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Why Protoss Drops Are Rare (Warp Prism Analysis) - Page 23

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phreakrider
Profile Joined December 2010
Canada5 Posts
May 08 2011 14:48 GMT
#441
Hi fellow Tler's! I have some problem with the way people think about the warp prism play. First, if you load 4 stalker and then got to the ennemy base, find a black spot and warp in 4 more stalker. Now you actually have 8 stalker wich is a LOT if you consider the 6:30-7:00 min mark. I recently adopted a build order that i made with SCfusion that allow me to make a timing attack in the ennemy base with those 8 stalker. Its quite suprising to see that toss and terrant player react really badly to this warp prism play. We should emphasise the fact that the warp prism allow you INSTAN reinforcement in your army anywhere it is. No proxy pylon, no advance positionning ect. ect. Many of us use 2-3 pylon around the map to reinforce quickly. But the warp prism can do that anywhere you want. I know that you can snipe it and if you spot my drop comming you can snipe a warp prism with 2-4 stalker wich could be really costly by the 7:00 mark. An expanding terran will have a sizable army by then, good micro can win you the game stait up.

In conclusion, warp prism can be use for a lot of thing if you really just think about it for 2 second. Timing attack are great, multiprong attack is nice too, powering cannon in the ennemy base, and warp the amount of unit equal to the number of gate! We need to think outside the box. Yes its fragile, yes its costly but ITS A STYLE OF PLAY! You don't always need all your costly unit if you can manage to do great damage with that tool.
If you only shot once, SHOT TWICE!
Sv1
Profile Joined June 2010
United States204 Posts
May 08 2011 14:56 GMT
#442
I'm still waiting for someone to use their warp prism with their army so they can reinforce as a fight is happening. I think however the thinking is "build enough units to critical mass->send them + probe to enemy -> build pylon instead.

I'm guessing also maybe Archon drops in the future might not be so bad with the improved range? They can do ok damage as it is biological (vZ vT) and if you're uprgrading your army simultaneously they'll be even better. I guess this would be similar to a Thor drop (though those also seem to have fallen by the wayside)
Qaz
Profile Joined August 2010
84 Posts
May 08 2011 15:02 GMT
#443
On May 08 2011 23:46 Dommk wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 08 2011 23:20 Qaz wrote:
Minigun used them extensively in his showmatch against sixjaxMajor yesterday to great effect. At the right time, 3 zealots, or a dt can have devastating results.

He would drop 3 Zealots and kill maybe 4 SCVs, and then lose all the Zealots. Not sure if the trade is worth it at that stage. It certainly disrupted sixjaxMajors play, but other than that I think Minigun did more economic damage to himself half the time, considering those DT's are 125gas each


In game 3, he got 12-13 scv kills with 2 zealots, and never lost the warp prism. How is that not worth it?
ZUR1CH
Profile Joined February 2011
United States108 Posts
May 08 2011 15:12 GMT
#444
I think making the cost 150/50 would make players much more inclined to use the warp prism. When it comes down to it, I'm simply more comfortable making 2 zealots for 200 minerals than a warp prism unless I'm very confident that I can abuse a certain player with drops.

The one good thing Protoss have going for them is that Terran and Zerg players simply are not used to facing drops from Protoss. This makes them very unpredictable and unexpected and Protoss players can use this to their advantage. I've found that they're actually highly effective in some cases, especially if you use it to drop zealots on probes as you do a frontal attack with the Protoss death ball. I've noticed many players don't realize it's actually going on because they're not even looking for it, whereas against a Terran they might expect such a thing to happen and will be more readily prepared to defend against it and multitask.
Dommk
Profile Joined May 2010
Australia4865 Posts
May 08 2011 15:13 GMT
#445
On May 09 2011 00:02 Qaz wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 08 2011 23:46 Dommk wrote:
On May 08 2011 23:20 Qaz wrote:
Minigun used them extensively in his showmatch against sixjaxMajor yesterday to great effect. At the right time, 3 zealots, or a dt can have devastating results.

