Alejandrisha Profile Blog Joined July 2010 United States 6476 Posts Last Edited: 2012-04-15 19:14:41 #1



Peace Rest In



Latest updates

4/15/12- 1g sg replay pack

3/??/12 - additional Assumptions; some adjustments to language

1/19/12- Assumptions



If you follow this guide and practice the build(s), you will NEVER lose to 4gate on maps with a ramp ever again.



Consider 4gate an artifact, some random build you see on TDA and Bel'shir, but never anywhere else.



While 4gate was already on its way out thanks to nerfs and builds that can better handle it, the spreading of the information here should solidify its extinction for those who read it.



Assumptions

For the sake of clarity, I am making several assumptions:

+ Show Spoiler + §. The most important assumption at all. We will assume a very tightly executed 4gate off of a 12 gate. This means:





1gas throughout:



Cybernetics Core: 2:38

1st Warp-in (4 stalkers): 5:34

2nd Warp-in (4 zealots): 6:07



2gas (fake 2nd gas, no cancel, no mining; gas is taken after 1st stalker queued)



Cybernetics Core: 2:39

1st Warp-in (4 stalkers): 5:35, 5:35, 5:37, 5:39

2nd Warp-in (4 zealots): 6:10, 6:10, 6:12, 6:20



Source



Note that you will have your 1st force field ready regardless. This also implies that you really need the reactionary 4th chronoboost on WG as noted in each build to guarantee that your 2nd forcefield will be ready in time for the second warp-in, and to guarantee subsequent timely force fields as well. + Show Spoiler + I did not think that I had to include this in the original OP, but a small group of people are taking this for granted and coloring me a Jobber



You should be able to delay these timings slightly, as you will have 1z2s vs. your opponent's 1z1s1probe on the approach. Use your units to zone the approach and then snipe the probe in an attempt to stall the pylons from starting and begin focusing them down as early as possible. Don't chase his stalker or his probe with your zealot; put him on one of the pylons if you've killed the zealot already. This will also test your opponent's multitasking as he tries to make a good approach while hitting all of his chronoboosts. A good player will still be able to nearly hit these timings regardless, however.



1. You deny an above-ramp pylon. This should be easy for you as you get out 2 stalkers before he can get a second stalker to your ramp. Ignore his units and focus down that probe. There is no excuse for letting a probe up your ramp. If he completes a pylon above your ramp and uses it to warp in, you are dead. Pull probes to kill it, but just know this will hurt you considerably when you're trying to establish your infrastructure. This guide will assume that your opponent was able to start 2 pylons below your ramp. No further discussion.



2a. You scout on 2nd pylon at the EARLIEST. You don't have to account for 1 gas builds vs. 2 gas builds as part of your scouting goals, as both 1 gas builds can be held blindly (outside of 11gate-3gate.. still need to do more testing there). Thus, an early scout is not necessary and will only tack on seconds to your core/stalker/sentry etc. timings.



I tend to scout when I get my 2nd gas or my core. Your opponent will most likely have a stalker out by the time you reach his base, so you need to be very careful with this probe. Really, all this probe needs to do is stay alive long enough to figure out where your opponent spawned and perhaps, later, if he took a greedy expansion.



2b. If you want to do this build on a map where you must gateway scout to check for proxy gates, such as Shakuras Plateau, Arid Plateau, and Xel'Naga Caverns, your timings will be just slightly delayed. I cannot guarantee that you will get your 2nd and 3rd forcefields ready in time to hold a 4gate, but I'm not convinced that doing so is absolutely impossible. On Shakuras, you are aided by the ramp at the natural so you shouldn't have a problem shutting the rush down on the approach with the vision/zoning advantage you have.



3a. You have good enough mechanics to get your 1st sentry out by 5:25, following the builds below. You need to begin chaining forcefields the instant he could have warpgate tech and he tries to come up your ramp for the first time.



An extremely tight 4gate will begin it's first warp in cycle a hair before 5:35, so you obviously need your sentry out by then or you just lose. Any extra seconds you can shave down from 5:35 on your 1st sentry timing is just gravy for a more timely 2nd ff from the same sentry instead of having to warp in an additional one. Refer to this thread for guidelines on how to delay the 1z1s1probe approach: this thread, specifically this passage:

+ Show Spoiler +







This is not what you want:





In the first screen capture, the stalkers are at the very lip of the ramp so that they are out of sight and can shoot the probe asap. In the 2nd one, they might have to move after you see the probe in order to start. bad! You might even consider having both stalkers closer to the inside corner of the ramp, still on the lip but hugging the wall where the probe will most likely try to mineral walk through.



Here comes the approach:





this game I didn't scout so I waste a few shots on the stalker before targeting the probe. As you'll see, this is fine even if he gets up 2 pylons below the ramp.



