Leveling Down

Mass Vikings and Battlecruisers can give Zerg air a very bad day.

Considering that several Starcraft 2 3v3 mid-game options can successfully carry into the end-game, I have consolidated the 3v3 end-game for all three races into this one article. I realize that it may be difficult to find the various Starcraft strategy articles that I have written up, so I will link them again here for your convenience:

Starcraft 2 3v3 Strategy – Some Basic Multiplayer Tips
Starcraft 2 3v3 Strategy: Defensive Early Game Builds
Stracraft 2 3v3 Strategy: The Protoss Mid-Game
Starcraft 2 3v3 Strategy: Terran Mid-Game
Starcraft 2 3v3 Strategy: The Zerg Mid-Game
Going Up Against the Protoss’s Overpowered Void Ray

If you’ve read through all of those articles already, hit the jump for my next article on the 3v3 end game.

Carrying from Where We Left Off in the 3v3 Mid-Game
The Starcraft 2 3v3 end-game opens up where all three races’ mid-game left off: you have an expansion, built up a mid-game army, but your army or team’s unit composition wasn’t strong enough to win the game outright. Therefore, you must transition into the end-game to go out with a bang.

As you move through the mid-game and continue to pump out units that require more and more gas, you’ll begin to start noticing a distinct lack of gas and excess supply of minerals as you get towards the end of the mid-game. It is at this point that you need to begin looking for a second expansion – not only to get more gas, but because the workers at your main base are also getting close to finishing off the minerals there and will have nothing to do after that. Starting a second expansion will make the transition easy for you to simply ferry your workers from your main to this second expansion.

Remember to set up defense for your second expansion. Because this is late game, everyone is scouting for those second expansions, so you need to put down cannons if you’re Protoss, both Spine Crawlers and Spore Crawlers if you are Zerg, and missile turrets and the Planetary Fortress upgrade if you are Terran. Try to lay down defense before making your expansion base.

With your second expansion out of the way, let’s see what remains among the choices available for the different races in the 3v3 end game.

Viable 3v3 Protoss End Game Options
1. Mass Mass Stalkers (8 Gateways)
4 Gateways and Mass Stalkers is the conservative mid-game Protoss option, since they do extra damage to Armored units, can attack air, and with Blink, can get in on the pesky Terran Siege Tanks. So, why not make more of them? Make sure to research the Forge upgrades and consider making 2-3 Forges to max out your Stalkers’ bonuses. Protoss players can counter mass mass Stalkers by massing Immortals (just 2 Robotics Facilities and a mixture of Stalkers and Immortals can decimate an army sole comprised of Stalkers greater in number). If a Terran player masses Thors, the Thors will eat up the Stalkers though, but due to the Thors’ slow speed, the Stalkers should rely more on guerrilla tactics to attack bases/expansions where the Thors cannot get to. Zerg’s mass mass Hydralisks can beat mass mass Stalkers in equal supply due to their smaller unit size (and therefore, greater damage output when clumped).

2. Mass Stalkers + Colossi (4 Gateways & 2+ Robotics)
Some Terran players enjoy making infantry all the way through end-game, so mass Stalkers and Colossi is still a very viable mid-game build that can be carried into the end game. If you go against a Zerg opponent in 3v3, their traditional end-game is mass Hydralisks, so the Colossi generally do well against them if you have enough Stalkers to give the Colossi a meat shield (and attack any Zerg air units that go after the Colossi). In general, it’s worth it to go this build against Zerg. Colossi are not really recommended against another Protoss player since they don’t tend to make units in the end game that are susceptible to Colossi.

3. Mass Stalkers + Immortals (4 Gateways & 2+ Robotics)
Against Protoss players that continue to pump out Stalkers or Terran players that primarily go Siege Tanks and Thors, the Immortal becomes your best friend. Because they do not have anti-air, your Stalkers can help some but keep in mind that the Immortals are set into play if you need to hard counter mass mass Stalkers, Thors, Siege Tanks, or even mass Roaches or Marauders. Don’t underestimate the power of Immortals against Armored unit types!

