So...
I've had some thoughts tumbling around my head recently, and applying them have gotten me pretty far in a very short amount of time, going from 55% of my games won to 65%. Part of me thinks that I've just gotten a bit better, but I really feel like I've knocked down a wall in the learning process. Of course, I'm incredibly tired and I'm not sure if this is something I could stand behind or if I'm just being silly, and with that in mind I'm a bit timid about sharing ideas on websites more dedicated to SC2, despite the fact that I think I do have a place there. That in mind, I was hoping I could run some ideas past the humble community here, where at least I know that if my ideas are rubbish I at least won't be laughed at by hundreds and hundreds of avid SC2 fans which would break my heart considering how much I love the game.
When I switched to Terran I noticed a big uncertainty that I hadn't felt before. Most of these feelings revolved around timings, such as when to attack and expand. I had the time windows for certain tech deviations from all the races down, but all that helped with was immediate defense and an idea of when to scout. I would play what I thought was decently only to run my army into the ground, doing absolutely no damage, or putting down an expansion that I simply couldn't hold. I thought that it was just my unfamiliarity with the race and my general lack of understanding of appropriate responses to certain unit combinations, having only taken the games from a Zerg point of view prior to my switch. To clear up with issue in a way that wouldn't tank my W/L ration in the ladder, considering I was mid-Diamond at the time prior to the Master League, which I wanted to preserve, I began joining 1v1 practice games after the chat channels were introduced in Patch 1.2. I soon found that my general unit compositions and macro were perfectly fine and it was just my timing that was awkward.
Watching others and thinking about the idea of timings, I considered an idea that really improved my Zerg play when it found a place in my head. As Zerg, I wouldn't be grabbing for any sort of tech or unit after a very early point in the game, but rather a safe way to expand. Get two bases ahead safely, and I would win as Zerg. The safe part was tricky, until I considered units such as Banelings and Infestors. It seems like an obvious idea, but if I see a 4-Barracks opening I would know that it wouldn't be safe to expand until I had Banelings. Banelings wouldn't win me the game, but they would put me in a position to do what I needed to do in order to use the strength of the race. Same with Infestor/Ling in Thor/Marine play off 2 base.
I thought that even though these weren't specific time frames, it was a set pacing to the game, which was normal considering how reactionary Zerg plays. Considering that Terran isn't reactionary, I thought that these times of safety weren't applicable to Terran. Then I realized that with the more streamlined way of Terran tech and preperation for certain styles of play, these safe times could be applied, but at more precise moments. These windows of safety included rather obvious things. A scout showing no early pressure meant you could open without sacrificing economy based on the threat of an early attack. An early Raven was devastating against Protoss once it reached 100 energy for the PDD. Scouting Templar tech woul result in Ghosts, and then another safe period. Thors against Mutalisks. Tanks against Banelings. Less specific, but air dominance in standard TvT play with Tanks. These general ideas, as well as many others, were indications that for the next few minutes in the game, you had control. As Zerg this would mean expanding, and I followed that trend with Terran. I still had the issue of ending the game, because expanding past the second base is so much less meaningful as Terran compared to Zerg.
The reason for that was that Zerg was the macro race, designed to be strong in economy. Terran is supposed to be aggressive, so rather than using the time that Terran is secure to expand, it would always be more useful to attack at that strong point and get the expansion with the money that you save in supply buildings upon trading armies (in your favor), picking up the production buildings once the expansion kicked in. Using ideas from earlier, a strong push against Protoss as soon as a Raven gets enough energy for two PDDs. If you opened 1/1/1 and Raven before any other air, the timing window for this attack is before a strong number of high tech units such as Colossus or High Templar can hit the field. This Raven focused opening also protects you from DT rushes, and with all your gas going to a Raven, Tanks, and a small group of a third air unit of your choice, the minerals leftover from such a gas heavy army are all put towards Marines, which completely shuts down air. It's essentially safe against all openings with a strong timing window. At that point, you'll be in a good position, and you'll also see his tech patch of choice, so you can begin working towards your next safety window while reaping the benefits of a positive army exchange and safe expansion.
This has been working for me fairly well, and it is the same general idea for both the Terran and Zerg play that I used. I've never played Protoss in a serious manner, so I'm not sure that this sits as well on this end of the field, but with the Zerg safety windows being used to expand, Terran windows to attack, I believe Protoss windows are designed for pure tech, considering how much stronger Protoss gets with tech compared to the other races. Not having an in-depth view of Protoss play at a high level, I'm not entirely sure how Protoss find safe times throughout the game past the obvious key number of Sentries to constantly deny pressure with Forcefields. The time given from that will at least grant plenty of time to get down your primary production buildings, expand, and begin pursuing one tech path for a period of time. An expample would be opening two Gate/Robo, getting a solid army with 5 or so Sentries with enough energy for multiple Forcefields. Then the Protoss is safe to expand and throw down a Support Bay. The best point after that would be 3 Colossus with the range upgrade. You can make strong use of that tech until they respond to it (Corruptors or Vikings), at which point you've been in a strong position long enough to have moved up to Templar or Stargates after your third expansion.
The general idea seems to work fairly well across the races, and while it's obviously not flawless, like my play or ideas, it's been something that I've been considering for a while. Zerg reach a larva efficient way to hold off an attack, followed by expanding and droning until that larva efficient safety net is countered. Terran reach a strong counter-unit to the other players unit composition, followed and expanding following the army trade behind a net of Bunkers and Siege Tanks. Protoss reaches a critical mass of certain tech-based units that can't be dealt with by the majority of unit compositions, requiring a tech switch by the other race, providing Protoss with the time to expand and explore another tech path, followed by the production buildings making use of that tech.
All the races, and the game itself for that matter, completely revolves around the idea of timing windows where each race uses unique strength of that race, and it begins at the very first scout. A short example, Terran opens 1/1/1, Zerg sees this and knows that it is reasonably safe to 14 hatch. With the added production and income, Zerg is safe from a push until either Siege Tanks or Thors hit the field in reasonable numbers. At that point Terran is in control until Zerg reaches Mutalisks (for Tanks) or heavy Roach numbers (for Thors), at which point the Terran has a (usually) last chance to respond to the Mutas or Roaches with a higher number of Barracks units, and if Zerg manages to hold off that final Terran window by reaching Infestors, Zerg has reached the numbers of bases that is just too difficult to stop considering how strong Zerg is late game. At any one of those time frames the game can be won or lost by one of the races not responding effectively, but this is how the game progresses provided it doesn't end at those times. That's how I've decided to sum up SC2 metagame.
Any ideas and criticism is more than welcome, because it's just in the theory point in my head right now, so I won't be offended and I'm actually looking build upon the ideas.