Kill the probe, and then kill the stalker. This shouldn't be a problem with any kind of reasonable correct micro:





After you kill the stalker for free, kill the zealot while retreating up your ramp. Your sentry should be done now. You want to kill the zealot before his pylons + WG is done to prevent an above-ramp warp-in or you're dead. This is the formation you want:This is not what you want:In the first screen capture, the stalkers are at the very lip of the ramp so that they are out of sight and can shoot the probe asap. In the 2nd one, they might have to move after you see the probe in order to start. bad! You might even consider having both stalkers closer to the inside corner of the ramp, still on the lip but hugging the wall where the probe will most likely try to mineral walk through.Here comes the approach:this game I didn't scout so I waste a few shots on the stalker before targeting the probe. As you'll see, this is fine even if he gets up 2 pylons below the ramp.Kill the probe, and then kill the stalker. This shouldn't be a problem with any kind of reasonable correct micro:After you kill the stalker for free, kill the zealot while retreating up your ramp. Your sentry should be done now. You want to kill the zealot before his pylons + WG is done to prevent an above-ramp warp-in or you're dead.



You want to delay his first warp-in as long as possible and pick off that probe the instant you see it. While that guide focuses on maps where you can easily zone the approach through a very small area, I'm confident this build can work on all maps with a ramp, so long as you:

: 1. leave supply for the 2nd sentry and alot gas + supply for sentries #3 and #4 and warp them in if absolutely necessary to maintain the FF chain.



2. use a late, reactive 4th chronoboost on WG so that none of it is wasted the second you see pylons going down by your ramp, followed by CB on your first warpgate to get the second sentry out a few seconds faster.



3. and always make sure your 4th pylon gets down in time. All the while you need to delay the approach as well as you can with your 1z2s and snipe the probe at all costs.



3b. Mechanics here also includes probe stacking. You need as many minerals as you can possibly get your hands on early on to get your zealot on 17 without a probe cut + Show Spoiler + *your zealot, 2 stalkers, and your first sentry will all be chained; the faster you start this chain the better; getting your 3rd pylon down on time will ensure your 2nd stalker doesn't get supply blocked, as well*



4. Each build diverges some time after the 5 minute mark. If there are at least 2 pylons warping in below your ramp, you shall take the route titled "If you're being aggressively 4gated.." In most cases this means you prolong your 26 probe cut until your 4th pylon is done, you CB your WG a 4th and final time, and you warp in exactly ONE more sentry. If the 4 gate aggression is indeed real and you expend your 2nd forcefield, you continue warping in sentries. If the aggression was a ruse, don't make any more sentries and continue along your merry way. This should not affect your tech whatsoever (penix maybe), outside of a single chronoboost gone to WG instead of blink or your immortal or your phoenix.



In the build sections, unless I explicitly say so, º¿º heretofore means that you see that the 4gate is coming-- 2 pylons at the bottom of your ramp.



5. As all of these are 12 gate builds, you will use your first and only 2 nexus chrono boosts on 11 food, and 13 food after you lay down your gateway and start the 13th probe. This shouldn't be news to anyone.



6. The "follow up" sections refer to the next step if your opponent did not 4gate you. If your opponent 4gated you, the follow up is to just go kill him + Show Spoiler + once your blink is done if you went twilight, for instance



That being said, here are the builds:





1 Gate before Twilight

+ Show Spoiler +



9 Pylon

12 Gate

14 Gas

15 Pylon

17 Core (earliest scout; feel free to scout later)

17 zealot (18 if you scouted on core, 17 if you haven't scouted yet)

20 (2nd) Gas

22 Stalker; no chronoboost

22 WG; Chronoboost x3

24 Pylon (25 if you scouted before core)

26 Stalker; 1 chrono boost

29 Twilight Council

30 Sentry

32 (2nd) Gateway (Cut probes at 32 food: 24 probes; 1 zealot; 2 stalkers; 1 sentry)

32 Pylon

32 Blink Research (DON'T CB YET)



This will bring you to a few ticks after the 5 minute mark. The build diverges here.

If you're getting aggressively 4gated...



+ Show Spoiler + 4th cb on WG

Upon the completion of your 4th pylon, resume probe production. Here's why:

+ Show Spoiler +

You don't want to be at 33/34 when your wg is up and you need that sentry out.

Continue the probe cut until this finishes and you can safely warp in your 2nd sentry if you're being 4gated to chain the forcefield



33 (3rd) Gateway

33 (2nd) Sentry This should be out in time to chain ff with the first one; You should have exactly 100 gas when the WG cooldown is ready with metalopolis's shitty geysers. So you shouldn't have any trouble with this one.



You should have taken out the 2 pylons at the base of the ramp by now, as you should be ignoring his units and focusing down only the pylons, 1 at a time. But the units are still alive and will kill you if they make it up the ramp (6 stalkers, 5 zealots). You will also die if you drop your FF chain for just a fraction of a second, or if you miss it by a hex and allow your opponent to get a warp in above the ramp.



