Air Superiority Tank Pressure - The PiG Daily #119 (TvT Timing Attack)

Description

This is an aggressive opening that lets you take control of the tempo of earlygame TvT and navigate your way safely to the midgame. You’ll have reapers and cyclones early on for defence and potentially massive damage to an opponent, a raven and vikings out to defend banshees and a very powerful “air-superiority tank push” where you use your vikings and raven to control the skies whilst your first 2 tanks edge into your opponent's natural. This will rarely end the game but will punish a greedy player hard and force him to show his hand - whilst you set up your strong 3-base marine-tank production and upgrades behind the pressure.

Build Order:

• Gas-first
• Rax
• 17 supply/1:00 - 2nd gas
• 19 Orbital + reaper (que 2nd reaper as this one finishes)
• 20 Factory
• 20 Depot (Scv ques up another depot and then goes to natural to build CC)
• @100% Factory - Cyclone and Starport (next to rax)
• 30/3:10 - CC at natural
• @2nd reaper - Tech lab
• 33 helion
• Starport and barracks swap
• Barracks adds reactor
• Starport builds raven
• Barracks swaps off and builds another reactor then constant marine production
• Starport swaps onto reactor and builds 4 vikings
• Factory swaps onto tech lab and constant tank production

From here you can go fast 3rd CC for heavy macro, 4-rax for all-in, or do my middle of the road approach, in order:

• 2nd-3rd barracks + 3rd gas
• 3rd CC
• 4th gas
• 2xebay
• 4th-5th barracks

  - @1-1 60% - start armoury

VOD

Replay - Air Superiority Tank Pressure - The PiG Daily #119

Build Order

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Analysis

• Whenever in doubt if you’ll win a reaper skirmish - run home!
• Never feel a need to push in overly hard
• Do try to poke in - if they aren’t watching and you land the first reaper grenades it can turn a reaper-cyclone skirmish wayyy in your favour.
• Raven should only go to pressure vs expand builds, or where you’re sure they aren’t going cloaked banshee
• Vs banshees drop a fast single ebay around the time your 2nd-3rd rax go down (You need turrets down for when your raven moves out with your push)

*What if they’re also delaying their expansion? Can I still pressure? *

• You should still look for opportunities to pressure with your reaper cyclone, but be VERY careful to not lose units.
• You’re mostly checking they’re building as many units as you for safety and seeing if you can catch any free units
• If they have enough units to defend no need to do anything other than seige up for a short while outside the natural then pull home once you think they could be counter-dropping

“Do I always push with the tanks? How hard do I commit here and when should I pull back?”

• You are aiming to deny mining on their natural partially if possible
• Always scout ahead with the raven/vikings
• The situations where you don’t commit and just go home or seige very carefully are when you see:
• mass helion
• 3+ Cyclones
• Any bigger army that’s already moving out to intercept you
• No need to try and lock them in with a contain - you’ll be to open to them just dropping you or jumping on top of your measly army as their force grows
• Usually the rule is after about 1 minute at their natural if they haven’t lost any army, they should be able to move out and crush your contain, so either go home or just take as good a trade as you can with your units before they die

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Details

• Created by: PiG      
• Published on: Feb 13, 2017
• Modified on: Feb 13, 2017
• Patch: 3.8.0

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