The Protoss Players Thread

[Hav0x]

So since there is a Terran Players thread I figured there should be a Protoss one. What are your guys favorite build orders? The following is my favorite ZSI build.

7
8
Pylon
9
10
11
12
13
Gateway
14
Pylon
Assimilator
15
Cybernetics Core

and then I branch off into either 4 gate and research warpgate right away then go for robo or I go 2 gate and tech to Robo as soon as possible to get Immortals while starting warpgate research and adding 2 more gateways when resources are available.

I've found that going 8 pylon instead of 9 has zero downtime and workers are being build the entire time. No waiting for the pylon to pop in.

Of course I'm pumping out Zealots/Sentries the entire time and against zerg I usually go gateway a little earlier to account for the ling rush. I even go 2 gate before core against zerg sometimes.

[HavoK]

Happy to see you took the advice and made this

Being a terran player i can't put up a BO but i can say the phoenix's are good unit for the protoss's earlier game

[Xyvik]

I personally prefer a 9pylon (tried 8 pylon, never liked it personally), 12gateway setting myself. I used to do 10gate but found it way too restricted, and a 13gate seems a bit too slow to me, especially against ling rushes.

I 1gate tech to robo bay in every single match. Gets me an immortal and an Obs pretty fast. From there it depends on what I see my opponent doing.

But as I'm on the bottom of the barrel (copper league) I'm probably the last person to listen to, lol.

[Hav0x]

I personally prefer a 9pylon (tried 8 pylon, never liked it personally), 12gateway setting myself. I used to do 10gate but found it way too restricted, and a 13gate seems a bit too slow to me, especially against ling rushes.

I 1gate tech to robo bay in every single match. Gets me an immortal and an Obs pretty fast. From there it depends on what I see my opponent doing.

But as I'm on the bottom of the barrel (copper league) I'm probably the last person to listen to, lol.

I've been pretty steadily making my way up bronze with the above build. I usually go 11gate or 12gate against zerg to stop the ling rush but against toss and terran I go 13gate. With 9pylon and chronoboost I've always found that I'm supply locked for a nice chunk of time before the pylon finishes which is why I've started going 8pylon.

[protoswarrior]

You should get your 9th probe and pylon (usually moving out the probe at 8th supply), queue your 10th & 11th probe. Send out the previous probe to scout, then as soon as you see pylon finishing, Chrono-boost ur nexus and queue probe # 12.

As soon as your 11th probe is done and you're waiting for probe 12 to com out, send to build a GW as soon as you have about 140mins - by the time it reaches the pylon, you're at 150 mins. Slap down the GW and shift-click to min patch, then queue probe # 13 and glance at your scouting probe by double-tapping its group hotkey (that u assumedly assigned as you sent it out to scout).


I know the above is lengthy, but this gives you the correct timing to 9 pylon.

9 pylon
11 - Chronoboost nex
12 gate
13 assim #1
13 - CB nex again
14 pylon
15 gate
16 assim #2

17 or 18 zealot
CB gate to pull out zeal faster - esp vs zerg

Then get Core as you get 200 mins, or skip zealot and core if your opponent is just teching without getting initial zealot/ling. Against T, always get the initial zealot to deny scv scout, or just wait to get 1 stalker and chase the scv till it dies. Depending on what route you wanna adopt.

Also, get Warpgate research ASAP - only 50min/50gas!! Extremely important. CB the research at least 2x at any point to get it out quickly. And always get more gates (usually 3 in total) as soon as you are researching WG or teching up to HT/DT/VR/Robo or whatever.

Always try getting 1 sentry out at least. If you're teching, 1-2 FF blocking your ramp gives your tech units time to come out, and can save you from a horde of marine/marauders, ling/roach or zeal/stalker/sentry or pure zeals.

Blocking that initial rush is key in a tech build. Otherwise, be aggressive, and proxy pylon or 2 gate zeal for a bit while keeping an eye for run-by's by lings or stray zealots. Throwing your opponent into defense mode or in panic works better for you always!

Just don't get overrun at your choke and you're good for mid-game to expo or go 1 base aggressive push with zealot/sentry/immortal, or stalker/zealot/DT or HT.




EDIT:

The reasoning behind 9 pylon is that it gives you a slightly better econ to afford that inital zealot asap, or to afford a proxy pylon if you are going for that type of harass, without hurting your economy. 8 pylon tightens the amount of minerals you have to spend, and thus are limited to turtling with an inferior economy - very bad combination...

Unless you are going for very very fast tech while skipping zealot, the 8 pylon is very risky.

[DemolitionSquid]

My build:

9 Pylon
Gateway
10 Chrono
12 Chrono
13 Assimilator
Core
Pylon
Stalker
16 Stalker Chrono
Pylon
Stalker Chrono
Pylon
Stalker Chrono

Then it varies by matchup.

[Hav0x]

My build:

9 Pylon
Gateway
10 Chrono
12 Chrono
13 Assimilator
Core
Pylon
Stalker
16 Stalker Chrono
Pylon
Stalker Chrono
Pylon
Stalker Chrono

Then it varies by matchup.

You'll end up getting overrun with ling rush waiting for stalkers. Do you go zealot against zerg?

[DemolitionSquid]

You'll end up getting overrun with ling rush waiting for stalkers. Do you go zealot against zerg?

I have never once lost to a Zergling rush where my choke was properly set up. I have always gotten my first Stalker out before any Zerglings come, with time to spare.

Now Roach rushes... those kill me.

[TheRabidDeer]

I like to keep my eco pumping early game so I usually use this so far (though I havent played too much yet, so still refining it... just finished my 10 placement games after skipping the practice league):
Pumping probes the entire time
9 pylon (CB nexus AFTER it finishes or you waste a good portion of it)
13 gate (scout with this probe)
14 assim
16 pylon
zeal once pylon complete
20 pylon
22 core
2nd assim some time after that to make sure I have gas for robo if I dont plan on using stalkers.

If I encounter some more rushes, I might be inclined to switch to a 2 gate build since protoss seems extremely weak in the rush department atm.

[protoswarrior]

TRD, (hey man ) don't you find 13 gate a lil late esp in PvZ? Isn't 12 gate better in that you can get the zealot out faster?