CB your 1st warpgate once you reach 25 energy; This will happen at exactly 5:58



Your 3rd sentry from your 1st WG will be out just in time to chain with the 2nd forcefield

Get a 4th sentry if your opponent is still humping the ff at the bottom of the ramp. Once this sentry is out, the 4gate is officially over and you can devote the rest of your CB to blink until it's finished. I recommend adding a 4th gate, but go ahead and grab a robo if you want to be REALLY safe. Leave your base when blink is about done and go kill your opponent



1g twilight skeleton (32)Upon the completion of your 4th pylon, resume probe production. Here's why:(3rd)(2nd)This should be out in time to chain ff with the first one; You should have exactly 100 gas when the WG cooldown is ready with metalopolis's shitty geysers. So you shouldn't have any trouble with this one., as you should be ignoring his units and focusing down only the pylons, 1 at a time. But the units are still alive and will kill you if they make it up the ramp (6 stalkers, 5 zealots). You will also die if you drop your FF chain for just a fraction of a second, or if you miss it by a hex and allow your opponent to get a warp in above the ramp.Your 3rd sentry from your 1st WG will be out just in time to chain with the 2nd forcefieldGet a 4th sentry if your opponent is still humping the ff at the bottom of the ramp. Once this sentry is out, the 4gate is officially over and you can devote the rest of your CB to blink until it's finished. I recommend adding a 4th gate, but go ahead and grab a robo if you want to be REALLY safe. Leave your base when blink is about done and go kill your opponent



If you're not getting aggressively 4gated...



+ Show Spoiler + If there's no pylons warping in at the base of your ramp at this point, or you've collected other information you're not getting 4gated.



(32) Resume probe production

(33) Begin chronoboosting Blink Research

33 (3rd) Gateway



If delayed 4 gate comes--as in he didn't warp in under your ramp--ff with the one sentry you already have and warp in as many as you need to chain ff until you have enough units to fight his units (you should have blink if you want to try to fight this army). Until then, keep warping in sentries. Mind the energy on your first sentry. Don't waste gas on an additional sentry if you can afford a second forcefield from this sentry.



Follow up



+ Show Spoiler + You don't NEED additional units to defend anything that comes your way immediately, so let your 3 WG cool downs hang out for now. Get a stalker or 2 nonetheless, because you need to account for WP 4gate. Just make sure you retain at least 1 WG cool down and nearly 100 gas in case of a delayed 4 gate



Right now, the only danger is a warp prism 4gate. You only need a sentry at the ramp at this point, so feel free to move your stalkers and zealot to the edge of your base. Check all of the spots where your opponent would use a pylon to warp up while maintaining the best possible edge scouting to spot a WP.



If it is in fact a WP 4gate, they will hit with 8 units initially. You should have 4 to 5 stalkers, a zealot and a sentry by the time it hits. If you see a WP, cancel your robo if you had started one and warp in stalkers. Blink will be done by the time you have to micro against the WP 4gate. I recommend pulling ~15 probes to surround the stalkers and attack once his units are near your nexus/probe line. Don't a-move them or they might wind up attacking zealots. Do not want.



The WP 4gate will have a mix of zealots and stalkers. Focus down the stalkers with your better blink stalkers and deal with the zealots by and by. Don't let the zealots kill your probes. Run them temporarily if you have to.



Now that we have accounted for WP 4gate, we have to consider dts. A super quick dt rush (2nd gas on 18, 1 stalker 1 sentry in terms of gas usage.. very risky build so will serve as a good benchmark for safety) shouldn't get to your ramp until ~7:20 at the very earliest. If you get your robo after getting up to 1 zealot; 4 stalkers; 1 sentry, you can have your observer done a bit before the 8 minute mark. At this point, you can rule out a Warp prism rush as he will have more than 4 units + 4 WG cool downs, so it doesn't make sense for him to attack. Feel free to move down the ramp and claim your map control with your very quick blink. I tend to move out before my observer has finished, as I think that exploiting the window where your blink is very strong is much more beneficial that being 100% safe against a dt rush. If it is in fact a dt build, go home and take care of it, obviously!



From here, it's all up to you. You can expand if you scout blink/robo play, or add a 4th gate and try to all-in if you see an expansion.



Against phoenix play, I've had relative success taking my natural immediately and--provided I see no expansion and that they have cut probes-- get up 4-5 cannons in the natural (not in front of the nexus, but on the sides and in the minerals; they are on zealot duty) and grab ht tech for archons. If they turn it into a one base, it will usually be immortal and zealot heavy. Put a gate or 2 in the natural to deny zealots surface area of the nexus and your stalkers and get an archon out asap. You probably won't have the archon when the push comes, but it should be ready before the immortals can do too much work on your buildings. Make sure you are pumping units out on 5-6 gates by the time the all-in is ramping up.



Alternatively, get ht tech for archons (unless you have 100% established lack of robo) or consider going dt for an insta-win, or for archons if he does pop out an obs in the meantime, but get essentially the same unit composition off 1 base if you want to be safer.



