Terran versus Terran - Goliath Drop

[[/sarcasm]]

First of all, I take no credit in the writing of this strategy, it was written by Last.One on wgtour. I am but a middleman bringing the information to you.

This is for those that play melee seriously, and it is a very good TvT strategy, I've used it myself a couple of times.

Hello again, after all the very good comments and the very bad o*nes I think its time I made another dossier for TvT. However before we get into it I want to make some comments to people who criticize mine and everyones else's dossier. I know that some people make bad o*nes and that's understandable but the comments I hate most is "I already know this" well if I was making it for o*ne person I could understand more what to write ,but I'm not writing it for o*ne person I'm writing it for EVERYONE. Some people don't know things that others do remember wgtour isn't full of pros theirs people out their who aren't getting how to play the matchup so please before you post that comment think for o*nce. As for anyone who reads this you pressed the button to this dossier read at your own risk.
Now that we have that settled let me tell you what I'm really here to write about if you go back to my TvT guide I mentioned styles of play. Well now I'm going to go even deeper into the abyss of TvT. Today we're going to focus o*n the Dropping Style. Such as build orders, reactions, decisions, and counters. So now that we know what were talking about lets begin.

If you go back to my TvT guide dossier you will read that the way I describe dropping is mainly harass, harass, harass, and oh yeah harass. Dropping is rarely game ending unless its in the beginning, but assuming your bad drops will destroy the people you face. If your good drops are mainly harassment a good terran never usually dies to a drop usually. People think theirs probably o*nly two types of drops in beginning two tank drop and goliath drops. But as you shall find out their are more ways to use these drops as a grounds to other types of drops. As the o*nes down there:

Goliath Drop Description :
Not much to it four goliaths o*ne dropship yet it still seems to be a very good scv killer which is why it is my favorite type of drop in my opinion, but everyone has a different preference. Goliath drops are very good if you know how to use them well.

Goliath Drop Build Order : (well at least my build order)
9- depot You should have basically o*ne Marine and rest scvs
11- rax The marine should come after the rax and then lift
12- gas
15- depot
16- factory
18- factory
20- depot, armory
23- StarPort Make vult after this then immediately

You may say to be worried of a vult rush but if we are o*n LT and you did everything smooth if they kill marine and vult 2 goliaths should pop out as soon as they get in.

Pro : This is a good harassment in beginning good scv killers and if you use them right you should be able to use these to kill couple of units in their base if your worried about turrets lead your barracks you should have floating in their first and let it take the fire and dropship should follow. This can lead to more drops cliff drops with tanks. It lets you get the early lead in units if you do it right.

Con : This is beat if guy goes Tank/Turret. People also misuse the dropship which gets them killed never force anything in TvT I said it in my first guide I will say it again in TvT its not what you drop its WHERE you drop. Sometimes if you are careless this could be a disadvantage and you could get countered which means you need to protect your base and try to kill as much of theirs with 4 goliaths.

Reactions :
Ok were going to play some situations here. Since in TvT we have the advantage of flying our barracks in their base we can react to them. So lets take this step by step.

Situation: Ok we see they have 2 facts with o*ne of them has a machine shop and no armory or starport. This in our mind will usually play out to be a speed/mine vult rush followed by tanks so we can call him a "pusher" what do I do?

Reaction : Ok when you get your dropship and 4 gols leave 1 gol behind and right after all gols are made make 2 machine shops and get tanks with seige as quickly as possible the great thing is he usually will have late turrets so you can do some damage to his economy. Also when your guarding ramp put vult with 2 scvs at bottom gol at top see hes going to try to mine your ramp and blow everything up which works but vults don't make mines come up gols do though. So use the goliaths range to your advantage. You can also follow this up with cliff drops with tanks. Or since you have your StarPort switch to a mass wraith style try to contain him with air and get the extra expo over him. I mean the main point here is hes trying to contain you with land units dropping will prevail if he doesn't push if he pushes drop everything and kill it beat it in the beginning because if were dealing with a good player the push will be harder to kill as long as you let it keep growing. I forgot to add another cool thing to do use your barracks as a depot land it somewhere near his ramp make his units attack it and you now get more time to attack his scvs.

