Unfair strategy

This thread brings up an interesting point that all newer players (such as myself, by the way) need to learn: do not compare army strength on a unit per unit basis!

Doing so leads to hugely absurd conclusions such as: "I have 15 marines and he has 15 battle cruisers, so we're even." Similarly (but with less exaggeration), you cannot expect a unit which costs ~60% as much as a Void Ray to beat a Void Ray, even if that unit is considered a strong counter.

What you should do, instead, is compare on a resource by resource basis. So, let's say you had Stalkers up against Void Rays. A stalker costs ~45% of what a Void Ray costs. As such, having 2x as many Stalkers costs less than your opponents total Void Ray army, and should blow those Void Rays up, all else being equal (i.e. Weapons/Armor/Shields).

To answer the OP's question directly -- Phoenix and Stalkers both work against Void Rays. However, Phoenix, in my experience, require significantly more micro management, which can often be difficult for new players. As such, unless you are absolutely sure that the game will come down to a Phoenix vs. Void Ray fight, with very little other distractions, I would recommend Stalkers to begin with. They are easier to handle, and are more versatile if your opponent decides to mix things up (i.e. brings in Carriers or something).

 

just wanted to say thanks this post been very helpful.

 

Look at the cost difference and how fast you can build the units.

Now VR is rarely used because it was nerfed to help lower tier players that whined. How can you not defend a VR rush with terran?? I just lost today to terran mech with void rays... that extra 1 range would have helped me a lot...

 

first of all, you should constantly harass so that your enemy has problems producing gas heavy units.

nonetheless,

blink stalkers are good

phoenix is hard cuz once you know your opponent has gone void raids, it is hard to catch up to his number of VRs. plus lets say you managed to own his VRs, you are left with a bunch of phoenixes that cant win you the game.

late game you should have high temps to cast storms and get stalkers, if your army size is struggling to catch up, make phoenixes at the same time. I learned recently that VRs vs VRs is pretty bad idea lol. You should always have 1 more expansion that your opponent, and im sure you are able to afford a mothership and use vortex.