StarCraft/Protoss strategies

Terran Strategy
If you happen to be playing on a Fastest Possible map, you can use bunkers to block the entry of land-bound units into your base. This, along with placing turrets on the sides of the base that can be accessed via air, is known as turtling and is effective at stopping most simple rushes. However, turtling is a basic and is highly effective against computers.

Bunker Rush
In a low mineral map, this is very common to see in maps such as Lost Temple or Luna. To do this, the player needs to scout early with the 7th SCV and while doing the basic build (8 SCV supply depot then barracks), the player needs to build a bunker near the enemy base (usually an expansion) and the barracks should already be finished and the player needs to make a marine as soon as possible and rally point near the bunker in order to arrive and go inside the bunker. If the plan succeeds then it should be a high advantage and this is great against a zerg player or a teching protoss player.

Tank defence/attack
Very commonly used in the game, by building mass amounts of tanks and deploy them near the enemy entrance to stop their free of movement. Because of their long range and mass damage, they easily kill small units with one or 2 hits. Players often back up their tanks with powerful anti-air units that will keep the tanks away from the danger of air attacks. This strategy can also be used on the home front, just block you self off with supply depots and deploy you tanks behind, they can take out mass amounts of units before suffering any counter fire. Very effective aginst aginst zerg, fairly effective aginst other Terran or Protoss.

Second Round / Post-Opening Strategies

 * Dragoon charge &mdash; Similar to the Zealot rush, but requiring more time, a group of 4-12 Dragoons can wreak havoc in the early-middle stages of a game. In addition to the Zealot strategies, the long (upgraded) range of Dragoons often enables them to hit key targets with impunity, especially if the enemy is overly reliant on static defense. This is particularly useful versus Terran, if the opponent's Refinery can be taken out before Siege Tank production starts. Counters to this include the wall-in, strategic Bunker placement, Stimpacks, and U-238 Shells. It should be noted that mass (24+) groups of Dragoons are often effective, but are terribly vulnerable to both Siege Tanks and Zerglings.


 * Mass zealots &mdash; A surprisingly effective maneuver that maximizes the ease and simple power of persisting with a lower-tech approach, this strategy focuses on simply accumulating a large number of gateways and pumping out more and more zealots - although crucial mid-tech advantages to be sought with this strategy are the zealot speed upgrade, available from the Citadel of Adun, and Forge upgrades, particularly for ground unit attack and defense. Some complementary dragoons may be mixed into the zealot hordes, or better yet, this strategy is coordinated with a teammate who focuses on complementary units, such as dragoons, marines, mutalisks, reavers, or even high templars; corsairs are a particularly effective complement. But even if the zealots must bear the brunt of air-to-ground attacks with no anti-air, their sheer numbers make it difficult for an enemy to cut their numbers quickly (unless a splash or area attack is used), and the mass zealots can often inflict serious damage before they can all be taken down; and the robust simplicity of this approach means that by this point, you have probably had plenty of time to produce another wave of zealots, and potential complementary units. This approach is not without its limits, however; groups of Terran Vultures with Spider Mines, Zerg Lurkers or Protoss Reavers, as well as heavy static defences, can hold off mass Zealot attacks indefinitely.

Mid-Game Strategies

 * Combined Carrier-Arbiter Attack &mdash; Although Carriers are relatively expensive and quite vulnerable on their own, combining them into a single group (not spread out) and adding the cloaking ability of the arbiter, they could easily be used to destroy entire defensive formations and bases of any of the 3 races with minimal loss of units. The key to this tactic is to never use Carriers on their own, but to always combine them with at least one “Arbiter”.  In order for this tactic to be successful it requires constant intervention from the player in order to maintain the very fragile formations in this method.  4-12 Carriers are grouped and then sent towards an enemy base (or large formation). As long as the Carriers are within the effective range of the Arbiter, they cannot be targeted effectively (as they destroy all detectors close enough to reveal them).
 * By far the best defence against this tactic would then be to try and destroy the Arbiter behind the line of Carriers, this can be done by flying/moving units (Corsairs, Scourge, etc.) around the offensive line and concentrating all fire on the lone Arbiter. This needs to be done quite quickly, as a group of carriers can quickly cause enormous amounts of damage.  Once the Arbiter is destroyed, the remaining force is vulnerable and can be picked off more easily.

Zerg Strategy
The Zerg excel at quick generation of armies, making them highly flexible. Each Hatchery produces a maximum of 3 larvae and a new one every 20 seconds, making it easy to grow new units, and every Hatchery can create any available Zerg unit, unlike the specialized factories of the other races.

Their return cost is building expenses. Each Hatchery/factory is extremely expensive (300 minerals and 120 seconds of build time, compared to for instance the 150-mineral 80-second Terran Barracks), and furthermore, each new structure must be grown from a Drone (50 minerals, 20 seconds). Defensive structures are even worse: the Drone must be hatched and then turned into a Creep Colony, and then the Creep Colony must be turned into a Sunken or Spore colony (for a total of 175 minerals and 80 seconds). A lost building is worse for Zerg than 10 lost units.

Because of slow building and Drone sacrifice, and moreover because of the need to build drones with the same limited early larva supply used to build attack units, Zerg have the weakest starting economy. They make that up with their Overlord, which can be immediately sent to scout, and the serendipitous discovery of an enemy base can lead to an early attack, something the Zerg excel at. An early-game strike at the enemy's mineral line will usually even the odds, if it doesn't hand the Zerg the advantage. Since Hatcheries allow the building of 3 units at once, if the Zerg survives to mid-game, they tend to catch up and even push ahead of the other economies. Their cheaper hatcheries relative to the other race's "town center" buildings also makes it easier for the Zerg to take multiple expansions.

