EPT_________________________________________________________________________
Part 1: FFE and Zealot/Stalker Poke
Open up with your preferred FFE opener; this is the one I use:
+ Show Spoiler +
9 pylon
14 forge (rally 12th probe)
If he didn't go early pool (11poolish), 15 pylon at his natural, if not 15 pylon at your's
18 nexus (rally 18th probe, should be CB'ing probes until now)
18 cannon
20 pylon if you planted the earlier one at his natural (chrono on 19)
20 gateway
20 Grab both gasses
21 chrono probes
14 forge (rally 12th probe)
If he didn't go early pool (11poolish), 15 pylon at his natural, if not 15 pylon at your's
18 nexus (rally 18th probe, should be CB'ing probes until now)
18 cannon
20 pylon if you planted the earlier one at his natural (chrono on 19)
20 gateway
20 Grab both gasses
21 chrono probes
After opening up with your fast expand build,
+ Show Spoiler +
-Chrono +1 weapons once
-Drop your cyber core and build a zealot.
-Build a stalker and start warpgate research, chrono'ing both--don't forget to build a pylon before or during stalker so you don't get supply blocked!
-Constant probe production throughout this phase, no additional chrono's spent on probes.
-Drop your cyber core and build a zealot.
-Build a stalker and start warpgate research, chrono'ing both--don't forget to build a pylon before or during stalker so you don't get supply blocked!
-Constant probe production throughout this phase, no additional chrono's spent on probes.
You want to be rallying zealot to watchtower by your base, then either to his natural or his 3rd, with the stalker following behind shortly thereafter. The goal of this poke is to scout a speedling timing or sling/bling play, and to force zerg to produce more zerglings than usual (perhaps getting a queen kill and drone kills in the process). Try as best you can to keep the zeal and stalker alive as they are essential to defending a reactionary speedling bust at your 3rd.
If you see speedlings or more zerglings than normal, abort your early 3rd mission and instead go towards twilight tech, maybe a charge/archon or blink timing, depending on if you see only speedling (maybe banelings) or roaches peppered in, respectively.
Note: One of the reasons why a zeal/stalker poke is better than a zeal/sentry opening is because most pressure builds look the exact same to the zerg as this part of the build does. If you are a player who uses zeal/stalker openings constantly, no matter what build you do, it makes all of your builds opaque and keeps the zerg guessing, preventing them from executing a blind or slightly uneducated counter.
_________________________________________________________________________
Part 2: Back at home during your zeal/stalker poke and securing your 3rd base
Right after the stalker finishes building,
-Build a sentry and a pylon
-Construct a robo when resources permit (robo production order is observer->3-5 immortals, with chrono being constantly spent on the robo)
-Grab third and fourth gasses after robo, again as resources permit
-Pylon at 3rd OR Pylon at ramp to natural (always put it at the ramp to natural if you can; obviously you can't on all maps)
-Continue making sentries and probes throughout all of this and spend all your chronoboost on probes.
-Cut probes once you are fully saturated at each base.
-Throw down your nexus anywhere from 7:30-7:45
-Put down 3 more gateways either at 3rd or ramp to natural, a cannon behind them as well. Here are the positionings on various maps:
+ Show Spoiler +
Daybreak: ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/RwNV6.jpg)
Cloud Kingdom:![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/NU2os.jpg)
Metropolis:![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/GUtN5.jpg)
Ohana:![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/TcC3i.jpg)
Entombed Valley:![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/WSSi3.jpg)
Cloud Kingdom:
Metropolis:
Ohana:
Entombed Valley:
-Resume probe production
-Start hallucination and +1 armor, chrono boost both constantly
Rally all units to your 3rd, using warpins primarily for sentries (obviously adjusting if you see speedlings at a tower, or something of the sort). Hug your nexus with units at 3rd or put them in minerals if it's a map where you wall off ramp to natural. After your 2nd immo finishes, rally 3rd and 4th immo's to natural ramp/natural and warp in 4sentries at the top/at natural.
_________________________________________________________________________
Part 3: Midgame Responses and Priorities
Assuming you have secured your 3rd (not finished up, just have units there in defensive position), have immortals on the way and you have defended a slow ling attack/one hasn't happened, your observer should be reaching his base. As soon as hallucination finishes you want to constantly have a phoenix patrolling his bases until you see a tech structure thrown down. You can also opt not to get hallucination until you dont see anything in his main base with obs, then you know he might be hiding something and need to get a faster scouting unit (poser phoenix). Another option is to start halluc but cancel it if you see a tech structure finishing up with obs (meaning he cant cancel and juke you).
Note: In all of these responses it is necessary to get 5th and 6th gasses at your third as soon as it finishes.
