StarCraft® II

Well guys, after seeing several of the same types of posts day after day I felt that it was time that as a Terran community, we make a place to collectively place some of our different strategies for some of the newer players to Starcraft. So this post will be dedicated to collectively placing some of our strategies for other Terran players to look at and hopefully learn from.

I will do my best to edit this as others post new strategies so that people don't have to go swimming through pages of posts to get the information they are looking for. Don't forget to like this post if it was helpful to you, or you think it may be helpful for others.


1. The Reaper Rush : A tactic used by Terran players in the early game to harass their opponent, it is best used with 3+ Reapers with speed upgrade for best harassment. Often used to damage the opposing players economy by taking out their workers. This tactic has the potential to end games if the opposing player does not have or bring in defenses of any kind. Note: Remember to continue to build units while harassing and if you are scouted early be weary of using this tactic.

2. Wall In : The general placement of barracks/supply depot/and the occasional bunker depending on preference. They are used as a "wall" to slow down incoming opponents when they push an attack, it helps to stop workers from being attacked in the early game by things such as the 6 pool ling rush, and an early zealot push. Very effective with defenses behind the wall to defend it. Note: Bring an SCV or 2 over and repair the wall while it's being attacked until your marines can kill the enemy.

3. Early Banshees : When the Terran player goes straight for cloaked banshees to harass the opponent. This is an effective tactic for players to take out the other players supply lines, and if the player is caught off guard has the potential to end games. Note: It is best to use a scan before sending banshees in so that you are able to position them in a place where things such as turrets and photon cannons can not reveal them and do damage to them. (Refer to post #4 on page #1 for a more in depth description)

4. Use The High Ground : As a Terran player you have the advantage with the high ground. When your group of Marines, Tanks, and Marauders is used with a wall in you have a higher chance of survival when facing an enemies army at your front door then you would if you ran out and met them at the base of your ramp. Tanks in siege mode are extremely effective when defending the high ground, it gives one the opportunity to pick off a couple of the enemies units before they actually get to you.

5. Supply Blocking/Expansion Scouting : An effective tactic when facing a Zerg player who gets a little too daring with his overlords is to build a couple vikings to fly around and pick them off, this in turn will lead the Zerg player to being supply blocked if you're able to find enough overlords flying around. While doing this it also allows for scouting with your vikings, and if you come across an unguarded expansion you may be able to take it out, if not take a couple workers at the very least. (You can also take out unguarded toss pylons/supply depots) Note: Be careful to continue building units while doing this, and don't get your vikings picked off because you forgot to move them, or get them out of an expansion when your opponent brings in defenses.

6. "The Avatar Strategy" : This tactic involves fast teching up to starports, while continuously pumping out marines. Once you amass a rather large army of Marines and Vikings, then using your army to push forward against your enemy. This strategy is effective due to it's ability to be fairly effective against most enemies; this does require some micro. Make sure to land your vikings effectively when doing things such as taking out a Nexus/Hachery/Command Center. (Refer to post # 8 on Page # 1 for more details on this)

7. MMM Placement: One of the most basic and fundamental strategies of Terran is this; the Marines, Marauders, and Medivacs. This is extremely effective due to the diversity within this group. Most Terran players will upgrade the marines and marauders, as well as getting a Engineering Bay to upgrade damage by your ground units. When using this strategy it is often important to keep your Medivacs back a little, towards the back of your army, so that they aren't taken out instantly and become unable to heal your units. By doing this it great ens your chances when facing an opponents army.

8. Unit Drops : This is a strategy often used by Terran players who want to harass their opponent, it involves using your Medivacs to take your units, and drop them off in the back or the side of your enemies base. You can either drop in some tanks, or a mix of Marines and Marauders, or straight Marines or straight Marauders. This is often effective to take out an enemies supply line, or take out some of their pylons/supply depots and supply blocking your enemy. Note: When used with a little bit of micro you can effectively take out what you intended and then get your units out of there before the opponent sends in defenses.

9. "Thor Shields" : More of a rule of thumb for Terran players who are going Thor's. Put them out in the front of your army and use them to soak up damage from things such as Banelings as you march towards/into your enemy's base. This is so that the rest of your army is not taken out in a couple hits, and you're able to make an effective push instead of having your army charging out in front to be wiped out by fairly quickly while your Thor carries up the rear doing hardly nothing. This does require a deal more micro, though with a little practice is extremely effective, and will protect you from those dreaded Banelings.

