The Protoss vs Terran early game is one of my favorite things in Starcraft 2 (Heart of the Swarm or Wings of Liberty). As Protoss your goal is to take a safe but fast expansion to be able to deal with anything Terran can throw at you. Scouting is crucial and micro can play an important role in defending early aggression or in dealing some damage yourself. In this guide I explain one early game situation that can arise in a PvT 1 Gate Fast Expand – early marine pressure.

Check out the video above for a full guide to micro and strategy for dealing with early Marine attacks in PvT. It also goes over how to follow up with your own counterattack and how to bust a bunker with gateway units. In this article I’ll go over some other important points to know about this sort of situation.

Scouting with your first Zealot and Stalker is crucial. If you see a few marines and no Barracks add-on then you can assume the Terran is either looking to expand with some light Marine pressure or is looking to tech up to Starport or Factory on 1 base. Have your Stalker(s) hang out near the Terran expansion to find out which. If by 6:30 there is no expansion it’s time to head home to prepare for any drops or air attacks. 

If your opponent pressures with Marines like in the video above then the best way to deal with it is to send Stalker out to meet him as close to his base as possible. Stalkers out range and outrun Marines so the more space you have the longer you can kite them. It’s possible to kill off a large group of Marines with only two Stalkers.

If you kill off a few of his Marines and scout his expansion then you can potentially follow up with a Gateway unit attack of your own. Simple take your expansion and make 4 Gateways total. A light 2-base 4 gate pressure can be enough to break the front of an under-defended Terran, especially if you can use a ForceField to prevent the repair on the bunker or wall.

Don’t over commit, if you sense you can’t break the front just pick off whatever you can and start teching to either double Forge + Twilight Council or Robotic + Colossus.

Helpful Resources:

• ZiggyD Coaching a 1 Gate Expand Build [Video]
• A General Guide to Scouting in SC2 [Article]

I was first introduced to Protoss StarCraft 2 coach VoidRay by Eniram of SC2CheatSheet.com as a part of a promotion over there. I had a look at VoidRay’s profile over at TangStarCraft.com and his stream (that he shares with Tang) and was very intrigued by his unique coaching style and service offerings.

NA & EU Protoss Coach VoidRay

Interview

I think it is very important to know a bit about a coaches motivations and experience before you jump into a lesson and VoidRay fantastically agreed to do a short interview.

It takes a love of the game to get to Masters and want to teach other people, what makes you love Starcraft 2?

Well, it all started for my love of SC1. I wasn’t much of a competitive player, in fact I was awful but it never stopped me from playing. I always loved the feeling of a 1v1 knowing that the only way to win is to simply out play your opponent. In Starcraft 2, I found that my love for SC1 had transferred over quite well. I got placed into Gold league and worked my way up all the way to be a top masters player. Throughout this journey I was always teaching.

I am a proud member of clan Relentless Heroes and there I became the head Protoss Mentor being in charge of scheduling, mentoring, and even fun student vs student tournaments. I have always had a passion for teaching and I have been doing it almost my entire Starcraft 2 career. As for what makes me love this game, I love the endless possibilities and the competition. 

How would you describe your play-style?

I would call my play-style “sneaky turtle toss.” I am not usually the one to be the aggressor in almost every MU but what I do like to do is obtain map vision and do a lot of Warprism and Pylon harass. I use aggression and map vision to allow me to know exactly when to tech and exactly when I need to make units. A quick example of this is in PvT, I will literally “take the map with pylons,” In almost every PvT I play, I send 2 probes out in different directions and place pylons around the entire perimeter of the map allowing me to not only have places to warp in almost anywhere, but also for the map vision it gives against drop play and army move outs.

You have mentioned on the TangStarCraft website that you are a Communications major – how do you feel this helps you provide a unique coaching experience?

I am going to be a Communications Major at Ithaca college which I believe will give me one of the greatest advantages as a coach. My theory is that you don’t have to be the best player in SC2 (within reason) to be able to coach, but some “best” players, can not coach. What I mean by this is even if you are incredibly good at this game it doesn’t mean you can articulate the points needed to be able to help out someone at lets say a gold level.

Personally, I am not the words greatest SC2 player, but what I do have is a unique way of coaching that I believe sets me apart from the rest. I take a very hands on approach to coaching, finding my student a partner and then I watch and critique. Throughout the game,I frequently pause to ask them questions such as, “You saw “X” so what does that mean to you?” I try to ask questions a lot instead of simply telling or barking orders because I think the best way of coaching is interactive. Although I do bark orders sometimes, I always make sure to go back and make sure they understand what they were doing whether during or after the game.

