14 Nexus (vs. Terran)
Overview[edit]
The 14 Nexus opening is one of the oldest versions of expanding as fast as possible against Terran. It has been a standard opening since 2005 and offers relatively strong transitions into the mid game.
Build Order[edit]
Basic Build order[edit]
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Bisu Transition[edit]
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Execution[edit]
The Basic Build Order has been developed by Nal_rA in 2005 and aimed to enable the Protoss to gain an economic advantage early on in the game. It allows the Protoss to build up a relatively strong ground army composition in the first minutes of the game, which can be used to counter stronger attacks off one Base, as well as timed attacks following ordinary Siege Expand openings. However, it is vulnerable to Bunker Rushes, which makes scouting and the micro management of the initial units very important. Losing units early on can hard counter this opening.
Since the 14 Command Center Build Orders were introduced, the economic advantage was negated and a soft counter was introduced. Bisu's version of the 14 Nexus opening was a reaction to the Terran strategies. It allows a Reaver Harass as transition into the mid game, which can be used to either force Terran to invest into building static defenses or tie Terran units to two bases. Furthermore, the Reaver and the ground army can be used to delay a greedy third expansion if microed carefully. Depending on the efficiency of the harass the Protoss is in a position to tech faster to high Tech units like Arbiters or expand a third and a fourth time relatively fast.
The main goal of both openings is not a timed attack, but a more passive aggressive strategy to gain an ultimate advantage in the late game. As a consequence Protoss should avoid to try a break of the Terran base if he did not gain a massive advantage early on. If in doubt, Protoss should maintain the map control, rather than directly fight the Terran, especially if Terran went for a strong macro oriented build himself.
Counters[edit]
A very common response to this build by Terrans is to bring four or more SCVs, rally Marines and construct a Bunker in range of the Nexus. The bunker is usually started before the first Zealot is out and the first Marine arrives soon after. Therefore the Protoss will usually try to attack the building SCV with Probes if possible. However, targeting the Marines before they can enter the Bunker is more important, as an empty Bunker does not really pose a threat. Depending on the number of SCVs left to repair a Bunker, Protoss can train more Zealots and kill the bunker right away.
Even if the Nexus will be killed by the initial push, Protoss has chances to come back into the game, as a Bunker rush means an economical disadvantage for the Terran. The outcome for the overall game therefore depends more on the numbers of Probes a Terran killed calculated against the number of ressources spend on building the Bunker and trained SCVs, as well as the missing income from an earlier Terran Expansion.
A 14 Command Center is usually considered as a soft counter to the 14 Nexus opening, as it allows Terran to train workers equally as fast as Protoss.
- Siege Expand and One Base Strategies
Siege Expansions or One Base openings by Terran are soft countered by the 14 Nexus Build Order. The first will mean an economical disadvantage for Terran. Almost all One Base strategies aim to swiftly kill a small Protoss army; Depending on the Protoss player's micromanagement, he should be able to defend a strong early aggression easily.
Notable Maps[edit]
Notable Games[edit]
References[edit]
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  Kingdom |
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 NaDa | |||
| Date: | |||
| blitzx | Patch: | VOD | |
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Bisu |
Bisu opening with his version of the 14 Nexus, fightin goff a Bunker Rush and Vulture Harass | |
| Flash | |||
| Date: 2009-08-27 | |||
| HBR | Patch: | VOD | |
|---|---|---|---|