Terran Guide T30X

IntroductionI. Introduction

Hello my name is Yume from Team .SCA and i am here to introduce a sc2 "workout guide" as a source ofreference to give a training regiment for players at the lower level to improve. This regiment is basicallya guide for players to follow in a day to day basis in order to improve the results they aim for at areasonable pace. Just like how a workout program works, a player doesn’t have to "perfect" theprogram to get the results they need, but simply a source of direction for players to follow in order toimprove the best they can for the given time. The idea is to give a training program for students willingto improve WITHOUT the dependencies of a coach to improve. The program is generally meant for thesilver/gold/plat players to achieve a higher level at a reasonable rate.

The workout is covered over the course of 4 weeks, each day covering a set of exercises, warm uproutines, lecture guide, and tips/advices a person should generally cover for that day. The theory is ifplayers follow the day-to-day workout guide, they would not only improve mechanically but also gain amuch better understanding of the game. Please follow the program as close as possible to achievemaximum results and good luck!

II. How to use and begin

Whenever a player begins the day, it will start off with some exercises. Afterwards there will be a lecturethat will give you useful information that will apply to your game knowledge. Please follow allinstructions for maximum effect of the program and do not rush it. Remember, this guide is as only asgood as the user putting effort and time into their practice. Do not rage, keep calm, and take it as alearning experience just like school.

III. Additional Notes

The training program is made to be optimized as of April 13, 2013 for Heart of the Swarm patch 2.0.7.Any balance, map, or metagame changes after the date can either void/enhance the training methodswritten in this program. There obviously will be frustration and possibly rage. Please stay calm andremember that it’s NOT about winning, but doing each task executed perfectly. It is perfectly natural tolose a lot at the start.

PREPERATIONS AND SETUP BEFORE YOU TRAINBefore we begin the training program, we must first set ourselves up. The nature of how Starcraft worksisn’t any different from a normal physical sport. Like sports, the more we practice, the more wemechanically bound we get to the things we do. It is very important the setup we have is done nowbecause over the course of time, we will get comfortable with this setup and won’t play optimallyotherwise.

Mechanical Keyboard and Gaming mice

If you have the money and don’t have a mechanical keyboard, i suggest you get one. Having amechanical keyboard will eventually be crucial for long term improvement. If you do not have amechanical keyboard, start researching online which mechanical keyboard to get. Just be aware thatamong mechanical keyboards, there are 4 main different type of key switches (Blue, Brown, Red, Black).Each key switch will have a distinct feel and sound. It will all be preference on which type of key switchesyou like. Also get a gaming mouse. Having a gaming mouse not only allows a more comfortable handgrip, but also gives a much greater degree of mouse accuracy. This will be super important for long termimprovement.

Removing Mouse acceleration

Mouse acceleration is a feature where the speed of the mouse cursor is based on the speed youmove your mouse. This might sound like a good idea but it causes problems. If you move your mousefrom point A to point B then you'd expect your cursor to do the same thing each time you move themouse between those two points; with acceleration enabled, it won’t because you'll vary the speed thatyou move the mouse between those two points and end up with inconsistent aiming. What most sc2players won’t realize is that even when SC2 is on, mouse acceleration is on by default even if its disabledin the control panel for windows. So to remove this for good, follow the link below and follow itsinstructions (If you are using Windows 7 or 8). If you are using another operating system, try googling foranswers to remove mouse acceleration.

http://donewmouseaccel.blogspot.com/2010/03/markc-windows-7-mouse-acceleration-fix.html

After applying the registry to completely remove the mouse acceleration, restart your computer toapply the effects.

Changing Repeat Delay on keyboard

Click on start, type in keyboard on the search bar and go to keyboard. Set the repeat delay toshort and set your repeat rate to fast. Basically if you hold down the "A" button, it will quickly input the"A" command. Try setting the repeat to both long and short to truly see what I mean.

Day 1 – “Warmup”

I. Finger & Wrist Stretch

Before everything we do, we will always warm up just like physical training. Although this may seempointless with some people, it helps increase circulations in your hands and prevents computer relatedinjuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome.

Benefits:• Loosens stiff fingers, hands and wrists• Completed daily for a few months, hands will become more flexibleStep 1: Starting with the right hand gently extend the fingers back one by one.Step 2: Then take them all back at the same time. This helps to stretch open your palm. Repeatseveral times.

Step 3: Take your thumb back towards your wrist. Then bring it forwards, stretching gently and firmly.Never force it.Finish by making a fist and slowly opening it, stretching your fingers and thumb out as far as you.

Step 4: Put your palms together, fingers pointing upwards, as if you were praying. Stretch your fingersand press palms together strongly. Keep the base of your palms pressing together, as you graduallylower your hands until your lower arms are horizontal.Step 5: Then take your hands down still further, fingers and upper palms together. You should feel thestretch on the insides of your fingers and wrists. Hold for a few seconds, and then repeat.

II. Micro Trainer Exercise

In arcade, type in the search bar “Darglein Micro Trainer”. This custom game is a special customgame that allows you to practice your micro. Normally you would get better at micro naturally byplaying many games, but supplementary help is always a good thing. Just remember not to get too intoit and just limit your micro training exercise strictly about 10 minutes. There are only two modes youwant to play when you do start the game, “double marauder survival” and “The Split”. Play “The Split”for about 10 in game minutes (With stim and baneling speed on, no creep). Splits are basically repetitiveactions of boxing your unit in smaller degrees and sending them out to different direction. When you doplay the split, it’s not about sending every marine to every possible direction, but rather focus splittingthe marines where the “primary baneling clump” are directionally heading.

As for the double marauder survival, there are two marauders on the field which have to kite zealotsin order to live. The zealots cannot die, but you get a point for every marauder attack you land on thezealot. The idea is kiting between two places at once. This exercise is to help you move between screensback and forth nonstop to not only help you force you to move your hands, but to comprehend thespeed you are moving. Many times, a lower level player gets “dizzy” from watching a fast player andoften lose track. You are to build your endurance by playing this game. Remember, DON’T GET TOOINTO IT. Just play 1 or 2 lives for double marauder survival and 10 in game minutes for the split.Afterwards we can proceed to the lecture.

Do NOT be lazy about doing this exercise and do NOT think about skipping it either. More details aboutthe exercise will be coming soon.

[NOTE]: The first day is long. Meaning if you have plans or anything, do not start unless you have a clearschedule.

Day 1 – “The Build Order”We will begin by learning a build order. This build order is unique because it can be used in all

matchups (More popular vs. Protoss and vs. Terran) This build will be your bread and butter… for thenext few days you will not do ANY OTHER builds but this. This is the Korean approach to learn new builds.The idea is so that single build plays against a variety of builds so you learn to counter verse itsituationally. On top of that since you are not doing any other build, 100% of your focus goes to thisbuild to learn. You will learn this build to the point where it will become mechanical to you… or 2nd

nature to you. Just like walking, you don’t have to “think” to walk. You don’t really say to yourself “Ok, Iwill put my left foot 15cm forward and inset 100 grams of force to propel my body forward”. You just“walk” because you have done it so many times it becomes 2nd nature to you. The same concept we aredoing is exactly same for this build; to do this to the point where it becomes like “walking” to you.

We will refer to this build as the “15 gas reactor expo” build. Just remember that since today isthe first day, you will be hammered by a lot of stuff you will need to know. It is also perfectly natural tolose and be frustrated but remember that it’s NOT ABOUT WINNING AT THIS POINT; it’s about buildingup your mechanics (Which will set a solid foundation for the future). The whole purpose of this build isto not give you an “auto-win” strategy, the purpose of this build is to NOT DIE EARLY GAME and set youup for the mid-late game. Now let’s begin.

