[xGKingdelete]

I used this with varying success at ACL Sydney, kind of stopped working when zergs realised I was doing it in every game on shakuras. But I believe that, if executed correctly, this build can crush any lesser zerg player.

It combines two of my favourite things in the game. Phoenix (most badass units ever) and the protoss deathball. I only recommend it to players who are confident in their multitasking, since active and effective phoenix harass requires a lot of attention.

Essentially, you just make 5 phoenix to deny scouting, scout, and harass the zerg player while massing up a giant deathball at home off two base. This has to be all in. There is no transitioning out of this because you don’t get a twilight council for blink/+2.

Note that this is designed for zergs who take the standard 3 bases in response to an FFE. If he does some all in or a crazy 2 base build, play reactively instead.

Build order
Standard FFE.
If you don’t know what that means, this build is going to be too advanced for you (go learn how to forge fast expand).
I personally prefer (on this map and for this build) 17nexus, 17forge, 17 pylon, 17 gateway, 18 cannon. My probe is ready to complete wall off with a pylon if he tries to run by with 4 slow lings.

Once cybernetics core finishes, stargate immediately.
Do not research warp gate tech yet! You don’t need it!

After stargate, build a stalker ASAP, and take 3rd and 4th gas ASAP.
Use the stalker to clear out any zerglings sitting outside your natural, and at the watchtowers. If you feel confident in your multitasking, go harass the third base a bit as well, and maybe snipe a drone. Hopefully this forces zerglings. If he already has a good amount of zerglings on the map, then just pull back with the stalker. Make sure the stalker doesn’t supply block you.

When stargate is finished, start chronoboosting out phoenixes.
Important not to get supply blocked. Use the initial phoenix to scout around your base for overlords. There are usually 2, 3 if you’re lucky. One is usually behind the 3rd and 4th gas at your natural. Make sure you check the deadspace behind your main. You want to completely deny scouting.

When you have money, build a robo and start researching +1 attack.
This is a good time to start researching warp gate tech as well, so you don’t forget it later. Make sure that you still have money to make phoenix. Prioritise phoenix production. Cut phoenix when you have 5. Cut probes when you have two saturated bases (I prefer to have 18 probes on each mineral line).

Once robo is done, build a robotics bay immediately, and queue an observer and a warp prism. Chronoboost both of them out.
Also, now is a good time to get 1-2 sentries if you have the gas for it (prioritise building colossus (wtf I’ve been spelling it as collosus for my whole sc2 life)). This is in case he does a roach bust of some sort.

And after that, play on the fly. You want to go up to 8 gateways and 1/1/1 upgrades. Note that 8 gateways and a robo building colossus is way more than you can support with 2 saturated bases. This is fine. Especially with the phoenix, you aren’t going to have perfect macro. Sometimes I end up floating 1.5k minerals. That’s fine as well. Throw down more gateways (although I wouldn’t recommend going above 10). Build pylons. 5 pylons at a time, if you want, you’ll need them later. Gas is the limiting resource, not minerals.

I tend to use the warp prism to warp in a lot of zealots (like, more than 10) near his third base and try to snipe it. Sometimes this works, especially if I can bait the zerg army to their main base with phoenix harass. It’s worth the trade because once again, gas is the limiting resource.


Now the question is, when to move out?
At ACL, I hadn’t considered this question, which I believe costed me a game. To be honest, I don’t think this matters at all in lower leagues. You can either move out when you have 3-4 collosus, or when you are literally maxed out (200/200). If your opponent maxes out early an army of roach ling or roach hydra, I think it’s better to wait until you are maxed out, since he can't make any more units. If your opponent is playing greedy, you might be able to just straight up kill them if you attack early enough, or you could move out to force them to spend all their money on roaches (instead of teching to hive). It’s like sharking, when 3gate sentry expand still existed.

General notes on the build:

• Don’t make too many sentries. Not sure of the exact optimal number, maybe 3? You need the gas for colossus production.
  
• Don’t lose the warp prism. Having it is great when you move out, since it’s an instant proxy pylon. If you want, you can just build it and not use it at all until you do your death push. Just make sure you have one.
  
• You want to play in a macro/micro cycle. What I mean is, you harass with the phoenix. Pick off an overlord, a queen, or some drones, but you don’t over-micro. Do a bit of damage, pull back with the phoenix, then macro at home. It should be something like “harass, come back to base to chronoboost the collosus, build some pylons, warp in a round of stalkers, then go back to harassing”. It’s so important that you keep up your macro and don’t get caught up in harassing with the phoenix.
• This build should only work on shakuras and ohana, because on these maps the ramps can be blocked by two forcefields (although it’s a bit trickier on ohana because of the back rocks). This is important because your ground army is one stalkre for a long time. On ohana, the third base is relatively easy for protoss to take, so I would prefer to do a quick 3rd build over this, but it can still work on ohana.
  
• If he makes a wave of corruptors, mix in a couple of void rays into your army. This costs a tonne of gas, and you won’t have enough for pure stalker warp ins, so you’ll end up having a group of zealots as part of your main army as well.
  
• When you build the observer, keep it outside your natural. You have the phoenix to scout. That observer is there to give you time to react if he tries to do a roach bust.
  
• If he does do a roach bust, you pretty much won the game. Forcefield twice, trap some roaches and they immediately die to collosus. He will have to remake those roaches in case you do a counter attack. Since he’s making roaches, he won’t be able to tech up to beat this build.

For zergs: To beat this, just play extremely greedily. Aside from the phoenix, there’s pretty much nothing protoss can do to pressure. The first time to safely pressure is when there’s 2 collosus. That army will be something like 2 collosus, a small group of stalkers, a couple of sentries. You have plenty of time to drone up like crazy. I think infestors are the way to go since there aren’t any high Templar around to feedback. Early upgrades would help a lot, since protoss won’t go above 1/1/1. If you can sneak an overseer into the main and scout everything that’s going on, that would help a lot. If you can’t scout the main, that kind of sucks because the only real scouting information you will get is the 5 phoenix.


I used this build vs IdrA today. Didn't work. I think that's because I decided to move out at max (200/200) instead of 3-4 collosus. And because I was nervous because I'm vsing !@#$ing IdrA. So I moved out a minute after his infestors and corruptors and spine crawlers all finished. But if you want to see the execution and build order, replay is below.

Quick Comments

	pRoEpsilon:	ty!!
	ROOTPetraeus:	such a baller
	MooZfY:	REPFORYOU :D
	Maynarde:
	TCPYoonA:
	FlashVeno:	great build <3
	nirvAnA:	IDRA WHO'
	mGGAequitas:	yay! pheonixes!
	Eddie:
	ToRSpartaz:	<3