Playing this out against 1 base colossus is hard if your opponent plays safely. Try to delay his doom push as long as you can by bouncing in and out of his base with your blink stalkers while moving towards [chargelot/archon off 1 base] or [your own colossus tech with or without an expansion]. This build is extremely tight. Your goal is to be able to chain force-field the ramp from the second your opponent has the ability to warp in on the high ground (finished pylon + vision + wg cool downs ready) to the time you can actually engage his army straight up.(earliest scout; feel free to scout later)(18 if you scouted on core, 17 if you haven't scouted yet)(2nd)(25 if you scouted before core)(2nd)(Cut probes at 32 food: 24 probes; 1 zealot; 2 stalkers; 1 sentry)(DON'T CB YET)This will bring you to a few ticks after the 5 minute mark. The build diverges here.Follow up



Alternative 2 Gate before Twilight

+ Show Spoiler + This build is a little bit looser, and will get your 3rd sentry much quicker than the 1 gate opener. Your blink will be slightly slower, a small price to pay for safety if you can't get the 3rd sentry out in time with the 1 gate opener



If you're being aggressively 4gated



9 Pylon

12 Gate

14 Gas

15 Pylon

17 Core (earliest scout; feel free to scout later)

17 zealot (18 if you scouted on core, 17 if you haven't scouted yet)

20 (2nd) Gas

22 Stalker; no chronoboost

22 WG; Chronoboost x3

24 Pylon (25 if you scouted before core)

26 Stalker; 1 chrono boost

29 (2nd) Gateway

30 Sentry

32 Twilight Council

32 Pylon



º¿º



(32) 4th CB on WG tech

33 (3rd) Gateway

34 (2nd) Sentry

37 (3rd) Sentry

Start a pylon and then blink@150 gas.



If you're not being aggressively 4gated



9 Pylon

12 Gate

14 Gas

15 Pylon

17 Core (earliest scout; feel free to scout later)

17 zealot (18 if you scouted on core, 17 if you haven't scouted yet)

20 (2nd) Gas

22 Stalker; no chronoboost

22 WG; Chronoboost x3

24 Pylon (25 if you scouted before core)

26 Stalker; 1 chrono boost

29 (2nd) Gateway

30 Sentry

32 (2nd) Gateway (Cut probes at 32 food)

32 Pylon

32 Twilight Council (Resume probe production)

33 (3rd) Gateway

35 Blink Research





1 Gate before Robo

+ Show Spoiler +

If you're getting aggressively 4gated



9 Pylon

12 Gate

14 Gas

15 Pylon

17 Core (earliest scout; feel free to scout later)

17 zealot (18 if you scouted on core, 17 if you haven't scouted yet)

20 (2nd) Gas

22 Stalker; no chronoboost

22 WG; Chronoboost x3

24 Pylon (25 if you scouted before core)

26 Stalker; 1 chrono boost

29 Robotics Facility

30 Sentry

32 (2nd) Gateway (Cut probes at 32 food)

32 Pylon



º¿º



(32) 4th chronoboost on WG tech

32 (3rd) Gateway

32 Immortal; no chronoboost

36 (2nd) Sentry; resume probe production

@100% 2nd Gateway, chronoboost it while transforming it and warp in your 3rd sentry.



Your 4th sentry will come from your 1st wg on time if you need it



If you're not being aggressively 4gated



9 Pylon

12 Gate

14 Gas

15 Pylon

17 Core (earliest scout; feel free to scout later)

17 zealot (18 if you scouted on core, 17 if you haven't scouted yet)

20 (2nd) Gas

22 Stalker; no chronoboost

22 WG; Chronoboost x3

24 Pylon (25 if you scouted before core)

26 Stalker; 1 chrono boost

29 Robotics Facility

30 Sentry

32 (2nd) Gateway (Cut probes at 32 food)

32 Pylon

32 (3rd) Gateway

32 Immortal; chronoboost



Follow up



From here, you can do pretty much anything. You can add a few units and feasibly expand against blink/robo or blink only builds on shakuras, antigua or entombed. If you want to punish a greedy expansion, you can tack on a 4th gate and go up to a colossus or 2 and stream in zealots. Just don't get range, as it will only slow your push down for an upgrade that's not so great off of one base. 1 base immortal pushes can work against greedy expansions, but you're better off teching up to colossus before doing anything like that.



Because of the immortal buff, it will be significantly harder for a blinking/expanding player to kite your push around the map. With good scouting and army positioning, blink-ins should not be too large of a threat



You can, alternatively, get your own blink and go into robo/blink play if that is your style of choice.