I also have a unique way of sharing my knowledge. I call it my “templates.” For lower level players or even higher level players, before a game sometimes I will play a game against a computer as they obs and I preform the build they want to learn to perfection. After I am done, they can simply save the replay as “PvT 1 gas fast expand template” and always be able to look back to see what they are doing right or wrong. I live by the theory that no matter how good you are it still takes an amazing teacher to be able to articulate all the points needed to improve at this game, and I for one believe that I have those skills to help provide the knowledge to be able to improve!

LearningSC2.com is specifically tailored to beginners – how do you feel coaching can help a newer player? Where does it fit into the learning process? 

I think coaching is one of the best ways of becoming a better player in SC2. With that being said, there is actually one kind of player that I will not coach, and that is a bronze league player who has close to zero games played or a brand new player. Why? Well, its quite simple. Just like any sport you need to practice. I have no problem coaching a bronze who is having trouble getting out of bronze and ladders frequently, but what is the point of coaching if with 20 games of just playing on ladder you would have figured all of that stuff out anyway?

But excluding that, I believe coaching is an unbelievably effective way to raise your skill level. Having the opportunity for someone to watch you play and see you in a completely different way than maybe you see your play is simply an amazing opportunity. I would recommend coaching especially to lower level players who appear to be in a rut. We have all been there, unable to advance on ladder and not knowing why. This is the perfect opportunity to get coaching. Overall, I believe newer players and beginners can benefit from coaching but that practice is also an essential way of improving your skills!

Review

Before our coaching session VoidRay and I had a bit of a chat over Skype about what I would like to work on. Lately I have really been struggling with Protoss vs Protoss especially early and mid game scouting and decision making. We agreed that the best way to do the session would be to have me play a series of games against similar-level Protoss players where he would commentate on my gameplay. 

Credit: http://www.sc2-strategy.com/

The Coaching Session

When the session kicked off VoidRay already had a player lined up for me – Kommissar. So we jumped straight into the first game with no time wasted. 

Before each game VoidRay would run through a few things I should look out for in general and on the current map. During the early game he would comment on my scouting and note what I had seen. This was particularly good as it helped me actually take notice of some of these things.

At critical points during each game VoidRay would pause the game to discuss what I had scouted, the implications and give me a few choices on how I should proceed with the game. The best part about this pause method is that it really showed me when the critical parts in each game were.

For example, in one game VoidRay paused when I spotted my opponent had their expansion up well before me. We talked about the relationship between my tech advantage and my opponents economic advantage. This point in the game was one of those key decision making points in the game where I often struggle with this match-up. He explained that I had the option to either push with my tech advantage, expand and catch up in economy or do a combination of both. 

After each game we spent a few minutes reflecting on the points in that game that contributed to the loss or win. He ran through the key errors each player made and the advantage each of us had and how we utilized (or squandered) it. I find VoidRay’s focus on advantages to be very helpful – StarCraft 2 is a game that is all about gaining, maintaining and using whatever advantage we can to win.

In our session VoidRay went for the ‘in-game commentary’ coaching style which was well suited to the problems I was having. Having real-time feedback was a great way to learn what to look for when scouting and how to react. The addition of the pause discussions helped when there was a more complex decision to be made.

As per his profile over at TangStarCraft.com VoidRay also offers ‘replay analysis’ and ‘commentary on his own matches’. That he recognizes that different players and problems will require different coaching styles is a huge plus in my mind. Too many coaches focus on only one style of coaches and if it’s not right for you then find a different coach.  

Overall Value

I could tell that PvP was also VoidRay’s weakest match-up but this never impacted his ability to coach me on it. He had more than enough knowledge and experience to help me with my issues.

Our session ended up going for an hour and five minutes and I got the feeling that he would have stuck around for longer if I had more questions. It never felt like he was rushing the session even though he was feeling somewhat ill, a pretty good effort in my books.

Additionally, VoidRay streams all of his coaching sessions through Tang’s Twitch.tv stream (unless you request otherwise), so you have the option to watch the whole session again if you missed anything. You can even check out the VOD for our session here.

I had really hit a wall in PvP before my session with VoidRay, and although I feel like I haven’t quite scaled that wall I think I now have the tools to do so. A coaching session with VoidRay is easily worth the (relatively low) hourly rate and if you are still unsure he even offers a half-hour trial session for only $5.

You can read more about VoidRay’s coaching over at TangStarCraft

To arrange a coaching session contact him at: voidraycoaching(at)gmail.com
(NA and EU regions)

If you’re a coach and are interested in being reviewed on LearningSC2.com please contact me!

