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5 gate all in off 1 base?

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
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Baldey
Profile Joined May 2009
United States28 Posts
October 21 2010 21:37 GMT
#1
What the hell is this? i see so many good people do this but i dont understand why? you cant fund 5 gateways off 1 base from my expereince... 4 is plenty with some chronoboost, what else are you gona be using it for... can someone explain to me why people put down that 5th gateway so often?
Kolvacs
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
Canada1203 Posts
October 21 2010 21:38 GMT
#2
You actually can support 5 gateways.
You just chrono probes.

Whats the point of this post?
Railgan
Profile Joined August 2010
Switzerland1507 Posts
October 21 2010 21:39 GMT
#3
maybe their macro slips or something like that and they want to spend the minerals on zealots
Grandmaster Zerg from Switzerland!!! www.twitch.tv/railgan // www.twitter.com/railgansc // www.youtube.com/c/railgansc
tx.zyclon
Profile Joined August 2010
United States145 Posts
October 21 2010 21:42 GMT
#4
On October 22 2010 06:38 Kolvacs wrote:
You actually can support 5 gateways.
You just chrono probes.

Whats the point of this post?


I think if you read, he's wondering why people 5 gate off one base when he hasn't been able to fund it in his games. Pretty obvious.
Immaterial
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Canada510 Posts
October 21 2010 21:54 GMT
#5
The only time I'll ever build 5 gateways off of one base is if I'm doing some really lame zealot all-in strategy.
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
Parra
Profile Joined September 2010
United States152 Posts
October 21 2010 21:55 GMT
#6
Even the pros forget to warp in units off each cooldown, the extra warpgate will make up for the extra minerals/gas laying around.
Dudemeister
Profile Joined July 2010
Sweden314 Posts
October 21 2010 22:00 GMT
#7
with perfect macro 3 gates are enough for one base while constatly making workers.
Baldey
Profile Joined May 2009
United States28 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-21 22:04:43
October 21 2010 22:03 GMT
#8
well specifically im talking about this game set2: http://www.gomtv.net/2010gslopens2/vod/1207 . but ive seen 5 gate all in many times in the GSL and out.

to the person that says chronoboost probes, lol. btw the 5 gate was off a failed DT rush. extra probes never helped no one. i didnt mention it casue i think its assumed that by the time you have 5 gateways you already have full probe saturation.

and these people are too good to let their macro slip. with 16-20 probes per 8 mineral patches and both gasses fully saturated, 4 gateways with chronoboost is all i can produce out of. 3 i obviously start piling up minerals, 5 i always have a gateway not doing anything.

the only benefit i can see from a 5 gate all in is maybe over saturating probes and having the ability to warp in 5 units instead of 4 when you need them... but i dono if thats effective or if thats what they are doing casue i dont have access to their replays
wizard944
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
194 Posts
October 21 2010 22:07 GMT
#9
I'm pretty sure you can support 5 gates under two conditions:
1. You stop making probes
2. You constantly attack so that you're losing units and have no need to build pylons.
So if you are satisfying these two conditions, then this is truly an all-in in every sense of the term
Kassar DeTemplari
Baldey
Profile Joined May 2009
United States28 Posts
October 21 2010 22:17 GMT
#10
from my experience my 4 gate push has perfect macro. i stop building pylons around 60 supply, and i stop making probes about the time my 3rd gateway goes up. i prefer to have 1 assimilator till i have 20-22 probes in the mineral lines, then i stop probe production and make that second assimilator and put 3 probes on gas. leads to a pretty strong 4 gate push thats gotten me top 10 diamond... ive never had the need for a 5th gateway to keep up with my macro, infact sometimes 4 gates seems like a bit too many. but 3 is definitely too few for me and u cant have 3 and a half...
StrikerZero
Profile Joined July 2010
United States4 Posts
October 22 2010 00:13 GMT
#11
5 gate means that you'll go heavier on sentries to make up for not being afford 5 stalkers everytime.
Cyber_Cheese
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Australia3615 Posts
October 22 2010 00:17 GMT
#12
if 5 gate didnt work, i doubt the pros would be doing it
its just more all-in than the 4-gate is all
(unless they expod)
The moment you lose confidence in yourself, is the moment the world loses it's confidence in you.
vohne
Profile Joined September 2010
Philippines197 Posts
October 22 2010 00:22 GMT
#13
On October 22 2010 07:07 wizard944 wrote:
I'm pretty sure you can support 5 gates under two conditions:
1. You stop making probes
2. You constantly attack so that you're losing units and have no need to build pylons.
So if you are satisfying these two conditions, then this is truly an all-in in every sense of the term


