[G] Going CC-first Bio in TvP

May 13, 2013: added a game to the replays and increased information on defending a Blink all-in.

May 19, 2013: added a new pro VoD of STX.Innovation deflecting a proxy Oracle build after not scouting it and countering with a massive midgame attack. Analysis of the techniques used included.

May 27, 2013: added a neat VoD of a masters Terran holding proxy 2-gate (in-base) with CC first. Worth a look for some good anti-cheese fundamental tactics.

June 8, 2013: added an entire discussion and build extension based on ForGG's Hellbat/Marauder transition in WCS Season 1 Finals play.

The basic framework of a TvP CC-first build is as follows: 2 early Orbital Commands, at least 2 Barracks and eventually 3, and 3 gas before 7:30 to provide enough income to catch up on tech. This is to mitigate the delay in upgrades and army size that is obviously incurred by spending 400 minerals on a Command Center right off the bat instead of Reapers, multiple Barracks, or any other sort of aggressive option.




The fundamental goals of a CC-first build, in rough chronological order:

- get an early economic advantage
- defend/prepare against common all-ins without sacrificing your edge
- quick powering up for strong midgame aggressive potential
- sufficient tech to permit you to at least enter the lategame on an even footing

Note: after about 5:00, supply counts are not provided because the possibility of getting harassed is always there, and it’s more important to remember the benchmarks and ordering rather than the strict “build this on 50/54” indicator.

10 - Depot
*** first decision: at the wall or not? This seems to be a matter of preference, as almost no pro Terran actually completes the wall with both Barracks to follow. If you’re facing more proxy Gateway builds, the wall is fine. If not, making it at the mineral line will save you a few resources.

14 - CC
*** second decision: low-ground or not? Many games that I have watched seemed to prefer low ground, but this can make defending a bizarre double gate or quirky 10-gate opener very difficult. My recommendation is practice with low ground and take the losses until you are able to defend all the common pressures with a low-ground build.

15 - Barracks (~2:40)
16 - Barracks (~3:10)
*** if you want to place one or both of these at the wall, you can, however, most of the pro players seem to prefer less mining time lost by building in the main and then rallying to the ramp with all the Marines for defense




Branch Point

Here we have a spot where the builds diverge fairly significantly, and they realign later. I will discuss the major/’standard’ continuation here and the other possible options later.

20 - Barracks OR Bunker, then the other later as money permits (~4:10-4:30)
*** this is dependant almost entirely on what you scout. If you see aggression or the possibility of it, Bunker first is safe. If not, feel free to just go right up to 3 Barracks instantly and build the Bunker later (use the ramps of the bases to help drive off early Protoss units).
*** MKP/Byun almost never builds the Bunker here, which can end up hurting you versus very aggressive Protoss players; Seed in fact was able to take advantage of this lack of early defense with a Voidray/Warpgate all-in on Daybreak (see games below)

• Note: If you want the crispest upgrade and infrastructure timings, you must delay the second Depot until after you have started your two Refineries. There will be a slight supply block for a few seconds as a result; this is normal, and the only way to make the gas line up perfectly.

28/29 - 2x Gas after Barracks and Bunker are begun as money permits (should be ~5:00 or so unless you’re being messed with a lot)
*** if you’re sure to hold the natural ramp with just Marines, you can also build the Bunker AFTER these gases, in which case the gases hit at 4:30 and the Bunker at 4:50 or so

@100% Barracks 3, Tech Lab on Barracks 3
*** this can be slightly delayed depending on whether or not you decided to go Bunker after or before Barracks, in any case, add the Tech Lab as soon as you hit 25 gas

@100% Tech Lab, research Stim, Factory with next 100 gas, 3rd gas (~6:30)
*** the timing of these various individual things can vary slightly, but in general, as the Tech Lab finishes you are getting Stim -> Factory + 3rd gas in that order

@125 minerals, E-bay (~ 7:00), add-ons as money permits
*** two basic options: double Reactor, or Reactor + Tech Lab
*** double Reactor means you are planning on heavy aggression with high amounts of Marines
*** Reactor and Tech Lab means you are trying to ramp up the Marauder count for tech units and hit a timing with Combat Shields, Stim, AND Concussive Shells

• Note: In many situations, the two preceding building groups can be swapped, getting the Engineering Bay right after Stim before the Factory, and then getting the Factory and third gas slightly later. This decision is motivated primarily by your scouting, or lack of it. In every instance where the Terran player went E-bay first, there was a lack of scouting information available, either only seeing an expansion and no critical gas/tech choice, or even not seeing anything at all.
  
  This is particularly important upon scouting various types of all-ins. For example, the possibility of proxy Stargate or DT play (double gas, only 2 pylons, no expansion, chrono used not on probes or wargate research, etc.) pretty much necessitates the earlier E-bay, because there is no way that your Factory is done in time to get sufficient Widow Mines to ward off Oracles, plus Factory tech offers no way to adequately defend DTs.

