Ladies and Gentlemen, this week
Ampersand is reminding all you Terran players to be more aggressive with MM drops. Check out his quick tips.
Marine Marauder Drops
Marines, Marauders, and Medivacs make up one of the most basic, yet versatile and powerful unit compositions for the Terran player. This Tip of the Week will help players capitalize on the advantages of MMM via drops.
The Idea
Good ol' MMM
A bio force supported by Medivacs is very mobile and performs well in small numbers. Dropping takes advantage of these features by attacking areas of the enemy away from the main force, doing damage, and retreating before retaliation can occur.
Situation
I'm a distraction! I'm a distraction!
Since success depends on where your enemy is, location and timing of drops are very situational. The most obvious way to create an ideal situation is by threatening a part of the enemy far from the intended drop, thus luring the defenders away, then dropping. Blind incursions unsupported by diversions are rarely successful.
Targets
Target practice
The best target for dropping is economy. Workers die fast and you always know where they are. If your troops land, you're almost guaranteed damage. 8 Marines with Stim Pack will make short work of a mineral line and can also give chase should the workers try to run.
Now you can make stuff... and now you can't.
Tech buildings like the Spire or Robotics Bay are great targets for your Marauders. The loss will set your opponent back by not only resources but also valuable time they need to rebuild the structures.
With 8 Stimmed Marauders, even entire expansions will crumble in no more than 10 game seconds.
Micro
Wondering how to get those perfect moving drops?
With your Medivacs selected and the Shift key held down:
- Right Click on the initial point
- Press D for drop and then Left Click ALL your Medivacs individually
- Right Click on the end point
... and voila!
Control
A common mistake is to put the Medivacs in the same control group as the Marines and Marauders. It might make a lot of sense logically, but the downside is that while you kite with the shooters, the medics are not healing as much as they can.
M-Move
You should always keep the Medivacs on a separate hotkey and use the Move command to have them follow one of your infantry.
Retreat!
Last but not least
The most important thing to remember about drops is that you can
retreat! Just making your opponent pull SCVs and run his army back is accomplishing something. Just pick up your troops and wait for another chance. Sometimes, the threat of drops is just as effective as the real thing.
Hopefully, this tip will help you harass your opponent to no end!
