Category:Zerg versus Protoss

Announcement
The section "Standard Macro ZvP" will not be looked deep into for a long time, as I find the "Proxy Hatch First" approach way more appealing and effective. However, many of the concepts still apply for the Forge First case, just the timings are different, as you give Protoss faster tech but slower economy.

Building Placement
In the later stages of the game Protoss often uses Warp Prism with huge Zealot warp-ins to snipe your important tech. Therefore surround your most delicate structures with other buildings. The Greater Spire is the best example. Also your Hive itsself is very important, as many strategies need Viper support or a switch from Ultralisk to Broodlord or vice versa. So make sure to also shield as many sides as possible from your hive. You can even use redundant evolution Chambers for more shielding. Additionally Spines are obiously a supreme choice to stall while your army returns, while also bodyblocking.

Standard Macro ZvP
Protoss Opening Timings:
 * 16 Nexus First: ~2:33 complete ~4:13
 * 13 Forge: ~1:45 complete ~2:30
 * @Forge: Cannon complete ~3:10
 * 13 Gate: ~1:45 complete ~2:50
 * @Gate: Core complete ~3:40
 * @Core: Warpgate complete ~6:20 (max ChronoBoost: ~5:27)

Zerg Opening Timings:
 * 9 Overlord
 * 14 Hatch First ~2:05 complete ~3:45
 * 15 Pool ~2:40 complete ~3:45
 * 18 Overlord ~3:20 complete ~3:45
 * @Pool&&Hatch&&Overlord 2x Queen ~3:45 complete ~4:35
 * @Queen First Inject ~4:35 complete ~5:15
 * 15 Hatch First
 * 14 Pool
 * 6 Pool

Opening:

At the very start we got a few options to open. They have yet to be tested.

Breakdown:

-As greedy as possible early

Stopping 2 base Colossi
 * 65 Robo
 * 65 Bay
 * 140 (94) Thermal Lances


 * 100 Spire
 * 40 Corruptor


 * 50 Infestation Pit
 * 100 Hive
 * 40 Viper
 * 10 Energy Leech +25

The Protoss Choices
To stand their ground in the lategame the Protoss race needs a well-rounded army combining different Gas heavy tech paths to the ultimate death ball, which can not be countered by a lean composition. For that reason unlike the other races, a Protoss is often considered All-In if he has not that much tech behind his attack, even if he has a decent economy. Examples for this are all sorts of the common 2-Base mass Gateway + Robo All-In variations. A Protoss cannot let a Zerg player be completely untouched while playing conservative macro, because then the Zerg player will skyrocket away in economy and gets maxed well before the Protoss player has a big army with diverse tech. Therefore the Protoss player either needs to cripple the Zerg while he still wants to build up Drones, which is mostly realized by some variation of a 2-Base All-In, or needs to get a quick Third in a safe way, which is mostly realized by some Sentries followed by quick Colossi to keep the Third standing once it finished. Conversely a Zerg needs to counterplay the aggressive plays by defending well, and then, if possible, counterattack to not give the Protoss time to catch up in tech and economy and the greedy economy plays by being extremly greedy at the start yourself and then try to delay the Third to stall the Protoss economy as long as possible from Gas #5 and #6 so you can trade out his army efficiently.

Emergency Handling

 * 3 DTs snipe a Hatch of yours
 * As this is a strong blow to your economy, you now need to play more cost efficient, and take some risks to get back on even ground. Get detection and some units just to deter DTs from doing even more damage. Get up 1 or 2 new Hatcheries while teching to 2/2 Missiles and Infestors.




 * Your Hatch First gets Cannon rushed
 * You will need to either cancel it or try to defend it with Queen/Ling/Spine depending on if you think you can defend it costefficiently. If you need to cancel make sure to start another Hatch before you cancel and ward it with an Overlord.



General Goals

 * Deny the Third
 * When a Protoss gets his third base, that is when he can finally combine multiple Gas heavy tech choices in his army. As a Zerg we never want to see the combination of Colossi and Templar (Feedback on Viper). Additionally the Third also provides him with a lot of Minerals, which enables him to dump Minerals into mass Zealot warpins in order to kill your tech structures. Lastly it makes base trades much easier if he only got 2 instead of 3 or more bases.


 * Keep his army small


 * A Protoss army only becomes really strong if it has high-tech units which are shielded by tanky low-tech low-cost units. Neither naked Colossi or pure Gateway units are any good versus a Zerg with proper tech to counter it. This fact is strongly supported by the Zerg's ability of quickly max supplying with the unit of choice. The Protoss army needs to be balanced in a way it can not be easily countered by a lean Zerg composition. To prevent that we need to trade off his Army early while still maintaining the superior economy. Trading off army also helps with preventing a Third from going up, especially if we can take out some Sentries or Robo units.



