EPTOK, so by now everyone knows about the 'Losira timing attack' where the Zerg hits with a strong roach/ling timing attack against a standard 3gate sentry expand Protoss shortly after the expansion nexus completes. Sentry expand was everyone's standard of standards, but now it's really hard (many would say almost impossible) to hold off the roach/ling attack without taking serious losses, or blind building enough cannons to set you behind in economy. So is sentry expanding dead? Do you need to practice FF micro for 5 hours a day and memorize the correct simcity positioning on every position of every map? Nahhhh, just make a few tweaks and you're good.
So here are the tweaks:
-2gate sentry expand instead of 3gate. Brought to you by reduced sentry build time.
-Build 2 cannons blind at 7:10, so they complete just in time for the attack - if you need them.
-Send out hallucinated phoenix(es) at around the same time as you build the cannons, so you will either see the attack coming, and keep the cannons, or see that it is NOT coming, and cancel the cannons to get 225 minerals back.
And there you have it. It's not quite as powerful and greedy as not building cannons or getting hallucinate, praying the attack doesn't come, but it works and hallucinate is always nice. ROOT.Minigun says he prefers blind building a single cannon, keeping it always, and relying on FF micro to win, but... yeah... not everyone is capable of that.
These are the goals I set out for the build. They are open to discussion but I believe they're effective:
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-warpgate research complete at 6:00 - requires 3 chronoboosts, assuming you 14gate which gets the cybernetics core done around 3:50
-forge complete with 300 minerals available at 7:10 for completed cannons at 7:50
-hallucinate complete at 7:10 - it takes about 25s for a phoenix to go across most maps, so it will be over your opponent's hatchery in time to cancel your cannons if there are no roaches. This requires one chronoboost. You'll want to use 2 chronoboosts and complete hallucination by 7:00 on maps that take a long time to cover the attack path and reach the enemy main.
-spend 100% of gas at all times, until you finish sentry production
-Build probes nonstop, with as many chronoboosts as possible, as early as possible. Assuming 3 chronoboosts on warp, that leaves you 4 to spend on probes before it completes. You also get a 5th and 6th available while hallucinate is researching. You might want to use your first chronoboost on the zealot, and you might want to save the 5th and 6th to use as a reaction based on what the phoenix sees. In my build I assume you can't use a 3rd boost on probes before starting a zealot, but if you see that it's safe it does give you a better economy without needing to change anything in the build.
-put the forge AND 3rd gate into the expo wall? I'm not certain the forge is necessary, since you'll have 2 cannons, but it could be helpful - could also be a liability in case they do some goofy allin and force you to abandon the low ground. Anyways, to get the forge into the wall on time you need a low ground pylon started by 6:00. My tests give me 1 zealot and 2 sentries around 5:15, the 3rd around 5:50, and the 4th/5th around 6:10. Can the pylon be planted and defended with 1z/3s for ten seconds until the 2 extra sentries arrive? Someone better than me can answer that. If you have 2 cannons, 1-2 pylons, and just the 3rd gateway in the wall, is that enough?
-nexus planted ASAP, as long as it's after 5:50. I say this because, if you get hit with some sort of faster roach attack with less drones before the 7:30 mark, you might need to cancel your stuff on the low ground and retreat up your ramp. 20s + of FF stalling with no backup DPS is probably unrealistic. Also, 5:50 is when you get your third sentry, and before that I'm 99% certain you can't leave your ramp to fight off speedlings.
-3rd gate planted in time to keep up with your income - this one I'm including as a formality really, since between chronoboosts, nonstop probes, 2 gates, and building geysers at the expo, I find there's no trouble at all keeping the money spent. I also think a 3rd gate might not even be necessary - 2gates will spend your income up to the point of the attack, and you get a phoenix into his main by 7:50, so you can still decide to build a faster robo or something instead of more gates. Cancelling the cannons when you determine there's no roach rush coming does leave you with a bunch of minerals, but there's no harm in being flexible in the way you spend them.
-Have ways to branch off the main build into some variant(s), based on scouting at certain times - this is frosting on the cake for some determined individual, I won't touch this but it's worth mentioning.
-Is there anything else that needs mentioning? I don't think so. Feel free to add something if it's important.