Alternative 2 Gate before Robo

+ Show Spoiler + If you're being aggressively 4gated



9 Pylon

12 Gate

14 Gas

15 Pylon

17 Core (earliest scout; feel free to scout later)

17 zealot (18 if you scouted on core, 17 if you haven't scouted yet)

20 (2nd) Gas

22 Stalker; no chronoboost

22 WG; Chronoboost x3

24 Pylon (25 if you scouted before core)

26 Stalker; 1 chrono boost

29 (2nd) Gateway

30 Sentry

32 (2nd) Gateway (Cut probes at 32 food)

32 Robotics Facility (Resume probe production, cut for faster immortal; don't cb until you see you won't need to cb a GW)

32 Pylon



º¿º



(32) 4th CB on WG tech

33 (3rd) Gateway

33 (2nd) Sentry

35 (3rd) Sentry

37 Immortal (No CB)



skeleton 2g robo





If you're not being aggressively 4gated



9 Pylon

12 Gate

14 Gas

15 Pylon

17 Core (earliest scout; feel free to scout later)

17 zealot (18 if you scouted on core, 17 if you haven't scouted yet)

20 (2nd) Gas

22 Stalker; no chronoboost

22 WG; Chronoboost x3

24 Pylon (25 if you scouted before core)

26 Stalker; 1 chrono boost

29 (2nd) Gateway

30 Sentry

32 (2nd) Gateway (Cut probes at 32 food)

32 Robotics Facility (Resume probe production)

32 Pylon

33 (3rd) Gateway

@100% Robotics - Immortal (CB'd) 9 Pylon12 Gate14 Gas15 Pylon17 Core (earliest scout; feel free to scout later)17 zealot (18 if you scouted on core, 17 if you haven't scouted yet)20 (2nd) Gas22 Stalker; no chronoboost22 WG; Chronoboost x324 Pylon (25 if you scouted before core)26 Stalker; 1 chrono boost29 (2nd) Gateway30 Sentry32 (2nd) Gateway (Cut probes at 32 food)32 Robotics Facility (Resume probe production, cut for faster immortal; don't cb until you see you won't need to cb a GW)32 Pylonº¿º(32) 4th CB on WG tech33 (3rd) Gateway33 (2nd) Sentry35 (3rd) Sentry37 Immortal (No CB)9 Pylon12 Gate14 Gas15 Pylon17 Core (earliest scout; feel free to scout later)17 zealot (18 if you scouted on core, 17 if you haven't scouted yet)20 (2nd) Gas22 Stalker; no chronoboost22 WG; Chronoboost x324 Pylon (25 if you scouted before core)26 Stalker; 1 chrono boost29 (2nd) Gateway30 Sentry32 (2nd) Gateway (Cut probes at 32 food)32 Robotics Facility (Resume probe production)32 Pylon33 (3rd) Gateway@100% Robotics - Immortal (CB'd)



1 Gate before Stargate

+ Show Spoiler +



If you're being aggressively 4gated



With efficient play, you can actually start your 1st phoenix before your 3rd sentry and still be safe!



9 Pylon

12 Gate

14 Gas

15 Pylon

17 Core (earliest scout; feel free to scout later)

17 zealot (18 if you scouted on core, 17 if you haven't scouted yet)

20 (2nd) Gas

22 Stalker; no chronoboost

22 WG; Chronoboost x3

24 Pylon (25 if you scouted before core)

26 Stalker; 1 chrono boost

29 Stargate

30 Sentry

32 (2nd) Gateway (Cut probes at 32 food)

32 Pylon; resume probe production upon completion

32 (3rd) Gateway



º¿º



(32) 4th CB on WG reasearch

34 (2nd) Sentry

36 Start 1st phoenix; cancel if you need the 100 gas.

@100% 2nd Gateway, CB as you transform it to warpgate, and make (3rd) Sentry (39 food)

39 Zealot (Sentry if you will absolutely need an FF)



Once you have 3 sentries, a phoenix, 2 stalkers, 2 zealots and 3 warpgates, your opponent should have had 6 stalkers and 5 zealots for ~10 seconds. 4 gaters tend to back off once their pylons go down and they've humped the shit out of 3 chained forcefields, but not always. While your 1st phoenix is training, you need to make an important executive decision. Will you need that 4th force field before you can get enough gas with the 100 gas sunk into the phoenix? If you think so, cancel the phoenix and get the 4th sentry. If not, let the phoenix finish and get the sentry with your next 100 gas if you need to do so.



Yes. I know 4 sentries is a lot before you start your first phoenix. TBH, you're not going to run into many 100% perfect 4gates that establish themselves at your ramp ready for a warp-in at the target time of 5:34, so you probably will almost never have to make 4. I just have the numbers "4" and "5:34" here because I'm crash testing it against a near theoretically perfect 12gate 4gate. Wait why are you complaining? You can't get fast tech units while skimping almost entirely on defense against a brutish all-in. What do you think you are, terran?



Here are my ladder pvp ladder games from season 6. Mostly 1g SG

http://drop.sc/packs/681





If you're not being aggressively 4gated



This shit is so sick if you can get away with it.