Benefits of the build

Very safe build

One of the fastest possible way to acquire both expo + factory

Allows very early aggression

The Build Order [AUDIO] Build Order walk though (Click on icon)

10 depot

12 rax (2 marines then reactor)

15 gas

16 depot (2)

17 orbital

20 command center

21 factory (Widow Mines)

24 depot

25 bunker

28 starport (2nd gas after starport complete)

Scouting Time

Verse Protoss 15-16 supply

Verse Terran 13 supply

Verse Zerg 14-16 supply

Transition (The Ideal Follow up)

There are couple transitions you can follow up. But we will only focus one type of transition. Until we learn this

one transition by heart, there is no need to learn other types of transition. We will eventually learn the other

transition in a different day.

1. The first 300 minerals after the 2nd medivac, start 2 more barracks. Start your first engineering bay as well

after this. After the 2nd medivac, make both factory and Starport a tech lab. The Factory and Starport will

be swapped for the 2 rax as addons.

2. After swapping, start stim and combat shield. Make sure you grab the 3rd and 4th gas whenever you can.

Start +1 attack as well. Start Marauders whenever you can.

3. Add a reactor on starport. After reactor get 2 medivacs and commence your medivac timing attack.

OPTIONAL: Fac can still pump out widow mines or float fac towards enemy for scouting.

Day 1 – “The Reactions”While we are trying our best to go to the “ideal” transition (as shown from the previous page),

sometimes we are unable to reach those transition due to the enemy performing timing attacks. Here

are some basic reactionary changes you must do to adapt to the situation. Doing these reactions may or

may not interfere with your build order transition. NOT doing these reactions may result into you losing

or get tilted so hard you will start floating to ridiculous amounts. Here are some basic reactions you can

perform.

Basic Situational Adjustments to make (vs. Protoss):

Mothership Core:

When you scout the Protoss base, there are a few adjustments you might have to make. If you

confirmed that the Protoss is starting a Mothership Core (Requires 2 gas to make the Mothership Core),

you will need 3 marines at the high ground by the time bunker is done. 3 marines is exactly enough

marines to beat a Mothership Core. Any fewer marines will result in the Mothership core winning.

Position the 3 marines at the high ground

No Mothership core:

If you scout no Mothership core (But has 2 gas taken), he is doing a tech build. One of the most

popular tech builds out there is an oracle rush. To prepare for the build, whenever widow mines pop out,

they will need to be placed in the mineral line (specifically between the gas and mineral line). One

widow mine shot will kill an Oracle. Otherwise the default position widow mines should be is at the front

of your base.

See the Widow Mine in the mineral line?

If you do see 2 gas and no Mothership core, you will still have to do some aggressive scouting. Make

sure you have one active SCV scouting random parts of the map to scout for possible proxies. If you do

happen to find a proxy Stargate, yes it’s possible he can use oracles (Which is why we have widow mines

positioned). If it’s not a Stargate but a Robotics or Dark Shrine, you can reposition the widow mine right

next to your bunker. If it is a dark shrine, Get Engineering Bay to get turrets soon (Save scan incase until

the turret is out)

Scouting Table

3 or 4 Gate

1 gas Macro Game

Scout Mothership Core Blink Stalker All in DT Rush

2 gas /w no core One Base Play Immortal Bust

Late Expo Stargate Play

Cause Effect

2 gas /w no core Aggressive scouting + Widow Mine Repositioning

No Expo after 5:40 in game “The Oh Shit Moment” = Aggressive scouting + Ebay (Turrets)

+ Widow Mine Repositioning

*Aggressive Scouting means at least 1-2 active SCVs scouting the map for every possible proxy locationpossible. Aggressive scouting could mean not making an unnecessary Ebay, turret, or extra bunkersdepending on the situation.

Basic Situational Adjustments to make (vs. Terran):

Proxy Rax /w gas

Make command center at high ground and start bunker. There are only two possibilities for this.Proxy Reaper or marauders. Scout with your SCV and find any possible proxy locations wheremight hide his barracks. If you want a absolute safe way out of this, start tech lab on rax afterfirst marine and start marauders with shells. If you choose to stick with the reactor, make sureyou pull at least 4 SCVs to fight.

Tank All in

After first initial Widow Mine, do not make 2nd Widow Mine. Rush getting a tech lab and resumeyour own tank production. Easiest way to beat tanks is to create your own tanks. Make sure youget 2nd gas when you do start that tech lab.

Being defensive in general

Instead of medivac, you can always create Vikings instead.

Adjustments to make (vs. Zerg)

Widow Mine placements should be near bunker but not too far up front. This is because they

will try to trigger off the mine shot by sending a single ling in before a Zerg can ever attack in. If you

scout a roach warren or Baneling nest before they have lair, start adding additional bunkers.

Day 1 – “Timing Attack/Aggression”The build allows you to be aggressive with several timing attacks. Here are some examples of severalattacks. Everyone has different ways of using this but listed below are a few examples you can follow.The idea is that Medivacs are NOT healers, but simply drop ships. The moment you acquire your firstmedivac from the Starport, you will immediately load 6 marines + 1 widow mine into the Starport andcommence your aggression.

There are two ways to do this. You can have 2 widow mines and 4 marines, or 1 widow mine and 6marines. I personally like 6 marines + 1 widow mine combination better for aggression. Just rememberthat Medivacs are dropships NOT healers… so the moment you have Medivacs, you need to start movingthem. You will have a 2nd medivac back home so get ready to be more aggressive. While you bring yourmedivac towards the enemy base, make sure you keep using the afterburners to get to the enemy basecloser. Once you are near the enemy base, use the afterburners one more time and drop 1 widow minein the mineral line and burrow the mine. The rest of your units can be dropped at the other base. Theidea is to cause a 2 pronged attack with 1 medivac, which is something WoL couldn’t do.

Dropping a mine at one location while dropping marines at the other

A double prong attack with 1 medivac… while dropping how many kills has my widow mine made?

Doing these types of attack is extremely good because if the enemy doesn’t have the multitask tohandle it, they just lose so much. Just remember this is just one medivac, you have a 2nd medivac alongthe way to continue.

Once you get your 3rd and 4th medivac, you can push with the rest of your bio units. Your stim, combatshields, and +1 attack should be done or close to done. From here you have the choice to do a strongfrontal push or drop, or multi prong attack.

[NOTE]: In the Day 1 folder, there should be a replay called “15 Gas Example”. The replay will have aperfect example of how to do the build order, the transition, the aggression, and reaction. Please take alook before attempting it. See what the differences are so you can change it to make it better.

[NOTE 2]: If you feel like the enemy might attack during the time you are about to drop, there is no needto drop right away, as defending takes higher priority.

Day 1 – “Conclusion”Practice this one build in every matchup for the next few days (DO NOT USE ANY OTHER BUILD

OR IT WILL DEFEAT THE PURPOSE OF IMPROVEMENT). You will constantly do this build till it becomes

part of you. It doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad (It’s actually very good) but the idea the build teaches

you is to be both very safe and very aggressive at the same time. Focusing on good aggression while

macroing can help increase multitasking. For next few days you will focus this build as if it’s the only

build you know and we will learn other things in the meantime. Remember that the build is not an “auto

win build” or anything. The purpose of this build is to allow you to not die early game and properly set

up mid to late game.

The importance of doing the same thing many times with little changes many times builds

consistency. You will learn this build to the point it becomes 2nd nature to you. By allowing it to be 2nd

nature, you don’t have to think about it to do it. It is kind of like walking, you have walked your entire

life yet you don’t need to “think” about how to walk. You don’t tell yourself “Ok I need to move my feet

6 inches forward and propel 60 grams of force outwards to propel my body forward” to walk right? You

just walk because you done it so many times. Same goes with consistency with this build order. If you

chose to do many random things, not only you will not build consistency, but you won’t ever build up

speed.

