Starcraft strategies?

[blankedboy]

I've been playing Starcraft with a few of my friends for a while now, I hardly ever win and my strategy's getting a bit predictable. Anyone got some ideas on new strategies?
(obviously you can discuss aswell)
By the way, this is Starcraft 1.

 

[IxionIndustries]

Yyyeaaaah... I've got no real strategy down, so I usually do whatever I feel would work.

Anyone? Please?

 

[Raptor_Pilot]

This isn't really a strategy, but it's something I like to do:

The Airborne Drop.

Load up a bunch of shuttles with a bunch of various units. Send the entire group towards a location that has open space, and do NOT stop the shuttles when they get there. Have them fly over the drop zone, and then tap the drop single unit button repeatedly.

The desired result is to have your forces drop in a wide area, to engage enemy units on a wide front. Because your shuttles don't stop over the drop zone, this increases your survivability until your forces are on the ground. The down side is your troops are not concentrated after they have been dropped.

This works best when you want to "seed" an area with your troops, and should not be used directly against an enemy base.

I haven't played Starcraft online in a long time, so this is the only tactic I can really remember from back then.

 

[Legion IV]

the most IMPORTANT strategy in all of starcraft is to. Scout then react. If you know what there doing you can counter. then its pretty easy. Also harass there mineral lines and expansions. only ever expand when your attacking its the perfect time. all generic stuff but it feels weird explaining. most strategys just feel like second nature to me.

 

[drizztmainsword]

In SC2 2v2 I've been quite successful in massing marines. I pretty much focus on getting as good of an economy as possible. With that, and around 4 barracks with reactors attached, I can pump marines like anything. I also get two engineering bays up so that I can tech armor and weapons at the same time.

I can get get 80+ marines completely teched up (Stim, Shields, tier 3 armor and weapons) by the middle game. There's not much you can do against 80 stimmed marines. They chew through units like butter.

 

[Legion IV]

In SC2 2v2 I've been quite successful in massing marines. I pretty much focus on getting as good of an economy as possible. With that, and around 4 barracks with reactors attached, I can pump marines like anything. I also get two engineering bays up so that I can tech armor and weapons at the same time.

I can get get 80+ marines completely teched up (Stim, Shields, tier 3 armor and weapons) by the middle game. There's not much you can do against 80 stimmed marines. They chew through units like butter.

Mass banelings Zerglings and ultras . Marine ball will be destroyed so fast you wont notice. you dont even need the ultras. just zerglings and banelings.

 

[ThisNewGuy]

There are a shat-ton of strats in SC2, but SC2 is evolving so fast that strats are antiquated and countered within weeks.

Planatary Fortress rush

Queens rush (2v2)

Protoss's portal rush

There's no strategy that's gonna be the for-sure win. There are always counters to everything.

Right now, imo, Protoss is probably the best race to use. Void Rays are epic rape and almost impossible to stop (unless you go for low tier units like marines, which would get you in trouble when the Protoss techs to high tiered units later, which rapes the marines, while the void rays rape terran's high tier units). High templar drops are still pretty effective, although they're nerfed quite a lot.

For terrans against protoss, ghosts are basically what's going to save your life, so keep them alive and kill obs, then use ghosts' emp and nukes to just dominate. I've seen games where the terran literally won with epic clutch ghosts.

For zergs, well they're just pwnage. Roaches are still pretty effective, especially if you get burrow. But zergs in the late game will always win (unless you're a noob). Just tech up to brood lords, and you've won. I still haven't seen any strategy that's viable against mass broodlords with hydralisks. Also, nydus sneak rush is pretty effective too if you want to end the game early.

But as I've said, these strategies were used a couple weeks ago, so they're probably outdated by now. Just watch youtube commentaries, and you'll start pwning.

Edit: Helions are pretty popular, but personally, I hate using them. I'm not nearly good enough to line up my enemies for an effective roasting. Siege tanks are pretty useless now. Vikings are pretty good, but I've grown a new fondness for ravens. Its drones are extremely useful, especially if you feel like you're losing. Terran's most common standard strategy is marine/marauders first, then banshee/medivacs. Banshees are probably the best terran units right now, they can destroy everything on the ground especially if you've gotten more than 4, but you would need marine/marauders to back it up or vikings.