9 Pylon

12 Gate

14 Gas

15 Pylon

17 Core (earliest scout; feel free to scout later)

17 zealot (18 if you scouted on core, 17 if you haven't scouted yet)

20 (2nd) Gas

22 Stalker; no chronoboost

22 WG; Chronoboost x3

24 Pylon (25 if you scouted before core)

26 Stalker; 1 chrono boost

29 Stargate

30 Sentry

32 (2nd) Gateway (Cut probes at 32 food)

32 Pylon (resume probes production upon completion

33 (3rd gateway optional)



Follow up



If you get to your phoenixes off of 1 sentry, you are in great shape. You don't necessarily need the 3rd gate, but it can help in a pinch against a WP 4gate. I like to send my first phoenixes to the edges of my base and bee line them to my opponents base to check if a WP is en route. If he gets to your base and begins to warp in, engage with your GW units while lifting up the zealots 1 at a time with your phoenixes. Might as well pull probes, as if his attack fails he cannot retreat with anything whatsoever.



To be safe from dt builds, go ahead and start your robo after your 3rd phoenix.



Assuming no wp/dt rush came, you have a few options now.



You can expand off of your phoenixes, perhaps denying an observer scout with phoenix observer combination while keeping them pinned with the phoenixes, threatening to pick off gas probes on a flyby. Be careful here; you don't want to waste all of your phoenix energy on probes only to get all inned, unable to lift a significant amount of units. Pheonix are a wonderful part of a protoss composition; what are all ground units bad against in a scuffle? colossus (ok speed prism immortal hipsters let's not get all riled up). And nothing deters or even shuts down colossus play like an early phoenix build. This means he will either favor stalkers or immortals with his gas in the early-mid game, both of which can be dealt with a a phoenix composition with immortals and zealots sprinkled in. Phoenix play tend to instigate zealot/archon pushes, but these are not very strong with proper simcity even if you take an expansion.



On the other hand, you can turn this into the sickest pvp all-in of all time. You can either hit relatively quickly, adding on a 4th gate and sniping sentries up a ramp with your phoenix as your zealots stroll right on up. Or, against a late expansion which you sometimes see in a pvp where both are reluctant to drop the nexus, you can can get up to 3 or 4 immortals, a mess of zealots, hell even an archon or two to prevent ff's from blocking your zealots. Your immortals will deal with the simcity and any cannons they might have erected. This all-in comes pretty late, as you can probably tell.

This build is absolutely brilliant if you are not aggressively 4gated. If you are aggressively 4gated, it's kind of meh. You can't start your first penix until you get your 1st 3 or 4 sentries which is a total drag. Oh well; it's the price we pay for being too cool for ground unitzWith efficient play, you can actually start your 1st phoenix before your 3rd sentry and still be safe!9 Pylon12 Gate14 Gas15 Pylon17 Core (earliest scout; feel free to scout later)17 zealot (18 if you scouted on core, 17 if you haven't scouted yet)20 (2nd) Gas22 Stalker; no chronoboost22 WG; Chronoboost x324 Pylon (25 if you scouted before core)26 Stalker; 1 chrono boost29 Stargate30 Sentry32 (2nd) Gateway (Cut probes at 32 food)32 Pylon; resume probe production upon completion32 (3rd) Gatewayº¿º(32) 4th CB on WG reasearch34 (2nd) Sentry36 Start 1st phoenix; cancel if you need the 100 gas.@100% 2nd Gateway, CB as you transform it to warpgate, and make (3rd) Sentry (39 food)39 Zealot (Sentry if you will absolutely need an FF)Once you have 3 sentries, a phoenix, 2 stalkers, 2 zealots and 3 warpgates, your opponent should have had 6 stalkers and 5 zealots for ~10 seconds. 4 gaters tend to back off once their pylons go down and they've humped the shit out of 3 chained forcefields, but not always. While your 1st phoenix is training, you need to make an important executive decision. Will you need that 4th force field before you can get enough gas with the 100 gas sunk into the phoenix? If you think so, cancel the phoenix and get the 4th sentry. If not, let the phoenix finish and get the sentry with your next 100 gas if you need to do so.Yes. I know 4 sentries is a lot before you start your first phoenix. TBH, you're not going to run into many 100% perfect 4gates that establish themselves at your ramp ready for a warp-in at the target time of 5:34, so you probably will almost never have to make 4. I just have the numbers "4" and "5:34" here because I'm crash testing it against a near theoretically perfect 12gate 4gate. Wait why are you complaining? You can't get fast tech units while skimping almost entirely on defense against a brutish all-in. What do you think you are, terran?This shit is so sick if you can get away with it.9 Pylon12 Gate14 Gas15 Pylon17 Core (earliest scout; feel free to scout later)17 zealot (18 if you scouted on core, 17 if you haven't scouted yet)20 (2nd) Gas22 Stalker; no chronoboost22 WG; Chronoboost x324 Pylon (25 if you scouted before core)26 Stalker; 1 chrono boost29 Stargate30 Sentry32 (2nd) Gateway (Cut probes at 32 food)32 Pylon (resume probes production upon completion33 (3rd gateway optional)Follow upIf you get to your phoenixes off of 1 sentry, you are in great shape. You don't necessarily need the 3rd gate, but it can help in a pinch against a WP 4gate. I like to send my first phoenixes to the edges of my base and bee line them to my opponents base to check if a WP is en route. If he gets to your base and begins to warp in, engage with your GW units while lifting up the zealots 1 at a time with your phoenixes. Might as well pull probes, as if his attack fails he cannot retreat with anything whatsoever.To be safe from dt builds, go ahead and start your robo after your 3rd phoenix.Assuming no wp/dt rush came, you have a few options now.You can expand off of your phoenixes, perhaps denying an observer scout with phoenix observer combination while keeping them pinned with the phoenixes, threatening to pick off gas probes on a flyby. Be careful here; you don't want to waste all of your phoenix energy on probes only to get all inned, unable to lift a significant amount of units. Pheonix are a wonderful part of a protoss composition; what are all ground units bad against in a scuffle? colossus (ok speed prism immortal hipsters let's not get all riled up). And nothing deters or even shuts down colossus play like an early phoenix build. This means he will either favor stalkers or immortals with his gas in the early-mid game, both of which can be dealt with a a phoenix composition with immortals and zealots sprinkled in. Phoenix play tend to instigate zealot/archon pushes, but these are not very strong with proper simcity even if you take an expansion.On the other hand, you can turn this into the sickest pvp all-in of all time. You can either hit relatively quickly, adding on a 4th gate and sniping sentries up a ramp with your phoenix as your zealots stroll right on up. Or, against a late expansion which you sometimes see in a pvp where both are reluctant to drop the nexus, you can can get up to 3 or 4 immortals, a mess of zealots, hell even an archon or two to prevent ff's from blocking your zealots. Your immortals will deal with the simcity and any cannons they might have erected. This all-in comes pretty late, as you can probably tell.