Tasks to do

1. First practice the build against A.I. 5 times.

2. Look at “15 gas example” replay to let it sink into your head.

3. Practicing using the build against unranked opponents 3 times. After each game

look at the lecture about scouting to make sure you apply it the next game.

4. Look at “15 gas example” replay AGAIN to let it sink into your head (Yes seriously).

5. Skim (or quickly read) the entire lecture notes again to let it sink in your head.

6. [OPTIONAL IF YOU ARE BOSS ENOUGH] Play 3 games in rank and repeat tasks #4 - 5.

Remember after each game look at the lecture about scouting to apply it next game.

Please commence the Day 2 folder 2-3 days later to make sure you have nailed down the build order. If

you feeling confident that everything is super easy so far, commence day 2 the next day.



Stretch your hands, no exceptions. Do it.

II. Micro Trainer Exercise

Like the previous day, go to arcade and type in the search bar “Darglein Micro Trainer”. Play “The Split”for 10 in game minutes (Stim, baneling speed, no creep).

Now we are going to do “Scoot and Shoot”. The idea is simple, have banshees kite the marines. Start atlevel 1 and only play until you lose twice. After you lose twice, we are now ready for the day.

auto-acquireanother targetif there is one

available.

Shoot thetarget

Day 2 – Understanding HotS

Widow Mines

Since we are using Widow Mines in this build, let’s talk moreabout it to understand it. Widow Mine is unique unit that hasan interesting mechanic that most players don’t reallyunderstand. Widow Mines are technically time bombs.Whenever a target enters the radius of a burrowed WidowMine, the target is acquired, and after 1.5 seconds delay theMine shoots the target if the target is still within its range. You can manually target units with WidowMines during this 1.5 seconds interval. Manually selecting another target in the radius of the WidowMine during the 1.5 seconds will reset the time bomb (So yes, if you kept target firing nonstop a bunchof units before it fires, you can “hold fire” of the Widow Mine shots).

Widow Mine Protocol

1.5s Later…

If yes… if no…

Enemy stepsin Widow

Mine range

Is targetstill inrange?


available.

Shoot thetarget


Widow Mines


Widow Mine Protocol

1.5s Later…

If yes… if no…

Enemy stepsin Widow

Mine range



available.

Shoot thetarget


Widow Mines


Widow Mine Protocol

1.5s Later…

If yes… if no…

Enemy stepsin Widow

Mine range


[NOTE] If, for some reason, you need to hold fire with a Mine, you can keep switching targets andprevent the Mine from shooting until you're ready.

Widow Mines have 5 range, but can sometimes trigger against 6-ranged targets (such as Stalkers,Marauders or Hydralisks with the range upgrade) attacking them because instead of stopping at exactly6 range, it seems units sometimes do not decelerate properly and step a little further forward, thusentering the range of the Mine and suffering its wrath.

Mines also cannot auto-acquire the same target at the same time. If one Zergling walks in therange of 5 Mines, only one of them will shoot. If one Immortal enters the range of 3 Mines at the sametime, they will not fire at once but successively shoot (i. e. the first Mine will lock on it and shoot, afterwhich the second Mine will lock on it and shoot, after which the third Mine will lock on it and shoot).You can circumvent this problem by manually targeting the desired target so Mines fire at once, but inthis case Mines can overkill.

Other Useful Facts

Mines need detection to acquire cloaked targets. Mines deal splash damage to your troops, but not to your other Mines. Mines do not trigger on Changelings (After it acquires a form). Mines do trigger on Hallucinations unless you have detection to reveal them. Mines will one shot any gateway unit and Oracle

The Composition

Just like every other race in HotS, the Terran race has new army compositions in their arsenal. InWoL, there are 3 main army compositions in a standard game (Marine tank, mech, and full bio). In HotS,the army compositions aren’t that much different. HotS is simply is an “extension” of the standard 3army compositions of WoL.

WoL HotS

1. Marine Tank Marine Tank + Hellbats and/or Mines (Pure) Marine Tank

2. Mech Mech (Hellions Hellbats + Mines)3. Full Bio Bio + Mine

Bio + Hellbat (Pure) Full Bio

All compositions can transition to Sky Terran

The Marine tank is traditionally used verse Terran/Zerg. With HotS units extending that, things becomemuch easier. Mech is pretty much same as before but the utility of mech has increased with Hellbats(Making mech tankier) and Mines (To stay safer). Full Bio is the biggest metagame change for terran ismost matchups. Currently, full bio + (Mine/Hellbat/pure) is most commonly played style for majority ofTerrans.

I. Choosing your Composition

There are several ways to get to the composition of your choice based on the build you choose to do.Since we learning only one build (As of now; 15 gas reactor expo), Getting to any of the armycomposition is very flexible. All it takes is the correct infrastructure to get there. The replay you havewatched the previous day is an example of getting to the Full Bio transition.

By default with the build you are doing, you will always have 1 barracks/factory/and Starport.Depending what unit composition you want to go, read below which ideal infrastructure you want to gowith. My suggestion is to go with the Full Bio or Marine tank route.

The Infrastructure

2 Base Ideal Infrastructures (Full Bio or Marine Tank)

2 Base Transition (Beginning) or Committed 2 base/Not good Macro/All in

3 Barracks (2 Tech lab, 1 reactor) 5 Barracks (3 Tech Lab, 2 reactor)

1 Factory (Tech lab if marine tank) 1 Factory (Tech lab if Marine Tank)

1 Starport (Reactor) 1 Starport (Optional 2nd Starport (0 Add on) if vs. Toss)

1 Engineering Bay 1 Engineering Bay

In the beginning of these transitions, it will start to look like 3 Barracks, 1 Factory, and 1 Starport. Buteventually there will come a point there you will have enough minerals to add a 3rd command center.That timing when you do have that 400 minerals is the time to get your 3rd down. You have also thechoice to stay on 2 bases longer by getting your 4th and 5th barracks before you get your 3rd is you feelunconfident about your macro or want to choose to all in. Ideally you only need 5 Barracks max off 2bases, so don’t add more barracks until you add your 3rd command center THEN add your barracks. 5barracks max REMEMBER THIS CLEARLY. If you choose to go marine tank, make sure there is a tech labon factory to constantly produce tanks. Otherwise if bio, you can leave it alone or make widow mines.

2 Base Ideal Infrastructures (Full Mech)

2 Base Transition (Beginning) or Committed 2 base/Not good Macro/ All in

3 Factories (2 Tech Lab, 1 reactor) 5 Factories (3 Tech + 2 reactor OR 4 Tech + 1 reactor)

1 Starport (Reactor optional) 1 Starport (Reactor optional)

1 Armory 1 Armory

While the 2 Base transition is perfectly fine, mech’s biggest limitation is the initial gas. By committing 5factories, you will go all in because the amount of units you can produce will be ultimately limited on 4gas geysers.

Day 2 – PracticeYou have read the lecture notes, now it’s time to test things out. Complete the following tasks toconclude the day. DO NOT SKIP OUT THESE TASKS. There will be tasks after every lecture and itsimportant you complete them.

Tasks to complete

You have read the lecture notes, now it’s time to test things out. First open up an empty map. Your goalis to perform the build while getting use to the transition. Here are the notes from the lecture as areminder.

2 Base Ideal Infrastructures (Full Bio or Marine Tank)

2 Base Transition (Beginning) or Committed 2 base/Not good Macro/All in

3 Barracks (2 Tech lab, 1 reactor) 5 Barracks (3 Tech Lab, 2 reactor)

1 Factory (Tech lab if marine tank) 1 Factory (Tech lab if marine tank)

1 Starport (Reactor) 1 Starport (Optional 2nd Starport (0 Add on) if vs. Toss)

1 Engineering Bay 1 Engineering Bay

1. Begin by playing an empty map (No A.I.) and try to achieve the ideal infrastructure 2 timeswithout an opponent.

2. Play against A.I. 3 times to reach your ideal infrastructure.3. Play against unrank opponents 6 times. After each game, re-read the lecture from the previous

day about scouting. Scouting will be important and MUST BURN INTO YOUR HEAD.4. Conclude the day by re-watching the “15 gas Example” replay in the Replays folder (Yes I am

serious, watch it again).5. [OPTIONAL FOR BEAST PLAYERS] Play 5 ranked opponents and give it your best!



