Hello! I’m at the moment a master terran, but i have become really tired of the terran race so i want to switch race to protoss, so I can become motivated as I was a few months ago. So what am I really asking for?
• Basic and advanced micro and macro tips, • Good protoss tutorials for example day9 videos or something similar! • Good and safe macro builds in all match ups • General protoss tips • Different mindset I should use when I’m playing protoss instead of Terran. ( Like when I played terran I should have the mindset “If I aint attacking i'm probably losing”) • Maybe the most important if someone wants to help me more specific, I would really appreciate if you add me ingame “BlommaN 685” And we can talk in skype etc Thank you!!
This is really a lot you are asking for, since it is not that easy to do a short write-up on.
- Get some builds down first - maybe only one or two.
- Decide what kind of army I would like - colossus or Templar?
- Learn to macro: Get used to the mechanics, hotkeys and to spend that f'in chrono boost ALWAYS!
- Well... considering the attack thing. If you are not attacking or being damn aggressive you will always need some way to get a hold of you opponent: Observer or hallucinate. I am saying scouting is a good idea
IMO you should start with 3 gate - experiment with it until you feel like it fits your way of playing. Believe me, 3 gate opn. can vary a lot depending on who does it and what you play against.
.... like I said... this is not easy to just tell you. You should really just go play against the AI 20 times and get the mechanics straight, what build you like and what kind of army you would like... Sry if this makes no sense, but you are making it really hard
He's a masters Terran, I'm pretty sure he has an understanding of the mechanics regardless of race (in theory at least).
Anyway, watch Puzzle's stream. Or check the VODs if they are recorded. IMO of all the Protoss streams he plays the most staple and basic style and he will repeat the same builds over and over again instead of trying to make it entertaining for the viewers and mix it up.
Also don't fall into the mentality of hating PvP like so many people do (or they kept their habit of hating it from like a year ag). It is perfectly playable and can be perfected just like any other matchup. It might be difficult at first since Terrans don't really have a dirty and cutthroat mirror matchup like P and Z do, but it can be learned.
Finally a small (but often life-saving) practical tip - Forcefields are useless if you're not focusing on the Sentries the exact second you need to cast them. Many things in Protoss macro are designed to be distracting you from looking at your army (you need to look away to chronoboost, build stuff, warp-in if you're not near a Pylon, etc). Your armies can and will die in seconds to a lot of things if you miss the FFs, so be very aware of the critical moments you need to focus on your army instead of looking at your base (when pushing out vZ, or holding a ramp vT early bio pushes etc).
On February 05 2012 21:46 pestilenz wrote: - Get some builds down first - maybe only one or two.
IMO you should start with 3 gate - experiment with it until you feel like it fits your way of playing. Believe me, 3 gate opn. can vary a lot depending on who does it and what you play against.
He's playing in masters, not platinum, he can't just 3 gate expand every game and expect it to be just fine against every opening. I'd suggest he learns two openings per matchup, say a 1 gate expand and a 2 gate robo pvt, a blink build and a robo build pvp, and a forge fe and 3 gate expand pvz.
On February 05 2012 23:48 Talin wrote: He's a masters Terran, I'm pretty sure he has an understanding of the mechanics regardless of race (in theory at least).
Anyway, watch Puzzle's stream. Or check the VODs if they are recorded. IMO of all the Protoss streams he plays the most staple and basic style and he will repeat the same builds over and over again instead of trying to make it entertaining for the viewers and mix it up.
Also don't fall into the mentality of hating PvP like so many people do (or they kept their habit of hating it from like a year ag). It is perfectly playable and can be perfected just like any other matchup. It might be difficult at first since Terrans don't really have a dirty and cutthroat mirror matchup like P and Z do, but it can be learned.
Finally a small (but often life-saving) practical tip - Forcefields are useless if you're not focusing on the Sentries the exact second you need to cast them. Many things in Protoss macro are designed to be distracting you from looking at your army (you need to look away to chronoboost, build stuff, warp-in if you're not near a Pylon, etc). Your armies can and will die in seconds to a lot of things if you miss the FFs, so be very aware of the critical moments you need to focus on your army instead of looking at your base (when pushing out vZ, or holding a ramp vT early bio pushes etc).
I agree with this for the most part, though I haven't seen much of Puzzle's stream. PvP is a decent matchup if you're into it's playstyle. It's cheesier and a lot more coin-flippy in terms of builds than a lot of other matchups, but if you get past that a lot of skill and experience goes into it.
Most of what I've gotten out of watching streams is beyond the first 6 minutes of a build, the tech/gateway timings and when you can afford to expand without losing it to different builds, when you can go blink before charge pvt, what number to stop colossus production at, things like that.
As for a mentality I'm a huge believer in pressure through expanding/tech in both the pvp and pvt matchups. Forcing your opponent to go down a certain path and be the aggressor while you have defenders advantage and can get ahead in the strength of your standing army later in the game, with harassment and feints following the mvp mentality of trying to take as little damage as possible.
Good luck learning protoss, and have fun out there.
chrono boost is pretty important on higher levels. Always chrono your warpgate technology, after chrono ur tech choice (basically fast ups, colossi, stargate or templar) Every single unit counts in the early game. Never get ur first stalker slowed by a marauder for example. Try to micro ur hurt units out of the way. Forcefields are key. Don't spam them cause you don't want to get too many sentries. Try to make them perfect. Learn each hotkey for spells. They are what decide whether you win or lose (A moving colossi isn't working anymore, if you are master atleast).
