• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 09:08
CEST 15:08
KST 22:08
  • 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
Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO4 & Finals Preview5[ASL21] Ro4 Preview: On Course12Code S Season 1 - RO8 Preview7[ASL21] Ro8 Preview Pt2: Progenitors8Code S Season 1 - RO12 Group A: Rogue, Percival, Solar, Zoun13
Community News
Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO8 Results2Weekly Cups (May 4-10): Clem, MaxPax, herO win1Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule !14Weekly Cups (April 27-May 4): Clem takes triple0RSL Revival: Season 5 - Qualifiers and Main Event12
StarCraft 2
General
Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO4 & Finals Preview Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - The Finalists Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO8 Results Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO12 Results MaNa leaves Team Liquid
Tourneys
Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule ! GSL Code S Season 1 (2026) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament KSL Week 89 2026 GSL Season 2 Qualifiers
Strategy
Custom Maps
[D]RTS in all its shapes and glory <3 [A] Nemrods 1/4 players
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 526 Rubber and Glue Mutation # 525 Wheel of Misfortune Mutation # 524 Death and Taxes
Brood War
General
25 Years Since Brood War Patch 1.08 vespene.gg — BW replays in browser BW General Discussion Data needed BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/
Tourneys
[ASL21] Semifinals B [BSL22] RO8 Bracket Stage + Another TieBreaker [ASL21] Ro8 Day 4 Escore Tournament StarCraft Season 2
Strategy
Muta micro map competition Fighting Spirit mining rates [G] Hydra ZvZ: An Introduction Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
ZeroSpace Megathread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread War of Dots, 2026 minimalst RTS Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Nintendo Switch Thread
Dota 2
The Story of Wings Gaming
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 TL Mafia Community Thread Five o'clock TL Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread YouTube Thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread UK Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread McBoner: A hockey love story Formula 1 Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
streaming software Strange computer issues (software) [G] How to Block Livestream Ads
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Why RTS gamers make better f…
gosubay
How EEG Data Can Predict Gam…
TrAiDoS
ramps on octagon
StaticNine
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1556 users

Phoenix heavy PvP replay pack

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
Post a Reply
1 2 3 Next All
Alejandrisha
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States6565 Posts
March 19 2012 03:51 GMT
#1
hey guys here are my PvP ladder games since the 21st of feb

http://drop.sc/packs/681

I've been working hard on the sg builds. Early robo after SG might be better against some things, but I have found a fast forge, usually after 1 phoenix, is quite good as well. One cannon is very strong against blink + robo off of one base in that the detection range is absurd, and cannons are pretty good against stalkers. Here is the build that I've been having the most success with recently:

9 pylon
12 gate
14 gas
15 pylon
17 core
18 zealot
20/21 gas
22 stalker
22 WG research (3 CB minimum; 4 vs. aggression)
24/25 pylon
25 stalker (cb)
29 2nd gate or sg
29 sentry
31 2nd gate or sg
~ forge after 1st phoenix

It seems to be good against everything except blink expands that play very passively-- against expansions, you can almost always kill enough probes to compensate for your later expansion. When your opponent plays defensively on 2 bases with a fast blink, this is almost impossible; you should theoretically always be behind going into the mid game

While the forge prevents you from putting on any SG 3-4 gate pressure, you will be safe from everything off of 1 base, besides WP 4gates if you don't see them coming in time. It should beat DT builds, but after the DTs can't get in, you need to prepare for an archon follow-up so make sure you are checking their nat for an expansion, or looking for units on the map.

Off of 2 bases all you need to worry about is a handful of robo+blink timings that hit very quickly after going up to 6+ gates, with some immortals or a colossus. you need to scout their infrastructure on 2 bases even if you have to sacrifice a phoenix and add additional gates/robo units accordingly.