You're absolutely right. This 5 gate is pretty much an all in, I have done this. it also involves a lot of sentries.
TwentyAPM
Profile Joined August 2010
United States17 Posts
October 22 2010 00:53 GMT
#14
if you go zealot/sentry you can afford to support it going all-in, if you make stalkers you can't unless your macro slips.
ltortoise
Profile Joined August 2010
633 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-22 01:44:23
October 22 2010 01:20 GMT
#15
This is depressingly simple. Allow me to explain how with 15 paragraphs.
(thank you eckm!)

No, you can't support five gateways off of 1 base. Let's do some math, shall we? Maybe we will learn something from it.

A saturated Protoss base (24 probes on 8 mineral patches, and 6 probes on 2 geysers) gets 13.6 minerals per second, and 3.8 gas per second.

Now let's look at what a unit costs to produce continuously. We will disregard HT's and DT's because obviously they will be more expensive. We will also disregard chrono boost because that would make things worse. We seek only a combination of units that we can continuously produce off of 5 gateways, with all gateways in continuous usage.

(there is some rounding but it should be good enough for you people. anybody who could appreciate the difference would never think that 5 gates could be supported anyway)

A Zealot costs 100 minerals and has a 28 second warp gate cooldown. So a Zealot costs 3.57 minerals per second.

Similarly, a Stalker costs 3.9 minerals per second and 1.56 gas per second.
Sentry is 1.56 minerals per second and 3.125 gas per second.

There is no combination of 5 of these units such that your minerals will stay below 13.6 per second and your gas will stay below 3.8 per second.

Proof:
It is easy to see that some number of Sentries will be required, since 5 zealots would cost 17.85 minerals per second, and stalkers cost more minerals per second than zealots.

You can have at most 1.216 warp gates producing sentries due to gas restrictions (3.8 / 3.125). Assume this is the case. Thus, you need 3.784 warpgates producing Zealot/Stalker. The sentries leave you with 11.7 minerals per second. However, constant Zealot production out of the remaining 3.784 warpgates would equate to 13.51 minerals per second (we're assuming zealots since they are cheaper than stalkers in terms of minerals per second). Notice that decreasing the amount of sentries produced would increase the mineral cost further, since Sentries have the cheapest mineral/min. Thus, we have a contradiction since the 3.784 warpgates of zealot production + the 1.216 warpgates of sentry production put us at 15.4 minerals per second.

QED.

And this is extremely generous, too. I'm not even including pylon construction or probe construction! JUST the units!

Edit: I forgot to answer the OP's question. If you can't support 5 gateways off 1 base, why do good players and even professionals sometimes do it?

Answer: Because even professionals and good players slip up on macro. To spend all their money, they will need more gateways than they can support. Once they drop back down to low money, they will end up with a useless gateway unless they expanded.
eckm
Profile Joined May 2010
United States72 Posts
October 22 2010 01:39 GMT
#16
This is depressingly simple. Allow me to explain how with 15 paragraphs
turn on, tune in, drop out
tournamentnow
Profile Joined August 2010
Australia111 Posts
October 22 2010 01:47 GMT
#17
The 5 gate was there because he was planning to float some minerals and use it all up by warping 5 units at once. by the time JMC (iron) planted a pylon close to opponent's natural rock, 5 gate would still be viable because he knew he needed to warp in extra sentry, and he would have excess minerals. besides one base oversaturation produces excess minerals. 5 gate made sense, because the timing of resources flow in too fast
Gimpb
Profile Joined August 2010
293 Posts
October 22 2010 01:56 GMT
#18
It seems you've proven that you can't fully support 5 gateways. However, (and please correct me if I'm wrong), you could support 4.5 gateways worth of zealot sentry assuming you're not building probes or other stuff and are loosing units fast enough that pylons are unnecessary.