Alternative 2 Gate before Stargate

+ Show Spoiler + This build has more room for error against aggressive 4gate, but obviously does not exploit non 4gate play as hard as the 1 gate build



If you're being aggressively 4gated



9 Pylon

12 Gate

14 Gas

15 Pylon

17 Core (earliest scout; feel free to scout later)

17 zealot (18 if you scouted on core, 17 if you haven't scouted yet)

20 (2nd) Gas

22 Stalker; no chronoboost

22 WG; Chronoboost x3

24 Pylon (25 if you scouted before core)

26 Stalker; 1 chrono boost

29 (2nd) Gateway

30 Sentry



º¿º



(32) 4th CB on WG research

32 Pylon (earlier than usual; resume probe production more quickly, and you are not sure if you can alot so much gas to phoenixes right away so why not get the pylon first? Works either way.. not much of a difference, really)

32 Stargate

33 (3rd) Gateway

35 (2nd) Sentry



**You have an extra WG cool down here. You can choose to get another sentry immediately to be 100% safe, or try to risk it by going sentry/zealot to start your phoenix production earlier. This will come down to the timing of your opponent's 4gate and the efficiency of his approach. Do you need that 3rd sentry right away? If so, get it. If you are completely sure you do not, warp in 1 sentry and 1 other unit (preferably a zealot to conserve gas) at this point and get your 4th sentry on the next round of cool downs if need be.



Phoenix builds don't have the punishing power that blink builds do against failed 4gates, but you still should have no trouble winning the game from here.



If you're not being aggressively 4gated

You have a lot more flexibility with this opener. It's pretty goddam safe if I do say so myself

9 Pylon

12 Gate

14 Gas

15 Pylon

17 Core (earliest scout; feel free to scout later)

17 zealot (18 if you scouted on core, 17 if you haven't scouted yet)

20 (2nd) Gas

22 Stalker; no chronoboost

22 WG; Chronoboost x3

24 Pylon (25 if you scouted before core)

26 Stalker; 1 chrono boost

29 (2nd) Gateway

30 Sentry

32 Stargate

32 Pylon

32 (Optional 3rd Gate)

35 Phoenix



-See 1 gate opener for the follow up section-







Why?

+ Show Spoiler +

I feel like this has many implications for PvP. Currently, most are under the impression that a 3stalker rush is the most efficient, sure-fire way to hold off a 4gate. I have several qualms with the 3stalker rush. I feel very much constricted. Regardless of whether or not you need the stalkers for defense, you will end up with a 2nd gate on 19 and most likely a probe cut here and there. While still being safe, these one gate openers allow you to put those minerals to better use--

You can apply pressure with your quick 1z2s against greedy builds if your opponent perceives your relatively fast 2nd gas as a sign of early passivity;



You get your desired tech structure much more quickly allowing you to obtain map control (twlight or stargate), scouting (stargate or robo) or even secure an expansion on maps that allow it (robo);



You don't tack on additional gates until you actually have use for them. I feel like this has many implications for PvP. Currently, most are under the impression that a 3stalker rush is the most efficient, sure-fire way to hold off a 4gate. I have several qualms with the 3stalker rush. I feel very much constricted. Regardless of whether or not you need the stalkers for defense, you will end up with a 2nd gate on 19 and most likely a probe cut here and there. While still being safe, these one gate openers allow you to put those minerals to better use--





Additional resources

Replays + vods (more coming asap)



+ Show Spoiler +



My season 6 pvp ladder games. Mostly 1g SG

http://drop.sc/packs/681



On February 07 2012 17:37 NrGmonk wrote:

Here's another vod of StartaleParting doing this build:

What I like most about this game is that Parting recognized his opponent's 2 gate pressure and didn't get a 2nd sentry in response.



