The New Team Micro Melee Topic

NOTE: TMM replays must be watched on BNet or on LAN.

Unlike most UMS maps, TMM replays actually work correctly when you speed them up to 2x or higher. (I think this is because TMM never uses "elapsed time" triggers or "wait" actions.)

In chronological order:

• TMM AG 1.21: EchoOfRain (P) + infinity21 + patrick[tmm] -vs- Iron_us (T) + BlueLaguna + Bill307 (bw 1.16.0)
  This game is a great example of why we get mad when people leave the game prematurely. (Even though in this game, I was the one who wanted to gg before it was over... <_<;; ) It's also a great example of why you should never take your opponents lightly when you think you have the game won.
  
  
• TMM AG 1.19: patrick321 (P) + FoieGras + gezus[clean] -vs- AlphaMale5000 (P) + panikAttack + JohnnyChrist (bw 1.16.0)
  Although the skill level isn't the best, and one player didn't know how to suicide in this newer version of the map, this game had a very close ending.
  
  
• TMM AG 1.6: xmShake (Z) + [z-zone]triad + JohnnyChrist -vs- IntoTheWow (P) + jesusrocks023 + Superiorwolf
  
  
• TMM AG 1.6: xmShake (P) + [z-zone]triad + patrick321 -vs- Superiorwolf (Z) + jesusrocks023 + IntoTheWow
  A very nice comeback game.
  
  
• TMM AG 1.6: HeavOnEarth (Z) + Bill307 + HolyKau -vs- sMi.ACA[zc] (P) + Agith + patrick321
  A great 1-hour game. Even though it lasted 1 hour, the game wasn't a turtle-fest: on the contrary, both players kept attacking and trying to take new territory.
  
  
• TMM AG 1.6: IntoTheWow (P) + paniKattack + Bill307 -vs- sMi.ACA[zc] (P) + JohnnyChrist + anotak[yellow]
  An epic comeback game. Note that this was played before corsairs and wraiths were nerfed at tier 2.
  
  
• TMM NL 1.7: xmShake (Z) + anotak + IntoTheWow -vs- paniKattack (Z) + Bill307 + JohnnyChrist
  A 25 minute game with lots of action.
  
  
• TMM NL 1.5: smi.Aurious (Z) + HnR)Insane + DeadVessel -vs- Bill307 (T) + xmShake + GTR-2-Go
  A close, crazy 54 minute game.
  

TMM is a competition between two teams. Each team has one "builder" or "macroer" and one or two "microers". The builder is responsible for building up his team's base, defending himself from harassment, and raising an army to defeat the opposing builder. The microers are responsible for harassing the opposing builder, defending their own builder, and accumulating points by killing units in order to level up.

In essence, the builders play like 1v1 melee, and the microers play like TMA.

Each unit and building has its point value in its name in parentheses, e.g. "Dragoon (500)". (These point values are internal to SC and cannot be changed, by the way.) Killing a unit awards you this many points. Killing your own units is allowed, and it does not affect your points. However, SC awards you points for killing your allies as well as your enemies (there is nothing I can do to change this: you'd have to ask Blizzard to fix it in a patch or something). As a result, intentionally killing your allies' units, for the purposes of gaining points or depriving the enemy of points, is banned! To reiterate: killing your own units is fine; killing your allies' units is forbidden.

The microers have the option to "suicide" their units. This carries no penalty and is often used to deprive the enemy of points. After choosing to suicide, one must wait about 3 seconds before ones units actually die. Experts will often suicide several seconds before the enemy reaches them, so that their units die as soon as the enemy's units arrive.

