[G] Synystyr's Guide to Sky Terran in TvP

The core unit matchup you will face using this style.

Banshee:
140 HP
12 Dmg x 2 per attack
0 Armor
150 Minerals 100 gas cost
Light Classification
3 Supply
17.6 DPS

Stalker:
80 HP 80 Shields (160 Effective HP)
10 Dmg (+4 vs armored) per attack
1 Armor
125 Minerals 50 gas cost
Armored Classification
2 Supply
6.94 DPS (9.72 vs armored)

As a light unit, the banshee only takes 10 damage per shot from the stalker, which allows the banshee to take 14 hits before dying to one stalker, whereas it only takes a banshee 8 shots to kill a stalker. In a one-on-one encounter, the banshee flies away with half its health left. Without micro, A Protoss would need twice as many stalkers as there are banshees to win an encounter. Both units have 6 range while the Stalker has a slightly better movement speed than the Banshee by .2

The second matchup of importance is for air superiority, if your Protoss opponent chooses to contest it: Viking vs Phoenix

Viking:
125 HP
10 Dmg x 2 per attack (14x2 vs armored)
0 Armor
150 Minerals 75 Gas cost
Armored Classification
2 Supply
10 DPS (14 DPS vs armored)

Phoenix:
120 HP + 60 Shields (180 Effective HP)
5 Dmg x 2 per attack (10x2 vs light)
0 Armor
150 Minerals 100 Gas cost
Light Classification
2 Supply
11.1 DPS (22.2 DPS vs light)

On paper, Phoenixes have a small advantage in a head on engagement against Vikings. In a realistic game scenario, the ability to poke with the 9 range of your Vikings, plus the fact you are upgrading your air units and your opponent(99% of the time) isn't, should tilt this matchup into your favor. Be mindful that you will be reinforcing with waves of 4+ vikings at a time while Protoss will only likely have 2 starports running. This matchup snowballs quickly in favor of the winner of the first contest for Air dominance.

This will likely be the response by Protoss once they scout your Air based army. Air units have a tendency to stack up, making it easy to land a storm on the majority of your units. All air units but Vikings have an energy bar as well, making Feedback strong against this army. However, a few things to note:

It takes two full storms(8 seconds of sitting in them) to kill a banshee.
A high templar can be sniped in 4 banshee shots.
HTs are much slower than Starport units.

Your goal is to kite out of storms and use moving shots to poke and prod at the Protoss army. Snipe high energy HTs when possible. Feedback can be good against small numbers of air units, but the Protoss simply will not have enough energy to feedback everything later on. If you can dodge storms, you will win this matchup. There's only so much energy that Protoss has

You will see the occasional Void Ray or Archon response. Void Rays lose to Vikings quite handily and also take a long time to build. They are more of a response to BCs, but Yamato can 1 shot them.

Archons are very powerful vs stacked air armies, but only have a range of 4 and can be kited properly by banshees. Be mindful of where the archons are located in the army when engaging. I don't have too much experience vs any Carrier/Mothership play, but Vikings and BCs with Yamato Cannon do quite well against both.

10 Supply Depot
12 Barracks
14 Barracks
15 Orbital
15 Marine
16 Supply Depot
Nonstop SCV/Marines when you can
21-22 CC @ Natural
26 Supply Depot
27 Refinery x2 ---> 3SCVs on each gas
~30 Bunkers(1-3) @ Natural's choke
(Supplies are volatile at this point, will just give basic layout)
Orbital @ Nat
Engineering Bay -> 2-3 Turrets to deny Obs (1 at Natural choke for DTs, 1-2 in main)
Factory
Double Gas @ Nat -> 3 SCVs on each gas
Armory + Starport as Factory finishes, add Tech Lab to Factory to hot swap with completed Starport
Raven + Cloak OR Banshee + Cloak depending on whether you need defense immediately or not.
+1 Ship Weapons immediately after Armory finishes, upgrade +2 and +3 whenever possible
Add 3 more starports when money allows AFTER starting +1 Ship weapons and cloak. (Hold off until confirmed obs kill if you can)
Push out with 8-10 banshees after +1 finishes.
Expand/add racks/ports as needed

DISCLAIMER: You can use a 1 Rax Expo if you feel you can safely expand and defend off it and properly transition into Sky Terran. This BO is simply much safer vs any early pushes, but delays tech and earlier timing attacks. I use 1 Rax Expos myself to execute Sky Terran more frequently now.

