[G]Micromancers Post Patch TvZ!

This is the style that seems to be giving most terrans problems, but happily enough it is also the style that this opening is the strongest against. If you see no gas with your first scv, chances are this is what they are doing. First of all the reapers are much better than hellions because they do heavy damage to buildings, so while if you have hellions the zerg can throw up a third and let it just take some damage until the queens eventually crawl there, against reapers you cannot throw up a third until you have queens already there to defend it.


After your 3 reapers finish switch that racks to marine production, when we have around 300 minerals banked throw up a e-bay (not right when you 125 because we don't want to start the upgrade until after we have thrown our additional racks up). Then when you hit 450 minerals throw down 3 more barracks. We will spend our gas first on +1 armour, then 3 reactors as soon as the racks finish, then combat shield, all off of 1 gas. Make sure you keep up with your supply depots, throw down a third cc just before your reactors finish, and then start pumping marines 7 at a time.

We are going to hit a big timing as soon as those reactors finish, with combat shield +1 armour marines with 3 reapers to support. Queens only do 4 damage and have 2 attacks, so the +1 armour gives you a huge 25% damage reduction against them, coupled with the combat shield you have very large numbers of very hardy marines to use as buffer units for very high dps reapers. Micro the reapers on a separate hotkey from the marines to keep them alive, as they increase your damage output vs lings immensely and give you very high dps against spines and any other buildings you might have the opportunity to destroy. You have reapers so keep an eye on if they have a third, but either way you should be able to deal very well with queens, slow lings, speedlings, spines. You do ok against roaches, and if he has banelings at this point you should have scouted his gas going up earlier and he wont have many queens. Either way you force alot of units at worst, kill him at best.

You can be pretty sure that this is the opening if he pulls drones off gas after he hits 100. You want your reapers off the map and back in your base around the time that your third one finishes so they don't get caught by speedlings. The push described above under mass queens is decently strong still, and can often deny a third, if there is no third i recommend retreating back to your base. If you don't feel you can be aggressive you can take your own third very fast, if you place a bunker at it with 3 reapers in it, you can defend that against seedlings with very little problem. I have had games where reapers in a bunker will have higher than 50 kills by the end.

If he does not pull guys off gas after 100 he is most likely going for a bane ling bust, You must bunker up immediately, with at least 3 bunkers in a layered formation (See Roach Bane All In replay). Consider only putting up 2 barracks instead of 3 so you have more money to spend on bunkers and depots and throw them down before your ebay. Your gas spending should now be, reactors, combat shield, +1 armour. Pull most scvs to your main, but keep some down at your nat for repair. The key to this hold is that by the time he uses up his bane lings on your first layer or two of supply depots and bunkers, that you have your reapers left over in your last bunker. As reapers in a bunker can defend against any number of lings at this point. Rebuild your layers as soon as possible well continuing your upgrades and teching to drop quickly, I feel that that is the best way to punish a bane ling busting player. Eventually his attacks will start to scale worse and worse due to your upgrades and production and he will have little gas to spend on anti air to deal with the drops. This is the best way I have found to survive a bane ling bust without tanks.

Roach or roach baneling is delt with in almost the same way but of course make marauders as well. And make sure you have a few scvs ready to repair your front bunker with the marauders in it as some zergs will try to take down a building or two with the roaches before sending the banelings in.