You know the drill.

II. Warming up Hands (Optional if you live in a cold environment)

If your hands are cold and you need to warm them up, go to your bathroom and turn on warm/hotwater and leave it submerged for a good 3 minutes. Afterwards dry your hands and you should at leastable to move your hands much better.

III. Micro Trainer Exercise

Like the previous day, please warm up about 5 minutes “The Split” (Stim, Bane speed, no creep). Afterplaying “The Split”, go play “Focus Fire Stutter Step” (No stim, no speed, no creep). The idea is topractice stutter while performing mouse accuracy. Play for 5 minutes and then we proceed to ourlecture.

Day 3 – Position, Position, Position

I. Making Sure Engagements Don’t Suck

As a Terran, it’s very important your engagements don’t suck. The reality is, even if you are way ahead inbases, upgrades, and supply, you can still lose the game to bad engagements. As a Terran, engagementsare perhaps the most important aspect to understand and learn in order to win games. Here is aYouTube VOD of an example of how terrible an army engagement can be even if you have the winningarmy (Watch it).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGtph7XFARs

Today’s lecture will be about making sure your armies are actually doing something worthwhile incombat. Proper unit position and formation is the key. The YouTube VOD above is a clear example of thecannons having a “concave formation” against the stalker/immortal army.

II. Unit Formations






II. Unit Formations






II. Unit Formations

These are the basic unit formations you would see in a general army. It is important to knoweach formation has set advantages and weaknesses.

The Arc has two Forms: A Concave and a Convex.The difference between the concave and the convex arc is simple the direction of focus. The concave isconsidered an extremely offense arc formation and as you will see below it focuses fire into acentralized location and creates a semi-surround on your target. The convex arc is considered a moredefensive formation as it is designed to protect the focal point behind it. The YouTube VOD shows thecannons are positioned in a “concave arc”, which gave him an attack advantage.

We've all heard the casters and high-level strategists say, "Look at that beautiful arc!" Or they willmention that one player has the arc advantage in a certain scenario. Most of us already know thathaving an arc is good. But do you know why? Have you visualized why? The following examples pertainspecifically to ranged units; however adding melee units into the mix creates extremely interestingdynamics pertaining to each formation.

In Fig B.1 the blue player has an ideal arc formation around the orange player. The orange player is inthe ball formation. The blue player will win this battle in equal numbers as the concave arc is more costefficient. You can visualize this by looking at Fig B.2 and seeing how all the firepower is concentratedinto a single point. Additionally, the arc maximizes the number of troops able to engage because theyare in range of the enemy's front line.









In Fig B.3 you can see the orange player in the ball formation. He will most likely lose this battle. Aportion of his troops will not be in range to fire. Move commands must be issued in order for all of thetroops to engage the enemy. This is detrimental because the opponent in the arc formation will notneed to issue those move commands. In Fig B.4 you see that the firepower is scattered out from themiddle. If the Old Man in the YouTube VOD moved forward, it would allow all his units to attack just likethe figure above.

The concave arc is an extremely potent offensive formation but because it is so powerful in a focuseddirection it is extra vulnerable to flanks and pincer attacks. Now imagine the blue dots being siege tanksin siege mode. If all the tanks were lined up like that, where would it be best to attack to tanks? Thesides just like the figure above.





You'll have heard the term "surface area" used by commentators or high level strategists when talkingabout melee units and forming surrounds on your opponent. This absolutely must be taken intoconsideration when moving your troops when you know melee units are on the field. This is especiallyimportant when fast melee swarms are in play (i.e. in Zerg matchups).

Now, since this game is essentially played in two dimensions, there is no "surface area" as that is afunction of 3D space. What we're actually measuring is circumference. Do you know just how muchmore effective a surround is in certain scenarios? We're going to refer to this exposure is attack area.

In Fig. D. you see blue's troops in the spread formation. The red circles represent the circumferenceareas of attack by melee units. c = circumference in the equations. In Fig. D you see blue's troops in theball formation.

In Fig. E. blue's troops are exposed to a total attack circumference of 12.56 while blue's troops in Fig. D.,the spread formation, are exposed to an incredible 56.34 attack circumference! The spread formationis 4.49 times more exposed to melee attack. This increase, or decrease, in attack area exposure isdirectly related to the number of spread clusters and the size of them. So when your army is engagingagainst melee units, it is best for your army to “ball up”, to reduce the attack area. The downside to thishowever is that splash damage will maximize when the units are clumped up.









Day 3 – Practice/ConclusionUnderstanding unit formation is the key to good engagements and basic positioning. Understanding theadvantages and disadvantages is the key to know how to engage without losing as much units aspossible. Here are your exercise tasks for the day…

Tasks

1. Arc position weakness exercise. Go to arcade and type in HOTS Unit Tester (May only beavailable on NA and EU). Start the game. This user map is a unit testing map to simulate somecombat exercises. Click on Terrain and click Field. This will allow the battlefield to be large aspossible. Create 5 red tanks and 6 blue tanks and start. Logically, blue should be able to beat redbecause he has more tank count but that isn’t completely true. Red can beat blue with a lessertank count. The question is how? If you read today’s lecture notes, the Arc position’s weaknessis its side points. Using that, you can exploit how units can win against larger count. Look at thepictures below as an example.

Typical tank vs. tank siege line.

Exploiting the Arc position’s weakness

Move down and siege up…

Now its 5 tanks vs. 5

By doing this all the way, red’s tanks will win. For this exercise, you are to set up a similar position as thepictures above and attempt it yourself. If you feel like this is too difficult, you can reduce the number oftanks blue has. Attempt this exercise at least 3 times before moving on to task 2.

2. Attempt task 1 again except click on vision. Vision will remove the fog of war aspect so tankscannot immediately fire upon one another. Allow red to have 1 medivac/Viking. Using red’stanks and using the vision of the air unit, attempt to break blue’s siege line with an inferior tankcount. If you feel this is too difficult, reduce blue’s tank count. Attempt this task at least 3 tanks.Remember, attacking at the right angle with the right position with give your army a seriousadvantage. This includes playing against ANY matchup depending in the situation.

3. Play 6 unranked/ranked ladder games. After each game, skim (read quickly) thru today’s lecturenotes or yesterday’s lecture notes before proceeding to the next game.

4. [OPTIONAL IF YOU ARE BOSS] Play an additional 4 unranked/ranked ladder games.



Hands upლ(╹◡╹ლ). Start.




Like the previous day, please warm up about 10 minutes on “The Split”.

IV. Join the Group

If you are on NA server, join the group “YuMe T30X Group”. This group is where other people like youare taking in this program. Joining this group will be essential for the future.

Day 4 – LectureI. TvT – The Art of Not Dying

Now we are going to specifically talk about each matchup (Starting with Terran vs. Terran). People sayTvT is considered the most skilled matchup because of the art of positioning your units. That is true andcan be very difficult. Often times players struggle in mirror matchups because it’s fairly easy to die ifthey are not aware of certain things. If anything, it is considered the a lot more possible to make acomeback in this matchup compared to non-mirrored matchups if the better player is far superior. Theskill of TvT comes from NOT dying. Players generally will not die if they place the right units at the rightspot at the right time. To perform this, they will need map vision. Generally placing marines at “possibleattack paths” is the key to knowing when and where the enemy is moving so you can reposition todefend. If you do not do this, it is super easy to get into a base race in TvT. All of the previous days youhave learned, will apply in today’s lesson with heavy emphasis (So yes it’s a difficult lesson).

