Every StarCraft match on the Internet Gaming Zone is won or lost across the whole map, not just inside your base. Minerals and vespene gas run dry, so the commander who controls more ground builds the bigger army. Whether you fly the Terran, Zerg, or Protoss banner, learning to take expansions and hold the ground between them is what separates the ladder climbers from the also-rans in the Koprulu sector.

Your first expansion should almost always be the natural - the resource cluster just outside your main, tucked behind your choke point. On a map like Lost Temple that second base sits one ramp away, which makes it far easier to hold. Send the worker (SCV, Drone, or Probe) only after you have scouted for a rush. Plant a Command Center, Hatchery, or Nexus, drop a refinery, extractor, or assimilator on the geyser, then immediately add static defense: a Bunker with Marines, a Sunken Colony, or a Photon Cannon. Never float a bare expansion - a handful of raiders will level it before it pays for itself.

Chokes are your best friend. A narrow ramp lets a small force stall a much larger one, and units firing from low ground up onto high ground suffer a miss chance and cannot see over the lip. Park a spotter at the top of every ramp - a Marine, a Zergling, an Overlord - so nothing slips in unseen. Keep detection at each base too, because cloaked and burrowed attackers love an unguarded expansion: lean on Comsat scans and Missile Turrets, Spore Colonies, or Observers, depending on your race.

• Scout constantly. Spot the enemy natural before it finishes and a quick raid can force a cancel.
• Snipe workers. A few dead Drones or Probes hurt far more than trading army units.
• Block the choke or wall in to buy time and bait a bad engagement.

Control the map, feed your economy, and starve theirs. Do that on Hunters, Python, or Blood Bath and the win is yours. See you on the Zone.