New Builds for Protoss Part 2 (PvZ)

PvZ

This matchup I enjoy the most. I have been using Phoenix play early on too great success. Zerg have no effective Anti air early on, and they must sacrifice their queens(150 minerals Yikes!) or get a Evo Chamber up with some spore crawlers in there Mineral line to effectively Defend against it. I usually go with 4 Phoenix's and begin searching for Overlords. I need to take down at least 6 to make it worth my while. However I am still working out the kinks and I tend to let my Macro slip because I get so excited shooting the big fat floaty things in the sky :)

Queens make prime targets for the Phoenix

They also work well in other situations like when your opponent is going Muta/Roach/Ling. Phoenix's can handle a group of Mutas larger than them. They do extra damage to light and thats just what Muta's are. However Mutas do no extra damage to any unit. They are just very fast and are great at harassing the mineral lines. There is one more thing Phoenix's are good at, defense.

Phoenix's are great removing units from play without killing them.

When being attacked. the Phoenix can lift up some units from the battle to prevent them from participating. Later on in this match, the opponent sent Roaches at me. I let my macro slip and was about 1100 minerals up. So brought my Phoenix's back and had them lift some roaches so as to try and even the playing field. It worked and I repelled the Roaches back. Phoenix's, however, don't do so well in the other Matchups.

The Build
But this is how the build works. You grab your gateway and Core down ASAP. And then grab your 2nd gas while placing your 2nd gaeway and Stargate down. When you have enough minerals, place another Gateway down. Phoenix's only cost 50 more gas and 25 more minerals than a stalker. So you should be able to still utilize 3 gateways, which was the mistake I kept making, I was under the impression that you could only have 2 Gateways and a Stargate.

Also, 4 gating also works very well in this Matchup, but I am looking to break away from the monotony that is 4gating. Sometimes grabbing a Robotics Facility will help fend off the Roaches as well as provide you with access to an Observer and only 1 building away from a Colossus. If Zerg are going only Roaches and Lings, your best bet is to attempt to grab a Colossus, but the only way to know if he is doing this is by applying pressure. Constantly build Stalkers, and if hes still building Roaches to defend, he wont be getting alot of lings, however if he builds more lings and more Roaches, get ready for some tricky play. Either way, a Robotics Facility will be your friend. When you push out, place one down so you can be ready for whatever he decides to throw at you. Staying in a 4 gate build or even into 6-8 gates, will only hinder the effectiveness of the Protoss. Lings are just the bane of a Protoss army early game.

When to.....

Ever wonder when you should be doing ______?

I do. I have a terrible time knowing when to start teching up.

I typically start with 4 gate and get some units up. once 8-12 units are up I begin pushing out. I poke in, see if those initial units are still their, if not I know hes teching up and wont have many units. Thats a clear sign for me to do one of two things. Expand or drop 1 of 4 tech buildings, a Forge, Robotics Facility, Stargate, or Twilight Council. Lets assume I am up against a Terran player. I tend to Expand because it is relatively safe if my army is outside his base and preventing him from moving out. With only  half a dozen marines at his cliffs, that tells me hes either going for some tanks, or Banshees. More than likely its Banshees.

Do I drop a Robotics Facility down instead of expanding?

No, I still will expand, because getting that 2nd base up and going while preventing him from getting his is so important. I'm now in a position to know what hes probably doing, and I have now limited his choices. He can either continue with Banshees and get cloak and probably hold his ramp off if I decide to push in again, or make some more ground forces to push me back. Both are perfectly reasonable. Most players I have faced tend to continue with their Banshees and get cloak. Its important to poke up his ramp to see whats their, as if some Marauders suddenly pop up, I know hes looking to buy time before cloak is ready and hes going to make a push a bit later with not only a force, but also Banshees.. That means I need to have dropped a Robotics Facility sometime after my Nexus gets placed.

See how important Scouting is? I began scouting more frequently and accurately because I primarily play in a reactionary way to my opponent. Because I do this, I need to be knowing what my opponent is doing pretty often. If I see some heavy Marauder play I need to grab an Immortal or a lot of Stalkers ASAP. An observer would also help as well as these provide a way of keeping track of your opponent without having to sacrifice the occasional probe up his ramp.

So what things do you wait for either in your build order, unit count, or what your opponent does to justify teching up?