@100% Factory, Reactor on Factory, Starport (8:00-8:30)

2x Barracks (~8:45-9:00) OR CC (~8:40-9:00) as money permits
*** going for the 5 Barracks you maintain the potential of your aggressive midgame

@100 gas +1 Weapons

@100% Starport, swap onto the Factory Reactor and build 2x Medivacs
*** next you should also get Combat Shields

@100% 2x Medivacs, gas 4, 3rd CC (~9:40-10:00) OR Barracks 4 and 5 (same timing), whichever you didn’t choose earlier
*** move out with the standard poking force
*** placement of the third is really nice right at the third base if you feel safe, but there’s nothing wrong with building it in your base and floating out
*** most pros are comfortable in cutting a couple of SCVs if they need to in order to squeeze out the 3rd CC, particularly as 50 SCVs at 10 minutes is good basic saturation for your bases, and it takes until 11:30 or so for the 10:00 CC to finish where you get to build up for the transfer to the third (note: this is a calculated risk - still very safe to just keep building things and wait for money to naturally build up)







Other Strands

I’ve labeled this strand as the ‘other’ strand, because these are far less common and can play very differently.

Factory

After Barracks 1 and 2...

2x gas as money permits (~4:15-4:30)
Bunker
Factory @100 gas
*** after this completes you can get Widow Mines, Tanks, or just go for very quick Starport + Reactor
*** the Factory units give you great defensive utility versus all-ins, but on the other hand a super fast Starport can take advantage of a Protoss that cuts corners to get double Forge or higher tech
Add-ons -> Stim
E-bay
*** start harassing as your Medivacs come out if you went Starport
*** feel free to pressure with a Marine/Tank push if you went Factory units once you have 3 or so Tanks and your Starport is on its way for Medivacs

3rd base

CC @400 minerals after Rax 1 and 2
Bunker
Rax @150
2x Gas @140
Standard play

This plays out pretty much the same as normal play, you are just automatically dead versus an Immortal or Voidray all-in, and have real problems against pressure because of the delayed tech and low unit counts. On the plus side, you have so much Scan that you can laugh at DTs.

6 Rax

14 CC
15 Barracks
16 Barracks
2x OC
2x Barracks
2x Barracks
*** move out with all Marines at 7:30, hit the Protoss at 8:00

Try to kill as many Probes as possible and maybe cancel the Nexus. You at least need to do economic damage and get rid of Sentries if you’re going to lose units. If you don’t do massive damage you will die to the tech of the Protoss because you can’t get enough Medivacs/Vikings at once to handle typical 3-Colossi timings and you’ll be vulnerable to Storm being so heavy on basic bio.

CC-first quick upgrades Bio

This is a very new idea of mine inspired by Thorzain’s game against Socke, asking ‘what if you don’t scout an all-in? How to use that early gas?’

      * still in development

10 Depot (mineral line)
14 CC (low ground)
15 Rax
16 Rax
17-18 Gas (rally 17th SCV to geyser)
*** scout as you’re sending the guy to gas
@100% Rax 1, 1 Marine, 1x OC
@100% CC, OC
*** delay next Marines
Bunker ASAP
*** resume Marines
@100 gas, Factory
Depot
*** Continuous Marines/SCVs
@50% Factory, Gas 2
@250 minerals, 2x E-bay, Gas 3
@100% Factory, Widow Mine x2
@75 gas, Reactor/TL
@100% E-bays, 1/1
next 100 gas, Stim
After Widow Mine 2, Starport and Reactor
*** Marauder production should begin if not started already
Next 100 gas, Armory, gas 4
Start your third CC or Barracks 3-5 as you’re preparing to move out, and make sure you get 2-2 quickly. Move to whichever of the CC/Barracks you didn’t choose next.
*** it is okay to delay Medivac production after the initial 4, mostly because you need the gas for 2/2, plus you’ll be trying to find out his tech of choice and whether or not you need to produce Vikings
*** as you take your third base, get gas 5 and 6 immediately so you can continue Viking or Medivac production as well as upgrades, Ghost tech, and whatnot.

All of these options are very much metagame reads. Thorzain in particular enjoys going for the Factory to defend any number of all-ins with quick Tanks (see this game versus Socke for an example of this).

The quick 3rd CC is basically one of two things: I scout my opponent going for a quick 3 Nexus, so I one-up him by going for my own and then double E-bays/lots of Marines, or you coinflip and hope you can defend the pressure. MKP in the game versus HuK basically gets lucky when HuK is supply-blocked and doesn’t execute the 4-gate very well versus a one-Bunker, 3CC Terran. I believe that if any Korean top-level Protoss like Parting, Rain, or Creator is behind the controls of that 4-gate, and MKP is dead.

The 6-rax play is again very much a metagame type of coinflip. You gamble that he’s going greedy himself and prevent all scouting of the 6-rax, then hope he doesn’t have enough Forcefields to section you off for the Nexus cannon to finish you. Again, MKP gets a gift of poor Forcefield usage to absolutely flatten his opponent. In that case, the triple gas follow-up is 100% necessary to catch up on your ridiculously far-behind tech, and any good counterswing after the Protoss defends will probably kill you.

As always in TvP, the key to surviving versus the number of possible builds that a Protoss can throw out is getting and interpreting the right scouting information. When making this section, I have relied extensively on the HotS Terran Help Me Thread and the VoDs listed below.

SCV scouts in this build should leave after your 2 Barracks have started, but before they finish. Probably around 16 supply (after starting Barracks number 2) is good, as that aligns closely with the normal after-Barracks scout timing of typical TvP openers. Using this timing you should be able to see the Protoss’ choice of Gateway and gas timings, as well as number of pylons, workers in gas, and Chronoboost stockpile.