So if the value that can be supported is more than 4 but less than 5, building 5 doesn't seem unreasonable.
FakeDouble
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Australia676 Posts
October 22 2010 02:17 GMT
#19
...And all because of the 5 second cooldown increase in zealot warp-in from patch 1.1

28*4/23 = 4.87 zealots compared to 4 zealots before. Sure, sentries change this a bit, but now zealots cost less per minute.

Formerly known as carbonaceous
ltortoise
Profile Joined August 2010
633 Posts
October 22 2010 02:31 GMT
#20
On October 22 2010 10:56 Gimpb wrote:
It seems you've proven that you can't fully support 5 gateways. However, (and please correct me if I'm wrong), you could support 4.5 gateways worth of zealot sentry assuming you're not building probes or other stuff and are loosing units fast enough that pylons are unnecessary.

So if the value that can be supported is more than 4 but less than 5, building 5 doesn't seem unreasonable.


Seems pretty unreasonable to me. You're wasting half a production cycle off a warp gate, and the "build" requires you to suicide at least 3 units (of your zealot/sentry) every 14.5 RL seconds (i did the math) or else you'll get supply blocked.

If your opponent can defend efficiently, their army will quickly simply be larger than yours, because yours cannot grow. It can only be replenished.
Schnullerbacke13
Profile Joined August 2010
Germany1199 Posts
October 22 2010 03:34 GMT
#21
Its better to build army as you are attacked, if youare not attacked, don't build army. With five gates your "army on demand" is faster to get, so you save overall, because you do not need to build an army "just-in-case"
21 is half the truth
Galleon.frigate
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Canada721 Posts
October 22 2010 03:36 GMT
#22
On October 22 2010 10:56 Gimpb wrote:
It seems you've proven that you can't fully support 5 gateways. However, (and please correct me if I'm wrong), you could support 4.5 gateways worth of zealot sentry assuming you're not building probes or other stuff and are loosing units fast enough that pylons are unnecessary.

So if the value that can be supported is more than 4 but less than 5, building 5 doesn't seem unreasonable.


That is only if you don't have to build pylons or ... anything else... ever, so perhaps a situation where you smash the same 5 units into the the enemy each production cycle with all dying... that doesn't sound good



again, there is nothing wrong with accepting that you macro is not perfect and you want to make up for it. or perhaps some situtational fun. Just understand what you're doing.

as zerg I happly make extra hatch in base if I am falling behiend. It's important to know what is optimal, it's also equally important to know when not to go 'optimal'


DiracMonopole
Profile Joined May 2010
United States1555 Posts
October 22 2010 03:37 GMT
#23
On October 22 2010 06:38 Kolvacs wrote:
You actually can support 5 gateways.
You just chrono probes.

Whats the point of this post?


You cant support 5 gateways unless you are rebuilding your army (and already have the pylons in place)
Galleon.frigate
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Canada721 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-22 03:42:44
October 22 2010 03:41 GMT
#24
On October 22 2010 12:34 Schnullerbacke13 wrote:
Its better to build army as you are attacked, if youare not attacked, don't build army. With five gates your "army on demand" is faster to get, so you save overall, because you do not need to build an army "just-in-case"


do you main zerg? I'm trying not to be rude here.


becase that concept doesn't really work other races... at least not in the same sense...


The point made eariler in a very informative fashion was that you can't support 4-5 gate without cutting probes, and even pylons.

Terran and toss are bottlenecked at 1 maybe 2 worker at a time... which is 3 min per sec... what do you do with the rest, stock pile it until he pushes out? and hope you have as many warpgates as he has units?



I'm not even going to say anything more



Aeruthus
Profile Joined September 2010
United States98 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-22 05:20:48
October 22 2010 05:19 GMT
#25
On October 22 2010 12:34 Schnullerbacke13 wrote:
Its better to build army as you are attacked, if youare not attacked, don't build army. With five gates your "army on demand" is faster to get, so you save overall, because you do not need to build an army "just-in-case"


Protoss isn't Zerg, we do need to have an army that can match our opponents. Besides that, having production buildings that you're not using 90-100% of the time is bad macro, period.

