Contents

Introduction



The Builds



Move-out and Engagements



Strengths and Weaknesses



VODs and Game Analysis Preface



Which brought ten thousand pains to the Achaeans,

And cast the souls of many stalwart heroes

To Hades, and their bodies to the dogs

And birds of prey.“



If you have read the classics, you might think that the above passage refers to Homeric Achilles. Nay; this is an account of your Zerg ladder opponent's blistering rage as he fell fodder to the fabled Magic Johnson. “Sing, goddess, of [his] ruinous angerWhich brought ten thousand pains to the Achaeans,And cast the souls of many stalwart heroesTo Hades, and their bodies to the dogsAnd birds of prey.“ * If you have read the classics, you might think that the above passage refers to Homeric Achilles. Nay; this is an account of your Zerg ladder opponent's blistering rage as he fell fodder to the fabled Magic Johnson.

Introduction

Two Nexi: check. Two Immortals: check. Two Colossi: check. Two Nexi: check. Two Immortals: check. Two Colossi: check.



The term metagame, in this case, refers to a set of assumptions, a basis for how we open and how we expect our opponents to open. When we cannot gather information explicitly, we must fall back on what we assume our opponent “should” do in a given situation. Towards the end of Wings, 12 minute +1 roach maxes to pressure Protoss's third received a lot of play. With proper forcefields, three immortals among a snowball of warpgate units could whittle away and then smash through an endless barrage of ling/roach; and thus, the go-to 2-base all-in for Protoss was the Soul Train. Enter HotS. Protoss players now have access to the new void ray and to the mothership core's photon overcharge. These two abilities allow for considerably easier defense against roach heavy aggression. On the other hand, hydralisks are not the dead-end they once were: Hydra speed and the viper tech enable Zergs to use hydralisks to defend against all-ins, transitioning then into an aggressive yet expansion-heavy mid-game without fearing the three-base +3 three colossus pushes of old. It is, therefore, no surprise why Parting's iteration of the immortal push has fallen out of fashion.



In short, the ZvP metagame has shifted from using roaches to defend against all-ins to using ling/hydra to achieve the same feat, while transitioning into a strong mid-game of ling/hydra/swarm host/viper/ultra with an emphasis on a fast hive as well as melee and carapace upgrades.



The Magic Johnson is designed to do critical damage while Zerg is still on ling/hydra, before he can transition into said strong mid-game. The Magic Johnson, or the the Triple Double, is a 2-base all-in that sets sail with two colossi and two immortals in addition to seven warpgates worth of units to bolster. While it is true that two base colossus pushes were all but dead at the dusk of Wings of Liberty, the shifting ZvP metagame has exposed a hole for this massive peg to penetrate.The term metagame, in this case, refers to a set of assumptions, a basis for how we open and how we expect our opponents to open. When we cannot gather information explicitly, we must fall back on what we assume our opponent “should” do in a given situation. Towards the end of Wings, 12 minute +1 roach maxes to pressure Protoss's third received a lot of play. With proper forcefields, three immortals among a snowball of warpgate units could whittle away and then smash through an endless barrage of ling/roach; and thus, the go-to 2-base all-in for Protoss was the Soul Train. Enter HotS. Protoss players now have access to the new void ray and to the mothership core's photon overcharge. These two abilities allow for considerably easier defense against roach heavy aggression. On the other hand, hydralisks are not the dead-end they once were: Hydra speed and the viper tech enable Zergs to use hydralisks to defend against all-ins, transitioning then into an aggressive yet expansion-heavy mid-game without fearing the three-base +3 three colossus pushes of old. It is, therefore, no surprise why Parting's iteration of the immortal push has fallen out of fashion.In short, the ZvP metagame has shifted from using roaches to defend against all-ins to using ling/hydra to achieve the same feat, while transitioning into a strong mid-game of ling/hydra/swarm host/viper/ultra with an emphasis on a fast hive as well as melee and carapace upgrades.The Magic Johnson is designed to do critical damage while Zerg is still on ling/hydra, before he can transition into said strong mid-game.

