effective Terran Thor Rush build:

To see the rest of the games of this tournament, check out Day 9's video archives.

Categories TvT Strategy
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Archive for TvT Strategy

Proxy Thorship In TvT – Quick 1 Base Wins With Terran

Proxy Thorship Strategy:

The iEchoic Build – New Strat For Terran vs Terran

How To Counter a Banshee Rush – Dealing With Early Banshees

TvT Strategy – Thors & Hellions To Fight Siege Tanks & Marines

Super Aggressive Terran vs Terran Strategy – The Ghost Rush

Epic Terran vs Terran Matchup – Constant Action & Great Strategies

Terran vs Terran – Infantry, Banshees, and Tanks!

Early Banshee Push – Terran vs Terran Strategy

Starcraft 2 Terran vs Terran Strategy – Overview of the Mirror Match

Starcraft 2 Thor Rush – Aggressive Terran vs Terran Strategy

Starcraft 2 Terran Thor Rush Build Order

What To Do After The Thor Rush

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