10. Siege Tank Positioning : Whether it be for defense of offense tanks in siege mode are extremely effective weapons against your opponent. By placing tanks on the edges of cliffs it allows one to pick of enemy players that are pushing towards your base, and while on offense it's often effective to place them just outside of a cannon/armies range, and use them to slowly push your way in. Their view though sometimes being limited is fairly large, and require assistance from other units under certain circumstances. To cope with this Terrans needs to use another unit to creep further or fly closer to reveal the units. This is best done by using vikings or banshees to creep far enough for the tanks to see the units and slowly pick them off.

11. In Base Scouting : Generally when playing against a protoss player, or even zerg it is often a smart idea to take an SCV or two to just scout your own base. This of course is only really important in the early game or until you wall off. This is done in case the Protoss player has dropped a pylon or the zerg has attempted to build a hatchery (which is rare) in your base. If you come across something like this simply put 4 or 5 SCVs on it, and just kill it and get back to work. (Refer to post #13 on Page #1)

12. Nuke Placement : When playing against players who do not think to use cloak detection, a well timed and well placed nuke can do a lot to turn the tide of the game. Make sure to have your Ghost hold fire, Medivac him in and place your nuke in an area to take out his production buildings and hopefully some of his workers/army. Note: If he/she is Terran he can scan your ghost and wipe it out, and any unit that the enemy has that can detect cloak will ruin this sort of a tactic. However for a player not paying attention this can do wonders. (Refer to Post #20 Page #1 for an example of 'Heavy Nuking')

13. Versatility : One of the most important things about playing Terran is knowing how to use and keep track of different types of units/structures. By being versatile it allows for a Terran player to counter what they are up against when going in to face an enemy. An extremely helpful way to go about doing this is key binding important units/buildings/etc so that it is easier to continue to build units, or more importantly the ones they need. This along with learning the hot keys for specific units is key to Terran success. (Refer to Post #41 on Page #3 for an example) Note: This also includes a versatile build orders. (Refer to Post #44 Page #3)

14. STIM PACKS! : An extremely effective tool when charging in with one's Marines and Marauders, especially when they are accompanied by some Medivacs. When they do have the air support that can heal them up, it is often more beneficial to hit Stim Pack a little early in order to allow the Medivacs to start to heal your units before you start to take damage from the enemy. By doing this you also hit that little bit harder on the initial hit.

15. Map Control : The outlast tactic is often a very effective one when facing an enemy who you walls them self in and expects you to push your forces in. The best way as Terran to work against this is to place your forces outside of his base, and start to take over the map, this is most effectively done with a strong ground force consisting of Marines Marauders Tanks and a couple Medivacs; as well as lots of vikings to keep air control and stop your enemy from expanding. Note: Make sure to not let your army get taken out allowing your enemy to make a push on your bases, and be sure to leave 1 worker at each mineral patch so you can see if your enemy tries to take one.

16. The Raven : Being a misunderstood unit, it's versatility makes it a useful tactic for the Terran army in many circumstances. Its uses include taking out an enemy mineral line (with it's turrets), to detect cloaked units (passive ability), and to stop damage from an incoming attack momentarily (point defense drone), along with a seeker missile (useful for taking out clumped up ground units). By using one of these with your army it allows for adaption to different situations that one can encounter when going for a blind strategy, which is what happens when one does not scout their enemy. Note using a raven is extremely useful when going up against a Protoss who has gone for Dark Templars, as opposed to wasting one's scan to reveal them.

Fast Banshee:

This works very well in Bronze:
http://www.starcraft-replay.com/guides/sc2-banshee-rush-build-order.php



10: Supply Depot
11: Refinery (put 3 SCVs on it as soon as possible)
12: Barracks
15: Refinery #2 (put 3 SCVs on it as soon as possible)
16: Factory
18: 2x Starports
18: Supply Depot
18: Tech Lab on Barracks
18: Tech Lab on Factory
18: As soon as the Tech Labs are built, swap the two Starports with the Barracks and the Factory.

Just make sure you've walled off and have 2-3 marines inside your wall.

Couple finer points:

1) For your first two banshee's set your rally point to a safe, halfway point between your base and the enemies. This is helpful in the event the enemy is also doing some type of ground rush, you can turn around and protect your wall. (I was rallying them just outside of the enemies base but this is to far away to be effective in time).

2) If they're getting hit from a sizable group of marines or anything else simply move them out of site and research cloak, come back once cloak is up. You'd be suprised how many terran don't have OC researched in time to get off a scan.


This is very effective and takes minimal skill against lower skilled players at least. In theory if your scouted in time then it would be countered. Although at bronze I'll get scouted when I have 2 starports up and the other person will continue doing something stupid like make Maurauders or Zealots.

Try it guys and let me know what you think!