[G] TvP Hammer Build, Crushing Protoss - Page 8

On May 02 2014 18:07 Thyrym wrote:
Hi Hammer , im currently bad , i mean , diamond .

Ive faced your build once , and i will try to explain what happened in the game, since i don't have any replays :

First game : i had a plan in my mind of going zealot / stalker expand into 3gate robo ( rain glorious build ) , when i scouted some things that felt unusual , still , moved on , when the first push came in , with basic micro , i could deflect it , without spending any chrono on army , after that i had on my mind that i was somewhat ahead , afterwards , the drop came in , negate some mining time on the main , and with a stalker positioning i could deflect the natural too , i attack right away ( around 13 minutes if my mind doesn't trick me ), with +2/1 2 colossus , and blink stalkers , he dies.

This is not thrash talking to the build , its just that , with some micro and a simple macro build , the hammer build can suffer a little , again , not thrash talking or anything like that.

Bottom line , the build itself is very clever , but it need some tweaks to be more effective against Macro protoss players like me. Cheers mate !

On May 03 2014 06:45 Ruiner wrote:
I'm loving this build since I have been using it I have about an 75-80% winrate, I'm Gold, so this is a great bronze to Gold build (and up since you are using it masters league)

The action begins with a quick marauder/widow mine timing, transitions into widow mine drop/s, and finishes with a high supply mech timing push. The build is very safe, and counters almost all early Protoss aggression. As the game progresses, the main composition is Tank/BF Hellbat/Viking/Medivac/Ghost, although it can be changed to counter when necessary (ie; Blink Stalker = Marauders emphasis, air Protoss = Thor/Viking emphasis).

On May 04 2014 10:12 Danglars wrote:
It looks good for a surprise, a good fit for a game two of a Bo3 when you win the first. Other than that, too gimmicky, too reliant on throwing the protoss off with the harass. Mine drops after that marauder/mine poke is a big clue-in that the Protoss should 2base allin. You've spent this much time on harassy units and there's nothing meaty up yet to challenge a standard protoss midgame allin. The replays I saw were as much the opponent blundering in the face of weird tactics as they were a build asset, and mannn some of those builds.

It doesn't rise to the level of a [G] Guide for this forum without a few wins against opponents that shrug off the harass (play more if you don't have these yet) and losses with analysis.

You are so very far from demonstrating its safe and counters much at all.

On May 04 2014 22:43 SatedSC2 wrote:

I change the opening that I use if I scout this build order being used. My normal build wouldn't do well against this because my normal build is set-up to deal with standard Bio timing-attacks and not a timing-attack that hits much earlier. A lot of Protoss openings don't deal with early aggression well because they're very macro focused and are essentially reliant on Photon Overcharge to get them through early pressure. Frankly, if a Protoss player doesn't alter their build when they scout this opening then they're playing badly and you shouldn't take games against them as evidence that this build is good, only as evidence that failing to react to scouting is bad

On May 16 2014 08:44 Gullis wrote:
Just wanted to sat that this builds work really well for me in diamond. From being my weakest 40% matchup it is now my strongest (70%) matchup (winratewise). I do however a normal 1 racks reaper expand in to factory starport with some marine/mine/medivac harras.
I have won all of my standard tvps with the push shortly after 14m (except for a few, but they died to a follow up attack).
I am curious, what are the correct response from the protoss to the deal with the 14-15m push?

On May 23 2014 13:29 eightym wrote:
I wrote this to a diamond terran but I thought I'd post it here:

I've been using variations of the Hammer build over the past month with a 59% win rate (top diamond). Most of the time I do very significant damage with the first attack. The key things are to: target units and pylons (especially artosis) with the marauders at (if possible) the main, burrow mine by mineral line, ignore MSC while keep rallying/microing marauders/mine, pull back when cannon is activated (use this time to kill natural if possible; a bunker can be useful), then go back in.

If they go double gas I rally my second mine to my minerals–unless I find him spending gas on something other than a stargate. I don't build engineering bay unless something is fishy (no evidence of gas spending or oracle).

There's the possibility he scouts you and knows how to react, but that's actually sadly uncommon at diamond. But even then it can be effective if played properly (macro, defend, harass, then attack).

If the first attack was effective, you can transition into almost anything. You can immediately start stim on the TL and go for a stim +1 timing or do the usual 15min mech push (what I like to do). If I'm feeling frisky and I think they're going robo units then I'll go mass banshees with some bio, otherwise maybe mass mines with fast burrow and armor upgrade. It all depends on their tech tree and how much damage the first attack did.

It's a great strategy for free wins on ladder. Thank you Hammer. I don't know how much longer this strategy will be effective but I'm happy with it now.