Read "How To Stop Early Game Rushes – Part 2" Here.
Tech Up or Make More Barracks
Build either another barracks or factory quickly, while you keep pumping marines, and you'll not only fight off the rush, but be able to launch a strong counter attack that will defeat your opponent most of the time. Typically, a player who rushes will choose to NOT tech up, because of the resources and micro involved, and will keep producing the same entry level tier 1 unit to keep up pressure on you.
Teching to hellions or marauders/reapers can spell disaster for him. If you keep getting attacked continuously, you can keep making marines and tech up to an even higher unit like a siege tank or a thor, to which your opponent will respond 'GG' almost instantaneously. Remember that a player who rushes early will have his economy set back in the early game, and you should punish him for it with some higher tech.
Photon Cannon or Bunker Rush
These are annoying and very powerful. However, they can be scouted early, and if detected and countered, can result in a quick win, especially Cannon rushes.
If you scout and see a forge and a pylon, or nothing in your adversary's base, you can be sure that they're somewhere in yours! Scout around your own base, and try to kill the probe or SCV before they can do any more building. If a cannon or bunker is up close to you, it can be a win for them, so make sure and scout early!.
If they DO manage to get a cannon up and it's not threatening to you immediately, you can mass up marines and try to take it out, or if you've killed the probe or SCV, you can leave it till you have a better army to take it out. Don't try to take it out with a single marine unless it's still warping in. If it's warped in, you'll have to wait on reinforcements, or pull SCV's from the line to deal with it before it deals with you!
Proxy Rushes
These are unit producing structures that are close to your base, to reduce the time that the enemy units take walking to your base. You should scout early, and if you see no barracks, pylons or gateways, immediately check all the dark corners of your base and environs. You'll have to deal with it quickly and early. Proxy gateways are particularly deadly, as they may be able to warp in 2-3 zealots before you even realize what's going on! Always remember that SCV's can surround and deal damage while your marines shoot from a safe distance, and once you survive you should attack your opponent quickly while he's still weak.
Marine Rush
This is a little less common, but marines can be a good way for your opponent to harass you and deal damage to your economy unless you're careful. If a scout reveals 2 or more barracks, start either building a bunker or start making more barracks yourself. You'll either have to out-produce him, or get a bunker that's being repaired with some SCV's to hold off the attack. If you don't see any barracks in his base, then he's building it somewhere closer to you. You may or may not be able to find it in time, so plunk down a bunker to be on the safe side. You can always salvage the bunker later if you need the resources.
Planetary Fortress Rush
This is definitely a little harder to predict, as your scout will more than likely see a barracks being built as normal. However, if you're looking at the minimap, you'll have a nice long warning time. Just dance an SCV around where he expects to land, and if he can't land, he can't continue with the attacks, and your marines can deal a LOT of damage to the command center before it either lands or burns down. This is an all-in type strategy, so if you make it through, you'd have won easily.
Spine Crawler Rush
This is the least used rush of all. You don't have to worry about this as a terran, but if your ally is a zerg, it can spell total disaster for him. Scouting early should reveal the plot, and you can have a couple marines deal heavy damage to it as it walks to your ally's base, and while it roots into your ally's creep.
What Else To Watch Out For
This should take care of most of the common rushes, and while there are indeed more, those types of rushes are when you already have an army or economy set up (eg. 10 zergling rush or 1 zealot 1 stalker rush). These are not all-in rushes, and are not included here. These will be dealt with separately. Only all-in type or cheese rushes are covered here, as these typically happen before you can get your army or economy established. These types of 'cheese' rushes happen at even the pro level, so it's good to learn how to prepare for them as a Terran.
This strategy brought to you by Zan
Zan is an old Starcraft/Brood War player who recently made the switch to Starcraft 2. He is making lots of mistakes but learning quickly from them as he goes along. You can learn about most of his blunders and close calls at Starcraft2TerranStrategies.com. He can be seen trying to fight under the name "klesk" on battlenet, so feel free to take advantage of his general n00bishness if you see him there – you'll get a chance to read about what he's learned from it here!
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