DarkBlizz

Its kinda funny looking over all the posts in here; as it is obvious either A. None of you even have a key to play online, and B. You are horribad at Starcraft.

Phoenix would NEVER be out in-mass before Zerg has some form of AA; unless they are complete trash, or you proxy your stargate; in which you'd just get rushed out anyways, due to lack of base defense. Its strongest application is probably in the P mirror, PVP.

Protoss is a perfectly FINE race, minus a MINUTE lacking in Anti-air; when air units are IN MASS. ANY timing push can gap this imbalance, and ruin the game for someone attempting to rush Tier 2 air tech.

At best, a few Zerg units and mechanics, as well as a fast Ghost need to be nerfed; AND THEY WILL BE (As hinted by CowGoMoo and other Blizz devs in games/replays). On the zerg-side being Roach's 2 armor/HP, Mutalisk cost, Speedlings ability to 'push' pas walled Zealots (Yes, they can push through a FULL wall), Broodlords ability to make themselves untouchable to ground units, and yes, Ultralisk splash. These are all things a ton of players are aware of, and things that will LIKELY be seeing a tweak.

I find colossus generally more reliable in an early PvT match as it usually forces the terran player to take the game away from infantry partially; making them swap in a mix of vikings, this reduces their gas pool dramatically and makes ghosts and other gas heavy units less viable.

With a fast robo, an Observer can quickly be charged out to keep watch over the terran player, and banshees are largely easy to deal with once you have one; as they can't cloak, and they are easily ff'd by Stalkers; another option would always be a few phoenix, which aren't largely useless. They're good at harassing SCVs, can lift up tanks and marauders (to let zealots tear their marines up without being slow kited), and burn holes through frail Banshees. Having a stargate up for future Mothership isn't so bad either, as its a pretty strong unit in PvT.

Versus any sort of strong terran player, you WILL NOT be able to harass with zealots, under any circumstance, as both marines and marauders run circles around them, on top of a terran's common strategy to choke ( I don't even bother to choke sometimes in TvP); Alternatively its far better to straight tech to a cyber and so-forth after you first gate, following the guidelines I posted above.

PSI-STORM, my love... You know, I'd honestly like to say its a stronger spell in PvT as than it is. -IF- you don't get EMP'd, it is extremely strong; though EMP generally gets off first, as its a better overall range (Same "range" but larger AoE). This can be slightly remedied with the new upgrade available to Templars, as well as several other Energy based units to increase their starting energy by 25; thus making them able to storm immediately after being created; This, in conjuction with warpgates proves extremely effective on both a push and defensive purposes, given you bring a warp prism or proxy a pylon close to your battle.

---Side note; I just got a NEW account, so I no longer have to share with my buddy. Just finished my placement games, and am back in Platinum =D Time to rip holes in everyone put in front of me.

Here are some current Standards in the existing metagame for online play:

PvZ
-9 Pylon
-12 Gate
-14 Gas
-16 Pylon
-Cyber immediately after gate
-2nd gas after cyber is started(Not finished)
-Pylon at 23 food
-Robo Facil immediately (Start warpgate tech)
-Second gate when funds allow
-- Attack after 2-3 immortals, and a mix of Stalker, Zeal, Sentry (3 zeal, 2 stalker, 2 sentry if timed right); expo if successful, or in control

PvT
-Similar as above, but tech straight to Colossus after Robo Facil- UNLESS- You scout a fast starport
-- Attack with 2-3 colossus and a healthy mix of Gateway units

PvP
-Similar up to Robo, but make an Observer first; and focus on Gateway units
-Going Zeal heavy with a mix of stargate units is pretty successful in LATE game; early on focus on Stalkers, as you can often heavily harass your opponent before Charge is tech'd; especially if they go Zeal heavy OR have inferior micro to you.

This is just a brief rundown of your typical builds in Protoss match-ups; sorry to post in an older thread, but I noticed a little activity in here. Hope this helps -

(If anyone wants Replays, I'd be happy to supply them; I was top 10 Platinum in my Division before the fluked Ladder dropped me to 800 point Gold; currently sitting at #1 in my gold division (Had to climb up from last place.. cruel beta ladder :< ))

=D Now if I'd only get my dang key instead of having to share with others. Hate life!

From what I've seen so far, it only goes for an over-hat at the natural, before getting a queen. Then its queen -> ling/roach; haven't seen zerg enough after that to analyze what its done next.

