• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 03:06
CET 09:06
KST 17:06
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
SC2 All-Star Invitational: Tournament Preview5RSL Revival - 2025 Season Finals Preview8RSL Season 3 - Playoffs Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups C & D Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups A & B Preview2
Community News
Weekly Cups (Jan 12-18): herO, MaxPax, Solar win0BSL Season 2025 - Full Overview and Conclusion6Weekly Cups (Jan 5-11): Clem wins big offline, Trigger upsets4$21,000 Rongyi Cup Season 3 announced (Jan 22-Feb 7)16Weekly Cups (Dec 29-Jan 4): Protoss rolls, 2v2 returns7
StarCraft 2
General
PhD study /w SC2 - help with a survey! When will we find out if there are more tournament Weekly Cups (Jan 12-18): herO, MaxPax, Solar win I am looking for StarCraft 2 Beta Patch files Stellar Fest "01" Jersey Charity Auction
Tourneys
$70 Prize Pool Ladder Legends Academy Weekly Open! SC2 All-Star Invitational: Jan 17-18 Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament SC2 AI Tournament 2026 $21,000 Rongyi Cup Season 3 announced (Jan 22-Feb 7)
Strategy
Simple Questions Simple Answers
Custom Maps
Map Editor closed ?
External Content
Mutation # 509 Doomsday Report Mutation # 508 Violent Night Mutation # 507 Well Trained Mutation # 506 Warp Zone
Brood War
General
[ASL21] Potential Map Candidates Gypsy to Korea Video Footage from 2005: The Birth of G2 in Spain BW General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL21] Non-Korean Championship - Starts Jan 10 Small VOD Thread 2.0 Azhi's Colosseum - Season 2
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2 Game Theory for Starcraft Current Meta
Other Games
General Games
Battle Aces/David Kim RTS Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Beyond All Reason Awesome Games Done Quick 2026!
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas
Community
General
Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread US Politics Mega-thread NASA and the Private Sector Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club! The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Navigating the Risks and Rew…
TrAiDoS
My 2025 Magic: The Gathering…
DARKING
Life Update and thoughts.
FuDDx
How do archons sleep?
8882
James Bond movies ranking - pa…
Topin
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1117 users

Protoss Grouping orders : ESC.Iefnaij

Blogs > Kage
Post a Reply
Kage
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
India788 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-08-23 06:21:53
August 23 2009 04:27 GMT
#1
I'm on a mission to write down every single protoss pro players grouping orders. I'll start with the one closest to what I use (I started playing toss and more or less converged to the same grouping order JF uses here.).

I know there's a thread about protoss grouping orders but it didn't list all the top guys, which I plan to do at the very least for myself.

[image loading]


JF grouping.

Early game

1/2/3/4 - Nexus
5/6/7/8/9/0 - Empty

Early-Mid game

1 - Nexus main
2 - scouting probe
3 - building probe (probe to build units usually at base)
4 - First gateway
5 - second gateway
6/7/8/9 - Empty
0 - Nexus Main.

Mid game

1 - Nexus main
2 - Main unit army (dragoons/zealots)
3 - Shuttle
4/5/6 - Gate
9 - Third expo nexus
9- Expo nexus
0 - main nexus

Late Game

1/2/3/4 - units
5 - shuttle and it's units
6/7 - Gateways
8 - 3rd expo
9- 2nd expo
0 - main nexus

If units really spill out (or too many) he puts shuttle at 6/7 and all units 1-5. Then nexus's remain the same.
I'll edit this as I see other players too. I don't know how he places his fingers on each key though, that would be really cool to see an fpvod of his as well I guess.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[image loading]


White-Ra Grouping.


Early game

6 - Nexus main
Rest empty.

Early-Mid game

1 - Building probe
6 - Nexus Main
0 - 1st Gateway

Then

1 - Scouting probe
2 - building probe
6 - Nexus
0 - 1st Gateway.

Mid game

1 - Dragoon/Zealot - Main unit pack that comes out
2 - scouting probe
6 - main nexus
9 - Second building being produced (example: robotics facility)
0 - 1st Gateway.

which goes on to become

1 - Dragoons/Main units --> units
2 - Observer -->units
3 - Shuttle
4 -
5 -
6 -
7 -
8 - 3rd Gateway (if second is on 9)
9 - Second gateway/Second production building whatever it is.
0 - 1st Gateway.

