• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 09:41
CEST 15:41
KST 22:41
  • 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
Weekly Cups (May 11-17): Classic wins double0Code S Season 1 (2026) - RO8 Results2Weekly Cups (May 4-10): Clem, MaxPax, herO win1Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule !16Weekly Cups (April 27-May 4): Clem takes triple0
StarCraft 2
General
Weekly Cups (May 11-17): Classic wins double 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
Tourneys
$1,400 SEL Season 3 Ladder Invitational GSL Code S Season 2 (2026) GSL Code S Season 1 (2026) $5,000 WardiTV Spring Championship 2026 Maestros of The Game 2 announcement and schedule !
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
Lights Ro.8 Review (asl s21) 25 Years Since Brood War Patch 1.08 BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion vespene.gg — BW replays in browser
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
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne ZeroSpace Megathread War of Dots, 2026 minimalst RTS 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: 1669 users

[G] MVPTAiLS' Safe Stargate Build (PvP) - Page 3

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 Next All
Xaeldaren
Profile Joined June 2010
Ireland588 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-11-15 01:58:01
November 15 2012 01:14 GMT
#41
One of the most frustrating things I've encountered with this build (and HerO's) is a Protoss who simply scouts around your main constantly, looking for tech, since you can't deny it with a Zealot and even doing so with a Sentry takes longer than I'd like.

Is it worth it to simply put down the Stargate at the normal time knowing they'll see it or delay it till the Probe leaves (as I've done) but putting yourself behind significantly it seems.
RemarK
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
United States452 Posts
November 15 2012 02:30 GMT
#42
On November 15 2012 10:14 Xaeldaren wrote:
One of the most frustrating things I've encountered with this build (and HerO's) is a Protoss who simply scouts around your main constantly, looking for tech, since you can't deny it with a Zealot and even doing so with a Sentry takes longer than I'd like.

Is it worth it to simply put down the Stargate at the normal time knowing they'll see it or delay it till the Probe leaves (as I've done) but putting yourself behind significantly it seems.


Generally, people leave your base shortly after seeing you Chrono your gateway as a Stalker could be coming out to chase your probes. A really good player will know the time difference for a Stalker / Sentry and stick around until they see your Sentry pop but regardless, your Sentry will pop about 20-30 gas sooner than you have the 150 gas needed to put down the Stargate. You should be able to chase his probe out fast enough with the Sentry to put the Stargate down, if he's really annoying he might sacrifice the probe in which case it's better to delay the Stargate until it's dead.

I would just practice your micro with Zealot / Sentry to chase away probes - he shouldn't have an easy time going in circles in your base and as you get better at catching probes, you'll find it easier to get the Stargate down immediately without his scout being in your base.
I <3 StarCraft.
brofestor
Profile Joined October 2012
Singapore101 Posts
November 15 2012 06:07 GMT
#43
On November 15 2012 11:30 RemarK wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 15 2012 10:14 Xaeldaren wrote:
One of the most frustrating things I've encountered with this build (and HerO's) is a Protoss who simply scouts around your main constantly, looking for tech, since you can't deny it with a Zealot and even doing so with a Sentry takes longer than I'd like.

Is it worth it to simply put down the Stargate at the normal time knowing they'll see it or delay it till the Probe leaves (as I've done) but putting yourself behind significantly it seems.


Generally, people leave your base shortly after seeing you Chrono your gateway as a Stalker could be coming out to chase your probes. A really good player will know the time difference for a Stalker / Sentry and stick around until they see your Sentry pop but regardless, your Sentry will pop about 20-30 gas sooner than you have the 150 gas needed to put down the Stargate. You should be able to chase his probe out fast enough with the Sentry to put the Stargate down, if he's really annoying he might sacrifice the probe in which case it's better to delay the Stargate until it's dead.