Feel free to comment/ask questions!


get rich or die mining
TL+ Member
CecilSunkure
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
United States2829 Posts
March 19 2012 03:59 GMT
#2
Oh so sick. I've never really gotten into the Phoenix thing for PvP. Ganna check em out and see what's up. Thanks Alej.

How do you usually do vs really fast 1 base blink allin? I usually can kill players that get a SG with a fast Blink + 3 Gate allin.
Alejandrisha
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States6565 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-03-19 04:02:16
March 19 2012 04:01 GMT
#3
On March 19 2012 12:59 CecilSunkure wrote:
Oh so sick. I've never really gotten into the Phoenix thing for PvP. Ganna check em out and see what's up. Thanks Alej.

How do you usually do vs really fast 1 base blink allin? I usually can kill players that get a SG with a fast Blink + 3 Gate allin.

i just forcefield the bottom of the ramp until I can engage it :D
of course, if i don't see it coming, i just die immediately see the vines game tt
get rich or die mining
TL+ Member
bloodorc44
Profile Joined January 2011
United States31 Posts
March 19 2012 04:37 GMT
#4
Ah yes! Really been struggling with my PvP lately (only diamond :/ ). Is the 2nd gas early enough to prevent a gas steal? How would you deal with that?
Alejandrisha
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States6565 Posts
March 19 2012 04:39 GMT
#5
On March 19 2012 13:37 bloodorc44 wrote:
Ah yes! Really been struggling with my PvP lately (only diamond :/ ). Is the 2nd gas early enough to prevent a gas steal? How would you deal with that?

it's not at 18 so there is the potential for a steal. you can't always block the gas steal because even if you put a probe on it, they can steal it by building it when the geyser is out of vision. if you do get it stolen, try to steal theirs. if i can steal there's i continue but just get the sg slightly later. if i cannot, i do some light WG pressure off of 3 gates but don't commit so hard to it. feel free to snag it a little bit earlier if you are worried about gas steal. i haven't played out a lot of games where i get my gas stolen so i don't really have a whole lot to say on the matter sorry!
get rich or die mining
TL+ Member
bloodorc44
Profile Joined January 2011
United States31 Posts
March 19 2012 04:54 GMT
#6
On March 19 2012 13:39 Alejandrisha wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 19 2012 13:37 bloodorc44 wrote:
Ah yes! Really been struggling with my PvP lately (only diamond :/ ). Is the 2nd gas early enough to prevent a gas steal? How would you deal with that?

it's not at 18 so there is the potential for a steal. you can't always block the gas steal because even if you put a probe on it, they can steal it by building it when the geyser is out of vision. if you do get it stolen, try to steal theirs. if i can steal there's i continue but just get the sg slightly later. if i cannot, i do some light WG pressure off of 3 gates but don't commit so hard to it. feel free to snag it a little bit earlier if you are worried about gas steal. i haven't played out a lot of games where i get my gas stolen so i don't really have a whole lot to say on the matter sorry!


Thanks! And I never knew you could do that with a gas steal haha
Janders
Profile Joined June 2011
Mexico222 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-03-19 06:26:13
March 19 2012 05:54 GMT
#7
Do you think the forge is worth it/necessary? i go phoenixes in every PvP and i dont have any trouble defending with just 2-3 sentries and a robo after 4 phonixes i dont feel like theres a need for detection until you have DTs knocking at your ramp, you can have your units on hold position and ff if you see they are getting attacked by nothing and ff until you have detection.
On a side note any 1 base blink feels like auto loss for me but what i like about phoenixes is that it feels like auto win or a build order advantage vs a lot of stuff.
:D
Gamma4
Profile Joined March 2011
Australia75 Posts
March 19 2012 07:20 GMT
#8
anywhere i can find to improve my pheonix micro i feel like i leave them unattended sometimes and lose for no reason. like when you pick up worker and many pheonix arnt attacking. any maps?
Just Huking around ;)
Alejandrisha
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States6565 Posts
March 19 2012 07:29 GMT
#9
On March 19 2012 16:20 Gamma4 wrote:
anywhere i can find to improve my pheonix micro i feel like i leave them unattended sometimes and lose for no reason. like when you pick up worker and many pheonix arnt attacking. any maps?

