A Mental Tactic

After watching the Day(9) Daily about the contaminate, it got me thinking about other ways to mentally screw with your opponent. We saw that Contaminate can really screw with a persons macro, which is huge! So what can Protoss do to mess with an opponents mind?

Well for one thing, our options for some effective early harassment are limited. The only real unit that is fast and able to due extra damage to Lightly armored units are the Phoenix, and they can only attack air and a limited number ground targets. The best they can do is harass mineral lines or snipe Overlords/Overseers. So I began looking into Protoss mechanics and how the race differs from the other two. So I thought of the Warping Mechanic, and how it can help Protoss develop some mental tactics against their opponents. In the past I had one opponent who did something similar to what I am about to propose, and I cannot wait to try it in a real match.

What this player did was setup a line of Pylons from his base to about 1/2 to 2/3 to mine. In an effort to allow for quick reinforcements if he is ever pushed back while also creating an advanced warning and scout system to know when I am making my push forward. It also buys him time to regroup, as a Pylon in the middle of nowhere is more threatening than an army retreating. However the amount of minerals lost if you have to retreat can cost you quite a bit. So here is my variation of this tactic.

What if instead of creating a line of Pylons, you actually place proxy Pylons in key places that aren't normally scouted or maneuvered through. It would really benefit someone later on when control of the map is more important. The enemy could come out at places you would not expect to have seen. For example, on Xel'naga Caverns, you could place a Pylon near the visibility reeds at the natural expansion, one at the expansion behind the rocks, and one near the other end of the back door trail behind the visibility reeds. This gives 3 additional attack routes that are not commonly scouted or moved through. It will cause your opponent to scout around and find these Pylons if he indeed realizes that is what you are doing. Warp Prisms work with this as well because they can maneuver, however, they cost twice as much, have a smaller warp field, and do not offer supply.

It is also important to remember that this will not work effectively on every map. Lost Temple for example gives very easily defend-able attack routes that allow a mobile force to move around the map quickly, but hard to implement this tactic as there are no visibility issues or alternate routes. Metalopolis would actually be a good map to implement this on in almost any of the spawn locations, as well as Steppes of War, Shakuras Plateau.

**Edit: After writing this post I stumbled across an article about the new 1v1 maps and discovered that several of the maps I mentioned are not even on the ladder map list**

Know thy Enemy….

Being aware of what your opponent is doing is key in all games, especially in bronze and silver level play. Most non-diamond league players will not even bother putting in the effort to kill your scout (Overlord, Observer). Knowing what your opponent is doing effects what you should be doing.

That first scout you send in can tell you more information than any other scout for the rest of the game. That first scout tells you effectively what you should be doing and preparing for.

If you scout your opponent and see 2 Stargates coming up pretty early on, then that means you need to build some anti-air, and fast. Terran always wall themselves in, so being prepared for a bio ball, or Viking push is a possibility, however to properly defend against it, you need to find out what.

If your Terran, then putting a well placed scan can help, if your toss, most Terrans don’t put up Missile Turrets unless they see air coming in so sending in an Observer can be a huge help, and if your Zerg, you should always have an overlord or two nearby keeping an eye on things, again most Terran do not put up Missile Turrets and most Bronze and Silver level players won’t make the effort to kill that overlord off.

It is important to remember that there is no perfect build that can hold out against everything. All strategies have their weaknesses. If your opponent is smart and scouts right, he will know what he has to do, and it is up to you to anticipate it and be prepared for that eventuality. It’s better to be safe in some cases than sorry. Always know what your limitations are.

The Xel’naga watch towers are a huge help in a lot of cases. They give you extended sight of what your opponent is doing before their units get in range to attack.

It’s better to know that your opponent is nearby than be paranoid that he is always right outside your field of vision. This is especially true against a Terran player using Siege tanks. The right time to strike would be when he is moving his tanks. Instead of attacking an entrenched position, you can possibly get close enough to hit his tanks or his units before the tanks have a chance to morph and get a shot off. Two armies of equal supply, one being Terran the other anything else will most likely lose to an entrenched Terran with Siege Tanks.

Suntzu said it, and it is a well known fact, as well as rule in a lot of strategy board games, “The defender always has the advantage.” Whether it is high ground or knowledge of an incoming attack, a player who is ready for an attack tends to win. That’s why you attack when he’s not. Watching and waiting are key. Watch him until he begins to move or get complacent, wait until he is in a vulnerable position, make sure he has no way of seeing you ahead of time, and then strike!.