4. Carriers + Mothership (4 Starports + Fleet Beacon)
Carriers are the most expensive capital unit in the Protoss army, and while they see reduced use in Starcraft 2, they are still very strong against ground forces of any kind when enough of them are made. If you can mass 8-10 Carriers, you will most likely be able to take out any type of forces that a Zerg player can come up with for the end-game. However, against Protoss and Terran, it’s not necessarily the best idea to mass Carriers, as the Protoss can mass Void Rays, or the Terran can mass Vikings or Battlecruisers with Yamato Cannon to focus fire the Carriers down very quickly. If you commit to Carriers, make sure that Terran opponents have massed ground first (but I still wouldn’t recommend them since Vikings come out quickly). Carriers are great against ground units where ledges are a concern, because you can keep them far enough away to not get hit by ground but let the dozens of little Interceptors shred through anything on the ground. Throw in a Mothership if you have extra gas for cloaking.

5. Mass Void Rays (4 Starports + Fleet Beacon)
Why go for the more expensive mass Carriers option when you can go with the cheaper and more viable mass Void Rays option? I’ve written an article about how imbalanced the Void Ray is, and well, because Blizzard hasn’t fixed them yet, I will continue to take advantage of the Void Ray’s sheer power. I’ve played several 3v3 games now against Protoss opponents who will get 2-3 Void Rays out early, and then try to harass with them in the mid-game. I’ve never seen that work. For me, I mass Stalkers, get an expansion up, plop down 4 Starports and a Fleet Beacon and crank out Void Rays until I have like 16-20 of them. Generally speaking, if my opponent lets me stay alive long enough to mass Void Rays, it’s over. Their armies may all be rallied near the entrance of my team’s bases, but once my Void Rays fly over to their base and begin destroying buildings and getting the damage multiplier, anything the opponents throw at the Void Rays get destroyed – anti-air and all. My Void Rays will also shred through their bases faster than their armies can get through mine. There is basically no general counter to mass Void Rays that are already attacking someone’s base and have the damage multiplier going. They must be attacked between bases, out in the open, with huge armies of anti-air or Vikings to counter them.

Viable 3v3 Terran End Game Options
1. Thors and Tanks (4 Factories + 1+ Armory)
Most likely, as a good Terran player, you should have been using Tanks throughout the mid-game along with infantry. As you move to end-game, you’ll probably see that your infantry are simply not holding up against units like the Collosi and enemy Siege Tanks. That is where the Thor comes in. The Thor is a heavy ground-based assault unit that you can start adding to your Tank-based army to replace your infantry. With Thors also considered ground-based vehicles, they share the same upgrades as Tanks, so it may be worth it to research both attack and defense upgrades for your Factory units if you go this route. This army’s biggest weakness is its lack of speed. While it is very strong when set up, smarter opponents can attack your other partners instead and you won’t be able to get to them fast enough to assist.

2. Mass Thors (4 Factories + 1+ Armory)
This is similar to Thors and Tanks, but you give up Tanks in order to worry less about micro-ing the Siege mode of the Tanks and simply attack moving with your Thors all the way into your opponents’ bases. Thors can be quite effective, and will dominate anything on land when massed EXCEPT for the Protoss Immortal units. The Immortal unit is a hard counter to the Thor, since it takes reduced damage from the Thor and does extra damage to the Thor. Massed Thors will devastate mass Stalkers if they go toe-to-toe so that matchup is worth noting whether you are a Terran player or a Protoss player. Keep in mind, however, that while the Thor has anti-air capabilities, they are only really strong against light armor air units such as the Mutalisk. The Thor’s rockets do splash damage to grouped light armored units, and therefore demolish Mutalisks. However, heavy air such as Carriers, Void Rays, Battlecruisers, and Brood Lords will take out Thors and are considered their hard counter.

3. Thors and Marines (2 Barracks + 2 Factories + 1 Armory)
Thors take up a lot of gas. Often times you will have excess minerals, so why not just mass marines to go with the Thors? That way the Thors soak up the damage while the massed Marines freely attack. This army composition is situational, but works as a counter to a Protoss who decides to make Immortals among their Stalkers to counter your Thors. The Marines will do full damage to Immortals while the Thors pound the Stalkers. The Marines can also help somewhat against air-based armies as well that look to take out your Thors.

