• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 11:13
CET 17:13
KST 01:13
  • 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
RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups A & B Preview1TL.net Map Contest #21: Winners11Intel X Team Liquid Seoul event: Showmatches and Meet the Pros10[ASL20] Finals Preview: Arrival13TL.net Map Contest #21: Voting12
Community News
[TLMC] Fall/Winter 2025 Ladder Map Rotation10Weekly Cups (Nov 3-9): Clem Conquers in Canada4SC: Evo Complete - Ranked Ladder OPEN ALPHA8StarCraft, SC2, HotS, WC3, Returning to Blizzcon!45$5,000+ WardiTV 2025 Championship7
StarCraft 2
General
RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups A & B Preview [TLMC] Fall/Winter 2025 Ladder Map Rotation Mech is the composition that needs teleportation t Weekly Cups (Nov 3-9): Clem Conquers in Canada Craziest Micro Moments Of All Time?
Tourneys
RSL Revival: Season 3 Constellation Cup - Main Event - Stellar Fest Tenacious Turtle Tussle Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2) Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament
Strategy
Custom Maps
Map Editor closed ?
External Content
Mutation # 499 Chilling Adaptation Mutation # 498 Wheel of Misfortune|Cradle of Death Mutation # 497 Battle Haredened Mutation # 496 Endless Infection
Brood War
General
FlaSh on: Biggest Problem With SnOw's Playstyle [ASL20] Ask the mapmakers — Drop your questions BW General Discussion Terran 1:35 12 Gas Optimization BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues Small VOD Thread 2.0 [BSL21] RO32 Group D - Sunday 21:00 CET [BSL21] RO32 Group C - Saturday 21:00 CET
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Current Meta PvZ map balance How to stay on top of macro?
Other Games
General Games
Should offensive tower rushing be viable in RTS games? Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread EVE Corporation Path of Exile
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
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
TL Mafia Community Thread SPIRED by.ASL Mafia {211640}
Community
General
Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread US Politics Mega-thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread The Games Industry And ATVI
Fan Clubs
White-Ra Fan Club The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! Korean Music Discussion Series you have seen recently...
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion NBA General Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023 TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
SC2 Client Relocalization [Change SC2 Language] Linksys AE2500 USB WIFI keeps disconnecting Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Dyadica Gospel – a Pulp No…
Hildegard
Coffee x Performance in Espo…
TrAiDoS
Saturation point
Uldridge
DnB/metal remix FFO Mick Go…
ImbaTosS
Reality "theory" prov…
perfectspheres
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1991 users

[G] PvZ Anti stephano style build by EmpireMista - Page 10

Forum Index > StarCraft 2 Strategy
Post a Reply
Prev 1 8 9 10 11 12 Next All
CrAzEdMiKe
Profile Joined March 2011
Canada151 Posts
May 17 2012 14:53 GMT
#181
I wholeheartedly would like to thank Mista for sharing his build. Regardless of how many people feel the need to discredit or poke holes in the build, for a pro player to share some of his "tech" with the community is extremely refreshing, and I really do thank you for it.

I think there are some main points about the build which a lot of people seem to be forgetting. This is designed to work against the "Roach max" build, and if the Zerg player identifies this build and changes tactics, well, the Protoss is going to have to change up his strategy as well. Builds don't have to be set in stone like a lot of people think. There were many games where I went in thinking I'd be going for some kind of composition but based on what happened during the game, my plan got altered quite dramatically. This is no different.

The second point that I think is a little understated is that even if the Zerg changes tech and goes a different route (depending on how far in he realizes or decides to switch) you still will have a lot of infrastructure and a lot of tech set up and good to go. Protoss has to spend a LOT of money on upgrades and structures, and with that out of the way, even if you're taking a late expo you won't have to be spending that money on all these upgrades because they're already done. I feel like a lot of casters in vods will overemphasize advantages in game based solely on economy... When tech in itself can be a really key advantage. Once you have invested in all these upgrades and tech, that's money you (hopefully) won't need to spend again and can now spend on bulking up your army.