I would just practice your micro with Zealot / Sentry to chase away probes - he shouldn't have an easy time going in circles in your base and as you get better at catching probes, you'll find it easier to get the Stargate down immediately without his scout being in your base.


usual thing that they shld see coming out is a stalker but they may know you are going for this style of play (esp. if they are familar with this build as well) when they see a sentry instead...and its not that hard to micro your probe away from zealot until the sentry pops
RemarK
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
United States452 Posts
November 15 2012 06:42 GMT
#44
On November 15 2012 15:07 brofestor wrote:
usual thing that they shld see coming out is a stalker but they may know you are going for this style of play (esp. if they are familar with this build as well) when they see a sentry instead...and its not that hard to micro your probe away from zealot until the sentry pops


the good thing about that is zealot sentry zealot can go into DT expand, 4-gate DT bust, or turtle-y Robo play just as easily as it can go into stargate they shouldn't be able to pin you on a Stargate build unless they either have outside information on you (i.e. have played you enough times to know that you like going Stargate) or they see the Stargate itself.
I <3 StarCraft.
city42
Profile Joined October 2007
1656 Posts
November 16 2012 04:11 GMT
#45
On November 14 2012 17:29 RemarK wrote:
Show nested quote +
On November 13 2012 20:07 Bahamuth wrote:
On November 13 2012 16:34 RemarK wrote:
On November 13 2012 15:51 Kaitokid wrote:
While this build is safe against early pressure its bad vs early non robo expands and vs greedier phoenix builds. Which means its not "safe" in general.


It's actually fine against any non-robo expand - you just expand yourself, your expo will be delayed but you're ahead in tech so it evens out. He'll have trouble defending two mineral lines with a FE until blink is done, and he can't move out to attack you until he can leave 3 stalkers at both mineral lines.

And about greedier phoenix builds, the only way to have a greedier phoenix build is skipping the sentry and going for an immediate Stargate after the core finishes - which, if you read the guide fully, you'd see is mentioned as an option when you scout double gas by your opponent.



Why would the 4 gate attack not work against non-robo expands?


It can work - however, it's a little bit tougher. Because they aren't investing resources in a robo, they have faster 3rd / 4th gateways, more units, and sometimes even get a forge / cannons. I think going for that all-in against a non-robo expand wouldn't be the best choice just because you can enter a macro game very comfortably behind Phoenix harass (which is also more fun than all-in'ing).

Show nested quote +
On November 13 2012 23:41 Aelfric wrote:
I guess the hardest thing with this build would be to hold proper 4 gate or blink obs all in. Especially the 4 gate where sentry count timings are strict.


4-gate blink obs and 4-gate DT busts are the hardest thing to hold off with this build. A standard 12-gate 4-gate is actually really easy to hold off, assuming you don't mess up forcefielding your ramp. The whole point of going zealot --> sentry --> zealot --> sentry is that it makes you 100% safe against 4-gate all-in and 3-gate pressures.

Do you have replays of this build holding off the 5:20 warpin 3 gate? I'm having a hard time understanding how it's 100% safe.
bertu
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
Brazil871 Posts
November 18 2012 07:29 GMT
#46
On November 13 2012 20:14 moskonia wrote:

Another cool thing to do if you ever reach a 2base vs 2base situation is to get the +2 range upgrade, that way you can actually kite him! (even though it takes exceptional micro), that could be a funny situation


This just happened at BWC : )

+ Show Spoiler +

Rain x Creator, semifinals, game 4
http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/7896860/
SEKO SEKO SEKO
Mozzery
Profile Joined January 2012
United States140 Posts
November 18 2012 08:02 GMT
#47
What would you do if your opponent did a 4 gate stargate attack all in? Seems like they'd lift your sentries and just have more stuff to attack with. I just watched Elfi use a 4 gate stargate against a different stargate opening, (could've been this) against Welmu on ladder and he just had more stuff and won with it. Would you change the build up if you suspected something crazy like that?
Proponent of team liquid word filtering imbalanced to "at an unacceptable level of racial balance/game design"
thejamster
Profile Joined December 2010
Canada71 Posts
November 18 2012 08:41 GMT
#48
Nice, I've been looking for a stargate build for quite a while now. Thanks a bunch :D
deadmau
Profile Joined September 2010
960 Posts
November 22 2012 07:41 GMT
#49
I may be wrong, but I think Naniwa used this in Nasl, stomping OZ blink build. Anyone know for sure?
RemarK
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
United States452 Posts
November 23 2012 10:07 GMT
#50
On November 22 2012 16:41 deadmau wrote:
I may be wrong, but I think Naniwa used this in Nasl, stomping OZ blink build. Anyone know for sure?


