An Introduction

Hey guys, my name is Gemini and I'm a Grandmaster Protoss player who has been making guides since 2011 on various sites. The Build of the Week is my most popular series of build order guides that I've been making for about three years now on /r/allthingsprotoss. With the help of TeamLiquid.net and Spawning Tool I'm now bringing my guides over to TL as well!

Each write-up includes build order notes, an explanation/analysis of how the build works, and a VOD section so you can check out the source game and how it should go. I'll also include the Spawning Tool link so that you can practice it in game yourself and download the replay of me doing it. I hope you enjoy and be sure to read the whole write-up before asking any questions as I'm sure some of them will be answered in here!

How to use Spawning Tool
Link to the Spawning Tool Build
Link to /r/allthingsprotoss Guide.

INTRODUCTION

Just like I did a macro PvZ build after showing an all in build in the introductory BotW, I'll be switching from a macro PvT build to an all in build for the first standalone post 4.0 PvT BotW. Although stalkers and shield battery contains are all the rage right now in PvT, this build by ROOT.herO showcases a different strength added to the protoss arsenal with patch 4.0 and that is chronoboost. herO shows how new changes can help bring old styles back by having much quicker and sharper timings.

[PvT]herO's 8 gate +1 gladept immortal all in

Build Notes

Build Explanation

First off: I still think going for chrono before pylon is the better option than chronoing after pylon or after gate like others have been doing. You get a faster Nexus and Cyber and the boost timings line up much nicer in my opinion. Until I see substantial evidence as to why other methods are better than this then I'll continue to suggest doing chrono first. All the rest of the chronos listed in this build are 100% what you should be doing to get maximum efficiency and to hit the timing perfectly, I didn't leave any chronos out in this.

This build is relatively simple and SUPER crisp. I really like this build by herO and think it's quite fool proof and easy to pull off. It starts with a normal 19 Nexus opener and a robo immediately after your first stalker. This makes you very safe vs. any 1 base terran builds like proxy ghost or fast cyclones, so if you need to deviate from the start you can easily do so. You get a 2nd stalker after the first and also an early sentry after the 2nd stalker. This is fairly unique and it's simply to build up energy on the sentry for the push later and it fits nicely into the build at this time so he makes it early for that reason. Once the robo is done you chrono out your first observer and rally it down the middle of the map to scout for any potential early pressure. The 2nd observer stays at home in case they do any early banshee stuff or something that you'll need detection for. It's mostly just to be super safe and to keep the robo active.

The forge and twilight council are the two main tech structure of this build as you'll be aiming to do a +1 gladept push. They both come down at 3:50 and you should start +1 and glaives immediately upon their completion and focus all chronoboost on them. Two chronos go on glaives and four go on +1 Attack which result in them both finishing at the same time around 6:05-6:10. While those upgrades are researching you get a FAKE 3rd Nexus that is there only to screw with the opposing terran if they do scout it. It works the same as the fake 3rd base in the Harstem PvZ build in my previous BotW thread. If you end up trading well enough with the terran, but don't kill them, then the 3rd can be used as a back up plan to still continue on afterwards.

After the 2nd obs had completed you should have then gotten one immortal which is followed by a warp prism. Remember that NO chrono is needed on these two units since the push revolves around the +1 and glaives finishing. The build is crisp enough that the prism will rendezvous with your main army outside the terran's base as the upgrades are finishing. At 5:00 is when your gateway explosion starts, going up to five extra gateways for a total of eight. From there just make a few backup pylons so you don't get supply blocked while you're attacking and keep warping in a constant stream of gladepts.

You should have both upgrades done, 4 stalkers, 1 sentry, 1 immortal, and about 11-14 gladepts (adepts with glaive research finished) done at 6:15. Depends on how many you made earlier before the extra gates were done.

Responding To Terran's Opening

There's a few different styles that Terran can go for, but this build is relatively strong against all of them. There's just some important things to note about how the engagements and whatnot work in those different scenarios. This section can also be applied to robo first openings in general, so even if you're not going for this build but are curious how to respond to certain early pressures by Terran after opening for a standard robo first, this could be helpful.

1. Against Mech

Interestingly, the game that I ripped this build from was actually a game where the Terran was going mech. TY had opened for a quite passive fast 3CC mech style with cyclones and herO absolutely destroyed him. I wasn't sure if the build would even do well vs bio openers since it almost seemed reactive to the style that TY was going for. However, stuff like the early sentry led me to believe herO planned on doing this from the beginning anyway.

Either way, this build does very well in breaking mech players before they can get well situated. You will have a large amount of adepts that can shade forward onto any tanks that they have and any other units will get killed by the splash damage of their own tanks shooting at the adepts near them. The immortal and few stalkers can also help target down any surviving tanks. The only thing to look out for is if the Terran went for some early banshees or something that would require you to make extra stalkers, but that usually means they'll be dead anyway since they won't have any ground units.

If they have a larger hellbat count compared to tanks (unlikely) then just be careful with how you engage and make some extra stalkers instead so that the adepts don't get insta roasted upon shading onto the large hellbat count. This shouldn't really be much of an issue unless you somehow are very delayed in your initial push.

2. Against 1/1/1 or other early pressure bio builds

You'll sometimes need to do a little bit of reaction to these types of builds depending on how aggressive they're being.

Normal mine drops into liberator harass isn't much of a problem at all. Just pull probes away and then focus the liberators with stalkers and you'll be fine. They won't have enough back at home to defend your push. At most they'll have widow mines to help them, but as long as you keep your adepts on the bio units of the Terran when you shade then the mine splash will kill the Terran more than your own units.

Against some early tank pressures you'll just need to get a shield battery or so and make sure you get your immortal out ASAP. It'll take some patience but they should only have a tank or two, so it's easy to shade onto it and then focus the tank with your immortal. Just don't wait too long because if they get a bunker up then it will be a little difficult to hold. This replay shows how I dealt with this type of push.

If the Terran goes for a 2/1/1 16 marine drop then shield batteries will save you. Just fight in range of them and warp in any extra units that are necessary and you should be fine. Your push will end up being delayed a bit here as well, but likewise they won't have much at home to defend once the push actually comes across. Just be aware of where the original two medivacs are in case you need to leave some units home to deal with them.

3. Against CC first or other passive stim bio openings

This is the only style where this type of all in will have trouble breaking. If a player goes for CC first or other very passive bio play, they're most likely going to move out with their two medivac stim timing at the same time you'll be moving out with your push. So the fake 3rd doesn't really have any effect on them, and you're just pushing late at that point. You'll be forced to respond to his attack more than them being forced to respond to yours since Terrans have the upper hand in base trades.

If you scout a CC first it's best not to go for this build and instead just play greedy with double forge and blink like Zest's PvT, and then punish their first move out and kill them after that. This build will just kind of run up vs a wall as you'll never be able to make it to their side of the map with enough units after they pressure you.

If they don't move out though, then you'll still have some opportunity to go for the push. They likely won't have widow mines to help with splash damage though, so you'll really need to get right on top of the bio to deal a lot of initial burst damage with the first gladept shade. Otherwise they'll be able to micro out of your adepts easily and abuse the higher range and speed that stimmed bio has.

Overall, if you hit your timing well with the proper units and just shade on top of their army, you should win most of your games easily in lower leagues. Most of it just comes down to having more than the other person and if you follow the build well then that will end up being the case.

VODs

TY went for a passive mech style this game and got absolutely stomped.