EPTIs there that in-between ground of finding a build order that can adjust to an opponent happening to go the "counter" to come up only slightly behind, while covering most popular build orders at an even stance. I preface this by saying that my goal is to enter Protoss midgame with the mindset of forcing the better player to win. I'll test my strategy, mechanics, and decision making against his and see who comes up on top. I will be satisfied by this.
That line of reasoning brings me to the current builds under consideration:
3gate blinkstalker opening w/ early chrono stalkers. Something in the style of YongHwa's 3stalker 3gaterobo opening that uses stalker micro to delay a 4warpgate, and aftewards gets up the third gate and council in time to micro against an attack in the 6:45-8minutes range. Haven't exactly worked out the timings I like for this yet, but I'm close. 3 stalker robo is the skeleton with council replacing robotics facility. You end up with a sizable force of blinkstalkers in midgame, themselves a force to be reckoned with against robo builds, and a terrifying force against phoenix builds.
3gate robo. Probably the most familiar build to my fingers. Early second gate to, again, get some stalkers out to deal with the most aggressive of the 4 warpgates and take some good map vision. Against a Protoss that takes and mines his second gas, cut some corners to get better probe saturation and later third gate. If all goes well, it's a 1base colossus player against a toss that does anything but phoenix (immortal timing attack / expo if he does that) and colossus is a staple of the matchup regardless. You're still rolling the dice if he goes robo-first (you have nothing to punish him for such fast teching). Robo first has the earlier colo, and you might be struggling with a 2-colossus push that happens when you only have 1. Minor concern at that, still a lot of room for micro and delaying if he's trying to reap an earlier-robo advantage.
Phoenix opening. Currently I'm doing a stargate-first build that might as well be 2gate stargate if not for the option to attack an opponent that expo's (EDIT: third gate is possibility of extra units at a proxy pylon to attack with, but only 2 gates are really utilized at the beginning of the build). Attack and scout with 3 phoenix, grab probes annoy as much as possible. If he's splitting off stalkers to defend the harass, kill the zealots/sentries that are left bare. Decide if you think he's going to allin attack you off of it (unwise on his part) or expand (your turn to decide if you want to 1base attack him at the expo. Dies REALLY HARD to blinkstalker openings. You micro your heart out but unless you were lucky enough to save gas after 3 phoenix you don't have the firepower or units to oppose the blinkstalker opening. Scouted 4warpgate with 1gas you just transition to a 3gate robo or eco 4warpgate. I need to see it against more 4warpgates with 2gas to decide if that build order is a huge advantage or just even if he decides to attack.
Elusive 3gate opening with late tech? For the purposes of this discussion, I'll assume my opponent will have a huge advantage doing robo first, nearly game-winning. Taking this route is aiming at giving yourself a chance to make a tech decision after a stalker poke. Robo if you only see a gateway mix or blink likelihood at ramp. Choice of phoenix OR robo if you see a robotics facility/immortal. Really unexplored option in this list. I'll get around to testing a BO against my practice partners. I guess you could call this a 3gate robo with the option to not drop the robo and go blink or phoenix (expo against gate->robo) instead. I'm a big hater of theorycrafting so this has no merits until it gets tested against the popular builds.
For a question to open the comment discussion: what are your PvP openings and the builds you hope they aren't doing when you open with each?