Late Game

1 - Dragoons/Main units --> units filling to 12
2 - Filling units to 12
3 - Usually Zealots but can be third set of units.
4 - Shuttle
5 -
6 - Nexus Main
7 -
8 - 3rd Gateway (if second is on 9)
9 - Second gateway/Second production building whatever it is.
0 - 1st Gateway.

Here on

1/2/3/4/5 - Units
6 - Main nexus
8/9/0 - Gateways.


Camlito
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
Australia4040 Posts
August 23 2009 04:39 GMT
#2
Exact same early game hotkeys as me when i play P xD.
sAviOr...
ghermination
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
United States2851 Posts
August 23 2009 04:50 GMT
#3
i thought 8-0 was standard for nexus? Especially early game because its closer to P?
U Gotta Skate.
FirstBorn
Profile Blog Joined March 2007
Romania3955 Posts
August 23 2009 04:55 GMT
#4
There are some people who use 4 or 5 for the nexus, progamers and top foreigners. I for one can't play protoss unless I use 8-0 for nexuses ( actually, I have the same hotkey pattern like Iefnaij, 100%), putting the main nexus somewhere else than 0 would be really weird.
SonuvBob: Yes, the majority of TL is college-aged, and thus clearly stupid.
Kage
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
India788 Posts
August 23 2009 04:56 GMT
#5
I have White-Ra's which i'll update, he uses 6 for his nexus and 7/8/9/0 = gateways.
numLoCK
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
Canada1416 Posts
August 23 2009 05:14 GMT
#6
I've never understood how people can just change hotkeys during a game like that. When I use 1/2 for my Nexus I cannot just switch them to units, I'll always try to use them to get back to my base...
29 fps
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
United States5725 Posts
August 23 2009 05:25 GMT
#7
in mid game, main nexus is there twice. is that supposed to be like that?
4v4 is a battle of who has the better computer.
lazz
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Australia3119 Posts
August 23 2009 05:34 GMT
#8
On August 23 2009 14:14 numLoCK wrote:
I've never understood how people can just change hotkeys during a game like that. When I use 1/2 for my Nexus I cannot just switch them to units, I'll always try to use them to get back to my base...

late game youre not supposed to use nexus hotkeys to get back to base. you're supposed to use F2, or if you're macroing out of gateways, alt+gatewayhotkey to center over your gateways.
GreEny K
Profile Joined February 2008
Germany7312 Posts
August 23 2009 06:03 GMT
#9
I could never get used to 123 nexus, I always have to use the 90 for the nexus. 0 for scout 9 nexus 87 expos 6 robo/obs and the rest are army and 5 is usually 1 gate so i can center to gates.
Why would you ever choose failure, when success is an option.
Kage
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
India788 Posts
August 23 2009 06:19 GMT
#10
White-Ra Grouping.


Early game

6 - Nexus main
Rest empty.

Early-Mid game


1 - Building probe
6 - Nexus Main
0 - 1st Gateway

Then

1 - Scouting probe
2 - building probe
6 - Nexus
0 - 1st Gateway.


Mid game


1 - Dragoon/Zealot - Main unit pack that comes out
2 - scouting probe
6 - main nexus
9 - Second building being produced (example: robotics facility)
0 - 1st Gateway.

which goes on to become

1 - Dragoons/Main units --> units
2 - Observer -->units
3 - Shuttle
4 -
5 -
6 -
7 -
8 - 3rd Gateway (if second is on 9)
9 - Second gateway/Second production building whatever it is.
0 - 1st Gateway.


Late Game


1 - Dragoons/Main units --> units filling to 12
2 - Filling units to 12
3 - Usually Zealots but can be third set of units.
4 - Shuttle
5 -
6 - Nexus Main
7 -
8 - 3rd Gateway (if second is on 9)
9 - Second gateway/Second production building whatever it is.
0 - 1st Gateway.

Here on

1/2/3/4/5 - Units
6 - Main nexus
8/9/0 - Gateways.

Licmyobelisk
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
Philippines3682 Posts
August 23 2009 06:54 GMT
#11
do the pro gamers use F2 F3 F4?
I don't think I've ever wished my opponent good luck prior to a game. When I play, I play to win. I hope every opponent I ever have is cursed with fucking terrible luck. I hope they're stuck playing underneath a stepladder with a black cat in attendance a
Kula
Profile Blog Joined January 2008
United States140 Posts
August 23 2009 07:03 GMT
#12
^Indeed.
FirstBorn
Profile Blog Joined March 2007
Romania3955 Posts
August 23 2009 07:27 GMT
#13
On August 23 2009 15:54 Licmyobelisk wrote:
do the pro gamers use F2 F3 F4?


