[G] PvZ – FFE into 4 Gate +1 Zealot Pressure

Hey TL, my name is Charlie, aka Voidray and I'm a mid/high master protoss player in Clan RH. I'm very excited to present my newest guide on PvZ and I'd like thank you all for viewing! For the most part, forge-fast expand or nexus first builds have become the standard in PvZ, and zergs have responded by taking a very fast 3rd base. This allows them to power drones, securing the economy to produce insane amount of roaches, lings, and mutas. As a result of how strong a fast third can be for zerg, protoss players are finding new ways to pressure after a forge FE. For example, some players go FFE into Voidrays or DTs in an attempt to kill of the zerg's 3rd hatchery. It's clear that protoss has to do some 2base pressure to stay even, and today I will be sharing a build with you that is not only great for applying pressure but gives you dozens of ways to transition out of it. This build is by no means “new” but I think it is one that every Protoss player should have in their back pocket! I personally use this build between 50-70% of my games as the initial damage and ability to transition out is for lack of a better term, good.

Here is a short stream tutorial on this style, analyzing two replays and giving an overview of the opening as well as possible transitions: http://www.twitch.tv/tangsc/b/307763075

Lets face it guys, if you don’t apply any sort of pressure to a Zerg they will simply drone up to 70 and take 5 bases to your two or three. This is obviously not an ideal situation in any match up against a zerg. So, how do we stop it? Simple, we pressure them. This build is designed to hit right before roaches which means the only thing (initially) they will be defending with is zerglings. I’m not sure if you have heard, but +1 zealots obliterate zerglings. Because of this timing, if they go for a third, I would give you a 50+% chance to snipe their third. (I will talk a little bit more about the actual attack and how to execute it a little later in the guide )

Even if you don’t snipe their third you are in a very good position as the zerg was forced to make a lot of unwanted units which in turn means less drones. If the Zerg didn’t go for a third (which through scouting you should know already) you should actually be able to apply a great deal of pressure into the natural. The only exception to this is if they are going some sort of 2 base mutta and spine crawler themselves in to prevent such attacks. Well, in this case, have no fear your push was not for nothing my friend. You now know you are dealing with some sort of tech build and or muta which means you need to respond appropriately. This attack not only scouts but usually does a considerable amount of damage and that’s what makes it so deadly.

In executing the pressure at your opponent's third, you are obviously going to NEED a proxy pylon. We all know that those pesky 2-4 lings can deny a lot of probe scouting so that’s why my first 1-3 units are zealots as soon as my gateway is finished. I very quickly establish map control which creates an opening for a probe to proxy a pylon somewhere. If you have 2-3 zealots, the only way that a zerg can get map control is by producing more lings which again, they don’t want to be doing so even if that happens and you lose a zealot or 2, its fine, they could have been building much needed drones. As for the execution, you want to gather all your non-warped in zealots by your proxy pylon so anywhere from 1-3 (depending if any where sniped off or died due to scouting purposes) and then immediate warp in 4 zealots. Here is what you might see:

1) Literally 0 units. – your response to this is to target fire the third and keep warping in zealots until you're certain the 3rd can be destroyed.

2) Zerglings, no roaches – If you see this, kite with your 4-6 initial zealots until you get another warp in of 4. Then essentially A move into the third and once all the zerglings are gone target fire the hatch. The reason you target fire the hatch is because generally roaches will be on their way if not running over to save the third. DO NOT ATTACK THE ROACHES. Your main mission is to kill that third. Yes, your zealots will die but if you snipe that hatch you are ahead. (do not warp in more than 3 rounds of zealots, if you do you will be very vulnerable to the common roach counter)

3) Early roaches – If you see early roaches, your build was either scouted or they did a safe/aggressive build. You won’t be able to proceed so simply back up and warp in sentries at home asap.

The most important part of the execution is to know how and when to transition out of it. What you have to be thinking is this, “what is the bare minimum of zealot warp ins will it take to snipe that hatchery.” Once you realize that either A. your not going to be able to snipe it or B. You will be able to snipe it (which for both should be 2 or 3 warpins of zealots) your next warp-in, in almost every circumstance, should be 4 sentries. You will have a lot of gas which is fine because you are going to need it to make tech decisions. It will allow you to fend off pretty much any pressure that comes your way assuming you get a nice warp in of 4 stalkers after. But the real trouble is where you go from here...

Well, it all depends on what you want to do. As you proceed with your first warp in you should also snag your 3rd and 4th gases. You will be banking quite a bit of minerals and gas depending on how tightly you pulled off the build. You will have anywhere from 400-1000 minerals and around 300-700 gas. This is completely normal. This is what makes the build so flexible. Keep in mind that you will need to spend this money and gas quickly so right after your 4 sentries you need to make your decisions. Personally if I snipe the third hatchery I always throw down a quick twilight for fear of 2 base muta. What you can do to be safe is throw down twilight, a robo and 2-3 gates. That will essentially rid you of your money, get you tech and assuming you keep warping in stalkers, your gas. This is your very standard safe response which would be gearing you up to take a third.

Other options include going quick DT into a DT Blink Archon 2 base, 2 base robo colossi, and a whole variety of options. Essentially the possibilities are endless and that’s the beauty. Personally, unless I scout mutta, I like to go for a quick colossus into a third and simply defend are reap the benefits of sniping his hatch or even just forcing units. 3 Base Protoss is strong and that’s where I like to be in most of my games. But again, it is up to your style!

Everyone has their own way of doing a FFE, so the supply may not line up 100% but the most important thing to is keep the same general steps and pay attention to chronoboost/timings. I'm just going to provide a generic example for those who haven't found their personal preference:
9Pylon
15Forge
18Nexus->Cannon->Pylon->Double Gas->Gateway (*Note some players prefer gateway before gas)
Keep chrono boosting probes non-stop
27/36 – Cybernetics Core (When gateway finishes)
After you lay down your cyber, start saving chrono boost.
29/36 - Zealot
31-33 – pylon
37/44 – Second zealot, +1 Attack and Warpgate (chrono warpgate and +1 only from here on out until they finish)
40/44 – 3 more gates followed by a pylon as well as your proxy pylon! If you don’t get your proxy down in time it will take too long for your zealots to get there to do much damage!
*Remember, keep chrono boosting your +1 and WG so they finish at around the same time. This is a timing so if it’s too late, roaches will probably be there to stop it
42/44 – Zealot or Stalker (stalker if there is ovi to kill)
Keep in mind you should never really be cutting probes or you will have a huge bank of money
Your WG and +1 should finish between 815-830. After that, simply gather your zealots and warp in 4 more. I usually use my remaining chrono on my warpgates to get 4 more out as soon as possible.
During your first warp in, take your 3rd and 4th gases and prepare to transition. That’s really it!!

Thank you all once again for reading, please follow us at www.Twitch.tv/TangSC for more tutorials, ladder commentary, and replay analysis!

Also, if you have a reddit account please upvote the guide on reddit:
http://www.reddit.com/r/starcraft/comments/peys4/protoss_guide_to_pressuring_the_zerg_3rd_base_ffe/

I appreciate your support <3