when you're using lift make sure you're also spam right clicking the the dot under your phoenixes so they group up. you'll always need to be using phoenixes to check expansion timings, tech choices/switches and move-outs. once you have gotten yourself some map control, take a tower with a probe. there's nothing worse than confirming no expansion---and then bam 10 stalkers blink up your ramp
get rich or die mining
TL+ Member
moQbara
Profile Blog Joined January 2012
Romania76 Posts
March 19 2012 10:59 GMT
#10
Neat, I was hoping one of you guys came up with some pheonix play, as I am trying something similar but don't really have a point of reference :-).

First things first: I'm only plat, so I do realize there are other issues besides "strategy".

However, here it goes:

In the PvP build I try, I also use Phoenix play, only a lot more aggressive. The opening is quite similar, in that I get gate-core-sg-gate. However, I am trying to:

- have three stalkers as first gw units
- chrono up to 5 phoenixes
- add third gw when I can afford it
- pump as many stalkers as gas allows considering constant phoenix production + zealots for the rest of my production cycles.

After getting 4-6 phoenixes, move out. If the opponent attacks before this timing, defend accordingly.

The actual key points in what I try to do are:
- either attack a defending opponent or defend an early push with minimal losses;
- depending on the first engagement, go for the kill or take natural;

Basically it all comes down to the first engagement. Usually (and this has worked so far in EVERY game I tried it, unless I horribly missmicroed), I lift his key units: immortals / sentries / stalkers. Once these are up in the air, I have superior numbers of stalkers. While 3-4 units are in the air, the remaining phoenixes shoot / the ground army clears whatever is left on the ground.

Going back to your replays, Alej, in #136025 you put a lot of minerals into forge and cannons. My questions for you are:

- do you think 3 gates + stargate could handle the 4 gate pressure (considering you manage to engage him since the first wave of warpins so still hold his numbers low)?
- don't you feel like its' too much of an investment forge + 2 cannons at that point in the game? I feel like if he would've defended better (sent 4 stalkers back into his base to keep your phoenixes away) he could've contained you 1 base, expanded and gained a big advantage from then on.

Thanks for your time.

PS: I just cleared the entire replay directory when I looked at yours. I assume I could provide replays of my phoenix play tomorrow, if needed, although it's a bit painfull to watch .
I am a noob
Rectifyy
Profile Joined February 2012
New Zealand19 Posts
March 19 2012 11:10 GMT
#11
seems strong, i reckon it could really work against any race if you ask me. From what i know, it takes 6-7 phoenixes to lock down an expansion in terms of workers produced vs recharge of phoenix energy, so cutting off half their income with a critical mass of 6-7 phoenix is just... well, you do the math . Once the initial harass is over, I'd say use the phoenixes for either helping to kill colossus, or lifting off 6-7 stalkers in a large engagement. If you choose the shooting the colossus bit, I'd recommend getting air weapons before a big engagement occurs. Just remember to keep them alive!
Fossa
Profile Joined July 2011
United States67 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-03-19 12:48:44
March 19 2012 12:45 GMT
#12
I like to get a robo instead of a forge. It lets you make immortals vs blink stalkers (and you can lift up their immortals with phoenix). Then you can also get an observer for dts, and snipe theirs. I often try to expand and get a forge and twilight, for +1, charge, and eventually archons.

I always scout and harass with 2 phoenix, since you'll be able to see his tech decisions. Usually I won't add a 3rd gate right away, unless my opponent puts on a lot of aggression.

You can hold off 4 gate simply by making sentries. Once successfully defended, you'll have a tech advantage over your opponent.