More Coach Reviews LearningSC2.com >>>

Being a Protoss who wants a long PvP is a hard life. The Warpgate mechanics that make Protoss so unique and fun to play also makes for a very powerful timing attack – the Four Gate. The Four Gate gives a large flood of units early in the game and allows for an aggressive early game that can damage an opponent greatly or kill them outright. It is relatively simple to execute (although difficult to perfect) making it very popular and very hard to deal with, especially for newer players.

In fact the Four Gate can become a nightmare for some players making them dread the PvP matchup which is a shame as there is a lot of fun to be had in the Protoss vs Protoss late game. In this article I will go through how to identify a Four Gate, how to stop it and how to transition after the attack has been defended.

Scouting the Four Gate

Scouting is the most important part of beating a Four Gating player. Effective scouting will allow you to identify that they are Four Gating, gauge the type of Four Gate they are doing and kill the proxy Pylon and Probe.

Signs of a typical Four Gate:

• Nexus has high energy – After two Chrono Boosts are spent on Probes the Four Gating player will save up energy to Chrono Boost the Warpgate Research. This is true for all all Four Gates as the faster the research finishes the stronger the attack will be.
• Missing Pylons – Count the number of Pylons in your base then count his. Is one of his missing? It is likely hidden somewhere near your base so that your opponent can Warp units in. Although this is a common sign of a Four Gate it could also be an indicator of a hidden tech build such as Stargate or DTs.
• Stalker and Probe (and possibly a Zealot) moving out together – This is the best but latest indicator of an incoming Four Gate. The opponent will move towards your base with these units and then build a Pylon to reinforce his attack.

Signs of a ‘Korean Four Gate’ (Pure Zealot):

There are two sides to scouting in PvP. Firstly, identifying the Four Gate, and, secondly, map control to spot Probes and Pylons.

Initially you want to look for the above indicators by sending a Probe to your opponents base on 9 or 13 supply. Sending the Probe on 9 is safer but is less economic then sending it on 13. Poke around their base for as long as possible to get as much information as possible. Once they start building their first Stalker it’s a good idea to pull your Probe back.

Once you have identified that the Four Gate is incoming its important to begin having as much map vision and control as possible. Check around your natural expansion with your Zealot and send you Stalker to scout around the map and to check the opponents front. Try to hold the Xel Naga towers as much as possible as this will help you spot the Probe on its way to build a Pylon. If you can spot that and kill it you will gain a huge advantage. Hold map control and the Xel Nagas until the very moment your opponent moves out then give up map control and head back to your base to prepare.

Stopping the Four Gate 

The following is assuming you are defending with 3 Gateways or a defensive 4 Gate. The following will also work with an Immortal-based defence except you will be unlikely to have as much early map control. Other builds that are specifically designed to defeat a 4 Gate will have their own methods but more often than not they will revolve around the same principles.

Before 5:50

Being active with your initial units is crucial. Send your Zealot to check for proxy Pylons near your Natural and send your first Stalker to check the Xel Naga towers and try and intercept any Probes.

If you encounter any of his units converge all of yours and try to kill them, even doing a small amount of damage will help you a lot. Be cautious not to lose anything yourself, if he outnumbers you (particularly in Stalkers) give up map control and pull back to your ramp.

If you are planning on defending with Immortals you will likely have more Zealots than Stalkers and your map control will be limited at this point, keep your Zealots near your ramp.

Holding the Xel Naga will often help you spot the Probe heading to Proxy.

After 5:50

Once you have pulled back to your ramp arrange your units in an arc at the top. Make sure you position some Stalkers to prevent Pylons from being warped in. I find it extremely helpful to put all of my units on ‘Hold’ as this prevents them from being baited down the ramp and allows you to focus on macro and Force Fields. 

It is extremely important to always have a Force Field available to block your ramp. If your Sentry is low on energy always preference warping in another Sentry over a Stalker. Six Sentries are able to Force Field a ramp perpetually but it is unlikely that you will get to this point defending a 4 Gate.

If you can split his units as they try to move up the ramp and kill one or two Stalkers each time you will get ahead on Stalker count very quickly. This puts you in an excellent position if he pulls back. If he continues to try to win with the 4 Gate you can just keep Force Fielding and gaining small advantages.

Units on Hold at the top of the ramp.

Cutting a small amount of units with the FF maximizes your defenders advantage.

Transitioning with an Advantage

 After defending a 4 Gate you should have at least one of the following advantages:

• Economy/Probe advantage,
• Gas/Technology advantage,
• Unit advantage.