The microers use their points to level up. When you level up, you get more and/or better units, you get a bonus selector, and you get more money to upgrade.

level 1 - 0 points - 2 selectors at tier 1 - 50/50 resources
level 2 = 8,000 points - 3 selectors at tier 1 - 100/100 resources
level 3 = 16,000 points - 2 selectors at tier 2 - 150/150 resources
level 4 = 40,000 points - 3 selectors at tier 2 - 200/200 resources
level 5 = 64,000 points - 2 selectors at tier 3 - 250/250 resources
level 6 = 112,000 points - 3 selectors at tier 3 - 300/300 resources
level 7 = 160,000 points - ditto - ditto
level 8 = 208,000 points - ditto - ditto

Once you reach 208,000 points, your points reset to 0 and you will receive an additional bonus every 60,000 points.

(This information is also available in the Mission Objectives, which you can view at any time during the game.)

Your upgrade money does NOT disappear after you spend it. E.g. at 100/100 resources, you can get ALL upgrades that cost 100/100.

There is a Fleet Beacon bonus that gives you an additional 50/50 resources, allows you to upgrade reaver damage and adrenal glands, and allows you to upgrade to level 2 on all upgrades.

The builder's points are NOT given to the microers. Instead, the builder receives a small amount of resources for them, at a rate of 2 minerals and 1 gas for every 30 points. In general, it is normal to "feed" the builder. Feeding the microers, on the other hand, should be avoided.

The builder controls a civilian which is the spawn point for his microers' units. When the civilian dies, it simply reappears in front of the builder's main. It has temporary invincibility after it respawns, so that if the area is controlled by enemy units, you have a chance to move the civilian away.

After the microers respawn 10 times, they will lose all of their "lives", indicated by the health of an ultralisk. The penalty for losing all of your lives is a respawn that takes twice as long. Then you are given another 10 lives.

To balance the races, the following changes were made to the builders:
- Zerg Hatcheries require 90 time units to build instead of 120.
- Zerg Drones cost 40 minerals instead of 50.
- Protoss Probes cost 48 minerals instead of 50.
- Terran Command Centers require 150 time units to build instead of 120.

For more information on the microers' bonuses, see "Microer Bonuses and Strategies" below.

General

One thing common to all races is the importance of upgrades. Upgrades are a great way to give the builders an advantage over the microers. Typically you will want to get dual-armory / dual-ebay / triple-evo / triple-forge upgrades as soon as you have 2-3 bases, and upgrade as rapidly as possible. (And dual-spire / dual-core / quad-armory if you plan on using air units.)

Example: if you have +3 armour while the opposing microers have only +1 attack, then most of the microers' units will be ineffective against yours.

Also, keep in mind the microers can never exceed level 2 upgrades, so you can always stay one level ahead of them.


Zerg

Zerg units are generally weak and easy for the microers to feed off of (especially hydralisks: 350 points with only 80 hp). This is the main reason why Zerg has such drastic balance changes in its favour: Hatcheries that build 25% faster and drones that cost 20% less. In particular, watch out for psi storms once the microers reach level 3+ (or even level 2 if they pick Infested Kerrigan as their bonus).

When the microers are going to reach level 2+, get burrow. It's extremely useful for saving your drones from harassment.

Currently, the best strategies (in my opinion) with Zerg are:
- Early-game 1-base (or 2-base?) speedlings to kill an FE build.
- FE x2 into fast Hive tech for ultras/cracklings/filers, and possibly devs. Devs + sairs (microers) = air dominance.

Mid-game mutas is a popular choice, although it is a questionable strategy since the microers get strong anti-air at level 3, and even at level 2 they can opt for the next-tier bonus to get early wraiths.

Mid-game lurkers are imo a better choice, since lurkers are worth only 500 points (vs 600) and the microers can really only stop them with ovies + goons, whereas goons, hydras, and rines are all useful against mutas.

Mid-game hydras are generally a bad idea imo, since they are easy points for the microers, e.g. rines tear down hydras very fast with focus fire. Unfortunately, they may be Zerg's best anti-air against the microers.

Don't get guards unless you or your microers can provide anti-air to support them. The opposing team's microers WILL get wraiths ASAP if you use guards.