He would drop 3 Zealots and kill maybe 4 SCVs, and then lose all the Zealots. Not sure if the trade is worth it at that stage. It certainly disrupted sixjaxMajors play, but other than that I think Minigun did more economic damage to himself half the time, considering those DT's are 125gas each


In game 3, he got 12-13 scv kills with 2 zealots, and never lost the warp prism. How is that not worth it?

hmm, I need to go re-watch the games, maybe I'm getting it muddled with some of his recent ladder play, but in most cases he does multiple zealot drops but doesn't seem to really get a ton out of it. Sometimes trading 8-9 Zealots for 7-8 SCVs overall.
pestilenz
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
Denmark379 Posts
May 08 2011 15:17 GMT
#446
Agree very much with the: It is a style of play! IMO a f'´ng cool way of playing toss!

This is just like reaver shuttle micro in BW! high risk playing, but can be very effective and rewarding + great fun

I have actually started focusing more on gateway units + upgrades with warp prisms (2 or 3 + speed) and later high templars <3 it ^^
You can attack with this?!
PopcornColonel
Profile Joined March 2011
United States769 Posts
May 08 2011 15:30 GMT
#447
I think the main problem for me is that it's WAY too risky. Zealot drops can be effective against lower level players, but when you get into higher leagues people pull their SCVs away before you can even get a kill in, and clearly zealots are mopped up by marauders/marines.
Zerg delenda est.
The KY
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
United Kingdom6252 Posts
May 09 2011 03:25 GMT
#448
On May 08 2011 23:12 Cyber_Cheese wrote:
protoss is a gas starved race, why are you complaining about 200 mineral/ 0 gas cost and comparing it to 100/100
gas is worth about 2x minerals last i checked
the best way to go about these drops is warp prisms phase in single dt's

Show nested quote +
On May 08 2011 23:07 The KY wrote:
Was watching the Day[9] Daily 'Dealing With Duckload' the other day when he pointed out Sjow dropping White Ra frequently, but never actually doing very much damage at all. The point was that the purpose of the drops was not to kill probes, snipe pylons or kill a nexus, it was to do a different sort of damage; keep White Ra on the backfoot, spread him out, keep him in his base.

Just thought that should be kept in mind for people saying protoss units aren't good for dropping because they don't do much damage in small groups; maybe they don't need to. The threat of a drop is often worse than the drop itself.


who won that match?


Sjow did. Day[9] used a couple of White Ra vs Demuslim games to demonstrate how not keeping Ra on the backfoot was fatal. Then he used Sjow vs White Ra games to show how Sjow could beat White Ra without ever really engaging or even doing much damage at all with his drops.

Of course it's different against an MMM terran who has mobility and doesn't necessarily need to keep his army together, but I just thought it should be considered that the worth of a drop isn't always measured in how many things you kill with it (but it does help ;o)
Techno
Profile Joined June 2010
1900 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-05-09 03:35:11
May 09 2011 03:34 GMT
#449
Dropping/warping 1 zealot on the edges of bases, then sending to the mineral line can help combat the mobility of Bio by forcing him to stay home.
Hell, its awesome to LOSE to nukes!
phreakrider
Profile Joined December 2010
Canada5 Posts
May 09 2011 15:43 GMT
#450
I have the feeling that droping 4 zealot or stalker alone isn't ennough for real damage. DT can be awesome if not scouted and if the other player doesn't check his minimap. Although, it may be easy to overcommit to this kind of drop if you can't get away with it. Everything will depend on your micro in his base and on the way you will use that warp prism. And i have to admit that the warp prism is really fragile for his use. When its in warping mode, its really immobile, in that case it is really easy for the defender to snipe it and end the fight quicker than you would wan't it. A little buff in hp or in armor should be great. Speed is great for large map but i fear the it doesn't worth it in general . We may rename the roboticbay to babycare center since, observer, warp prism and collosus need a lot of attention due to their cost and their key role in combat situation.
If you only shot once, SHOT TWICE!
Rickilicious
Profile Joined July 2009
United States220 Posts
May 09 2011 16:05 GMT
#451
Why protoss drops are rare

Because you need at least 400% MF to do those runs and get the proper drops.