Keep in mind whilst defending how you can work towards these advantages. For example, in a defensive 4 Gate situation you should be aiming for a slight Probe advantage by building a few as you defend. You should also be trying to get the Unit advantage by cutting his army on the ramp while not losing too many of your own units.

In a defensive 3 Gate situation you should be getting as much gas as possible and maximizing your Stalker count while remaining safe with as few Sentries as possible. The extra gas you have collected can then be used to transition to Blink Stalkers, a Robotics Bay or a Starport.

Other openings will have one of the above advantages as its main goal. It is important that you identify this and think about how you can work towards that goal. 

In the Protoss vs Protoss early game you will have to be comfortable gaining and keeping a very small advantage. Having a few extra Probes or a bit of extra Gas will secure you a long-term victory but it can be easy to lose that advantage if you try to move too quickly. Holding a small advantage is more important then gaining a large advantage or even getting a quick kill.

Things to Note

No matter which build you are using the smooth execution of your opening will play a big role in your success. Early supply blocks will result in a loss when facing a 4 Gate (or any rush for that matter). As such, it is important that you practice your opening against the AI or a friend until you can do it without any errors. Remember, it will be a lot harder to perform a flawless opening when you are being attacked.

If you Chronoboost your Gateways instead of Waprgate research you will have an easier time gaining early map control and denying Proxy Pylons. Unless you are defensive 4 Gating it is a good idea to do this.

Denying the first Pylon can set the opponent back by 10-20 seconds and one Zealots worth of Minerals. It may be worth sacrificing your initial Zealot to do this.

Additional Resources 

• Replay – A replay of a ‘Textbook’ 4 Gate defence showcasing some of the ideas in this article.

• Build – Safe PvP 3 Gate build.

• Opening – Triple Stalker rush. This opening is built around the idea of gaining early map control to deny the 4 Gate.

Have you had a lot of trouble with the 4 Gate in PvP? If you have any tips or advice to add or if you found this article helpful please leave a comment!

I first found Quilliam on Reddit offering his coaching to the community for a very reasonable price and this immediately grabbed my attention. In his post Quilliam noted that:

“You don’t necessarily need a pro-level coach to improve your game dramatically, especially for the hourly $ value.” – Quilliam.

Prior to reading this I had been thinking about the idea of beginner-oriented coaching at beginner-accesible prices. So finding this post was very good timing and I promptly contacted Quilliam about his services. 

I decided to ask him a few questions about his coaching:

“How would you describe your coaching style? And, how would you describe your play-style?

First and foremost, as a coach I always try to focus on the underlying reasons behind both our larger strategic goals as well the finer points of play such as building placement, production order, etc. I feel that players are given an opportunity to improve most when they understand why the game plays out like it does. I’ve watched many coaching sessions on the pros’ streams, and have always been baffled at the prevalence of “build this. now build that. no, move that here. now build this.” style coaching. In my experience, this affords no time for the student to actually absorb this information, let alone begin to think about WHY it’s being recommended.

As far as my play style is concerned, I’m definitely a macro-oriented player. I believe I have strong micro, though, so I get my “kicks” by mixing in the occasional risky pressure build! Most of the time, however, I’m obsessively searching for the safest, most optimal play at any given stage of the game.

“I first found you on Reddit offering very reasonably priced coaching for people below Masters level and this piqued my interest. Tell me why you decided to do this?”

I consider there to be a saturation of professional and semi-professional coaches with high visibility, either through reputation, tournament results, or streaming followers. I’m not one of these people. While I remain very passionate about Starcraft, it’s still just a hobby for me. That being said, it’s a hobby that I pour a lot of time and effort into, and I wanted to find a way to pass that on! Am I Grandmasters? No. Am I about to tear up the open bracket of MLG? Not any time soon, but unless you’re in Masters or above, you don’t necessarily need a pro-level coach to improve your game dramatically (especially considering their hourly rates). I’m a patient and thoughtful coach who takes a structured, digestible approach to improving your game, and I get a lot of personal satisfaction from seeing my students improve!

“How do you think coaching can help newer players?”

I’ve often seen this very question posted on several forums. Generally speaking, I believe that anyone with enough motivation and time on their hands (emphasis on time) can become an incredible Starcraft player by poring through strategy forums like TeamLiquid.net, watching resources like the Day[9] daily, and playing a ton of games. Hiring a coach to give you personalized and specific guidance, however, greatly speeds up this process, and, as long as your coach is worth their salt, will result in a much more efficient learning process.

“It takes a fair bit of love for the game to get where you are and to want to teach others, what makes you love StarCraft 2?” 

