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Active: 1264 users

Switching from Zerg to Terran...any advice?

Forum Index > SC2 General
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AngryBear
Profile Joined March 2011
United States32 Posts
April 25 2011 14:05 GMT
#1
I'm currently a Bronze Zerg player, and I'm thinking about switching to Terran. I've loved playing as Zerg and playing macro games, but I'm finding that my playstyle may not fit Zerg the best. I like being defensive and amassing a superior tech army before I go and attack my opponent. I also like Banshees alot (just a personal preference), and I was a BW Terran player.

What advice do you all have for a Zerg player switching to Terran? I know there are obvious differences between the races, but what little nuances or not-so-obvious correlations are there between the two?
Server: US / B.Net ID: AngryBear 582
Blasterion
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
China10272 Posts
April 25 2011 14:08 GMT
#2
On April 25 2011 23:05 AngryBear wrote:
I'm currently a Bronze Zerg player, and I'm thinking about switching to Terran. I've loved playing as Zerg and playing macro games, but I'm finding that my playstyle may not fit Zerg the best. I like being defensive and amassing a superior tech army before I go and attack my opponent. I also like Banshees alot (just a personal preference), and I was a BW Terran player.

What advice do you all have for a Zerg player switching to Terran? I know there are obvious differences between the races, but what little nuances or not-so-obvious correlations are there between the two?

Being defensive and massing a superior tech army is everything but terran. It's actually more leaning towards protoss play. As terran you really can't be defensive. actually defensive is the 1 thing you can't do as terran. Terran players need to put on pressure, harass, etc to stay in the game due to their ....racial nature. But If you like terran that's your choice. It's a dynamic race, very fun. I enjoy it alot but it's not for everyone. Just like Zerg and Protoss.
[TLNY]Mahjong Club Thread
Bleak
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Turkey3059 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-25 14:51:14
April 25 2011 14:09 GMT
#3
If you like being defensive and amassing a superior tech army before you go and attack your opponent, I'm afraid that style won't work very well with Terran. It best works with Protoss and for Zerg to some extent, as it is slightly easier to max with Zerg compared to other races.

I have also switched from Zerg to Terran for a while, and I noticed something quickly: If you are playing Terran, you have to get the reins into your hands. You need to take the initiative, you need to set the pace of the game and control it. If you macro to 200/200 and hope to win, it will never work unless you hit a very good timing (like the Mech timing Goody uses vs. Zerg which hits before Broodlords).

Besides that, in my opinion Terran macro is way harder than Zerg, simply because your production buildings spread out, so you have to check them manually, compared to Zerg having all in one. Map control and how to take it is extremely important, as you lack the creep to give you vision for that. Good luck, but judging by your comments I suggest sticking to Zerg for now.
"I am a beacon of knowledge blazing out across a black sea of ignorance. "
Mithriel
Profile Joined November 2010
Netherlands2969 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-25 14:11:35
April 25 2011 14:10 GMT
#4
I just recently switched to Terran (was protoss before, but got bored of it lol) and this is kinda how i did it.
1) Think what kind of player you are, what style do you like (you said banshees for example)
2) Do you know any pro player that plays that style, if so, get his replays/vods w/e!
3) Study the replays and select a strategy you think is fun and suits you for each matchup.
4) practice and play! :D

This is kinda how i did it, and luckily while i was thinking about it i came across a big replay pack of Maker and checked all replays, and picked a strategy for each matchup.
There is no shame in defeat so long as the spirit is unconquered. | Cheering for Maru, Innovation and MMA!
Schnullerbacke13
Profile Joined August 2010
Germany1199 Posts
April 25 2011 14:12 GMT
#5
don't do it ^^
21 is half the truth
rysecake
Profile Joined October 2010
United States2632 Posts
April 25 2011 14:14 GMT
#6
Like Bleak said, turtling to 200 as terran really is ineffective. That's something more towards protoss' style. As a terran your goal is to constantly harass and pressure your opponent. Particularly in TvZ, you cannot just let your opponent drone up freely. Terran is also very timing attack oriented so make sure you learn those timings. The mechanics for terran are imo the highest. You must cycle through all your production buildings constantly and position your army very intelligently. When the battle ensues, make sure to micro your infantry well otherwise it'll melt quicker than you think. With zerg it's more important to have good game sense and map control ability.
The Notorious Winkles
Klamity
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States994 Posts
April 25 2011 14:17 GMT
#7
There is a lot of misleading information in this thread.

