StarCraft 2 - Terran Vs Protoss - Haunting the Protoss to Victory
A Starcraft II Terran vs Protoss match has just ended.
The Protoss player has been victorious, pumping zealots and stalkers into the base of the Terran player, who is at a complete loss as to how his opponent orchestrated such a quick, massive attack.
This can happen to any Terran player, and the cause is simple: being unprepared.
Terrans, who lack the Zerg's capability to amass a lot of units in a hurry, must be constantly vigilant in almost every way to defeat a skilled Protoss player; however, with this awareness, a good Terran player can come to tip the scales almost unfairly in their advantage, especially early game.
Scouting, as it is for all races in any sort of match, is critical.
For the Terran player, scouting is needed to know which support units or buildings to move toward early in the tech tree.
Though as of right now, dark templars seem to not be used as often by Protoss players as other early-game units, the threat is still there, and the difference between building one missile turret, or a cheaper sensor tower, could be the difference between a win or a loss.
More likely, good scouting will reveal the threat of zealots and stalkers.
This is better for the Terran player, who does not need to worry about early detection and can focus on pumping out marines and, more importantly, marauders.
Scouting also has another vital purpose against the Protoss.
Take the carelessness referenced above: the Terran player is at a loss as to how the Protoss player mobilized so many units so quickly.
The answer is that the Protoss player upgraded his or her gateways into warp gates, allowing him or her to immediately warp units to any place on the map within range of a pylon or warp prism.
Many Protoss players will build proxy pylons near an opponent's base and use it as a portal to continuously warp in reinforcements until the other player is overwhelmed.
Constant scouting across the map will reveal these pylons, allowing the Terran player to disrupt this strategy before it is too late.
Regardless of what the Protoss player amasses, a good Terran force to counter should consist of a large group of marines backed up by several marauders (commonly referred to as M&Ms).
If possible, the marauders' concussive shells upgrade should be researched, which slows enemy units by 50%.
This will heavily cripple the effectiveness of zealots if micro is done well.
Teching up to medivacs will obviously be a boon to infantry units, but will take too long for those looking to launch an early assault.
If an initial attack is rebuffed, a couple medivacs will work wonders in future strikes.
Also, always be sure to keep a healthy supply of marines to counter a Protoss player who tries to tech straight up to void rays.
If the match continues into mid-game, the Terran player will need to shift strategy a bit.
To counter M&Ms, the Protoss player will likely produce immortals and colossi, which will devastate Terran infantry units en masse.
Colossi can easily be chased away by a few vikings, as they are susceptible to aerial attacks, but the immortals' ground dominance, with their heavy artillery and shields, pose a difficult problem, as they are even well-matched against siege tanks.
The Terran player could go banshees here, but there is a more cost effective solution that allows for increased production of vikings to prepare to counter Protoss air.
This solution is actually a must for any Terran player facing off against any Protoss player: the ghost.
Often forgotten in Starcraft I, the ghost is back with a vengeance in Starcraft II.
The ghost has inherited the bygone science vessel's EMP shockwave ability, which comes naturally and does not need to be researched.
Early and mid-game, a couple of well placed EMP shockwaves will obliterate Protoss shields, allowing marauders in particular to mow down entire armies.
The immortals and archons, which rely heavily on the protection of those shields, will be rendered nearly helpless.
The faster a Terran player can tech up to ghosts, the better chance he or she will have of being victorious.
As always, building a Terran wall (usually a barracks and two adjacent supply depots at the base's choke point) will buy the Terran player enough time to tech up to what is needed to dominate the Protoss player.
It is critical to pump out marauders as quickly as possible, though, as marines are still dominated by zealots in Starcraft II.
Usually, three or four barracks need to be built to produce a proper ground army fast enough.
If quickness is there and micromanagement skills are sharp enough, the Terran vs Protoss match-up is actually a fairly advantageous one for the Terran player.
The Protoss player has been victorious, pumping zealots and stalkers into the base of the Terran player, who is at a complete loss as to how his opponent orchestrated such a quick, massive attack.
This can happen to any Terran player, and the cause is simple: being unprepared.
Terrans, who lack the Zerg's capability to amass a lot of units in a hurry, must be constantly vigilant in almost every way to defeat a skilled Protoss player; however, with this awareness, a good Terran player can come to tip the scales almost unfairly in their advantage, especially early game.
Scouting, as it is for all races in any sort of match, is critical.
For the Terran player, scouting is needed to know which support units or buildings to move toward early in the tech tree.
Though as of right now, dark templars seem to not be used as often by Protoss players as other early-game units, the threat is still there, and the difference between building one missile turret, or a cheaper sensor tower, could be the difference between a win or a loss.
More likely, good scouting will reveal the threat of zealots and stalkers.
This is better for the Terran player, who does not need to worry about early detection and can focus on pumping out marines and, more importantly, marauders.
Scouting also has another vital purpose against the Protoss.
Take the carelessness referenced above: the Terran player is at a loss as to how the Protoss player mobilized so many units so quickly.
The answer is that the Protoss player upgraded his or her gateways into warp gates, allowing him or her to immediately warp units to any place on the map within range of a pylon or warp prism.
Many Protoss players will build proxy pylons near an opponent's base and use it as a portal to continuously warp in reinforcements until the other player is overwhelmed.
Constant scouting across the map will reveal these pylons, allowing the Terran player to disrupt this strategy before it is too late.
Regardless of what the Protoss player amasses, a good Terran force to counter should consist of a large group of marines backed up by several marauders (commonly referred to as M&Ms).
If possible, the marauders' concussive shells upgrade should be researched, which slows enemy units by 50%.
This will heavily cripple the effectiveness of zealots if micro is done well.
Teching up to medivacs will obviously be a boon to infantry units, but will take too long for those looking to launch an early assault.
If an initial attack is rebuffed, a couple medivacs will work wonders in future strikes.
Also, always be sure to keep a healthy supply of marines to counter a Protoss player who tries to tech straight up to void rays.
If the match continues into mid-game, the Terran player will need to shift strategy a bit.
To counter M&Ms, the Protoss player will likely produce immortals and colossi, which will devastate Terran infantry units en masse.
Colossi can easily be chased away by a few vikings, as they are susceptible to aerial attacks, but the immortals' ground dominance, with their heavy artillery and shields, pose a difficult problem, as they are even well-matched against siege tanks.
The Terran player could go banshees here, but there is a more cost effective solution that allows for increased production of vikings to prepare to counter Protoss air.
This solution is actually a must for any Terran player facing off against any Protoss player: the ghost.
Often forgotten in Starcraft I, the ghost is back with a vengeance in Starcraft II.
The ghost has inherited the bygone science vessel's EMP shockwave ability, which comes naturally and does not need to be researched.
Early and mid-game, a couple of well placed EMP shockwaves will obliterate Protoss shields, allowing marauders in particular to mow down entire armies.
The immortals and archons, which rely heavily on the protection of those shields, will be rendered nearly helpless.
The faster a Terran player can tech up to ghosts, the better chance he or she will have of being victorious.
As always, building a Terran wall (usually a barracks and two adjacent supply depots at the base's choke point) will buy the Terran player enough time to tech up to what is needed to dominate the Protoss player.
It is critical to pump out marauders as quickly as possible, though, as marines are still dominated by zealots in Starcraft II.
Usually, three or four barracks need to be built to produce a proper ground army fast enough.
If quickness is there and micromanagement skills are sharp enough, the Terran vs Protoss match-up is actually a fairly advantageous one for the Terran player.
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