The best way that I’ve heard Starcraft 2 described goes something like the following: at its best, Starcraft requires the mental strategy of a grandmaster chess player coupled with the dexterity of a concert pianist. I find that Starcraft 2 imbues an obsessive desire to become a better, smarter player into even the most casual of gamers, and it’s precisely that quality which excites me so much about the game. I love the coaching process, and I get immense satisfaction from using my experience to help newer players who feel overwhelmed by the game.

Review

After hearing Quilliam’s responses to my questions I was excited to give him a try! I decided I wanted to my worst matchup at the moment – Protoss vs Terran, specifically, dealing with the ‘1/1/1’ timing attack that is so popular on the ladders right now. 

The Session

Quilliam began the session by asking me how I usually begin a PvT. He then had me play a game against to see where I was at mechanically and so that we had a replay to work off. While we watched the replay he asked me a few questions about the matchup. Through this we discovered that my weakness in the matchup is derived from not knowing how to scout the Terran and how to react to what I see. This part of the coaching took no longer than 10 minutes.

Quilliam then jumped into a game versus the AI to show me a solid opening and a few ways of scouting the Terran. At key moments he would pause the game to discuss what could be happening at that moment and how I could react. This was very helpful as it gave me time to think about each situation and to ask questions.

Next Quilliam had me attempt to execute the opening and to simulate a few of the scouting techniques that he showed me. After this I had a few questions which he was able to answer easily.

We quickly jumped into another game to see how well I could identify and react to his 1/1/1 timing attack. Using the techniques he showed me I was able to easily identify the 1/1/1 and reacted well only losing to a very deadly supply block which we identified afterwards.

The hour-long session was very smooth from start to finish and no time was wasted organizing anything.

Coaching Style

Quilliam takes the traditional ‘watch me then emulate’ coaching style and adds in a few very nice touches. Pausing during his demonstration to explain and allow me to ask questions was very helpful. We also spent a good amount of time discussing the ‘why’ behind the opening and scouting techniques. As an analytical player I really appreciated this. As he stated in his interview Quilliam did not simply “bark orders” at me.

Right from the very beginning it was easy to easy to tell that Quilliam has had a lot of experience coaching. He was very well organised and knew exactly how to tackle the problem I was having. It is also worth noting that he was very friendly and good humoured. 

Overall Value

Quilliam does not have the knowledge and experience of a high-level professional StarCraft player but I never felt that this impacted his ability to help me with my specific problem. His experience in coaching and professional style made me forget the notion that he might be lacking in knowledge very quickly.

Unfortunately Quilliam does not offer a video recording of the session like some players do due to hardware constraints but said that he would like to in the future.

At such a reasonable price the value of the hour of coaching that I got from Quilliam was easily comparable to an hour that could be had with a much higher level coach. What I learned in this session has easily saved me 10 hours of practice and study. 

Contact Quilliam

For prices, availability and student testimonials you can check Quilliam’s coaching page at SCVRush.com

If you’re a coach and are interested in being reviewed on LearningSC2.com please contact me!

The Sentry’s Force Field ability is probably one of the most important tools Protoss has. It can be used to defend when an early attack could not otherwise be defended or to assault your opponent while forcing their army into a bad position.

Games can hinge on good Force Fields, it’s not uncommon that an incorrectly placed Force Field will cost a Protoss player the game. It is crucial for your progression as a Protoss player to at least have a decent grasp on Force Field use.

In preparation for this article I looked at a lot of games from three professional players well known for their near-perfect Force Field use: White-Ra, iNcontrol and oGsMC. I have also been doing a lot of work on my own Force Field use, with great results.

How To Cast Force Field

Assuming ‘F’ is the hotkey for Force Field (F is the Default) the to best ways to cast it are:

• ‘F’ > Click each Force Field individually, or,
• Hold ‘F’ down and click for each Force Field you want to cast.

This is purely personal preference, I use the first option because I feel it makes me place each Force Field a little better than if I use the second option. Try both and decide which is more comfortable for you. Do not ‘Shift+F’ Force Fields as it causes the Sentries to cast after they kill the current unit that they are attacking.

How Many Sentries are Needed?

The following is based on my experience and my observations on professional Protoss players. I give a range of recommended Sentry counts so that you can adjust depending on how good your Force Field placement is. If you are not confident that you can be very efficient with your Force Fields use the higher Sentry count suggested.

• When defending one base with a ramp 3-4 Sentries is enough to block the ramp for as long as you want.
• When moving out to take an expansion a minimum of eight Sentries is recommended against Zerg. Eight will allow you to have enough Force Fields to easily defend any Zergling attacks and small Roach pushes for a good amount of time.
• When moving out to attack or secure further expansions 8-10 Sentries is recommended to effectively apply the techniques discussed in this article. This is true in any matchup, especially when you are using Colossus in your army. Effective Force Fields will greatly amplify the effectiveness of Colossus.

