[nirvAnA]

PvT HotS Walkthrough by Cure

A warm welcome our new The Grandmaster Manual (TGM) coach, Cure! The current aLt manager and previous FaDe head coach, he had groomed a number of players most notably Manly into stars. Remember the Alienware tournament which Manly a then unknown came out of NOWHERE and got second? That was all thanks to Cure's coaching. We are happy to have our first TGM coach who plays random at a high level. To find out more about Cure's coaching check out the long list of testimonials and what his coaching plan is like on our Starcraft 2 coaching page.

Along with this announcement is a sneak peak into guide - a walkthrough PvT build order from cure! Our Starcraft 2 guide has these walkthrough build orders for every matchup, along with a healthy amount of theory and strategy. Our Terran and Zerg sections have already been updated to the latest HoTS strategies by iaguz and PiG respectively. TGM members can access them by clicking on those links. And if you haven't heard if TGM yet you should check it out our Starcraft 2 Guide here!

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The 1 Gate Expand into Robo

Idea behind the build: This is probably the most solid and standard build there is for PvT at the current moment. The idea is to get out fast observers to scout, and hold off widowmine drops in the main base, followed by colossus tech to deal with the Terran 10 minute timing. Secure your 3rd base after with 1-1 and twilight tech then move over to templar tech.

The flow of the build:

1. Expand at 21 supply and secure a good economy
2. Defend against early game pressure from reapers
3. Once in a secure position, scout with good positioning from observers and get colossus tech
4. Defend the 10 minute pressure push from Terran
5. Secure a 3rd base while getting your forge and twilight upgrades
6. When the 3rd is done, get templar tech
7. Attack with collosus + templars and finish the game off

Walkthrough Build Order:

Food	Walkthrough Build Order
9	Pylon
13	Gateway and Probe scout
14	Gas
15	Pylon
17	Cybernetics Core
21	Nexus
21	Mothership Core
23	Pylon

Notes:

• Start observers immediately out of the robotics facility
• After making 3 sentries and 2 zealots, start a robotics bay
• Meet your opponent outside your base if you see him sitting outside, his army will be small and he wouldn't be able to combat yours if you have good forcefields and he has no vikings. Doing so would make him unable to drop you.
• Remember to keep chronoboosting upgrades constantly

Build FAQ:

Q: What if the Terran pushes out at 6 minutes with a bunch of marines ?
A: You should have your first stalker out on the map sitting infront of his bunker. As you see him move out, warp in more stalkers at home and bring them up to kite the marines. By the time he reaches your base, you should have your photon cannon ready. Do NOT activate it immediately, wait till he comes as close to your nexus as possible before activating it to maximise the amount of marines killed.

Q: Is there a way to kill the Terran earlier if he opens 14CC?
A: Yes it is possible, instead of making 3 sentries early, you could opt to drop a robotics bay and rush to colossus tech. Make 2 colossus ASAP and throw up 3 more gateways, going up to 6 gateways and go for a push. If unscouted, it'll be very difficult for the Terran player to stop the push as he delayed his viking production by opening 14cc.

Q: I have trouble dealing with a drop-heavy Terran what do i do?
A: Generally what I like to do is to leave 4 stalkers in my main, with an observer guarding the drop route. In the lategame, you can opt to make a few cannons to buy time for your warp-ins. Alternatively, you could opt to stretch his multitasking by leaving proxy pylons lying around. When you spot an incoming drop, warp in a few units at the proxy pylon and send them to one of his bases while defending the drop. The Terran will have to multitask more than you as you can just 1a. If he chooses to micro the drop, he will lose a few SCVs, or skip a production cycle. Also, you could add in DTs to further stretch his multitasking.

Q: I'm having troubles against hellbat drops what do i do?
A: Make a cannon in your mineral line, and leave observers around. The first priority would be running your drones away, followed by targetting the medivac first with your units / cannon / nexus cannon.

Q: What do i do against the 15 minute SCV all-in with vikings?
A: Try to hold off with good forcefields, feedbacks on medivacs, and archons. If needed, retreat to your nexus and photon overcharge it for maximum DPS. The 15 minute SCV-All in is an extremely strong pre-templar timing. Most protosses lose their 3rd base to this, but it's possible to defend with good forcefields.

The game flow in pictures

+ [Pictures] +

Repelling the first reaper with your mothership core.


Spot any unusual moveout timings


Meeting the Terran outside your base and crushing the marine army with good forcefields.


Repelling drops with 4 Stalkers.


Use DT drops to stretch his multitasking while he's attacking you to force micro mistakes.


Warp in units to other bases at the same time via proxy pylons!


Holding the 15 minute timing push with good forcefields.


Crushing him with storm tech

Download Replays:

Game 1 - The Walkthrough Build Order
Game 2 - Dealing with Hellbat Drops
Game 3 - 2 base collosus all-in

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[TCPLemminks]

Nice to see an aLternative coach

[Stallion]

cure so smart, comes back after break destroys everyone in practice games T_T. The real question is do i have to pay for coaching now?