So to make a long story short, I really like this build and I'm very grateful that Mista chose to share it. It is definitely a niche build, but a well needed one. Also the thing is, a single build like this has the potential to shift metagames... Once a known "counter" to the roach 11-12min maxout has been absorbed and used by the community, people on the ladder will favor that style less and less... Similar to how the Protoss 3gate expand was phased out due to Zergs adapting and breaking it, if Protoss has learned how to break a Zerg doing this style, it will just fade into memory (hopefully).
Fortis-Et-Fidus
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States119 Posts
May 18 2012 01:28 GMT
#182
get 2 cannons at front, because i constantly get all ined on ladder, mid diamond to mid master level, they dont even scout my buildings but they roahc ling all in, and usually 2 cannons isn't enough...:/ any advice mista?

User was warned for this post
"Battle Crusier Operational"
Empire.Mista
Profile Joined August 2010
Greece150 Posts
May 18 2012 01:42 GMT
#183
Scout.
https://twitter.com/EmpireMista
birdseed
Profile Joined February 2011
19 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-18 03:24:14
May 18 2012 03:12 GMT
#184
my bad: shouldnt of presumed.
monk
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
United States8476 Posts
May 18 2012 03:18 GMT
#185
On May 18 2012 12:12 birdseed wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 18 2012 10:28 Fortis-Et-Fidus wrote:
get 2 cannons at front, because i constantly get all ined on ladder, mid diamond to mid master level, they dont even scout my buildings but they roahc ling all in, and usually 2 cannons isn't enough...:/ any advice mista?

User was warned for this post

The reason you got warned is because the answer is implied by the OP and you gave bad advice. This build is meant to go against the stephano style roach max which requires 3hatch before gas. This means that if you don't scout 3hatch before gas you should not do this build. If you use the search feature I'd bet you can find threads where people give advice about playing against 2 base zerg (which means faster tech or an all in).

No, the reason he got warned was that he went completely off topic, using this thread as an opportunity to ask Mista an unrelated question.
Moderator
Keylime
Profile Joined July 2011
United States33 Posts
May 18 2012 03:26 GMT
#186
Thank you mista! this build is actually pretty good. I'm a mid masters terran player who recently switched to toss : P and after losing 3 games in a row to my mid/top masters zerg friend, (him going stephano style), I found this guide and used it on him, and low and behold it worked. Mindgames played a huge part and a lot came down to his corruptor timing, which was just a tad bit late. All in all, seems to be a good build, thanks for sharing it.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
ChrysaliS_
Profile Joined January 2011
United States261 Posts
May 18 2012 03:36 GMT
#187
Hey themis :D
Chrysalis.145
skasse
Profile Joined February 2012
United States2 Posts
May 18 2012 03:46 GMT
#188
I wanted to say thanks also, for sharing this build. I saw this post today, watched the replays, and gave it a try. I've walked all over my roach maxing opponents. Thanks!
Deleted User 81929
Profile Joined June 2010
243 Posts
May 18 2012 10:03 GMT
#189
--- Nuked ---
Empire.Mista
Profile Joined August 2010
Greece150 Posts
May 18 2012 10:34 GMT
#190
Dropping a 2 base protoss player not a good idea.
https://twitter.com/EmpireMista
Deleted User 81929
Profile Joined June 2010
243 Posts
May 18 2012 10:59 GMT
#191
--- Nuked ---
Empire.Mista
Profile Joined August 2010
Greece150 Posts
May 18 2012 12:53 GMT
#192
With an observer and a prism out is it possible to go for drops without me seeing it ? therefore i will have units ready to defend the drop.
https://twitter.com/EmpireMista
Harstem
Profile Joined January 2011
Netherlands263 Posts
May 18 2012 13:22 GMT
#193
Hey mista, nice guide u have here.
Looks like a strong build, How do you deal with people who will get like 6/7 festors at home and then basetrade you with roaches?
Progamer
Bananasword01
Profile Joined April 2011
Australia220 Posts
May 18 2012 15:33 GMT
#194
If the map sufficiently spacious couldn't the zerg expand to far bases for 4th and 5th. And then just base race you when youtry to attack? Obviously its not a perfect counter but I always thought base race to be a zerg weapon not used well enough
Xitac
Profile Joined April 2012
Germany25 Posts
May 18 2012 16:28 GMT
#195
I think more then 3 replays would be nice...