Here's another vod of StartaleParting doing this build: http://fr.twitch.tv/ignproleague/b/306767555?t=104m34s What I like most about this game is that Parting recognized his opponent's 2 gate pressure and didn't get a 2nd sentry in response.



http://drop.sc/95172

1g blink builds vs 2g stargate. good game



http://drop.sc/82898

http://drop.sc/82666



gas stolen do stupid shit win

not sure what to take away from this one... put 2 cannons in your min line if you see late dt shrine or put a damn pylon on the left edge of your base..?



2g robo vs 1g star phoenix

expand! can't begin to tell you how important cannons and 1 archon are here. and make damn sure you are 100% checking for expansion



1g robo vs 3stalker rush- 3 gate blink rush

maps with 2ndary ramp? expo ezpz



http://drop.sc/91195

1g sg vs 1g robo - robo blink

on maps where you're forced to scout earlier (ie 12), don't be afraid to use the information you get and be a little more greedy. here, he cb'd his nexus a third time so i felt fine moving out without worrying about a probe sneaking behind the front lines. then, i see a sentry so i feel free to cut mine, and cut my 3rd gate as well.





My season 6 pvp ladder games. Mostly 1g SG1g blink builds vs 2g stargate. good gamenot sure what to take away from this one... put 2 cannons in your min line if you see late dt shrine or put a damn pylon on the left edge of your base..?expand! can't begin to tell you how important cannons and 1 archon are here. and make damn sure you are 100% checking for expansionmaps with 2ndary ramp? expo ezpz1g sg vs 1g robo - robo blinkon maps where you're forced to scout earlier (ie 12), don't be afraid to use the information you get and be a little more greedy. here, he cb'd his nexus a third time so i felt fine moving out without worrying about a probe sneaking behind the front lines. then, i see a sentry so i feel free to cut mine, and cut my 3rd gate as well.



Screen caps of sentry timings:



+ Show Spoiler +



+ Show Spoiler +

1st sentry out@5:20





2nd sentry out@5:49





3rd sentry out@6:13; this one might need to come faster so consider CB'ing the wg making it as it's transforming 1st sentry out@5:202nd sentry out@5:493rd sentry out@6:13; this one might need to come faster so consider CB'ing the wg making it as it's transforming



2 Gate Twilight 4gate defense:



+ Show Spoiler +

1st sentry out@5:21





2nd and 3rd sentries finish ~5:50. Consider holding off on the 3rd sentry until you start blink. 1st sentry out@5:212nd and 3rd sentries finish ~5:50. Consider holding off on the 3rd sentry until you start blink. 1 Gate Robo 4gate defense:2 Gate Twilight 4gate defense:







I'm opening this one up to you guys. If you think your 4gate is good, shoot me a pm and I'd be happy to stamp it out with this build :D And your replays will go right here! Also if you have the the



Credits

+ Show Spoiler + I must say, the 1 gate opener was inspired by a game I watched nani play against HuK at an mlg. He did something similar to the 1 gate - twilight build above. Knowing nani is a master of builds and an extremely smart and safe player, I was puzzled. He has 1 gateway worth of gw units (only one of which he chronoboosted) and has a bunch of cb left over and hasn't acquired any scouting information, meanwhile cutting probes and sitting pretty at 32/34. The more I watched it though, the more i realized nani is a damn genius. he could react to a 4gate and hold it with 2 clicks of a mouse without even scouting it, while teching off of one gateway! retarded. anyway, thx nani for the inspiration



Thanks for the read!

-aLeJ If you follow this guide and practice the build(s), you will NEVER lose to 4gate on maps with a ramp ever again.Consider 4gate an artifact, some random build you see on TDA and Bel'shir, but never anywhere else.While 4gate was already on its way out thanks to nerfs and builds that can better handle it, the spreading of the information here should solidify its extinction for those who read it.For the sake of clarity, I am making several assumptions:That being said, here are the builds:Replays + vods (more coming asap)Screen caps of sentry timings:I'm opening this one up to you guys. If you think your 4gate is good, shoot me a pm and I'd be happy to stamp it out with this build :D And your replays will go right here! Also if you have the the 11gate into 3 gate pressure build down pretty well, I'd like to run this against that a bunch of times as well.Thanks for the read!-aLeJ get rich or die mining.