A good Terran player can create some of the most versatile armies in the game!

"Reaper Rush" or Reaper "Proxy:" These are really two different strategies that revolve around the Terran "Reaper" unit. Reapers being the unit of choice for the harassing Terran, they can outrun basic units, like Marines and Zealots, and, if the Terran commits to gas much faster than normal, he or she should be able to get a Reaper out of their base in a very short amount of time. Once you combine this speed and damage with the Reaper's ability to jump up cliffs to attack an enemy base from within, you can begin to understand why Reaper rushing can sometimes be a very effective ploy against an enemy that doesn't see it coming. Reaper "Proxy," as it is most commonly known in the Starcraft II community involves the placement of a Barracks with a Tech Lab being built right outside the enemy base. From here, the Terran basically commits to an all or nothing Reaper attack by constantly streaming in Reapers and hoping that their opponent can't counter before his or her Probes get demolished.

I'm not too sure of the timing of these attacks, but from my personal experience, even if a Protoss player sees this coming, unless they've been planning to get this the entire time, a Terran should be able to get a Reaper out at least ten to twenty seconds before the Protoss player can get a proper Stalker (one of the many counters to the squishy Reaper). Proxy Reaper rushing only works well against the slow-moving Protoss, but against the Zerg who don't have little Zerglings on creep, the Terran player should experience equal results.

Banshees: Fast Banshees is the name of the game, and stomping Zerg is how they do it. Some Banshee strategies revolve almost entirely around that all-in-or-nothing mentality, although some players do like to get about four Banshees with cloak before they launch their attack. Unfortunately, the Banshee is really not a very powerful unit, and the longer you take to attack with your Banshees, the more likely it is that you opponent will scout it and counter properly (static defenses being a very solid choice).

There is one strategy, however, that ensures a good chance of winning against a Zerg player, and that's to, literally, go straight for that single Banshee. This is done by building a Barracks, then building a Starport while the Barracks gets a tech lab upgrade. Of course, with Starcraft 2 Terran, both tech labs and reactor cores can be "interchanged" amongst buildings to gain different upgrades, so players can immediately swap their Starport (as in, lift-off and set down) with their Barracks right on top of that Tech Lab, and then they can begin to produce that Banshee. This can be done surprisingly fast and, since a Banshee can easily 1vs1 a Queen without dying, you may find this strategy working very well against Zerg players who don't see this coming.

Siege Tank Proxy: This is an interesting strategy that hasn't seen too much play in upper-level leagues, although it's because I've just been seeing an endless parade of M & M & M players who occasionally build a Ghost to counter the shield-reliant Protoss, or throw in Siege Tanks to take advantage of their massive AoE damage, especially when the Tank is in Siege Mode. Siege Tank Proxy, however, is not simply "adding Siege tanks to the mix," but it can be incredibly annoying if you don't have the proper units to counter it. This involves bringing in a few Siege Tanks and then having one of them go into Siege Mode. Once this happens, the other Siege Tank can move forward and go into Siege Mode (always make sure to stay in plain sight of the first Siege Tank so that he can cover you) while still being "covered" by the previous Siege Tank. Players can then repeat this forever, with their powerful Siege Tanks covering them as they creep forward. Just be sure to watch out for those aggressive Immortals!

And those are some of the most common Terran Strategies that I've run into during my times in Starcraft 2's Diamond League. One thing that should be noted with the Terran is that they do have a wide variety of units to choose from, and even though their M & M & M units are undeniably powerful, throwing in Vikings, Thors, Hellions or even Ravens (hunter seeker missile!) is the key to success with the Terran. The Terran is one race that cannot be "scout blocked," because they can scan their opponent at any given point in time, so be sure to scan appropriately and, once you know your enemy's unit composition, always ensure that you are producing the right mix of units to counter everything unpleasant.

That about wraps it up for our Terran race overview, as well as our overall Starcraft 2 Race overviews! We'll be sure to keep you posted as these races evolve when the Starcraft 2 Beta returns for its next phase, but take this opportunity to really experiment while the experimenting is still good!

Be sure to also check out our Protoss Race Preview here, and our Zerg Race Preview here!