Force Field Techniques

The Force Field ability is very versatile and its uses are only limited by your creativity. The following are common techniques that you can use to great effect.

Ramp Block

This is the most simple of the techniques and only requires a bit of timing to do well. Force Fields are used to block enemy forces from coming up (or going down) a ramp. You can place the Force Field to completely block enemy troops or you can attempt cut the army in half as it comes up the ramp netting you a few easy kills.

In the same game WhiteRa uses a Force Field to trap a few Zerglings on a ramp. Easy kills.

Open Field Block

Used to prevent enemy forces from engaging with your army or to prevent flanks. This technique should be used when you want to completely avoid an engagement or if your troops outrange those of the enemies, a common thing for Protoss. You can improve the effectiveness of this technique by utilising chokes, walls or buildings to help block the enemy’s movement.

Zerglings can easily be blocked by using Force Fields in the choke created by the gateway

oGsMC blocks off the Roaches allowing his Stalkers and Colossus to attack freely.

Cut and Trap

Using Force Fields you can cut an enemy’s army in half and trap some of the units to be easily killed by your Zealots. Using this method you can safely chip away at the enemy’s forces whilst taking minimal damage yourself. You can also trap any units caught off guard by creating a concave of Force Fields behind the enemy’s units. I group these two techniques together because cutting an enemy’s army is the same as trapping a portion of it. Using these methods you will never have to engage the enemy at his full strength.

oGsMC uses Force Fields to trap a few roaches that are separated from the Zerg's main army.

In this game I manage to cut a few units off from my enemy's army giving me easy kills.

Bottleneck

A bottle neck is essentially a small choke, it restricts movement to your enemy’s army and causes them to bunch up into a gap. This technique works with splash damage from Colossus or Psi Storms and it also tempts all but the most experienced of players into engaging when they should be pulling back.

The bottleneck created here forces the Terran opponent to either pull back or fight a bad engagement.

Here multiple bottlenecks have disrupt the enemy's arc and maximise the effectiveness of the Colossus.

A Few Tips

Following this advice can help you use your Sentry’s energy more efficiently and help you to have better engagements.

• Troop Movement is extremely important: engaging at chokes or near walls will make your Force Fields much more effective.
• As the enemy approaches throw down one or two Force Fields pre-emptively, then if he continues past those complete the cut. This makes cutting his army easier as it makes a temporary choke-point.
• Try to not overlap your Force Fields, doing so wastes valuable energy that could be used on more Force Fields or Guardian Shield.
• If you have High Templar in a control group casting Force Field becomes difficult, set your Sentries to a different control group to make using Force Field quicker and easier.
• Calm Force Fields are well placed ones. Easier said then done. Try breathing out before you spam them everywhere.

When Force Fields DONT Work (Or, How To Deny the Protoss Force Field Use)

In the following situations Force Fields will hinder you or flat-out not work, avoid over producing Sentries if you encounter one of these.

Against Massive Units

Colossus, Thors, Ultralisks and Archons (as of patch 1.3.3) are all ‘Massive’ class units and will break Force Fields upon contact with them. If your opponent is leading their attack with these units do not Force Field, instead use your energy on Guardian Shield and Hallucinations.

Against Siege Tanks

Siege Tanks are generally stationary and have a long range, using Force Fields when facing a large number of tanks will help your opponent more than you. However, if you can, use Force Fields to prevent Terran’s units from pulling back into range of their tanks using the Cut or Trap techniques.

Against Air

Yep. Doesn’t work against air units.

When Your Opponent is Highly Mobile

This one is a little different. If your enemy is playing a highly mobile game (using fast units and drops or other harrasment) Force Fields become limited in their usefulness overall. You can still use a few Sentries to prevent some attacks but most mobile players will simply attack elsewhere. In this situation limit your Sentry production and instead focus on your own mobile units to counter or build up for an attack.

Has Force Field use been something you have struggled with or are you the oGsMC of your division? I am still having trouble with making sure that I don’t overlap them too much. Let me know about your Force Field skills in the comments below!

A special thank you to Ramzdale for helping me get a few of these awesome pics!

Over the past week I have had what I felt to be a few leaps and bounds in the improvement of my play. As if to acknowledge this last night I was promoted to Gold. Please excuse me for a moment:

WOOOOOOOOOooooooooooHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo!!!

Now that thats out of my system I thought I might discuss what I have been doing up to this point and what I felt got me into Gold.