 

[blankedboy]

In SC2 2v2 I've been quite successful in massing marines. I pretty much focus on getting as good of an economy as possible. With that, and around 4 barracks with reactors attached, I can pump marines like anything. I also get two engineering bays up so that I can tech armor and weapons at the same time.

I can get get 80+ marines completely teched up (Stim, Shields, tier 3 armor and weapons) by the middle game. There's not much you can do against 80 stimmed marines. They chew through units like butter.

Oh yeah, my brother uses that all the time, but he makes 1 medic for every 5 marines. With about 50 marines and 10 medics, you need about 80 mutalisks to take them down D:

 

[Volafortis]

There are a shat-ton of strats in SC2, but SC2 is evolving so fast that strats are antiquated and countered within weeks.

Planatary Fortress rush

Queens rush (2v2)

Protoss's portal rush

There's no strategy that's gonna be the for-sure win. There are always counters to everything.

Right now, imo, Protoss is probably the best race to use. Void Rays are epic rape and almost impossible to stop (unless you go for low tier units like marines, which would get you in trouble when the Protoss techs to high tiered units later, which rapes the marines, while the void rays rape terran's high tier units). High templar drops are still pretty effective, although they're nerfed quite a lot.

For terrans against protoss, ghosts are basically what's going to save your life, so keep them alive and kill obs, then use ghosts' emp and nukes to just dominate. I've seen games where the terran literally won with epic clutch ghosts.

For zergs, well they're just pwnage. Roaches are still pretty effective, especially if you get burrow. But zergs in the late game will always win (unless you're a noob). Just tech up to brood lords, and you've won. I still haven't seen any strategy that's viable against mass broodlords with hydralisks. Also, nydus sneak rush is pretty effective too if you want to end the game early.

But as I've said, these strategies were used a couple weeks ago, so they're probably outdated by now. Just watch youtube commentaries, and you'll start pwning.

I don't get why everyone thinks Void Rays are so epic. They can get shafted as long as the defender reacts quickly, and strategic retreats make VRs worthless. Terran have the easiest time countering them, as Vikings > Void Rays, and they have the most accessible/reliable AA units. Zerg have the toughest time, but all races fall equally to may Protoss chargelot warp rush.

What I do, is I build up barebones defenses, able to handle any rush, ad tech to charge, warp gates, and warp prisms as fast as possible. I then send my warp prism to the opponent mineral line, and warp in as many zealots as I can. (I try to have 5-6 warp gates to warp in about 6). They make short work of enemy resources, and they are stuck trying to wipe out a constantly evolving enemy that's constantly warping in directly to their base with a static number of resources. I also do the to all enemy expansions. They generally "GG" at that point.

 

[ThisNewGuy]

I don't get why everyone thinks Void Rays are so epic. They can get shafted as long as the defender reacts quickly, and strategic retreats make VRs worthless. Terran have the easiest time countering them, as Vikings > Void Rays, and they have the most accessible/reliable AA units. Zerg have the toughest time, but all races fall equally to may Protoss chargelot warp rush.

What I do, is I build up barebones defenses, able to handle any rush, ad tech to charge, warp gates, and warp prisms as fast as possible. I then send my warp prism to the opponent mineral line, and warp in as many zealots as I can. (I try to have 5-6 warp gates to warp in about 6). They make short work of enemy resources, and they are stuck trying to wipe out a constantly evolving enemy that's constantly warping in directly to their base with a static number of resources. I also do the to all enemy expansions. They generally "GG" at that point.

Yeah, you're warp tactics is what a lot of people use, except they usually rush with that. Instead of getting charge and warp prisms, some people use a proxy pylon to do the same thing, but much earlier. It doesn't work very well if your opponent is good at defending the wall off. Also, warping has become so popular now that most terrans put up turrets.