First and foremost, you can pretty much make any race fit whatever style you prefer. Adding in harass is just a hallmark of good play. Camping in your base and not doing anything is problematic for every single race, not just Terran.

The main difference is that you'll have to be much more careful with your army. It does not have the same mobility as the Zerg army and thus you're more prone to getting caught out of position. Based on what you're saying, I think your best style would be a slow mech play that uses hellions or banshees for early map control/harass. Alternatively, you could play Bio/tank and build an army off of two bases to push toward a third. Often times, players make the mistake of staying on two base for too long, pushing out and then having the attack fail only to fall back and not have a third. Launching attacks with a third base (PF) is your best bet.

You're also going to have to learn how to manage your production. The build times are different for the three structures, so you have to tab through them consistently. The best part about the Terran production is that you won't have to look back to your base to queue anything. Protoss needs to find a pylon to warp and zerg needs to inject. Terran can afford to focus more on their army, which is essential.

As for the 'little' nuances, you're just going to have to find those out on your own. I recommend picking 1 build for each matchup and practicing that until you're comfortable before expanding your build order repertoire.
Don't believe in yourself, believe in me, who believes in you.
Holliday
Profile Joined April 2011
Germany30 Posts
April 25 2011 14:20 GMT
#8
i play zerg, and i thought of switching to terrna, because i loved the Iechoic style of banshee, blue flame helions, but i realised that if you just try to defend and stick it out until your maxed, you lose vs Zerg and toss, because they macro easier, you need to use those blue flamed helions in order to herras them, and kill their econemy, or ur screwed. so think if your ready to switch to such an agressive style, after you said you like to out macro players.

If you ask me, i say stick to zerg, and learn to fast expand effectivley and defend, then your macro is way ahead of any terran.
Life's a B!tch and then you die
Ydriel
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Italy516 Posts
April 25 2011 14:36 GMT
#9
Well, I think the best way to know if a race is for you or not is to play a few games of each match up (10, maybe even 20) and see how it goes. I used to play P back in Season 1, switched halfway thru the Season to T (got bored of playing toss, even tho it was my race in BW). They're definitely a fun and dynamic race, but as someone else said, turtling and waiting till max is the best way to get yourself killed. As a Terran you have to keep harassing, trading armies, trying to stay in the mid pop where bio shines and/or keep the enemy's tech low while you amass a good amount of factory, or starport, units. That or you go for some timing attacks.
<3 SC2 <3<3 Dota 2. Steam ID: HellS
BeMannerDuPenner
Profile Blog Joined April 2004
Germany5638 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-25 14:44:54
April 25 2011 14:37 GMT
#10
if you want to sit back and mass a big army T is the worst race to play. evry T matchup wraps around harrass and well timed aggression.


but if you want to switch then just do it. learn the standart builds ,timings and the control and then just play.


i still switch races all the time depending on mood. in sc2 its really not hard go from one race to another . in broodwar my offraces were worlds behind mainrace (main Z, playd TvZ if i could pick), in sc2 my T and Z are about even(mid master) and my P because i play it by far the least (cause of pvp) lagging behind at around upper-top diamond level. without all the very specialized skills needed to play a race well in broodwar and the game overall beeing more simple imho its quite easy to switch.

