2 gate Fe into prism timing (PvX Timing Attack)

Description

2 gate FE that delays the first 2 adepts by ~10 seconds in order to get an early nexus on 20.

Adepts still pop in time to defend a 2 gate adept or stalker timing due to enemy travel time. All 4 gateway units finish before warpgate (3:20).

transitions to a 3 gate prism timing attack for pressure. you attack with 4 adepts and 6 stalkers at 4:20, and should have minerals on both bases saturated for rapid reinforcement.

Add 2-3 more gateways to continue all-in, or add 2 more gas, tech, and take a 3rd.

Build Order

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Analysis

The opening will look very off-meta to most players.

I found myself dissatisfied with both 2 gate standard PvP due to later nexus, and 1 gate FE due to lack of early map presence. I stumbled upon a build that splits the difference between the two, and turns out to be very clean timings.

The idea is to cut probes at 20 and skip second gas for an early nexus just like a 1 gate FE. The worker count will be made up for by chronoboosting probes on the earlier nexus. However, you still get 2 gateways before cyber to allow early harass.

Compared to a 1 gate FE, you get earlier units - 4 adepts for early pressure and scouting. this will scare most scouting terran and zerg players as it looks like an aggressive posture with the 2 gates. Don't get too crazy and lose them all, though - just poke and threaten targets of opportunity.

Compared to a 2 gate standard PvP, you get a much earlier nexus which gives econ advantage and additional chronoboosts to spend on warpgate, probes, and tech.

Due to the reduction of warpgate time in 4.8.2, there's no need to hurry the first two gateway units, as you can fit 2 cycles before the chronoboosted warpgate no matter what. The 100 second warpgate research will finish in 80 seconds with 2 chronoboosts. In this time you can fit two 30-second gateway cycles with 20 seconds to spare - but not 3 unless you spend both chronos on the gateways themselves. This means you are 100% safe from standard 2 gate pressure. If the enemy chronos out 3 cycles of units, their warpgate research will be later than yours. If they chrono warpgate, they can only have 4 units before it completes, just like you. This means delaying the 4 adepts by 10 seconds is perfectly safe due to travel time.

The main risk of this build in PvP is against a 3 gate proxy robo all-in. You need to scout for this with your scouting probe after checking their base. If you suspect an all in, skip the warp prism and instead build 2 shield batteries, then chrono out an immortal. This can be a difficult hold, but if you survive the first wave of the attack you will quickly pull ahead due to higher income.

This build can be confusing for opponents as it looks like you are ping-ponging between aggressive and macro style, and indeed you can easily flex either way depending on the situation. They will see 2 gates, assume standard early aggression, then see nexus and pivot to punish, but with fast warpgate tech (done at 3:20) you will have high unit count at any standard early all-in timing. If they react by going heavy macro, the prism timing attack hits hard at an unexpected early window.

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Details

• Created by: wren42
• Published on: Jan 29, 2019
• Modified on: Jan 31, 2019
• Patch: 4.7.1

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