There are two things you will be basically looking at as you scout the Protoss base: gas count, and pylons. Following this you should look for the expansion timing. Obviously, if you see a key building (like a Dark Shrine), that’s important, but most of the time the Protoss will try to make that hard for you. With that said, here are some basic things and what they say your opponent is probably not doing. (Note: for this, I am assuming your SCV hangs around the base until just before the Stalker pops at about 4:15-4:30, which is a time AFTER his 3rd pylon should be placed)

Finally, this all assumes an opponent showing good and standard play. There is no guarantee that your opponent didn’t just make a silly mistake and forget Pylon 3, and as a result you’re looking for a proxied Pylon off what looks otherwise like a 4-gate, and is actually an expand.

• Double gas, 3 probes in each, 3 pylons - he is not going for the fastest possible expansion, and neither is he going for a proxy (unless he’s tricky by wasting money on a fake-out pylon in his main). Some sort of tech rush or slow expand with tech-based follow-up is possible. Builds in this strand include 3-gate Blink all-ins, DT expands, and Stargate harass (non-proxied). Follow-up scouting to determine any expansion timing is necessary.
  
  
• Double gas, 3 probes in each, 2 pylons - this is some sort of proxy play. He cannot be going for a super fast expand. Check likely proxy locations, and an E-bay before Factory is indicated, because you won’t have the time to get up Widow Mines, and Turrets cover more than one possible pressure.
  
  
• Single gas, 3 pylons, no chrono saved or you see chrono used on Nexus - this cannot be a fast 4-gate, or proxy Stargate/DT play. Likely an expand build, with many options thereafter.
  
  
• Single gas, 3 pylons, chrono saved and chrono on Cybernetics Core - this is representing a 4-gate and other related all-ins, and it is not a proxy Stargate or DT play. Extra Bunkers are needed, and try to see the army move out so you get a better read on whether it is Stalker-heavy or Zealot/Sentry-based.
  
  
• Double gas with 2 in each, 3 pylons - a slightly slower FE play, one where the Protoss wants a slightly tech-heavier follow-up. This is not proxy Stargate, and not a 4-gate. Other forms of harass are possible, including DTs (remember gas cost for Shrine is cheaper in HotS).

In addition to all of these conditions, it is necessary that you check back and reconfirm any presence or absence of an expansion. Nothing by 5:30 indicates a time for worry, as an all-in/heavy pressure is coming. Something you should consider is marking the locations of any pylons in the main that are ‘out of the way’, where a Protoss would consider putting key tech that doesn’t lie inside Scan range of the expansion or basic structures. That way, if you’re desperate for information (let’s say you sacrifice an SCV to see the expansion but don’t get a good read otherwise), you can Scan likely tech spots and see that Twilight Council researching Blink before you get blindsided by 10 Stalkers. Obviously Scan is not optimal because it’s so expensive, but better that than losing to a blind build.

Current metagame is basically double gas unless they are so focused on expanding they don’t care you to know it. Double gas builds can be anything from slow expands to the most cheesy of all-ins, so pay attention to those pylon counts and expansion timings.

Walling early

The discussion about this idea revolves around what the Protoss can do early to pressure you. Chrono’d Zealot/Stalker pokes have the potential to cause you some trouble, but handled correctly, it is almost never necessary to wall off with the first few buildings. Your SCV scout if timed correctly WILL see the first couple of units out of the Protoss player, and the build order is flexible enough to move up the Bunker in the build so that it completes as soon as possible (starting at 4:15 and done by 4:45, which is right before or as a chrono’d Stalker shows up). Only rarely in pro games does the early Zealot/Stalker poke achieve anything remarkable or game-ending either for the Protoss or the Terran player. Save the 15 or so minerals and build closer to your main unless you are having epidemic problems getting proxy 2-gated. This will stress your early multitasking and control as you lose to super fast Zealots a few times, but eventually it will become a non-issue as you get better and reading and reacting.

Low-ground CCs versus High-ground

In terms of danger from early units, this has the exact same logic and result as the walling discussion. In other words, if it was only a matter of early Zealot/Stalker harass, just go low-ground. However, there are certain things that can be done, for instance, multiple Probe harass. An excellent example of this is had during the MKP/HuK game listed in the next section, where HuK brings a total of 6 Probes to try and get rid of the SCV building the CC, as well as chrono’ing out two Zealots and a Stalker. MKP does not hesitate in pulling 5 or 6 SCVs instantly to help until the Marines start arriving. Keep in mind that if the Protoss does this and builds any units at all he cannot be expanding right now, so pulling workers is fine because your early expansion will help you still be ahead in the long run.

If you get messed with like that, a quick Bunker is a necessity, and probably at least 2 eventually, because once the Protoss fails that pressure, they’re so behind they need to attack again soon even if they want to expand.

Early-game harass

Stargate (probably Oracles) - You don’t have Widow Mines to defend your minerals. After ensuring your front is safe and scouting his, you should be able to identify proxy plays. Have at least 6 Marines stationed first in your main, then defend the natural with Turrets or the excess Marines as the E-bay completes. That’s the only cost-efficient way to deal with Oracles using a CC-first, although they aren’t nearly as scary now when Terran players have learned to expect them.

