[G] [BR] Guide to Mech Transitions

First disclaimer: enjoy the blog! Some sections are spoilered (such as this) where text dominates more than figures, and the "academic" style was written first before battle report stuff was inserted. Most games are d+/c- skill level, and usually I am pretty far ahead to make this work (though success rate is high). There are actually a couple very short threads on MC from long ago, and I think it is legitimate if and only if the protoss thinks he can extend an advantage but not kill a terran outright (terrans can claw back in split map scenarios).

This blog is not a general methodology that will work in all cases nor will it work on all maps. It is advised only to be used against terran players that are approximately 1000 iccup points higher than your own rank [as such not tested on Fish server], as that should sufficiently balance out the pvt matchup. Finer points will be discussed later on, but it is important to note that it works best with carriers and with maps with lots of buildable space and/or ramps, although it is viable on 2, 3, or 4 player maps as all protoss strategies are viable on all maps.

Instead, this methodology is a way to confuse terran players who are not used to seeing a new brand of play style, and most particularly to BM players who are worse than you or choose terran in a fun way.

It also has not been benchmarked in any appreciable way, and should not work against high level terrans who are good at tvp, which occur with about the same frequency as a unicorn shagging KT's mascot

Only a handful of games have been played across 2013-2014; further data collection and analysis may lead to further research, and dedicated training to SCV recovery squads could help the success rate further

SECTION 1.i.i: JOINING A GAME:

The first step is to demand your opponent reveal his race selection through the simple message of "race?". It is critically important that you pose this question, even though you have no intention to choose any race other than protoss. You also MUST ask this question even if your opponent already has selected their race.

Follow up with a "gogo" immediately after, while still sticking to random in the display screen. If the host chooses a race other than terran, or if he asks you to choose your race, immediately leave the game.

SECTION 1.i.ii HOSTING A GAME:

Follow the same steps as joining a game, but now you have control over who is in the game. Ban anyone that chooses something besides terran (if you want to use this strategy), or perhaps even better, start the game immediately when someone joins and do not say anything. If the opponent chooses something other than terran, you can always leave the game immediately after it starts.

Here, the hosting/joining a game build order converges to a good timing window, where you must change your race from "random" to "protoss" at the last possible second in the countdown screen. This take many seconds of practice to achieve, but you may risk (~10^-2 frequency) messing it up.

SECTION 1.i.iii IN GAME BUILD ORDER

The neo-classical polish build order follows the main line of:

4 p
5-200 do whatever the fuck you want, you're protoss

However, 2 very important notes (counter-intuitive for the Polish expert) must be made:

1): you do not want to proxy any really important buildings. The biggest risk to your late game transition to mech is winning the game too early, which is very achievable through proxy dt, proxy robo, or just proxy gateways in the middle of the map [1 can be ok]. Proxying an assimilator (otherwise known as a "gas steal") is risky, as many terrans do not know how to respond and will try to respond with a dumb all-in barracks build, which again limits how often you get to reach the late game. However, the terrans that throw up a bunker and take their natural cc, are playing for the late game, and you can control the flow of the game from there.

2): do not open with 2 dark templars. 1 dt expand can be ok, but it is actually not the best build, despite thinking that it may help you reach mind control tech earlier on. An example is given in Appendix A: Battle Report 4 (control game).

These 2 notes drastically reduce the protoss win rate, but again, the goal is not to win the game too early or too easily, but play and toy with your opponent as a Protoss player may fondle his nipples after a good cheese or gas steal.

It is more important to get robo bay so you can safely transition to late game mech through observer usage.

Now that you've chosen not to just proxy the terran or bulldog him early, you can be in a good spot to reach the mid to late game with a healthy 3 base economy or so. A siege expand terran is probably ideal, as he probably was passive and you should be able to get an observer into his base, to see any 5 fact or 6 fact dangers that may come. Note many terrans will do that, so you may have to abandon ship and just play normally.

The 3 gas economy you have (or just early 2nd gas after a 1 gate expand or whatever) will let you start to get this going. You may have a shuttle already for zealot use, and that is quite good. Take your templar archives at a normal timing is the most safe option, just getting up to 1 arbiter with stasis before getting 2 dark templars to morph to your dark archon. Start mind control research, and throw down a support bay to get shuttle speed. Variants played here are not optimal for mind control timings, as it is more important to go ahead and research it before you "forget".

On fs, it is a good idea to take another main rather than the closeby thirds to get better build space, although by the time any scv gets mind controlled, you'll be taking a fourth there anyways

You can even delay your arbiters if you can pump a lot more zealots than dragoons to run into the tanks, as sometimes that first stasis is really important to surviving (as seen in appendix a: battle report 2). The decision to begin mind control play is a tempo-based decision, and should be made with total disregard to actual strategy just to confuse laddering terran players. There is simply too great of a risk of letting terran players skimp on their defense/cautiousness and getting a feel for tvp if protoss players do not randomly decide to do "stupid" things every now and then, independent of whether or not it is very successful. Terrans must be humbled by Protoss aggression.

