This is the first of many Starcraft 2 strategy guides, this is the first of the series and is related to player vs. player matches. This relates to all four brackets.
A zerg rush is any basic unit being launched against you early on in the match while you are virtually defenseless and cannot obtain adequate defenses. Zerg units are: marines, zerglings, zealots, SCVs, and probes. If you were killed by anything that isn’t one of these five then you weren’t rushed you were out played.
Few things to understand:
- The goal of the rush isn’t to win the game then and there. People rush in 2s, 3s, and 4s knowing full well there are other opponents they’ll have to deal with. The goal here is to cripple the economy of one player so that the game transforms into a 2v1. 3v2 or 4v3. As you get higher in number of players the less effective this strategy becomes.
- The maps in Starcraft 2 are nearly DOUBLE the size of those in Starcraft 1. This means that for a rush to hit your base the invading army is going to waste roughly 2 minutes to get to you. That 2 minutes should give you the edge on them.
- A person who rushes is going to have an economy and more troops coming meaning they’re not that set back by trying to hurt you.
SCV/Probe Rush
The SCV/Probe rush is unique and is seen quite a bit in 1v1. A person sends a couple of SCVs/probes off to individually attack your units. The goal similar to that of the 2s, 3s, and 4s is to ruin your economy in hopes that you are a total idiot, but you’re not right? Another assumption made by the person doing this is that the PvP game speed up is so fast that you will not be able to even click his probes. I’ve rushed a couple of people so far and a lot of times they are caught killing their own units. But you’re not going to fall for this are you?
The solution to this is simple, fight back. He is using 2-5 of his starter probes/SCVs to take out yours so as soon as you see his little army of probes/SCVs coming destroy them all. Don’t click them individually. Instead hit (A) and attack the ground near them. What this will do is get your harvesters to attack any units on the way to the area you picked. It means you will destroy his units faster than him and you will have more of them since you will have gained an extra two harvesters by this point.
I’ve seen the SCV/probe rush once in 4v4. It was funny that it worked as he destroyed the guys command center with just SCV/probes. It’s one of those nice little lessons to people that you should do all the intro content before you hit up ladders.
Defending as a Terran
From here on out we’re presuming you’ve successfully defended up harvester rushes and have built something. From here on out this guide is going to deal with the first 8-10 minutes of a match where it is presumed no one is SCV/probe rushing and you’re sitting there all happy getting your production up and have to choose buildings.
I will say this now and continue to repeat it forever. Bunkers are not defensive structures for Terrans. One more time. Bunkers are not defensive structures for Terrans. When you do the campaign bunkers are very useful because the computer enemy attacks in semi-predictable waves with ample time to repair your bunkers in between. Terran defense is going to focus around two things:
- Supply depots
- Marines
If you are initially building anything else but supply depots and marines for your defense you’re wrong. Later on you’ll want to build a launcher near you’re SCVs to protect them from flyers trying to scour your harvesters late in the game. But for now you are focusing entirely on surviving.
You will have to build supply depots whether you want to or not. In Starcraft 2 supply depots have the added benefit of submerging underground and allowing your units to pass over them. This is useful later when you have big armies of mechs that you want to get out of your base. For now you are going to block off your base from the enemies. Most maps have these narrow corridors or door ways. You are going to build a line of supply depots to block off this door. Oh no they’re hitting your supply depots first. Don’t worry, it’s a trap!
2/3 of the types of units people are going to zerg with are MELEE units. This means with a line of supply depots and marines behind them you are going to be able to wipe out their melee units with minimal losses. Oh crap you lost one supply depot, well he just lost his entire invasion army. Don’t build any barracks attachments initially just keep pumping out those marines. Stim packs and medivacs aren’t that important until later on when you have to bring the offense to the enemy. If you have 6 marines and you’re still not attacked, they’re not going to rush you and are massing up something huge to try and take you out.
At that point you switch over into strategic mode and either start massing up marines/medivacs, thors, or battlecruisers.
