Down the Terran Rabbit Hole with Liquid`Bunny Text by TL.net ESPORTS Graphics by Meru Interview with Liquid`Bunny



DISCLAIMER: Originally, this was conducted as a video interview. Due to technical problems, the audio was too poor to allow us to post this to Youtube. Instead, we transcribed what we could recover and had Bunny review the text for his approval prior to publishing.









Recently, there has been a resurgence of the Terran race in professional play. Why do you think this is?



I think that Terran players have, in general, been playing better recently. The buffs to the widow mine and the Thor have also really helped in the Terran vs Zerg matchup resulting in better Terran performance and representation.



The maps have probably made the biggest difference though. I remember a time when I would be very happy to play on overgrowth against Zerg, now however, I veto overgrowth every chance I get. This should show you just how good the new map pool is for Terran.



Has the new map pool affected the TvP matchup?



Not as much as it did the TvZ matchup. I find it’s mostly the same Terran vs Protoss still.



How have the latest buffs to Terran impacted your play?



The buffs to Terran have really helped the TvZ matchup. Mines and Thors in the matchup are much more effective.



Have the buffs changed the way you play the TvZ matchup?



Not too much. It is mostly the same thing Terran has been doing in the past with small adjustments. Before the patch, you would make mines before getting your first Thor. With the new thor however, once the tech lab finishes on your second factory, now you make the thor immediately, and that really helps.





Has the most recent buff impacted the TvP matchup?



Not too much. I do know that some players have been using the mine more since the buff. Since it does so much damage, even against colossus you can drop it and force the Protoss army to split up for defense and get some damage done.



I know that since the bonus to shields buff on the mine a while back, Protoss has stopped doing Templar openings. How has this impacted your experience of the matchup?





Since Protoss open mainly colossus now, it has become very predictable. It is good for me, it makes it easier, but it does make the matchup stale.



I undersand that Snute is your team mate and you can’t give too much away but how do you feel about Snute’s swarmhost ZvT style?





Snute’s style is very good, and I think with time, in maybe two or three months, it will be the standard. It’s just so difficult to deal with as Terran right now.



What about this style really gives Terran trouble?



It’s a very difficult composition to deal with. The mutas are very good at harassing and keeping the Terran back as well as forcing marines. At the same time, the locusts are free and will always push and trade well with the Terran army if you go for marines without tanks. It makes it very cost efficient for the Zerg and difficult for Terran.



Do you think there is a solution for Terrans regarding the “Ca$h Ho$t” style, as some have been calling it?



I haven’t been able to practice and train against it too much because I have been travelling so much lately, but I have played it a few times and spoken to Snute. I think the best option is to get a lot of bases and focus a lot on clearing creep. If you take a lot of bases it can be hard to defend against the mutalisk though, Zerg will want to stay low on the lings so still have supply for 20/30 mutas. So it is very hard. There are some timings for the Terran to do a lot of damage when the Zerg transitions from mutalisks into swarmhosts, but that is still a very difficult thing to do.





We saw Flash hit Snute during these transitions, and how powerful that can be. Do you have any thoughts on this?



I don’t think these games were a good representation of the style because Snute was already so behind when he did try to go swarmhost in most of the games. The first game is a much better example for the build than the other because in that game at the beginning, it was mostly even when the game started.



With Terran gaining some steam, we have been seeing much more TvT recently. Gas first in this matchup is very common, can you walk us through why this has become the norm?



It is very common. Too common perhaps. The gas first opening is just very very good. The builds that follow gas first are all very powerful, and it is difficult to know which one is coming. There are builds like hellion drops from one gas, two medivac drops, banshees, raven builds which are designed to break your opponent’s ramp. I like to get a reaper so that it takes away some of the guessing you have to do. If you see the second gas it changes the builds your opponent can do and makes defending a little easier. Against gas first builds even when you defend the attack, you end up even with your opponent, and not often too far ahead.



Do you think that gas first will remain standard, or will new builds come out to counter this opening?



I think it is too standard already, and there are ways to deal with it, other than going gas first as well. Today we saw Flash open fast command center against TaeJa and he was able to hold against a tank push with fast hellbats. So I do think that something like a fast command center is good because you have so much economy that you can hold the attacks of your opponent and possibly come out ahead.





We would like to take this opportunity to thank Liquid'Bunny for taking part in the interview and being very understanding of the technical issues that occurred. We would also like to thank IEM for providing us the opportunity to conduct the interview in their player space.



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