They're rare because you can't replinish armies the same as Terran and Zerg.
Doug Righteous
BeMannerDuPenner
Profile Blog Joined April 2004
Germany5638 Posts
May 09 2011 16:10 GMT
#452
On May 10 2011 01:05 Rickilicious wrote:
Why protoss drops are rare

Because you need at least 400% MF to do those runs and get the proper drops.



They're rare because you can't replinish armies the same as Terran and Zerg.


yeah they can actually "replinish" their army wherever they want including the drop location.

what is your point other then the terrible diablo joke?
life of lively to live to life of full life thx to shield battery
methematics
Profile Joined August 2010
United States392 Posts
May 09 2011 16:14 GMT
#453
On May 10 2011 01:05 Rickilicious wrote:
Why protoss drops are rare

Because you need at least 400% MF to do those runs and get the proper drops.



They're rare because you can't replinish armies the same as Terran and Zerg.


Check out http://www.sc2replayed.com/replays/147584-1v1-protoss-zerg-gutterhulk
The Combo of ff plus drop mobility is effective to abuse a FE from zerg or a timing push from T. I used to get 3 raxed all the time, so i started doing this against T and it worked well. I quit because its all in, but its fun to do every once in a while.

Build a quick robo + 4 gates. load up 3-4 sentries in wp, lure army to the front by using a few zealots, then unload the sentries and perma-ff his ramp. warp in units and dont mess up the ffs for the win. Usually hits around 8 mins, might be off since i havent done it in forever.

If their T, they lose the ability to re-enforce since you cut off all production facilites. If their z their main army only grows by 1 hatch worth of production since you take out the main. Also theres 100% chance of a counter attack when doing this, so leave a sentry at home. TRY IT, ITS A FUN WAY TO DROP AND ABUSE FF.
JustPassingBy
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
10776 Posts
May 09 2011 16:15 GMT
#454
On May 03 2011 06:39 `ChroMaTe_ wrote:Medivacs from Starports, which in most cases are going to be producing Medivacs during the whole game.


I disagree with that:

- if you are playing against protoss, you might need to produce vikings against collosi (or phoenix)
- if you are playing against zerg, you might need to produce vikings against broodlords
- if you are playing against terran, if you are going tank, you might need some vikings, too.


These are about production on a regular basis, of course, which is why I left out banshee/raven.
Zeroes
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States1102 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-05-09 16:35:23
May 09 2011 16:31 GMT
#455
i just think pylons are better than warp prisms. You already need the supply so you might as well build them. Also they don't take supply or build time away from your robo.

Personally the colossi should be slower and warp prisms can be built from warp gates so that you can warp in warp prisms for warping more units from your warp gates. Maybe have it as robo bay tech.
Check out my SC Lan pics Here: http://picasaweb.google.com/bunk.habit
Dommk
Profile Joined May 2010
Australia4865 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-05-09 17:46:21
May 09 2011 17:44 GMT
#456
Warp-prism harass is much stronger against Protoss than the other races. The army really tends sit in one big ball and it is quite slow, in most cases the other Protoss has to warp-in Zealots just to defend, which is a bonus, especially in the mid/late game where you really don't want a ton of Zealots, you end up losing yours but the other Protoss is forced to spend minerals and Warpgate cooldowns to defend, then is stuck with 3/4 more Zealots than they wanted.

In PvP, you can actually feel the economic damage you do from a Zealot drop.