Added to that is the fact that if there is a delayed Oracle harass with say, two or three, and the Protoss didn’t go Stargate initially, he doesn’t have the units to stay alive versus the mobility of Medivac/Bio play under sufficient control. Look at the second MKP/Seed game below for an illustration.

Other Tech - DTs are not typically a huge problem because of the two early Orbital Commands for Scan plus a moderately timed E-bay. Again, this will be a scouting tell, and it’s always preferable to just save a Scan for a few seconds until the Turret completes to make sure you aren’t getting boned by a lucky DT slipping through right after the MULE lands.

Prism play - This could take the form of DTs or of some other kind of drop action (i.e. the Tails Build). Vigilant scouting is all you can really do here (minus a panicked, overdone Turret ring - that’s bad, by the way), and use those Marines to aggressively target down the Prism if it shows its face. It’s going to be a question of priorities, because obviously whatever the Prism is carrying is a problem, but on the other hand if you kill it, then you ONLY have to worry about what was originally in there and no additional warp-ins.

Proxy 2-gate - this is not very common, as it dies to pretty much any other normal Terran opening assuming decent scouting. The basic technique is to get up the wall and put everything on the other side of that wall from the Zealots. You can do this one of two ways: start with a wall (depot, CC low-ground, Rax -> Rax @ wall), or shift the two Raxes after you spot this and plug holes with depots. You protect your Marines at all costs (hold position SCV micro is your friend), and once the wall is complete you should hold. If he’s in base, you can actually just wall the ramp, lift the main CC, and start mining/building from the natural, and assuming you repair well, he’ll be forced to try and catch up (really hard against the build you’re doing). See the twitch VoD below, courtesy of xrishi and the AllThingsTerran subreddit.

Stargate all-ins

Signs of a proxy Stargate: 2 gas (3 in each), no Zealot, no early Stalker/MSC, 2 pylons only. If you see this, you’re in for a very tight fight. Steps to guarantee you don’t lose to this:

1. Build an E-bay [35 seconds] instead of the 3rd Barracks, constant Marines. Use SCVs to try and find where the Stargate is. Return to 3rd Barracks and double gas after the E-bay. As soon as the E-bay finishes, put 1 Turret in each mineral line. They will be there in time to stop Oracle harass unless the Oracles are produced right outside your base and chrono’d, which you can see if you use your scouting SCV smartly.

2. If Oracles are deflected or do not show, scout his natural. If no expansion, proceed to step 3. If there is an expansion, get the 3rd Barracks as normal, move into Factory + Stim after taking gas, and play it out with you ahead (watch for follow-up Phoenix play to deny drops and get a quick 3rd).

3. You’ve seen no Oracle or completely deflected it, and there’s no expansion. Try to get into his base to see if he has a bunch of warpgates. If you can’t get it, you can Scan to see. In any case, you need at minimum 2 extra Bunkers at the front (remember, you’re constantly building Marines), and at least 1 Turret, 2 for extra extra safety. Transfer enough workers to the natural to have at least 15 SCVs there. Send out an SCV to see what’s waiting outside your front. If you see units and Voidrays, pull all natural SCVs in front of Bunkers/Turrets and have them ready to repair. Keep getting Marines/SCVs as well as building extra Bunkers if there’s still no sign of expanding. He should not be able to break you if you have sufficient SCVs repairing as well as enough Bunkers with Marines in them. If you have less than 10 SCVs repairing versus the Voidray’s Prismatic Alignment mode, I don’t see you holding it. He will probably hit with 2-3 Voidrays if you haven’t seen Oracles, and 2 if you have.




Robo All-ins

Immortal-based: Early Robotics plus no Nexus is what you’re looking for with scouting information here. Do typical checking for proxy pylons to have even more confirmation. Just like with any other Terran build, you want lots of Bunkers to defend Immortal play, and again preemptive SCV pulls. Most of these all-in holds come down to seeing it coming in time to get yourself in the best position possible.

Warp Prism/Gateway-based: easiest way to prevent this is to have your Depots in good positions. Supply depots on the edge of your base will give you the quick reaction time necessary to pull up to the main before he Forcefields your ramp. Do that, smart targeting of the Prism, and you win.

Blink All-in

Typically this is 3 gates worth of production and a MSC for the highground spotting (as opposed to Observer in WoL). Signs of a Blink all-in include: early double gas, quick 2+ Stalkers out of the gates, early 2nd gate, pylon placed somewhere to hide tech in-base.

As soon as you spot the incoming Blink all-in, I simply pull back to the high ground, drop at least one and maybe two Bunkers if you have lots of area to cover (I'm looking at you, Star Station). If you got the scout of the necessary information in time, I also delay the Medivacs slightly by going Tech Lab on Factory and no Reactor on Starport. This allows me to pump out 1-2 Tanks to defend my base (more than two is probably a waste of gas). At the same time I start to emphasize Marauder production. As soon as you deflect the pressure completely and get Medivacs, Stim, and +1, you can push with your bio and tanks. Deny his third, take your own, and rest assured that you will have at least a comparable economy and upgrades, plus a definite tech advantage and base advantage. Follow-up Protoss desperation responses to Blink include DTs (Twilight tech) and Colossi/Stalker all-ins (Blink to snipe Vikings), so scout and react accordingly.

So, we’re at about 10:00, have a third base started, 5 Barracks up, 4 gas, and we want to start making our opponent uncomfortable. What do we do?