You can usually all-in one base colossus and fast expands by adding on another gate.
Jek
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
Denmark2771 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-03-19 12:54:42
March 19 2012 12:53 GMT
#13
Edit: wrong thread, sorry.
It's Elo not ELO - Every statiscian playing League
Nyast
Profile Joined November 2010
Belgium554 Posts
March 19 2012 13:27 GMT
#14
How do you handle agressive 4 gate, with 2 pylons starting off your ramp around 5'15 ? Do you simply not drop the stargate and go for a faster second gate and chrono stalkers ( like in the 3 stalkers rush ) ?
Fossa
Profile Joined July 2011
United States67 Posts
March 19 2012 14:15 GMT
#15
to defend 4 gate you can still get the stargate, but just make sentries out of your gateways. as long as his units don't make it up the ramp you should be fine.
BronzeKnee
Profile Joined March 2011
United States5219 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-03-19 14:19:40
March 19 2012 14:17 GMT
#16
On March 19 2012 19:59 moQbara wrote:
Neat, I was hoping one of you guys came up with some pheonix play, as I am trying something similar but don't really have a point of reference :-).

First things first: I'm only plat, so I do realize there are other issues besides "strategy".

However, here it goes:

In the PvP build I try, I also use Phoenix play, only a lot more aggressive. The opening is quite similar, in that I get gate-core-sg-gate. However, I am trying to:

- have three stalkers as first gw units
- chrono up to 5 phoenixes
- add third gw when I can afford it
- pump as many stalkers as gas allows considering constant phoenix production + zealots for the rest of my production cycles.

After getting 4-6 phoenixes, move out. If the opponent attacks before this timing, defend accordingly.

The actual key points in what I try to do are:
- either attack a defending opponent or defend an early push with minimal losses;
- depending on the first engagement, go for the kill or take natural;

Basically it all comes down to the first engagement. Usually (and this has worked so far in EVERY game I tried it, unless I horribly missmicroed), I lift his key units: immortals / sentries / stalkers. Once these are up in the air, I have superior numbers of stalkers. While 3-4 units are in the air, the remaining phoenixes shoot / the ground army clears whatever is left on the ground.

Going back to your replays, Alej, in #136025 you put a lot of minerals into forge and cannons. My questions for you are:

- do you think 3 gates + stargate could handle the 4 gate pressure (considering you manage to engage him since the first wave of warpins so still hold his numbers low)?
- don't you feel like its' too much of an investment forge + 2 cannons at that point in the game? I feel like if he would've defended better (sent 4 stalkers back into his base to keep your phoenixes away) he could've contained you 1 base, expanded and gained a big advantage from then on.

Thanks for your time.

PS: I just cleared the entire replay directory when I looked at yours. I assume I could provide replays of my phoenix play tomorrow, if needed, although it's a bit painfull to watch .


Doesn't your build here just straight up die to DT openers though? I'm pretty sure that the reasoning for the Cannons, along with the ability to spot Observers to help against Blink play.
Nyast
Profile Joined November 2010
Belgium554 Posts
March 19 2012 14:25 GMT
#17
On March 19 2012 23:15 Fossa wrote:
to defend 4 gate you can still get the stargate, but just make sentries out of your gateways. as long as his units don't make it up the ramp you should be fine.


Even making a sentry as your third and fourth units, chrono boosted, you won't have enough force-fields until your warp is done. I don't believe you can hold if you drop a stargate and go for a stalker as your second unit.. can you post a replay ?
Teoita
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Italy12246 Posts
March 19 2012 14:28 GMT
#18
On March 19 2012 23:25 Nyast wrote:
Show nested quote +
On March 19 2012 23:15 Fossa wrote:
to defend 4 gate you can still get the stargate, but just make sentries out of your gateways. as long as his units don't make it up the ramp you should be fine.


