Learning how to explore can be what separates the good players from the bad ones in Starcraft 2. Most players know how to explore with terran, protoss, and zerg, but at the same time they have no idea what they see, other than what they see. obvious. Today we’re going to talk about certain assumptions you can make when playing any race and exploring the Terrans. Terrans are one of the trickier races to gain scouting information due to the fact that they can wall off their base very early in the game. Now we’ll talk about the things to look for in order to give you the proper scanning information.
“I explored and saw that he was taking both gases.”
Prior to patch 1.1.2, this was a sure sign that you were about to get Reaper rushed. Now, with the Nitro Speed packs in Factory Tech Lab, this is seen a lot less, but it still happens. Now when you see both gases being taken early in the game this should tell you that they are planning a very heavy tech mix. You’ll want to keep a close eye on them and look for Factories and Starports with Tech Labs attached, as this usually leads to massaging them with Thors, Banshees, or Siege Tanks.
“I explored a factory with a central reactor”
This is usually a sign that they are planning a quick Heliones run. This is a common Terran vs. The Zerg, like the speedy Helions, are perfect for taking down your first armies and preventing rapid expansion. When scouting this, you’ll want to beef up your defenses, as they’ll most likely just use the Helions to do as much damage as they can while teaching higher in the background.
“I explored a factory with a tech lab”
This can mean quite a few things, but it’s usually a sign that they plan to go Thors or siege tanks. This can also mean that they are planning a Banshee run, since all they have to do is build a Starport and Takeoff on both buildings and land them where the Factory was maxing out time for faster Banshees. Whenever I explore this, I tend to use this time for my initial attack. If you allow the terrans to build up their army after this point, it won’t take long for them to overwhelm your army. Also, if you’re lucky enough to realize they’re planning the Banshee rush, you’ll definitely build detectors at this point around your ore line, 9 out of 10 Banshee rushes target your production and then your armies. Also note that if you explore a factory with no props, this could mean you’ve already swapped the factory and starport and are off to the side, away from the normal exploration path, leading to a Banshee run.
“I explored Medivacs and Tanks with a Biomix”
One of the most common Terran builds is the Marine Medivac Marauder build or the MMM build or the 1/1/1 build. It is extremely easy for this to completely overwhelm those with lesser macro and micro skills. When you explore this, you’ll want to change your plans to counter this strategy, whether it’s High Templar or Colossi for Protoss or Infestors or Banelings for Zerg. Roaches also make an excellent meat shield to make way for your volatile Banelings. This is one of the most frustrating things in Starcraft 2 to lose a game due to the simplicity and speed that the Terran can use to push enough units to overwhelm you.
“I explored various barracks with various attachments”
When you come across this, you’ll want to keep a few things in mind before jumping to conclusions. The first thing to assess is what attachments are in the barracks and in what order they were done. Most of the time you’ll notice early Barracks with a Tech Lab attached, which usually means they’re going for a couple of previous Marauders and are flashing Concussion Grenades or Stim-pack right away. If you notice that the first Barracks has a Core Reactor, this clearly indicates that they are planning an early bio advance made up of mostly marines waiting for Stimpack and running up your ramp.