EPTI digress, the strategy I am detailing is low APM (I play at 100-150 APMs), noob friendly, cheese free, and capable of making it to 5k+ with practice. This build will favor you against the most matchups and strategies.
I believe a Terran ally works best with Protoss. Find a Terran buddy and practice a mech/carriers style of play. As Protoss, a Terran will add the most to your 2v2 team. Though ZP is better than PP. Carriers are the ultimate weapon in 2v2. Once maxed out on upgraded carriers you become the ultimate wrecking machine.
Carriers take forever to get out and that's where your Terran buddy comes in. Mech or Marine/Tank have the strongest anti ground defensive capabilities in the game. Well positioned tanks, bunkers and planetarium will provide a mid game meatshield that cannot be engaged into, while early phoenix cover mech in its mobility and drop defense struggles.
My build is loose, I'm a 2v2 player after all. But generally speaking it is as follows:
19 Nexus, 20 cyber core, chrono probes to 38 workers then switch to double chrono phoenix and 1 Oracle. Get out anywhere between 10-16 phoenix asap then take your third having your Ally siege up tanks to defend it with pylons for overcharge. Phoenix are the best mid tier unit a protoss can make in 2v2.
This s because phoenix offer:
1)Harassment
2)scouting
3)map control
4) drop/nydus denial
5) excellent anti air (hard counter muta) 6)force static defense
7)force a composition that shoots up, while ally tanks shoot rines lol
8)intercept reinforcements
9)come out of the stargate and get the upgrades you're already getting for carriers 10)Tax the enemy's APM (2v1 while you're ally isn't worried about anything but holding the front)
11)work as a combat unit should your Ally get attacked. Lift lurkers, tanks,
12)scout hidden expos
13)counter and delay a moveout.
14)pick off units that just spawned separated from the main army
So yea. Always get phoenix and an Oracle before anything else.
You need to hold your own against Terran drops. You cannot let yourself get Widow mine dropped early on without detection. Against Terran I advise not to get greedy early. You can play a little greedier with expansions and probes once you have some initial phoenix. Expect the drop to be on you, have nix and msc in position. Lift mines!!! Oracle as backup detection.
When only one enemy terran is present, this is where your early scout comes in handy. You can see if he is going for an early expo and if so you can probe a little harder as any drops will come later.
The mothership is a lategame unit in 1v1. In 2v2 it's power as a midgame unit cannot be underestimated. You aren't going to lose lategame with Mech/Carriers. You gotta get there. Mech under Mothership is nigh impossible for a zerg force to engage into, with phoenix killing overseers and obs, it adds extreme survivability to your allies Mech ball.
Against Terran with no Toss (TZ & TT) it is advisable to make 2-3 observers after starting carriers. This ensures you catch and intercept all incoming drops and increases harass potential against widow mines.
Against any Zerg I have concluded that Storm is a worthwhile investment after 8+ Carriers. A Corruptor ball can shred a Carrier army, but if your Ally has 3+ Thors and some storms/feedback the Zerg really has no chance.
With no enemy Toss: I advise to pressure immediately, sending phoenix down possible attacks paths to spot incoming rushes. Kill all ovies, take watch towers, put the enemy in the dark.
One of the trickier aspects of Protoss in 2v2 is having an enemy protoss. This scenario will unfold into phoenix vs phoenix battles followed by Carriers vs Carriers. If he does anything else, your nix run train on his economy. We don't need to talk about it.
As for Nix vs Nix, be wary. This fight isnt decided by you. It is up to your Ally to support you in the air, from the ground, turning the tables in your favor. A player deserves credit here, his name is "Descendant" a GM toss who was repeatedly handing me losses on the 2v2 ladder yesterday.
From these losses I have learned.
One play Descendant ran against me I will detail. He harasses a base close to a cliff, where his ally has snuck into position. I came over to defend seeing that I had a small lead in the phoenix count from defenders advantage. I was expecting to walk over his army. What I didn't expect was his ally, burrowed below the cliff with Infestors waiting to fungal me. Alone, the battle was mine, but alone is never enough in 2v2. This gambit would also work with Vipers, Thors, widow mines and even ghost. This is one possible way to win the Skytoss vs skytoss battle.
A possible move when faced with the "cliff trap" is to counter attack. In this situation, my phoenix count was ahead while the enemy ally invested a sizable portion of his income in Infestors. He had also done some economic damage while we got into position.
This means had we just gone and countered instead of try and defend we would have had a much better chance at winning the game.
Another scenario that can turn it in your favor is to have your Ally do early game damage to the Toss. If he is able to kill 6+ workers early on, suddenly he's 2-3 phoenix behind you and that's all it takes to walk over him.
This strategy excellent with an aggressive Zerg that is strong in ZvZ. If your Zerg ally has a strong ZvZ, he can win the early ZvZ and tax the Toss while you come in as wave 2 with the phoenix advantage.
Well placed Widow mines in the middle of the map will make him not want to leave his base, giving you some space to macro.
If you are ever behind in phoenixes, you're fucked. It's super hard to catch back up. One thing you can try is to have your Ally set widow mine traps as well as a missle turret perimeter around your stargates. The enemy wants to try and snipe off your phoenixes as they come out of your gates to push his advantage. You need to expect this and prepare for it, but once your behind that's probably GG dude.
If you are facing the same team again, they will know exactly what you are going to try. This sets them nicely to get cheesed. Though I said my guide was cheese free, well, I lied. Hit them with the 3 rax reaper + cannon rush.
I'm TwoPeas, thanks for reading and hope you guys give it a shot or found something useful. Good Luck go 2v2!
