[G] StimmedProbe's TvP 1-1-1 All-in/Contain

Greetings TL! It’s StimmedProbe back again with another extremely strong TvP strategy which I have been trying out and tweaking the last few weeks. As you may know if you have been laddering or browsing TL the last few weeks, the 1-1-1 all-in has become the ‘flavor of the month’. There are many variations of this build out there, but below I will detail the strongest way I have found to do the build. In addition to the extremely optimized and crisp build order, I will also detail how to execute the attack properly, which may include an insane contain at his natural. The nickname my friends and I have given this style of play is “The boa constrictor” style, you’ll see why in a bit.

Traditional 1-1-1 builds are strong and often times can win a game straight off if the Protoss makes mistakes or has the wrong army composition. However extremely good players can hold it off to some degree so it is often better to setup a contain and slowly kill him. I found out that it is often better to just use the units to force yourself to a good position on the map and setup a wicked contain instead. If you can plant some supply depots, bunkers and maybe even a barracks or engineering bay, the chance of the Protoss breaking it goes down to virtually 0.

The build order needs to be crisp. A very crisp build order can get you to diamond/masters league without much effort. In order to beat higher level people though you will need to execute the attack and contain properly. I have experimented with a bunch of tweaks and this is the strongest build I have found. Practice with an AI for a game or two to get the flow of the build down, it is not very hard to do properly in my opinion. It requires about 50-60 apm, if you don’t poke with the hellion too much and don’t harass with the initial banshee.

Make sure you patrol with the raven/marines around the edge to prevent scouting. Also make sure the factory and starport are next to each other to swap add-ons quickly. Do not lose any units if you can help it. If the initial hellion gets hurt repair it. A final note is that if you get your gas stolen or see a void ray, you will need to skip the raven and/or build a Viking. In total you will have 3 air units when it is time to push out, the exact air composition you have will vary from game to game, but the ground composition will remain exactly the same. A final note, if you suspect a 4 gate/early pressure build 3 marines, then a bunker then a reactor. Without any further ado here is the build order:

Constant SCV Production Assumed*
10 Supply Depot
12 Barracks -> Constant Marines till you have 5
13 Refinery
15 Orbital Command
16 Supply Depot
18 Factory
20 Refinery
22 Supply
25 Starport
25 Hellion
28 Reactor on Rax -> Constant marines once done
29 Supply
29 Tech lab on factory -> send hellion to scout
31 Swap Starport onto Tech lab and make a Raven -> Make two banshees once done
35 Tech lab on factory
36 Depot
39 Seige tank from factory -> Make another once done -> Two hellions after
Keep up with depots here
66 siege mode (8 minutes)
Push at around 80 food (9 minutes)

I personally hate food numbers, and learn quicker through watching someone do it so here is a video of me performing the build. A replay of the build is located below in the replay section of this guide if you need further reference.

Push with 20 marines, 3 hellions, 2 seige tanks, 2 banshees and 1 raven and 12-16 scvs. Rally reinforcements in, make sure you shift que through the meaty units so your rally points don’t get reset or messed up. You should leave your base before 9 minutes and arrive at around 9:40.

Scout ahead with the hellions to clear out towers and get a good sense of where the enemy army is at. Do not use PDD, your army is stronger than his no matter what and you can just force your way across the map. If your army is significantly stronger just “go fucking kill him” as day9 would say. However there is a chance that your opponent either a.) is much better than you and has macroed better (unlikely if you follow the build order guide/video) OR b.) went for a good counter to this all in (chargelot /immortal namely) OR c.) went for fast thermal-lance colo so you can’t exactly push into his base Leroy Jenkins style.

If you can’t directly kill him off, simply move into range of your opponent’s natural. Once you are within range of the natural siege up, and start building 3 bunkers.

You can bring the banshees along to force your way across the map, or you can use them to harass the back of the Protoss base. This sort of depends on your mechanics and your opponent’s army composition and size, this is something you just gotta figure out on the fly.

Once you setup your contain, make sure you rally reinforcements to there and setup everything in a good position. Once you got an iron contain setup, send one hellion around to look for hidden expos and use your banshees actively if you can as well. The main point is by now you have either won already or you are forcing one base vs. one base.

Your opponent will react in one of two ways. He might go for a base trade, in which you just lol and lift your buildings towards your contain and send your army up to go kill his main. Base trading is heavily in the Terran’s favor, so just go for it.