User was warned for this post. There are 7 replays in the OP......
StarBrift
Profile Joined January 2008
Sweden1761 Posts
May 18 2012 17:23 GMT
#196
The greatest thing about this build imo is that it disguises itself as an immortal all in if you deny scouting properly. So the zerg will be mortally afraid of taking a fast 4th and get those important 8 gas. If a zerg is 100% sure that this build is coming then he could probably just mass drone/spine and take 4th really early so that he can get spine+infestor+corruptor up in time to combat this. But you can't just blindly do that because its an instant loss against any early 2 base timing.

I think zergs are gonna have to have an exact 4th base timing when protoss shows no sign of attacking beyond some kind of time limit.
n0btozz
Profile Joined January 2011
Iceland115 Posts
May 18 2012 17:46 GMT
#197
Funny how a good pro player, granted - not the most famous, but still good, posts a strategy that he is using against "Stephano style" and we has a bunch of lower end players, homemade experts telling him it's a bad build.

I for one can say this. I had around 65-70% win ratio in pvz for ages, had this matchup in my pocket. Then I had my finals so couldn't play and when I got back to playing, shiiii, my best matchup had gone down the sink. I just couldn't beat Stephano style, currently I have a 80% win rate in pvp, 57% win rate in pvt but only 30% win rate in pvz. I tried this build and it worked perfectly, I denied scouting, he didn't know when I was moving out, he figured out what was going on too late and his blind response to some 10-11 minute push out from me failed him and I crushed him. Then the same happened next game.

Thank you man, you have just saved my pvz.
http://www.x2coaching.com/
The_Darkness
Profile Joined December 2011
United States910 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-18 19:44:04
May 18 2012 19:40 GMT
#198
I've lost to P doing something like this (turtle for 14 or 15 minutes and then pushout with Collosuses or a bunch of immortals) and I generally do the "stephano build". I'm high diamond. This build seems to work on maps where it's easy for Protoss to hold their natural with sentries (e.g., Ohana or Shakuras) but on Daybreak I've been able to kill it with superior production by simply breaking down their wall at around the 12 minute mark and eventually overwhelming their forces before a bunch of colossus can come out. If you're doing the Stephano build you'll have about 60 drones at 8 minutes and a fourth base before the 10 minute mark. If you see a warp prism you can safely drone to 65-70 in case you want to play for the later game. With patience, if you simply keep teching up (and killing or sacrificing supply as needed to replace roaches with infestors and corruptors), it seems like it would be hard for P to march across the map and beat 2 maxed out Zerg armies, but what seems hard and it was is hard in practice are obviously two different things.

Sorry for being lazy, but could you direct me to a game where you beat 2 maxed out zerg armies? (Or could someone who's watched the games do so.) I need to see it to believe it

Edit: I should add that when I lose to the build, i attribute it to the fact that I am idiot who insists on throwing half his army away by trying to force his way up the ramp to the nat on Shakuras and repeatedly losing half of his army until the Protoss is near maxed and I die.
To be is to be the value of a bound variable.
GadGet
Profile Joined April 2011
Germany24 Posts
May 19 2012 16:10 GMT
#199
Pretty strong timing push, but i think it doesn't work twice against the same zerg player (on really high level). Your only little aggression is the warpprism which is not too scary :p. If the zerg sees that you are so extremly passiv for such a long time he can build like no units and play extremly greedy. By the time the push hits he'll have 20 spines, infestors and broodlords out which deals with that push pretty ez.

User was warned for this post
StarBrift
Profile Joined January 2008
Sweden1761 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-19 16:44:18
May 19 2012 16:41 GMT
#200
On May 19 2012 04:40 The_Darkness wrote:
I've lost to P doing something like this (turtle for 14 or 15 minutes and then pushout with Collosuses or a bunch of immortals) and I generally do the "stephano build". I'm high diamond. This build seems to work on maps where it's easy for Protoss to hold their natural with sentries (e.g., Ohana or Shakuras) but on Daybreak I've been able to kill it with superior production by simply breaking down their wall at around the 12 minute mark and eventually overwhelming their forces before a bunch of colossus can come out. If you're doing the Stephano build you'll have about 60 drones at 8 minutes and a fourth base before the 10 minute mark. If you see a warp prism you can safely drone to 65-70 in case you want to play for the later game. With patience, if you simply keep teching up (and killing or sacrificing supply as needed to replace roaches with infestors and corruptors), it seems like it would be hard for P to march across the map and beat 2 maxed out Zerg armies, but what seems hard and it was is hard in practice are obviously two different things.