Zerg are particularly weak against well-defended choke-point unless you use a trump strategy. Due to the cheap cost of units, Zerg fighting power cannot be concentrated onto one choke point efficiently. 24 Zerglings can be stopped on a cliff, blocked by 3 Zealots. It would be much wiser to attack from a different angle. In general, fighting in open space is best for Zerg.

Against Zerg
When Zerg face off against each other, the game gets fairly predictable. Zerg vs Zerg games usually involve only three types of attack units: Zerglings, Mutalisks, and Scourge. This is primarily because Hydralisks are not effective against combined Zergling/Mutalisk forces. Devourers are also sometimes used if the game lasts a long time. The Queen's Ensnare spell, though rarely seen, can also be very useful in Mutalisk air wars.

Another advanced tactic would be to "nydus" your enemy base using the Nydus Canal. Although, very hard to pull off and would give away your tactic (ie. ground units, zerg race), if achieved, could hinder your opponent to a significant degree. This tactic requires early scouting to first know that the opponent is indeed Zerg and would also require exposed creep in your opponents base that isn't defended so the Nydus Canal can spawn successfully. Of course, one may go to the extreme and construct more than one Nydus Canal, then try to make exits for each one.

Against Terrans
When the Swarm confronts Terran foes, it usually faces one of two main tactics. The primary strategy employed by Terrans, the dreaded tank push, is as effective against Zerg as any race. A prepared Cerebrate has several effective counters. Burrowed Zerglings are capable of lying in ambush for approaching tanks and emerging practically on top of them, too close to hit. When protected from Marine fire under the cover of a Defiler's Dark Swarm, Zerglings can quickly surround and destroy enemy tanks. Tanks can also be neutralized by a Queen's Spawn Broodling. This is especially effective if the enemy deploys tanks in small groups: a tank that is suddenly turned into Broodlings will attract the fire of other nearby tanks, distracting them, and damaging tanks or infantry close to the Broodlings. This can also be used in the middle of a group of Marines, or as a cheap way to damage Bunkers prior to a base assault.

In the Brood War expansion, Zerg face an additional threat: pure infantry armies of Marines and Medics, affectionately nicknamed M&Ms. These can deal significant damage to Zerg forces while sustaining frustratingly few losses. Fortunately, the Zerg now have Lurkers, which are especially good at countering large groups of infantry. Lurkers benefit especially from good unit control: a cunning Cerebrate will note the approach of infantry and continually order his Lurkers to hold their fire until the enemy troops are right on top of them. This will greatly increase splash damage, and, when combined with surface troops, makes it difficult for the Lurkers to be targeted, even after being detected.

In extremely long games, Terrans sometimes opt for a large fleet of Battlecruisers. These intimidate some Zerg players, as they have no equivalent capital unit, and large groups of Hydralisks will be quickly mown down. Queens and Defilers are the answer here, as Ensnare and Plague will cripple the enemy and render them unable to escape. In Brood War, Devourers and Mutalisks are a highly effective combination. Scourge also show their quality in this situation, as they can take down expensive Battlecruisers for much less cost. However, one must remember that, if unescorted and unaided, no amount of Scourge can score a hit on groups of six or more upgraded Battlecruisers. Their upgraded weaponry will take Scourge down in swarms.

Terrans have few special abilities that are trouble for the Zerg. Irradiate can be highly annoying, as a single use will destroy an Overlord or Lurker and can massacre a clump of Mutalisks. It is largely ineffective against other units, however, due to the extremely long time it takes to work. Burrowing the affected unit is the best defense when it is used on a pack of Hydralisks. Nuclear strikes should not be a problem as long as you keep Overlords in every base.

Finally, although Infested Terrans are entertaining to use, their effectiveness should not be overestimated, as they are rarely able to reach their targets without dying. Dark Swarm can be used to prolong their lives, but it does not effectively protect units from splash damage. In allied or team games with a Terran partner, however, Defensive Matrix can drastically alter that.

Against Protoss
Zerg players have a bit of an advantage against Protoss, due to the fact that Protoss have no reliable early scout (Probes die in two hits from Sunken Colony, Corsairs are a bit late, and Zealots have a hard time making it into a good Zerg's base). For this reason, Protoss players have to play a guessing game regarding the Zerg's strategy until they have reliable data. Generally, Zerg players pick a strategy at the start and later on change it to throw the Protoss off balance. Mutalisks, due to their small size, are fairly resistant to Dragoon fire, and of course are completely safe from Zealots. High Templar, however, will decimate them if they pause in mid-flight. Hydralisks, if micromanaged properly, can defeat Zealots without taking a single hit. Zerglings destroy Dragoons due to their small size and speed.

The Zerg will typically have massive numerical superiority against a much smaller army of far tougher units. The clever Cerebrate will turn this into an advantage by dividing his forces and attacking from multiple fronts. This has the added benefit of dispersing your troops, providing some protection from psionic storm -- vital in Zerg vs. Protoss matches. A well placed storm can destroy a dozen or more clustered Hydralisks in seconds. Individual High Templar can be destroyed with Spawn Broodling, but an intelligent Executor will trick you with hallucinations while hiding the real Templar in Shuttles. The best solution is simply to prevent large groups of units from piling up in the first place through constant harassment.