StarCraft II WoL Terran vs Zerg Guide

StarCraft II WoL Terran vs Zerg Guide by Fencar

Hi, I’m a master level Terran with a roughly 50% win rate in TvZ. I use both Mech and Bio-Tank depending on what I feel like playing. Ask me anything directly related to TvZ and I’ll do my best to answer.

Semi all-in 3 Factory BFH:

10 Depot
12 Barracks
15 Orbital
16 CC
17 Depot
2x Refineries
Factory
Reactor @ Barracks
Factory
Depot
Swap Factory w/ Barracks
Tech Lab @ Barracks
Swap Factory w/ Barracks
Blue Flame
Factory
Run-by with 12 Hellions @ 8:30
Start Tanks or Thors depending on if you see a Spire w/ run-by
3rd CC
Armory
2x Factory
13:00-14:00 4th CC

Push at 170 supply, and add 2x Factories and 2-3x Starports

VOD link: http://www.gomtv.net/2013gsls1/vod/71480
INnoVation vs Stephano. Requires GSL season pass. Series 1 Set 2.

Replay: http://drop.sc/307253

Notes:

-If you see the Zerg staying on two bases, not making Roaches, walling, and (if possible) having taken all gas geysers, build an engineering bay and a turret or two in each mineral line in case of Mutalisks before 9:00.

-You must kill at least 20 Drones to be roughly even with the Zerg. That means every Drone in his natural. If you can kill most of the Drones in his natural and the Drones in his main base, it’s your game and he can’t do a whole lot to make you lose with the shambles of his remaining economy.

-Only send the first four Hellions out on the map for scouting and tower clearance. If you think he won’t be doing an all-in, send two of your four Marines to kill the Overlord that tries to scout your base at roughly 8:00. If successful, this can lull him into a false sense of security so that when you do your run-by you manage to kill pretty much every single Drone he has.

-You can kill Queens with your Hellions if he blocks you. However, don’t try it if he has a lot of energy on two or more Queens; he can constantly transfuse until you don’t have enough Hellions to be a threat. Instead, GG right there, or kill everything possible at his third while continuing with the build.

-Regarding macro, make sure that you get the fourth and fifth factories quickly, and build add-on’s with your Barracks.

-Build SCV’s constantly with your CC’s, even into the late-game. You can pull 10-20 SCV’s with your push to repair your Tanks, Thors, and Hellions; it greatly increases the strength of the push and gives you another mineral dump, along with turrets, CC’s, and Hellions.

-When you build two or three Starports when you do your 170 supply push for Vikings against possible Broodlords, if you see Broodlords or Corruptors as or before they finish, lift them onto the reactors from the Factories and build new ones for those Factories

Bio-Tank build order:

10 Depot
12 Barracks
16 Orbital
16 CC
17 Depot
18 2x Refineries
Factory
Reactor @ Barracks
Depot (build depots at your discretion)
Swap Factory & Barracks
Tech Lab @ Barracks
6x Hellions @ Factory
Stim > Combat Shields
6:30 2x Engineering Bay
7:45 Lift Factory & build 2 Reactors
7:45 2x Barracks > Reactors
8:00 3rd CC
2x Refineries
8:30 Armory
8:40 Starport > Lift onto Reactor
9:45 2x Barracks
9:45 Lift Factory & build Tech Lab > Start Tanks
2nd Factory
13:00-14:00 4th CC
@ roughly 13:00-15:00 add 3-5 Barracks & 2 Starports w/ Reactors

Push when Medivacs finish @ 11, save 1 or 2 scans to clear creep with. Do not suicide your push for no reason. You only want to push in and start killing his third and or Drones if you think he has almost 0 units.

Push again @ 2-2 or if you think the Zerg is being too greedy.

VOD link: http://www.gomtv.net/2013gsls1/vod/71480
INnoVation vs DRG. Requires GSL season pass. Series 3 Set 2.

Notes:

Marine splitting:

The amount of skill required to use basic Marine splits in the late game is highly overrated. The really good MKP level Marine splits are not, but the basic ones that are used in most games are very overrated.

What you actually want to do is to use your Siege Tanks to great effect. Just remember to siege up before fighting:

Vs Ling heavy armies, you want your Bio to be a little bit spread out, but still protecting your Tanks and with some open area to fall back to, while the Tanks focus down the Infestors and Banelings. Just focus down whichever one is in range, with a preference on really heavily clumped Banelings, then Infestors, then small numbers of Banelings. To do so, select your Tanks using either a control click or your hotkey, and then hold shift and start right clicking on what you want to focus fire as quickly and accurately as possible.

