Starcraft Zerg Strategy - Beating Marines  | read this item

They are the swarm of the Terran forces and one-third of one of the deadly “MMM ball”.  These are the marines, and boy are they nasty.  They hit everything no matter if its in the air, on the land, or even below the surface (assuming they had some sort of detector nearby).  They good at everything and the top players know it.  So, how do you take them out when you’re rolling out with the Zerg horde?  Well, there are a few options that we’re going to take a look at.

First, the roaches.  These are your version of their Marauder.  They’re simple, easy to build, armored, and ranged.  If you want to put a few extra resourced into the research they’ll even burrow for you.  However, their greatest advantage over the marine is their armor.  The carapace on a roach is thick enough to take quite a bit of punishment from the bullet storm coming their way.  They may not be invincible, but head-to-head, the roach will be able to take much more of a punishment.  Just remember that they do have a shorter range than the marine, so you may have to work a bit hard at microing.

If your opponent is simply good at microing and is constantly outranging your roaches, you can take a look at an upgraded version of a classic zerg staple, the zergling.  When they’re first available to be produced, they’re little more than cannon fodder for a marine force.  This is due to the face that they might be dead before they reach their target.  Luckily, Starcraft 2 introduced a nice little upgrade in the form of metabolic boost.  This upgrade allows the zergling to move at a much faster pace, earning the unit a new nickname, “Speedling”.  Now, they’ll be able to rush in, surround the marine, and tear them up.

If even that tactic doesn’t work with zerglings, they do have one more way to attack.  If you have the units to provide enough of a distraction, your zerglings have the ability to become living bombs.  By creating a Baneling Nest, you’ll getting access to a zergling’s other form, the Baneling.  These sapper zerg move in quick and can be set to explode.  You’ll lose the baneling in the process, but you’ll also create a nice Area of Effect acid explosion damaging nearby units.  The baneling’s explode ability can be enough to break a marine line in sufficient numbers.

Even if those marines survive all of your other attempts to make them do otherwise, you have a nice classic unit waiting at the end of your tech tree.  The Ultralisk.  This thing is a beast.  It will take an immense beating thanks to its armored status, and its main attack is an AoE slice that will tear though small units such as a marine quick and even take out many at a time.  The main downside, of course, is the face that the Ultralisk can only attack ground units, making them vulnerable to air units.

For all the Zerg lovers out there, what is your favorite way of dealing with mass marines?