@Rain[Sun]

I would hope people have that fact more than clear in their minds by now, considering its stated that even WC3 favorites such as DotA would not qualify as a Premium Map; worthy of being sold in their shop.

With the extent of their editor, I would hope to see content releases similar to this work done in TES4: Oblivion; or better. http://www.lostspires.com/

@cloak123

it was quite the opposite; when I vs'd some BC's, they decided to rip apart my thors right away; as well as their siege tanks having a good spread, and even un-siege when units came too close to fire. Had a good clump of marines backing the tanks up that focus'd my banshees before anything. Maybe just coincidence.

Also, it is quite common for zerg to expo before a spawning pool; though less practical in SC2, it still happens quite frequently. An AI that goes for the fast queen and uses Spawn Larva at every cooldown would be formidable though.

I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical at first as I've never seen your name, but after testing your AI I was pleased.

I played TvT; the AI's opening was fail, as you mentioned; immediately going for a command center before anything. But come mid-game he was sending wave after wave of good sized armies at me, with a good balance of units (marines, and siege tanks; then some battlecruisers even.)

I'd be interested in helping to work on AI, if you'd like to get me started, I would appreciate your e-mail or MSN so we could chat.

Edit: Tried vs Zerg, again; expos heavily early, I don't think I gave it enough time to start massing, since I went reapers. Will give it more time next time.

Grats, check your mail for details.

Love the early game, though they are quite basic rushes (Marine/roach/zealot), but the AI simply doesn't seem to know where to go after that.

It tried to harass me with stalkers etc, but simply didn't know what units to get (Kept going zealots vs Banshees). Should be great in the long run, keep at it!

Of course a standard proxy is viable, though it is cheese; but an IN-BASE proxy isn't.

Considering a in-base proxy gate NEVER will work in higher tiers of play (might see it in silver ladder now if anything), Blizzard would not of nerfed a unit because of it.

Zealot was nerfed because in cost vs effectiveness, it was just too superior to its matching tier of unit. A single zealot could kill ~4 zerglings, 3-4 marines without proper micro, and in larger battles make retreating turn into a nightmare (post- charge tech). Considering the unit diversity, namely Immortals; they don't want a conflicting tank roll, but instead have Zealots be the tier 1 flexible filler it should be. Least that is what I would think.

BOTH builds I mentioned DO counter what he was versus, and what he WILL be versing. Fact is, there ARE things called standard strats, and though scouting is vital; There WILL not be much of a derivative from standards, therefore educating someone in a standard first IS the right way to go.

Trying to teach a new player how to adapt, and react after a scout is a lot harder if they don't even know the basic routes he could take. After trying a few builds on his own, and can BEAT the computer; then how to react can come.

Least that is how I learn, and taught people via Iccup on SC1. Similar to learning anything; you learn the method, before the application.

@anyone having trouble in TvP;

Explore your options. 90% of noobs are losing games even on battlenet in TvP because they simply don't explore their options.

Build variety(Try these and rape)
1.Block choke with racks; either go for reaper harass, or never touch your racks again.
2.Tech straight to Starport, make banshees. After about 3-4 make a raven. Use Point Defense + Banshee massive ground damage to rape.
3. If enemy for SOME REASON counters you (Pheonix's), tech cloak; and focus out any observers- Or the extreme hard counter, start making Battlecruisers, These will get semi-countered by voidrays, but phoenix hit them for 2-3 damage only.

Option 2:
1.Only make 2-3 reapers, go harass probes; this must be early as most AI tends to make noobcannons.
2.If you are going marauders vs IMMORTALS; You WILL get raped, unless of course you massively out-number their forces. Tech to either Ghosts (best overall counter) and EMP shot their IMMORTALS to remove their insane shield! - Or - Get Medivac Dropships to help reduce your damage as well; Raven also works, but is a higher tech.

Side note: Thors are not the answer to everything. You will not enjoy doing 10 damage to Immortals and in turn being dismantled by them.

-- These strats are NOT entirely made to versus AI, they are what I use on Battle.net to win probably 90% of my TvP matches; as well as the common strats being displayed in other people's games. If you watch Platinum ladder 1v1's, you will rarely see zealots in Protoss' PvT, even more rarely see a Hellion. Enjoy.

Did you know that Void Rays are f**king awesome?!