Protoss

Protoss units are in the middle in terms of how easily they can be picked off by the microers. HTs are particularly attractive targets with their low HP and high point value (700). Archons (1400) are also attractive, since they take full damage from explosive weapons and their points:health ratio is higher than dragoons.

Currently, the most popular opening is FE. From there, a sair/reaver build taking control of the islands is becoming increasingly popular. Sairs, reavers, and cannons seem to be the most effective Protoss units against the microers.

Hidden proxy gates can sometimes catch the opponent off-guard. A 3 gate zeal opening might be effective against FE builds, as well.

Fast reavers might be able to work, but make sure one of your microers gets medics to restore your shuttle and reavers after they get locked down.

The best late-game option is currently a large zeal/goon/HT/archon army, or without the goons if the opponent is Zerg.

Carriers might be able to work, but you'll have to keep them protected by at least 6 sairs at all times. With scourge and wraiths shut down, you'll still be vulnerable to ghosts, goliaths, and high templars. Once a microer reaches tier 3, the dev/sair combo is devastating to all air. (Perhaps accompany your fleet with DAs to maelstrom the devs?)

Don't forget to get dual core upgrades in addition to triple forge if you plan on getting air units!


Terran

Infantry become easy food once the microers get psi storm -- an Infested Kerrigan at level 2 is all it takes. With tank protection, however, Terran units become the hardest for the microers to kill. This is why Terrans are handicapped with a CC that takes 25% longer to build. Terran metal is infamous for being hard for the microers to harass. (At tier 1, the best they can do is to pick 8-12 goons and look for weak spots where they can kill turrets or snipe a tank or two.)

Currently, the most popular opening is FE into M&M/tank vs Zerg or tank/vult/gol vs Protoss and Terran. The FE is always followed by 2 armories (and often 2 ebays if using M&M) and a sci facility soon after, allowing the Terran to get 3/3 metal ASAP. 3/3 metal is by far the most powerful force against the microers.

Another strat is to do 3 rax M&M, then move out with a large number of medics and get both microers to pick all rines as well, forming a massive M&M force.

It's relatively easy for Terrans to secure both islands -- yes, even their opponent's!

If you're thinking of going BCs in late game, see the advice above for Protoss players who go carriers.

Tier 1

• 6 Zerglings (50) - Fastest units, good for choosing where you want to fight the enemy. Run away from rines and bats that have no medics, causing them to waste their HP due to stim. Useful for trapping dragoons or hydras to kill them before they can suicide. Useful for counter-attacking due to their speed, however a group of 12 lings is not very effective against a set of 4 cannons. Burrow traps are fun.
  
• 3 Zealots (200) - Recently upgraded from 2 zealots to 3, so few strategies have been discovered.
  
• 5 Marines (100) - Best unit to counter hydras: focus fire with stim will tear them down very fast and even though you may lose the battle, you'll walk away with far more points. Work well in combination with goons or with 15 rines + 4 medics. Pretty good at killing cannons, as long as you approach from the right angle.
  
• 4 Medics (250) - Good for supporting rines and bats. Good for "pimpest play" style strategies involving optical flare. Restore is sorely underused. Good for healing Infested Kerrigan or the builder's units.
  
• 4 Firebats (200) - 8 firebats is bad against lings because the lings can just run away and waste your stim. Bats are surprisingly good against hydras, although they are also somewhat costly.
  
• 4 Hydralisks (350) - Recently upgraded from 3 hydras to 4, they are now actually useful. They die easily and give a lot of points, however they also have a very high attack power. They take down cannons the fastest. They counter goons, although the opponent can usually run away safely and deprive you of any points. Goons can also use hit-and-run tactics to kill individual hydras. If you are suiciding hydras, burrow usually works against lings, but it will NOT work reliably against ranged units: one or two hydras will usually get hit and unburrow. The best option is to just run away until the suicide takes effect.
  