/edit also if you played broodwar youll love TvT. its the matchup most similar to bw and the imo far most "skillful".
life of lively to live to life of full life thx to shield battery
BADSMCGEE
Profile Joined March 2010
United States94 Posts
April 25 2011 14:40 GMT
#11
my advice is that in a week when you're rolling the top of masters..try not to let the sudden fame get to your head...only check your fan club about once a day. Live as if you were to die tomorrow, LEARN as if you were to live forever!
Blasterion
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
China10272 Posts
April 25 2011 14:49 GMT
#12
it's a general consensus that Terran macro suck (relatively speaking), so massing is not the Terran forte. That's why we have Hellions, Medivacs, Banshees to kind of even the playing field =P. That and siege tanks. Early units that are quite efficient. because to be able to win 1 of your units have to trade for 2-3 of their units.
[TLNY]Mahjong Club Thread
Mwentworth56
Profile Joined January 2011
146 Posts
April 25 2011 14:50 GMT
#13
If your switching just find a solid build each match-up and use it, as you get better you will find that they wont be effective anymore and you can either copy paste a pros build (what I do normally) or you can come up with a more effective one.
BigFan
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
TLADT24920 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-25 15:00:37
April 25 2011 14:58 GMT
#14
I was exclusively Z for most of season 1 but switched to random in Dec. The main difference was the different structures for producing units. As Z, I got used to having one hotkey and making everything from that, but, as T, you have several of them so you need to constantly remember to make units or queue them not that its a good idea to do the latter. You don't need to worry about spreading creep or spawning larvae as T for obvious reasons but you do need to have an idea of what your opponent is doing otherwise you'll end up against BLs and burrowed roaches as I experienced in one of my TvsZ games.
As mentioned, T is the harass race and you need to harass to make sure that a Zergs eco doesn't get out of hand. I'm finding so far that a blue flame hellion drop into a MMMT push is the best way method for TvsZ at my level. As for TvsP, not sure, I just usually go for MMM to start then move from there. I'm sure you'll find your own play style with Terran
Former BW EiC"Watch Bakemonogatari or I will kill you." -Toad, April 18th, 2017
EscPlan9
Profile Blog Joined December 2006
United States2777 Posts
April 25 2011 15:05 GMT
#15
I previously was a Zerg player - I switched to Terran. I also prefer a more defensive play, with some harassment from dropships thrown in. For this style, I highly recommend finding decent Terran mech builds. The mech style due to its relative immobility require you to keep your forces together until you have a sizeable amount (generally around 150-160 food) then you slowly push out and expand behind. Blue-flame hellion drops are a great way to harass and apply some pressure while you're bolstering up your forces.

Good luck! Check out some Goody VODs and reps for a good starting point.
Undefeated TL Tecmo Super Bowl League Champion
eight.BiT
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States240 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-04-25 15:16:54
April 25 2011 15:16 GMT
#16
Park some tanks at the main choke to your side of the map, invest in 2 medivacs to occasionally drop the enemy, and make some planetary fortresses.

If you try and turtle like that with Protoss both races will be able to overwhelm you. Zerg will just double expand and Terran has mules.
Audle
Profile Joined January 2011
New Zealand40 Posts
April 25 2011 15:16 GMT
#17
If you're on the NA server you should be able to create an account for SEA. Go onto your battle.net account and go manage starcraft (or something like this) and there should be an option to add or activate it.

I play on the NA ladder as Zerg and use my SEA account to mess around with Terran and Protoss.
Ipp
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States456 Posts
April 25 2011 15:27 GMT
#18
On April 26 2011 00:16 Mousey wrote:
If you're on the NA server you should be able to create an account for SEA. Go onto your battle.net account and go manage starcraft (or something like this) and there should be an option to add or activate it.

I play on the NA ladder as Zerg and use my SEA account to mess around with Terran and Protoss.


To my knowledge, SEA players can create a US Account -- but US players cannot create a Sea account. I have no such option on my account.
http://youtube.com/RageQuitTV
zarepath
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States1626 Posts
April 25 2011 15:35 GMT
#19
I'm also recently switching from Zerg to Terran. I will say that you have a LOT more freedom in creative build orders. I'm having a ton of fun trying to figure out some funky timings with reapers/hellions/banshees. It's such a pain to tech to anything as Zerg, but super easy as Terran.

Like the other posts have mentioned, though, I do miss the 1 hotkey macro mechanic of Zerg, but I think that having to mind my production better will help my game awareness and make me a faster player.
"Your efforts you put in will never betray you." - Flash | "If I'm not good enough, I don't wanna win." - Naniwa
fAnTaCy
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
United States893 Posts
April 25 2011 15:35 GMT
#20
Your style really leans towards protoss and zerg really, The macro more so for zerg than protoss just because they are the macro race of SC2. I switched from zerg to terran for about a month and the styles are 100% different. You have to harass constantly and put pressure on otherwise if you just defend you get outmassed easily, and then you better hope you have amazing micro to win.

So if I was in your shoes I'd either stick to zerg or play protoss, not terran ]=
President of Doctor Helvetica Fan Club...PM to join. Members--4, Most recent: Archas
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