[rawfish34]

Most exciting, such a good coach.

[mGGDaedalus]

Cure is a machine sent from cybertron to protect humanity. If you want in-depth, detailed and focused coaching he's your man! Also not a bad looker either

[NimbLe]

Would Recommend!!! most definitely

Congrats on the new coaching role!!!!!

[SLCN.NXZ]

So Cure asked me for customs, I graciously accepted as I normally do when I can expecting to have some easy wins against an out of practice player. Where its more them messing up than me playing well. Cure then proceeded to wipe the floor with me 3 games in a row, like, NO CHANCE. And he had only been playing again for a couple days at most. Definitely a very strong player!

Quick Comments

cure:

and after that you proceed to 3-0 me back ezpz <3

[TidaL]

May I ask why you would get a 10 pylon?

[cure]

Originally Posted by ETL.TidaL

May I ask why you would get a 10 pylon?

Sorry ! It's a typo error, 9 pylon.

Originally Posted by x5.Bard

When exactly do you get this stalker? I cant find it anywhere T_T

Also why 4 stalkers in the main? I find 6 the better number since you 2 shot a medivac and with speed boost 2 shots is generally all youll get

I get the stalker at 23 supply, after MSC and WG. Generally i make 1-2 stalkers, 3 sentries and 2 zealots before making colossus. But in certain situations where the Terran moves out at odd timings, you might need more stalkers to kite the marines when they're on the way to your base, it varies.

I generally find 4 stalkers a good number because you can always warp in reinforcements. Most Terrans will turn around if they see units there waiting. They won't know if you have more stalkers behind your 4, so most of them wouldn't commit to boost in and drop above your army. Also, if the medivacs do unload half the units in the medivac, good micro with 4 stalkers should deal with it. If it doesn't, warp in reinforcements or throw down a photon cannon. I like to keep the bulk of my stalkers with my main army to focus down medivacs during their frontal push. Lowering the medivac count would hurt him alot as he has to start viking production upon seeing colossus on the map.

Quick Comments

x5_Bard:

Thanks for the reply! Yeah they always try speed over my head with hellbat drops as they dont cost anything anyway

[ello42]

Originally Posted by cure

Sorry ! It's a typo error, 9 pylon.



I get the stalker at 23 supply, after MSC and WG. Generally i make 1-2 stalkers, 3 sentries and 2 zealots before making colossus. But in certain situations where the Terran moves out at odd timings, you might need more stalkers to kite the marines when they're on the way to your base, it varies.

I generally find 4 stalkers a good number because you can always warp in reinforcements. Most Terrans will turn around if they see units there waiting. They won't know if you have more stalkers behind your 4, so most of them wouldn't commit to boost in and drop above your army. Also, if the medivacs do unload half the units in the medivac, good micro with 4 stalkers should deal with it. If it doesn't, warp in reinforcements or throw down a photon cannon. I like to keep the bulk of my stalkers with my main army to focus down medivacs during their frontal push. Lowering the medivac count would hurt him alot as he has to start viking production upon seeing colossus on the map.

Coach Cure ftw !!

[x5_Bard]

After making 3 sentries and 2 zealots, start a robotics bay

A: You should have your first stalker out on the map sitting infront of his bunker.

When exactly do you get this stalker? I cant find it anywhere T_T

Also why 4 stalkers in the main? I find 6 the better number since you 2 shot a medivac and with speed boost 2 shots is generally all youll get

[eMp.distyL]

Great to see Cure back in action and proving some amazing indepth guides!

TGM!!!!!!

[Makuly]

How would you hold off the 2base hellbat tank all in ? that stuff is crazy strong O_O

[cure]

Originally Posted by Makuly

How would you hold off the 2base hellbat tank all in ? that stuff is crazy strong O_O

I think I versed that maybe a week ago when I opened with a fast colossus style. Soon as I scouted hellbats and tanks, I knew my unit composition wouldn't cut it. I went for blink and a ton of stalkers, then just kept him contained threatening a counterattack. When he finally decided it was enough and moved out, i sniped off his barracks and starport, then proceeded to proxy a stargate somewhere on the map and chrono out a voidray. I focused down the marines with my photon overcharge and used my stalkers to kill off the few vikings he had (losing a few stalkers in the process), then used the single voidray to kill off all the tanks after all his anti air was gone.

As stalkers outrange hellbats severely, I simply kited the hellbats and killed off everything with the remaining stalkers i had. Also, when the push was en-route towards my base, i moved all the probes at my natural, scattering them around the map. That really helped in preventing his OC from landing. There are of course many other ways to deal with that push, such as forcing lift on OC, then using DTs to snipe off the tanks. Or just playing a style that fights it straight up. Every build can be countered if you know its coming.