Here are the responses I've come up with for various zerg tech paths:
Spire:
+ Show Spoiler +
Dedicate all warpins to stalkers, start twilight council and focus on armor upgrades rather than attack upgrades. Remember to wall off your 3rd (if applicable) and start cannons in 2nd and 3rd mineral lines. Initial stalkers should be in main. Tech to storm and have 2 templars each base with a few stalkers. Take your 4th and defend it while either going for a timing, if he's made a lot of mutas and they haven't done much damage, or defensively macro until you have a super army.
Quick Infestation pit, all gasses taken, waves of drones being produced, and fourth (or fourth and fifth if z is inexperienced playing vs quick 3rd style):
+ Show Spoiler +
Start up a twilight council immediately as you see infestation pit, start charge and templar archives. Continue building immortals, stop at 5 or 6, start warp prism(s), and go up to 12 or 14 gates, going zeal/archon warpins. Attack once all your additional gates finish up. The reason you go for this timing is that an early infestation pit lends itself to ling heavy play as all of the zerg's gas is going towards infestor/roach or infestor/hive tech. If they go early hive, you can't take a 4th base and passively macro because z will have bl/infestor army before you can get vr's. mothership, and archons out in time. On some occasions I have been able to secure a passive 4th while executing warp prism harass, but it only works some of the times and therefore doesn't seem like a viable followup.
Quick infestation pit, all gasses taken, drones not being produced en masse, macro hatch, no fourth on the way:
+ Show Spoiler +
Ling/infestor attacks on your 3rd and natural. You want to follow the same response as you would versus the quick infestation pit with 4th/5th otw, except you want to cut immortal production (few roaches will be mixed in), and prioritize getting a high gateway count over starting +2/using your robo. Bank as much gas as possible b/c you need archons to defend infested terran spam. After defending his attack(s), go kill him or take your 4th and 5th (you should be able to defend both because his army will be small and tech inefficient).
Hydralisk Den:
+ Show Spoiler +
Rather than going twilight then robo bay, go robo bay then twilight, sim city up your 3rd with cannons and gates, continue upgrading attack and grab blink+collosus range along with collo's. Blink/collo doom push with warp prism after you hold off hydra/ling or hydra/roach bust and have at least 3 collo along with forcefield energy.
No tech choice seen with obs or first phoenixes, only roach warren, no 4th taken, macro hatch, and not all gasses are taken:
+ Show Spoiler +
Roach 200/200 timing is coming. Continue making immortals until you have six total, three at natural ramp/natural and three at third. You want to rely on immortal/sentry with a splash of stalkers, as well as your walloffs with cannons, to defend this. Start a twilight council and robo when money permits and keep defending with forcefields and ranged units while preparing for your own 200/200 timing with +2 attack/+1 armor and 2/3 ranged collo. Defend, tech up to death timing, attack, win because he can't afford broodlord/infestor when a max roach army deals little to no damage.
_________________________________________________________________________
Part 4: Late Game Army Composition and Control
Preface/The Composition: + Show Spoiler +
The current metagame in pvz revolves around landing a vortex or two to negate part of the zerg army while engaging the rest, hopefully getting an archon toilet off. However, you cannot negate a large portion of zerg’s army if he splits his broodlords up, so much so that you can get only 3 or 4 in a single vortex. Sniping off fringes of his army in that situation doesn’t really work because of infestors/spines under the bls. The solution to this is a voidray focused composition, complete with ht’s, archons, carriers, and a mothership.
The Beginnings of Your Very Own Super Army: + Show Spoiler +
While either taking your 4th passively after holding a timing, or taking it while doing a pre BL timing, you want to add a stargate and a fleet beacon once that completes. Start +1 air attack and continuously pump out vr’s from your stargate, and add on a MS when fleet beacon finishes. While your 4th is going up, use zealots left over from mid game and/or warp prism harass in order to buy time/slow down zerg even more. After your 4th is up, along with your 7th and 8th gasses, add on 2 stargates--3 if you have gas floating--and keep pumping vr’s out of them while researching storm and finishing up all your ground upgrades as well as your air attack upgrades. Grab 5th base along with 9th and 10th gasses when you feel secure. Continue to do zealot/dt harass all the time throughout these phases! Doing that will only make your composition stronger by taxing zerg’s resources, and to an extent, mechanics going into your final engagement(s).
