[G] TvZ - Early Rax/Fac Aggression with No Add-On

10 depot
12 barracks (Constant Marine Production, no add-on)
13 gas
15 orbital
16 depot
18 factory (First 100 gas goes to factory. Remember constant Hellion Production, no add-on)
21 depot

The key thing to remember is constant production on the barracks, factory, and command center - there shouldn't be a second of wasted time!
While keeping constant production and building a starport with your second 100gas, you should be able to afford your expansion CC between 6:30 and 7:15. (During your marine/hellion production, the first available 400 minerals should be used into a command center.)

So if zerg scouts your gas, they will automatically assume you are going to go factory (most likely reactor hellion expo). The zerg will keep in mind that they will have to throw down a spine crawler at some point before reactor hellions pop out. However, our attack will come abit earlier than the normal timings of a reactor hellion, expand because we are going to put pressure using our first initial 3 marines. There is no real way of telling if this is a normal reactor hellion play or a rax/fac. Their only info is gas so that makes 2 rax out of the question and allows the possibility of reactor hellion expo or 1/1/1.

The aggression begins.

All rally points are set to the front of the zerg natural. Move out immediately when your 3rd marine finishes. With your barracks and factory rallied towards the front of the zerg expansion, you're ready to apply some non-stop aggression. Your scouting SCV should be kept alive to be used to tank some initial damage for the marines until hellions arrive.


When you arrive, make sure the marines are ALIVE and UNHARMED as much as possible.

The strength of the pressure will escalate ridiculously when your units reach the “mini death ball” state, so try to keep them all alive. Do lots of little pokes, but don't over-commit. If there are any spines constructing, try taking those out as well because if those spines finish, the aggression is basically halted. The spines are not likely to be up by the time the 3 marines will come, because hellions won't arrive until later (greedy zergs will stay greedy). The only time they will have spines ready by the time those marines come is if you 2 rax. Using the marines you have, do lots of kiting and deal any free damage you can until hellions arrive. Make sure the marines are at a good distance between enemy Zerg units that are approaching the marines (remember you want your units to be alive and unharmed). Your initial 3 marine pressure will trigger an alarm to the Zerg (no droning, but lots of Zerglings!)

Normally if this was a 2 rax pressure, you might eventually get overwhelmed by the sheer Zerglings count if you over-commit. However, we have the perfect unit rallied that won't be overwhelmed by Zerglings anytime soon… hellions. Not only do hellions deal good splash damage to roast Zerglings, but they move really fast and zerg can't have speed that early. Your 3 marines will be safe once the hellions arrive.


Help has arrived!

At this point, killing zerglings should be easier with the assistance of hellions. Don’t forget that more hellions and marines will come assist you. Once again, don’t overcommit and keep units alive with as much HP as possible. The more you force zerglings to be created, the more economic advantage you have. For every zergling you kill, you force another to be remade instead of a drone. For every queen you kill, you force the zerg to remake that queen and reduce their production capabilities and stall lair tech. For every spine you kill before it is established, you can continue your aggression.


A supply lead, worker lead, and Command Center on the way… AND the aggression is still going


Banshees delay a 3rd base, allowing the supply and economic lead to grow. In addition, a big marine tank medivac army is coming in the next 2-3 minutes.


36 workers killed, 3 base terran vs 2 base zerg with 50 supply lead. Yup the aggression helped no doubt.

The beauty of a build like this is it's versatility – if your multitasking is solid, you can transition into any number of options based on the amount of damage you do and the scouting information you gain. Just remember that this isn’t too different from a reactor hellion opening other than, obviously, you build no reactors which allows you to produce earlier units. Any transition you normally do after reactor hellion can still be executed.

Option One: 1/1/1 Banshees (with or without cloak)
If you kill a queen or two with your early marine/hellion aggression, or even if you just want to continue applying constant pressure, banshees are a great option. You can add in a starport with your first 100gas after the factory and start producing banshees. Cloak is optional, you may do additional damage and force spore crawlers, but it is a significant investment.
For me, banshee transitions are my favorite because they force the zerg player to produce queens/spores (thus slowing their tech / droning). Banshees can also be used defensively in the event the zerg opponent goes for any type of roach timing attack or all-in (Zerg units can't attack air until lair). There are other small advantages, too, like placing a banshee at the zerg player's 3rd or clearing the xel-naga.

Option Two: Marine/Tank/Medivac
During your marine/hellion aggression, the first available 400 minerals should be used to build a command center. It will be up to you to determine, based on how many units you have and how much damage you deal, if you want to create your command center directly at your natural or in your main. Start a tech lab on the barracks and a reactor on the factory, thencreate 2 more barracks. By the time the reactor is finished, swap the factory with a barracks and start making a reactor on the 3rd barracks. The barracks with the tech lab should start researching stim (and combat shields afterward). Start a tech lab on the factory and create a starport. Make sure you get the 3rd gas geyser once your command center is finished. Whenever you can, also get double e-bays in order to keep even or ahead in upgrades. Once you get a steady marine army with 3 tanks, you have the option to push towards his 3rd base to take it down or sit back and grab a 3rdbase.

Option Three: Heavy Mech Transition
Rally the marines/banshees/hellions to the zerg front and constantly pressures with the 1/1/1. Start an expansion by 6:30. After expanding, put down 2 factories and an armory and starts massing hellions for a while, and eventually swapping buildings around top give the factories tech labs and using the starport to make a reactor. The ultimate goal is MASS hellion/thor. Eventually, you add a 3rd base and gets to a total of 5 factors producing tanks/thors/hellions until maxed. Keep constant upgrades on the armory to reach 2-2 by the time of the max-out push, at which point you can basically A-moves a giant mech army.

Stream Tutorial on TvZ 1/1/1 Opening: http://www.twitch.tv/tangsc/b/311978564

http://drop.sc/78716
The transition follows into expo + cloak banshee follow up + marine tank medivac push

http://drop.sc/95322
Shows pure 1/1/1 with marine hellion aggression

http://drop.sc/68978
ST_Rainbow shows his trademark early marine/hellion/banshee aggression with a thor-heavy transition.

NOTE: I've answered these questions myself, but encourage others to share their insights.

1. Is this build an all in?
No, it’s not an all in. If you want to call this an all in, you might as well call a reactor hellion an all in. It's a versatile and aggressive opening, with plenty of viable macro transitions.
2. What maps is it best to use this build on?
Any map that features a short-mid rush distance. If the map happens to have a open natural, its even better. (Such as metapolis, shattered temple)
3. How can a zerg know if it’s a reactor hellion expo or a marine hellion pressure?
They honestly don’t. Even if they know its coming, they literally have like 20 seconds to respond to it. They can only know if they see a reactor is being made after the 2nd marine (Marines are guarding).
4. So… instead of 2 rax, its 1 rax 1 fac aggression?
Yes it is. Instead of your 2nd and 3rd marine from that 2nd rax, it’s a hellion. Hellions are fast, splash damage, rallys to your destination faster compared to your marine rally. So in a different sense, this aggression is better than 2 rax and allows higher tech abit easier as a transition compared to 2 rax.