This is just going to be a quick guide over my variation of a 3-base blink attack against Zerg. There are several variations, including Classic's proxy oracle variation and Zest's more passive phoenix into blink opening. My version is based more off of NoNy's Rage-Inducing Triple Recall Strategy, which a strategy that attempts to abuse recall as much as possible by attacking every 100 seconds. While you lack stargate units to get information and harass, you make up for with hallucination scouts and minor pokes to force a gas response out of the Zerg.
Apparently, this is a pretty common build in the current meta, especially with soO's muta/corruptor wrecking ball composition being so popular. That said, against players who attempt to play too greedy in the mid game and/or don't scout well enough, this build will absolutely plow through them.
The layout of this build basically goes like this:
Gate expand
Gate + forge to wall off natural
Small sentry/zealot poke with recall while starting twilight council
+2 and blink while taking a 3rd and warping in stalkers
Push the 4th of the Zerg
9 pylon 13 gate 14 gas 16 pylon 18 core 19 zealot (cancel) (or not, whichever you prefer) 21 nexus 21 warpgate 21 MSC (chronoboost) 23 pylon 24 gas 24 stalker @100% stalker -> sentry -> sentry @5:15 -> gate + forge (+ pylon) to wall @100% forge -> +1 attack @6:30 (@100% WG) gate x2 Warp in sentries @7:00 natural gases Move out with 4 sentries/stalker/MSC @7:30 twilight council
@100% twilight council -> blink and +2 attack After recall, warp in two sentries Take 3rd ~8:30-9:00 Robo + 3 gates to wall off 3rd Begin warping in blink stalkers Attack hits at 11:00-11:30
Most of your chronoboost goes to nexus and constant probe production the entire time Once twilight council finishes, constant chrono on +2/blink
This build contains a very safe opening that gets a wall up by 5:30 with a stalker and sentry to defend against early speedling attacks. Generally, you also want to poke around before 5:00 with your stalker for overlords and lings hanging out around your base. Probe scouting is optional, but the best time to do it is after nexus. When probe scouting, you're mainly just checking for:
Where you're opponent spawned
If they took their natural
If they took their 3rd (later than 5:00 should cause you to worry some)
The 4-sentry/stalker poke is actually a disguised 4-gate after expansion that CAN do damage, but is mainly used to scout your opponent and force out a lot of units early on. That said, though, you can bring a probe with it and build a pylon for additional warpins, but I usually just poke with the sentries, and that's usually enough to scare my opponents.
While you're doing this poke, you're relying on a zealot plus wall for defense while you get your tech up and going, which is blink and +2 in this case. During this time, you should also be making nonstop probes with nonstop chronoboost on the nexus. There is an optional cannon you can throw in there for extra safety, but it's rarely needed since you already have 4 warpgates and you're planning to recall anyway; later in the game, however, this may be a wise decision. After you recall, you warp in two additional sentries and secure your third at around 8:30-9:00. If you're pressured, you can always warp in more zealots to defend; again, you have 4 gates, so you have plenty of production. During this time, you want to send a hallucination scout or two to figure out exactly what the Zerg is doing.
At the third, add two pylons and a cannon and use your extra 2 gateways to wall off. During this time, also throw down a robo; the sole purpose of this robo is to get an observer for the attack and also to allow for a colossus or immortal transition afterward if necessary (but usually this push kills Zergs masters and below). When the third finishes, transfer your probes and cut production. You should have a total of ~61 workers (16/16/16 + 4 full gas geysers + probe for proxy pylons).
After you have your key components up:
+2 and blink
Total of 7 gates
Robotics facility
START WARPING IN STALKERS FTW!!
After the first couple of warpins, you should push across the map with a total of 9-11 stalkers and 6 nearly full energy sentries. This push primarily targets a greedy 4th base in response to the Protoss's 3rd, but can usually push straight into the 3rd afterward. An interesting tactic to use is making a warp prism out of the robo first and using it to harass in the main while pressuring the 3rd/4th; this tactic is also a lot less "all-innish" and typically allows you to safely buy enough time for any kind of a macro transition (colossus or phoenix, if necessary). If the Zerg counterattacks, just rely on your walls, cannons, and defensive warpins to hold back the tide.
All in all, it's a very sickkk build, and I love it! Due to the lack of stargate, it is somewhat exploitable by mutalisk builds, but the 11:00-11:30 timing attack tends to force enough of a gas response (i.e. roaches or hydras) that you can buy enough time to get the tools necessary to beat the incoming mutalisk switch.
Here is a replay of me playing the fully optimized build order against the comp (although a slightly late observer and an ever-so-slight supply block around 60; hey, give me a break, it's 1:30am and I'm staying up late to do this): http://drop.sc/384226
If you have any questions, thoughts, ideas, or problems with the build, let me know!
You have two less units, not one less; the gates are also supposed to be producing one unit (zealots i think?) before wg completes (unless his build has changed recently).
As you said, 3 zealot 3 sentry is more mineral heavy which is likely why he can't afford a faster Forge.
