• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 02:59
CEST 08:59
KST 15:59
  • 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
[ASL22] Ro4 Preview: Mirror Mirror5[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: Within Reach5[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: In A Tizzy11[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Holy Diver5[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Rough Waters10
Community News
Rollback Netcode in Brood War435.0.17 Patch Notes - October 7, 202621Weekly Cups Results (Sep 28-Oct 4)0SC4ALL: II SC2 Complete Invited Player Lineup10StarCraft II 5.0.17 PTR Patch Notes (Sept 30, 2026)78
StarCraft 2
General
5.0.17 Patch Notes - October 7, 2026 [Old] StarCraft 3 Reportedly in Development StarCraft II 5.0.17 PTR Patch Notes (Sept 30, 2026) How do you feel about the mass reverts in the 5.0.17 PTR? Weekly Cups Results (Sep 28-Oct 4)
Tourneys
ScienceCraft (October 24-25) - Live Event RSL 2026 Offline Finals LCQ Sign-Ups Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20) ISSL (IntoTheTV x SOOP SC2 League): Premier Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament
Strategy
[H] ZvP Mid-Late Game: Stalkers Collossi HT
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Sweltering Sands [M] (2) Frigid Storage
External Content
Mutation # 546 Catch the Train The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 545 And Drops and Rifts Mutation # 544 Double Trouble
Brood War
General
Rollback Netcode in Brood War [ASL22] Ro4 Preview: Mirror Mirror TL Sidebar missing streams Bot on ladder Repalyzer - replay analysis app for StarCraft: Rem
Tourneys
[ASL22] Semifinal A [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL22] Semifinal B [ASL22] Ro8 Day 4
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Cliff Jump Revisited (1 in a 1000 strategy) Replay Review Process - What do you do?
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread General RTS Discussion Thread Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Total Annihilation Zero
Dota 2
Dota 2 Champions League Season 3 Begins April 25! Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Artificial Intelligence Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
Serral Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion! Diablo Animated Series on Netflix
Sports
TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Football (Soccer) Thread MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
Recent Gifted Posts
Blogs
[ASL22] Ro4 Day1 Ticket Giv…
bITt.mAN
Escaping Into Video Games: G…
TrAiDoS
38 yo Retired SWE loo…
PurE)Rabbit-SF
Can Bots Beat Pros?? Starcr…
namkraft
[meme] I finally understa…
LUCKY_NOOB
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 9061 users

[G]KiWiKaKi's Stargate Expand PvZ (MLG Spoilers)

Forum Index > Closed
Post a Reply
grimAuxiliatrix
Profile Joined October 2010
United States105 Posts
April 07 2011 21:28 GMT
#1
I didn't see any other posts about this, so I thought I'd do a brief write up of Kiwi's strategy from the first KiWiKaki v IdrA game on ST from MLG Dallas 2011. I say strategy because he does a normal 3gate expo, but diverges from the norm rather quickly. All the replays from MLG can be found at this link if you want to see for yourself: http://www.majorleaguegaming.com/news/download-mlg-dallas-sc2-rep-pack-1/

If you are unfamiliar with the 3gate expand, here is the Liquidpedia article:
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/3-Gate_Sentry_Expand

The Opening
Kiwi focuses on denying IdrA's attempted 15Hatch, delaying it significantly using the typical pylon shenanigans. While doing this he performs a 3gate, dropping his Nexus at around 6:00. IdrA is going for a fast upgrade speedling/baneling style

The Cool Part
  • As soon as Kiwi drops the nexus, he follows up with a stargate
  • Sacrificing gateway production, he chronos out a void ray
  • Instead of anxiously rushing to IdrA's base, he searches around for Overlords, while making phoenixes and dropping a robo
  • Pokes with the void ray, with little success
  • Cuts phoenix production at 4 and drops 2 more gates
  • Uses the phoenixes to deal massive damage, taking out queens and overlords
  • Builds a robo bay while harassing
  • Loses the void, but instead of dumping more resources into another void, he continues harassment with just the phoenixes
  • Makes stalkers, colossi and gets Thermal Lance
  • Pushes, and using FF's to deny most of the banes, takes a victory

Why it works
  • Keeps the zerg pinned, forcing them to spend money on new queens, overlords and spore crawlers and keeping the Toss' natural expansion safe
  • Transitions into robo tech quickly to deal with a hydra response
  • In the event of a corruptor response (such as IdrA's), the zerg will not be able to afford many, and the phoenixes will tank while the colossi deal with ground forces


TL;DR
Use a void ray + 4 phoenixes to harass while teching to colossus, ensuring that the zerg won't be able to kill the colossi effectively.