My Time In Bronze – Playing Random

A lot of my time spent in Bronze was spent simply trying things out and practicing. Although this meant no real ladder progress for a long while (I was in Bronze for many months) I think it went a long way towards shaping my view of the game now and helped me to create my current style.

In Bronze I played as Random, learning all three races really helped me to understand the strengths and limitations of each. It also had another effect: I never blame my losses on race, imbalance etc but rather my own mistakes. Internalising success and failure in this way has really driven me to improve.

If you are currently in Bronze this is my advice: don’t rush. Spend a decent amount of time trying different races, styles, strategies and just practicing the basics of the game.

My Time in Silver – Discovering My Style

Right before I was promoted to Silver I settled on a specific race to play (Protoss), my choice was based on the feeling that Protoss’ mechanics and army control/positioning best suited the style I wanted to play. Most of my time spent in Silver was spent discovering my style. A big part of this process was watching Pro players like iNcontrol and HuK play and trying out things that they did.

It was also around this time that I discovered the chat channel/group PRACBUD. Having such a large group of people willing to play practice games with me really sped up my progress in Silver.

Getting Promoted to Gold – Learning a Match-Up

As I mentioned earlier, about a week ago I had a leap in my gameplay and this was the result of focusing on learning one match-up. Recently, I played in the finals of PRACBUD’s ‘Baneling Cup’ where I lost to an excellent, macro style Zerg player. It was one of the first times where I actually thought “there is no way I can beat this player today”. This really motivated me to learn all about Protoss vs Zerg.

So I just forgot about the other two match-ups and focused entirely on PvZ. I researched, watched games and eventually I discovered a way that I wanted to play the match-up (iNcontrol’s PvZ Style). After practicing this style and learning the ins and outs of the match-up I started winning a lot against Zerg on the ladders (I was regularly beating Gold and Platinum Zergs as a Silver-level player). In game I actually felt extremely confident and the Zerg players seemed really predictable. Of course I was still getting hammered in my other two match-ups.

After about a week of beating nearly every Zerg I played and going about 50/50 with the other races I was promoted to Gold. I take this promotion as a sign that I am on the right track. So my next step is to learn the other two match-ups one at a time and continue my learning of PvZ.

Hopefully this provides some insight into my progress so far and helps to motivate you to continue improving your game as well. I hope to have another one of these articles to write very soon!

Every race in Starcraft 2 has its own unique methods of scouting and detecting cloaked units. This presents a challenge for new players, as there are multiple options available to you and the best one to use is often not so clear. Protoss has a few obvious and a few not so obvious ways of scouting. Much of these are simply personal preference but some are more effective in certain match ups than others. Detection, however, is a bit more strict in its use, specifically Photon Cannon placement. Below is what I have learned to be the effective ways to scout as Protoss as well as the best ways to use your detection options.

Scouting With Your 9 Supply Probe

Use that scout and count those drones.

The ‘standard’ time for Protoss to scout with their probe is at 9/10 supply. Typically, this probe warps in your first Pylon and then heads off to the opponents base. For ease of scouting I set this probe to a control group right at the start of the game (control group ‘0’ is my scouting control group). What this Probe is looking for is the key. First off he wants to eliminate the possibility of your opponent doing a ‘cheesy’ or all-in build. Signs of these types of early builds include:

• Vs. Zerg – Very few Drones and a Spawning pool indicates a ‘6 pool’ Zergling rush or similar.
• Vs. Terran – 2 Barracks and no Refinery indicates a possible ‘2 Rax’ Marine rush.
• Vs. Protoss – 2 Warpgates, no Cybernetics Core indicates a ‘2 Gate’ Zealot rush.
• Vs. Protoss – Empty Protoss base, or only a Pylon and Forge indicates a Cannon rush or Proxy gateways. Go scout in and around your base!

The second objective of that Probe is to identify what your opponent might be planning. There are many small things that you might see that can indicate what your opponent’s plans might be and there is an excellent list of these things on the Team Liquid forums here. Please check them out. While this scouting is important do not let it maintain all of your focus. There is nothing worse than knowing exactly what your opponent is doing but not being able to do anything about it because you have been to busy scouting too build anything.

Protoss Scouting Options

Scouting options for Protoss begin limited, just Probes, Zealots and then Stalkers, but as your tech level increases those options increase exponentially. I will simply list the options that I have heard of/discovered, if you know of any more please let everyone know in the comments section!

