[G] TvP: Taking Control of the Pace of the Game

Proxy Reaper into 2 Base Heavy Aggression:

This style focuses on knocking the Protoss off balance early, discouraging them from doing cheese and instead focusing on defending and being greedy after successfully defending, before hitting them with a sharp aggressive timing parade.

This style is not without its weaknesses:

- Soft usage of DTs that burn out your scans and wear down your forces
- Players who are good at intercepting stray units with blink or Phoenix
- A combination of mis micro on your end and superb defense from their's

The opener:
- 12 SCV
- @5-7 seconds, take an SCV off the line and move it towards a proper proxy location. I like to do this build on Orbital Shipyard and Dusk Towers, and generally proxy like so:





- 16 rax
- 16 gas
- 17 gas (with next 75 minerals, no cutting SCVs)

- While your first reaper is queued up, start your factory at home @ 100 gas
- Start 2nd reaper @50 gas
- At @100% 2nd reaper, lift your barracks and take it home; Land the barracks on the tech lab from the factory (the factory will be done making the cyclone by then)

Your first reaper will arrive in the Protoss base a good 10-15 seconds before they are generally ready for it. A scouting probe might hint them that something is up from the double gas but lack of barracks, but there's nothing Protoss can really do from this point to accelerate their defenses, as they generally open Gate - > Gas - > Nexus - > Core while getting the MsC out just in time to stop an in base reaper FE.

- Use your grenades and focus down as many probes as you can. Even Mid GMs lose 2-3 initial probes, and sometimes have to pull for a little bit. Worse players I've faced have lost upwards of 7-8 probes total.

- Pull your first reaper back when the MsC is done and beware of pylons. With the next 2 reapers I tend to either split them up to split the MsC attention, or bring them to the natural of the Protoss and focus down all the natural probes before attempting to get at least 1 reaper out of there (I generally get 1 out).



The reaper arrives in the Protoss base well before good defenses are ready.


With good control, even NA's top can't help losing 5 probes with reapers escaping.

While the reapers are harassing, note your multi tasking with depots and infrastructure:
- at 100% Factory, throw down a tech lab and your Starport
- at 100% Tech Lab, start a cyclone. It finishes quickly enough that you are safe from Proxy Oracles, any adepts that counter push across the map, proxy PO, or MsC harass
- You will start to float money here, so as your Starport is building, start your natural expansion around 3:20
- at 100% Starport, start your first Liberator

This first Liberator can be used to harass or defend, depending on what your opponent is doing. My reapers sometimes see many gates dropping for retaliation, and a fat depot wall, the cyclone, and a liberator can quickly discourage most ground attacks.

If the Protoss is trying to regreed up, use the Liberator to soft harass one of their mineral lines, minding Pylon placement while you macro up.

Start 2 more barracks and an engineering bay for +1 attack. Land your barracks on the Factory's tech lab and start stim, followed up by Combat Shields and Concussive Shells. Start 2 gases at your natural when you have about 12-14 SCVs there. Do not forget non stop production. Cut SCVs when you hit 44.

The next part of the build is not set in stone, but I generally follow it the same way each time I do it. I use the factory to make a reactor for my starport, then a reactor for itself. I eventually add barracks 4 and 5, and I cut Medivacs around 3-4. From there it is pure Bio Mine Liberator Production.


Good, organized, and timely infrastructure to fuel your aggression.

Once you have a decent bio count, move out with the Mines, Bio, Liberators, making sure your mineral lines are safe from Oracle Harass and the like and use the cyclone to lead the charge, scouting on ahead.


This push out happens as early as 6:30-7:00, with the cyclone leading the way.

Most Protoss opponents are trying to greed up their economy before a production explosion. This combined with your cheesy harass can give you a solid army advantage-based timing to punish and end the Protoss. There are a few ways you can take out the pylons.

1) Cyclone lock on and pick away one by one.
2) Siege Tank (I have had games where I made a siege tank after the cyclone to counter heavy adepts)
3) Push in with 6-8 stimmed rauders and beat down a pylon quickly before the MsC can spam PO. Rinse and repeat after healing.

Set up your position in a fashion where your Liberators compromise important ground for the Protoss and mines cover the zones under the Libs so charge ins by high numbers of stalkers, adepts, or phoenix are heavy punished.


Good coverage with your zoning units gives you a strong staging ground to push from.



This Protoss took a 4:10 third, but his army is not well rounded yet. The Phoenix have no use in this uncomfortable situation.

From here you work your way forward and kill the Protoss third, before slowly leapfrogging Liberators, Mines, and Bio positioning up their ramp.

It's up to you whether to commit or not or play the hard contain game. I've chipped away at the Protoss infrastructure using zoning units until Protoss engages into my entrenched position and loses, and I've also lifted my main to my third (or even built a brand new CC) to sustain my income while Protoss's main is mined out and their third destroyed.

The 1/1/1

It's back baby. The dreaded build from Wings of Liberty, the TvP 1/1/1. The Wings 1/1/1 utilized a combination of Raven, Banshee, Marines and Tanks in order to punish a Protoss who tries to play a standard game with a standard expansion timing by chipping away at them while having a beefy high DPS buffer.

In LoTV, the zoning power of the 1/1/1 has only gotten stronger, and is probably the one thing I think is actually "strong" in TvP. It's extremely map dependent however, and I reserve the build specifically for Ulrena and sometimes prion terraces.

Fortunately, this build is far more simple than the first style.

The build:

- 13 depot
- 16 barracks
- 16 gas
- 17 gas
- @100% barracks, reactor
- @100 gas, factory
- @100% factory, tech lab and Starport

Money is very tight with the build, so mind your double queueing of marines and scvs as you throw down your depots on time.

Cut SCVs around 24-25 (22 is maximum 1 base saturation).

Once your factory has a tech lab, start your first siege tank. Once the Starport finishes, start a Liberator.

DO NOT STOP MARINE PRODUCTION!!!
DO NOT STOP MARINE PRODUCTION!!!
DO NOT STOP MARINE PRODUCTION!!!
DO NOT STOP MARINE PRODUCTION!!!

Once you have 8 marines and your first tank, move out, with the tank leading the way and minding any lingering adepts. Your opponent should know something is up by your lack of a natural.


The infrastructure set up by 3 minutes.

Move right across the map (especially easy on Ulrena) and start setting up at the bottom of their natural ramp. Pull 2-3 SCVs for repairs and making turrets/bunkers. Turrets will give you air dominance, and bunkers are well rounded for holding your position.


The Liberator doubles as a heavy duty zoning unit and a ramp spotter as your tank kills the pylons.

The attack only becomes more deadly as a second tank and Liberator show up, and it's almost lights out once the third tank and Liberator show up. You may start to have excess minerals as the attack drags, so don't be afraid to back up your attack with a natural CC.


2-3 SCVs give your push heavy duty trenching and on demand repairs.