But on to the point of this thread, there is no possible way to support 5 gateways, 4 gateways constantly being produced out of (and chronoboosted because, what else you using it on?) will take pretty much all your money.
Splendour
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
Bulgaria129 Posts
October 22 2010 08:38 GMT
#26
It's true that you can't keep infinite production out of 5 gates when only on one base - however, even with perfect macro, they're better than 4 gates if you're going for an all-in attack. The reason behind this is that you're stockpiling resources before your warpgates complete - which means that you can, at least, warp in 5 units twice - and the 2 extra units you get that way can easily swing the balance of the game.
T0fuuu
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Australia2275 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-22 08:52:16
October 22 2010 08:50 GMT
#27
On October 22 2010 07:03 Baldey wrote:
well specifically im talking about this game set2: http://www.gomtv.net/2010gslopens2/vod/1207 . but ive seen 5 gate all in many times in the GSL and out.

to the person that says chronoboost probes, lol. btw the 5 gate was off a failed DT rush. extra probes never helped no one. i didnt mention it casue i think its assumed that by the time you have 5 gateways you already have full probe saturation.

and these people are too good to let their macro slip. with 16-20 probes per 8 mineral patches and both gasses fully saturated, 4 gateways with chronoboost is all i can produce out of. 3 i obviously start piling up minerals, 5 i always have a gateway not doing anything.

the only benefit i can see from a 5 gate all in is maybe over saturating probes and having the ability to warp in 5 units instead of 4 when you need them... but i dono if thats effective or if thats what they are doing casue i dont have access to their replays



No offense but how did you miss the dt's effects on economy? You are comparing a 4 gate allin to a saturated 5 gate allin off dts. Did you not consider that JMC may have pooled extra resources from his dt harass and could possibly sustain a 5 gateway production for 2 rounds? It may not seem like it would matter but 4 vs 5 stalkers can lose u games in pvp.

Personally I think 5 gate has a place in PVX because its works as a adhoc substitute for the 4 gate allin with chrono boost saved for cranking out lots of units.

Anyways I guess you already kind of understood this.
Piledriver
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States1697 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-22 09:16:54
October 22 2010 09:13 GMT
#28
If you watch Day9's Friendday wednesday last week with Huk, he actually gets 3 gate along with a robo (you can only afford 2 gate and a robo on one base with pylons and probs). When Day9 asks about this, he said that its essential to have the extra gate if he gets put under pressure, he can cut probes and pylons , chrono boost off all his production structures and warp in an extra 3-4 units which could be critical to holding off early game pushes.

Also, the extra gate wont be a waste as well, especially when you expand, you have to get the extra production facilities anyway. The gate is kind of like an insurance policy to hold early pushes.

Edit: In context to the thread here, the additional production facilities, allows the toss to have extra units at a particular point in time - though its unsustainable for an extended period of time, it is very useful for certain timing attacks, to have a temporarily inflated army count to exploit certain periods of weakness in the opponent's build.
Envy fan since NTH.
Acritter
Profile Joined August 2010
Syria7637 Posts
October 22 2010 09:22 GMT
#29
On October 22 2010 18:13 Piledriver wrote:
If you watch Day9's Friendday wednesday last week with Huk, he actually gets 3 gate along with a robo (you can only afford 2 gate and a robo on one base with pylons and probs). When Day9 asks about this, he said that its essential to have the extra gate if he gets put under pressure, he can cut probes and pylons , chrono boost off all his production structures and warp in an extra 3-4 units which could be critical to holding off early game pushes.

Also, the extra gate wont be a waste as well, especially when you expand, you have to get the extra production facilities anyway. The gate is kind of like an insurance policy to hold early pushes.

Edit: In context to the thread here, the additional production facilities, allows the toss to have extra units at a particular point in time - though its unsustainable for an extended period of time, it is very useful for certain timing attacks, to have a temporarily inflated army count to exploit certain periods of weakness in the opponent's build.


