• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 07:26
CEST 13:26
KST 20:26
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Summer's End7Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2915Serral wins Maestros of the Game 244ByuL, and the Limitations of Standard Play3Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7
Community News
Weekly Cups (August 10-16): SHIN doubles2GSTL Returns in 2026!45Weekly Cups (Aug 3-9): Protoss get shut out7RSL goes to London! 2026 Offline Finals Nov 21-2212Weekly Cups (July 27-Aug 2): SHIN's big week0
StarCraft 2
General
GSTL Returns in 2026! SC4ALL II: SC2 Player Announcement 6/8 - Maru Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16) Serral wins Maestros of the Game 2 Weekly Cups (August 10-16): SHIN doubles
Tourneys
2026 GSTL Announcement Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2) PIG STY FESTIVAL 8.0! (13 - 23 August) WardiTV Mondays 2026 KungFu Cup Announcement
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
Nexus Wars 2021 GUIDE [M] (2) Industrial Park
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 539 Thunder Dome Mutation # 538 Media Blackout Mutation # 537 Hostile Territory
Brood War
General
BW General Discussion How Famous was FlaSh before his Debut? Are you ready for ASL 22? NEW HYPE VIDEO [ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Summer's End [Personal Project Share] Terran Defense v0.60
Tourneys
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3 [ASL22] Ro24 Group C [ASL22] Ro24 Group A [ASL22] Ro24 Group B
Strategy
Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation Fighting Spirit mining rates Any training maps people recommend? Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread General RTS Discussion Thread Anyone here play Quakeworld back in the day? Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread EVE Corporation
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish TSM pausing esports and CLG Dead
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Power Rank TL Mafia Community Thread NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Dating: How's your luck? Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Artificial Intelligence Thread The Letting Off Steam Thread
Fan Clubs
The Creator Fan Club MarineLorD Fan Club The ShoWTimE Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread Series you have seen recently...
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread MLB/Baseball 2023 TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 NBA General Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Simple Questions Simple Answers FPS when play League Of Legend on laptop
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Northern Ireland Global Starcraft
Blogs
Young Players Exit Esports E…
TrAiDoS
LOCKPICKING NOOB
LUCKY_NOOB
Cathedral Of CS And NY pizza a…
FuDDx
Please support my new stand…
Peanutsc
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 6753 users

Ways to play TvP

Blogs > UpATree
Post a Reply
UpATree
Profile Blog Joined January 2012
Canada38 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-05 02:30:48
May 05 2012 02:09 GMT
#1
I really have just been laddering and haven't learned much, just grinding my way up the ladder.

TvP

I used to QQ a lot about protoss, but lately I've adopted the mindset that good play can always mitigate imbalance. That's just me though, I'd like to know more about what the community thinks about the state of TvP. So I have a few questions:

Poll: Is bio really the only way to (viably) play?

No? (16)
 
64%

Yes? (9)
 
36%

25 total votes

Your vote: Is bio really the only way to (viably) play?

(Vote): Yes?
(Vote): No?



Poll: Is drop play truly necessary?

Yes? (13)
 
59%

No? (9)
 
41%

22 total votes

Your vote: Is drop play truly necessary?

(Vote): Yes?
(Vote): No?



Poll: Can one successfully turtle with bio play?

No? (16)
 
73%

Yes? (6)
 
27%

22 total votes

Your vote: Can one successfully turtle with bio play?

(Vote): Yes?
(Vote): No?



I really wanna know what Terrans or Protoss, think of these points.

What I think

For anyone that actually cares about my opinion, I thought I'd give it. I've watched sc2 since release, and I've seen so many styles be successful. I always was under the impression, that with strong mechanics and a solid thought process a player could make almost any strategy good. Recently a post by blizzard changed my mind, I won't cite it because I'm sure everyones read it. They basically state that Terran has an advantage in the midgame, and Protoss an advantage in the late game if gone unhindered.

This actually surprised the crap out of me, because I was under the impression that games weren't supposed to be played out in a linear fashion. You may ask, "I don't see how blizzard's statement says anything about linearity". Well that takes a little theory crafting, and I'll do my best.

If the Terran has a midgame advantage, and are prone to losing if they don't capitalize on their advantage. Well how must they capitalize? Lets think of ways: A push up the ramp, usually fails due to forcefields. A turtle 2-base push? Well protoss can chrono upgrades, and then do their own 2 base push, stop yours then enter the midgame. Many other strategies are usually countered just by solid macro and a good defense by protoss, prior to entering the late game.

IMBA! No, not really. Drops are the most obvious way to get around this, and that's why almost every Terran build revolves around fast medvacs. Almost anyone who plays this matchup in a higher level, knows that fast medvac builds are "standard play". If blizzard themselves say that this is true, do Terran players really have a choice? If they try any other tactic that doesn't involve a midgame capitalization, can they not win? Isn't this poor game design? Shouldn't a player be able to viably execute a straight up fight, and at least trade evenly?