Armory/E-bay 2 - This is essential. The checkpoint to start these is as follows: 3rd CC started, Medivacs 3 and 4 on the way, +1 Weapons finishing and +1 Armor about 50% done. Then you can build the Armory and E-bay 2 to get your nicely timed 2/2.

More Barracks - in general, it seems like the money lines up in that as the third is landing and your Armory/E-bay are going down, you can get 3 more Barracks (to go up to a total of 8), followed by arriving at 3 Reactors and 5 Tech Labs.

In terms of tactics and strategy at this point:

• drop harass is good. Your Medivacs are fairly normally timed, so you can poke, prod, double drop, etc.
  
• do NOT simply sacrifice units for no gain; even if you can snipe tech units, you NEED to also kill probes/tech/Nexii in order to make it pay for itself
  
• your economy is very good right now, so it should be on your mind to power out units and make whatever tech necessary to counter his tech choices
  
• control the map as much as possible; speed Medivacs allow you to punish him for moving out - if he commits the large amount of cannons necessary to defend ALL drops everywhere, laugh, keep taking bases, and continue to tech while he wastes more money on things that don’t pressure you (this seems both counter-intuitive and really important, so I discuss it in more depth below)
  
• deny the 4th if at all possible; a Protoss with his tech is able to secure the third pretty much always unless he really screws up his positioning/control, so try to lock him out of 4 while you get yours and assemble the right number of Ghosts/Vikings

What about a Protoss that tries to defend and utterly shut down all drops hard?

The primary way Protosses try to achieve this is High Templar and Photon Cannons. If you are constantly being aggressive and poking, your Medivacs should be healing enough that 1 Feedback will not kill them. This is why the Photon Cannons are a necessary component of the defense. If the Protoss player only concentrates on defending the mineral lines with the cannons, you still have the option of dropping out of range of the cannons and running in to pick off whatever you can. Yes, it feels great to get in with a double drop and take out 15 Probes plus a Nexus, but even if all you get is 1 High Templar and 2 Pylons, you still come out ahead in the long run as long as you don’t sacrifice the whole drop - get out while the going is good.

Now, if the Protoss player has lined his entire base with Cannons, what do you do? Well, in this case, since each Cannon costs the same as a Warp Gate, he has much less possibility to reinforce after big fights or harass you in turn. He won’t have the high Warp Gate count, and he also is going to be low on Zealots because he’s spending all his money on Cannons. Of course, if you’re not pressuring at all and letting him bank all those minerals, this doesn’t hold true, but then that’s on you for not doing that pressure.

The game plan should be to constantly force him to reposition and/or waste money on defending drops with warp-ins while you pick off whatever you can: pylons, cannons, workers, etc. If he somehow manages to start getting up the cannon wall, as long as you’ve been aggressive with drops the whole time, you know for a fact that he isn’t building a massive amount of warp gates with that money right now. Expand freely while you do this, and make sure you’re keeping your infrastructure ahead of his. Try to deny the 4th base (remember, 3 Cannons is more than equal to 1 Nexus, so force him to build lots of cannons and you delay that as well), get your own, and don’t let him breathe.

Finally, if he’s spending all his minerals on Cannons to defend and not Gateways/Nexii, where is the excess gas income from 3 bases going? A crapload of tech units. Scout aggressively to see what proportion of Ghosts/Vikings you need. Money mix is 20 or so Ghosts, 16-20 Vikings, and a smaller support force of MMM, for typical lategame TvP where you have 2 maxed armies with all the tech in play.

Ugh, I hate that feeling when a Protoss manages to deflect drops and take a fourth base...

Well, you could always pull and go all-in. The general timing is to power off those 5 Barracks (maybe 8 if you take the third before going all-in), get as many Vikings as you need to deal with the Colossi, then pull at least 20-30 SCVs and bumrush his front. Ideally you get 2-2 for this, and hit JUST before Storm is present in high enough numbers to kill them. If the Protoss already has 3 or 4 Colossi, plus Storm and few Templar, it’s going to be almost impossible to kill them with an all-in, and you’re better served going into the lategame Ghost/Viking versus HT/Colossi war, taking a bunch of bases and sacrificing SCVs for extra army supply.

Hey, I watched the WCS Season 1 Finals tournament... how about that ForGG?

Alright, so for those of you who want a more detailed explanation of the game, scroll down to the Pro VoDs section. Otherwise we're going to do a little bit of build explanation and then some theorycrafting as to the math behind it.

In Set 2 versus Liquid HerO, Ro16, on Whirlwind, ForGG pulled out basically this CC-first build, going with the 'massive balls, no Bunker' variation. He played it out very normally until he took his third base, getting the 3 Barracks (2 Tech Labs), single Engineering Bay, and quick Medivacs. There was some slight Stargate pressure, but that's a minor adjustment type of play and is explained more in detail below.

After he takes the third base, things get crazy. Go up to 5 Barracks? Check. Immediately add 2 more to go to 7? Whoa.

ForGG gets up to 7 Barracks, plus adding on the Armory and second E-bay. He then puts all Tech Labs on his Barracks, leaving 1 Reactor and 6 Tech Labs for infantry production. He also gets a Reactor on his Factory. Following this, continuous Marauder and Hellbat production, non-stop. He proceeds to roll over HerO by sniping his third, avoiding or just tanking Storms, and taking a 4th base while getting another Factory to get even more Hellbats and +1 Vehicle/Ship armor.