I was going to bring up a similar point. Sometimes an extra gate can be useful if you're trying to NOT do an all-in, as it lets you defend if they all-in first more effectively. The cool thing about Warp Gates is that you really don't need to be producing out of them at all times nearly as much as Terran players do, as they still have worth even when a unit isn't being built. It's kind of similar to stockpiling larvae to build a response to an attack as Zerg. Perhaps a fast expand or fast Twilight Council with delayed Warp Gate would benefit from 5gating.

I'm not sure how cost-effective it would be for an all-in, though. Seeing as it costs you very little, I wouldn't be opposed to testing it.
dont let your memes be dreams - konydora, motivational speaker | not actually living in syria
Rhaegar99
Profile Blog Joined September 2008
Australia1190 Posts
October 22 2010 09:30 GMT
#30
Also so you can reinforce your army a little quicker than just saving up minerals and waiting for the cd to finish
terranghost
Profile Joined May 2010
United States980 Posts
October 22 2010 10:20 GMT
#31
Another point that might not make much difference.
I would assume with the 4 gate the moment the cooldowns expire you have achieved the necessary resources to fund 4 units. (off 2 gas and your minerals this will most likely be sentry and zealot heavy)
But say the next warp cycle you are warping 3 sentries and 1 zealot that is 250/300/8. When you collect resources you dont jump from 0 to 300 instantly it is gradually taken in over time. So the cooldown on the 5th gate we be able to warp in a unit with these minerals that have not quite reached the 250/300 mark earlier. Why not just wait for the cooldowns to expire then warp in 4 units? There could be a dozen reasons say your 4 gate army has pushed out you just warped in 4 units at your proxy pylon and you see a bunch of enemy units nearby your base with a scout attempting to do a runby and kill some probes or infrastructure or something else. You can't warp in a sentry to block that ramp because you just warped in 4 units to do a push. O wait you can because you have the exta warpgate that is ready to go.
"It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer it." - Thomas Sowell
wxwx
Profile Joined May 2010
527 Posts
October 22 2010 14:30 GMT
#32
it's for emergency button, also it allows you dump minerals into army easier, and is a good buffer for less than ideal macro. For example, if you have minerals left over from early game (be it on purpose or mistake) you can spend them on your army this way. Sometimes on larger maps people choose not to produce from gateways and just stockpile money while waiting for warpgate tech and warp in all at once.
Aeruthus
Profile Joined September 2010
United States98 Posts
October 22 2010 15:51 GMT
#33
On October 22 2010 19:20 terranghost wrote:
Another point that might not make much difference.
I would assume with the 4 gate the moment the cooldowns expire you have achieved the necessary resources to fund 4 units. (off 2 gas and your minerals this will most likely be sentry and zealot heavy)
But say the next warp cycle you are warping 3 sentries and 1 zealot that is 250/300/8. When you collect resources you dont jump from 0 to 300 instantly it is gradually taken in over time. So the cooldown on the 5th gate we be able to warp in a unit with these minerals that have not quite reached the 250/300 mark earlier. Why not just wait for the cooldowns to expire then warp in 4 units? There could be a dozen reasons say your 4 gate army has pushed out you just warped in 4 units at your proxy pylon and you see a bunch of enemy units nearby your base with a scout attempting to do a runby and kill some probes or infrastructure or something else. You can't warp in a sentry to block that ramp because you just warped in 4 units to do a push. O wait you can because you have the exta warpgate that is ready to go.


You should always have a plan ready for "he's doing a run by!", so having a fifth gate to warp in a unit that should already be there is a waste.
sgflt
Profile Joined July 2010
10 Posts
October 22 2010 18:19 GMT
#34
On October 22 2010 10:20 ltortoise wrote:
No, you can't support five gateways off of 1 base. Let's do some math, shall we? Maybe we will learn something from it.


I'd like to add that, under some circumstances, it may be possible to support more than four gateways off of 1 base, but less than 5. Not using chronoboosts and doing away with silly notions such as integers, here's my take:

+ Show Spoiler +

Note: Those numbers are parallel gates making units.