-forge complete with 300 minerals available at 7:10 for completed cannons at 7:50
-hallucinate complete at 7:10 - it takes about 25s for a phoenix to go across most maps, so it will be over your opponent's hatchery in time to cancel your cannons if there are no roaches. This requires one chronoboost. You'll want to use 2 chronoboosts and complete hallucination by 7:00 on maps that take a long time to cover the attack path and reach the enemy main.
-spend 100% of gas at all times, until you finish sentry production
-Build probes nonstop, with as many chronoboosts as possible, as early as possible. Assuming 3 chronoboosts on warp, that leaves you 4 to spend on probes before it completes. You also get a 5th and 6th available while hallucinate is researching. You might want to use your first chronoboost on the zealot, and you might want to save the 5th and 6th to use as a reaction based on what the phoenix sees. In my build I assume you can't use a 3rd boost on probes before starting a zealot, but if you see that it's safe it does give you a better economy without needing to change anything in the build.
-put the forge AND 3rd gate into the expo wall? I'm not certain the forge is necessary, since you'll have 2 cannons, but it could be helpful - could also be a liability in case they do some goofy allin and force you to abandon the low ground. Anyways, to get the forge into the wall on time you need a low ground pylon started by 6:00. My tests give me 1 zealot and 2 sentries around 5:15, the 3rd around 5:50, and the 4th/5th around 6:10. Can the pylon be planted and defended with 1z/3s for ten seconds until the 2 extra sentries arrive? Someone better than me can answer that. If you have 2 cannons, 1-2 pylons, and just the 3rd gateway in the wall, is that enough?
-nexus planted ASAP, as long as it's after 5:50. I say this because, if you get hit with some sort of faster roach attack with less drones before the 7:30 mark, you might need to cancel your stuff on the low ground and retreat up your ramp. 20s + of FF stalling with no backup DPS is probably unrealistic. Also, 5:50 is when you get your third sentry, and before that I'm 99% certain you can't leave your ramp to fight off speedlings.
-3rd gate planted in time to keep up with your income - this one I'm including as a formality really, since between chronoboosts, nonstop probes, 2 gates, and building geysers at the expo, I find there's no trouble at all keeping the money spent. I also think a 3rd gate might not even be necessary - 2gates will spend your income up to the point of the attack, and you get a phoenix into his main by 7:50, so you can still decide to build a faster robo or something instead of more gates. Cancelling the cannons when you determine there's no roach rush coming does leave you with a bunch of minerals, but there's no harm in being flexible in the way you spend them.
-Have ways to branch off the main build into some variant(s), based on scouting at certain times - this is frosting on the cake for some determined individual, I won't touch this but it's worth mentioning.
-Is there anything else that needs mentioning? I don't think so. Feel free to add something if it's important.
If you think these goals are bad in any way, feel free to say so and we'll try to figure out something better.
And now, on to the build:
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-constant probes at all times, I won't say it over and over
9 -pylon, scout
10 -2 probe chronoboosts in a row
14 -gate
15 -gas
16 -pylon
18 -cybernetics core
18 -gas #2
19 -zealot
-chronoboost probes again
23 -pylon
24 -warp gate research (chronoboost this 3 times total)
24 -sentry
-chronoboost probes again (this is the 4th time)
28 -gateway #2
From here I'm not giving supply counts. Your income will line up pretty nicely with the timings I point out.
-keep up the nonstop probes. Don't chrono them any more until you've scouted him with the hallucinations - you might want to use a chronoboost on your gateways if you spot an attack.
-build nonstop sentries as gas allows, don't make other gateway units even though you will waste a bit of warpgate build time. You can build stalkers or whatever AFTER you lay down the cannons.
-build your 4th pylon in main, 5th pylon on the low ground. Start the low ground pylon no later than 6:00 if you want your forge to be part of your walloff.
-queue up hallucinate just before warpgate finishes. Chrono this once on spawns where the phoenix can fly straight over the path the roaches will take and into the enemy base. Chrono it twice if you'll need to take a longer route, like on Metalopolis cross positions - you need the phoenix to be in his base before the cannons complete so you can be certain it's safe to cancel them.