II. Map Vision

The first key step is having vision. If you look into any TvT games you have played, check out yourvision’s minimap and see how much vision you have. Generally you are playing blind which isn’t good. Ifyou look at higher level play, they will always have vision in some form or another to not die. Pleasewatch this VOD in order to understand and learn the art of TvT.

Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/optikdream/c/2105433

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE_7pLGYqrY

III. Examples of Map Vision

Look at the minimap, how safe do you feel?

Example of getting map vision, putting marines in different attack paths to know where enemy is

Day 4 – Practice and ConclusionYou have learned your build order, transition, basic non-derp engagement, and now the idea of mapvision. Map vision is the key to good TvT. Whenever you play your TvTs on ladder or practice, make sureyou always have some form of vision. If you lose a TvT macro game, check replay what you could havedone to change that. Remember, to defend a position, it doesn’t always take 100% of your army to stophis army. You will need to intercept his army and siege up FIRST but the key to do that is to know whereyour opponent is so you can intercept him.

Find a Terran practice partner to play against. If you have no friends to play against, find someone in thetraining group to play against to practice everything you have learned so far. It will be likely that you willknow your opponent will do a similar build to you so prepare to play out that situation. After playingeach other, go back into the replay and see where the very FIRST mistake occurred. Use the takeovercommand from the replay with your opponent and start playing before that very first mistake occurred.After that game, go back to replay and repeat the process again and again until essentially you havereached late game. If you can play perfectly like that consistently, you pretty much have a good ideaabout TvT.

Remember, TvT is about NOT DYING. Having vision is the key.









Yes, we are seriously doing this every time. Do it.




Like the previous day, please warm up about 5 minutes on “The Split”. Spend 5 minutes on any microexercise we have done in the previous days. Afterwards proceed to the lesson.

Day 5 – “Lecture”I. TvT - Defeating the “Tank Wars”

One of the most frustrating parts about TvT is the “tank wars”. It is too difficult to break into a tank line and often aplayer might throw the game charging into a tank line. Remember from the last lecture that TvT is about not dying.Running into a tank line is pretty much asking to die. So what can we do about the dreaded “tank wars”? Wellthere are three main options a player should do to play it out.

Dropping Tank leaping Breaking the line

II. The Art of Dropping

Remember the VOD of me playing TvT last lecture? There were countless examples in the entire VOD how Ihandled when both the opponent and myself had siege tanks lined up. The first set example was 13:35 of the VOD(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE_7pLGYqrY). The idea is that you know where the opponent is (Right atyour face setting up his tank line). So logically, what is defending back his main base if he brought his entire armyat you? Not much. So if we dropped at his base, the units you dropped will basically do very good damage sincethe opponent is “out of position”. So rather than a blind drop, this is a more calculated drop… a reactionary dropbecause you know the percentage chance of your opponent defending is far lower when his forces are at anotherlocation (Which in this case, he is front of you setting a siege line).

Remember, it doesn’t take 100% of your units to defend against his 100% of his army if your tanks are sieged up.

By sieging up, the moment your opponent steps into your tank line, your tanks will be the first units to fire beforehe gets to fire. With this “first hit advantage”, your army tends to have a general advantage. Since it doesn’t take100% of your army to stop his 100% army, how about let’s say 90% of your army stopping his 100% army? If youhad 90% of your complete army, can you still stop his 100% army if your tanks are sieged up? The answer isgenerally yes. So having 90% of your army defending his 100% army, where would the rest of your army (10%) do?It can go to drops. Sometimes you don’t have to drop, and have a separate “commando army” that can representas a drop if you don’t have a medivac. In the best possible case situation, your opponent will lose everything backhome and force to his siege line to go back home to defend or run into the tank line and hope to break it (Whichwon’t really happen).

III. Tank Leaping

Compared to the dropping option, the tank leaping option is perhaps the most time consuming approach todealing with tanks. The idea of tank leaping is exploiting the tanks ability to attack further than their actual sightvision. Tanks attack range is longer than tanks sight so if you have sight ahead by using another unit (such as airunits) or scanning, you can take full advantage of the tanks attack range. The idea behind tank leaping is to move atank a few centimeters at a time and having vision ahead while your opponent doesn’t in order to have your tanksattack while his tanks cannot attack. The key to tank leaping is air control. By having air control, you have furthersight vision while your opponent doesn’t.

IV. Breaking the Siege Line

Remember the drop method I stated above? Some players may drop too much units that their “100% army” vs.your 100% army isn’t really true. If they drop their too much to the point let’s say 40% army, your 100% army willcrush it no doubt. By having such a small army to defend, you can easily exploit it by cracking it at full force. Justremember to spread out (Remember the lecture I said earlier about always spreading out for engagement to makesure every unit is worthwhile?) before engaging. By spreading out each marine will get to attack and reduce a goodproportion of splash damage as well.

There may be some situations where there are tanks but no marines to support it. Remember, tanks don’t really“tank” damage. If anything, marines do the tanking. So having no unit to supplement the tanks, the tanks areusually extra vulnerable (Which makes it easier to break the siege line). If the tanks have no anti air, you can easilydrop unit on top of the tanks as a way to break the siege line. Having no marine support with tanks is one of theworst possible defenses a player could do (And it’s completely exploitable).

Whenever you do encounter the “Tank line” situation, you must always think

how to break the line. I have named 3 ways to break the stalemate so make sure

you always remember to think about those 3 things when the situation occurs.


III. Tank Leaping









III. Tank Leaping








Day 5 – Practice and ConclusionThe tank line war is an inevitable part of TvT. Whether you are setting yourself with a tank line or goingagainst a tank line. Whenever you do encounter that common situation, think of the “3 methods ofdealing with it” as soon as possible to break the stalemate. Just remember that the same 3 methods canbe used against you as well. ALWAYS THINK AND REMEMBER THE 3 METHOD.




Like yesterday, find a Terran opponent to play against. You are still in the group so you can ask anyonefor a game (Try to find someone relative to your skill level). If you really cannot find a game, go playladder (But make sure whenever you do encounter TvT remember everything we have went over). Inaddition, please 5 more games on ladder (rank or unrank). If you are boss mode, play 10 ladder games.Good luck!













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Like the previous day, please warm up about 5 minutes on “The Split” and 5 minutes on “Focus firestutter Step”. Afterwards proceed to the lesson.

Day 6 – “Lecture”

REAPERS

Compared to WoL’s Reapers, the current reapers are moredesigned towards scouting (Due to its high movement speed andhealing). It can still harass very well and cheese, but it isn’t aseffective compared to WoL (unless the opponent has no idea whatto do). With the introduction of the newly designed Reapers inHotS, there are several significant changes in every matchup. Someof the significant metagame changes are…

Today, we will utilize Reapers into the current build you are using to understand the Reaper’s place andpurpose in the game. Reaper can also be used as a cheese such as the proxy Reaper 8-8-8 or the 11/11reaper rush. These cheeses can easily be fended off using your build (Read day 1 section 3 notes for anexample of a reactionary counter to this). The main purpose of Reapers is generally a safe way for you toscout and do light harass (Mainly the scouting). The usage of Reapers is the highest vs. Zerg (In thecurrent metagame) because you will always do economical damage (Drone scout + grabbing gas thusreducing mineral count + possible ling/drone kills).

TvT

CC first and gas first builds areuncommon. Due to Reapers, thosetypes of builds usually get hardcountered.

Allows you to have early game mapvision/ control/ scouting.

TvP

Easier to scout proxies/and all-ins. Forces a Stalker or MSC (Mothership

Core) to defend back at base.

TvZ

Forces many Zergs to drone scout. Forces Zergs to research and create

speedlings early in game.