• 2 Dragoons (500) - Used to be overpowered along with zerglings. They kill cannons more slowly than hydras, but they also have the lowest risk of losing units to the cannons. Furthermore, after some of the cannons are dead they can easily kill the pylon out of range of the remaining cannons, although this usually takes too long to be worth it. Because of their long range and high HP, they are generally the best tier-1 unit for killing the builder's units, especially if you are stuck at tier 1 and need to level up ASAP.
  
• 2 Ghosts (350) - Few uses so far, besides the obvious: locking down dragoons. Can be useful against capital ships, unless the opponent gets medics.
  
• 1 Overlord (200) - Useful for scouting (especially the islands), detection, and drops.
  

Tier 2
(todo)


Tier 3
(todo)

Hero/Unit Bonuses

• 1 Infested Kerrigan (4000) - She can storm, she can ensnare, she can consume, she can cloak, and she can use her claws for 50 damage per swing. A very useful hero, although losing her is costly. She is most useful against Zerg units and Terran infantry. She is also useful for storming vulnerable workers. A common counter-hero to Kerrigan is Queens, since they can ensnare her to reveal her and kill her with broodling.
  
• 3 Dark Archons (1300) - These DAs do not have MC! They can use only feedback and maelstrom. Recently boosted from 2 to 3 since they are so rarely used. In theory they should be a good counter against Kerrigan, however Matriarchs are more popular for this purpose since they can also broodling other high-point units later on.
  
• 1 Danimoth (4100) - A metaphorical tank with 600 hp + 800 shields. Despite this and despite his/her cloaking ability and spells, Danimoth is rarely used. E.g. Danimoth is vulnerable to lockdown.
  
• 1 Magellan (2500) - A 1000-hp sci vessel. Used to be popular against Zerg when you'd get 2 instead of 1, since you could do a dual-800-hp eraser with them. Rarely used now.
  
• 2 Matriarchs (1600) - A pair of 400-hp queens which start with 150 energy each. These are a popular choice since you can easily broodling two dragoons right away for an instant 1000 points, while broodlinging goons/HTs/tanks/etc. throughout the match for lots of free points. They are also a good counter against Kerrigan due to ensnare + broodling.
  
• 8 Infested Terran (400) + 1 Yggdrasil (400) - 8 infesteds and a 1000-hp overlord to carry them in. They can also be burrowed. Rarely used. If you pick them, remember that infesteds have to be sent in one at a time because their giant splash radius will kill the other infesteds. They also have pretty bad AI.
  
• 3 Zeratuls (800) - Three DTs with 100 damage, faster attack rate, but only 60 hp + 60 shields. A new addition, they have not been used much so far.
  

Special Bonuses

• "Go to Next Tier Once" - The protoss flag beacon in the upper-left. Moves your selectors up to the next tier, but only once: the next time you respawn, your selectors will go back to their normal tier. You can only select this bonus when you are ready to select your units, and it doesn't work once you reach level 5 (tier 3).
  
• Comsat Station - Gives you 2 comsats, located just above the bonus area. Normally these comsats are stuck at 0 energy: they will be given 250 energy and will function normally once you select this bonus.
  
• Fleet Beacon (formerly Forge) - Adds 50/50 resources to your fixed amount, grants you access to the reaver damage and zergling adrenal glands upgrades, and grants you access to level 2 attack/armour upgrades.
  
• "1200 min/gas + 12 workers" - Gives your builder 1200 minerals, 1200 gas, and 12 workers which appear at the civilian.
  
• "Enemy Mass Attack" - All enemy units will attack towards your main. They will be forced to attack for about 3 seconds before your opponents can control them again.
  
• "Enemy Mass Retreat" - All enemy units will move towards their main. They will be forced to retreat for about 6 seconds before your opponents can control them again.
  
• "Temporary Invincibility" - Grants you and your allies invincibility for about 6 seconds.
  

The most popular bonuses are Infested Kerrigan, Matriarchs, Fleet Beacon, Comsat (late-game), "Go to Next Tier Once", and resources for the builder (late-game).