The Great Book Of Protoss Bullshit
From Liquipedia StarCraft 2 Wiki
The Great Book Of Protoss BullshitStrategy Information
Matchups:
PvP, PvZ, PvT
Type:
HotS Strategy, Advanced
Converted Form:
Introduction[edit]
Welcome, to the Great Book of Protoss Bullshit. We at TeamLiquid Strategy believe that StarCraft is a beautiful game, and it is our goal to not only share this beauty with the world but improve the play and ladder rank of all those who read our works. Lately, we've realized that single-handedly, due to the tireless efforts of our Protoss staff, we have made Protoss OP beyond the top level. Not through buffs, but instead through an improved understanding of the Protoss metagame and so many quality guides that the other races just don't have the resources available to learn from. Why would anyone learning this game figure it out themselves, when Protoss has been mapped out so well for them?
We have always had a focus on game plans, macro builds, and guides that help players improve from the early game into the late game. This guide is no different. Right from the start, you will be challenged with builds that require tight execution, strong micro, and the ability to macro while microing. The difference with this guide compared to our previous works, however, is that if you succeed with these builds in the early game, you won't need to worry about the lategame. At worst, you will need to worry about a-moving more than once should any of these builds fail somehow.
While reading through this article, please listen to the following song as it accurately reflects how your opponents will feel when the game is over and you are collecting ladder points.
The SanGate – PvZ[edit]
Are you a fan of Zealots? Are you a fan of bullshit? Do you want to make Zerg players feel sad and impotent? Then this build is for you! The purpose of this build is to build a shitton of early Zealots and completely obliterate your nooby Zerg opponent who's trying to “macro”. The build order goes like this:
The Sangate – PvZ  |
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If you notice, the Sangate includes a Gateway on 12 instead of the more standard 13, allowing for Warpgate to finish about ten to fifteen seconds earlier. On top of that, all Chronoboost is dumped into Warp Gate so that it finishes super early. The worst part? It looks like a normal gate expand into 3-Gateway pressure, but hits thirty seconds earlier with even more Zealots. If you're doing the build right, your Zealots should roughly outnumber the Zerg units.
The Probe scout simply looks for a third base then hides. If the Zerg decides to “macro” to take a third base, it's an open invitation to warp in dozens of Zealots to stomp all over the third and laugh. If the Zerg tries to be cute and counterattack, the Sentry and wall should be strong enough to prevent any kind of shenanigans from going down; meanwhile, the Zerg player will be losing their third because they don't have enough units because they decided to counterattack. Not that it would matter anyway. Most of the time, the Zerg should fail at macro and you can simply attack-move your way into the natural for the win while constantly warping in more and more zealots.
“Well...what happens if the Zerg somehow DOES have enough units? What do I do after this?” That's an excellent point you bring up there. In cases such as these, assuming the Zerg player manages to reach sufficient APM to macro, it's important to sit back and think “what is the purpose of my race?” If you answered “Bullshit”, you are correct. To transition, we already have plenty of Gateways and a solid two-base economy, so why not follow up with a Sentry/Immortal all-in! Simply take your natural gases, add a robo, and build two to three immortals and lots of sentries. Once your Zergy opponent feels “safe” and starts to Drone, you can just move across the map and win.
Two-Base Blink All-in – PvT[edit]
What do Yeonsu, Heavy Rain, Frost, Daedalus Point, and Polar Night have in common? They're all great maps for a blink all-in! With so much surface area to defend, Terrans can't possibly hope to put up enough Bunkers, making a blink all-in a simple and wonderfully easy-to-execute strategy. As you may have noticed, I included five out of seven of the maps in the current ladder map pool, meaning that with map vetoes, you can do this build exclusively in PvT and win a majority of your games. What, did you say “freewins”? How do we do this?
| Two-Base Blink All-in – PvT |
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When you assemble your first twelve Stalkers and Mothership Core and the Terran is sitting helpless in his base, you're ready to begin bullshit. First, poke the front Bunkers with your Blink Stalkers to lure units down the ramp and force SCVs to be pulled off while moving your Mothership Core toward the main. After your opponent sends units down the ramp to help, time warp the ramp and blink into the main base. If you're lucky and the Terran is awful, you may be able to blink directly on top of the tech lab researching Stim; snipe it. If your opponent happens to be half decent and gets stim to finish, no problem – you are playing Protoss, so you're going to win anyway. Simply throw down a Time Warp somewhere in his base and kite backwards through it, eliminating about 90% of his SCVs. From here, your Stalker advantage should snowball and allow you to easily win the game with no problems.
Sometimes the Terran player will attempt to be clever and lift his buildings, trying to force a “draw” (which is silly because you're Protoss) and force his own frustration onto you. Of course, because most of your games are only six to ten minutes long, you can savor this time period and spend some time reaching out to another player on the internet. If you're feeling extra gracious, pretend not to notice him mining with MULEs and let him feel like he's making a comeback. And then, with a Void Ray, you can shoot down the hopes and dreams of your opponent forever.
