Massing thors effectively

Before I begin this guide, I would like to say thank you to HuskyStarcraft for casting this replay.  This game is an unconventional Korean ZvT in which the Terran player, SlayersBoxeR, massed Thors with some Hellion support against the Zerg player, Cellawerra, who often switched tech in an attempt to battle the Thors.  This replay is excellent not only for the interesting gameplay but also for Husky’s hilarious cast of it.  Husky hadn’t slept the whole night (it was around 9:30am) when he casted the game, so he’s a bit loopy.  Also, since this replay is on Youtube, I didn’t have the ability to analyze the game like a normal replay; I had to go with whatever Husky showed.  That being said, I did my best to approximate the opening build of SlayersBoxeR as well as offer some commentary at various points in the game.  My intent with this guide is not to offer an extreme in-depth analysis of this strategy (that is nearly impossible without the replay file), but I just wanted to post the replay and offer some commentary.  On with the guide!

Part 1 of 3.

Part 2 of 3.

Part 3 of 3.

As best as I could approximate, this is the opening build for SlayersBoxeR:

 9 Supply Depot

10 Barracks

13 Refinery

15-16 Tech Lab

21 Bunker Rush

At about 4:30 into the game, SlayersBoxeR attempted a Bunker rush of Cellawerra’s natural expansion.  Since he had a Tech Lab, SlayersBoxeR could build Reapers for his offense on this rush.  SlayersBoxeR’s Bunker rush was effective.  This accomplished several things.  Cellawerra’s economy was greatly disrupted; Zerg players need that early expansion for more larva.  Since Cellawerra was distracted at his expansion, he was not harassing SlayersBoxeR’s base.  This allowed SlayersBoxeR to build Factories and tech Thors sooner rather than later.

After building one Siege Tank, SlayersBoxeR finally expanded.  However, Husky noted that he did something a lot of Terran players forget to do: he loaded up his Command Center with SCVs to transport them while his Siege Tank worked on destroying the wall.  This is a risky move; since the wall was still in place when he started gathering resources, SlayersBoxeR couldn’t defend from any harass Cellawerra sent.  Cellawerra did in fact send some Roaches to harass the base.  SlayersBoxeR didn’t have many SCVs there yet, so he loaded up his Command Center and flew back to his own base.  This hurt his economy a little bit, but he still had his Command Center, so he was OK as long as he destroyed the wall to be able to defend the expansion later.

Here is SlayersBoxeR expanding.

Eventually, SlayersBoxeR had two Factories with Tech Labs to pump out some Thors.  However, he supplemented his army with some Hellions to combat the Zergling army Cellawerra was sending out.  His Hellions could also go around the whole map and harass any expansions they found, which is exactly what happened.  Cellawerra decided to build some Mutalisks for some harassment of his own.  In this particular situation, that was a good move.  Even though Thors destroy air units, they move very slowly; they can’t defend two places at once without being split up.  If Cellawerra simply sent his Mutalisks at whichever mineral line was unguarded by the Thors, he could do some serious economic damage.  In order to combat this harassment, splitting up the Thors or building some Missile Turrets would be a good idea.  Including a few SCVs for repairing the Thors would also be a good idea.

The above picture shows SlayersBoxeR returning to his expansion after building his first Thor.  The below picture shows the Mutalisk harass; Zergling harass was occurring in the main base.

After making his expansion a little more secure with more Thors, SlayersBoxeR put up two more Factories in his expansion, one with a Tech Lab and one with a Reactor to pump out Hellions.  At the same time, SlayersBoxeR was using dual Armories to upgrade the Thors.  With upgrades, Thors devastate Roaches and can easily 2-shot them.  While working on upgrading and massing the Thors, SlayersBoxeR often sent out Hellions to harass and scout.  This is a great idea.  When massing Thors against the Zerg, the player must be aware of possible Infestors.  If the Zerg player gets off a few Mind Controls on Thors, the Thors will lose.

The above picture shows a bit of Hellion harassment.  SlayersBoxeR sent his Hellions around the map quite a bit to scout and roast Drones.  The below picture shows Cellawerra's first Infestor.

At the end, Cellawerra went for Ultralisks, Infestors (I think), and Roaches against Thors and Hellions.  At the final battle, SlayersBoxeR brought out the 250mm Cannons of Thors, which wiped out the Ultralisks and caused the GG.

So there you have it.  A Terran player massed Thors against the Zerg and won.  Both are competent players, so this made for a very fun game to watch!  Finally, I apologize for the awkward spaces between text and pictures; that is a consequence of inexperience in trying to take screenshots of a Youtube video and posting them online.  If you have any comments/criticisms, please post them!

Color coding:

Green=Buildings

Blue=Terran player

Red=Zerg player

Orange=Units

Light Blue=Special Abilities