Why did this work? Well, Protoss really like taking a third and transition to get both sets of AoE tech at the same time. Hellbat/Marauder with Viking support really screws that plan, however. Think of it this way:

1. Hellbats destroy Zealots in numbers. What is good against Hellbats? Colossi/Stalkers, so the Protoss wants those.
2. What is good against Colossi/Stalkers both? Marauders in numbers. What is good against Marauders? Zealots... uh-oh.
3. Ergo, the Protoss needs Archons to tank, Storm to deal damage, and a nice split of Gateway/Robo units.
4. What does that mean? GAS, so much gas. For that he needs a third.
5. 4 Marauders with Stim (no other upgrades) take 20 seconds or so to kill a Nexus. 8 Marauders take 10. Each attack upgrade cuts that time by a second or more. Ergo, if you can draw off forces to another area, you can more or less continuously snipe that 3rd for the gas. If you do that, there's almost no way for the Protoss to transition efficiently to a composition that beats yours consistently; he HAS to already have the units to be efficient against you.

So, if you see the Protoss going for a macro game revolving around a lot of tech that isn't Archons, take a sharp turn into Hellbat/Marauder and pile on the pressure. Concussive Shells + Stim + Hellbat splash is just not pretty for anything short of massive Archon/HT/Chargelot balls.

So, the big question: why should I do this, and why does it work or not versus Protoss?

The reasoning behind going CC-first is that it is an extreme play. By extreme I don’t mean unexpected or a massive risk. It is extreme in that CC-first builds sacrifice almost everything else in the early game for a very good economy. They pick one aspect to the elements of an SC2 game and focus extremely narrowly on that to the exclusion of others.

Why is this a good thing? Well, I’m sure many people have heard the classic ‘Rock-Paper-Scissors’ analogy applied to greedy, standard, and aggressive play in SC2. The thinking goes that ‘greed > standard, standard > aggressive, aggressive > greed’. This is of course not entirely true, as it’s possible to try and one-up your opponent’s greed or out-aggro his aggression. The idea behind it is that if you go for particular styles or strategies, I need to react appropriately to that.

In a CC-first build, your opponent is forced into a specific set of responses. If the Protoss opponent goes for an average, middle-of-the-road standard delayed FE with light pressure, they will be behind, because they don’t harass or damage you enough to disrupt your early economic lead. Also if they do that middle-of-the-road play, they aren’t trying to jump ahead in economy thanks to your lack of early pressure. In both of those scenarios, the Protoss opponent has taken a set of information that displays specific vulnerabilities (lack of early pressure/production, focus on economy above all else) and chosen to not attack said vulnerabilities. This leaves you in a good position.

Now, if they do try to take advantage of your play, it must take one of two forms: pressure/attacks, or supreme greed at a level beyond yours. This means you have a finite set of responses that you are truly looking for. For example, you scout aggressively for proxy Stargate, because that is a highly aggressive and effective play that takes advantage of your lack of early production. You look for a quick third Nexus, because that is aiming to be greedier than you and jump ahead; also, it gives you a target to aim for later on. In each of those cases (plus the myriad others discussed in the ‘Scouting’ and ‘All-ins’ section), you now have information about the vulnerabilities in their play. If you defend the proxy Stargate correctly, you’re very far ahead. If you see the quick third Nexus, standard multiple drop harass around 10:00 will be very strong due to late tech and a lower number of Gateway units.

It’s all about trade-offs; I show CC-first and get a strong economy, while offering you specific choices about what is good to play against me. If you fail to choose correctly, I get far ahead. If you choose correctly, I have a predetermined set of responses that I will try to use, and we play a normal, hopefully skillful game of SC2 where the better player wins.

Map-dependant notes:

Whirlwind - lots of space, big travel distance. Very hard for proxy Stargate to be timely on this map, as well as the higher chance he scouts you later than is possible to reactively proxy the Stargate effectively. Enough space on the natural for plenty of Bunkers, and good drop play possibilities.

Star Station - again, big map, so CC-first is better here. Even chronoboosted Zealots are unlikely to be a threat here. Warning: Bunker space on the natural is limited, so try to use the cliff at the natural entrance to your advantage.

Daybreak - big map, wide natural for SCV repair surrounds, easier to lock a Protoss out of 4th bases with drop play/map control. Do make sure to check the mid-map base on your side and related areas for proxy Stargate, as the distance is very short to the main.

Neo Planet S - narrow natural choke, multiple scouting paths make it hard to see some early unit pressure. 2-base Colossi pushes are strong due to the natural choke and the cliffs.

Akilon Wastes - Bunker positioning can be difficult due to how far the ramp is from the natural CC location. Proxy Stargate and Blink play have lots of area to exploit in the main.

Korhal City - CC-first is so very much safer on this map; just ensure you don’t die to a gateway/Robotics all-in due to the ramp and check the juicy proxy locations for Stargates.

Aren’t there builds that kill this?