The Build Order (vs.Terran)

10 depot

12 rax (Reaper then reactor)

12 gas

15 orbital

16 depot (2)

18 Command Center

19 Factory

23 depot (3)

27 Starport

The transition is the exact same as the build you have done before. Another similarity is the reactor intoexpansion transition just like the 15 gas build. The main difference in this build is that you included areaper instead of the initial 2 marines. The great part about this build is that the factory timing doesn’tchange just like the reactor rax expo build. Both builds allow factory to be created at exactly 4:18 intogame. You do not have to SCV scout if you choose to reaper scout. So it’s up to you to decide, to get thereaper scout or choose the previous build that allows the initial 2 marines and 10 second fastercommand center. Just remember this build transition is meant for TvT. If this build was done in TvP, thenthe initial Mothership Core/ gateway harass can kill you since you only have 2 marines to defend.Against a Mothership core, you always need at least 3 marines. On top of that, with gateway unitsbehind it, you won’t be able to fend off the harass.

If you need a visual demonstration on how to perform the build, you can check out the“Reaper into Reactor Rax Expo” replay in the replays folder. If you are able to performthe 15 Reactor Rax Expo build up to the Starport timing, then this build should be supereasy to perform.


10 depot


12 gas

15 orbital

16 depot (2)

18 Command Center

19 Factory

23 depot (3)

27 Starport




10 depot


12 gas

15 orbital

16 depot (2)

18 Command Center

19 Factory

23 depot (3)

27 Starport



The Build Order (vs. Protoss)

10 depot

12 rax (Marine then reaper, marine (2), marine(3), then reactor)

14 gas

17 depot (2)

17 orbital

21 Command Center

22 Factory (Widow Mine)

24 Bunker

27 starport

If you used the TvT Reaper variation vs. Protoss, you will realize that your 2 follow up marines after

Reapers will get completely owned by a simple Mothership core harass. On top of that, putting that

together with a Stalker and/or Zealot will pretty much end the game there. It’s important we rush 3

marines + bunker so we don’t lose to anything silly. This style of opening is perhaps the fastest and most

economical way to get both the initial 3 marines and the Reaper. The follow up afterwards is same what

you normally deal with the 15 gas build (Reactor, widow mine, Starport). If you want to take a risk in

production advantage, you can make marine out of the rax, then reaper, then reactor. If they chose to

do the super fast zealot/stalker/core harass by grabbing double gas before cybernetics, you might run

into problems.

If you need a visual demonstration on how to perform the build, you can check out the

“TvP Reaper Variation” replay in the replays folder. If you are able to perform the 15

Reactor Rax Expo build up to the Starport timing, then you will have an idea how this

build works.


10 depot


14 gas

17 depot (2)

17 orbital

21 Command Center


24 Bunker

27 starport









into problems.




build works.


10 depot


14 gas

17 depot (2)

17 orbital

21 Command Center


24 Bunker

27 starport









into problems.




build works.

Adding Reapers into the current builds for TvP and TvT should be very easy if you have done the 15 gasplenty of times. In fact, it would probably hardly be considered as a complete new build, but more orless a variation of something you have done. Remember, Reapers don’t have exactly high attack power,making defending early aggression slightly abit more difficult. Consider making the Command Center atthe high ground.

For TvZ however we will not be learning Reapers yet. The reason behind this is because it involves acertain level of mechanics and game sense to utilize to its full potential. Unlike the other matchups, TvZrequires very good execution and mechanics to be great at the matchup. For the purpose of learning TvZfrom scratch, we will learn this the next day.

Day 6 – Practice and ConclusionUsing the build you have done up until now, you now have a “Reaper extension” as a option to scoutfurther. This day isn’t anything super intensive with heavy content or anything, but something you willneed to get use to since you have been performing only one build up until now. Your task today issimple…

Play against A.I. to try out the build yourself to get use to it. Play 6 ladder games using this Reaper extension into your play. [OPTIONAL] Play an additional 4 ladder games using the Reaper extension.

Remember to take heavy emphasis on scouting. The Reaper usage for this build is meant for scoutingrather than harassing. Take a look at the scouting charts at day 1 if you need assistance to know how toread the scouting information

The next day we will focus more about TvZ











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Day 7 – “Lecture”

As most of you noticed by now, the first few days we started off was mainly TvT related material. For thenext few days we will be focusing on TvZ as our core focus. There are A LOT of things to talk about in TvZand it definitely isn’t an easy matchup. We will first talk about build order…

Our choice of build order is a “1 Rax FE into Hellion Banshee”. If you do not like the Hellion/ Bansheeopener or have your own TvZ build you like, you do not have to use this and may proceed to skip thisday (You still have to play 10 ladder games as your task). This build was extremely popular in the woLmetagame for several reasons…

1. Bio-based openers was risky2. Hellion/Banshee gives much easier map control3. Hellion/Banshee is pretty good at harassing4. Queens can shut down earlier ground based aggression easier5. It’s a great economical build while maintaining points 2 + 3

Bio units need upgrades to make them viable to be strong (Such as Stim, combat shield, +1 attacks,medivacs) however it takes some time to get these things... which gives Zergs plenty of breathing roomto drone up and be safe and greedy. If you look at Hellion/Banshee, the units don’t require upgrades tomake them viable. The upgrades are good, but by all means not necessary. Bio upgrades are required,not optional whereas Hellion/Banshee upgrades are optional, not required. Bio needs stim to makethem move pretty fast whereas Hellions already naturally move fast. This build is still viable even in hots.A lot of the new features of Zerg usually applies mid to late game, so the early game remains mainlyunchanged other than the new Reaper based tactics and speed/burrow type all ins.

This build is also very multitasking intensive. If you can nail this build down, you pretty much built up themultitasking level of yourself. By all means this isn’t an easy build to master.

The Build Order

10 depot

12 rax (1 marine then stop marine production) (SCV that is building the rax will build a bunker afterwards)

15 orbital

16 command center (Start orbital when it’s finished)

@150 minerals double gas (After starting scv after double gas, start moving an SCV to ramp to finish walloff)

17 depot (Resume marine production, stop once you have 3 marines)

@100 gas start factory (After Factory, start Starport)

@50 gas start reactor on rax (This will swap with Factory to start Hellions; Afterwards Rax makes tech lab to be swapped forstarport)

*Once you start your first pair of Hellions, start supply depot (The SCV making supply depots are making depots throughout thegame)

*Once you get Starport on techlab, start banshee

This build is very multi tasking intensive. Don’t rush it and take your time.

Watch the replays “Hellionbanshee1” and “Hellionbanshee2” for visual

demonstration

The Build Order

10 depot


15 orbital










demonstration

The Build Order

10 depot


15 orbital










demonstration

Safe/ControlUsage

Usage ofHellion/Banshee

DroneDestroyer

3rd BaseAttacker

QueenSniping

Day 7 – “Hellion/Banshee”There are multiple ways to use Hellion/Banshee. Each usage of hellion/banshee has its pros and cons,but for starters I will list the multiple ways you can do. (Arrows on diagram indicate swapping usage)

Diagram Usage of Hellion/Banshee Usage

There are 4 main ways to use Hellion/Banshee: Safe/Control, 3rd Base Attack, Drone Destroyer,and Queen sniping. The arrow shown in the diagram shows you can switch easily from one usage intoanother usage when the situation allows it.

The usage of each of the known Hellion/Banshee tactics will be difficult because theamount of multi tasking you have to put into. Remember, these are like your weighttraining. After constantly forced to use multi tasking intensive tactics, your mind will beforced to adapt and that is how you will naturally build up speed or APM (Actions perminute).