With making pylons and with making probes, you can support a constant

1.795 zealots,
0.000 stalkers
1.216 sentries

3.011 (total)

With making pylons and without making probes, you can support a constant

2.408 zealots,
-0.000 stalkers
1.216 sentries

3.624 (total)

Without making pylons and without making probes, you can support a constant

3.276 zealots,
-0.000 stalkers
1.216 sentries

4.492 (total)


Points to note:
* Stalkers are more expensive then zealot/sentry.
* 3 Gates is enough if you do not miss a step. You should have very little left over.
* 4 Gate should be an all-in. You cannot support making probes and running 4 gates.
* 5 Gates is for when you expect not to be making pylons or probes. They will still be a bit inactive.

There's a fringe case:
+ Show Spoiler +

Without making pylons and with making probes, you can support a constant

2.716 zealots,
-0.000 stalkers
1.216 sentries

3.932 (total)


I can't think of very common situation where you would be making probes and units, but no pylons.

Numbers were derived from this program (uses Python, cvxmod for linear optimization, source available also at http://paste.pocoo.org/show/278945/):

+ Show Spoiler +
#!/usr/bin/env python
# coding=utf8

from cvxmod import *
from cvxmod.sets import *
from cvxmod.atoms import *

# parameters:
you_must_construct_additional_pylons = False
day9_says_never_stop_making_probes = True

mins = optvar('mins')
gas = optvar('gas')

z = optvar('z')
s = optvar('s')
e = optvar('e')

zealot_warp_time = 28
sentry_warp_time = 32
stalker_warp_time = 32

probe_mineral_cost = 50
probe_build_time = 17

zealot_cost = [100., 0]
stalker_cost = [125., 50.]
sentry_cost = [50., 100.]

min_rate = 13.6 # mining rate, fully saturated base, mins per second
gas_rate = 3.8 # mining rate, fully saturated base, gas per second

# option: add in pylons:
if you_must_construct_additional_pylons:
# cost per unit is 25 minerals (they use 2 supply)
zealot_cost[0] += 25
stalker_cost[0] += 25
sentry_cost[0] += 25

# option: produce probes
if day9_says_never_stop_making_probes:
# mining rate decrease by probe cost
min_rate -= 50/17

if you_must_construct_additional_pylons:
# also figure in cost of building pylons for probes
min_rate -= (100./8)/17

constr = [
mins == (zealot_cost[0]/zealot_warp_time) * z +
(stalker_cost[0]/stalker_warp_time) * s +
(sentry_cost[0]/sentry_warp_time) * e,
gas == (zealot_cost[1]/zealot_warp_time) * z +
(stalker_cost[1]/stalker_warp_time) * s +
(sentry_cost[1]/sentry_warp_time) * e,
mins <= min_rate, # mining rate, fully saturated base, mins per second
gas <= gas_rate, # mining rate, fully saturated base, gas per second

# can't "unwarp" units to gain resources (would be cool though!)
z > 0,
s > 0,
e > 0,
]

obj = maximize(z + s + e)

P = problem(obj, constr)
print P
P.solve()

print
print "With%s making pylons and with%s making probes, you can support a constant\n\n %.3f zealots,\n %.3f stalkers\n %.3f sentries\n\n %.3f (total)" % (
'out' if not you_must_construct_additional_pylons else '',
'out' if not day9_says_never_stop_making_probes else '',
z.value[0],
s.value[0],
e.value[0],
z.value[0] + s.value[0] + e.value[0]
)


Feel free to point out mistakes.
vohne
Profile Joined September 2010
Philippines197 Posts
October 28 2010 04:50 GMT
#35
On October 22 2010 10:20 ltortoise wrote:
This is depressingly simple. Allow me to explain how with 15 paragraphs.
(thank you eckm!)

No, you can't support five gateways off of 1 base. Let's do some math, shall we? Maybe we will learn something from it.

A saturated Protoss base (24 probes on 8 mineral patches, and 6 probes on 2 geysers) gets 13.6 minerals per second, and 3.8 gas per second.

Now let's look at what a unit costs to produce continuously. We will disregard HT's and DT's because obviously they will be more expensive. We will also disregard chrono boost because that would make things worse. We seek only a combination of units that we can continuously produce off of 5 gateways, with all gateways in continuous usage.

