The biggest early threat to a Zerg brood when facing a Terran opponent will be the Marine and Firebat.

Both of these units will tear through Zergling hordes when either Stimpacked or protected by bunkers.

Should the Terran infantry be backed by Medics, the situation becomes even worse. The best early

game solution is to outproduce your opponent and use a mixed force of Zerglings and Hydralisks.

While Zerglings will not fare very well against Firebats, the Zerglings can distract the Marines while

your own Hydralisks take out the Firebats. If the Marines and Firebats are accompanied by Medics,

you will need much larger numbers, better upgrades, or a favorable defensive piece of terrain to hold off

the Terrans with just Zerglings and Hydralisks. The Subterranean Spines of the Lurker are the first

definitive counter the Zerg has against Terran infantry. A few Lurkers at a chokepoint can hold off huge

numbers of Marines and Firebats, even if the Lurkers are detected by the Terran.

If your opponent continues to massively produce Marines or Firebats during the later stages of the game,

use Ultralisks to mow through the enemy infantry lines. If the Ultralisk?s Carapace is fully upgraded, the

Marines and Firebats will inflict very little damage. Even a single Ultralisk can destroy entire squads at a

time. The fast and long ranged attack of the Guardian will also annihilate Terran infantry in an effective

manner.

Vultures

Vultures can be a nuisance to a Zerg force with their quick speed and Spider Mines, but their power should

not be underestimated. Vultures have the capability to execute quick hit and run raids against your Drones,

and the Vulture?s attack does excellent damage to the small Zerglings. Fields of Spider Mines also prove

fairly nasty to an unsuspecting Zergling attack force. Masses of Hydralisks have little to fear from either the

Vultures or Spider Mines, but the speed of the Vulture usually allows the Terran to retreat from any

engagement. The best counter to the Vulture is the Mutalisk. Since the Vulture has no anti-air capability, the

hover bikes make easy targets for the fast moving Mutalisks.

Siege Tanks

Siege Tanks are a rather powerful component of the Terran arsenal. Siege Tanks in Siege Mode protected

by Bunkers and Missile Turrets can be annoyingly difficult to uproot. The Zerg Swarm does have quite a few

counters available for the power of the Siege Tank.

The single best counter to a Siege Tank is the Queen?s Spawn Broodling ability. Each use of this ability will

instantly destroy a Siege Tank. A group of Queens can quickly clear out an entire Tank blockade. Since the

ability is reusable, Queens only need to recharge their energy before being able to wreak havoc against

more Siege Tanks. When using Spawn Broodling, be sure to pick the Tanks that are in the middle of a Tank

group or right next to a Bunker or Missile Turret. As soon as that Tank is destroyed, any other Tanks within

range will open fire on the Broodlings in their midst. The Siege Tank fire will cause splash damage to any

units that are nearby, friendly or not.

Another solution for the Siege Tank is the combination of Dark Swarm and Zerglings. Once covered with

Dark Swarm, Siege Tanks will be unable to inflict direct damage (although Siege Mode will still cause

considerable splash damage) to the incoming Zerglings. Nearby Bunkers will be unable to deal with the

Zergling threat as long as the Dark Swarm remains over the Zerglings. Zerglings with the Adrenal Gland

upgrade can quickly dispatch any Terran unit or buildings beneath the cloud.

If the timing of this combined attack proves too tricky, use Guardians against enemy Siege Tanks. Their

superior attack range ensures that any nearby Bunkers or Missile Turrets will be insufficient to stop the

Guardian attack. Unless there are Wraiths, Valkyries or Battlecruisers nearby, the Guardians will quickly

ravage any Siege Tanks present.

Prevent Offensive Bunkering

A sneaky tactic the Zerg must watch for in the early to mid game is the use of offensive Bunkers possibly

supported by Siege Tanks. These blockades can easily pin a Zerg colony and allow the Terran to expand

unimpeded across the rest of the battlefield. Unless the blockade is broken, the Terrans will also continue to

extend the defensive web into the very heart of your Brood. The best and simplest counter to these tactics is

to prevent the blockade from even being built. Use Zerglings and Drones to keep an eye on the area near the

colony to keep it free of any Terran presence. Should a Terran attempt to pull an offensive bunker maneuver

in the late game, use Guardians to quickly smash the attempt. If you don?t have any Guardians, Queens can

use their Spawn Broodling ability on the SCVs constructing the Terran defenses. You can then send in

waves of Hydralisks and Zerglings to crush the Terran.

