EPTIntro:
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Hello, my name is stevo, and i am a GM protoss on north america. Like many of you, i have seen the calculated domination displayed on EG.Axslav's stream. One of his flagship builds in the PvT matchup is a Nexus First.
Many would assume that this build is a gimmick or incredibly risky, but a crisp build order coupled with intelligent reactions makes this build absolutely safe and incredibly hard for terran to deal with.
Lucky for all of TL.net, Axslav always commentates his play and explains his decision making, so this guide is my interpretation of many games made public and explained by Nick Ranish (EG.Axslav) Big thanks to VTwhiplash for his help as well.
Many would assume that this build is a gimmick or incredibly risky, but a crisp build order coupled with intelligent reactions makes this build absolutely safe and incredibly hard for terran to deal with.
Lucky for all of TL.net, Axslav always commentates his play and explains his decision making, so this guide is my interpretation of many games made public and explained by Nick Ranish (EG.Axslav) Big thanks to VTwhiplash for his help as well.
What maps and scenarios this build is strongest in:
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Although Axslav uses this build on almost every map, and justifies why it's viable every time, he has stated that it is obviously much stronger and potent on certain maps. Generally, if a map is large in size, 4 players and has a defensive vantage in the natural, it is pretty safe to assume that Nexus first is a strong build.
Some maps as examples are:
Terminus
Antiga Shipyard
Tal Darim Altar
Some maps as examples are:
Terminus
Antiga Shipyard
Tal Darim Altar
Build Order:
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Axslav's Early November Variation
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9 pylon
(2 chronos on probes)
15 Nexus -> scout
When scouting, it's important to check watchtowers and proxy locations first. Alot of whether this build puts you way ahead or not relies on you being as greedy as you can based on what you scout. The reactions to proxy rax are much more extreme than a rax in-base build, and quite frankly, a marine comes out at around 3:09 so you aren't going to get into their base at that scout timing anyway. Might as well be 100% safe vs proxies.
Depending on map and how greedy you feel like being, you can sneak a probe in at 15 supply and build gate and pylon on 16, but for the sake of a super safe BO...
15 gate
Resume probe production
Please note that the 15 gate is most effective when built closer to your ramp as the rally distance is smaller and they can help defend potential aggression much easier
16 pylon
Also note that it is smart to build the 16 pylon double powering the gateway to prevent any pylon snipe tactics.
After you build the 16 pylon check around your nexus thoroughly to check for sneaky bunkers building, any aggression from terran can be held as long as you prevent the bunker from getting up.
If you scout a bunker building, you can safely assume that the terran is rallying his first marine, which comes out at ~3:09, to your natural in hopes of getting safety inside of the premade bunker.
YOU MUST PREVENT THE BUNKER FROM FINISHING AT ALL COSTS. The sooner you scout it constructing, the more time you have to stop it and the easier the defense is. A good example of the method in which to stop this can be found at 3:30 of this vod. http://www.twitch.tv/axslav/b/299362513
Instantly attack the SCV with a probe and chrono a zealot out as soon as your gateway finishes. To be super safe you can pull 3 probes to attack the scv when the marine support gets there. Microed correctly, there is no way the bunker can complete.
17 assimilator
At this point your probe should have already scouted their location or will be arriving very soon. This is where the build branches off into several directions based on what you scout.
Please refer to the next section for the reactions to each terran build.
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Though i have had many conversations with Axslav about this build and the safest variants of it, recently on Axslav's stream he has been experimenting with more greedy versions of the strategy which favor getting the Nexus on 16, and Gateway on 17. Every explaination, countermeasure, scouting tip, reaction and follow-up are completely unchanged by this, so when reading the explaination of the build Axslav has done in the past, and realizing that you will be going for a more greedy version, pretend the numbers fit the build you choose to do. At least some people are an expert at something right?