Note: In what I think, I'm excluding 3 things. Mech play, because I don't consider that a viable midgame tacitic. Maybe I'm wrong, but from what I've seen and heard people just generally discredit it. I exclude cheese, because these are often coin flips that are good mostly when not scouted, they also don't capitalize on the early game. I'm also excluding the recent 3 tank, bio timing. I don't know how long it's been used, but I haven't seen much of it (Maybe mostly Korean Ladder?). Until I've seen more, I don't think I can judge how viable it is for capitalizing in the midgame.

Anyway, I was just posting because it's the "hot topic", and as a Terran player I actually have an opinion.

- UpATree

Edit, I believe I messed up the poll, lol. Gotta fix that.

Edit, Fixed.

****
You learn only by losing to players better than yourself.
Jumbled
Profile Joined September 2010
1543 Posts
May 05 2012 02:19 GMT
#2
On May 05 2012 11:09 UpATree wrote:
Can one successfully turtle with bio play, or must one be aggressive?

This is not a yes/no question.

My feeling is that siege mode definitely becomes useless once charge is researched, but there's probably still a place for thors, at least, and sky terran can be downright scary at times. So the idea of tanklines in lategame TvP is probably a non-starter, but I don't think Terran needs to stick to just barracks plus medivacs either.
UpATree
Profile Blog Joined January 2012
Canada38 Posts
May 05 2012 02:23 GMT
#3
On May 05 2012 11:19 Jumbled wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 05 2012 11:09 UpATree wrote:
Can one successfully turtle with bio play, or must one be aggressive?

This is not a yes/no question.

My feeling is that siege mode definitely becomes useless once charge is researched, but there's probably still a place for thors, at least, and sky terran can be downright scary at times. So the idea of tanklines in lategame TvP is probably a non-starter, but I don't think Terran needs to stick to just barracks plus medivacs either.


I realized that, but it was too late! The question for anyone who care is: Can you turtle. I thought it was implied that if you aren't turtling your being aggressive on the map.
You learn only by losing to players better than yourself.
Jumbled
Profile Joined September 2010
1543 Posts
May 05 2012 02:26 GMT
#4
On May 05 2012 11:23 UpATree wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 05 2012 11:19 Jumbled wrote:
On May 05 2012 11:09 UpATree wrote:
Can one successfully turtle with bio play, or must one be aggressive?

This is not a yes/no question.

My feeling is that siege mode definitely becomes useless once charge is researched, but there's probably still a place for thors, at least, and sky terran can be downright scary at times. So the idea of tanklines in lategame TvP is probably a non-starter, but I don't think Terran needs to stick to just barracks plus medivacs either.


I realized that, but it was too late! The question for anyone who care is: Can you turtle. I thought it was implied that if you aren't turtling your being aggressive on the map.

You can just create a new poll and edit it into your post.
Pokebunny
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
United States10654 Posts
May 05 2012 02:28 GMT
#5
You can turtle up to a fast 3rd, but then you need to start using your economic advantage to kick ass.
Semipro Terran player | Pokebunny#1710 | twitter.com/Pokebunny | twitch.tv/Pokebunny | facebook.com/PokebunnySC
UpATree
Profile Blog Joined January 2012
Canada38 Posts
May 05 2012 02:31 GMT
#6
On May 05 2012 11:26 Jumbled wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 05 2012 11:23 UpATree wrote:
On May 05 2012 11:19 Jumbled wrote:
On May 05 2012 11:09 UpATree wrote:
Can one successfully turtle with bio play, or must one be aggressive?

This is not a yes/no question.

My feeling is that siege mode definitely becomes useless once charge is researched, but there's probably still a place for thors, at least, and sky terran can be downright scary at times. So the idea of tanklines in lategame TvP is probably a non-starter, but I don't think Terran needs to stick to just barracks plus medivacs either.


I realized that, but it was too late! The question for anyone who care is: Can you turtle. I thought it was implied that if you aren't turtling your being aggressive on the map.

You can just create a new poll and edit it into your post.


Alright, Alright! I fixed it
You learn only by losing to players better than yourself.
UpATree
Profile Blog Joined January 2012
Canada38 Posts
May 05 2012 02:32 GMT
#7
On May 05 2012 11:28 Pokebunny wrote:
You can turtle up to a fast 3rd, but then you need to start using your economic advantage to kick ass.


I hate to sound like an over eager fan, but you're the first player I recognize to comment on something I've done. I think that's pretty damn awesome.
You learn only by losing to players better than yourself.
LuckyFool
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States9015 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-05 02:37:11
May 05 2012 02:34 GMT
#8
Terran has to do stuff to get ahead in TvP or you will just die.