Yes, for their Nexuses/CC's/Hatcheries. F2, F3 and F4 should replace the hotkeys you used to get to your main, expo and min only once you get into lategame.
SonuvBob: Yes, the majority of TL is college-aged, and thus clearly stupid.
CorsairHero
Profile Joined December 2008
Canada9491 Posts
August 23 2009 07:31 GMT
#14
On August 23 2009 15:54 Licmyobelisk wrote:
do the pro gamers use F2 F3 F4?

usually its F2 for main, F3 for natural and F4 for macro area / 3rd base
© Current year.
SilverSkyLark
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
Philippines8437 Posts
August 23 2009 07:33 GMT
#15
Weird, I have a different set of hotkeys that was influenced heavily when I switched from Terran.
"If i lost an arm, I would play w3." -IntoTheWow || "Member of Hyuk Hyuk Hyuk cafe. He's the next Jaedong, baby!"
konadora *
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
Singapore66358 Posts
August 23 2009 08:11 GMT
#16
Wow kinda different from mine

I use 0 for nexus
1-4 for army
5-7 for gateways
8 for robo
9 for stargate
POGGERS
Funnytoss
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
Taiwan1471 Posts
August 23 2009 12:12 GMT
#17
When I started playing SC in a more "competitive" way (i.e., learning BOs, standard play) I started off mostly watching Nony's FPVODs and replays so I copied the 12Nexus hotkey setup and have stuck with it ever since. Tried switching to 9p0p after reading Tasteless' comments about the issue but found out that it was just too big of a switch for me. At the lower levels it seems like it doesn't matter all that much anyway so long as you have everything that you need hotkeyed, regardless of location.
AIV_Funnytoss and sGs.Funnytoss on iCCup
DreaM)XeRO
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
Korea (South)4667 Posts
August 23 2009 14:30 GMT
#18
i dont get how people group their nexus as "1" .. my fingers dont go from "1" to "p" that quickly
cw)minsean(ru
Funnytoss
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
Taiwan1471 Posts
August 23 2009 15:19 GMT
#19
Well, I actually use my mouse to click on the "build probe" button - to me, it beats moving from the left side of the keyboard to the right, which you'd have to do even if you were using a 9,0 nexus setup since most of the time your hand is to the left anyway.
AIV_Funnytoss and sGs.Funnytoss on iCCup
Kage
Profile Blog Joined May 2007
India788 Posts
August 23 2009 18:06 GMT
#20
Ya nony and those that use 1 for nexus just use the mouse to press the potrait button. He doesn't seem to have done too bad with that at all.
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 2h 54m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
WinterStarcraft515
SortOf 167
StarCraft: Brood War
Stork 2303
GuemChi 907
Aegong 349
ggaemo 302
Hm[arnc] 223
firebathero 209
Larva 206
Noble 116
soO 110
ajuk12(nOOB) 90
[ Show more ]
Sharp 84
ZergMaN 63
ToSsGirL 62
Shuttle 59
Nal_rA 26
GoRush 18
Bale 16
Sacsri 16
NaDa 8
Dota 2
NeuroSwarm128
febbydoto77
League of Legends
JimRising 651
C9.Mang0510
Counter-Strike
allub70
shoxiejesuss0
Other Games
summit1g6337
XaKoH 155
Organizations
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 14 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Laughngamez YouTube
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Lourlo1362
• Rush1196
• Stunt445
Upcoming Events
OSC
2h 54m
Shameless vs MaNa
Nicoract vs Percival
Krystianer vs TBD
Cure vs SHIN
PiGosaur Monday
16h 54m
The PondCast
1d 1h
OSC
1d 2h
Big Brain Bouts
3 days
Serral vs TBD
BSL 21
4 days
BSL 21
5 days
Wardi Open
6 days
Monday Night Weeklies
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

IPSL Winter 2025-26
SC2 All-Star Inv. 2025
NA Kuram Kup

Ongoing

C-Race Season 1
BSL 21 Non-Korean Championship
CSL 2025 WINTER (S19)
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 1
OSC Championship Season 13
Underdog Cup #3
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual
eXTREMESLAND 2025
SL Budapest Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S1: W5
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
Bellum Gens Elite Stara Zagora 2026
HSC XXVIII
Rongyi Cup S3
Nations Cup 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League Season 23
ESL Pro League Season 23
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.