Sorry for being lazy, but could you direct me to a game where you beat 2 maxed out zerg armies? (Or could someone who's watched the games do so.) I need to see it to believe it

Edit: I should add that when I lose to the build, i attribute it to the fact that I am idiot who insists on throwing half his army away by trying to force his way up the ramp to the nat on Shakuras and repeatedly losing half of his army until the Protoss is near maxed and I die.


I don't think you understand what the point of the build is if you think you can trade units before the actual battle. The whole point is that if you spend money on more than 20 roaches you are most likely not going to afford the gas units you need to defend the push. Also if you stop drones at 60 vs this you won't afford mass spines in time either.

The whole point of this build is that you need to start reacting to it about 3-4 minutes before it hits and it's very hard for a zerg to decide if they should be safe against this build or safe against a normal sentry heavy immortal push.
Prev 1 8 9 10 11 12 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 8h 47m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
TKL 186
SteadfastSC 127
BRAT_OK 82
ProTech30
StarCraft: Brood War
Calm 4323
Sea 755
firebathero 674
Rush 222
Soulkey 140
hero 115
Yoon 115
Aegong 30
zelot 26
ajuk12(nOOB) 15
[ Show more ]
Terrorterran 13
Dota 2
Gorgc4743
qojqva2780
singsing2121
Dendi1192
Counter-Strike
markeloff152
Other Games
B2W.Neo1173
hiko518
Lowko499
crisheroes360
Hui .336
DeMusliM289
Fuzer 210
Sick135
Liquid`VortiX133
oskar86
QueenE62
Trikslyr30
Organizations
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 18 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• poizon28 27
• Hinosc 10
• Kozan
• sooper7s
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• Migwel
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• intothetv
• IndyKCrew
StarCraft: Brood War
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• C_a_k_e 2012
• WagamamaTV324
• lizZardDota225
League of Legends
• Nemesis2936
• TFBlade668
Other Games
• Shiphtur10
Upcoming Events
PiGosaur Cup
8h 47m
RSL Revival
17h 47m
Classic vs Creator
Cure vs TriGGeR
Kung Fu Cup
19h 47m
GuMiho vs MaNa
herO vs ShoWTimE
Classic vs TBD
CranKy Ducklings
1d 17h
RSL Revival
1d 17h
herO vs Gerald
ByuN vs SHIN
Kung Fu Cup
1d 19h
Cure vs Reynor
IPSL
2 days
ZZZero vs rasowy
Napoleon vs KameZerg
BSL 21
2 days
Tarson vs Julia
Doodle vs OldBoy
eOnzErG vs WolFix
StRyKeR vs Aeternum
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
RSL Revival
2 days
Reynor vs sOs
Maru vs Ryung
[ Show More ]
Kung Fu Cup
2 days
WardiTV Korean Royale
2 days
BSL 21
3 days
JDConan vs Semih
Dragon vs Dienmax
Tech vs NewOcean
TerrOr vs Artosis
IPSL
3 days
Dewalt vs WolFix
eOnzErG vs Bonyth
Replay Cast
3 days
Wardi Open
3 days
Monday Night Weeklies
4 days
WardiTV Korean Royale
4 days
The PondCast
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
RSL Revival
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2025-11-07
Stellar Fest: Constellation Cup
Eternal Conflict S1

Ongoing

C-Race Season 1
IPSL Winter 2025-26
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 4
SOOP Univ League 2025
YSL S2
BSL Season 21
CSCL: Masked Kings S3
RSL Revival: Season 3
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
Thunderpick World Champ.
CS Asia Championships 2025
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual

Upcoming

SLON Tour Season 2
BSL 21 Non-Korean Championship
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
HSC XXVIII
RSL Offline Finals
WardiTV 2025
META Madness #9
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026: Closed Qualifier
eXTREMESLAND 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8
SL Budapest Major 2025
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 © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.