(there is some rounding but it should be good enough for you people. anybody who could appreciate the difference would never think that 5 gates could be supported anyway)

A Zealot costs 100 minerals and has a 28 second warp gate cooldown. So a Zealot costs 3.57 minerals per second.

Similarly, a Stalker costs 3.9 minerals per second and 1.56 gas per second.
Sentry is 1.56 minerals per second and 3.125 gas per second.

There is no combination of 5 of these units such that your minerals will stay below 13.6 per second and your gas will stay below 3.8 per second.

Proof:
It is easy to see that some number of Sentries will be required, since 5 zealots would cost 17.85 minerals per second, and stalkers cost more minerals per second than zealots.

You can have at most 1.216 warp gates producing sentries due to gas restrictions (3.8 / 3.125). Assume this is the case. Thus, you need 3.784 warpgates producing Zealot/Stalker. The sentries leave you with 11.7 minerals per second. However, constant Zealot production out of the remaining 3.784 warpgates would equate to 13.51 minerals per second (we're assuming zealots since they are cheaper than stalkers in terms of minerals per second). Notice that decreasing the amount of sentries produced would increase the mineral cost further, since Sentries have the cheapest mineral/min. Thus, we have a contradiction since the 3.784 warpgates of zealot production + the 1.216 warpgates of sentry production put us at 15.4 minerals per second.

QED.

And this is extremely generous, too. I'm not even including pylon construction or probe construction! JUST the units!

Edit: I forgot to answer the OP's question. If you can't support 5 gateways off 1 base, why do good players and even professionals sometimes do it?

Answer: Because even professionals and good players slip up on macro. To spend all their money, they will need more gateways than they can support. Once they drop back down to low money, they will end up with a useless gateway unless they expanded.


Great post. Although there is another way to look at it. If you don't have perfect macro, then you can take advantage of this 5 gate to catch up with your all in. Secondly, you can definitely utilize all the warpgates, but probably with an idle warpgate some of the time.
Qwix
Profile Joined October 2010
531 Posts
October 28 2010 10:54 GMT
#36
5 gate full zealot works rather fine vs Zerg, just get 27 probe's (24 on minerals 3 on 1 gass)

It's quite of an all-in but with warpgate tech and if times goes by maybe charge it can demolish any early ground units besides banelings so if you encounter the zerg before he's teching Lair > Spire, your rather fine imo.
iSTime
Profile Joined November 2006
1579 Posts
October 28 2010 11:17 GMT
#37
How has nobody mentioned the fact that when you're doing an all in a lot of times you'll start warping in with like 650 minerals/200 gas or something similar. It could easily take 3-4 full rounds of 5 warp ins before you're broke.
www.infinityseven.net
Cheerio
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
Ukraine3178 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-28 11:35:11
October 28 2010 11:31 GMT
#38
When I all-in in pvp and pvz I dont need 2nd gas and I dont need more than 16+3+1 probes. Which creates a huge surplus of minerals untill warpgate finishes. 5th gate is the most reasonable way of spending it. And i win a lot of my all-ins at 1500+ diamond level.
DamageInq
Profile Joined April 2010
United States283 Posts
October 28 2010 11:36 GMT
#39
To sum up the math and points above, 5 warpgates is only reasonable assuming:

-You're fully saturated
-You're not making probes
-You're losing units thus not making pylons
-You're allowing some times in between warps (macro slips)

This is all-in play. It's acceptable when you know your opponent expanded faster than you and you know it'll be hard to catch up.
"Scissors are OP. Rock is fine." -Paper
DND_Enkil
Profile Joined September 2010
Sweden598 Posts
October 28 2010 11:43 GMT
#40
Yeah i agree with PJA and others, in a ten min marathon you wont be able to support 5 warpgates off one base, but there are lots of reasons to still have 5 warpgates even if you have great macro.

1) It is possible that you are floating minerals/gas waiting for warp-tech to finish.
2) In case you are under attack you will be able to reinforce quicker if you are losing your army (meaning no pylons and no probes).
3) Warping in one round of zealots (if for example he is pushing hard with zerglings) gives an abundance of gas, having a 5th gateway means that if you have 450 minerals and 150 gas you can get a sentry on top of the zealots. You could argue that you should not have 450 minerals in the first place but i see many protoss trying to float enough minerals for one round of warpin when they are pushing in order to reinforce with exactly the unit they need.