The Builds





With Stargate

FFE opening



5:38, 33/44: First 150 gas into a stargate, 33/44

Units from the first gateway: zealot, stalker, sentry, sentry



6:05, 38/44: Third and fourth gas

Units from the stargate: 4 phoenixes



7:05, 52/60: Robotics facility



7:40, 57/60: +1 Weapons



8:10, 63/68: Support Bay

Cut probes at 45, when you have full 2base saturation

Units from the robo: immortal 2x, colossus 2x. Start thermal lance with the first colossus.



8:35, 67/68: Add up to six gateways, for a total of 7



10:00: Mothership core

11:30: Move out when the second colossus completes.

Without Stargate

FFE opening

First 50 gas into warpgate



First 50 gas into warpgate 5:40, 35/44: Robotics facility

Units from the first Gateway: zealot, stalker, sentry



Units from the first Gateway: zealot, stalker, sentry 6:05, 38/44: Third and fourth gas

Units from the robo: immortal 2x, colossus 2x. Start thermal lance with the first colossus.



Units from the robo: immortal 2x, colossus 2x. Start thermal lance with the first colossus. 7:02, 50/60: Support Bay, then start the first sentry

Cut probes at 45, going up to full 2base saturation



Cut probes at 45, going up to full 2base saturation 8:10: Add the first set of 2 extra gates



8:25-8:40: Add up to six gateways after starting the first Colossus and thermal lance



9:00: +1 Weapons



9:20: Mothership Core

9:50: Move out when the second colossus completes. This guide includes 2 build orders. The first opens with phoenixes to kill off scouting Overlords, thus preventing convenient overseer scouting. These phoenix also serve to pick off drones that venture too far from spore crawlers, delaying the Zerg's production, and keeping him in the dark. Phoenix openers also tend to lull Zerg into a state of relaxed droning, as these Protoss builds typically transition into a third base. The second the overlords die, Protoss cuts right to the chase, pumping out robotics units as quickly as possible for the earliest move-out timing. Another important difference between the two builds include sentry and forcefield count, as the stargate opener will have less gas available to invest in early sentries, resulting in less energy in the final key fight.

Move-out and Engagements

Notice the roach/hydra forcefielded against the Protoss army, rather than cut in half or away from it. Notice the roach/hydra forcefielded against the Protoss army, rather than cut in half or away from it.

Much like the Soul Train, the Magic Johnson excels in small chokes to maximize the utility of sentries and to minimize the Zerg's concave. With the three immortal Soul Train, sentries are used to section off small portions of the roach army, or even forcefield every roach away from the Protoss army. When playing the Triple Double, you should use forcefields more aggressively, preventing the retreat of ling/hydra from your powerful colossi. It is also important to note that you have to end the game even faster than with the Soul Train because Zerg can easily defend if he is able to get up to mass roach/corruptor and win with sheer numbers. Much like the Soul Train, the Magic Johnson excels in small chokes to maximize the utility of sentries and to minimize the Zerg's concave. With the three immortal Soul Train, sentries are used to section off small portions of the roach army, or even forcefield every roach away from the Protoss army. When playing the Triple Double, you should use forcefields more aggressively, preventing the retreat of ling/hydra from your powerful colossi. It is also important to note that you have to end the game even faster than with the Soul Train because Zerg can easily defend if he is able to get up to mass roach/corruptor and win with sheer numbers.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Zergs generally want to use hydralisks for safety because they transition more strongly into the mid-game. Roaches are stronger against this push, but weaker against just about every other one, and also not as good to pressure a third base thanks to void rays and photon overcharge. Even if the Zerg scouts the robotics, he cannot assume that investing in roaches is appropriate unless he knows for sure you are not taking a 3rd, and that you are in fact going for 2 base colossus. So while the stargate opener hits later, the scouting information that it denies can make your push even stronger.



As with other PvZ all-ins, if Zerg scouts your quick colossus tech, they can formulate a strong response. Pure roach play or circumventing the push entirely with spire tech for mass mutalisks have proven adequate answers thus far. Even though this build includes two immortals, roaches are stronger against it than they were against the Soul Train because the Protoss doesn't have infinite sentries, and sheer numbers of units can clean up the all-in. This is particularly true for cheap roaches, which are easily massable against such a delayed push.