• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 02:24
CET 07:24
KST 15:24
  • 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
Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy4ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT30Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book19Clem wins HomeStory Cup 289HomeStory Cup 28 - Info & Preview13
Community News
Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool8Weekly Cups (March 9-15): herO, Clem, ByuN win22026 KungFu Cup Announcement6BGE Stara Zagora 2026 cancelled12Blizzard Classic Cup - Tastosis announced as captains18
StarCraft 2
General
Team Liquid Map Contest #22 - Presented by Monster Energy Blizzard Classic Cup @ BlizzCon 2026 - $100k prize pool Weekly Cups (March 9-15): herO, Clem, ByuN win Weekly Cups (August 25-31): Clem's Last Straw? Blizzard Classic Cup - Tastosis announced as captains
Tourneys
2026 KungFu Cup Announcement [GSL CK] #2: Team Classic vs. Team Solar [GSL CK] #1: Team Maru vs. Team herO RSL Season 4 announced for March-April PIG STY FESTIVAL 7.0! (19 Feb - 1 Mar)
Strategy
Custom Maps
Publishing has been re-enabled! [Feb 24th 2026] Map Editor closed ?
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 517 Distant Threat Mutation # 516 Specter of Death Mutation # 515 Together Forever
Brood War
General
ASL21 General Discussion BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BSL Season 22 Gypsy to Korea BW General Discussion
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL22] Open Qualifiers & Ladder Tours IPSL Spring 2026 is here! ASL Season 21 Qualifiers March 7-8
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2 Fighting Spirit mining rates Zealot bombing is no longer popular?
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread General RTS Discussion Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Dawn of War IV Path of Exile
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion 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
Five o'clock TL Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas Vanilla Mini Mafia TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Mexico's Drug War Canadian Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion! [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion Tokyo Olympics 2021 Thread General nutrition recommendations Cricket [SPORT]
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Laptop capable of using Photoshop Lightroom?
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Funny Nicknames
LUCKY_NOOB
Money Laundering In Video Ga…
TrAiDoS
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
FS++
Kraekkling
Shocked by a laser…
Spydermine0240
Unintentional protectionism…
Uldridge
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 4068 users

[G] MaxPax's PvT Easy MMR Macro DT Opener

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
Post a Reply
ESChamp
Profile Joined September 2014
Canada124 Posts
September 10 2021 21:54 GMT
#1


Replay Download - MaxPax vs HeRoMaRinE

+ Show Spoiler [ Build timings] +

12 0:08 Pylon
13 0:27 Gateway
15 0:42 Assimilator
18 1:14 Cybernetics Core
19 1:31 Nexus
19 1:38 Pylon
20 1:47 Adept (Chrono Boost)
20 1:53 Assimilator
22 1:59 Warp Gate
23 2:07 Adept (Chrono Boost)
27 2:29 Twilight Council
27 2:32 Adept
30 2:42 Shield Battery
32 2:57 Robotics Facility
37 3:22 Dark Shrine
37 3:29 Gateway
39 3:45 Warp Prism (Chrono Boost)
43 3:57 Gateway
45 4:06 Pylon x2
45 4:13 Assimilator x2
46 4:29 Pylon
48 4:37 Dark Templar x2
54 4:38 Blink (Chrono Boost)
56 5:00 Dark Templar
56 5:01 Archon
60 5:11 Nexus
60 5:14 Dark Templar, Stalker
60 5:20 Archon
66 5:24 Forge
68 5:40 Stalker x2
68 5:42 Observer
74 5:44 Robotics Bay
77 6:06 Stalker x3
77 6:10 Charge
84 6:13 Protoss Ground Weapons Level 1
83 6:28 Shield Battery
83 6:29 Colossus (Chrono Boost), Gateway
92 6:51 Stalker x3
98 6:54 Photon Cannon
98 6:55 Gateway
98 6:58 Extended Thermal Lance
97 7:14 Gateway x2
97 7:15 Colossus (Chrono Boost)
97 7:18 Photon Cannon
99 7:32 Nexus, Zealot
99 7:35 Sentry x2
103 7:37 Zealot
107 7:53 Stalker
111 8:00 Zealot x3
117 8:08 Shield Battery
118 8:15 Zealot x4
118 8:18 Colossus (Chrono Boost)
130 8:28 Zealot
74 9:20 Colossus (Chrono Boost)
90 9:39 Dark Templar x4
90 9:44 Archon x2



The Transition:
Now, in a lot of games, you just got some free MMR. Luckily Maxpax is playing vs Biggest of Gabes, who has indeed scouted the DT Shrine earlier. At 5:15, he is grabbing the third base to further transition into the Macro Game, while also warping in 2 more DTs in the front to potentially go for an Archon Drop. At 5:25 a forge is added.

Now from here on out, the game opens up massively for the Protoss, depending on what the gamestate is, and what your preference in playstyle is. The three meta Macro transitions are into a Mass Gate Style with a second Forge, a Storm focused style with a High Templar Archives, or what Maxpax will be showing here: Robotics Bay and Colossi.

With Blink finishing, charge is started, and Maxpax is opting for pressure with the Archon Drop and a handfull of stalkers. Once again trying to punish potential mistakes, without actually committing them. It is ESSENTIAL that we don't lose Starkers unnecessarily. Having a hand full of stalkers in your army is great for Anti-Air and some added damage, however adding more stalkers after this first battle, will not only delay your tech, but production for actually good Core units in your army, aka Zealots.