Actually I do aswell in some games even on defence. Banking enough resources for one round units is not always bad, this means you can warp in exactly what you need to fend off whatever he is throwing at you, but on the other hand you will lack some units while they warp in, a FF on the ramp should buy you plenty of time.
"If you write about a sewing needle there is always some one-eyed bastard that gets offended" - Fritiof The Pirate Nilsson
OPSavioR
Profile Joined March 2010
Sweden1465 Posts
October 28 2010 12:04 GMT
#41
On October 22 2010 06:38 Kolvacs wrote:
You actually can support 5 gateways.
You just chrono probes.

Whats the point of this post?

A 4warpgate drains 105% of your income if that base is Fully saturated. So a 5Gate is more of an All-In just hold off and he will be dead.
i dunno lol
Lobber
Profile Joined August 2010
Canada414 Posts
October 28 2010 14:21 GMT
#42
By going 5 gate you can support a full zealot sentry without any stalkers, and, if you're macro is bad or you want to better focus on battles when they occur it allows for more attention to them between building units...
You are not your APM, you are not you ladder ranking.
osten
Profile Joined March 2008
Sweden316 Posts
October 28 2010 14:49 GMT
#43
Nobody is perfect, that's why. It's really smart to get more gates because of this. I'd do it if I was toss.
GoldenH
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
1115 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-10-28 15:41:47
October 28 2010 15:37 GMT
#44
It is possible to get use out of 4.5 gateways if you are alternating between sentry/zealot and stalkers....

Excessive maths follow

+ Show Spoiler +
816 minerals + 228 gas / minute 13.6 / 3.8

zealot: 100 min / 0 gas / 28 sec 3.5 / sec
sentry: 50 min / 100 gas / 32 sec 1.6 / sec , 3.1 /sec
stalker: 125 min / 50 gas / 32 sec 3.9 / sec , 1.6

Build 5 stalker : money 0/0

32 seconds later: 435 min 121 gas
wait 1 second, build 4 zealot and a sentry. 0 min 25 gas left

28 seconds later: 380 min 131 gas
wait 7 seconds, 475 min 157.6 gas
build 3 stalkers + 1 zealot

32 seconds later: 435 min 129 gas
wait a second, again 4 zealot and a sentry...

Every 68 seconds: 5 zealot + sentry + 3 stalkers.


with a 4 gate,

4 stalker : money 0/0
32 seconds later: 435 min 121 gas
build 4 zealot
28 seconds later: 415 min 227 gas
wait 6 seconds: 500 min 250 gas
build 4 stalkers
32 seconds later: 435 min 171 gas
Build 4 zealot
28 seconds later: 415 min 277 gas
wait 1 second, build 3 stalkers + sentry

Every 66 seconds, 4 zealots 4 stalkers
Every 60 seconds, 4 zealots 3 stalkers + sentry
Every 126 seconds, 8 zealots 7 stalkers 1 sentry

Every 274176 seconds: 1088 zealot, 952 stalkers, 136 sentries

Ratio of 1 zealot : .875 stalker : .125 sentries

Every 68 seconds: 5 zealot + sentry + 3 stalkers.
Every 136 seconds: 10 zealot + 2 sentry + 6 stalkers

Every 274176 seconds: 1260 zealots, 756 stalkers, 252 sentries,
Ratio of 1 zealot : .6 stalkers : .2 sentries


.93 5 WG : 1 4WG

4 WG: Ratio of 1 zealot : .875 stalker : .125 sentries Value: 215.6 / 56.3
5 WG: Ratio of 1 zealot : .6 stalkers : .2 sentries Value: 185 / 50

In conclusion 4 WG simply is a better use of your money if you're building in waves. You can always chronoboost a gateway, too, to make 4WG better, and it is wasted with a 5WG.
"(Dudes are) not going to say "Buy this game — I cried at the end". (...) I suppose the secret is to find a game that makes you shoot eight million fuckin' dudes and then cry about how awesome it is to shoot eight million fuckin' dudes." - Tim Rogers
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