You should try it, if you do it right it's fun. Here's what happens in the Zerg's little brain:
"Ok he's made a Nexus, so it's time to make two evos, go spire, infestation pit, hydra den, get roach speed and double expand and HOLY FUCK THERE'S 10 GATES WORTH OF SHIT HERE OH FUCK FORCEFIELDS OP"
Once again SC2John, you deliver some VERY interesting build idea ! Will you had several replays later to the OP versus various Zerg reaction ? Thank you !
On July 10 2014 18:49 SatedSC2 wrote: I've done builds like this using NonY's opening and they can be really strong, especially if your initial pressure does damage. I was actually considering writing a guide on my 2 Base all-in version of basically the same build you've posted (slightly faster Twilight), but then Yeonsu left the map-pool and it didn't seem to work as well anywhere else =P
My only question would be why you're not using NonY's Zealot/Sentry pressure and instead doing a Stalker/Sentry pressure? I know you have one less Gateway than NonY does and so you'll have one less Zealot but, like I said, I've opened Gate/Forge -> Blink before and I'm pretty sure a 3 Zealot 3 Sentry pressure is a lot stronger than 1 Stalker and 4 Sentries. It's also less gas intensive to do it that way.
You also should've linked to the other NonY video. Much more rage =P
There's a lot of mutability with this build. If you open with zealot/sentry/sentry, you can wait two warpin rounds for a total of 3 sentries/3 zealots + one zealot in your wall. The downside is that you move out a little bit later. I personally love opening up with the stalker because I like to abuse bad overlord positioning, but that's just me; you can definitely go for more of a zealot/sentry mix.
EITHER WAY, however, you still end up with some units across the map + 4 gates @~7:30, so there is still a lot of potential for damage if the Zerg isn't playing carefully.
On July 10 2014 21:32 SatedSC2 wrote: In a straight up fight, without Forcefields and without good positioning, Hydralisks will wreck Blink Stalkers. However, they won't wreck Blink Stalkers if the Protoss hits their Forcefields and they don't commit to an attack in an open space. The Protoss can transition to Colossi quite easily since they have a Robotics Facility already, and they can buy time for that by constantly feigning pressure; simultaenously forcing the Zerg to continue making gas units (Roach/Hydra) that they don't really want to make whilst pinning them back on their side of the map. If the Protoss is positioned well, the Zerg can't attack into the Protoss to get them to go home because they'll get cut to pieces by Forcefields so, even if the Protoss can't attack into the Zerg, they can continue applying pressure whilst all the while knowing that they can Recall home if everything goes tits up =P
Hydralisks are probably the best response from a Zerg though, I think. Maybe Swarm Hosts? Not sure if Zerg can have enough Swarm Hosts to hold at that timing?
It's honestly the lings/roaches that are scary when dealing with hydras. Pure blink stalker against pure hydra on an open field -> blink stalkers win. That said, you can definitely add in 3-4 zealots with this attack to soak up a lot of the damage and protect the stalkers a little bit better.
I think the best response against blink all-ins, personally, is hydra/ling, which is my favorite Zerg composition. If the Zerg saves up hard and doesn't get juked too bad in the early game, they can have ~20 hydras + 2-3 rounds of lings ready with +1 attack, at least, by the time this hits. However, I feel it's a lot like Teo said: it works best because the Zerg relaxes, gets stupid greedy, then just dies because he was trying to play for the long game. If they commit hard to hydra/ling, you can always just cancel the 4th, posture a little bit, then just take gases 5+6 and add a robo bay and you're good. I don't think SHs works well in this scenario, especially if you go the warp prism route.
On July 10 2014 21:50 Universum wrote: Once again SC2John, you deliver some VERY interesting build idea ! Will you had several replays later to the OP versus various Zerg reaction ? Thank you !
Probably not, unfortunately. I've been playing Zerg for the past 3-4 months, and I really haven't played Protoss seriously for a while. I'd be interested in getting some discussion going about the responses people encounter though!
On July 10 2014 19:32 Teoita wrote: Either way, fuck phoenix openings, 3base blink for life
True, I never open Phoenix. But I also never take a third base so I feel it works out for me...
EDIT:
I almost forgot to mention: There is no good reason to go Cybernetics Core before Zealot if you're going Nexus before Mothership Core. If you get the Cybernetics Core before the Zealot then it lays idle between getting your Nexus and having enough resources for the Mothership Core, so unless you're going Mothership Core before Nexus there really isn't any reason to go Cybernetics Core first. It's also a lot safer to get the Zealot first against a bunch of cheese strategies.
That's also a really good point. I'll look into that, maybe.
An ancient build. Also there is not enough pressure on Zerg in the early game. Would be a much better build if Nony's TRIPLE recall strat can be used in this BO.