Situation: Ok I see an early ebay with 2 fact both have machine shops. What do I do?

Reaction : This is probably the hardest type of strategy to face with a goliath drop because of the seige and the turrets. I suggest to try to find stuff just to harass him with find places to hit a depot or something make him react make him unseige or move. The main thing though is not to force a thing.
When you get your fourth goliath immediately make 2 machine shop and start pumping tanks. Try cliffing slowing him down from pushing which he is most likely going to do I don't know what else you could do but push.

Situation: Ok i see 2 facts no machine shops armory and you may see a port or you may not. What do I do?

Reaction : Hes most likely doing a gol drop if he isn't then he already lost what you do with that is you switch strats make a 2nd dropship and pump 4 more goliaths wait for him to drop. Invite him to come in make some openings in your base immediately go to his base and try to rape a lot of stuff target tanks 8 gols is a lot for 1 or 2 tanks if you use them right. Now obviously you may both read this dossier and try to do the same thing or your just smart and now don't drop then your going to have to try to harass some how use cliffs if I see goliaths and hes o*nly o*n his main with no expos im kind of nervous to drop in their why because its just kind of gay to attack with gols its just like a massacre waiting to happen but thats my opinion.

Situation : I spot 2 Ports what do I do?

Reaction : Obviously hes going wraiths when your done making four gols o*nly make 1 machine shop pump more gols out the 2nd o*ne. Still drop but this time take 2 scvs with you and use scvs to repair gols vs wraith fire it rapes wraiths or even that make a turret be creative I've pulled it off before :-). Their is more possibilities with this o*ne try going the two dropship 8 gols it might work. In fact they both can work its what your comfortable with. Main point being is you already have the units all you need is an ebay comsat and hes screwed their. This is very wide open I think just watch your dropships carefully. This is how wraiths can balance it out is if you lose your first dropship.

Situation : 3 facts armory no starport what do I do?

Reaction: You have to love these people they think going 3 fact will counter gol drop which is why they did it they think more units will kill the units you have at your base leave a gol drop 3 gols make 2 machine shops right after third and fourth gol. Get tanks get ready to use scvs if you can just hold him to ramp make him have to seige move just guard minerals and game is yours. Also when you have 2 or 3 tanks start dropping more o*n his base because now hes weak.

Situation : 1 fact command center what do I do?

Reaction : Early expo is weird I would make an early ebay drop gols and 2 scvs o*n cliff turret seige it make his expo a waste of 400 minerals. It sounds newb but it works and what wins without using a hack isn't really newbish is it. In my opinion it isn't. Don't drop his minerals cause he will have turrets and probably a tank he just wants you to waste units o*n him he will come out ahead unless you destroy his main you need to make that expo unusable till you expo or somewhere close to that.

If you want to modify the build order to your liking then go ahead you might have a better o*ne if their is a thing but the Reactions should be the same.

Decisions
When I say decisions it means when to change styles I will be explain scenarios when you should switch to dropping style or to another style. Good terrans know when to change the game plan and when to go back to it.

Situation: You had him cliffed for a bit he just got his expo back you have been harassing him pretty good and you have a lot of tanks at your base but he turtled in so you can't kill him. Should I switch.

Decision : Yes switch to a pushing style I can't believe I have to write this but some people try to keep dropping tanks and its a waste. Switch to a tank/turret push and then when you have turreted and seiged him in switch back to drops to kill island expos/floating cc expos cliff him drop his main stuff like that.

Situation : We have been dropping each other for the first 10 min of the game we both have our natural gas expo but everytime someone trys to expo outside they drop o*n it. Should I switch.

Decision : Switch to tank/turret and when you expo take 3 scvs and 3 tanks 2 turrets and a cc should be made and spread out don't clump turret like a newb in this case. You ask where the money is if you macro good enough you should have like 3 k minerals and like 300 gas 200 gas I'm being generous. Thats how TvT is if your both stuck with o*nly 1 expo.

Situation : He is dropping me but o*nly tanks he mainly focuses o*n my cliff and hurting my expo. What should I do?