I didn't see the games, but based on what I heard and the game description, he might have been using HerO's build - it's very similar but goes into 2 gates with a fast robotics behind the stargate.
I <3 StarCraft.
Protossking
Profile Joined February 2012
Australia103 Posts
November 23 2012 13:17 GMT
#51
I would recommend from experience in stargate mirror that you should just go and kill him straight away if he's going for a nexus, he shouldn't be able to hold, it doesn't matter that you're +1 armour hasnt finished.

The reason for this is that some people go into forge and defensive cannons at their expansion, and if they do you have to hit before the cannons get up. Anyways you might want to edit this into your OP (or not) or at least include how scouting a forge can change the situation.

-Pezz
Bahamuth
Profile Joined September 2011
134 Posts
November 24 2012 11:40 GMT
#52
So if +1 armor is better than +1 weapons, then why is everyone at Dreamhack and IEM getting +1 weapons all the time?
RemarK
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
United States452 Posts
November 25 2012 01:06 GMT
#53
On November 24 2012 20:40 Bahamuth wrote:
So if +1 armor is better than +1 weapons, then why is everyone at Dreamhack and IEM getting +1 weapons all the time?


Probably a combination of it being cheaper and them not knowing any better. Alternatively, if it's getting to the stage where +2 upgrades come into play, then obviously you need to get +1 just to unlock that next tier.

I'm running a test right now, again, to indicate how little an impact it has in phoenix battles of any scale.

25 Phoenix vs 25 Phoenix, arranged identically and a-moved:

Round 1: +1 attack phoenix wins against 0-0 phoenix with 1 phoenix, 9hp surviving (one shot away from death)

Round 2: +1 attack wins with 4 phoenix left over

Round 3: 0-0 phoenix win with 5 left over.

Round 4: 0-0 phoenix win with 2 left over.

Round 5: +1 attack phoenix win with 4 left over.

As you can see, it's fairly random who wins, and by what margin.

Mathematically, there is no advantage to having +1 air attack versus unupgraded phoenix. It takes the exact same number of shots to kill a Phoenix with or without +1 air attack.

+1 armor will give you an edge against an un-upgraded Phoenix. Hence, why I recommend getting it first in this guide as it's the only thing that makes an immediate difference. +1 attack is nice to have against someone who has the armor upgrade, once you have your own armor upgrade done though (I think anyways).

I <3 StarCraft.
RemarK
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
United States452 Posts
November 25 2012 01:10 GMT
#54
As an expansion on my previous post, 25 +1 armor Phoenixes consistently beat 25 unupgraded phoenixes with 4-5 leftover each time.

On November 23 2012 22:17 Protossking wrote:
I would recommend from experience in stargate mirror that you should just go and kill him straight away if he's going for a nexus, he shouldn't be able to hold, it doesn't matter that you're +1 armour hasnt finished.

The reason for this is that some people go into forge and defensive cannons at their expansion, and if they do you have to hit before the cannons get up. Anyways you might want to edit this into your OP (or not) or at least include how scouting a forge can change the situation.

-Pezz


Good point, I'll add a warning that you need to watch out for forge / cannons to defend a natural expansion and that it can be better to hit faster.
I <3 StarCraft.
Eifer
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States138 Posts
November 25 2012 02:24 GMT
#55
But following the fight between phoenixes, +1 air attack phoenixes would fare much better against the ground units remaining? But then if you get +1 air attack you might not win the air battle as convincingly so you'd have less phoenixes to attack the ground units with. Tricky call
bertu
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
Brazil871 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-11-25 02:45:39
November 25 2012 02:41 GMT
#56
On November 25 2012 11:24 Eifer wrote:
But following the fight between phoenixes, +1 air attack phoenixes would fare much better against the ground units remaining? But then if you get +1 air attack you might not win the air battle as convincingly so you'd have less phoenixes to attack the ground units with. Tricky call


I don't think that's much of a factor, honestly, getting a bit more damage on the units you are lifting isn't very relevant. The advantages of +1 attack is that it leads to +2 and nullifies +1 armor by costing less money (according to math provided somewhere in this thread, I haven't checked), but if I were to guess why pros always get it is just that this haven't been explored enough since phoenix battles are so weird. Another hypothesis is that +1 attack makes a difference when guardian shield in involved, and pros just assume that this will likely be the case in a game.
SEKO SEKO SEKO
MysteryHours
Profile Joined September 2010
United States168 Posts
November 27 2012 05:14 GMT
#57
How should I react if my first Phoenix sees 3 gates and a Robo with no expansion?
RemarK
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
United States452 Posts
November 27 2012 09:08 GMT
#58
On November 27 2012 14:14 MysteryHours wrote:
How should I react if my first Phoenix sees 3 gates and a Robo with no expansion?