If some Banelings get too close, run away the Marines that are closest, spreading them out a little, making a slightly larger concave.

Vs a large amount of Infestors and or Banelings, (8-10+ Infestors and or 20-30+ Banelings) you want a much bigger concave and to split as much as possible while still keeping up your Marine DPS and focus firing with your Tanks onto his Banelings and Infestors- but this time with a preference on whichever is more numerous and clumped up- usually Banelings, but Infestors are still great targets.

When using armies that do not include Siege Tanks, simply do as above but with a LOT more splitting.

Here is a very strong Marine splitting youtube video guide that will also improve mouse accuracy considerably: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZBiToPSJ1M

Note: I recommend practicing making lines with your cursor as described by the video in the early game, as accurately as possible, then as quickly as possible. Just make sure it doesn’t impede your macro while you do it.

Early game:

-Only use your Hellions to clear Creep. Bounce between the Zerg’s natural and third, or around the edges of the creep and try to snipe tumors wherever you can.

-Keep close tabs on your Factory in the early game. If it’s idle for more than 10 seconds or so, your Starport will be severely delayed unless you cut something, such as Hellions. You really don’t want that to happen.

Regarding Drops:

If you drop, make sure you do it in conjunction with something else, such as another drop or an attack. Individual drops are very easy to clean up by the Zerg if you’re not doing anything else.

As an example, the Terran could do a double drop in the Zerg’s main base while pushing with his MMM Tank to snipe the Zerg’s fourth or fifth base, or just clearing a couple screen’s worth of creep tumors. In this scenario, if you snipe the Zerg’s expansion it’s worth it, and if you snipe a tech building or a few Drones while you’re at it, you get ahead even farther.

Dealing with Mutalisks:

Mutalisks are relatively easy to beat once you’ve practiced against them. Any investment they make into Mutalisks has to be repaid in full through damage to your economy, army size, and infrastructure- otherwise he won’t have a strong enough army straight up to defeat you, and will lose the game. However, a skilled player can still use them very effectively at a high level.

First, don’t try to scout them using a scan. Instead, if you suspect 2 base Mutalisk or otherwise due to a lack of scouted units or tech, build two turrets- both in the main mineral line if the natural is not vulnerable, both in the natural if the main is not vulnerable, or if both are vulnerable build one in the natural and one in the main. The standard bunker at the third can take care of small numbers of Mutalisks.

Now, if he is staying on 8-13 as far as your knowledge goes, you shouldn’t need to build a Thor. However, if he gets any more, I highly recommend building at least one Thor and additional turrets in your main base plus leaving 8-12 Marines there, as well as a Medivac. Now, he will try to snipe buildings if he gets a lot of Mutalisks, so if he does, note what he destroyed and rebuild it (possibly in a different location) ASAP.

When you hit max, or you scout a Hive, then push- not earlier, otherwise his larger army size will crush you, and you will eventually be either over run, or you lose to a switch to Ultras or Broodlords.

Late game:

-If you see a Hive morphing, I highly recommend you push ASAP. If a critical upgrade is about to finish, though, wait for it to finish before pushing.

-Fighting Ultralisk/Zergling/Baneling/Infestor, you need a good composition. You want 3-4 Barracks with tech labs producing Marauders at a time until you have roughly 20 or so, with the Marines supporting those, taking down the Zerglings so the Marauders don’t overkill on those, and 6-10 Tanks focusing down the Infestors and Banelings and adding some supporting DPS against the Ultralisks.

If you see Ultralisks and you don’t have any Barracks with tech labs, lift 2-3 of your Barracks and build tech labs with them, building new Barracks onto the reactors if you have the economy to support them.

-Vs Broodlord/Infestor, if he starts building Corruptors and you scout it before you start reactors on your extra 2 Starports, lift them and put them on a couple of reactors from your Barracks and start building as many Vikings at a time as you can. Build more Marines and Medivacs as well, and keep a Tank count of at least 6 or so.

To engage, first make a large concave with your MMM Tank Viking. Then, stim and a-move.

The Tanks will zone the Infestors, keeping them from getting easy Fungals on your Marines and Vikings. Push them as far ahead as you can and then siege up.

If the Zerg is overzealous with his Corruptors, use your Marines to focus down as many as you can reach. If you win the air battle, it will be difficult for the Zerg to re max on high-tech units while you are remaking lots of relatively cheap, easy to build units and attacking his bases with drops using your reinforcements plus remaining army.

Once most of his Zerglings are cleaned up, run ahead some of your Marines and start focusing down Broodlords and Corruptors, of if the Zerg lets you, his Infestors.