Exact Composition/Priorities in Engaging: + Show Spoiler +
The exact composition you’re aiming for is 8-10 ht’s, 6-8 archons, 4-5 carriers, 1 mothership, and the rest of your army supply should be in skillrays...er voidrays. With this composition and constant harassment, you never have to attack into the zerg, instead relying on base/tech snipes with your army+recall or with drops to deal offensive damage. Never, ever attack into zerg--the most sure way to win is to never attack and continue doing damage to him and keeping him on few mining bases. Play like Dimaga. Except Protoss. In the event that the zerg doesn’t concede and tap out losing half his bases to zealot/dt harass and he comes, attacking into you, the priorities you should observe during/before the battle are as follows (in descending order; from most important to least important):
1. Feedback infestors; fungal is the only thing that can beat this composition, so you don’t want any going off. You might ask, “Well, why can’t I just spread vr’s and not worry about denying fungals?” The answer is that if you spread the high number of vr’s you have to the extent that only 3-4 can be hit with a single fungal, you allow corruptors to float around the fringes of your army, quickly destroying portions of your army and retreating.
2. Land storms on corruptors; with your voidrays stacked, corruptors tend to stack up in a group too, when attacking, allowing you to destroy his corruptors in a few storms. If he does spread his corruptors, you still have enough storms in ~10 ht’s to kill them all, and you need not worry about fungals going off on your vrs. If he does fly over your army and wants to force you to storm yourself, instead use archons to focus fire the corruptors, doing even more damage to them than storm would.
3. Land good vortexes, nullifying whatever part of his army you can, getting a huge archon vortex if you’re lucky.
4. Make sure your army is not on a move command...that would be bad.
1. Feedback infestors; fungal is the only thing that can beat this composition, so you don’t want any going off. You might ask, “Well, why can’t I just spread vr’s and not worry about denying fungals?” The answer is that if you spread the high number of vr’s you have to the extent that only 3-4 can be hit with a single fungal, you allow corruptors to float around the fringes of your army, quickly destroying portions of your army and retreating.
2. Land storms on corruptors; with your voidrays stacked, corruptors tend to stack up in a group too, when attacking, allowing you to destroy his corruptors in a few storms. If he does spread his corruptors, you still have enough storms in ~10 ht’s to kill them all, and you need not worry about fungals going off on your vrs. If he does fly over your army and wants to force you to storm yourself, instead use archons to focus fire the corruptors, doing even more damage to them than storm would.
3. Land good vortexes, nullifying whatever part of his army you can, getting a huge archon vortex if you’re lucky.
4. Make sure your army is not on a move command...that would be bad.
_________________________________________________________________________
Replays:
+ Show Spoiler +
Vs. Mutalisks: http://sc2shr.com/uo
http://sc2shr.com/vD
+ Show Spoiler +
Vs. Hydra first: http://sc2shr.com/up
+ Show Spoiler +
Vs. Early Infestation Pit; Charge/Archon timing->late game: http://sc2shr.com/uq
Vs. Early Infestation Pit; Passive macro while using prism to slow down zerg’s attack:
Vs. Roach max timing: http://sc2shr.com/vF
+ Show Spoiler +
Vs. Roach/Infestor 3base:
+ Show Spoiler +
http://sc2shr.com/vD
+ Show Spoiler +
1st Replay Notes: We both played poorly, I allowing ling runby’s constantly, losing bases, while he didnt upgrade his air units properly. More of a replay showing how to deal with mutas with this build rather than a replay exhibiting good late game play.
Vs. Hydra first: http://sc2shr.com/up
+ Show Spoiler +
Notes: This is vs. Daisuki in the NA playhem daily; he said he was trying out something new so not sure about the quality of this hydra/ling/roach bust/style. I do think that since mr. daisuki is doing it, though, it will be up to par with a high masters player doing a refined version of the build.
Vs. Early Infestation Pit; Charge/Archon timing->late game: http://sc2shr.com/uq
Vs. Early Infestation Pit; Passive macro while using prism to slow down zerg’s attack:
Vs. Roach max timing: http://sc2shr.com/vF
+ Show Spoiler +
Notes: The most important aspect to holding off this timing attack is having good mechanics. Use location hotkeys, split your army up, don’t get supply blocked, remember your tech, and you will defend it without a problem. In this particular game, I didn’t have enough sentries at the natural ramp and ended up having to walk back and forth b/t bases relying on obs scouting. In an ideal situation, you want to be forcefielding the ramp and picking off units every time with a few units up top. As long as your 3rd stays up, you are going to win. However, it is hardest to hold on daybreak due to width of ramp, but it is possible to do in a much cleaner way than I did. It’s hard to get replays of this play style because no one does it anymore, but I’ll try to convince my practice partners to do it and will have more replays for you guys soon 
.
. Vs. Roach/Infestor 3base:
+ Show Spoiler +
Notes: Whilst playing vs any infestor based timing, using any strategy in PvZ, remember to spread out your army pre engagement.
More replays on the way
....or is it 0-6 now)