10 Supply Depot
12 Barracks
13 Refinery -> 3 SCVs
15 Orbital
16 Marine -> Constant production
16 Supply Depot
@100Gas Factory
~20-21 Refinery#2 -> 3 SCVs
Supply Depot
Starport after Factory finishes, add tech lab to factory to hot swap with Starport
Banshee + Cloak -> Harass/scout(Do not lose, can be used to roam map to find forward pylons and additional harass)
Build CC in base immediately at 400 minerals after Banshee+Cloak is started
Raven after Banshee
Add Armory(+1 weapons), 3rd and 4th gas and additional Barracks after taking natural.
Add 3 additional starports after sweeping the base with your Raven+Marines
Push out/Expand after 9-10 banshees and +1 Ship weapons finishes

We open with a 12/14 Barracks expand. My reasoning behind this is to establish a very safe expansion that can hold off early attacks with extra marine production and bunkers. Starport based armies are expensive, especially gaswise, so it's important to expand ASAP. The 12/14 opening can also apply pressure on greedy expands and in general, can throw the Protoss off a little bit. You want to be scouting for Chronoboost allocation and whether Protoss takes a second gas with your initial scout. Generally you won't glean much, but if you scout an early expand, you can cut corners in terms of bunkers and turret timings and get your tech rolling faster instead.

Look to kill the scouting probe if possible by scouting your nearby locations. Maynard 5-7 SCVs as your expand finishes. If you are bunkering heavily, do you best to create a FULL WALLOFF. Runbys really can hurt, and a bunker wall is very intimidating to try and pass. Get your gasses mining as soon as you can and get a Factory immediately at 100 gas. Create a turret ring that will block/snipe Observers and their predicted flight path when they try to get in. This can generally be done with 3 turrets on most maps. It's important to place your first turret at the natural choke as soon as you can, just in case of DTs (I've lost to DTs before because I turreted my main before my nat). Occasionally I'll get High Sec Auto Tracking to really deny the Observer. Well placed turrets are also great at stopping/delaying Warp Prism or Blink Stalker play, which is occasionally a response to bypassing the bunker wall at the natural.

I like to do a scan at around 6:10~6:20 in the Protoss main to get a good feel of what tech path they are choosing. You can generally figure out if they have expanded, are all-inning you or their current tech path with a good scan. Important things I've learned to look for are Robo timings and general production capability. If you don't sense an obs coming soon, you can delay your turrets. I scan the natural around 8-9 minutes later on to check on army size and composition. Usually the Protoss is in the dark as to my current tech path at this point in time, but will see I am turtling behind 3 bunkers.

I like to use my first banshee to do some delayed cloaked harass. Most Protoss don't expect this and you can force their army back home and sneak a few probe kills in. I usually hold position over the mineral line so my banshee isn't chasing any units. If possible, pick off stalkers to lower their count instead of probes. I've found that the less stalkers, the better. Do your best to conserve this banshee and use it to clear watchtowers and scout for pylons. Poke in and out when you can to keep Protoss on their toes.

At this time, you should be focusing on getting your Banshee production flowing out of 4 starports, as well as Air attack upgrades in the armory. You should be able to barely afford this gaswise on two base and start creating an excess of minerals. I usually add anywhere between 3-5 Barracks and expand once to three times depending how much my macro slips Once you get a larger number of banshees(usually 2 rounds), I choose between two options. I'll either move out with all my marines, banshees and Raven and try to kill my opponent straight up, or move out with only my banshees and Raven and try to poke his undefended locations.

The standard Protoss army at this time is usually Zealot heavy, with a handful of Stalkers/Sentries and either Colossus or Templar depending on the player. Your goal is to take out all the anti-air you can and to snipe observers. An undetected fleet is an unkillable fleet. If you win the initial engagement, aim to take out mining bases (Focus fire Nexus), sniping key tech structures (Cyber Core, Forges, Templar Archives) to delay proper responses and keep rallying in Banshees/Vikings as needed.

If the engagement is lost, salvage what Banshees you have left and try to defend. You can always reset an engagement if you can snipe all observers in the area, so make that a priority. It is very hard to come back if you lose a lot of Banshees early. Abuse banshee mobility as best as you can by flying to his bases and keeping the Protoss away from your base.

You should notice a huge amount of minerals in your bank throughout the midgame stage of the game. Use it to expand aggressively and to create a sizeable marine ball at home with mass Barracks. This marine ball can be another force used to roam the map to defend zealot harass and poke in other locations than your banshees to keep Protoss split/multitasking. I add on anywhere between 3-5 starports and a Fusion Core after expanding to my 3rd base or more. Focus on getting the gasses on your extra bases running quickly. I usually use PFs for my later expansion with a turret in the mineral line. Building Armor and High Sec Auto Tracking are good upgrades if you can afford them at this stage.

If you and the Protoss are even throughout the midgame, you want to create a sizable force of Banshees and Vikings as well as a Raven or two and start roaming the map, looking especially to pick off new expansions. Banshees are very good at sniping buildings quickly and escaping. The Raven and Viking support will stop any Air counter attacks, provide detection to snipe Obs and protect your army with PDD. 1-2 PDDs and a focus fire on the Nexus works quite well. Denial of additional resources for the Protoss with your Sky Terran while taking your own is your goal in the lategame. Max out and only engage in favorable situations, prioritizing picking apart the Protoss slowly through constant stabs in different locations. Storms and stalkers are still strong at any point in the game and your army is more fragile than I'd like.