9 pylon
(2 chronos on probes)
15 Nexus -> scout
When scouting, it's important to check watchtowers and proxy locations first. Alot of whether this build puts you way ahead or not relies on you being as greedy as you can based on what you scout. The reactions to proxy rax are much more extreme than a rax in-base build, and quite frankly, a marine comes out at around 3:09 so you aren't going to get into their base at that scout timing anyway. Might as well be 100% safe vs proxies.
Depending on map and how greedy you feel like being, you can sneak a probe in at 15 supply and build gate and pylon on 16, but for the sake of a super safe BO...
15 gate
Resume probe production
Please note that the 15 gate is most effective when built closer to your ramp as the rally distance is smaller and they can help defend potential aggression much easier
16 pylon
Also note that it is smart to build the 16 pylon double powering the gateway to prevent any pylon snipe tactics.
After you build the 16 pylon check around your nexus thoroughly to check for sneaky bunkers building, any aggression from terran can be held as long as you prevent the bunker from getting up.
If you scout a bunker building, you can safely assume that the terran is rallying his first marine, which comes out at ~3:09, to your natural in hopes of getting safety inside of the premade bunker.
YOU MUST PREVENT THE BUNKER FROM FINISHING AT ALL COSTS. The sooner you scout it constructing, the more time you have to stop it and the easier the defense is. A good example of the method in which to stop this can be found at 3:30 of this vod. http://www.twitch.tv/axslav/b/299362513
Instantly attack the SCV with a probe and chrono a zealot out as soon as your gateway finishes. To be super safe you can pull 3 probes to attack the scv when the marine support gets there. Microed correctly, there is no way the bunker can complete.
17 assimilator
At this point your probe should have already scouted their location or will be arriving very soon. This is where the build branches off into several directions based on what you scout.
Please refer to the next section for the reactions to each terran build.
Reactions Based on what your probe scouts:
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First and foremost, if you get to your opponents base during the window of time where there is 1 marine at the ramp, it is always worth it to sacrifice the probe and tank the damage to get a solid read on your opponent.
1-2 Marines in nat with bunker building:
This is most likely 1 rax gasless FE. In this case, Axslav spends all chrono on probes and gets a Cybernetics core before 2nd gate and 2nd gas. Then he squeezes out zealot sentry production out of his gates while chronoing probes and gets his 3rd and 4th gasses at ~5:30. Finally, he opts to get his robo ~7:00 and works into a double forge collosus tech midgame with his econ.
Axslav always makes it clear that this opening from terran is the best case scenario for the T and that Nexus first puts the protoss on equal econ to a gasless FE terran only if the protoss can get a good read on the terran and feel confident spending his chronos on probes. Here is a replay of Axslav vs BeastyQT and his reaction to scouting 1 rax gasless expand. http://drop.sc/54590
Keep in mind that it is always possible for the terran to be doing an elaborate fake building a bunker and hoping you assume that he's 1 rax gasless FEing and spending chrono on probes. Always be diligent about checking his marine count and always look for potential oppurtunities to sneak your probe in and confirm his expo or not. Obviously this is only a problem on certain maps. On most maps you can either scout the CC building in the Natural by sacrificing a probe or you can just see the CC building regardless.
1 marine tech lab building on rax:
This can be one of a number of different things all of which have similar responses. It can be a tech lab first 2 rax (uncommon), some kind of all marauder 2rax, a 1 rax tech lab expand, or an early stim 3rax. Most of the time it will either be a 1 rax tech lab expand with an early reaper, or they will make a reaper first and scout the nexus first and reactively do a 2 or 3 rax off of the reaper pressure.
Axslav makes it very clear that vs techlab openings he stays on 1 gate a little longer and chronos units out of 1 gate. He does so in this sequence: zealot, zealot, stalker stalker and gets his second gate at ~530. He says that vs a reaper first the first zealot out of the gateway is pretty useless defensively, and really early vs any obscure conc shell push that you'd scout coming at the towers anyway, so he opts to send it out onto the map to scout the towers and eventually send it to their expo to confirm the expo and get additional information.