Micro-wise, Maxpax is trying to get some damage done with the Archons. As Archons are very tanky, the main thing to worry about is to not lose the Prism. Macro wise, we're setting up the minimum amount of Static D (Cannons in Mineral lines, shield battery the base), while getting the gateway count up to 8-10 without building units in the meantime, if possible. That way, the big gateway explosion will enable the perfect abusing of the economic advantage we have gained.

Defending the Counter
Now, if you've macroed well, and did some damage, depending on your transition, you could go for a final push to end the game while taking a fourth base or gases..or both. Gases allow for easier Tech switching, another base allows for more Gateways. However, Maxpax only traded decently here, which means the Terran can go for their counter attack. This phase is now all about vision, knowing where the Terran army is coming from, if it might be dropping. In between the drop and the Colossi, Maxpax has been pumping out observers to gain some vision. If a raven is out, Map vision and vision of main army both is preferable to..well, losing your Observer. You may also add pylons, or even move single zealots / surviving adepts in spots to see the army and drop movements.

If the army is moving out, you want to safely kite the Terran army with your larger range, keeping them from stimming on top of you with forcefields, while baiting out stims, sieges and raven disables far away from where the actual fight will happen. If you did it correctly, the fight will then be happening at one of your bases, fortified with batteries, and an incredible army advantage from your economy kicking in earlier.
jimminy_kriket
Profile Blog Joined February 2007
Canada5529 Posts
September 12 2021 01:06 GMT
#2
Thank you for the guide, I will be using it on ladder. I am curious as to why maxpax didn't place his initial pylon gateway and core in position to block the reaper ledge. Against any decent player who opens reaper I would think this gets scouted pretty easily and it did.

One could argue that it's probably going to get scouted anyways, or that he expected a marine opening which is somewhat meta at the moment. Still seems strange not to try. Or perhaps its actually better to let it get scouted because the terran might over invest in turrets making the archon harass more potent due to lack of units.

What do you think?
life of lively to live to life of full life thx to shield battery
HolyHit
Profile Joined March 2013
Germany4 Posts
September 12 2021 16:38 GMT
#3
It's probably because of the tightness of the 12 pylon 13 gateway, and getting the best out of that opening.

If the main focus is the dt drop itself, a normal opening, 14 pylon 16 gateway, would probably be the better option, as it's easier to proxy the dt shrine / wall-off the main. But since the DT shrine being scouted is never a game ending moment, I'm guessing the focus really was just on getting that 12/13 as clean as possible.
jimminy_kriket
Profile Blog Joined February 2007
Canada5529 Posts
September 16 2021 23:51 GMT
#4
That makes sense, I haven't been using 12 pylon very much so I wasn't sure how impactful being behind15 minerals or so would be to the overall timings.
life of lively to live to life of full life thx to shield battery
_fool
Profile Joined February 2011
Netherlands682 Posts
September 18 2021 18:34 GMT
#5
I'm not a Protoss player, but I really appreciate people putting out this type of content! Stuff like this makes TL the go-to SC2 platform. Well done!
"News is to the mind what sugar is to the body"
qcHanHan
Profile Joined September 2011
Denmark73 Posts
October 05 2021 09:02 GMT
#6
Still works like a charm for me in master 1 (y) Lovely build.
HerO - herO - PartinG - sOs - Rain - Zest - Stats
Danijonn
Profile Joined October 2021
2 Posts
October 14 2021 20:04 GMT
#7
--- Nuked ---
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
OSC
00:00
OSC Elite Rising Star #18
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Nina 178
StarCraft: Brood War
GuemChi 5415
Mong 687
ZergMaN 55
Bale 39
Shine 39
zelot 27
Noble 24
NotJumperer 15
Icarus 9
Dota 2
NeuroSwarm145
Counter-Strike
Fnx 1501
Stewie2K1006
Super Smash Bros
C9.Mang0328
Other Games
summit1g6009
WinterStarcraft384
Sick128
Mew2King80
RuFF_SC238
Trikslyr19
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick1644
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream175
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH223
• davetesta23
• Sammyuel 8
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Lourlo1673
• Rush1129
• Stunt535
Upcoming Events
The PondCast
3h 36m
KCM Race Survival
3h 36m
WardiTV Team League
5h 36m
OSC
6h 36m
Replay Cast
17h 36m
KCM Race Survival
1d 3h
WardiTV Team League
1d 5h
Korean StarCraft League
1d 20h
RSL Revival
2 days
Maru vs Zoun
Cure vs ByuN
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
2 days
[ Show More ]
BSL
2 days
RSL Revival
3 days
herO vs MaxPax
Rogue vs TriGGeR
BSL
3 days
Replay Cast
3 days
Replay Cast
4 days
Afreeca Starleague
4 days
Sharp vs Scan
Rain vs Mong
Wardi Open
4 days
Monday Night Weeklies
4 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
Afreeca Starleague
5 days
Soulkey vs Ample
JyJ vs sSak
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
hero vs YSC
Larva vs Shine
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-03-18
WardiTV Winter 2026
Underdog Cup #3

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 1
Jeongseon Sooper Cup
BSL Season 22
CSL Elite League 2026
RSL Revival: Season 4
Nations Cup 2026
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual

Upcoming

ASL Season 21
Acropolis #4 - TS6
2026 Changsha Offline CUP
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
BSL 22 Non-Korean Championship
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
NationLESS Cup
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
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.