But void rays can absolutely destroy everything as long as you don't let the beam reset. A mass of 3-4 void rays can destroy buildings faster than vikings can destroy void rays, not to mention you can use void rays to destroy the star ports, then no vikings can come out anymore, so you can just keep bringing in more void rays to clean up the vikings. But, you're right, vikings v void rays straight up will end up with vikings winning since there are always counters to everything. But void rays are the best units at destroying top tiered units and buildings, leaving only low tier units for the protoss to easily clean up with just about anything. Imo, void rays are so epic because they can literally destroy buildings within seconds, making them absolutely brutal in late games, especially for CC sniping, which is worth way more than those void rays. So even if you do destroy the void rays, the damage is already done. 3 VR for 1 CC is totally worth it in late games.

Edit: actually, not just late games, 3 VR for 1 CC is worth it even in mid games since it helps with the contain and map control. And obviously, VR rush is great for early games. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuuV2kGfBtA

 

[direkiller]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-fLvu3XZSw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLSMvhQv5mk

 

[Volafortis]

I don't get why everyone thinks Void Rays are so epic. They can get shafted as long as the defender reacts quickly, and strategic retreats make VRs worthless. Terran have the easiest time countering them, as Vikings > Void Rays, and they have the most accessible/reliable AA units. Zerg have the toughest time, but all races fall equally to may Protoss chargelot warp rush.

What I do, is I build up barebones defenses, able to handle any rush, ad tech to charge, warp gates, and warp prisms as fast as possible. I then send my warp prism to the opponent mineral line, and warp in as many zealots as I can. (I try to have 5-6 warp gates to warp in about 6). They make short work of enemy resources, and they are stuck trying to wipe out a constantly evolving enemy that's constantly warping in directly to their base with a static number of resources. I also do the to all enemy expansions. They generally "GG" at that point.

Yeah, you're warp tactics is what a lot of people use, except they usually rush with that. Instead of getting charge and warp prisms, some people use a proxy pylon to do the same thing, but much earlier. It doesn't work very well if your opponent is good at defending the wall off. Also, warping has become so popular now that most terrans put up turrets.

But void rays can absolutely destroy everything as long as you don't let the beam reset. A mass of 3-4 void rays can destroy buildings faster than vikings can destroy void rays, not to mention you can use void rays to destroy the star ports, then no vikings can come out anymore, so you can just keep bringing in more void rays to clean up the vikings. But, you're right, vikings v void rays straight up will end up with vikings winning since there are always counters to everything. But void rays are the best units at destroying top tiered units and buildings, leaving only low tier units for the protoss to easily clean up with just about anything. Imo, void rays are so epic because they can literally destroy buildings within seconds, making them absolutely brutal in late games, especially for CC sniping, which is worth way more than those void rays. So even if you do destroy the void rays, the damage is already done. 3 VR for 1 CC is totally worth it in late games.

Edit: actually, not just late games, 3 VR for 1 CC is worth it even in mid games since it helps with the contain and map control. And obviously, VR rush is great for early games. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuuV2kGfBtA

The issue is that Void Rays can easily be countered, unless they critical mass, and no competent player will allow a critical mass to build. Scout early. If you see that Stargate go up, harass. Void Rays are expensive, both as a mineral/gas investment, and a time investment. A well composed MMM ball that stims can wipe out VRs. A hydra swarm can take out VRs. And any decent harasser can prevent them from even entering the field in numbers. Void Rays may critical mass at lower numbers than anything else, but up against any ground unit ball that an hit air, they die. They certainly aren't underpowered, and I understand why some people claim that they're OP (even though I disagree), I simply don't believe that Void Rays are consistent enough to really be considered a viable all-in tactic beyond silver league. Are they worth tossing a few of into a unit composition? Yes. Are void rays heavy builds viable? Definitely. Would I recommend an all-in void ray strategy in high level play? Hell no. The thing is, with my tech pattern, I have chargelots on the field, which are a rather effective counter to any t1 ground unit ball, and a lot of t2 compositions (they slaughter hydras). So most players that don't have units like banshees/mutas/VRs (and to a lesser extent phoenixes and vikings) will have a very difficult time countering them. And the thing is, I can adapt far faster than an all-in VR build can. If a player techs to all-in VRs, they leave themselves open to a myriad of rushes, and once they send the VRs, if they find the opponent hard countering the VRs with a good unit composition, the VR player will have taken too much of a mineral/gas loss, and potentially "GG" right there. If I find an air heavy composition to counter my chargelots, I can warp in stalkers, as I already have the tech, and I'm only a Stargate away from phoenixes. If they have swarms, I'm only a robo facility away from colossus, and only a templar archive away from HTs. Scouting and adapting will ALWAYS beat a static force.