It is extremely important to diligently check for bunkers building near your natural when a tech lab is scouted. If a reaper can get in range of the nexus or workers with a bunker support it can almost instantly lose you the game. Use the zealot to scout any pushes coming or to scout if they chose to expand. If you scout a push coming or them obviously staying on 1 base, chrono units out of your 2 gateways and pull probes if needed. Understand that even if you lose several probes, your probe production capability and 2 nexuses worth of chrono boost makes any bio aggression completely all in.
If you scout him doing a 1 reaper expand or any variant of 1 rax tech lab expand, chrono nothing but probes from the point that you scout it onwards until about the 7 min mark. Axslav in this case will go for his robo at ~7min...and get collosus tech and double forge upgrades in the midgame. Here's a replay of Axslav vs M.Diestar and how he responds to a tech lab opening. http://drop.sc/55566
2 marines no add on:
Safe to assume it is one of 3 things: gasless 1 rax FE (CC in base), 2 rax marine scv all in or factory play. Keep your probe outside of his base constantly watching for any marines trying to move out to gain map control. Try to circle around the marine if it moves out to get scouting in. Even if nothing moves out, it is safest to save chrono and get your second gate before core. By the time the gates come up he will have moved out with his marine scv all in, so if he hasn't moved out by then it is safe to chrono probes. If it is gasless 1 rax FE, this slight economic delay won't put you behind by much, and the fact that double mules are mining from his main and the minerals are at full saturation sooner, his main will mine out faster and you will have an economic lead later on.
For a detailed description of scouting and defending the 2 rax marine scv all in, see the "Nothing in natural, marines at ramp" section.
So the last possibility is factory play. The key here is to chrono probes and to get your robotics facility earlier than if you're defending bio aggression. Axslav will get his at ~5:30, only having 2 gates of production supporting it. A key timing to keep in mind is that cloak will finish around 7:30, so use that as a benchmark for when your obs should be out to be safe against a cloak rush. Once you're chronoing probes and getting an earlier robo, the key is to send a stalker out to your opponents ramp and tank the shots from the marines at the top to see if you can see an expo building, or a later reactor/bunker. If you scout a bunker, you can assume it is some kind of 1/1/1 or bio all in that they're trying to mask under the guise of 1/1/1. Regardless if which it is, your goal should be to chrono out the fastest 38 probes possible, cut probes, get 5 gates and a robo, chrono out immortals and make nothing but units to defend against the impending all in.
The really good news is that Nexus first is the hardest counter to 1/1/1 there is because you can chrono out the 38 probes of econ so much faster than any other build.
1 marine reactor building on rax:
At this point, just assume it is reactor 2 rax. There are of course other possibilities, but none of which are dangerous to nexus first econ. If it is 1/1/1, the 2 rax response doesn't prevent you from holding it, the econ is plenty good enough to easily hold 1/1/1.
In the current metagame this will probably be the most common response from terrans that haven't faced nexus first often. Axslav makes it clear that it is very important to chrono your first zeal before cybernetics core. the build will be gate, assimilator, gate zeal core. You chrono out 2 zeals out of the first gate, and the core and second gate will finish directly when the second zealot comes out. At this point, you should chrono out 2 stalkers and a standard reactor 2 rax will hit when the 2 stalkers are out. Continuously build units and squeeze in probes when you can. They will most likely pull scvs with this push, so match their scv count with probes and target the marauders down first with your stalkers. Even if you lose probes, you can produce probes way faster than they can scvs because you have 2 Nexuses and double chrono boost. If you eliminate the marauders, it becomes marines vs stalkers and that is a fight i think any toss would be happy to take. If no push has come after the stalkers have been out for about 10 seconds, send a probe along the path that a 2rax push would be coming. If the probe arrives at their natural and scouts a bunker, assume they've 2 rax expoed and go on the offensive. You should be able to just outright kill them by adding 2 gates and chronoing warpgate. If the probe arrives at an empty natural, send it up the ramp and scout whether they have a bunker or whether you see marauders. If there is no bunker, add gates, keep making probes and play defensively while scouting for hidden expansions. Most likely, this is a 3 rax or some unorthodox all in that your econ should give you an incredible advantage against. If you scout a bunker, you can assume it is some kind of 1/1/1 or bio all in that they're trying to mask under the guise of 1/1/1. Regardless if which it is, your goal should be to chrono out the fastest 38 probes possible, cut probes, get 5 gates and a robo, chrono out immortals and make nothing but units to defend against the impending all in.
