As Protoss players get better and better, we Terrans need to figure out new and different strategies to win against them. Many Protoss players in the Terran vs Protoss matchup will tech straight to Colossi to deal with the mass Marine, Marauder, Medivac armies that are so popular among Terran players. Because of this their anti-air and detection is usually lacking. That’s what we intend to exploit with this Marine, Banshee, Raven strategy.
The Build Order
As you know, build orders only cover the first few minutes, after that it’s up to you to macro well and keep your money spent. Here’s the initial build order to use with the Marine, Banshee, Raven strategy:
10 Supply Depot
12 Barracks > scout with SCV
13 Refinery
15 Orbital Command
15 Marine
16 Refinery
16 Supply
16 Marine
17 Supply Depot
From here on out it gets a little looser, especially if you have to deal with early pressure. Constantly produce Marines out of your Barracks, and when you have 100 gas build a Factory. Then lay down 2 Starports & make Tech Labs for them with your Factory. You won’t be using your Factory hardly at all with the Marine, Banshee, Raven strategy so you can even fly it over and scout with it to see what’s going on.
Fly your Starports onto the Tech Labs and make a Raven and a Banshee. Start researching Cloak at the Tech Lab and build 2 more Barracks when you get the minerals. If you have a decent APM and ability to multi-task you can fly over with your first Banshee and harass their mineral line a little bit, just be sure not to let it die.
Once you have 3 Banshees and Cloak is done move out with all your Marines, Banshees and your Raven. Keep making units and rally them to your opponents base so they will quickly join the fight. Banshees are much faster than Marines, so your 4th and 5th Banshee will probably be done by the time you reach the Protoss base.
The Battle
When you reach the Protoss and are ready to engage their army, be ready to micro. Use your Raven to lay down a Point Defense Drone as close to their base as possible, you don’t want them to be able to retreat and avoid it’s effects. Cloak your Banshees and move them in to kill any Colossi around, if none go for Stalkers.
Try your hardest to find the Observer in the area and snipe it with your Marines. It won’t be auto-targeted so you’ll have to find do it on your own. If you can kill the Observer and they don’t have other detection your Banshees will rip apart their army with impunity.
Keep your Raven alive at all costs so you can throw down another Point Defense Drone if the battle goes on. Continually reinforce your army with Marines and Banshees to take out the Protoss base. If he has Cannons and you can’t break his defense, expand and get the economic advantage. You can also go around to the back of his base with your Banshees to pick off Pylons or other units and structures.
A cool trick you can use to gain the advantage is to bring 5-8 SCV’s with your army and attack/repair with them. If your SCV’s are attacking the Protoss army, his units will auto-target them first, which will help your Marines live longer and do more damage. Plus if they don’t all die they can repair your Banshees to help them last longer too.
Weaknesses
Overall the Marine, Banshee, Raven strategy is very strong as an early push. Keep in mind that Banshees do a lot of damage but they die very fast. This is why Cloak, Point Defense Drone, and killing Observers is so important.
This strategy is relatively weak against a player that masses Stalkers and makes more than one Observer. Stalkers are tough units and will take out Banshees and Marines quickly with detection. If you scout that your opponent is massing up Stalkers with nothing else, swap out your Barracks with your Starports and start making Marauders w/ Stim Packs.
