IBTabs Profile Joined May 2011 New Zealand 20 Posts Last Edited: 2011-12-31 01:41:10 #1



Moving on, some of you may remember a guide by alphafuzard on 'Thor Drop Opening' back in July 2010. Even though he did cover the general build order and the Pros and Cons of the build, i've refined it and am gonna go more indepth and explain why this build rocks your world.



Before you read the BO, just know that watching the replays down below will probably be far more useful as I make slight tweaks to the build depending on what my opponent is doing.



So here it is:



10 - depot

12 - rax

13 - gas

15 - orbital

15 - marine

16 - depot

@100 gas, Fact

Get 2nd gas as you start your fact

Make 2 marines between the time your fact starts and finishes

@fact, Armory

@100 gas, Starport

get a tech lab on your fact

get a depot and bunker between the time your armory starts and finishes

@Armory, Thor

@Starport &100 gas, medivac (roughly as thor is 1/4 done)

@Thor, start 2nd thor



Overview



The general idea of the thor drop is to capitalize on the opponent doing a timing push, the logic being that when his army is moving out, there is no single unit they can produce that can stop the thor having a scv-Piñata-festival (thors 1 shot marines and scvs, and 3 shots a tank). This gives the opponent 2 choices, move their army back to protect their base (sometimes the thor drop can just straight up roll their army), or try and base trade with their army.



Here's how the thor drop works against other builds:



The 1.1.1 Push

+ Show Spoiler +



As your opponent runs his scvs away, move your thor next to his production buildings and kill his reinforcing units.



During all of this, your opponent will more often than not. just try and kill you instead of retreating. In this case, your bunker should hold long enough until your 2nd thor arrives.



Once you have your second thor,killing his army should be easy as hes tanks will be in range of your thor from the ramp because he's seiged close to get in range of the bunker. The 1.1.1 attack is the most common 1 base attack in TvT. It's also the easiest to beat with the thor drop. As your opponent moves out, drop your thor into his mineral line and decimate his scvs.As your opponent runs his scvs away, move your thor next to his production buildings and kill his reinforcing units.During all of this, your opponent will more often than not. just try and kill you instead of retreating. In this case, your bunker should hold long enough until your 2nd thor arrives.Once you have your second thor,killing his army should be easy as hes tanks will be in range of your thor from the ramp because he's seiged close to get in range of the bunker.



Reaper/Hellion

+ Show Spoiler +



When the reapers/hellions come to your mineral line, DONT defend with your first thor, just send it to your opponents mineral line, run your scvs to your bunker and wait for the 2nd thor to come.



From that point, you will win almost automatically as reapers and hellions do a hilarious amount of nothing to thors. Reaper and hellion drops are rather easy to deal with as long as you don't lose all your scvs before your 2nd thor finishes building.When the reapers/hellions come to your mineral line, DONT defend with your first thor, just send it to your opponents mineral line, run your scvs to your bunker and wait for the 2nd thor to come.From that point, you will win almost automatically as reapers and hellions do a hilarious amount of nothing to thors.



Fast Expand

+ Show Spoiler +



You can either drop your marines into their main. or drop the marines on the seiged tanks. Whatever you do don't let them run in first or the tanks will make them disappear.



Be creative vs Fast Expanders, scan alot,if they position their tanks poorly you can just drop your thor(s) onto their seiged tank(s) and take an easy victory



This can be hard to deal with if you micro poorly, if you scout the expansion do as much damage with your first thor as possible (its crucial that you don't lose it), bring it back and do a marine thor push with both your 1st and 2nd thor while pulling scvs to repair your thors.You can either drop your marines into their main. or drop the marines on the seiged tanks. Whatever you do don't let them run in first or the tanks will make them disappear.Be creative vs Fast Expanders, scan alot,if they position their tanks poorly you can just drop your thor(s) onto their seiged tank(s) and take an easy victory



Gasless Expand

+ Show Spoiler +



If your opponent throws up more than a couple bunkers at their natural, make another medivac and drop with your 2 thors.