A textbook example of how to scout and react to reactor 2rax can be found at the 1:00:00 mark of this vod. http://www.twitch.tv/axslav/b/299183347
Nothing in Natural, marines at ramp:
Axslav has stated that getting perfect scouting information vs terran at this stage is very hard. However he has a make-shift system at getting as good of a read as you possibly can:
when you scout where they are, leave your probe outside of their base to see if they're moving out at all. If they move out with 1 marine, try to circle around and sneak in your probe behind him to get additional information in his base.
If nothing pushes out, rescout up the ramp at 3:42. If you see 1 marine, most likely it means that he is building an add-on, so prepare for aggression by getting your second gate before your core. The second gate and core should finish at almost the exact same time, so it makes it easy to chrono out 2 stalkers as soon as the core finishes to help defend against any 2 rax or 3 rax pressure
If the marine pushes out, be wary of a 2 rax marine scv all in. Try to take the watchtower with your zealot or a probe to get as much warning time as possible. Holding the marine scv all in is all about chronoing out stalkers, microing well and delay tactics. Although it is extremely hard to hold, have comfort in knowing that it is possible with great play. Here is a replay of Axslav holding a 1 rax in base PROXY 3 RAX marine scv all in. http://drop.sc/54449
1-2 Marines in nat with bunker building:
This is most likely 1 rax gasless FE. In this case, Axslav spends all chrono on probes and gets a Cybernetics core before 2nd gate and 2nd gas. Then he squeezes out zealot sentry production out of his gates while chronoing probes and gets his 3rd and 4th gasses at ~5:30. Finally, he opts to get his robo ~7:00 and works into a double forge collosus tech midgame with his econ.
Axslav always makes it clear that this opening from terran is the best case scenario for the T and that Nexus first puts the protoss on equal econ to a gasless FE terran only if the protoss can get a good read on the terran and feel confident spending his chronos on probes. Here is a replay of Axslav vs BeastyQT and his reaction to scouting 1 rax gasless expand. http://drop.sc/54590
Keep in mind that it is always possible for the terran to be doing an elaborate fake building a bunker and hoping you assume that he's 1 rax gasless FEing and spending chrono on probes. Always be diligent about checking his marine count and always look for potential oppurtunities to sneak your probe in and confirm his expo or not. Obviously this is only a problem on certain maps. On most maps you can either scout the CC building in the Natural by sacrificing a probe or you can just see the CC building regardless.
1 marine tech lab building on rax:
This can be one of a number of different things all of which have similar responses. It can be a tech lab first 2 rax (uncommon), some kind of all marauder 2rax, a 1 rax tech lab expand, or an early stim 3rax. Most of the time it will either be a 1 rax tech lab expand with an early reaper, or they will make a reaper first and scout the nexus first and reactively do a 2 or 3 rax off of the reaper pressure.
Axslav makes it very clear that vs techlab openings he stays on 1 gate a little longer and chronos units out of 1 gate. He does so in this sequence: zealot, zealot, stalker stalker and gets his second gate at ~530. He says that vs a reaper first the first zealot out of the gateway is pretty useless defensively, and really early vs any obscure conc shell push that you'd scout coming at the towers anyway, so he opts to send it out onto the map to scout the towers and eventually send it to their expo to confirm the expo and get additional information.