 

[ThisNewGuy]

I don't get why everyone thinks Void Rays are so epic. They can get shafted as long as the defender reacts quickly, and strategic retreats make VRs worthless. Terran have the easiest time countering them, as Vikings > Void Rays, and they have the most accessible/reliable AA units. Zerg have the toughest time, but all races fall equally to may Protoss chargelot warp rush.

What I do, is I build up barebones defenses, able to handle any rush, ad tech to charge, warp gates, and warp prisms as fast as possible. I then send my warp prism to the opponent mineral line, and warp in as many zealots as I can. (I try to have 5-6 warp gates to warp in about 6). They make short work of enemy resources, and they are stuck trying to wipe out a constantly evolving enemy that's constantly warping in directly to their base with a static number of resources. I also do the to all enemy expansions. They generally "GG" at that point.

Yeah, you're warp tactics is what a lot of people use, except they usually rush with that. Instead of getting charge and warp prisms, some people use a proxy pylon to do the same thing, but much earlier. It doesn't work very well if your opponent is good at defending the wall off. Also, warping has become so popular now that most terrans put up turrets.

But void rays can absolutely destroy everything as long as you don't let the beam reset. A mass of 3-4 void rays can destroy buildings faster than vikings can destroy void rays, not to mention you can use void rays to destroy the star ports, then no vikings can come out anymore, so you can just keep bringing in more void rays to clean up the vikings. But, you're right, vikings v void rays straight up will end up with vikings winning since there are always counters to everything. But void rays are the best units at destroying top tiered units and buildings, leaving only low tier units for the protoss to easily clean up with just about anything. Imo, void rays are so epic because they can literally destroy buildings within seconds, making them absolutely brutal in late games, especially for CC sniping, which is worth way more than those void rays. So even if you do destroy the void rays, the damage is already done. 3 VR for 1 CC is totally worth it in late games.

Edit: actually, not just late games, 3 VR for 1 CC is worth it even in mid games since it helps with the contain and map control. And obviously, VR rush is great for early games. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuuV2kGfBtA

The issue is that Void Rays can easily be countered, unless they critical mass, and no competent player will allow a critical mass to build. Scout early. If you see that Stargate go up, harass. Void Rays are expensive, both as a mineral/gas investment, and a time investment. A well composed MMM ball that stims can wipe out VRs. A hydra swarm can take out VRs. And any decent harasser can prevent them from even entering the field in numbers. Void Rays may critical mass at lower numbers than anything else, but up against any ground unit ball that an hit air, they die. They certainly aren't underpowered, and I understand why some people claim that they're OP (even though I disagree), I simply don't believe that Void Rays are consistent enough to really be considered a viable all-in tactic beyond silver league. Are they worth tossing a few of into a unit composition? Yes. Are void rays heavy builds viable? Definitely. Would I recommend an all-in void ray strategy in high level play? Hell no. The thing is, with my tech pattern, I have chargelots on the field, which are a rather effective counter to any t1 ground unit ball, and a lot of t2 compositions (they slaughter hydras). So most players that don't have units like banshees/mutas/VRs (and to a lesser extent phoenixes and vikings) will have a very difficult time countering them. And the thing is, I can adapt far faster than an all-in VR build can. If a player techs to all-in VRs, they leave themselves open to a myriad of rushes, and once they send the VRs, if they find the opponent hard countering the VRs with a good unit composition, the VR player will have taken too much of a mineral/gas loss, and potentially "GG" right there. If I find an air heavy composition to counter my chargelots, I can warp in stalkers, as I already have the tech, and I'm only a Stargate away from phoenixes. If they have swarms, I'm only a robo facility away from colossus, and only a templar archive away from HTs. Scouting and adapting will ALWAYS beat a static force.