4. Battlecruisers (4 Starports + Fusion Core)
I don’t really see many Battlecruisers in end-game 3v3 as compared to Starcraft 1, but that’s most likely because of the current love-in for Terran’s other end-game unit: the Thor. The Battlecruiser has some great defense, but is so slow that you basically need to really commit with them and expect to win. If you take your group of Battlecruisers to an enemy base, you better make sure they can win because you won’t be able to turn around and retreat. Massing Battlecruisers is very situational – I like them against Terran since Terran tend to go with ground units for the end-game and assume that their Thors can handle capital air ships (big mistake). Against Protoss and Zerg, there’s even less of a possibility I will make Battlecruisers. More often than not, Protoss players will go with mass mass Stalkers and Zerg will go with mass mass Hydralisks – both of those flatten Battlecruisers very easily. It’s worth considering them to go up against mass Carriers though, but any of Terran’s air options can handle Carriers (hence I don’t recommend Carriers against Terran).

5. Mass Mass Vikings (4 Starports with attachment for 8x built at a time)
Mass Vikings was a viable mid-game build to deal with Mutalisks or early Void Rays. But if your opponents are insisting on sticking with a lot of air units in the end-game as well, then simply mass Vikings like there’s no tomorrow. Vikings have excellent range and can switch to become ground units, so they are great at establishing air dominance in the situation that you’d really need it. They’re cheap, effective, and potent. Of course, I do not suggest massing them if your opponents do not have air units.

6. Battlecruisers and Mass Vikings (4 Starports with 1-2 attachments for 2x Vikings, Tech attachment on 2-3 Starports for Battlecruisers)
This build is actually a pretty well rounded Terran air build and it’s starting to become my preferred Terran end-game build. The combo of Vikings and Battlecruisers can beat any combination of air units from any of the three races in the game. When going against a large ground based anti-air army such as Stalkers or Hydralisks, you can transform the Vikings into ground to do more damage while the Battlecruisers tank for you. A pure Battlecruiser squad may not fare so well against Stalkers and Hydralisks, but with Vikings in assault mode, you may have enough to handle them. For any ground dominant forces that have little to no anti-air, you can just keep your Vikings in the air and let the Battlecruisers take care of the ground units for you.

Viable 3v3 Zerg End Game Options
1. Mass Mass Hydralisks (Lair, Hydralisk Den, Nydus Worm)
The most viable end-game army type for Zerg is mass mass Hydralisks. Getting to 200 food cap with them at 3/3 for upgrades and a Nydus Worm is pretty much game over for your opponents. With enough expansions and Hydralisks, consider Nydus Worming all over the map to your various expansions or key areas. The Nydus Worm provides the mobility that your Hydralisks lack, and you can even set rally point from your Hatcheries into a Nydus Worm and a rally point from a Nydus Worm to another location, making the transportation of your dozens of Hydralisks relatively painless. With the exception of mass Siege Tanks, it is very difficult for anyone to deal with mass mass Hydralisks, as they have such great range that they are considered the main ground force to be worried about when going into the end-game in a team-based match that has a Zerg player.

2. Mass Hydralisks + Ultralisks (Hive, Hydralisk Den, Ultralisk Cavern)
If you are going up against heavy ground opposition such as Collosi, Thors, and Siege Tanks and feel that you want some extra protection for your Hydralisks, throw in some Ultralisks to soak up the damage. Ultralisks have great defense, and while they can’t attack air, their ground-based attack does splash damage so they can tear through enemy infantry. The role of the Ultralisks is to soak up damage so your Hydralisks can go after the key opponent units that would do a lot of damage to the Hydralisks such as the Siege Tank and Colossus. Plus, the Ultralisk can do splash damage!

3. Mass Hydralisks + Infestors (Lair, Hydralisk Den, Infestor Pit)
If you want a little more micro with your massed Hydralisks, consider adding in Infestors. These guys have three spells that are all useful in the end game for the major battles ahead.