I've been doing super greedy stuff like super fast double ebay upgrades or fast 3rd cc, depending on the map/positions you can get away with a ninja 3rd too which is really amazing.

also for some crazy mech play Illusion recently used it at IPL4, he beat oz with mech and kiwikaki, the replays are in the IPL replay pack. pretty interesting builds. in general everyone is going bio though. mech seems easy to counter if P plays properly, I feel like some of the mech wins rely simply on lack of experience playing against it by most P's.
Coramoor
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Canada455 Posts
May 05 2012 02:39 GMT
#9
There is a player named hangene who has a very interesting mech heavy approach, if you can find some of his replays, i'd recommend checking it out
UpATree
Profile Blog Joined January 2012
Canada38 Posts
May 05 2012 02:43 GMT
#10
On May 05 2012 11:39 Coramoor wrote:
There is a player named hangene who has a very interesting mech heavy approach, if you can find some of his replays, i'd recommend checking it out


I'll look into that, thanks!
You learn only by losing to players better than yourself.
Cycle
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States300 Posts
May 05 2012 03:24 GMT
#11
Pure Air
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=283935

Mech
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=323003

Two guides made from high master terran players on alternative TvP styles. I personally do mostly mech, with some bio and some pure air.

In my opinion, mech armies are stronger deathballs than protoss armies. Just keep up on upgrades and watch for carrier/void ray switches (yes, that is the proper response to seeing a ton of tanks) and your army can roll his.
| chKCycle.551 | NA | Master League Random | Checkmate Gaming |
Pokebunny
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
United States10654 Posts
May 05 2012 11:32 GMT
#12
On May 05 2012 11:32 UpATree wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 05 2012 11:28 Pokebunny wrote:
You can turtle up to a fast 3rd, but then you need to start using your economic advantage to kick ass.


I hate to sound like an over eager fan, but you're the first player I recognize to comment on something I've done. I think that's pretty damn awesome.

Hehe :p you're welcome!
Semipro Terran player | Pokebunny#1710 | twitter.com/Pokebunny | twitch.tv/Pokebunny | facebook.com/PokebunnySC
Br3ezy
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States720 Posts
May 05 2012 14:43 GMT
#13
there is not enough context in any of the situations. Therefore an argument can be made for either of the answers you have there
Check out my guide to mechanics http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=319876
Kraznaya
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States3711 Posts
May 05 2012 15:26 GMT
#14
The best way to play TvP is to proxy 2 rax, pull half your scvs, and bunker rush. Anything else will get you killed.

Proof: GSL Ro8 :p
do you have enough resolve, hero of justice?
Masq
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
Canada1792 Posts
May 05 2012 16:05 GMT
#15
I used to do a lot of biomech 2-3 base timings with a 2fact siege tank opener, and honestly you'll win a lot because people are unexperienced with siege tank play. Once people are accustomed to the build, you will die horribly.

Aside from doing some gimmick builds and stim rushing up ramps or going pure marine/marine+ghost timing before protoss has AoE, dropplay is pretty much a requirement.

Mech probably has a future, just not in WoL.
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
KCM Race Survival
10:00
Season 3 Week 7
Kim Chul Min (afreeca) 1190
Liquipedia
The PondCast
10:00
Episode 106
CranKy Ducklings51
CranKy Ducklings SOOP9
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Lowko295
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 20108
Leta 10739
Calm 10482
firebathero 4622
Shuttle 1971
Bisu 969
Jaedong 784
Horang2 517
Pusan 481
Mini 407
[ Show more ]
Yoon 292
EffOrt 243
Soulkey 167
Light 149
Soma 135
Stork 132
Last 104
Larva 85
hero 79
ZerO 77
Rush 68
Killer 50
[sc1f]eonzerg 49
Aegong 42
Sharp 31
sorry 30
Barracks 29
Shine 29
Sea.KH 29
Sexy 28
sSak 26
soO 24
yabsab 19
910 18
ajuk12(nOOB) 8
Dota 2
The International117630
Gorgc9272
singsing3308
KheZu84
League of Legends
JimRising 329
Counter-Strike
fl0m2132
olofmeister1300
shoxiejesuss869
byalli580
x6flipin323
edward29
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King116
Other Games
B2W.Neo429
crisheroes238
PiGStarcraft170
Sick161
Trikslyr10
Liquid`LucifroN0
Organizations
Other Games
BasetradeTV169
StarCraft: Brood War
lovetv 12
[ Show 10 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH324
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Jankos1015
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
12h 34m
Escore
22h 34m
PiG Sty Festival
1d
Serral vs Reynor
HeRoMaRinE vs herO
CranKy Ducklings
1d 22h
PiG Sty Festival
2 days
Zoun vs Solar
SHIN vs Maru
Patches Events
2 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
PiG Sty Festival
3 days
The Patches Monday
4 days
GSL
4 days
[ Show More ]
PiGosaur Cup
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
The PondCast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-08-19
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
Eternal Conflict S2 Finale

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
K-JUNGMAN
ASL Season 22
Super Anchor Qualifying S3
CSL Season 22: Qualifier 1
RSL Revival: Season 6
PiG Sty Festival 8.0
META DYMY #4
Esports World Cup 2026
Esports World Cup 2026: LCQ
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S3: W8
CSL Season 22: Qualifier 2
CSL 2026 AUTUMN (S22)
Acropolis #5
Acropolis #5 - TRS
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Acropolis #5 - GSA
HSC XXX
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
Big Dog Cup 2026 Div 1
IEM Beijing 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
1win Private Club #1
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.