MM&M: The Terran's Unstoppable Force

Marines, Marauders and Medivacs: The feared Terran strategy. This powerful combination has been the root of many complaints. With its high ranged firepower, anti-air capability and surprising resilience, it is no wonder that this strategy nets many a victory for Terran players. MM&M, as it is called, is fairly easy to get, takes minimal micromanagement finesse, and is difficult to counter.


The ability to quickly put together a good force centers on the barracks. An early barracks/tech lab combo is important for either harassment or early rush defense with reapers. Teching to Medivacs can wait until after a second barracks to maintain a good defense force. Optimally one should have a pair of barracks with attached tech labs and a pair with reactors in order to pump out a pair of Marines for each Marauder (this ratio should be tweaked in favor of Marines against air builds or Marauders against armored enemies). Concussive Shells for the Marauder are too affordable not to get, and Riot Shields are essential to Marine survival. But the upgrade which really shines here is Stim Packs; this is essential to a lethal MM&M ball. A single Starport with a Reactor can produce plenty of Medivacs, but two with at least one Reactor between them helps considerably in case the need arises for Ravens to detect cloaked units or put down point defense drones.

Once a force has been assembled, there are a number of strategies which can be executed depending on the strategy of one’s opponent. Against most targets a tight ball of infantry best fends off melee attacks; if not all of the firepower is in range of the enemy, it is usually better to move closer as opposed to forcing the army to form itself into a more vulnerable line. In a few situations, however, a tight formation can be incredibly vulnerable, namely against siege tanks or Colossi; packing the force into Medivacs and dropping them directly on top of the vulnerable Tanks and Colossi works in some situations. In a stagnant game, sneaking an army behind enemy lines with Medivacs can dramatically steal the economic advantage and win the game. If one deigns to add in a few Ravens for versatility, point defense drones can completely dismantle armies of Mutalisks, Stalkers or Marauders.

This strategy is difficult to beat, but counters do exist to defeat it. For a Protoss player, Colossi or High Templars with Psi Storm can cut a line of Terran infantry to pieces, if they can avoid being focus-fired by Marauders; this takes micromanagement, especially with Ghosts involved, so the Protoss lack a hard counter to MM&M. In a mirror game, Siege Tanks can turn a tightly packed MM&M ball into hamburger. The Zerg can melt a Terran infantry army with Banelings, but doing so can be prohibitively difficult to pull off; the high-tech Brood Lord is the only Zerg unit capable of thoroughly dismantling such a force without great difficulty.

Terran infantry with Medivac support is a solid strategy capable of defeating Zerg’s Roach/Hydra build and the Protoss Zealot/Stalker/Sentry army. Against heavy area of effect firepower like the Siege Ttank, or the overwhelming long-ranged attacks of Brood Lords, a MM&M ball does not fare so well; however, this Terran strategy remains possibly the most flexible and resilient in the game.