The first of the Infestor abilities is Fungal Growth. This is an area of effect spell that holds the enemies in place (revealing cloaked or burrowed units as well), and does 36 damage to each unit in the area over 8 seconds. The ability devastates Marines.

The second of the Infestor abilities is Terran Infestation. In my Zerg mid-game article, I discussed how some Zerg players like to make Infestors and sneak them into opponents’ bases to spawn dozens of Infested Terran. The Infested Terran last for about 12 seconds and are very slow but ranged. When sent out in mass, they are very formidable. Against mass mass Stalkers or Hydralisks, sometimes just throwing out dozens of Infested Marines on the battlefield will turn the tide in your favor due to the increased temporary numbers. If the opponents are using Colossi, Tanks, and Thors though, forget about this spell since the Infested Terran will get killed far too quickly. You’re better off saving your mana for the Infestor’s third ability.

The third ability for the Infestor can be quite the game changer for end-game: Neural Parasite. This ability you have to research at the Infestor Pit, but it allows you to take control of any enemy unit except for the Ultralisk (I believe) for something like 10 seconds. While 10 seconds doesn’t seem like a long time, it may just be enough to turn the tide for your ground army. Think about it: your mass Hydras move to engage your opponents that have Colossi and Thors. The Infestors mind control the Colossi and Thors, and work with your Hydralisks in those 10 seconds to take out the rest of the opponents’ army. It’s very potent, but keep in mind that after the time is up, you will have to engage the previously mind-controlled units. If the opponents start running as soon as you’ve started mind controlling their big units, consider simply having your Hydras kill off the mind-controlled units. I’ve whittled away several Colossi in a match this way as my Protoss opponent kept running away with his Colossi because he didn’t want them to get Neural Parasited. Well, the Neural Parasite has very long range so he was bleeding free Colossi to me every time he ran into my army and decided to run.

4. Broodlords (Hive, Greater Spire)
Going Broodlords for end-game 3v3 is very rare due to the enormous amount of gas they take up, their slow speed, their inability to attack air, and the high probability that one of your opponents will have air units. This makes your 1000+ gas investment quite a risk if your opponent simply takes them down with air-based units so I generally advise against Broodlords. Having said that, if you have partners that go mass ground anti-air like Stalkers or Hydras to cover your Brood Lords, they can have some devasting effect off of ledges – especially against a heavy ground-based Terran army. But, this army type is very situational and only worth it if you really have an excess amount of gas and don’t have a Terran or Protoss partner that can make their “better” end game units. As any Zerg player will tell you, it is nearly impossible to have an excess amount of gas as Zerg.

5. Mass Mutalisks and Corruptors (Lair, Spire)
While massed Vikings are the scariest to see if you want to go air, mass Mutalisks and Corruptors still do a decent job against capital air ships as long as you can get the Corruptors to use their ability on the opposing ships for a 20% bonus in damage. With the debuff, Mutalisks definitely have an easier time taking out Battlecruisers, Carriers, and Void Rays. If a Terran opponent masses Vikings, it’s time to forget this army type and go with something ground-based instead since Vikings are too cheap and effective against Zerg air forces.

6. Mass Mass Roaches (Lair, Roach Warren)
I never thought I’d be using Roaches in end-game until I came across Terran opponents that massed Siege Tanks and Vikings. The Hydralisks were far too slow to go against so many Siege Tanks on high ground, and the Vikings would not let me go with an air option. Mass Roaches with burrow became my best friend, as I was able to send my burrowed Roaches up to the Tanks’ blind spot and destroy them. When the Vikings landed in assault mode, my Roaches also easily took them out as well. Sometimes you just need beefier armored ground units, and because they share the same upgrades as Hydralisks, it’s an easy transition.

Summary of End-Game for All Races in 3v3 Matches
0. Mid-game draws to a close with a stalemate
1. Secure second expansion
2. Determine what the opponents are making
3. Make end-game army that counters their units
4. Attack
5. Win

This article should conclude my series of 3v3 strategy articles for Starcraft 2. Now that you’ve read through them all, perhaps you can now play Random as well in your 3v3 games. I’m a strong advocate of playing Random, since you still have to learn each of the three races anyway with regards to how to play against them if you were to stick with just one race. Good luck!

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