Decision : Wraiths are the best weapon vs tank droppers. Tank drops are very deceiving they are deadly but if you mass wraith o*n him when he trys it again not o*nly do you rape the tanks but you rape all his dropships. Now your making him switch styles. I would go from their a push or an expo then push. It depends a lot o*n the game that I can't put into words.

Situation : Hes got a push o*n me that I can't get out of do I try to kill him with seige and mass or do I continue to drop should I switch?

Decision : No don't switch Drops are the o*nly thing that may keep you alive. Get an island expo (assuming were o*n LT). Try to drop before his turret line kill it then go o*n. Point being is not to get pushed in the first place but no matter its not impossible just keep trying to find openings keep killing his turret line just expo anywhere I mean at that point i would expo at his main's gas natural if it was open thats how desperate you get when your playing a TvT like that.

These are the main couple that you would need to switch you might switch for your own preference that would have to be figured out in game not in a dossier. Some things you can't write sadly enough.

Countering the Goliath Drop
Many of you ask why should you know this if you know how you can kill the strategy your using it o*nly makes you smarter and wiser in a game because hey the guy your playing might know too? We must focus o*n a lot of things in a Goliath Drop. If you haven't figured it out yet gol drop strats have a late ebay or an early o*ne same thing with expo's either you expo when you drop or later. Also tanks are later then you if you went the tank route. You need to exploit these.

Early Pushing :
If I was in a game and I chose to go goliath drops early pushing would be what worried me the most because your micro has to be right o*n. Don't even try to push outside his base push in his gas natural he has minimal tanks go after him. Just try to hold your base put 1 or 2 tanks and soon as he drops move scvs or attack with scvs just don't let them sit their. Don't clump tanks spread them out put them near turrets. Turret placement should be in smart spots like this
T= Tank
t = turret
CC = CC (no way?)
M = Mineral Line



M t
M T CC T t
M
t
Beautiful just beautiful oh back o*n topic. Notice the tank pretty much in the middle of minerals make him have to go through 2 turrets to drop o*n a tank you could acutally get rid of the turret at bottom and move the turret to the right close but thats your preference.

Vult Rush :
Works more o*n different maps o*n LT its a risk and I do not recommend but if you do mines first and speed isn't as important i would use rax as a decoy and try to focus fire or mine ramp then pull back. If you get in their try mining facts or go straight for scvs slow down the drop make him have to fend for his life instead of focusing o*n how to dismantle your base. Usually they don't even drop after that unless their retarded because now you know its coming. Also try putting mines o*n the map so you can see dropships coming it works sometimes you'd be surprised even usually the mines you should be putting in expos (didn't think i had to say that) can see them. Of course turrets work better but whatever. Also mine his natural he has gols make him have to take a risk of losing 2 or 4 if hes an idiot but usually they can get by without losing any. Still make him take a chance or make him wait till seige.

Wraiths : Ahh you have to catch the dropship a little bit before it gets their o*nly way I see to fend it off its not really good to go wraiths vs gol drops cause umm gols>wraiths so make more tanks in beginning would be your best bet. Not really just a good idea to go wraiths vs it unless close positions then its a lot easier because you know where its coming far away kind of tougher more angles to come in from.

Counter : I mean by counter is to send units towards his base while he is dropping. I have o*nly 4 words GET TO HIS MINERALS. Then you win because its a lost cause but good terrans will not allow you to get up ramp. Just try to seige close to edge be first to seige don't underestimate his units expect a lot. Back at your base save cc rally units away from the gols when you get like couple tanks or 3 gols try to focus fire gols and get them out if you got close to his minerals he cant drop reinforcements because he has to stay alive and usually its gg. Its harder then it sounds though.
This is a deceiving strategy against goliath drop but it can work.

I hope this helped you add a strategy to your dropping style or any style. I will make o*ne for pushing next time but for now I hope this helps. I got really specific with this strategy I will try to keep adding more and more to my TvT Guide if you any suggestions that isn't a flame or a complement. Or maybe something I should of added or a strategy I could cover next time plz send me a pm I like to have some honesty about my dossiers. PM me at StaR.PoLoCk. Note their are more strats I o*nly covered o*ne I will cover dropping again later but pushing is the o*ne that will be next. Thx you ~

[Dynafrom]

Good job !

[FrogMan]

Yea very nice