Over the last couple days I have seen a significant amount of posts on these boards about Void Rays being OP, so I am going to be posting a definitive way to defeat Void Rays consistently and easily.Disclaimer
This thread will describe how to defeat Void Rays in 1v1 play and does not provide 100% viable strategies in team-based play.
To start off I'd like to say that I myself am a Protoss player in Diamond League and I often find Void Rays too easily counter-able in 1v1 play that I generally do not use them. Now there are times they are useful, but not en mass as you often see in lower level leagues. That said I'm going to start off by describing the most common mistakes against Protoss players that lead to a loss to Void Rays.
Biggest Mistakes Against Protoss
1 - Scouting
Against a Protoss player, unless you plan on rushing them early and keeping pressure, scouting them is very important because there are a lot of different starting builds Protoss can go (4 Gate, Early Robo, 3 Gate Robo, Quick Void Rays, Cannons, etc). Spotting a speed Void Ray tech is the easiest way to end the game quickly in your favor.
2 - Allowing Mass Time
Once you know that a Protoss is going Void Rays, you need to push on him quickly and/or force a tech change. Quickly attacking with a decent size army will either allow you a fight to kill off the early Void Rays or force the Protoss to build more Gates to defend himself. Generally Void Ray Protoss players will cannon their ramp, so be ready to take them out quickly
3 - Allowing Charge
In a fight against Void Rays you need to utilize a 'Hit and Run' strategy. If you allow void rays to charge up they will kill your army, especially if there is a large group of them. Each race has a way to counter prolonged fights with Void Rays, utilize them and take Void Rays out one-by-one.
How to Defeat Void Rays as Each Race
Terran
Preemptive Action:
Scout Scout Scout! Knowing they are coming is the most important thing against them. If the Protoss does not have a decent sized ground army and little or no cannons you should push him quickly and end the game. A decent sized bio-ball should be sufficient as they forgo and early army for quick tech. Make sure to have at least 5-6 Marines your army and not just Marauders as a Void Ray can come out very quickly and only 1 can devastate an extremely Marauder heavy bio-ball. The amount of Marauders you get should depend on how many cannons he has in his base. The more cannons, the more Marauders.
Countering:
The counter unit to Void Rays are either Marines, generally the easier, quicker and cheaper unit to use, or Vikings. Mass Marines can take out a large Void Ray army much quicker than any other unit composition the Terrans have. They are also the easiest army to mass up under normal circumstances generally as most Terran players will get 2-3 Barracks early. Vikings have a larger range than Void Rays and do significant damage. If you decide to go Vikings, make sure to kite them and abuse that significant range. Under both circumstances, but more prevalent to the Mass Marines, make sure to not engage the Void Rays if they are already charged unless absolutely necessary. Obviously they will rip through an army of Marines quickly if they are already all charged. Be smart and try your best to keep track of the Void Rays. Stim Packs allow Marines the ability to move in and out of combat with Void Rays, definitely something worth investing in anyways.
Another disclaimer, I myself do not play Zerg often at all and would probably end up in Gold as a Zerg. I am only stating what I have seen work in videos and my own games.
Zerg
Preemptive Action:
Again, Scout Scout Scout! A Baneling Bust opener can have devastating effects on a Protoss player with little ground. You can get Banelings quickly and coupled with Speedlings can break through the wall-off then proceed to stop production of any Void Rays/Stargates. Make sure to view where the Stargate is. If there is only one pylon supporting it, know that the Pylon will drop before the Stargate. Stopping the Void Ray from being build is the most important thing to do if you cannot end the game. Another opener you can use is quick tech Hydralisk Den or Spire. Either one will suffice in this game, but the Spire will allow for more of a late game build if you do not think you will be able to end quickly. Build Corruptors if you make a Spire coupled with either static base defense to stop whatever ground army he has or a couple Mutalisks.
Countering:
In the event that you cannot stop mass Void Rays, you need to pump out whatever counter units you teched to quickly. Corruptors are the AA unit for Zerg and do well against Void Rays, but you need a lot of them and you need to, just as stated above, not let the fight continue too long. Make sure to use Corruption on as many void rays as possible. Single Target them down and try your best to micro your Corruptors to not allow a full charge. Hydras are the 'Mass Marine' option for Zerg. If you are going to engage the Void Rays away from your base, make sure you are spreading creep as much as possible. Hydras are slow off creep and will not be able to get out of combat with Void Rays unless you get Burrow, which is another good option to use in a fight with them but this requires much more micro in a team fight then the average player has.
Protoss
Preemptive Action:
Scout Scout Scout, I'm not sure how much I can stress this. Generally you don't have to do much except out-produce him. Once you know it is coming, either make Void Rays yourself, or get 4 Warp Gates and push.
Countering:
As Protoss, you don't have a strong counter to Void Rays as the other races do. The best option you have is Blink Stalkers then Phoenix, but I lean heavily towards Blink Stalkers. The 'Hit and Run' strategy is especially effective with both units. Stalkers run in and attack then either blink to chase or blink to run out. Phoenix are some of the quickest units in the game, so will be very effective at quick in-and-out attacks. Focus 1-2 Void Rays before backing out.
If you have any questions please post or hit me up in-game, Kaarul #351
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