Um, I've seen VR work very well in pro games. But like I've said. There's a counter to everything. I'm just saying that it's one of the best strat right now that can win many games for the OP.

 

[David_G]

http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/Strategy
This will fulfill all your Starcraft strategy needs, and also watching some Pro Starcraft wouldn't hurt.

 

[Carnagath]

In SC2 2v2 I've been quite successful in massing marines. I pretty much focus on getting as good of an economy as possible. With that, and around 4 barracks with reactors attached, I can pump marines like anything. I also get two engineering bays up so that I can tech armor and weapons at the same time.

I can get get 80+ marines completely teched up (Stim, Shields, tier 3 armor and weapons) by the middle game. There's not much you can do against 80 stimmed marines. They chew through units like butter.

Banelings, colossi, psi storm, siege tank + marine wall, take a pick.

 

[Sworm]

Pylons PYLONS! build more freakin' Pylons damnit!

.. oh you meant actual strategies?... er... nevermind

 

[Sephychu]

This isn't really a strategy, but it's something I like to do:

The Airborne Drop.

Load up a bunch of shuttles with a bunch of various units. Send the entire group towards a location that has open space, and do NOT stop the shuttles when they get there. Have them fly over the drop zone, and then tap the drop single unit button repeatedly.

The desired result is to have your forces drop in a wide area, to engage enemy units on a wide front. Because your shuttles don't stop over the drop zone, this increases your survivability until your forces are on the ground. The down side is your troops are not concentrated after they have been dropped.

This works best when you want to "seed" an area with your troops, and should not be used directly against an enemy base.

I haven't played Starcraft online in a long time, so this is the only tactic I can really remember from back then.

This is a good 'un, especially with Overlords and Infested Terrans. Get enough of both, and give them enough armour, and you have enough power to completely eviscerate a medium sized base.

http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/Strategy
This will fulfill all your Starcraft strategy needs, and also watching some Pro Starcraft wouldn't hurt.

Yeah, it wouldn't hurt. Except your soul.

 

[HijiriOni]

I found myself in love with Queens and Defilers for zerg. If your opponents love using carriers and battlecruisers Dark Swarm makes your hydras invincible, allowing you to decimate an entire fleet with a much smaller number ,resource wise, then what they have Queens can get you scouts out of anything, and can insta-gib tanks, goliaths, dragoons, and what ever else.

Corsairs, Drones, Dragoons, Arbiters, and Templars.
Templars for psionic storm and hallucination. Build 1 scout, at least more won't hurt but aren't needed, with at least the speed upgrade. Make multiple hallucinations with it, I use 6 templars at a time and send whole fleets of scouts scouting. If your fighting zerg and their using scourge it's like free kills. If not it makes for great distraction or free scouting. You can also be really tricky and put somewhere around 4 or so real scouts in there to cause some damage to key targets.
Corsairs and Arbiters allow you to control the battlefield by locking down units you don't like until you your setup to deal with them. Or just lock down some enemy forces while you wittle down the rest.
Drones and Dragoons should be pretty obvious but I found Dragoons patrolling a couple towers are more amazing then massing the towers.
Oh and always have a couple Dark Templars and Dark Archons. You'll never know when they'll rush you and forget detectors, or bring a tasty like a battlecruiser or a guardian for you to mind control. It's actually possible to win games using nothing but Dark Archons but they are a very fragile strategy, especially against zerg.

Terran strategies are probably the most straight forward, nuke this, lockdown that, use the shield power to keep things alive. The last time I played with my one of my friends who was good with terran loved using siege tanks for defense, turrets for detectors, and bunkers. Back then I wasn't as good at the game so he typically steam rolled me with battlecruisers.

I quit playing online long ago because everyone plays these crappy custom maps which basically only promote the zerg rush tactic and do very little to stop it. No development or tactics involved.