Description:
This build focuses on shredding a Protoss' economy by stealing his Natural. The

Checklist:
-Find the scouting Probe

-Scout the Map for hidden bases

-Also scout the Map for proxied buildings

-Get a glimpse of his tech with an Overlord (shouldn't be too hard with only needing to scout 1 base XD )

-Keep the stolen base as long as possible

-Spread creep, especially backwards -Dont let your macro slip

-Tech to Hydras or Mutalisks

You send out an early Drone Scout so it arrives at enemy base when you are at 14 Supply and 300 Minerals. Based on his opening plan you must now play very precise to make the investment worth while.

Nexus First:

Forge First:

Gate First:

Versus Forge
Build the Proxy Hatch as late as possible, so you can cancel it later, and therefore he a) either needs to let his 2+ Cannons finish and you cancel or b) only lets 1 Cannon finish and you let the Hatch finish because 1 Cannon will take ages to kill it and its Creep will deny it a whole lot longer or c) he needs to build his Cannons later, so they would finish after your Hatch, then you just cancel at the last second or just let it finish, based on how fast his Gateway is (if Gateway is fast then cancel). Starting the Hatch later will provide you with more initial Drones and therefore more crucial money.

Versus Gateway
Build the Hatch right at 14 Supply, then build 2 more Drones and let the 15th Drone become a Pool. Shortly before the Pool completes send out 2 Drones. Build an Overlord at 18 Supply. When the Hatch completes, immediately start a Queen. From this point on build a bunch of Zerlings and let the 2 Drones become Spines. When the Spines are complete move them towards the Gateway + Core wall off while having high ground vision granted by an Overlord. Deny these buildings and Drone up. Do not push All-In because his Photon Overcharge might ruin your day. His only chance to hurt you is to circumvent the Spines, meaning he either needs Immortal, Warp Prism, Colossus, or Air. Before his Warpgate finishes you should check the entire map for proxies. Go up to 2 base Mutalisk play. He can not defeat that while on 1 base. Add on a Spore in time to counter Air or DT advances.

Cutthroat Style: Speedling/Hydra
Description:

This Build focuses on economy and army size and neglects upgrades (except Metabolic Boost and Grooved Spines). The point is to overwhelm the opponent with tons of dps heavy Speedlings and Hydras. It is obvious that Collossi shut it down very hard, so we need to hit early. For that very reason we forego upgrades, because they just give the Protoss more time and Collossi do not care if its 0/0 or 3/3 Zerglings or Hydralisks.

 Build Order: 

9/10 Overlord: send it to first Expansion to scout for him seeing and possible Cannon rush attempts.

13th Drone: send it to build the first Expansion on 3rd/4th location

14/18 Hatch

15/18 Pool

{

18/18 Hatch: take your Natural if not blocked

18/20 Queen

20/20 Gas

20/20 Overlord

}

18/18 Overlord:

 Special Cannon Defense 

 The Attack: 

The goal of the attack is to kill or delay the Protoss' 3rd and trading armies. To achieve that lets split up the major Scenarios.

-Protoss Turtles 2Base

-Protoss has 3rd (building)

This is by far the easiest to play against, and most of the time you will outright win the game with your first or second wave. They will have to fight on somewhat open space, and your DPS will just wreck his Gateway Force. Because you have so much DPS, once you get your units fighting, dont even shy away from a Photon Overcharge. It just doesn't do damage quickly enough.

-Protoss pushes himself with a big 2Base Allin

8 Gates are hardest to play against, but still, if you have macroed well, you should have even better cards than with a Roach defense, because you can even fight back behind Forcefield walls. Nevertheless, just like in any 8 Gate defense, you need to pick your engagement wisely. Don't get chunks of units cut up by Forcefields, have the concave, etc.

Salvaging a failed attack:

If you cannot break through the opponents defenses and he stabilizes, standard ways of playing the matchup will be at a strong disadvantage because of the lack of upgrades. The only style where you do not really need/benefit ground upgrades is if you go mass air. So take your 6th gas and 4th base immediately and place down your Spire. Hope your opponent gives you the 2 minuites to get the first patch of Mutalisks out, or keep him busy with some Lings (offensively) or Spines (defensively). Then scout his base to see the amount of Phoenix production and Cannons.