The largest threat to this is an aggresive terran, typically the type who push with 5 facts (rather than a 6 fact all in). One reason for getting robo play is to scout the terran and make sure you survive.

This game developed from a gas steal where the terran decided to try to medic marine it with 2 rax. It was easily stopped with reaver tech and the game was won

The terran harassed throughout the game trying to get back into it, more successful than one would anticipate but nevertheless futile



Much later, I finally unloaded when my army was out of position and some units came to my base. What a surprise that they could siege!

When starting your cc, start a barracks and you'll be able to get 2 supply depots before it's factory time from constant scv production. Build like 7 scvs total, so you can continue getting depots while 3-5 factories build, and to have a healthy amount later on in the game.



Just get 1 armory for tank weapons upgrade immediately after factories finish (first 3 facts) and do not worry about plating or a second armory, and don't worry about comsat too early. Just get ~5-7 factories total, and use tanks to secure ramps/positional play. You don't have to worry about turrets too much, if at all, and you don't need to worry about going past 2-0 upgrades unless desired.

Go ahead and throw down another command center to float as a roughly 6th or 7th base, or even just as a second scan. Just use your first command center for comsat only.

The main advantage of the mind control play is to simply get a few tanks for positional defense, whether it is the center expansion on fighting spirit or up ramps or chokes, without needing skill to cast storms with your micro'd carriers for zoning play against the goliaths

This might have been the "best" opponent I faced, somewhere C- or near C I think.

The game begins with typical protoss beginnings



The terran goes for a 2 fact, and heads out:


+ Show Spoiler [middle of map micro] +

He resorts to a harass oriented game to try to come back

Here, his 1 tank swung all the way around to the spot behind the natural on desti



This is an interesting phenomena of destination. The tank does not actually have any vision after those vultures died (and no mine present). However, he gets to shell at that goon sitting there



Surviving this early game aggression allows the choice to be made right here:



+ Show Spoiler [continued Terran harass] +

Continuing from the above spoiler, an actual good play should be noted. This is a nice spot on desti for terrans to try to harass. Leave a tank to deny that fourth and go into the main base, as seen below. Terrans should keep in mind such map details when trying to get better:



+ Show Spoiler [further progression] +



With a failed mind control, things have to be extended a bit longer

+ Show Spoiler [a midgame battle] +



We are in a firm position, teasing the terran into thinking he has a chance but knowing full well this game is in the bag, as a 5th base is nearly up

Some more time passes

+ Show Spoiler [midgame details] +

After this time has passed, an opportunity presents itself:



The scv headed out to construct a base, but little does he know he will soon be constructing a base for the protoss player

I take precaution to get my army over there with my dark archon near the front, and the major engagement begins

The first important thing to do as Protoss is to immediately lose your shuttle, such that the terran thinks he "sniped" it



Now, that SCV must run back to a spot where he can build. It is important to first get him stuck on gateways for ~20 seconds due to pathing errors



Now it comes to a finer point in TvP mid/late game, which many protosses simply do not acknowledge. The fact that the terran has to run all over the map to try to eliminate protoss expos can lead to very favourable exchanges for the protoss (and now protoss/terran, either proran or tertoss depending on how he switches) player

His army must commit to wiping out the left side:
+ Show Spoiler [getting the terran out of position] +

With the terran out of the left side, we attack him directly



Make sure to lull the terran into thinking he can "defend" that base. Forget to stasis the units on the ramp until after a few run up, and let your first arbiter get emp'd



Now, we must understand how to "multitask". Some aspects of the game are much more important than others:



The rest of this section is important Tertoss/Proran (protoss and terran) late game theory. If one section is to be remembered by protoss players, it must be this:



The above is actually one of the most important mindshifts in the game, and you must understand the terran player's thought. He is now caught up on upgrades relatively well (soon to finish 3-3, which was slow), and he thinks he has the map split.

Terran players go into a sense of "Aha, I can win the game split map!" at this moment. Progamers, such as Flash, have spoken about this on particular maps such as Match Point before pretty frequently in interviews.

So, how does the Protoss/Terran player close out the game from here?



Due to the barracks scout, we had time to run our probes away pre-emptively.

At this point, I'd like to point out the frequent use of running away probes pre-emptively. At levels like this (< C rank), it's generally much more advantageous to save probes than to worry about getting optimized mining by just *barely* saving them. It is sort of like how a 12 nex can be perfectly OK to die if you save your probes from it.

The protoss can throw away his army to get positions back on the map to get expos back up and running, and when aiming for the late game, protoss just needs to make sure it can secure its bank in "chunks"

Continuing



Here is the actually "winning" moment, although the game was won a long time ago when Protoss was selected in the menu screen on the map destination