The Magic Johnson, or the the Triple Double, is a 2-base all-in that sets sail with two colossi and two immortals in addition to seven warpgates worth of units to bolster. While it is true that two base colossus pushes were all but dead at the dusk of Wings of Liberty, the shifting ZvP metagame has exposed a hole for this massive peg to penetrate.

The term metagame, in this case, refers to a set of assumptions, a basis for how we open and how we expect our opponents to open. When we cannot gather information explicitly, we must fall back on what we assume our opponent “should” do in a given situation. Towards the end of Wings, 12 minute +1 roach maxes to pressure Protoss's third received a lot of play. With proper forcefields, three immortals among a snowball of warpgate units could whittle away and then smash through an endless barrage of ling/roach; and thus, the go-to 2-base all-in for Protoss was the Soul Train. Enter HotS. Protoss players now have access to the new void ray and to the mothership core's photon overcharge. These two abilities allow for considerably easier defense against roach heavy aggression. On the other hand, hydralisks are not the dead-end they once were: Hydra speed and the viper tech enable Zergs to use hydralisks to defend against all-ins, transitioning then into an aggressive yet expansion-heavy mid-game without fearing the three-base +3 three colossus pushes of old. It is, therefore, no surprise why Parting's iteration of the immortal push has fallen out of fashion.

In short, the ZvP metagame has shifted from using roaches to defend against all-ins to using ling/hydra to achieve the same feat, while transitioning into a strong mid-game of ling/hydra/swarm host/viper/ultra with an emphasis on a fast hive as well as melee and carapace upgrades.

The Magic Johnson is designed to do critical damage while Zerg is still on ling/hydra, before he can transition into said strong mid-game.

This guide includes 2 build orders. The first opens with phoenixes to kill off scouting Overlords, thus preventing convenient overseer scouting. These phoenix also serve to pick off drones that venture too far from spore crawlers, delaying the Zerg's production, and keeping him in the dark. Phoenix openers also tend to lull Zerg into a state of relaxed droning, as these Protoss builds typically transition into a third base. The second the overlords die, Protoss cuts right to the chase, pumping out robotics units as quickly as possible for the earliest move-out timing. Another important difference between the two builds include sentry and forcefield count, as the stargate opener will have less gas available to invest in early sentries, resulting in less energy in the final key fight.

With Stargate

Notes

• Use your first stalker to deny overlord scouting.
  
• Use your initial gateway units to check for zerglings at your third after clearing overlords, so that Zerg must invest more in scouting to figure out whether you are 2-basing.
  
• Immediately use phoenixes to clear overlords and deny scouting rather than hiding them
  
• Before moving out, warp in your sentries first as gas allows. Zealots and stalkers have the same utility no matter when they are warped in; only sentries need time to gain energy. Aim to have 8 sentries by the time you engage.

Without Stargate

Notes

• Use your first stalker to deny overlord scouting.
  
• Use your initial gateway units to check for zerglings at your third after clearing overlords, so that Zerg must invest more in scouting to figure out whether you are 2-basing.
  
• Before moving out, warp in your sentries first as gas allows. Zealots and stalkers have the same utility no matter when they are warped in; only sentries need time to gain energy. Aim to have 8 sentries by the time you engage.

Much like the Soul Train, the Magic Johnson excels in small chokes to maximize the utility of sentries and to minimize the Zerg's concave. With the three immortal Soul Train, sentries are used to section off small portions of the roach army, or even forcefield every roach away from the Protoss army. When playing the Triple Double, you should use forcefields more aggressively, preventing the retreat of ling/hydra from your powerful colossi. It is also important to note that you have to end the game even faster than with the Soul Train because Zerg can easily defend if he is able to get up to mass roach/corruptor and win with sheer numbers.

Zergs generally want to use hydralisks for safety because they transition more strongly into the mid-game. Roaches are stronger against this push, but weaker against just about every other one, and also not as good to pressure a third base thanks to void rays and photon overcharge. Even if the Zerg scouts the robotics, he cannot assume that investing in roaches is appropriate unless he knows for sure you are not taking a 3rd, and that you are in fact going for 2 base colossus. So while the stargate opener hits later, the scouting information that it denies can make your push even stronger.

As with other PvZ all-ins, if Zerg scouts your quick colossus tech, they can formulate a strong response. Pure roach play or circumventing the push entirely with spire tech for mass mutalisks have proven adequate answers thus far. Even though this build includes two immortals, roaches are stronger against it than they were against the Soul Train because the Protoss doesn't have infinite sentries, and sheer numbers of units can clean up the all-in. This is particularly true for cheap roaches, which are easily massable against such a delayed push.

Flying vs Roro on DF Atlas Set 2. From WCS Korea
In this game, RorO tries to respond to a fast, stargate-less colossus all-in with a roach/hydra/ling force, trying to overwhelm the Protoss with sheer numbers. However, he doesn't engage perfectly and loses a few units unnecessarily, and eventually he is forced to gg as the colossi remain untouchable. Timing hits at 10:30.

Squirtle vs ALBM on Bel'Shir Vestige Set 2. From WCS Korea
This game shows the problem with getting corruptors against the 2base allin version, even the slower one off stargate: spire tech is so expensive the zerg sacrifices a huge chunk of his ground army, so he is unable to clean up the stalker/immortal force of Squirtle after taking down the two colossi. Timing hits at 12:30.

Classic vs Zero on Neo Planet S from Proleague.
Stargate variant of the build, and as a result Zero plays too greedy taking a fourth and overdroning (making up to 72!), which forces into a base trade as he can't fight the Protoss army straight up. From there, the game somehow normalizes. Timing hits at 12:00.

Hellokitty vs EGSuppy on Bel'Shire Vestige from WCS NA.
Robo variant, but only gets one immortal and then an observer while also adding a warp prism later on; he is able to overwhelm a roach/hydra/ling defense thanks to great forcefields and warp prism micro. Timing hits at 11:00.

Avenge vs Hydra on Akilon Wastes Set 2. From WCS Korea.
Robo variant, Hydra is able to identify the build and correctly go roaches but Avenge wins by abusing Akilon's rocks. The corruptors prove too big of an investment, and the stalker/immortal army eventually wins the fight on the ground. Timing hits at 11:30.

Trap vs Sniper on Star Station Set 2. From WCS Korea
Stargate variant, the phoenixes lead Sniper into being too greedy and while the colossi get taken down by corruptors, the ground Protoss army wins after a tight micro battle. Timing hits at 11:40.

Super vs Curious on DMZ Set 7. From GSTL
Robo variant, Curious overdrones immensely (up to 71) and doesn't have enough roach/hydra/ling for the fast version of the push. Timing hits at 10:40.

Parting vs Soulkey on Star Station Set 5. From WCS Korea.
Robo variant with one immortal; Soulkey is able to identify the push in time to go for mutas and deal crippling damage while forcing a recall. Timing hits at 11:10 after being delayed by speedlings.
* Homer's The Iliad Book I