Even making a sentry as your third and fourth units, chrono boosted, you won't have enough force-fields until your warp is done. I don't believe you can hold if you drop a stargate and go for a stalker as your second unit.. can you post a replay ?


http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=302117
ModeratorProtoss all-ins are like a wok. You can throw whatever you want in there and it will turn out alright.
moQbara
Profile Blog Joined January 2012
Romania76 Posts
March 19 2012 15:26 GMT
#19
On March 19 2012 23:17 BronzeKnee wrote:
Doesn't your build here just straight up die to DT openers though? I'm pretty sure that the reasoning for the Cannons, along with the ability to spot Observers to help against Blink play.

Although never faced a DT opener, I think DTs arrive quite late and are easily scoutable. You have your probe in their base up until the first stalker comes out and then poke around with your own stalkers. Depending on the sentry / stalker count you can pretty much tell if there's any chance for a DT rush and react based on that info.
Cannons vs observers aren't great since you cannot cover the entire edge of your base with cannos.
I am a noob
RaiD.RaynoR
Profile Joined February 2012
United States294 Posts
March 19 2012 15:34 GMT
#20
is it wrong that I go 1 base double forge with 3 gate push? I win 65 percent of my pvps this way in masters.
Redemption is the consequence of forgiveness
1 2 3 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Wardi Open
11:00
#87
IntoTheiNu 1255
WardiTV870
OGKoka 512
Rex136
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
OGKoka 512
sc2solar 224
Rex 136
ProTech122
StarCraft: Brood War
Sea 9370
Bisu 2735
Horang2 1626
Jaedong 1281
EffOrt 604
Mini 583
Hyuk 429
ggaemo 409
Soulkey 315
BeSt 302
[ Show more ]
Light 277
firebathero 220
Rush 204
Snow 143
Mong 138
Pusan 133
Zeus 110
ToSsGirL 109
Hyun 108
hero 74
Sharp 59
ZerO 56
Backho 54
[sc1f]eonzerg 50
Aegong 42
NaDa 39
scan(afreeca) 38
Sexy 38
Barracks 30
Movie 27
soO 23
Sacsri 21
GoRush 21
910 21
sorry 16
zelot 11
Noble 11
Terrorterran 9
Rock 2
Dota 2
Gorgc7054
XcaliburYe99
Counter-Strike
olofmeister2782
zeus564
byalli504
allub281
markeloff162
Other Games
singsing2267
B2W.Neo1309
hiko484
Lowko348
Happy245
crisheroes232
Pyrionflax231
monkeys_forever104
ZerO(Twitch)16
Organizations
Counter-Strike
PGL1348
StarCraft: Brood War
UltimateBattle 1118
lovetv 5
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 13 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• Michael_bg 1
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Nemesis5969
Other Games
• WagamamaTV283
Upcoming Events
Monday Night Weeklies
2h 52m
Replay Cast
10h 52m
The PondCast
20h 52m
Kung Fu Cup
21h 52m
GSL
1d 20h
Cure vs sOs
SHIN vs ByuN
Replay Cast
2 days
GSL
2 days
Classic vs Solar
GuMiho vs Zoun
WardiTV Spring Champion…
2 days
Replay Cast
3 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
3 days
[ Show More ]
WardiTV Spring Champion…
3 days
Replay Cast
4 days
RSL Revival
4 days
Classic vs SHIN
Rogue vs Bunny
BSL
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Afreeca Starleague
5 days
Flash vs Soma
RSL Revival
5 days
BSL
6 days
Patches Events
6 days
Universe Titan Cup
6 days
Rogue vs Percival
Wardi Open
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Escore Tournament S2: W7
2026 GSL S1
Nations Cup 2026

Ongoing

BSL Season 22
ASL Season 21
IPSL Spring 2026
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 2
Acropolis #4
KK 2v2 League Season 1
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
YSL S3
SCTL 2026 Spring
RSL Revival: Season 5
Heroes Pulsing #1
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S2: W8
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
Maestros of the Game 2
WardiTV Spring 2026
2026 GSL S2
Bounty Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 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.