If u ever played Nony's recall build, you will notice that MSC has enough energy for 2nd recall around 9 min. Also, blindly move out with few sentries and no recall available? Good luck with that, zergs only need to make some speedlings and thank for your donations. Luckiest scenario, you can move out and take watch tower, but do u think there is a zerg can spread creap to watch tower before 10 min, even scarlett cannotXD. So there is no such things called "the whole map is my backyard, I can 'shark' around whenever I want". The core idea of recall strat works like this"protoss move out with some units and MSC with recall available, zerg better be ready, cus if you don't have enough, I will kill you". Simply forcing some units from zerg is good but not good enough.
On July 11 2014 01:34 OPDream wrote: An ancient build. Also there is not enough pressure on Zerg in the early game. Would be a much better build if Nony's TRIPLE recall strat can be used in this BO.
This build is probably the last to be developed in hots, after the stargate/fast third builds that go into either colo or void ray/templar. It really isn't "ancient", and in fact Classic used it to great effect in the last GSL finals for example...
Actually the oracle into 3rd base strat is used by pro players many months ago. The oracle>3rd>blink is kinda new because cjhero popularizes this build.San actually used it last year, I think I can even find it in his stream vods. Besides that, the build in OP is not stargate into fast 3rd. It is some kind of gateway units into 3rd with a little pressure with MSC recall ability. It's kinda similar to the WOL FFE 4gate pressure while taking 3rd base and teching to blink and +2 attack.
This is what u said "People used to "shark" around the map in PvZ all the time and they didn't even have Recall available to them". If you didn't try to imply it's ok to walk around the map with few units and without recall available, forgive me for misunderstanding. Like I said, there is no "WHENEVER". Nony's recall build can move out after first recall immediately because 1. first recall happens around 8 min, it's close enough to 9min to move out again safely. 2. he constantly makes units from gates, which means he has enough units to make sure he is safe on the map, and is able to do a lot of damage if zerg don't have enough.That's why his timings are powerful. If you are good enough, you can notice pros only move out to do a TIMING attack. It's quite clearly why they don't blindly move out besides some obvious reasons like it's risky, they don't wanna waste msc's energy for some potential small damage (clearing creep), they aim for bigger damage.
Well I think the reason players dont do recall pokes is because they are afraid they can't hold the counterattack after forcing so many units out of Zerg. I've seen Zergs continue to build units after seeing seeing the toss recall and just crush the third with pure roach ling. And with the current map pool, the third and natural is pretty far like in Catellena and Merry Go Round so it is completely understandable.
And also the build mentions that you take third at 8:30. Most Zergs that opened gasless should be saturated or close to saturated on 3 bases so technically u arent really "forcing" units besides the fact that they probably wanted to spend the gas on hydras or mutas instead. But its not like u forced useless units. Roach ling compliments hydras very well, with mutas u can do double prong attacks which is a headache for most toss players that didnt open phoenix
Ofc you can make soooooo many sentries if you wanna tech up until 20 min I think I said quite clearly, they save msc energy to use for a good timing attack.
More importantly it worked because zergs were fucking bad at scouting and reacting, taking a third at a decent time, droning, making units, spreading creep, attacking before the 20 minute mark....
On July 11 2014 07:31 Xinzoe wrote: Well I think the reason players dont do recall pokes is because they are afraid they can't hold the counterattack after forcing so many units out of Zerg. I've seen Zergs continue to build units after seeing seeing the toss recall and just crush the third with pure roach ling. And with the current map pool, the third and natural is pretty far like in Catellena and Merry Go Round so it is completely understandable.
And also the build mentions that you take third at 8:30. Most Zergs that opened gasless should be saturated or close to saturated on 3 bases so technically u arent really "forcing" units besides the fact that they probably wanted to spend the gas on hydras or mutas instead. But its not like u forced useless units. Roach ling compliments hydras very well, with mutas u can do double prong attacks which is a headache for most toss players that didnt open phoenix
Well, technically the poke hits at around 7:00-7:30, which IS before saturation. It technically hits with 4 warp gates, so you still have the potential to do damage, especially if the Zerg decided to open gasless.
I honestly think the big difference between this sort of build and the more "Korean" builds that open up stargate and play very passively are that this one is a lot more focused on gateways and gateway units. The scary part of holding the counterattacks is not that you won't have enough units to handle a massive flood of units, but that you won't be able to handle a massive flood of *good* units. That is, if you don't do enough damage or juke your opponent well enough, you'll just straight up die to maxed out roaches or hydra/ling or something of that nature. More often than not, lings are pretty manageable with this build, especially since you're getting such an early +1.
EDIT: Also, time warp is just a really good spell. I think OPDream is correct in saying that it's probably better to save your MSC energy for double time warp for a timing over constant recalls simply because it's such an amazing spell.
That said, it's likely the reason we don't see these types of plays in professional play and especially in Korean play is that it just doesn't do enough damage, directly or indirectly, to make up for the fact that you have no stargate and your robo tech is quite heavily delayed.
Still, for most ladder purposes, I think this is still a great build that allows players to deviate from the more "standard" passive play and play a more aggressive style while still maintaining a clean, solid macro build without any real gimmicks.
EPT
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/JVzJHQc.jpg)