-build the nexus at 5:50
-lay down a forge by 6:25. This should probably be on the low ground in your wall.
-build one more pylon on the low ground, and make sure it's in a good position to power your wall and the 2 cannons you're about to build. You definitely want more than just 1 pylon powering your cannons
-build 2 cannons the instant the forge completes, which is around 7:10, meaning you have 2 cannons at 7:50, just as a well-executed standard roach/ling attack will reach you.
-gogogo hallucinated phoenix scout(s)! Do this ASAP when the research completes, you don't have time to spare. Send 1 per possible attack route, and make sure to have vision on his hatchery before the cannons complete. It usually takes 25s or so to cross a map. If you don't see units streaming towards you, it's 99% certain he's not attacking, but you may as well hover over his base and see what pops out of the eggs, count his drones, and check his buildings. Maybe he's just a little slow, no sense canceling cannons and then having to rebuild them a few seconds later.
-Build a third gateway (optional, you might want to do something else, but you do have the minerals at this point).
-If you see the attack coming, let your cannons complete and crush him. Might want to add on a third cannon and chronoboost your gateways to make extra sure.
-If the attack is NOT coming, cancel your cannons quick! They will be seconds from completion by the time your phoenix is over his base. I recommend spending the money on either a gateway or double gas at the expansion, with a few minerals to spare. Don't forget to use up stored chronoboost energy on more probes. You might want to keep ONE of the cannons, just for peace of mind against later zergling harass or burrowed roaches. Up to you.
-Please note: If you use the build I'm outlining and he does some crazy roach allin off of 20 drones or something, he's going to hit you before 7:30 and your cannons will be too late. Unless you're super confident you can stall with gosu forcefields, cancel everything on the low ground, retreat up the ramp, defend and push out later. He's slowed himself down just as much as you.
******EDIT*******: It also might make sense to build the forge sooner (probably by building it before the nexus), then plant your first cannon around 6:45-50 so it will be there in time to help defend vs faster roachling busts. Downsides to this are a worse economy (delayed expansion) and needing to decide whether to cancel or keep the first cannon before your phoenix reaches his main. Upside is you never need to cancel your expansion, so you pretty much insta-win vs a 20ish-drone roachling attack.*********END EDIT***********
-Please also note: on close spawns, you might want to cut ONE probe after building the nexus to get the forge and cannons down faster, since he'll be at your base a few seconds earlier.
So there you go, you're at 8:00, you've scouted him, you've got an expansion running with a healthy probe count, you've got loads of sentries, and you aren't DEAD. Good luck!
Replays:
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http://drop.sc/11165
OK, here's one I played a few minutes ago. The opponent was... not top-noch, and I make several mistakes, but you get an idea for how it goes. Accidentally sending the hallucinate late forced me to cancel the first cannon before I reached his main, where I did see some roaches and low saturation, so I decided to keep the second cannon. He didn't attack but whatever. He plays defensively and I expand and max out before killing him, yawwwwn, I'm not very good or I probably would have recognized that I could kill him at any time. Oh well =p
Obvious mistakes:
-queued up hallucinate before dropping nexus, delaying the expansion
-I forget to build probes a few times
-I forget to send out the hallucinate phoenixes for 20s! LOL =]
Possible mistakes:
-I built a low ground pylon before the nexus, but wouldn't have supply blocked by going nexus before pylon... hrmm...
-I built my 3rd gate before my cannons, delaying the second cannon by a fair bit, but getting the gateway up faster. For the haters who just gotta have 3gates, maybe you actually prefer this =]
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http://drop.sc/11169
Here's another one, it's not quite as terrible a game, but I do butcher the opening pretty badly. I also decided to try building the nexus before the low ground pylon this time. I make mistakes again, including accidentally cancelling only 1 cannons ><. You still get the idea of the build. Side note, don't bother getting double robo for immortals really early, you can't afford it ^^
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http://drop.sc/11170
K here's one where he actually does the attack. I have no idea why he only has 14 drones and hits later than 8:00, but he has the unit count that I believe is common, so no biggie that he has no drones. It still shows how the attack is easily held, even with my omfg bad micro. Note: position pylon #2 somewhere else, so you can build your 2nd, or a 3rd cannon directly above the nexus if you want it.
