TvZ Marine-Medivac-Hellion Pressure

In the current state of the Starcraft 2 metagame, in particular given the recent changes to the queen, TvZ has undergone a radical change. For a long time Terran players relied on a small group of hellions to stymie the relentless flow of creep. Behind this initial group of hellions Terrans could comfortably transition into any type of play they wanted, deciding to either play a heavy economic game or to tech to mech, or to gear up for a strong bio push later on in the game.

The 1.4.3.2 patch changed all that. Zergs became much more resilient due to the added queen range, their early game defensive capabilities made considerably much more robust. Terrans have been struggling to adapt to the new ultra-passive type of Zerg play we see from most players of the insectoid race.

As a Zerg player myself, I admit that I don't have the best knowledge of the Terran side of the match up, but I do know exactly what makes me feel most uncomfortable and what timings I lose to regularly. As an off-race Terran player at a decent level I can also tell that the matchup is made considerably more difficult, as it just seems harder and harder to cull the swarm after they get a three base economy (something that is very difficult to deny nowadays, with the new queens). The purpose of this guide will be to introduce a timing designed to hit at around 10:00, or slightly earlier.

TvZ Marine-Hellion-Medivac Push

For a while now I've had the sneaking suspicion that the current TvZ metagame revolves around having to deny the Zerg's third base. Several weeks ago I was watching MarineKingPrime streaming, and three games in a row he was absolutely crushed by MVPSniper (an excellent player in his own right).

MarineKing tried to play very greedy every game, going for a 1-rax expand into another orbital (bringing him up to a total of 3), while getting two engineering bays for upgrades before making production facilities. This is essentially as greedy as a Terran player can reasonably play, and he still got stomped by the MVP team Zerg (who had creep at MKP's front door by the 16 minute mark).

Seeing the former GSL/MLG champion so easily dominated by the Zerg player after playing so greedily in the earlier phases of the game confirmed my feeling that in the current state of the game, the Terran must do damage to the Zerg before the midgame rolls round in full swing. This means denying or harassing the third base.

You begin this build by going for a Command Center first, placing it down at around 2:20, or 14 supply. If you are playing at a level where Zergs regularly go for a 15 hatchery, then you are completely safe with this build, so don't fret. I always go 15 hatchery as a Zerg player and I've agonized over the best way to punish a Terran that goes Command Center first.

There really is no way short of doing an all-in, and my Terran opponents are usually able to defend the all-in just as well as if they'd opened 1-barracks into Command Center. If you feel like the current metagame at your position on ladder is that a Zerg would try to 15 hatchery, you will most likely get away with 14 CC.

Command Center and Barracks going down

You should follow up your Command Center with two barracks, one built at about 2:40 or 15 supply, and the other built at about 3:00 or 16 supply. Maintain constant SCV production and don't get supply blocked. You won't need another supply depot at this particular time because your second Command Center will have finished in time to prevent you from getting supply blocked.

I won't mention specific supply depot timings in this guide because I frankly don't know them well enough to feel authoritative on the matter. Just remember to not get supply blocked above all else, the specific timings don't matter all that much as long as you aren't really over-producing supply depots. I'll get back to that topic in a bit when unit production really begins. Turn your Command Centers into Orbital Commands as soon as you can (roughly 4:10)

Taking 2 gas after barracks

Start marine production immediately as your barracks finish, and send the SCV building your first barracks out to scout. When your second barracks finishes, take two gases and keep up marine production. When you have 5 marines, move out across the map, you should reach your opponent's third by 6:00.

This is a very important timing to hit because there are really only two optimal times for a Zerg player to acquire his third base. He can either go 2 hatcheries before spawning pool, which he may do if he scouts you going CC-first, or the optimal time is to take the third base at 6 minutes (any sooner means you need to cut drones to take the extra base, making it sub-optimal). In the former situation, you should know with your scouting SCV that your opponent is getting two hatcheries before the spawning pool. In this case you should react by using the scouting SCV to build a bunker at the third, and rally marines over to the third directly (no need to wait for 5).

In the latter situation, you should reach the third just as your opponent is sending a drone to make it, or right after the hatchery goes down. Either kill the drone or cancel the hatchery. Force his queens to come out, kill what you can, but don't take all three queens on at once.

