Starcraft 2 Protoss vs Terran Strategy

Terran are probably the hardest match ups for Protoss players. As a result, I put together an article on Starcraft 2 Protoss vs Terran strategy.

If the opponent is Terran and knows that you are Protoss, odds are that Marines and Marauders or Reapers are in your future.

There are a few ways you can deal with this.

Preferred Technique

When playing Terran, nearly 9 times out of 10 the Terran army will consist of Marines, Marauders, Medivacs, and perhaps a few tanks sprinkled in the mix.

Here is a good Starcraft 2 Protoss vs Terran strategy for "bio balls" (clumps of Marines and Marauders):

Start off by absolutely massing Zealots. Just keep pumping them out and building up your single base. Use a well-placed cannon at your ramp to prevent early-game pushes and kiting.

Try to get your Assimilators up and running as fast as possible with 3 Gateways. Tech to a Templar Archives via the following progression:

Gateway #1 --> Cybernetics Core --> Gateway #2 --> Twilight Council --> Gateway #3 --> Templar Archives

Research Charge and Psionic Storm as quickly as possible, and throw 2-3 Sentries into the mix for Guardian Shield.

Your army should consist of several dozen Zealots, 6 High Templar, and 3-4 Sentries.

Send in your Zealots and quickly spam Psionic storm on any Marine and Marauder masses. You can literally take out an entire bio ball in seconds with a few well-placed Psionic Storms.

After spending all your energy, morph into Archons to finish off the job. Your Zealots should clean up any Siege Tanks left after your initial push.

Vs Mech Heavy Builds:

If you are seeing a lot of Siege Tanks and Thors, you can easily make some Immortals and Colossi to nuke these. Let your Immortals tank while your Colossi take out any masses of Tanks and Infantry. This is easier said than done though; masses of Tanks should not be attacked head on.

You can use Colossi to enter a Terran Player's base from the side so he cannot use Siege Tanks without moving them. This is a very effective technique and should be applied regularly rather than attempting to attack head on.

Terran Death by Proxy

In a 1v1 game, the best way to deal with this is to proxy. Proxying involves building Gateways at your opponent's base as fast as possible.

Immediately at the start of the game, send 1 Probe to a hidden spot outside the opponent's base.

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While your worker is on the way, build a probe at your base and have it harvest minerals.

As soon as your probe is in position, build a pylon. As soon as you can after that, build 2 Gateways. Once the first Gateway is done, Chrono Boost out a Zealot and send it in.

Odds are he will have 1 or 2 marines which the Zealot will easily dispatch. If he is building a tech lab, destroy it. Focus on that above anything else. No Reapers is a priority.

Meanwhile, keep building Zealots and sending them in. When performing an early rush like this, try to harass and stop him from building units. If you only have 1 or 2 Zealots, avoid a direct conflict with 10+ workers as you are liable to lose!

Keep sending in Zealots and tech up your main base. If he survives your initial attack, he should be slowed down enough to stay contained while you mass units and expand the map.

The major thing you have to worry about is a Terran proxy. If your probe passes an SCV on its way to the opponent's base, odds are he is proxying you!

In this case, you need to forego your proxy briefly and get a Forge and two Photon Cannons immediately. Place the pylon and forge behind your minerals and place two cannons up against your Nexus right by the Vespene geysers.

This will protect you from Reapers. As soon as the cannons are placed, start your proxy and continue normally as mentioned above. Your first Zealots are likely to enter an undefended base!

Rushing Stalker

If you do not want to play the with the Proxy playstyle (it is a bit risky if your micro is bad) or if the opponent is not building reapers right next to your base, your best option is to rush to Stalkers.

Build a Pylon at 8/10 and a Gateway at 12/19.

While the Gateway is building, keep pumping out Probes. Build an Assimilator when you get the spare minerals.

As soon as your Gateway finishes, build a Cybernetics Core.

While this is building, build a Zealot, another pylon, and keep pumping out workers.
As soon as the Cybernetics Core finishes, Chrono Boost out a Stalker. If your opponent is good, his Reaper may arrive right before your Stalker.

If so, don't worry about it as he is unlikely to kill many Probes before your Stalker arrives. Place your Stalker in your mineral operations.

If he sacrificed workers and units to rush the Reaper, it may arrive earlier. It will unlikely kill more than a few Probes by the time your Stalker is finished. Despite the Reapers "success", if the player sacrificed building works to rush the Reaper, odds are he hurt himself more than he hurt you.

Once you have your Stalker, you can continue on a normal game and build units that counter his, as follows:

Mauraders are countered by Charge Zealots / Sentries.

Marines are countered by Colossi.

Siege Tanks are countered by Immortals, Void Rays, or the Phoenix.

If you have the resources, Void Rays can be very effective versus Terran players.

With these great Starcraft 2 Protoss vs Terran strategies, you should win most of your matches versus Terran players. 

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