Goliaths

The Terran Goliath is a deadly threat to Overlords, Guardians and Devourers, particularly if the Goliaths have

been upgraded with Charon Boosters (increased attack range). The explosive antiair weaponry of the

Goliath does not fare as well against Mutalisks, but overwhelming numbers of Goliaths and the long range

of Charon Boosters can hide this weakness. The primary problems of the Goliath are the slow firing ground

attack and the large size of the vehicle itself. Both Zerglings and Hydralisks prove effective weapons against

a Goliath army.

Cloaked Wraiths

Cloaked Wraiths in the hands of a competent Terran commander can prove quite a thorn in the side of the

Zerg. Although Overlords can easily detect their presence, Cloaked Wraiths can also kill an Overlord in a

matter seconds. If you know there are Cloaked Wraiths around, keep a large group of Overlords with your

attack forces at all times. Wraiths are surprisingly fragile and are easily driven off by Hydralisks if the Wraiths

cannot overcome the nearby detector presence.

To provide defense for your bases, set up Spore Colonies to both detect and repel Cloaked Wraiths.

This Zerg player has no anti-air defenses making this setup ripe for a Cloaked Wraith attack. Place Spore

Colonies and/or Hydralisks along with your other units.

Valkyries

The Terran Valkyrie is a fairly recent addition to the Terran air force, and a rather unwelcome one from

the Zerg perspective. Their cluster missiles damage all air units in a target area and can quickly

annihilate groups of Overlords or Mutalisks with a minimum of effort. Fortunately Valkyries are slow

moving and make prime targets for Scourge and Hydralisks. Hydralisks have nothing to fear from the

Valkyrie since the Valkyrie has no ability to attack ground unit. Scourge can strike Valkyries before

they have a chance to unleash their missile volleys.

Irradiate

Irradiate is one of the deadliest threats to the Zerg. An Irradiated Overlord is guaranteed to die (unless a

Terran Medic uses Restoration to cure it.) Tightly grouped or stacked groups of Hydralisks, Zerglings,

Mutalisks, or Guardians take heavy damage from an Irradiate. Whenever a Science Vessel is spotted,

destroy the blasted thing immediately with Scourge. Should your forces encounter a Science Vessel, try to

spread them out to reduce the effects of Irradiate. Equip your Hydralisk horde with Burrowing to help combat

Irradiate. An irradiated Hydralisk will surely die even if burrowed, but burrowing the Hydralisk does prevent

the Irradiation field from damaging other nearby Zerg units.

Battlecruiser Fleets

Battlecruisers are quite possibly the most fearsome unit in the game. In large numbers they can be nearly

unstoppable. To counter them, you?ll need to use a combination of special abilities and your air and ground

forces to defeat them. Since the Battlecruiser moves rather slowly, you should always have some time to set

up a good defense after the Battlecruisers reach your outside picket lines. The Defiler?s Plague will reduce

their HP rapidly while a Queen?s Ensnare will slow down the Battlecruisers to a snail?s pace and prevent

retreat. Follow up with the Acid Spore attack of your Devourers, increasing the amount of damage they take

per hit and increasing their weaponry?s cooldown. Finish them off with Mutalisks, or use Hydralisks protected

beneath a Dark Swarm. If the Battlecruisers weaponry is already distracted with other units, Scourge can

even be used.

The main key to completely defeating a Battlecruiser fleet is not allowing the ships to retreat back to their

home base. Should the Battlecruisers make it back safely, they can be repaired and back at full strength

within a few minutes.

Infesting Command Centers

It?s often easy to forget, but the Terrans provide a unique opportunity for the Zerg. Should one of their

Command Centers be severely damaged the Zerg Queen can infest it and bring it under the control of the

Zerg. These Infested Command Centers can produce Infested Terrans bound completely to the Zerg will.

Infested Terrans work particularly well when attacking lone Terran Bunkers and any other unprotected Terran

structures on the ground.

To infest the Command Center, simply place a Queen near the Command Center. As soon as the building

becomes damaged enough, the Queen will automatically move in and infest it.

Remember that as soon as a Command Center is infested, any nearby Terran defenses will immediately

treat it as an enemy presence and open fire. If possible, infest Command Centers that are not too heavily

defended. As soon as the Command Center is infested, lift your new building off and fly it to a safe haven

where you can begin producing Infested Terrans.