Safe/ Control

This is considered the most popular usage of Hellion/Banshee. The idea behind this style of usage is topick off “free units” without committing and losing the Hellion/Banshee. The Hellion/Banshee is used toalso control creep and effectively doing “free hits” without getting hit. As long as you have an activeforce constantly out on the field, you basically have map control. By having map control can scare theZerg and actively control creep, making the mid-late game engagements a lot easier. The key ideabehind this is not losing any unnecessary Hellion/Banshee count and constantly picking off free unitsand tumors.

As shown in the picture, the hellion/banshee camps at the border of the creep to deny tumors


Safe/ Control




Safe/ Control



RunbyAttempt

(MinimumHellions)

Yes.Roast the

drones

No. PlaySafe/ Control

usage

No walloff ordecent countof speedlings/

roaches

Simple key ideas to make this work…

Constant eye on Hellion/Banshee

Camping the units at border of creep to always deny tumors and possibly

knocking out Queens

Always fighting Speedlings off creep

Scanning creep tumors to push back creep if lack of defense (Lings/Queens) are

there

If they go roaches, that would also not be a bad thing would you since they have to invest more to be

more secure. Banshees can still deal good DPS verse roaches, just don’t lose your units for no reason.

You are basically trading super efficiently or doing free damage.

Drone Destroyer

This is pretty much focused on search and destroying the Zerg’s economy. Cloak Banshee can target fire

(Shift click) each drone, and you are taking a risk by attempting Hellion run-bys. If you watched the

Hellion/Banshee replays earlier, both replays show an example about this style of usage.

Flow Chart of Run-by Decision Making

Assuming the Hellion/Banshee cannot do anymore damage, it will transition back into the Safe/ Control

usage. There are some downsides to doing hellion run-bys. The first downside is that you are very likely

to lose those Hellions. Losing those Hellions will mean you will have to remake them. Remaking them

will mean you 3rd base or extra production facilities are delayed. You need to replace them to constantly

have map vision/ control so you are able to safely expand to your 3rd base. Without active units on the

field, you will basically play blind.

3rd Base Attacker

This is considered the simplest approach to using Hellion/Banshee. Basically all the Hellions and

Banshees are rallied and just attack the 3rd base of the Zerg (if there is one). Attacking the 3rd base Zerg

can either force a reaction or the 3rd base actually gets destroyed.

Step 1: Find the Zerg’s 3rd base (If there is one)

Step 2: Any newly rallied units will join up and harass

Step 3: Forcing a reaction from Zerg to come defend. Transition to Safe/Control usage to get free damage

If you looked at the first diagram usage above, the usage of Hellion/Banshee for 3rd base

attacker can change to drone destroyer or safe/control usage. Because you forced a reaction

out of Zerg, there may be a chance where queens might come out to defend the 3rd (meaning

chance there is no wall off for drone defense) or play safe/control where you just pick off free

units and not lose your units for no reason. You can also potentially snipe queens with cloak

banshee or sheer hellion count (If you choose to have a lot of hellions).

Queen Sniping

Obviously the idea is taking out the Queens. Taking out Queens will ultimately mess up their

injects and creep spreading. It will force hatcheries to pump more queens which will delay their

lair potentially and their macro. For this usage, you will need cloak banshees (Or more than 1

banshee).

Holding Timing Attacks

Zerg timing attacks are very linear and often difficult to predict if they will do it (That’s why some

Terrans don’t SCV scout or use Reapers). There are ways to hold Zerg aggression using Hellion Banshee.

Holding timing attacks always requires to pull SCV to not let bunker die.

Speedling All in or Ling/Bane all in

All it takes is proper Hellion control. If you lose hellions, you are pretty screwed.

Idea is don’t lose the Hellions and constantly produce them.

Early Roach timing attacks

When I mean early, I mean before Banshee starts appearing. Constantly kite

Roaches with Hellions to buy time for the Banshees. Remember to not lose any

Hellions as much as possible and stall long as possible for the Banshee to arrive.

If the opponent has lings with the Roaches, kite against the lings.

If Banshees do come out, you use the Banshee’s to be defensive, not offensive. The unit attack priority

order for Banshees should be Banelings > Roaches > Speedlings. If you do not have the Banshees to

focus down the correct unit, you will more likely to lose. So if you opponent uses a Roach/Ling/Bane all

in, Banshees should focus down Banes first, then Roaches, then w/e is around left. If your opponent is

doing a 1 base build, your command center should not be at the low ground at all.

Day 7 – “Transition”This build is extremely flexible in terms of what you would like to transition to. You can transition topretty much anything you like. You can transition to Marine/Tank, Bio/Mine, Bio/Hellbats, or Mech.Depending on what you like best, you have both economy and tech at your disposal. Regardless of unitcomposition, there are 2 main infrastructure transitions. One staying on 2 base longer (Allows more unitproduction short run + Allows early timings) and the other going fast 3rd base (For best macro transitionpossible + late game).

Ideal Infrastructures to Aim for

Committed 2 bases/ Slow 3rd Base can support up to…

Bio/Tank

5 Barracks (1-2 tech labs, 3-4 reactors) 1 Factory (Tech lab) 1 Starport (No addon) 2 Ebays (+1/+1) 4 refineries

Bio/Hellbat

5 Barracks (1-2 tech labs, 3-4 reactors) 1 Factory (Reactor) 1 Starport (Reactor) 2 Ebays (+1/+1) 1 Armory (Anything you like) 4 refineries

Bio/Widow Mines

6 Barracks (1-2 tech labs, 4-5 reactors) 1 Factory (Reactor) 1 Starport (Reactor) 2 Ebays (+1/+1) 4 refineries

Mech (Ultimately depends what units you make)

3 Factories (2 tech lab, 1 reactor) 2 Armories 1 Starport (Any Add on) 4 refineries

Or

5 Factories (3-4 tech lab, 1-2 reactors (For no Thor approach) 1 Armory 0-1 Starport (Isnt really making unless you float gas or choose to drop) 4 refineries

There are multiple ways to transition into the structures you want, but the end result will always remainthe same. For the fast 3rd command center variation, the first 400 minerals after the initialHellion/Banshee will be the 3rd command center and then resume the production listed above. Its eitheryou get the 3rd command center before the ideal infrastructure above or after.

The replays “Hellionbanshee1” and “Hellionbanshee2” still show an example oftransitioning into Marine/ Tank. One showing committed 2 base style and other showingthe fast 3rd base transition.







Day 7 – “Conclusion”Practice this one build in every matchup for the next few days (DO NOT USE ANY OTHER BUILD

OR IT WILL DEFEAT THE PURPOSE OF IMPROVEMENT). You will constantly do this build till it becomes

part of you. It doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad (It’s actually very good) but the idea remains the exact

same as the first day where you are just going to get use to it. Remember there is no such thing as an

“auto win build”.

Tasks to do

1. First practice the build against A.I. 5 times.

2. Look at “Hellionbanshee1 or Hellionbanshee2” (Depend if you want 2 base play or 3

base play) replay to let it sink into your head.

3. Practicing using the build against unranked opponents 3 times. After each game

look at the lecture about the ideal infrastructure to make sure it sinks into your

head. One of the hardest aspects of this build is getting the right infrastructure

while performing Hellion/Banshee on time. The more you practice this, the more

you will get use to it.

4. Look at both at “Hellionbanshee1 or Hellionbanshee2” replay AGAIN to let it sink

into your head (Yes seriously).

5. Skim (or quickly read) the entire lecture notes again to let it sink in your head.

6. [OPTIONAL IF YOU ARE BOSS ENOUGH] Play rank games and repeat task #5 after

each TvZ game. If you have a practice partner, that works too.

Remember to only use this build in TvZ and not the 15 reactor gas build. If you still struggle, do not

proceed to the next day until 2-3 days later. Good luck!



You don’t have to stretch. Just kidding, stretch. Seriously.