Protoss
Protoss is by far the easiest race to rush. Mainly because the protoss structures take longer to build. As an added benefit if you get rushed by a protoss player they are going to have 2-3 zealots tops. If you are a protoss you can go two routes to surviving a rush:
- Cannons
- Zealots
If you build cannons quite a few people will probably call you a noob. It’s not your fault but in the original Starcraft cannons ended up being quite under-powered and were rocked by a hand full of basic units. That more or less changed in Starcraft 2 where health pools are far larger on defensive structures. If you are going cannons I should note positioning IS important. You should build your first pilon adjacent to your base. Your second pilon should be slightly away from that. You are going to want to build your cannons in between these two pilons. So what gives Troublmaker why this?
When zerglings/zealots come in most people have them on patrol or attack command. This means that they are going to strike this pilon first and all of your cannons are going to have a free shot at one unique each. The proximity of the cannons to your base is going to protect your harvesters. Eventually you’ll want to place your cannons in the path of harvesting so that you can protect them from flyers. For now it’s a melee rush you’re worrying about.
If you’re not feeling like investing in cannons maybe the zealot route is for you. It simple, build up troops. Zealots are unique in that they are very powerful units with low resource cost. One zealot can take out 4 zerglings and 3 marines. I genuinely prefer massing up zealots if my base is further away than other bases. This allows me to deploy my mobile defenses to aid other players if they’re being attacked. But yeah I always use cannons if I’m the closest. It depends a lot on map design whether you should go cannons or zealots. Consider this though, the cost of two cannons is the same as three zealots. Cannons are deployed faster but zealots are more economical. Forge and Gateway have the exact same warp in/construction time. This means that the choice between what sort of defense comes down to a numbers game. 1 zealot per 45 seconds at 100 crystal or 1 cannon every time 150 crystal is available. In a rush scenario you won’t be able to choose between both.
A lot of zerg players get bogged down by 1-minded massing and will continue to stack cannons or zealots… don’t. After you have 4-5 zealots try and expand into immortal or void rays. Although cannons and zealots do well against marines, zerglings and other zealots they’re not going to stand up so hot to higher tiered units. You’re fine to deploy cannons near freshly constructed buildings, but don’t MASS them just build a few.
Zerg
The zerg in this game kill me, but yeah you have to be able to fight a zerg as zerg in this game. The Zerg are no longer more likely to rush you they are only just as likely as Terrans to rush. The Spawning Pool that is required to spawn zerglings now costs a total of 200 crystals to create. That’s expensive.
Unlike other races when you are choosing to build defenses you are also going to take away from your economy since the same structure that builds units for one (Hatchery) is going to build units for the other. So please do not ignore your economy in the name of defense. Once you have enough resources do build the Spawning Pool. Have 6 zerglings available (yes 3 made makes 6) to defend. Why so few? The answer is quite simple, zerg units build fast.
While a combined fleet/ground force was attacking my team mate I sent in a legion of marines/medivacs to lock down this zerg base that was giving my team mate such huge troubles. I was making my way into his hatcheries when suddenly a legion of zerglings came in one me and wiped out my attacking force. The 6 zerglings you spawned exist for one and only one reason, to slow the enemy down. The Hatchery does have to be protected and so do your structures. 6 isn’t going to do anything, but if they do rush you, you should have a second hatchery by this point. This means that he has 30 seconds to kill everything… your zerglings should last that long.
The added benefit to this is that a spawning pool is necessary to make a Hive and it’s actually just on your development path. Later on you’ll want to make some spore crawlers (anti-air) and spine crawlers (anti-ground) which are mobile defensive structures for now though surviving is quite simple, PRODUCE!
And that completes my little guide to surviving a rush in Starcraft 2.
Find this helpful? Check out my other guides:
– Four Hatcheries on Zero Hour
– How I Got Unbreakable
– How to win a Medium Difficulty AI Match
– Harassment Types
– The Crafty Art of Cannon Rushing
TheGameGuru.Me 
Excuse me, but as a SC2 player myself I must note the many falsehoods in this page. I understand that there have been updates since this page was written, however, for example, the phrase “marines, zerglings, zealots, SCVs, and probes” was referred to as rush, and specifically zerg units. Although these units may all be used in a rush, in fact only zerglings are Zerg units. Additionally, Bunker are in fact a very powerful defensive structure. A common usage is at the natural ramp, where SCV’s can be pulled to repair and hold against a greater army. These are just 2 of many discrepancies I find in this article, and I recommend doing more research, including playing the game and watching masters play, before writing strategy guides.