Kill as many slow Zerglings as possible, at this phase in the game your opponent shouldn't have speed, and slow Zerglings are, as Artosis likes to remind us, the worst units in the game. Marines can kill them at a cost efficient ratio for as long as you want as long as you stutter-step back. The more lings you force out of your opponent, the more you weaken the Zerg's economy. Above all else, keep your marines alive. They give you a lot of map control and you can pick off units here and there until your opponent gets metabolic boost.

The five marine pressure hitting right when the third goes down (approx. 6:00)

Meanwhile, on the home front you need to make sure that with your first 100 gas you make a factory. When you place your factory also make another barracks, giving you a total of two completed raxes, and a factory and additional barracks under construction. As your gas count increases, begin making a tech lab on one barracks and a reactor on the second one as soon as possible. When your factory finishes, lift it onto the reactor already constructed by the barracks and begin hellion production. With the tech lab barracks begin researching Stim as soon as you can, while you build two additional reactors with the other two barracks. Make about 6-8 hellions with your reactored factory, and maintain constant marine production from your reactored barracks, throwing in marauders from the tech lab barracks whenever possible.

Making the reactor and tech lab

This is what your infrastructure should look like, take note stim researching as well

At this phase in the game I often get supply blocked because I forget how quickly a Terran can ramp up production with a couple of reactors on barracks, so make sure you keep on top of your supply depot construction. I usually make double what I would early in the game, so if i would normally pull one SCV to make a depot, I'd pull two SCVs and make double the supply. Once again, I leave it up to Terran players better than myself to find the optimal supply depot timings.

At 7:00 make a starport. Your stim will finish researching soon, so make sure to note when it finishes and begin combat shield immediately afterwards. When your starport finishes you should attach it to the reactor that was formerly on your factory, and you can lay the factory aside for now. Later on if you decide to transition into tanks you can make a tech lab, or you can just scout with it if you plan on relying on bio. Make two medivacs, keeping up constant marine production all the while. At this point you should have a growing cluster of marines back home, two medivacs on the way, 6 hellions roaming the map poking about, and combat shield on the way.

Push to third (hits at (10:00 roughly)

At 9:30 you should take 2 gases at your natural expansion, while placing down a third command center, and move out. If executed correctly you will have about 2 marauders, 6-8 hellions, 2 medivacs, and roughly 24 marines, moving out that the 9:30-9:40 mark, aiming to arrive at your opponent's third base when combat shields finishes. When you move out you'll have a timing when you can tech freely, so put down two engineering bays and get double upgrades so you can carry your lead into the midgame.

Assault the Zerg player's third, taking care to clear creep and play cautiously. From personal experience, having lost to this build multiple times, it is nearly impossible to hold without using banelings, so being able to split somewhat decently is of paramount importance. With 6 hellions and over 20 marines with stim and combat shield, lings just won't do anything to your force. Without the centrifugal hooks upgrade (most zergs won't have it at this point), it is very difficult to get good baneling hits on marines, without which you will most likely succeed in killing your opponent's third.

Damage done by the push (even though third wasn't killed)

If executed cleanly, this build hits at a really wicked time and allows the Terran player to do considerable economic damage, either killing the third, forcing too many units, or killing drones. Having double upgrades started back home as well as a third command center on the way means that you can really carry your advantage into the midgame by having a solid economy and upgrades to fall back on. Once you attack the third, make sure you take good engagements, leaving little surface area for lings and splitting against banelings.

You will most likely kill the third if your opponent is unprepared, and from the Zerg perspective I know this hits at a somewhat awkward time, when you lack the baneling speed upgrade to deal with it properly. After the assault on the third, move in for the kill if you feel you can, but if you sense a lot of units coming its better just to move back, knowing you now have a solid lead and play on into the midgame where you should be able to kill your opponent with some follow-up pushes.

The Terran is in a good position after the push, with 3rd CC down and upgrades started

Hopefully this guide is helpful for Terran players struggling against Zergs. It is a difficult matchup because everybody is trying to come to terms with the changes from the queen buff, and how to stop a Zerg player from swinging into the very powerful midgame baneling ling aggression that has become quite popular. Personally I lose a lot to this push, and I still haven't quite figured out how to stop it. Hope this helps, and as always, good luck and have fun!

Special thanks to Saikou who beat me repeatedly with this build and then sent me replays of him executing it on ladder.