I think you can just pump Phoenix constantly, and play reactively. If he eventually expands with lots of stalker sentry, you can just expand yourself and start teching to robo and enter a standard game. If he stays on 1-base for a really long time, you can expand and start adding on more sentries and either a forge + 4th gateway or robo + 4th gateway to secure your expansion. You want to keep tabs on what units he's making, but if you make Phoenix constantly, he won't be able to defend his main base without leaving lots of stalkers behind, so you either kill all his probes and defend his all-in or you crush his army because he has lots of stalkers in his main base.
I <3 StarCraft.
coldSnaH
Profile Joined June 2012
50 Posts
December 01 2012 21:25 GMT
#59
Question, if you find proxy gate with gas scout what is correct response?
RemarK
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
United States452 Posts
December 01 2012 22:13 GMT
#60
On December 02 2012 06:25 coldSnaH wrote:
Question, if you find proxy gate with gas scout what is correct response?


Different people have different strategies - its usually either add 2nd gateway and pull some probes to make up for his slightly faster Zealots or get a Forge and use cannons to secure yourself while teching to core. The first can be risky against people with competent micro, the second is risky against people who transition into a 2-gate stalker rush if there are any holes in your cannon coverage.
I <3 StarCraft.
Prev 1 2 3 4 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Kung Fu Cup
11:00
#8
IntoTheiNu 708
WardiTV669
RotterdaM544
Rex146
SteadfastSC125
CosmosSc2 51
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Ryung 978
RotterdaM 544
Rex 146
SteadfastSC 125
CosmosSc2 51
StarCraft: Brood War
Bisu 2850
Horang2 1700
Jaedong 1348
EffOrt 752
BeSt 607
Mini 463
firebathero 419
actioN 416
ggaemo 385
Light 288
[ Show more ]
Soulkey 286
ZerO 215
Hyuk 135
Rush 126
Mind 116
ToSsGirL 90
Mong 89
Sharp 59
Hyun 55
Aegong 51
Barracks 27
soO 24
Sexy 22
910 21
Movie 20
JulyZerg 17
Rock 15
sorry 14
Terrorterran 10
ajuk12(nOOB) 9
HiyA 8
Icarus 7
Dota 2
Gorgc7685
Dendi743
XcaliburYe168
Counter-Strike
olofmeister2163
allub236
markeloff125
adren_tv23
Heroes of the Storm
Trikslyr29
Other Games
singsing2373
B2W.Neo718
hiko641
Happy309
Lowko299
crisheroes265
DeMusliM215
Pyrionflax135
Liquid`VortiX100
QueenE48
Liquid`LucifroN45
ZerO(Twitch)14
Organizations
Counter-Strike
PGL916
StarCraft: Brood War
lovetv 18
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
• HerbMon 8
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Nemesis4375
Other Games
• Shiphtur96
Upcoming Events
WardiTV Qualifier
19m
GSL
19h 49m
Cure vs sOs
SHIN vs ByuN
Replay Cast
1d 10h
GSL
1d 19h
Classic vs Solar
GuMiho vs Zoun
WardiTV Spring Champion…
1d 21h
Replay Cast
2 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
WardiTV Spring Champion…
2 days
Replay Cast
3 days
RSL Revival
3 days
Classic vs SHIN
Rogue vs Bunny
[ Show More ]
BSL
4 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Afreeca Starleague
4 days
Flash vs Soma
RSL Revival
4 days
BSL
5 days
Patches Events
5 days
Universe Titan Cup
5 days
Rogue vs Percival
Wardi Open
5 days
Monday Night Weeklies
6 days
Replay Cast
6 days
The PondCast
6 days
Kung Fu Cup
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
CSCL: Masked Kings S4
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.