Match up:
protoss
-> A good solid opening
-> follow ups * blink stalker (tends to be 1 base) * robo play (few immortals into colossi is my advice) * phoenix play (very hard to pull off) * Several tactics that are less frequent (for example dt shrine + chargelot for dt harass and an archon +chargelot push)
-> late game Mass colossi works... Its boring but its true. Most favour attack upgrades. Zealot become more useless (thats why warp prism raiding is a good idea, especially seeing you have minerals to spare). Try to get imm, colossi, archon, stalker.
-> other This match up revols around small advantages, scouting each decision and often around the early game. Expands are becoming more frequent. Watch out for cannon rush and proxy gateway in the early game. Standard is 9 probe pylon - 2x chrono when pylon is rdy - make gateway at 13 and then scout.
Terran
You know the match up . Just know the later it gets, the more it shifts to the protoss advantage. Make sure you keep some HT in the back though (else you can die very easily). Theres no real standard way to play but i advice scouting at all times. My advice on opening: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=294136
Zerg
Sorry but due to lack of time i can't be very detailed about this one. Just realize that you can't outmacro a zerg. Forge expand works pretty well for most pros so you could go with that. See "Forge Fast Expansion (vs. Zerg)" http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Forge_Fast_Expansion_(vs._Zerg). Could anybody else perhaps write a more detailled guide?
Then I would like to remake my statement to: Grind mechanics until it's is no problem with hotkeys, buildorders, and ability usage.
Remember, like supervizor wrote, you really need to be on top of your army constantly when relying on ff's and storms. One of the most annoying thigs ever is losing because of a misplaced forcefield...
Overall Mind Set: PvZ Always contain the Zerg. Kill them if they expand. Defence is not the safe option. PvT Defence and reaction is the better option. Always scout as best you can, and play with the mindset of always safety. PvP Commit to whatever build you are doing FULLY. There is no halfway in PvP. Edit Extra: Upgrades are cheap and quick due to chrono. Abuse this every time you know your not getting all-in'd Protoss wins wars by engaging in better army fights. Try to forcefield his army to be in a bad spot for every engagement.
PvZ: Aim for strong 1 or 2 base pushout. Zerg will often try to overwhelm you early game with zerglings/banelings/roaches. If they don't attack you much early game, Then it's highly likely they are going muta. Tip, get Hallucination vs Zerg, It is essential for scouting and is actually useful in fights. PvZ is a containment game for the Protoss, You must punish the zerg everytime they expand. You cannot safely turtle and tech vs Zerg, because they will just mass expand and overwhelm you before you know it. Good tech paths are the classic 3 gate - robo push = Defeats roachs/zerglings push IF you know how to forcefield and reinforce correctly ( I.e.If he is getting more zerglings, get more zealots and sentrys, if roaches, more stalkers). 3 Gate Blink stalker = Defeats quick tech muta and if done correctly, baneling pushes*tip sacrifice stalkers into clusters of banelings*. 4 Gate = Can work only if you surprise them. collosis 1 base = two base roach/zerglings/banelings ( don't go if they are muta heavy of course) Dark Templar = Containment and harass. Good if you want to safe expand and stop enemy from expanding.
PvT: You must gather as much information on as little access to their base as possible. The Terran quick timings are the scariest thing in the world for a Protoss. Safe openers are generally 1 gate-robo(defence). Or quick harass 3 gate(offence). If you make it past the 10min mark, then start making a formidable army and focus on your tech of choice. Terran is bio heavy? Collosis Terran is tank-heavy*also retarded for going tanks in PvT*? Charge-Lots Terran is banshee heavy? Phoenix + any large enough ground army to just defend your base while the Phoenix do their damage. Terran is raven heavy? High Templar Terran is ghost heavy? Charge-lots and collosis*H-Templar still if your gosu enough*
Fighting Terran requires very quick reactions. More so than vsing Zerg. Because if Terran attacks your army with stim and you don't notice in the first 2 seconds. You're screwed. So, make sure you take watch towers and throw pylons all around the map. Awareness of his army movements are CRUCIAL to your victory.
From a very broad perspective, protoss for me is all about having a plan in mind and listening for the signposts that ask you to change the plan shortterm and longterm. There are a million contingencies you'll just have to experience in order to get a good "feel" for the race, like how to micro and what fights you can win, should try to win, etc. But in terms of "what am I trying to do" you should be thinking in broad strokes like "do I need to defend a new expo" / "I just need to distract and hold tight until I have storms out" / "nothing drastic, maintain my army size and keep denying his 4th base". This can flip at a moment's notice but if you have an idea beforehand of the actual high level strategy you are pursuing, it helps A LOT.
But before you get to any of that, I really just recommend spamming some basic builds and being aggressive because it will force you to micro and teach you why it's often a terrible idea to be engaging, and when those times are. You'll lose games with stupid attacks but it's very informative and that's the crux of protoss I feel like.
Hmm... I main protoss but sometimes offrace with terran at ~low master level. After I play terran for a couple games and switch back to protoss, I notice a few things...
- Macroing is very different for me, because with terran you can train units 100% from hotkeys at any time you have 1-2 spare seconds. I miss a lot of warp-ins after I get used to playing terran because with warpgates, you have to actually place each unit onto the battlefield, which takes more conscious effort. - Obs vs scan. Cloaked vs big sun spiral means your opponent may not be aware that you can see them. Permanent unit rather than temporary reveal means you can park obs around critical points on the map. Use obs to spot attack paths as well as army movement, in addition to base scouting. Pretty "duh" stuff but the race-specific scouting tools are different! - You live or die on good forcefields in early and midgame. - You can be much more passive with protoss (at least on NA ladder xD)... the only time I feel like I "have" to pressure at least a little is after FFE because that's such a passive build. Or if someone takes a stupid fast expansion in PvP of course.
EPT