In PvT, after being inspired by White-ra, I've been using a Speed-Prism with Templar to great success. Not just to storm mineral lines either. It is almost like you are stalking your prey, when you have a Speed Observer following the Terran army and a Speed Prism with two or three Templar not too far away you can often wait for moments where the Terrans split their medivacs from their main army, (be it a rally that is far away or medivacs getting to a place faster due to Terran, etc) you don't have to wait for long because in my experience it happens A LOT and the moment it does you can pounce and easily kill/burn 4+ Medivacs with Feedback leaving the Terran dumb founded and 99% of the time I end up saving my Speed-Prism and Templar too. It really constricts the movement of the Terran and puts them off key.

Really fun when you kill 8+ full energy medivacs just before you engage :D
hyperrift
Profile Joined March 2011
United States1 Post
May 09 2011 18:07 GMT
#457
This has likely been pointed out, but if you drop units and then transform into a power source, you now have the units you used as cargo + whatever you care to warp in.
DuneBug
Profile Joined April 2010
United States668 Posts
May 09 2011 18:11 GMT
#458
Kinda feel like t/z drops work because the units are good at killing workers, and protoss units really aren't.

Zealots are good but not fast enough since workers can just run away until some units come to clear them out. Given that making the workers run away is probably worth 200 minerals in mining time. Colossus/archon/stalkers is just too expensive to drop.

I think dropping 2 sentries and warping in 2-4 zealots is worthwhile. Have the sentries drop ff's and run them back to the WP and leave the zealots to clean up... But that's a lot more work than a simple marine/ling drop.
TIME TO SAY GOODNIGHT BRO!
Scarecrow
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
Korea (South)9172 Posts
May 09 2011 18:21 GMT
#459
Agreed with previous posts. Toss T1 kills workers/buildings too slowly (compared to roaches, banes, rines or rauders) and by the time you get tier 3 you really need every available unit in your ball.

+ lost robo build time

+ slow (researching speed just cuts into your actual unit count with the benefit of being able to reduce your ball's unit count further)

Wasting storms/units killing scv's/drones doesnt achieve much if you get steamrolled in turn with the minimal defenders advantage. The bigger the toss ball the stronger it gets, sacrificing units to harrass just isn't worth it alot of the time. 2 immortals in a prism is kinda interesting but is a HUGE risk (similar to that of reavers in bw) and far less rewarding than scarabs blowing up worker lines.
Yhamm is the god of predictions
LuisFrost
Profile Joined February 2011
Mexico130 Posts
May 09 2011 18:28 GMT
#460
On May 08 2011 23:56 Sv1 wrote:
I'm still waiting for someone to use their warp prism with their army so they can reinforce as a fight is happening. I think however the thinking is "build enough units to critical mass->send them + probe to enemy -> build pylon instead.


lol, that's exactly what i wanted to say. i'm glad that you mentioned it because i do that and it can be very effective. i tried experimenting with warp prism drops but protoss gateway units aren't that effective in small numbers and droping collossi can be fun, but it's not worth the risk vs good players.
so the use i found for warp prisms was to build one just before i move out with either a collossus deathball or a heavy gateway army and set it to follow some unit. it's very simple and easy to do, it doesn't take much time and it has let me win some games, not only because you reinforce immediately but also because in maps like shakuras plateau or shattered temple you can attack the front of the natural and just as the enemy moves their units to defend it you just fly the warp prism to the high ground, warp in some units and attack on two fronts. i believe the ability to create an army behind enemy lines is something very strong and merits at least some experimentation on the part of protoss players.
anyway, i've found this to be somewhat effective with deathballs, although probably unnecesary (it's not like they can kill 6 collossi if unprepared) but very effective with upgraded gateway units compositions, specially because you won't be using the robo to build collossi. and it's specially useful vs zerg, because 1) you can warp in on creep! and 2) you nullify the zerg's advantage to immediatly reinforce their army, because suddenly you can do just the same. for 200 minerals it's a big deal, just give the warp prism it's own control group (for fancy control and warp behind enemy lines action) and be careful never to warp in if the enemy can snipe the prism.
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