Well, sort of yes, and sort of no. The most aggressive proxy Stargate plays can be held with proper adjustments, but they are adjustments that are very difficult to make on the fly, so it’s sort of a 50-50 shot with proxy Stargate, and depends on both players’ execution. Robotics all-ins are just as scary as with a more standard expand play, and the response (Bunkers and lots of them) isn’t really affected by the CC-first so much. 4-gate is laughable against this if you respond correctly, and Blink can be held with good scouting and macro. Basically proxy Stargate is the build that will pose the most danger, but with Protoss who don’t scout early or at all, you will be fine (unless you’re facing that asshole who goes proxy Stargate with Pylon #2 on the map blindly, in which case, tell him I hate him too and just queue again ).

Fast 3-Nexus isn’t a ‘counter’ (a word I don’t particularly like) either, because you will have the option to take complete map control (assuming he doesn’t 8-gate all-in) and drive him crazy with drops while you get your 3 bases and appropriate upgrades. Basically you treat it the same way Bomber treated fast 3-base builds in WoL: poke them to ensure they can’t do everything unimpeded, then crush face when you max.

CC-first TvP - a playlist of the major games I watched from MLG Dallas and other competitions in making this guide. Below is a description of each game’s build order with some comments on decisions and a very brief overview of the opponent’s build in each game.

MarinekingPrime versus CJEntus_herO, Game 1, MLG Winter Exhibition Finals, Cloud Kingdom LE

+ Show Spoiler +

MarinekingPrime versus EG.HuK, MLG Winter Exhibitions, Game 1, Cloud Kingdom LE

+ Show Spoiler +

MarinekingPrime versus EG.HuK, Game 2, MLG Winter Exhibition, Whirlwind SE (vertical spawns)

+ Show Spoiler +

MarinekingPrime versus LGIM-Seed, MLG Winter Exhibition, Game 1, Akilon Wastes

+ Show Spoiler +

MarinekingPrime versus LGIM-Seed, Game 2, MLG Winter Exhibition, Cloud Kingdom LE

+ Show Spoiler +

MarinekingPrime versus LGIM-Seed, Game 3, MLG Winter Exhibition, Daybreak

+ Show Spoiler +

MarinekingPrime versus LGIM-Seed, Game 4, MLG Winter Exhibition, Star Station

+ Show Spoiler +

Liquid’TaeJa versus Quantic.Sase, Game 4, MLG Dallas 2013, Cloud Kingdom

+ Show Spoiler +

Liquid’TaeJa versus Quantic.Sase, Game 3, MLG Dallas 2013, Akilon Wastes

+ Show Spoiler +

NSH.Jjakji versus SKT1_Rain, Game 4, MLG Dallas 2013, Akilon Wastes

+ Show Spoiler +

STX.Innovation versus EG.HuK, Game 3, MLG Dallas 2013, Akilon Wastes

+ Show Spoiler +

Liquid’TaeJa versus SKT1Brown, SPL 2012-2013, EGTL/SKT1 Match 4-20-2013, Set 2, Whirlwind

+ Show Spoiler +

EG.Thorzain versus Atn.Socke, Game 3, MLG Winter Season Showdowns, Korhal City

+ Show Spoiler +

Other VoDs

ByunPrime

CC-first on Korean Ladder, Barcode Protoss, Whirlwind

+ Show Spoiler +

CC-first Korean Ladder, Barcode Protoss, Daybreak

+ Show Spoiler +

CC-first Korean Ladder, Barcode Protoss, Akilon Wastes

+ Show Spoiler +

STX.Innovation

STX.Innovation versus CJ.herO, New Fighting Spirit, Set 4, SPL R5 STX/CJEntus

+ Show Spoiler +

Millenium.ForGG

Mill.ForGG versus Liquid.HerO, WCS S1 Finals, Ro16, Group C, Match 1, Set 2, Whirlwind

+ Show Spoiler +

Ladder play

+ Show Spoiler +

Build order example - no opponent, this is just a solo game on Whirlwind where I try to keep the macro crisp and the timings decent.

Smooth test - this is a game that just seemed to go well in terms of execution (this is against Elite AI, so take it with a healthy grain of salt). It’s more to illustrate the timings of buildings with the possibility of practicing scouting patterns and movement rather than versus ideal Protoss builds.

More AI - just so you can see if you want the varying stages of keeping up with macro and how small things like gas and e-bay timings are important.

Yet more AI - See above.

Victory - A game on Daybreak where my opponent goes for a quick 3 Nexus play to counter my greedy expand. I play out the game relatively normally and kill him with a sequence of drop plays that takes out both the main and the third eventually. No real problems in defending or getting the CC-first here.

Opening impact: good economy and little pressure makes for a normal TvP. Little productive to say about the opening except it is good in situations like this where the opponent chooses not to pressure.

Defeat - Neo Planet S. My opponent kindly agrees to proxy Stargate me at my request, and then does a very clever thing where he holds the Oracle back until he gently pressures the Bunker at the front while sneaking the Oracle in the back. Due to some poor positioning on my part, I’m forced to run around and die to the combination of MSC, a few Stalkers, and the Oracle, thanks to a well-placed Time Warp.

Opening impact: basically this was my first real test of a proxy Stargate build, and the game that made me realize how dangerous proxy Oracle can be to CC-first. Although the Oracles weren’t too badly handled, my follow-up positioning was awful and let the 3 gates just overwhelm me.

Defeat - again Neo Planet S. My opponent chronos out Zealot and Stalker, and because I fail to scout it adequately, as well as commit micro errors in the defense of the initial Bunker, I lose 5 workers off the bat. Then I proceed to play normally, but miss some opportunities to press against his mainly Stalker/Sentry force before Colossus. He catches me napping, takes some army for free, and then proceeds to beat up my under-defended front.