P.S. I'm not entirely sure how well this would work in the event that the opponent decides to just Mondragon it, since Kiwi didn't have much of a ground force while he was harassing.
Word to your mothership HuK
blooblooblahblah
Profile Joined February 2011
Australia4163 Posts
April 07 2011 21:36 GMT
#2
This is similar to the FFE into quick stargate build which is a pretty popular build at the moment. This build seems just a safer option at the cost of a later expansion and stargate. It's great to deny the zerg a 3rd with the Void ray and following it up with phoenixes as they don't have creep connecting to their 3rd.
Ganzi beat me without stim. Ostojiy beat me with a nydus. Siphonn beat me with probes. Revival beat my sentry-immortal all-in.
Yoshi Kirishima
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
United States10383 Posts
April 07 2011 21:42 GMT
#3
Thanks for sharing, though about the Phoenix tanking part, Phoenixes don't do much damage especially against Corruptors, so that will only work if the Corruptors target the Phoenixes foolishly.

And yeah the only real thing I can think of is just mass roach, perhaps not necessarily a rush but later when he is getting Colossi tech etc., you could just mass Roach and try to eat his ball up, and "Mondragon" it if need be xD
Mid-master streaming MECH ONLY + commentary www.twitch.tv/yoshikirishima +++ "If all-in fails, all-in again."
panzzzzz
Profile Joined April 2010
United States109 Posts
April 07 2011 21:42 GMT
#4
This build has been around for a while now, where you get your void ray + 3 or 4 phoenixes and harass to buy time for a colossus build-up. One intent of this build (besides trying to do damage) is to force hydras, which plays well into your late game plan of colossus. The glaring weakness you mentioned was that you have a very weak ground army early on and are very susceptible to 2 base all-ins and the like. Thus, you generally only see this on maps with longer rush distances, such as Shakuras and the new GSL maps like Taldarim or Crevasse.
Saracen
Profile Blog Joined December 2007
United States5139 Posts
April 07 2011 22:09 GMT
#5
This isn't a guide.
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 3h 1m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft: Brood War
Free 852
BeSt 311
sorry 78
Mind 69
Soma 37
Bale 27
ZergMaN 11
ajuk12(nOOB) 8
Shuttle 0
Dota 2
NeuroSwarm177
League of Legends
JimRising 649
Other Games
summit1g9234
Coldzera 721
WinterStarcraft684
C9.Mang0313
Sick201
febbydoto14
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick686
BasetradeTV225
[ Show 10 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• lizZardDota2205
Other Games
• Shiphtur866
Upcoming Events
Big Brain Bouts
3h 1m
Rex vs INexorable
GgMaChine vs HeRoMaRinE
Reynor vs herO
Online Event
5h 1m
AI Arena Tournament
10h 1m
BSL: Ladder Tournament
12h 1m
Sparkling Tuna Cup
1d 3h
Patches Events
1d 8h
BSL Open Qualifier
1d 12h
BSL Open Qualifier
1d 12h
OSC
2 days
WardiTV Weekly
3 days
[ Show More ]
PiGosaur Cup
3 days
The PondCast
5 days
Online Event
6 days
Korean StarCraft League
6 days
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
Rush vs Soulkey
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Acropolis #5 - GSB
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Copium Cup

Ongoing

ASL Season 22
Super Anchor Qualifying S3
Acropolis #5
HCC Season 3
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
1win Private Club #1
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026

Upcoming

Acropolis #5 - GSC
BSL Season 23
SC4ALL II: Brood War
BSL 23: Non-Korean Championship
HSC XXX
Stellar Fest 2: Lunar Cup
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
eXTREMESLAND 2026
PGL Major Singapore 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 6
BLAST Rivals Fall 2026
IEM Beijing 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
1win Private Club #2
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
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.