Add BCs ONLY if the Protoss starts massing Phoenixs. BCs are excellent against Phoenix and also screw with the AI, which causes them to attack the BCs and not your banshees. Viking also mess with AI in the same way. Otherwise, Banshee and their mobility do much better against mass Stalker armies. BCs can't kite and will be focused down quickly. They are more of a tanky air unit than damage. Always be sure to know when and when you don't need more Vikings, you don't want too much supply to be taken up by them when you may need more Banshees to kill stalkers.

Nothing too flashy with this build, just a standard Cloaked Banshee expand. I like using this as an opener as it gets you the tech you need for your mid/lategame at an early stage of the game and allows a few faster timing attacks at the cost of less defense and delayed economy. It's nice that this build does look similar to 1-1-1 and sometimes forces Immortals as a response.

You want to be scouting for the same things as you normally would and look for any early timing attacks that might kill you while you tech. Keep your Cloakshee at home if you need to defend and add bunkers as needed.

I like to harass as much as possible with the Banshee but not at the cost of it's life. Aim to pick off stalkers over probes IF you know you can get a one or two (No detection any time soon). Do your best to get a full scout of the base as well and save the banshee to clear watchtowers and scout for forward pylons.

I get a Raven immediately after the first Banshee so that I can sweep my base for any observers and try and sneak the extra starports if I can. The earlier you can get the Raven out without dying, the better, as you get to start saving energy for those precious PDDs. Remember to continuously upgrade Ship weapons as the game progresses.

Repeated information from previous analysis, can skip if you read it
At this time, you should be focusing on getting your Banshee production flowing out of 4 starports, as well as Air attack upgrades in the armory. You should be able to barely afford this gaswise on two base and start creating an excess of minerals. I usually add anywhere between 3-5 Barracks and expand once to three times depending how much my macro slips Once you get a larger number of banshees(usually 2 rounds), I choose between two options. I'll either move out with all my marines, banshees and Raven and try to kill my opponent straight up, or move out with only my banshees and Raven and try to poke his undefended locations.

The standard Protoss army at this time is usually Zealot heavy, with a handful of Stalkers/Sentries and either Colossus or Templar depending on the player. Your goal is to take out all the anti-air you can and to snipe observers. An undetected fleet is an unkillable fleet. If you win the initial engagement, aim to take out mining bases (Focus fire Nexus), sniping key tech structures (Cyber Core, Forges, Templar Archives) to delay proper responses and keep rallying in Banshees/Vikings as needed.

If the engagement is lost, salvage what Banshees you have left and try to defend. You can always reset an engagement if you can snipe all observers in the area, so make that a priority. It is very hard to come back if you lose a lot of Banshees early. Abuse banshee mobility as best as you can by flying to his bases and keeping the Protoss away from your base.

You should notice a huge amount of minerals in your bank throughout the midgame stage of the game. Use it to expand aggressively and to create a sizeable marine ball at home with mass Barracks. This marine ball can be another force used to roam the map to defend zealot harass and poke in other locations than your banshees to keep Protoss split/multitasking. I add on anywhere between 3-5 starports and a Fusion Core after expanding to my 3rd base or more. Focus on getting the gasses on your extra bases running quickly. I usually use PFs for my later expansion with a turret in the mineral line. Building Armor and High Sec Auto Tracking are good upgrades if you can afford them at this stage.

If you and the Protoss are even throughout the midgame, you want to create a sizable force of Banshees and Vikings as well as a Raven or two and start roaming the map, looking especially to pick off new expansions. Banshees are very good at sniping buildings quickly and escaping. The Raven and Viking support will stop any Air counter attacks, provide detection to snipe Obs and protect your army with PDD. 1-2 PDDs and a focus fire on the Nexus works quite well. Denial of additional resources for the Protoss with your Sky Terran while taking your own is your goal in the lategame. Max out and only engage in favorable situations, prioritizing picking apart the Protoss slowly through constant stabs in different locations. Storms and stalkers are still strong at any point in the game and your army is more fragile than I'd like.

Add BCs ONLY if the Protoss starts massing Phoenixs. BCs are excellent against Phoenix and also screw with the AI, which causes them to attack the BCs and not your banshees. Viking also mess with AI in the same way. Otherwise, Banshee and their mobility do much better against mass Stalker armies. BCs can't kite and will be focused down quickly. They are more of a tanky air unit than damage. If you do get BCs, make sure you grab the Behemoth Reactor and Yamato Gun upgrades in that order. Ship Plating is extremely strong on them as well. Always be sure to know when and when you don't need more Vikings, you don't want too much supply to be taken up by them when you may need more Banshees to kill stalkers.

1. Once the midgame starts, I begin to accumulate a lot of minerals and have trouble spending them. Are there any other options to spend the money on something more useful? The mass barracks and expands are nice, but unupgraded marines aren't that great outside of early game. Any spots in the build I could squeeze in upgrades?

2. Are there any other ways to tech up to mass Starport production more quickly or safely? I like my openers, but everything has a weakness and I'm always looking to optimize the style more.