Opening impact: should have been negligable, but I control poorly and end up not nearly in as good a situation as I could have been right off the bat. The secondary control errors in losing most of my main army seal the deal.

Victory - Whirlwind is one of the best maps for this build, and it plays out well here. My opponent actually goes tech, which I mis-scout because I don’t see the Nexus and instead get just the double gas information. I prepare against both danger possibilities (DTs and Stargate) by putting my Marines in a smart place and a Turret at my front. With absolutely no pressure, I move out at a very standard time, and just kill him due to some misplaced Forcefields which allow me inside his natural.

Opening impact: huge success - the high amount of Marines I produce and the quick tech up to Medivacs and upgrades just let me roll him. Again, CC-first seems very good in the absence of pressure.

Victory - Star Station. My opponent goes for an extended 4-gate, which I scout. I throw down 1 extra Bunker (two would have been preferable), and defend for a very long time. The macro is awful from me. But thanks to the economic edge I get as well as a switch into upgrades and Marauder support, I eventually survive to get Medivacs out and roll him on the counter. Some things of note: I E-bay block the natural when I see he’s still not expanding; and any higher-level follow-up by my opponent should have killed me due to my abysmal macro during the attack. Factory/Starport and E-bays should have proceeded at only slightly delayed times, not by the minutes they were. Illustrates the importance of scouting.

Opening impact: the CC-first puts me initially vulnerable during the primary attack, but the boost in economy due to double MULE lets me keep powering up to reach the critical Stim/Medivac tech that ends the game.

Victory - Star Station. My opponent goes for a chronoboosted Zealot into a very standard 3-gate Robo after expo. His army is curiously small and Colossi are delayed in favour of starting Extended Thermal Lance, which means my initial push kills almost his entire army , a bunch of probes, and my cross-map rally allows me to kill some more workers. I get a lucky spot of a ninja third he tries to set up, and although he traps my army after I kill that base, it’s so small that his units have to retreat from Marauder fire. I push and kill him shortly thereafter.

Opening impact: nice advantage - although I lose a couple of SCVs to the chronoboosted Zealot, the CC is fast enough that I stay in perfect economic control of the game, and my everything is just faster and better than his.

Victory - Daybreak. My opponent gets pinned to 2 bases for a long time as I try to get damage done with harass (generally unsuccessful, but my third goes up completely unhindered, and I get all my tech without a hitch). Finally it boils down to typical TvP army management with MMMVG going up against Templar/Colossi/Zealot/Archon. He miscontrols for a crucial instant heading towards a ramp, and even though I still eat some Storms, the massive EMPs before that happens means he has 0 chance of winning.

Opening impact: again, good advantage - no pressure allows me to again mis-scout and waste resources on defenses but still get a good midgame army up to defend due to my very high-powered economy.

Victory - Star Station. My opponent goes for Blink, but I scout it, pull back to high ground, and prepare defenses. He sees that I'm more than ready to crush any all-in, and doesn't commit. I push and kill almost all his army plus some Probes at the first engagement, and then play a more or less continuous game of denying his third, which means that even though he transitions to the appropriate lategame tech, he never has enough income to make it the overwhelming Parting style of mass Storm and lots of remax potential.

Opening impact: nice position, the early CC allows me enough minerals to adjust the build to drop extra Bunkers without putting myself at a disadvantage. This really shows why CC-first is NOT a good target for Blink all-ins; as the defense is no harder than any other Terran expand build and you have more minerals to play with.

Game 1 - Stargate harass after expansion; my Turrets were delayed although I did scout Stargate, and in general messed up my control/macro. Correct defense should have lead to a more normal game here, although Stargate play is in my opinion the strongest Protoss response to CC-first.

Game 2 - Testing a reactive proxy Stargate, as well as possible reactions. I wondered about putting down the E-bay in response to a possible proxy Stargate, and this is the first test. Turrets are up in plenty of time to deflect Oracles, but a switch into Voidrays and follow-up all-in kills me. I failed to react in time in spite of seeing no expansion and active Warpgates.

Game 3 - my best attempt at a hold. Same sequence as last game, but after no Oracles come and I see no expansion, I go up to 3 Bunkers and put a Turret and SCVs at the front. However, 6 SCVs is not enough to repair versus 3-gate Voidray, and I die, although narrowly. Theoretically, holds are possible here.

Game 1 - excuse the little bit of rage at the end. Basically, the opening goes fine, but I fail to actually make good use of the scouting information and die to Dark Templar after he gets in right as my MULEs drop.

Game 2 - after seeing a greedy tech build in game 1, I follow suit by going double gas and double e-bay after the CC-first (one of the odd contingencies described in the ‘other strands’ section above). Playing this out normally, I get a bit of a lucky break while harassing him in the midgame as two of his Colossi sort of AI-glitch on the cliffs by the natural and I pick up at least 1 for free. He simply doesn’t have the AoE to hold the follow-up push with Vikings (especially as I get 2-2).

Game 3 - both of us play out a longer-form macro game, where he does the typical ‘defend 3 bases’ strategy on Akilon Wastes. I attempt some harass, but in general his army is just so strong with the 3-3 upgrades and his control (Master v Diamond) is just that much better than mine that I lose in the end.