2-Base Blink Macro PvT[edit]
In a world where Terran is terrified of Blink, they are even more afraid of storm. If you talk to any Terran, they will cry endlessly about how Psionic Storm is overpowered and ends the game in seconds, etc. So, instead of just killing them with Blink, we just instill them with enough fear to tech up quickly to Psionic Storm and then send them into a downward spiral of depression and anguish! This build is almost the same as the one above, but with only four Gateways to allow faster natural gases and continuous Probe production.
| 2-base Blink Macro - PvT |
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This build hits at the same time with slightly less Stalkers, but it still scares the shit out of Terrans. Expect to see 4-5 Bunkers, multiple SCV pulls, and some desperation stimming to stop the “all-in”. This is all good. Remember that your Stalkers don't even have to do much damage, they just have to scare the Terran, force a lot of defense, and buy a bunch of time.
When the Terran feels like they've finally blocked your attack and stabilized on Medivacs, you should already have a third base up and Psionic Storm/Charge finished. The initial attack should be a breeze to hold off. Oh, but what if they start dropping? Remember those 10 Blink Stalkers, use those to defend against the Terran's drops.
From here the game simply turns into a standard High Templar play vs. Terran, but your opening should allow you to be a full set of upgrades ahead of your opponent as well as one base up. It's also possible to follow up with Colossus or Dark Templar, but High Templar is the most common followup due to its ease to transition into and its mid game power. Luckily, if you've done the build right, your opponent will suicide his entire army into Psionic Storms, start raging, and crying. In the best case scenario, he'll lift his buildings and continue to bad-manner you for a while (see above).
10-gate/3-gate – PvP[edit]
Remember Protoss vs. Protoss in 2011? Remember the 4-Gateway attacks? Remember that “Korean 4-Gateway” build? Good news, that build still exists, and it's been adapted for all of your Heart of The Swarm needs! This build is the epitome of a Warpgate rush, with the first units warping in at 5:20 – generally around the time that your opponent has one or two units total. And since we're assuming your opponent sucks and can't micro, this is a great (and super easy) build to pull off! If your opponent plays a standard opening, he dies. If he is trying to be clever and metagame you by going for ultra fast tech or rushing an expansion, he dies. It all comes down to whether your opponent can micro or not, and he probably can't.
| 10-Gate into 3-Gate All-in – PvP |
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If your opponent is half decent, he probably won't scout until after his Cybernetics Core gets started and won't see anything too out of the ordinary inside your base besides an obvious lack of Probes. But most players can't count, especially on ladder, so it's not a big deal. If you're opponent is terrible and scouts super early...well, then he's terrible, and you'll still kill him anyway.
When your Stalker completes, move out on the map with a little Probe/Zealot/Stalker task force. This should be more than enough to clear any Stalkers wandering around on the map. Throw down a proxy Pylon at your opponent's natural and walk up into their main base; you'll usually arrive around 5:00-5:15 depending on the map. At most, your opponent can have one Sentry and one Force Field at this time, so he can delay the push for 20 seconds, but not stop it from entering the main base. When you enter the main base, put down a Pylon at the top of the ramp immediately.
Do your best to snipe your opponent's first Stalker or Mothership Core, as this will generally just end the game instantly. When Warpgate finishes constantly warp in Stalkers; if you run out of Vespene Gas, just make a few Zealots. There are a few cases where your opponent actually doesn't suck completely and gets a Photon Overcharge off without losing a ton of stuff. In these cases, keep warping in units just outside the radius of Photon Overcharge, then, because you still have the army advantage, kill him after it wears off.
The Tasteless build[edit]
We have all heard tales of the mighty Tasteless build. Rumours, and whisperings between Artosis and the Great Prophet himself, Nick "Tasteless" Plott. While secret hallways may no longer exist on modern maps the Tasteless build lives on. Indeed, we have unearthed writings, discovered the secrets and are on a quest to enlighten the world of our Great Prophet's teachings. The power of the Tasteless build has been known in PvT for a while now, however, today, for the first time ever, what were once a secret set of strategies in the other matchups will now be made public. May the Glory of Tasteless shine down on you as you carry out the Tasteless build and steal the ladder points of many nerds. Above all else remember: the Tasteless Build isn't a simple build order, a list of things to do. It's an idea, an inspiration. So without further bullshit, I present you, my personal Tasteless Builds:
| Tasteless build, aka "the correct reaction to zealot pressure is making spores" - PvZ |
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So they idea behind this build is extremely simple. Every Starcraft player is told, from the start of his career, that he sucks horribly. This build turns it around: if I suck, so does my opponent. Enter the Zealot pressure...once he sees that, the unlucky Zerg is going to think, more or less, fuck fuck fuck fuck need units fuck fuck fuck fuck...and then, as he's there swearing and making Roaches (or perhaps countering with them after defending, which is absolutely hilarious), BAM, 4 DTs killing Hatcheries and Drones. Sure, he could (and should) have sent an Overlord to your main to check what your follow-up was going to be, but since we all suck, he didn't. He could have cleared out every pylon on the map, but we all suck, so he didn't. He could have defended the pressure taking zero damage while scouting properly, but he didn't. The result? His Drones die...and 2 minutes later, so does every filthy Zerg unit on the map, thanks to the Blink followup. For shits and giggles, you can go Zealot/Archon instead. Tasteless himself would very much so approve of this build, I'm sure.
