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2 Port Banshee

From Liquipedia StarCraft 2 Wiki
[e][h]TerranTwo Starport opening into Banshee Rush
Strategy Information
Matchups:
TvT, TvP, TvZ
Type:
Tech, Rush

Overview[edit]

Close air position build that simply kills an opposing player that either does not have enough anti-air to defend or detection, both are unlikely to be the case in a TvT obviously. The timing for the initial attack is either (a) once the first two Banshees are complete, (b) cloak research finishes or (c) six Banshees at the latest.

There is no secret to success with this build, except for proxying both if you wish, and having SCVs close by to repair the Banshees that are too damaged. Either the Banshees have enough firepower to overwhelm the anti-air of the opposing player or anti-air/defense structures are completed in time; hence make sure the Starports are not scouted.

Build Order[edit]

Execution[edit]

There are two main methods of using a 2 Port Banshee opening, either by focusing on the enemy's army and production facilities or focusing on their economy and picking off workers.

  • In either case
    • Attack the opponent's anti-air units first. This will increase the staying power of the Banshees and the attack lasts much longer.
    • If you start Cloak research and the first Banshees simultaneously (and queue Banshees continuously), Cloak research will be completed at almost the same time as the second round of Banshees pop.
    • Abuse the mobility and range of the Banshees as well as their ability to quickly move between bases forcing the opponent to walk his ground-based army the long way.
    • Do not over-commit to this strategy. Once the enemy has sufficient anti-air and detection (e.g. Raven + Viking / Marines, Overseer + Queens/Mutas, Observer + Stalker), Banshees become much less of a threat to the opponent and often easy kills for them.
  • Production Assault
    • Workers are the lowest priority target as you do not have any army except for Banshees for some time.
    • Instead of cloak research, a Raven (for PDDs) may be preferable if the opposing player already has Detection
    • Once cloaked, initially focus on any anti-air units (e.g. Marines, Stalkers, Queens, etc.), only changing focus to detection or detection-path buildings. Do this so that when the Banshee energy depletes, your opponent is left with little to no anti-air capability.
    • While your attack is going on, your enemy will most likely be constructing detection+anti-air buildings in their mineral line and possibly elsewhere around their base. On one hand, this is good that you have forced your enemy into sinking minerals into detection, on the other, it makes continued harass or an economic assault (below) difficult or impossible.
  • Economic Assault
    • Arrive uncloaked initially. All anti-air structures (missile turrets, spore crawlers, photon cannons) are also detectors, so cloak is useless and wastes energy. Only cloak when being attacked by ground / air units, and only if it would prevent enemy detection (e.g. there are no Overseers, Ravens, other detectors nearby).
    • After eliminating any anti-air structures, focus on picking off workers. It takes 2 volleys to kill any worker, so 4 Banshees should be able to pick off workers 2 at a time. Once cloaked, do not focus ground forces (even if they could attack you if given vision), but position yourself such that you can escape if you are suddenly revealed (e.g. by an Overseer or Orbital Scan).
    • Take note of the enemy's ability to quickly obtain detection:
      • TvT:
        • Take note of the presence or absence of an Engineering Bay enabling Missile Turrets. Make sure to snipe any workers who begin Missile Turrets and then the building itself.
        • Take note of the energy remaining on the Orbital Commands. If Scanned, leave the area (e.g. harass their natural) and return when the scan finishes around 12s later.
        • Take note of the presence or absence of starports with Tech Labs, enabling Ravens.
      • TvP:
        • Take note of the presence or absence of a Forge enabling Photon Cannons. Make sure to immediately take out warping in Photon Cannons or the Pylons that power them.
        • Take note of the presence or absence of a Robotics Facility enabling Observers. KeeN Protoss players will often produce an observer as the first unit out of the robo, especially in PvT. Even if they did not, however, observers take only 40s to produce. If you are somehow confident that no observers exist on the field (e.g. you saw it warp in), then focusing the robo or Pylon(s) that power it might be a good decision, as it would limit their detection options.
      • TvZ:
        • Take note of the presence or absence of a Lair, enabling Overlords to morph into Overseers. Note that this only takes 17 seconds and costs very little resources. If you arrive and the Zerg has a Lair (or an Overseer), you will want to focus the Queens first, as they have strong anti-air attack and the only other anti-air unit you should encounter with this timing are Hydralisks, which are rarely produced in the current meta.
        • Make sure to immediately take out any Spore Crawlers that are started.
    • Understand that, whether you do sufficient damage or not, the enemy will often all-in you at this point, with the understanding that you had to spend a large amount of resources pursuing tyour opponent's tech path and with the hope that you're base is vulnerable. If you cannot hold off the counterattack all-in, just remember that your buildings lift off. This is a drawback to the decision to impose economic damage rather than focusing the enemy's army.

Transition[edit]

Maps[edit]

Pro Features[edit]

  • Close air positions, further by land.

Con Features[edit]

  • Short rush distance by ground.
    • Four player maps, such as Metalopolis (with close spawn points enabled), Slag Pits

References[edit]