The following article or section contains information from a Christmas map and may not be canon.

Operation Claws was a battle which took place on Planet Christmas, between Jim Raynor's forces, the Santa Friends, and the Zergrinch, after the latter kidnapped Santa Claus. The Raider's goal was to free Santa Claus so that they would get on his good-guys list.

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Background Edit

Santa Claus, based on Planet Christmas, delivers presents to terrans across the galaxy, but does not deliver presents to the protoss and zerg.

Jealous of the lack of presents, the Zergrinch and its followers attacked Planet Christmas. On its final attempt, some time after the Brood War, the Zergrinch enlisted the aid of some protoss bandit minions and succeeded in capturing Santa Claus, the individual's "elitist ways having been the bane of our existence".

Jim Raynor hired one or more goliath Commanders to assist. The Commanders rarely took missions unless paid well, but were willing to undertake this mission because of the incentive of being added to Santa's good-guy list.

The Battle Edit

The battle started with the Zergrinch capturing Santa Claus and imprisoning him in a stasis cell. The Zergrinch Followers then moved towards Christmas Village, arriving at about the same time Raynor's "Santa Friends" did, with at least one Commander personally leading them. The two forces did battle, with the Santa Friends coming out ahead.

The Santa Friends used the village as a base of operations, fighting the Zergrinch Followers and the protoss bandits. The Zergrinch would occasionally attack with groups of its especially powerful minions, and would "respawn" whenever killed, as it was "eternal".

Eventually Santa Friends freed Santa Claus from the stasis cell, who commended them for "saving Christmas".

Playing the Game Edit

The game can be played with one or two players. Each player gets a Commander, a hero goliath with a very high armor rating. As it is the same color as the other troops, the players may experience confusion trying to distinguish it from other goliaths.

When rescuing Christmas Village, each player will gain control of certain surviving buildings. If only one player is playing Operation Claws, they will be unable to rescue several of the buildings.

Operation Claws has a complicated set of triggers. Zergrinch and several powerful minion will frequently spawn at various points on the map, then give taunts as it attacks. If the Zergrinch itself is killed, it will respawn, once again taunting the players.

References Edit

2001-02-02, Operation Claws. StarCraft Compendium Map Archives. Accessed on 2008-15-03