EPTTvP
For the longest time, this was my worst matchup. I believe that I need to put pressure on early when I play any game. So I couldn’t figure out a good opening and then would die to the Protoss deathball that would inevitably roll me. It always saddened me that I’d hear the pros sneer at this matchup, always calling it Terran imbalanced but I never got that feeling.
Finally one day
ThorZaIN gave me a build idea on his stream... Terran opens 1/1/1 into expansion. While my expansion command center is building, I harass with 2-3 banshees. I then transition into a marauder heavy bio ball with medivacs. Late game, the build goes into ghosts.The two ideas I realized are that if I allow Protoss to macro, Protoss’ late game upgrades are way stronger than mine because of chronoboost. If I apply pressure, Protoss gets spooked and I can force more units to be made. If Protoss decides to attack me with these extra units, I can move a banshee back in to harass and draw some of his army back, buying me time to mount a defense. I also realized that the pressure shouldn’t stop early game in TvP. If I attack, I should also pressure on another front with drops or more banshees. Even if I don’t micro, it causes my enemy to split his attention.
Drops
Drops are fast becoming my favorite way to attack. I like catching people out of position with my pushes so I’ll often drop behind my pushes. I can't really multitask, but it often causes my gold-level enemies to panic and make poor decisions with their army control. I also love the warm fuzzy I get when I decimate a worker line or snipe a crucial piece of tech. I remember playing an hour long TvZ on Tal’darim Altar. Zerg had gone with mutalisks/speedlings/banelings while I was trying the build that
Bomber uses, showcased on Day[9] Daily #395. I ended up going Marine/Medivac/Tank/Vikings. I kept having terrible engagements when I tried to face the baneling ball straight up. In retrospect I should’ve had better scouting, better positioning on his creep, and better tank spread. Since I was behind, I decided to drop his base. I managed to snipe his spire before he could make mutalisks and then fended off his front door bust. As I was really behind, I started dropping all over the map. Zerg transitioned to Ultras while his bust relegated me to marines/medivacs/banshees. I had 3 drops going around at once. Again since my multitask is bad, I would only control one drop at a time. But I would sacrifice a small drop at 9 o’clock to draw Zerg out of position then drop his main at 11 o’clock and snipe all of his tech. When he returned to 11 o’clock, I’d drop back at 9 o’clock to kill off his hatches. It was glorious. Using drops to force positioning was an amazing accomplishment for me.
Thin Defenses
Day[9] is always talking about his love of thin defenses, and I finally experienced a few. I held off a few 4gates with 4 marines, a hellion, and a banshee. And I traded with Protoss to live. Every single time it happens, I’m in full on panic mode. It gets my heart racing more than a win or loss does. Whenever I watch
SeleCT play, it’s his thin defenses that allow him to start his comebacks. I’m trying to integrate that into my play; to not give up so soon.I would love to hear about any breakthroughs the readers might have. I’d also appreciate any tips and advice you may have. Finally, I’m looking for Protosses and Zergs to practice with so if anyone is a gold or platinum level player, please feel free to message me.
