Blizzard: Gateway/Warpgate only a lowlevel issue?

The Warp Gate is strictly dominant over the Gateway. It builds every unit more quickly, and allows them to be warped in anywhere, negating defender's advantage. Even if it did not allow the meat of the ability (the warp in anywhere) it would still be strictly dominant over the gateway simply because it reduces the build times of all gateway units by about 10 seconds.

This is the reason why the 4gate, and other "fast Warp Gate" issues have appeared. As soon as that research finishes, Protoss has a HUGE surge in power. Gateway production cycle finishes, transform to Warp Gate, instantly warp in more units. Obviously conducive to strong all-in at this timing.

Furthermore, the boost in production means that Protoss is also in an exceptionally good position to continue their all-in. The negation of defender's advantage regardless of the size of the map, and the ability to ignore ramps by warping in on the high ground together added up to an incredibly powerful early game that does directly result in the zealot and stalker being weaker than perhaps they should be.

In terms of raw numbers, gateway units are weaker than they were in Brood War. The zealot has less shield than in BW, and is a melee unit which has been indirectly nerfed by the engine. The stalker has less HP and considerably less damage than the dragoon, not to mention its lack of a range upgrade. True, it has a higher movement speed, but in terms of actual combat power, it is considerably weaker. Warp Gate is the cause. This even applies to templar tech. High Templar with warp in was such a problem that they removed the energy upgrade. DT warp in would be an issue if it weren't delayed by the most expensive and useless tech structure in the game, with a tremendous build time. Warp Gate broke the gateway units by buffing their logistics so much their actual power had to be reduced.

Protoss early game is thus weak. And they are dependent on Sentries, forcefield, and map design to stay alive.

Alright now onto why the macro mechanic of warp-in is fundamentally flawed from an economic/industrial standpoint.

Plain and simple, Warp Gate causes your unit production to be front-loaded to paying for it. Rather than spend money, wait for unit to be produced, and then receive unit, the warp gate is effectively "producing" the unit for no cost while you wait for its cooldown. You are paying for the unit at the END of its production cycle, rather than the beginning. This is a huge change.

You only pay for the unit when you actually want or need it. If you are building constantly out of all your warp gates, this doesn't really matter that much. It certainly matters that warp gates build units considerably faster, meaning you need fewer warp gates than you would gateways. But if you always purchase when the cooldown is up, it does not really matter if the cost is at the beginning or the end. There is a small efficiency gain from getting to pay later, but it's not really a big deal. The big issue comes from warp gates with their cooldowns up, but which the player either cannot build from, or does not need to build from at that time. See the section on protoss endgame.

In the extreme late game, protoss has the option of building more warp gates. This is HUGE. With a large bank and 50 warp gates on standby, the Protoss now has 100 more supply available than they actually have in play. After, or even during a battle, the Protoss can immediately warp in more units.

Every warp gate effectively builds a unit, and then keeps it in reserve. These units in the warpgates do not cost supply to maintain, and they don't even cost resources until you actually want to put the unit on the board. Which you can do in any location you please, including directly into the battlefield to reinforce your army.

The effect of gateway units being "stored" in warpgates on top of your maxed army should not be underestimated. It gives protoss armies incredible momentum in maxed army confrontations. Even if Protoss and their opponent are both largely destroyed in the confrontation, the warped-in reinforcements hit immediately.

For Terran and Zerg, you pay for your units and then wait for them to build. Zerg can massively parallelize their production across larvae and hatcheries, so this cost is not as great. But for Terran, production facilities simply cannot compete with warp gates. Both sides are maxed, armies clash, both sides suffer casualties. Terran BEGINS production of their new units, while Protoss warps new ones in immediately. This difference in production is the NUMBER ONE REASON why mech does not work against protoss- because losing units against a protoss is an immediate loss due to inability to replace those units fast enough, even if you have the bank and production facilities to do so. You simply cannot wait one or two tank or thor build times without losing the game.