It is extremely important to diligently check for bunkers building near your natural when a tech lab is scouted. If a reaper can get in range of the nexus or workers with a bunker support it can almost instantly lose you the game. Use the zealot to scout any pushes coming or to scout if they chose to expand. If you scout a push coming or them obviously staying on 1 base, chrono units out of your 2 gateways and pull probes if needed. Understand that even if you lose several probes, your probe production capability and 2 nexuses worth of chrono boost makes any bio aggression completely all in.
If you scout him doing a 1 reaper expand or any variant of 1 rax tech lab expand, chrono nothing but probes from the point that you scout it onwards until about the 7 min mark. Axslav in this case will go for his robo at ~7min...and get collosus tech and double forge upgrades in the midgame. Here's a replay of Axslav vs M.Diestar and how he responds to a tech lab opening. http://drop.sc/55566
2 marines no add on:
Safe to assume it is one of 3 things: gasless 1 rax FE (CC in base), 2 rax marine scv all in or factory play. Keep your probe outside of his base constantly watching for any marines trying to move out to gain map control. Try to circle around the marine if it moves out to get scouting in. Even if nothing moves out, it is safest to save chrono and get your second gate before core. By the time the gates come up he will have moved out with his marine scv all in, so if he hasn't moved out by then it is safe to chrono probes. If it is gasless 1 rax FE, this slight economic delay won't put you behind by much, and the fact that double mules are mining from his main and the minerals are at full saturation sooner, his main will mine out faster and you will have an economic lead later on.
For a detailed description of scouting and defending the 2 rax marine scv all in, see the "Nothing in natural, marines at ramp" section.
So the last possibility is factory play. The key here is to chrono probes and to get your robotics facility earlier than if you're defending bio aggression. Axslav will get his at ~5:30, only having 2 gates of production supporting it. A key timing to keep in mind is that cloak will finish around 7:30, so use that as a benchmark for when your obs should be out to be safe against a cloak rush. Once you're chronoing probes and getting an earlier robo, the key is to send a stalker out to your opponents ramp and tank the shots from the marines at the top to see if you can see an expo building, or a later reactor/bunker. If you scout a bunker, you can assume it is some kind of 1/1/1 or bio all in that they're trying to mask under the guise of 1/1/1. Regardless if which it is, your goal should be to chrono out the fastest 38 probes possible, cut probes, get 5 gates and a robo, chrono out immortals and make nothing but units to defend against the impending all in.
The really good news is that Nexus first is the hardest counter to 1/1/1 there is because you can chrono out the 38 probes of econ so much faster than any other build.
1 marine reactor building on rax:
At this point, just assume it is reactor 2 rax. There are of course other possibilities, but none of which are dangerous to nexus first econ. If it is 1/1/1, the 2 rax response doesn't prevent you from holding it, the econ is plenty good enough to easily hold 1/1/1.
In the current metagame this will probably be the most common response from terrans that haven't faced nexus first often. Axslav makes it clear that it is very important to chrono your first zeal before cybernetics core. the build will be gate, assimilator, gate zeal core. You chrono out 2 zeals out of the first gate, and the core and second gate will finish directly when the second zealot comes out. At this point, you should chrono out 2 stalkers and a standard reactor 2 rax will hit when the 2 stalkers are out. Continuously build units and squeeze in probes when you can. They will most likely pull scvs with this push, so match their scv count with probes and target the marauders down first with your stalkers. Even if you lose probes, you can produce probes way faster than they can scvs because you have 2 Nexuses and double chrono boost. If you eliminate the marauders, it becomes marines vs stalkers and that is a fight i think any toss would be happy to take. If no push has come after the stalkers have been out for about 10 seconds, send a probe along the path that a 2rax push would be coming. If the probe arrives at their natural and scouts a bunker, assume they've 2 rax expoed and go on the offensive. You should be able to just outright kill them by adding 2 gates and chronoing warpgate. If the probe arrives at an empty natural, send it up the ramp and scout whether they have a bunker or whether you see marauders. If there is no bunker, add gates, keep making probes and play defensively while scouting for hidden expansions. Most likely, this is a 3 rax or some unorthodox all in that your econ should give you an incredible advantage against. If you scout a bunker, you can assume it is some kind of 1/1/1 or bio all in that they're trying to mask under the guise of 1/1/1. Regardless if which it is, your goal should be to chrono out the fastest 38 probes possible, cut probes, get 5 gates and a robo, chrono out immortals and make nothing but units to defend against the impending all in.