IV. Lumosity

http://www.lumosity.com/

This is your temporary 3 days warm up training where it helps stimulates your brain activities. Thiswould be an excellent way to warm up your head and keeps the blood flowing. Although this is only trial,you have 3 days of free trial. If you like it and wish to buy it, go for it. If you have used this before, makea fake email and do it again.

Day 8 – “Attacking the Zerg”Most players would ask “How should I attack Zerg” or “When should I attack Zerg”. Oftenlower level players would not attack anyone in general until really late in game or neverattack at all which causes a lot of problems. QXC (Pro gamer from Complexity) long ago said“If you are not attacking, you are probably losing”. Today’s lecture is about showing somebasic guide lines about attacking/ moving out, and how to increase the efficiency of yourattacks.

General Attack Rules

There isn’t a set of attack rules that are completely set in stone, but there are some general (Mostsituation) rules you can follow to increase the efficiency of your attacks verse Zerg.

General Attack Rules (Detailed Long Boring Version)

A. The attack path you generally want to take to attack the Zerg is towards the most recentexpansion. The logic behind this is…

i. There is usually less creep there, making engagements easier (most creep startsoff at the natural of the Zerg)

ii. If you attack a Zerg’s natural, it’s easier for Zergs to setup in position to flankand engage you (And they have benefits of creep: Movement speed + vision).

iii. As game progresses further and further, their main base and natural are usuallythe first to get mined out. The purpose of attacking those bases becomesminuscule (Possibly the only purpose left is to snipe out specific tech trees).

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As shown in this mini-map, creep is less concentrated on the right sidecompared to the left. The right side has more chokes in comparison tothe left side of the map, where it’s more open field.

B. Multi pronged attacks are almost always a good thing (How much you invest into multipronged attacks is a separate issue). Whenever you attack the Zerg, you almostgenerally want to do this (Esp. large maps). The logic behind this is…

i. Even if you lose the frontal army engagement, you do get something out of theattack by taking out another thing. There are some people who argue that“every marine is necessary” for winning a big fight, but another counterargument is that Zerg players will also have to split their armies as well, makingtheir army size smaller as well. If anything, Terran units in smaller numbers stillwork very effectively and the execution to attack is far easier than the executionto defend.

ii. Might put them out of position. A bad Zerg might pull a large sum of his units todefend a single drop at a particular location, when the entire 99% of the Terranarmy can take out any location.

iii. Multi prong attacks can take out expo/drones. If a Zerg typically loses his army,he would have to remake his army. If a Zerg typically loses his drones, he wouldhave to re-drone. But if he lost both army and drones, what will he remake? Thenature of Zerg creating units is usually one way or the other, making this adifficult part for Zergs to decide what to do.

As shown in the minimap, the Terran army is moving towardsthe most recent expansion while a drop is on route towardsanother Zerg base. If the entire army comes defendingagainst the push, his army would be at the furthest pointaway from the location where the drop would take place(Making his army unable to reach the drop location on time).

C. General Timing Attack Opportunities: You should attempt doing timing attack (Since it’sreally strong). Examples of timing attacks:

i. Move out your entire army to attack 10-15 seconds before +1/+1, +2/+2, and+3/+3 upgrades complete. These are usually the three main timing attacks (Ifyou chose to attack) that will generally at its most effective peek. By the timeyou reach the enemy base, your upgrade will complete.

ii. Rules of timing attacks still follow General Attack Rules #2: Where you shouldtry to multi prong attack at the same time. With the combined effectiveness ofthe timing attack and multi prong attack, it’s usually is the best time to dodamage.

D. Marine/ Tank Pushes: If you chose to marine tank push, always have minimum 3 tanks ifyou chose to push out with this composition.

i. Low tank counts suck (Esp. if you are paying 150/125 for one or two tanks toattack once or twice before it dies)

1. This is one of the reasons why some players like Bio/Mine compositionbetter. Tanks require a certain minimum count to move out while minesdon’t generally need a key specific minimum number to move out, sinceafter one fire of mines its purpose becomes fulfilled. This allowspotentially Bio/Mine players to play far more aggressively.

ii. Each Sieged up tank has a weapon attack speed of 3. Having 3 tanks will meanattacking once every second (In terms of numbers). So ideally it’s like a tankfiring in rotation… So minimum 3 tanks is generally the most effective minimumcount. Anything less becomes pretty useless.

iii. Tank count requirement can apply to the timing push rule. So if you have yourupgrades just ready

General Attack Rules (TL;DR version)

a. Attack the Zerg’s most recent expansion (Or potentially recent expansion)b. Always multi prong attack the Zerg.c. Move out your entire army to attack 10-15 seconds before core attack/armor

upgrades are complete (Don’t forget to multi prong same time).d. If you chose to marine tank push, always have minimum 3 tanks if you chose to push

out with this composition.

Maximizing Unit Usage

If you generally look at the Zerg or Protoss Army in a fight, almost 100% of their units are in thefight. If you look at a typical Terran army in a fight, not all 100% of their units are in the fight. Infact, a good percentage of units are actually back home being created or rallied on the spot. Thisgives Terran army engagements a slight disadvantage in unit engagements. So while Zerg andProtoss have 99% unit usage in the engagements, the Terran army is more realistically closer to95%. So what can we do about that extra 5% that isn’t with our army? There is actually a goodway to make them used.

1. Use the units and rally them to our armya. Unfortunately these army wont immediate get there on time

and there is also a large risk of getting attacked back homewhen your entire army is out on the field. The advantage out ofthis is that if the engagements between you and the enemy stillongoing, these units will make the difference between win orlose.

2. Load the newly created units with the newly created Medivacs and dropat a different location. This approach is not only difficult for the enemyto realize there is a drop at another location, but ensures that yourarmy is being utilized much closer to 100%. Compared to dropping andthen doing a big army frontal push at the same time, this tactic does thereverse order where you move out with a frontal army and then dropwith the remaining newly created units. The enemy’s attention is fixedupon the initial army march, making the drop very difficult to detectand stop.

3. Using them to defend potential “run-bys” and base trade situations.This is another possibility although it doesn’t really utilize your armycompletely in the engagements.













Day 8 – Practice and ConclusionUsing the some simple guide lines about attacking Zerg, apply the “Rules of attacking” in all the TvZgames you play. If you have a practice partner (Zerg), follow Task #1, otherwise follow Task #2. Yourobjective is to…

1. Attack Zerg’s most recent expansion as a default attack route.

2. Try to attack and drop same time. You can (and should) use the newly created units/medivacs backhome to drop in a different location while you are pushing same time.

3. Follow timing attack rules if situation allows it

Task #1

Play 6 practice games with your partner. Tell your partner your objective (The 3objectives above). Whenever you play your games, after your games analyzeyour replays to see if you really did follow the attack rules. Your partner canhelp remind you if you did follow the attack rules whenever.

Play 4 ladder games to complete your day (Any TvZ = Follow the attack rules) [OPTIONAL] Play till you burn out

Task #2

Play 10 ladder games. (Any TvZ = Follow the attack rules). After each TvZ game,analyze your replay to see and make sure if you really did follow the attack rules.Remember, whenever you move out, look at the units back home that arenewly created and see if they are doing anything worthwhile. If there wereMedivacs that were just newly created, you could have used those units to dropfor the newly created rallied units. Always make sure you attack the most recentattack under normal circumstances.

If possible, try to stick to task #1, as it is more effective since you have someone elsetelling you and reminding you as well.





Task #1



Task #2







Task #1



Task #2



Special Thanks

Special thanks to AllThingsTerran, Team .SCA, and my followers for supporting me in this guide.This training program is completely free so if you paid YOU GOT RIPPED OFF (I only accept donations).

Group (NA): YuMe T30X Group

Email: [email protected]

Stream: www.twitch.tv/optikdream

Special Thanks





Special Thanks





Terran Guide T30X

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Transcript of Terran Guide T30X