During this time make a third medivac and eventually do a drop with thors and scvs, the medivacs will heal the scvs as they heal the thors. Inception much....it works though. Stim usually won't be done in time for this scv/thor drop but alot of marauders can stop it. Scout well and react accordingly is the only advice i can give when vsing FE builds with the thor drop. This build is usually quite easy to beat as long as you dont panic. Be patient. If your initial drop doesn't succeed, pull it back and scout what the opponent is doing. If you scout no bunkers do a marine/scv/thor all in on his natural once your second thor finishes.If your opponent throws up more than a couple bunkers at their natural, make another medivac and drop with your 2 thors.During this time make a third medivac and eventually do a drop with thors and scvs, the medivacs will heal the scvs as they heal the thors. Inception much....it works though. Stim usually won't be done in time for this scv/thor drop but alot of marauders can stop it. Scout well and react accordingly is the only advice i can give when vsing FE builds with the thor drop.



Banshee

+ Show Spoiler +



If you do marine/scv/thor all in, scan and focus down the banshees first, then all they will have left is a is a ragtag group of bio and hellions. going against banshees should be an automatic win for you. Throw down missile turrets, harass as well as you can with your first thor, save scans and then either continue dropping him until you overwhelm him with more thors or if your within reasonable spawn locations, just marine/scv/thor all in him. The marine/scv/thor all in will crush banshee openings everytime as they wont have seige or stim completed in timeIf you do marine/scv/thor all in, scan and focus down the banshees first, then all they will have left is a is a ragtag group of bio and hellions.



Incorporating this build into your TvT



I used to do this build every TvT until I started playing against Masters. Since then I play standard unless I scout an early 2nd gas, which means they are going to cheese you, perfect for the thor drop.



Important to note



Although this build can work against almost every one basing terran, there is one composition that completely roflstomps this build. That is the 3 rax, more specifically the stimmed marauder. If you scout this, techswitch immediately, your thors have no chance against stimmed marauders.



Bunker placement is crucial, place it back from the ramp far close that it can stop bio running around it and that tanks cant seige on the high ground. But not at the choke so bio can hit it from the low ground and the tanks reposition closer to it. Like this

+ Show Spoiler +

Sup, I'm Tabs; you've probably heard of me... lol.... qxc fighting.Moving on, some of you may remember a guide by alphafuzard on '' back in July 2010. Even though he did cover the general build order and the Pros and Cons of the build, i've refined it and am gonna go more indepth and explain why this build rocks your world.Before you read the BO, just know that watching the replays down below will probably be far more useful as I make slight tweaks to the build depending on what my opponent is doing.So here it is:10 - depot12 - rax13 - gas15 - orbital15 - marine16 - depot@100 gas, FactGet 2nd gas as you start your factMake 2 marines between the time your fact starts and finishes@fact, Armory@100 gas, Starportget a tech lab on your factget a depot and bunker between the time your armory starts and finishes@Armory, Thor@Starport &100 gas, medivac (roughly as thor is 1/4 done)@Thor, start 2nd thorThe general idea of the thor drop is to capitalize on the opponent doing a timing push, the logic being that when his army is moving out, there is no single unit they can produce that can stop the thor having a scv-Piñata-festival (thors 1 shot marines and scvs, and 3 shots a tank). This gives the opponent 2 choices, move their army back to protect their base (sometimes the thor drop can just straight up roll their army), or try and base trade with their army.Here's how the thor drop works against other builds:I used to do this build every TvT until I started playing against Masters. Since then I play standard unless I scout an early 2nd gas, which means they are going to cheese you, perfect for the thor drop.Although this build can work against almost every one basing terran, there is one composition that completely roflstomps this build. That is the 3 rax, more specifically the stimmed marauder. If you scout this, techswitch immediately, your thors have no chance against stimmed marauders.Bunker placement is crucial, place it back from the ramp far close that it can stop bio running around it and that tanks cant seige on the high ground. But not at the choke so bio can hit it from the low ground and the tanks reposition closer to it. Like this I got ActionJesuz to 5 pool.