Sun Tzu on StarCraft 2
Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” has been read and interpreted throughout history by many different people for many different purposes. Occasionally, in between University, Work, Playing SC2 and writing about SC2 I find a little bit of time to read (on my lunch break at work if there are no new Dailies). Reading through one particular section of this book I couldn’t help but apply it’s lessons to SC2 because it was just so clearly relevant. In this particular section Sun Tzu states the best things a general can do in war in descending order.
“Thus the highest form of Generalship is to balk (destroy) the enemy’s plans.” – Sun Tzu
This is the moment when you cheer as Terran, an almost guaranteed victory!
To destroy your opponents plans is clearly the best thing you can do in Starcraft 2. Note that Sun Tzu says to destroy your enemies plans, not just to counter them. Generally, countering implies that you merely defend or survive – not really the best thing that you can do. But to destroy your opponent’s plans puts you in a dominating position in the match which is where you always want to be.
A good, but extreme example of destroying an opponent’s plans would be having your opponent’s 6-pool rush reach your base after you are completely walled in. Anyone who has been in this position will know that you are at a massive advantage at this point. You haven’t just countered your opponent’s plans, you have destroyed them. Even in less extreme examples having their plans destroyed will throw off all but the most experienced of players. It can be very hard to formulate a new plan mid-game, so take advantage of that.
You can achieve the destruction of your opponents plans in SC2 by scouting, covering your vulnerabilities (adequate detection, anti-air etc.), and by always being aware of what your opponent could do — this means having prior knowledge of the possibilities at any given point in the match. This type of knowledge comes with experience and research.
“The next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy’s forces.” – Sun Tzu
Pick off every undefended unit you can, this Probe is extra valuable because he is also holding a little gift of minerals.
If you fail to destroy your opponent’s plans or if your opponent plays straight up without any ‘tricks’ then this is your next best step. In war, cutting off your enemy’s supply lines or reinforcements would give you an obvious and great advantage. And it works much the same way in StarCraft 2. Simply, its all about not letting your opponent’s army reach its greatest potential strength.
You can achieve this by harassing your opponent, attacking and retreating (particularly against Zerg as it forces them to waste Larvae on defensive units) and by picking off all undefended units or structures. All of these things will weaken your opponents overall army strength as well as their resolve. Utilising highly mobile units (Blink Stalkers, Medivacs, Hellions, Speed Zerglings, Mutalisks etc.) is the key to succeeding in this style of indirect engagement.
This is the method I favour in most of my matches, I always attempt to destroy my opponents plans first but lack of experience often makes this difficult. Letting your opponent mass a powerful army without any intervention is nearly always a bad move, if you have ever had a maxed out Stalker/Colossus army bear down on you then you will know why. Suffering this too many times I have resolved to always pressure and do everything I can to reduce my opponents ability to mass an army.
“The next in order is to attack the enemy’s army in the field.” – Sun Tzu
Having Zealots flank an attacking army like this will deny their retreat whilst you cut through them.
If you allow your opponent to amass their forces unopposed, then a straight up engagement in open ground is your next best option. In this situation the winner will be the player: who has the best unit composition, who can micromanage their army better and who can best continue production to reinforce their army throughout the conflict.
Why should you ever let the situation get to the point where you and your opponent are in equal positions? It is always better to be in a dominant position in each match. However, your opponent will be making their own efforts to get an edge over you and it is sometimes unavoidable that you will need to enter a battle on (nearly) equal grounds.
In this situation there are a few things you could do to tip the scale in your favour;
- Position your forces well just before the conflict ensues (such as creating an arc with your ranged units and moving your melee units to the front),
- Send some units to flank and trap your opponents forces, and,
- Take advantage of terrain such as high ground, choke points and visibility blocks (smoke or grass).
Using these tactics you can turn an equal situation into a one sided victory. For an excellent example on how to do this as Zerg against Terran see Benji’s Guide on How to Control Zerg Units.
“And the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.” – Sun Tzu
What if your opponent amasses their forces but does not leave their, well defended city? The most common reaction in this situation is to attack their base. In StarCraft 2 when your opponent is being completely defensive you should realise that you have the advantage. Attacking your opponent at their base where they have defences effectively hands that advantage over to your opponent.
Why attack this straight up? He isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
So instead, use the fact that your opponent is not putting pressure on you to secure a long-term victory. Attrition is the name of the game here, starve your opponent of resources and deny their attempts at expansions. At the same time you should expand yourself, improve your tech, research upgrades and create a formidable army. Whilst doing this probe for weaknesses in your opponents defences with gentle harassment, this will force them to plug those gaps with more defences — further weakening his army. Put pressure on your opponent but never feel like you need to break in and kill them, instead let them kill themselves with their passivity.
Eventually your opponent will have to move out, as they will have exhausted their resources and if they delay attacking any further they will become weaker and weaker. Usually this attack will come in the form of a ‘doom push’, just remember that although this may be hard to deal with your opponent has no capacity to replenish their forces. So just whittle them down slowly or if they head straight for your main base you should simply fall in on theirs. Because of the amount of expansions you should have by this point and with your ability to restock your army you should have no trouble destroying their base first.
So don’t waste your army against a walled in opponent, if you have ever attacked a turtling Terran player with siege tanks and turrets ringing their base you will know how little you can achieve and how swiftly defeat can follow. Take the advantage when it is given to you and don’t give it away for nothing.
I recommend that anyone interested in strategy (that should be you!) should read Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” for themselves. It’s one of those things that you read and then it becomes a part of your character, helping you in any area of your life where a strategic decision needs to be made. And its like $10 on Fishpond with free postage in Australia, so you have no reason not to. On that note I also recommend “Go Rin No Sho” (“The Five Rings”) by Miyamoto Musashi
At which of the above points do you have most of your wins? Do you scout well and destroy your enemy’s plans? Or do you engage in the field and win with superior tactics? Which one do you most commonly lose to? Comment below and let me know!
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