Fun fact: I have done this build dozens of times, since 2012, up to high master level. I have lost a grand total of 3 times with it. I have even seen diamond teammates killing GMs with it.
| Tasteless Build, aka "blind turrets or die...and then die anyway" - PvT |
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As usual, same thought process: if I suck so does he...therefore, he won't scout this. The fastest proxy oracle possible is so retardedly fast, that you will most of the time win games out right just thanks to it. And even if you don't, he's going to be sitting there going fuckfuckfuck need turrets fuckfuckfuck before a bunch of stalkers show up. It's very possible you will not lose resources with this build, while getting sweet sweet terran tears along with your ez, tasty ladder points. And if you are really, really good, you can go proxy oracle into 4gate into proxy void ray into proxy tempest into proxy nexus cannon.
| Tasteless Build, aka " the ninja 4gate" - PvP |
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10 gate means aggression, not fast tech, unless you scout thoroughly. See a pattern? Mindfuck the opponent with one bad build, do another bad build, amove to victory. As simple as it gets...plus it's easy to write about, which gives me more time to collect sweet ladder tears. Note that you do not make any unit whatsoever before the Dark Templar, making this an incredibly gimmicky and risky build. Of course, we are cheesy bullshit ladder Protoss players, who ran out of fucks to give a long time ago, so it's fine. Besides, what's not to love about 4-Gating with invisible units?
Have you ever felt that a 7 gate blink all-in just doesn't hit fast enough, that the Zerg has too much economy and time and too many units? Does it feel like it just isn't bullshit enough? Expect rage with this build. Lots of rage. But hell, it's got to be better than playing against Swarm Hosts, so here we go:
Two-Base Blink Rush PvZ 7-Gate[edit]
Basic Description: Gateway expand, never take Assimilators at natural, early Stalkers to deny scouting, 7 Gate-way blink all-in with 2 gas geysers, warping in Stalkers and Zealots. Attack starts at 7:30-7:40 with 5 Gateways, adds 2 more Gateways as attack starts.
| Two-Base Blink Rush PvZ 7-Gate |
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Use your first couple of Stalkers to keep Overlords out and to prevent scouting. He'll never see this coming. This build abuses the fact that most gate all-ins with blink hit later than this, so Zergs typically drone harder and then make units later. If Zergling speed is faster, wait until Blink finishes to start pushing in, else Zerglings will crush this. I wouldn't worry about that too much though, Zergs are so automated they can't remember how to push a button other than the 'd' button before the 7 minute mark, and that's the good Zergs. The bad ones take even longer! (Hell, even the good Zergs can't multitask enough to produce more than one kind of unit per wave of units, even Terrans can manage to make marines AND marauders out of their Barracks).
This Gateway expand is slightly greedy, and this build should only be executed and followed through upon if you detect a 3rd base from Zerg with later gas (or suspect it). Normal Zerg builds and reactions can do nothing. If he tries to rush Hydras, as so many Zergs are foolishly doing right now, you'll kill him with too many units that won't die.
Proceed to Blink bullshit with time warp, keep making pylons as needed. Win EZ. Expect rage.
PvP Proxy 10 gate Zealot/Stalker[edit]
Every Protoss likes to complain about Protoss vs. Protoss, and it's kind of true, it's a shit match-up. The important thing though, is that you can weight the coin that is being flipped in your favor, with some nicely timed bullshit. And of course, what could be more bullshit than a proxy that wins with cheesy aggression, that doesn't really cut Probes, and doesn't really cut tech, leaving you with the ability to transition if they SOMEHOW manage to not die? Nothing of course!
It's Bullshit Time
| PvP Proxy 10 gate Zealot/Stalker |
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Continue making Stalkers out of the Gateway, add 2 more Gateways as you can afford it, add more Pylons as needed. You start the attack around when the second Zealot pops, the Probes are weak and defenseless, and they've got nothing on your Zealots, it's totally unfair. You'll have a unit lead, so just micro and there's very little your opponent can do. You don't even need to have a close or in-base proxy with this build, it can be a reasonable distance away and still crush them. Proceed to laugh maniacally as your Warp Gate finishes and you warp in more units to kill them. Make sure to focus the Mothership Core down, the Photon Overcharge is the only thing that 'might' give let them defend, although you should still be fine, because, lets face it, this build is grade A steaming bullshit. Once you've got the lead, feel free to take a nice refreshing drink from the cup sitting next to you. You know the one I'm talking about, the one all Protoss bullshitters have that automatically fills with the tears of your opponents. Ummmmmm, yummy.
Example Game[edit]
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Wings of Liberty: Protoss Builds and Strategies | ||||||||
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