Trap's 2 Base Colossus (PvT Economic)

Description

The new patch has hit. The changes aren't as sweeping as some previous years, however some alterations still need to be made, and with Homestory Cup XX just finishing up it's the perfect time to do another PvX Buy-one-get-three-free BotW guide!

Check out the full thread with all of the builds on /r/allthingsprotoss.

That's right! Not only are you getting one new build per match-up, you're also getting a bonus build at the end as well! That's FOUR whole builds for the attention span of one! If you've been completely lost without your strong chargey bois, don't you worry. Trap, Stats, ShoWTimE, and Harstem have supplied us with plenty of builds that are sure to fix your MMR related woes.

Since I have so many different builds that I'll be featuring, I won't be going as in-depth with all of them like my single build guides. I'll mostly just highlight the important points of each build and what is needed to make it work. Additionally, I'll include a short summation when necessary of how the match-up has changed now that we're in a different phase of balance.

So sit back, open up SC2, and let's talk about the new patch.

Replay - Ephemeron LE (82)

Build Order

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Analysis

Trap showcased the best PvT of the year in 2019 so it's only appropriate that we take a look at one of his builds for the end of the year patch. He showcased a lot of styles at HSCXX but I figured I'd highlight a style that hasn't seen as much light recently with how popular Blink and Stargate openers have been. Various heavy 2 base styles have become popular out of Terrans recently as well, so this quick Colossus style can be a great way to deal with these pushes if you don't prefer defending with mostly Gateway units.

The build itself is relatively straight forward and simple to execute. For players looking for something simple, this is about as simple as it gets in recent times. The thing that's most important to highlight here is the early Sentry. Recently, it has become very popular to open with a Sentry as your 2nd unit when doing Blink openers so that you can easily scout the Terran's early game with a Hallucinated Phoenix. This build gets the Sentry 3rd so the Hallucination won't come quite as early. Trap actually doesn't even use it for Hallucination this game either since he's gone for Robo first which will get you an Observer on the map relatively quickly anyway. However, going for the Sentry is a good use of gas as it'll give you the option to Hallucinate a scout if you so desire for some extra scouting. It can also be used to Forcefield your wall/ramp vs Hellions. Also banking energy to use for Guardian Shield later in the game is never a bad thing either.

You'll note in the replay from Trap that he doesn't put his 2nd Pylon on the low ground to help wall vs Hellions. This is what we call a progamer move. I would very much still recommend walling at the natural with your extra Gateways at 3:20 to help with Hellions if you're not confident in scouting and defending them properly. One way to help rule out the possibility is to see if the opponent went Gas or Rax first. (This may become irrelevant below Masters league since players likely won't be doing builds that are actually optimal). Gas first means that there is the possibility of going for a quick Hellion build. If they went Rax first then you can safely cross Hellions of the list since they would be hitting too late for it to be that impactful. To know if it's Gas or Rax first, then click on the Terran's geyser with your Gateway scouting Probe and see what the gas count is. If it's 2200 or above then it was Rax first. Anything in the 2100s and it was Gas first. (It's usually around 2170).

The point of the build is to be as safe as possible vs early pressure with three Observers worth of vision, three Gates worth of production, very fast Colossus tech, and a quick Forge for upgrades. There's no real chance to move out with this build. Your goal is to defend and set yourself up with a well rounded composition that can do well vs Terran pressure.

When you're reaching the three base point and getting a solid amount of Colossi out, it'll be time to transition into Templar tech either for Storm or some Archons. It'll also be around this time where you'll be seeing if a Terran is moving out for one of their strong two base pushes or if they're expanding behind it. Seeing a committed two base push with your forward Observer (no 3rd CC in production and an SCV pull are good indicators) means that you can continue producing Colossi to help hold. This is what Trap does and with a wonderful split on his army, he's able to cut off the Terran's reinforcements and simply wait out the push until he had an overwhelming force to crush the Terran army. You can also get some Disruptors after the first three Colossi if you prefer some extra burst potential and zone control.

If the Terran isn't doing as committed of a two base push, then you can feel free to get a Warp Prism after the 3rd Colossus to get some map presence and counter attack potential. Whenever you see the Terran moving across the map, then you can send in the Prism to do a well timed backstab and force them home or pay the consequences. This will buy you some time while you get Storm out, get your Disruptor count up, or bulk up your army with extra Blink Stalkers and Archons to do a deadly push to break them.

Speaking of Blink, you get it very late with this build. Favoring raw power over mobility, Trap goes for Charge first with the later Twilight Council which does leave you vulnerable to heavy drop play. You'll need to split your force up a little bit and leave some Stalkers behind to deal with drops. The three Observers you made earlier should help with this to see them coming from afar. Even though the Charge damage has been removed, the stimpack movement speed does help a lot in their ability to surround groups of units and close the distance even quicker. It's still an extremely strong ability and is essential for all PvT compositions. Don't let the math scare you. Chargelots are still very viable and still can be used in many situations where they were being used previously. You'll just have to be a little more careful at times instead of mindlessly spamming Chargelots to hold certain attacks.

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Details

• Created by: Gemini_19    
• Published on: Dec 08, 2019
• Modified on: Dec 08, 2019
• Patch: 4.11.0

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