A textbook example of how to scout and react to reactor 2rax can be found at the 1:00:00 mark of this vod. http://www.twitch.tv/axslav/b/299183347
Nothing in Natural, marines at ramp:
Axslav has stated that getting perfect scouting information vs terran at this stage is very hard. However he has a make-shift system at getting as good of a read as you possibly can:
when you scout where they are, leave your probe outside of their base to see if they're moving out at all. If they move out with 1 marine, try to circle around and sneak in your probe behind him to get additional information in his base.
If nothing pushes out, rescout up the ramp at 3:42. If you see 1 marine, most likely it means that he is building an add-on, so prepare for aggression by getting your second gate before your core. The second gate and core should finish at almost the exact same time, so it makes it easy to chrono out 2 stalkers as soon as the core finishes to help defend against any 2 rax or 3 rax pressure
If the marine pushes out, be wary of a 2 rax marine scv all in. Try to take the watchtower with your zealot or a probe to get as much warning time as possible. Holding the marine scv all in is all about chronoing out stalkers, microing well and delay tactics. Although it is extremely hard to hold, have comfort in knowing that it is possible with great play. Here is a replay of Axslav holding a 1 rax in base PROXY 3 RAX marine scv all in. http://drop.sc/54449
Replays/VODs:
+ Show Spoiler +
Defending the 1 marine bunker push (3:30) http://www.twitch.tv/axslav/b/299362513
Scouting and Defending Reactor 2rax (1:00:00) http://www.twitch.tv/axslav/b/299183347
Axslav vs M.Diestar reaction to 1 marine techlab opening http://drop.sc/55566
Axslav holding vs gasless 1 rax proxy 3 rax marine scv all in http://drop.sc/54449
Here's an example of Axslav holding off a gasless 5 rax 1 base marine scv all in. http://drop.sc/54013
Here's an additional replay where Axslav chooses an aggressive followup to punish a tech greedy terran. http://drop.sc/54016
Scouting and Defending Reactor 2rax (1:00:00) http://www.twitch.tv/axslav/b/299183347
Axslav vs M.Diestar reaction to 1 marine techlab opening http://drop.sc/55566
Axslav holding vs gasless 1 rax proxy 3 rax marine scv all in http://drop.sc/54449
Here's an example of Axslav holding off a gasless 5 rax 1 base marine scv all in. http://drop.sc/54013
Here's an additional replay where Axslav chooses an aggressive followup to punish a tech greedy terran. http://drop.sc/54016
Why is this build so good?:
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The best thing about this guide is that although it explains how Axslav uses this econ to secure a strong midgame, really it is just explaining how to be safe vs every terran opening and how to use this build to leverage the largest econ and strongest midgame in every situation. What does that mean? It means you can use the econ however you want, to materialize ANY midgame you want! It is just a strong, safe, economic opening that gives you unlimited options.
Most of all this build puts terran in an awkward position. If they weren't initially going for an econ oriented play (basically anything but CC first or gasless 1 rax FE) he is forced to either try some hyper aggressive play aimed to deal damage, or accept that he is just behind. Since axslav has taught us all how to deal with all the hyper aggressive plays, that leaves 1 option for the terran.
Most of all this build puts terran in an awkward position. If they weren't initially going for an econ oriented play (basically anything but CC first or gasless 1 rax FE) he is forced to either try some hyper aggressive play aimed to deal damage, or accept that he is just behind. Since axslav has taught us all how to deal with all the hyper aggressive plays, that leaves 1 option for the terran.
GOD BLESS EG.AXSLAV, GOD BLESS TEAM LIQUID.NET AND GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!
-stevo