Alternatively he may try to break out, which is more likely. After you setup a super strong contain, they can’t get out basically. When they attempt to get out, you should have a good laugh.

If you have made an engineering bay, research building armor, if you have a barracks use it to block ground movement or scout the high ground. Try to wall-in and build as much stuff as you can to mess with the zealot ai and stalker firing. Try to make it look something like this:

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/newuploads/1e303.jpg

If your main runs out of minerals, just lift your cc and move down to your natural. When the protoss runs out, they are basically dead because they will have to long range mine (assuming they can even do that). They will be behind 400 minerals and the 60 seconds it takes to build a nexus. Another point to note is that one base vs one base you earn roughly 1000 minerals because of mules, whereas your opponent earns roughly 800. Just sit tight until your opponent either base trades with you, or attempts to run into the meat grinder.

I have been getting a lot of comments about why I think my army composition is the strongest. I will elaborate here a little bit.

The army composition I have is as follows: 20 marines, 3 hellions, 2 siege tanks, 2 banshees, 1 raven, 12-16 scvs @8:45. No cloak, no stim/shield, only siege mode.

1.) Why siege mode? -> You may get forcefielded into your base, and having siege mode will help you break out more efficiently. In addition you will need siege mode to contain properly.

2.) Why no cloak? -> Cloak is useless and eats up a tremendous amount of gas.

3.) Why get a raven? -> The raven protects you from DTs and helps your banshees survive the battle. The raven also allows you to instantly wall in with three auto turrets if you need to (offensively or defensively!). You get 3 air units from the starport before it is time to push, I believe 1 raven + 2 banshees is stronger than 3 banshees, especially if you build the raven first.

4.) Why no infantry upgrades? -> Gas constraints, plus you need a reactor on your rax to have a decent amount of marines.

5.) Why use the factory to get hellion/tank/tank/hellion/hellion -> The first hellion is used to scout for proxy pylons and to get a little bit of map control. The two tanks after are to use the gas optimally. You will notice after you make two tanks, you will be gas broke and in order to afford siege mode and keep up with banshee production you will need to cut siege tanks after you get two of them.

6.) Why bring SCVs -> Because BitByBit does. Just kidding =] They can tank, repair, construct and mess with the zealot AI. They are a critical part of the army composition. You need them to ensure victory.

I hope you enjoy the slight twist on the traditional 1-1-1 build that I have come up with. This style of play is quite fun and really reminded me of some old school Brood War builds I used to use. Have fun!

Here are five replays to illustrate the 5 main possibilities that can happen in a game when you attempt the strategy above. I also attached a replay of the build order.

Here are the 5 possibilities:
1.) You just ‘go fucking kill him’
2.) He engages you before you get your contain up
3.) He attempts a base trade
4.) He tries to break the contain
5.) Hybrid of the above

1.) In this game I tell my practice partner what I am going to do, and he decides to go for a one gate expand into fast robo tech. Seeing as he powered too hard and his army size is small I just decide to ‘go fucking kill him’ directly, the game ends quite quickly after his army evaporates to mine. (Masters level opponent)



2.) This is a game from the semi-finals of a tournament I recently won. In this game my opponent expands relatively quickly and when he sees my push coming attempts to stop it with all his units and some probes. He tries twice before giving up. (GM level opponent)



3.) This is a game from the grand finals of the same tournament as above. In this game I push across the map and my opponent attempts to stop me. After trading armies, I have a few tanks and a few marines left and setup a contain. My opponent then decides to build up a bit then go for a base trade. Classic example of why you shouldn’t attempt a base trade with terran. (GM level opponent)



4.) In this game my clan mate and good friend goes 3gate robo for a gateway/immortal break. I am able to push towards his base but I am not able to push directly up into his main, so I setup a contain instead. I continue to strengthen the contain and for the luls I float my main CC over his main and land at his natural. He attempts to break the contain and dies. Good illustration of how to setup a good contain. (Masters level opponent)



5.) This is another game from the grand finals, in this game my opponent gets out very fast thermal lance colossus. This makes pushing quite difficult, I am able to setup half of a contain before he goes for a break. I barely hold and decide to push up the ramp. He is able to break the contain, but another wave of units allows me to setup another contain, which he attempts to break. (GM level opponent)



6.) Here is a replay of me against an AI executing the normal standard build for reference.