Hallucination

Hallucinate is available from the Cybernetics Core and you can begin research on it as soon as your Warpgate Tech is finished. Hallucinate allows you to use a Sentry to create a hallucinated unit of your choice. And your choice will almost certainly be to hallucinate a Phoenix to scout your opponents base. There are two nice things about this tech: firstly, if you are not planning on getting air units a few hallucinated air units can force your opponent to build unnecessary air defences. Secondly, you can use this to scout throughout the game without any further financial cost. Note: Do not attack with the Hallucinated units, they don’t do any damage and your opponent will know that it’s a fake!

Observers

Observers are almost a necessity later in the game, and can be a very effective way to scout before then. Often Protoss will settle for just getting one Observer to scout the opponents base/keep an eye out for cloaked units. Observers are cheap, quick to produce and are cloaked. So get lots of them, you can have one at your opponents front, one at each edge of their bases to watch for drops/air unit harass and one checking for your opponents expansions. With the vision provided by your observers and by having units on Xel Naga watchtowers you will be able to instantly shut down any harass or drops before they do any damage.

Phoenix

Dark Templar can do more than just kill workers.

Phoenix are quick to produce, are one of the fastest moving units in the game, have good harassment capabilities (especially against Zerg) and can provide excellent air superiority. With a few Phoenix it is possible to scout and harass your opponent at the same time. A drawback of using Phoenix for scouting is that their costs will weaken your ground army production by a decent amount. By using them to harass your opponent you can negate this somewhat.

Dark Templar

In a similar fashion to Phoenix, Dark Templar (DT) can harass and scout at the same time. Since they are cloaked, your DTs can just wander into an opponents base and scout before popping over to their mineral line for harassment. DTs usefulness for scouting your opponents base is limited if your opponent is prepared with detection. They can still be extremely useful for watching your opponents front and delaying enemy troop movements (as your opponent cannot move out without first getting mobile detection).

My Scouting Experiences

I have had personal success with using lots of observers, particularly against Terran. I find that I am able to shut down drops much better and can keep Terran contained much more effectively with the mobile vision provided by the Observer. Keeping Terran contained provides me with the extra confidence I need to dominate this matchup. PvT is currently my best matchup as Protoss, and I believe it is due to having excellent vision at all times. When I lose that vision is usually when I lose.

Against Protoss opponents I often use Dark Templar to scout, contain and harass and I have had decent success with this approach. I have found that it is necessary to also get Observers in PvP due to the increasing amount of players that seem to be using Warp Prism harass. I feel that PvP is currently my worst matchup and I need to work on maintaining good vision to overcome this hurdle. I may experiment with using Hallucination in this matchup.

I typically use DTs and Observers against Zerg, but I have had success with the Phoenix approach in the past. Zerg can, however, react very quickly to DTs if they are at Lair tech (if not DTs will be the end of them). As such I think I may lean more towards Phoenix in the PvZ matchup in the future.

Photon Cannons

Tucking a Cannon into the minerals like this will help those probes feel safe.

Its good practice to put at least 1 Photon Cannon in each of your mineral patches. This is mainly for the detection they provide but they also act as a deterrent for any light harassment. For as long as your army is fairly close to your bases this will be pretty much all you need. Once you expand more or start to move your army out it is always a good idea to put up extra cannon in the back of each base. This will effectively defend you from any harassment or counter attacks that may come.

I have had many, many games in the past where I have ended up trading bases with my opponent due to a counter attack drop in the back of my main base. I have also lost a lot of games due to cloaked Banshee harass. After I started putting up one Cannon in each of my mineral lines cloaked Banshees have not been a problem. However, I am still having trouble remembering to throw up those extra Cannon later in the game, and it has ended up costing me a few wins.

Do you have any other tips or strategies that you use to scout/detect with Protoss? If so, share them with me below!

When you first begin to play Starcraft 2 against other human beings one thing will almost always happen; you will feel that the game is pretty clear cut. Starcraft is just about who has the better units or who can play faster right? The truth is Starcraft is just like many other learning experiences, the more you learn the more you realise there is to know.

“Starcraft 2 is just like many other learning experiences, the more you learn, the more you realise there is to know.”

Once I started to realise the scope of what there is to understand about this game I felt utterly lost. I had played a few other strategy games before I played SC2 but I had never ventured below the surface of these games, and when it happened with SC2 I knew that I wanted to learn everything but I had no idea where to begin.

Chances are if you are reading this post you are just starting to realise that there is a lot more to this game than you first thought. The question of “what are the crucial first things to learn?” has been bothering me for many months now, but I think I have finally got it down.

This series of articles (The Very Beginning) will be about those things which I have discovered were the most important things to learn in the very beginning. The first thing I will be looking at and the first thing you should learn about is the Races. This article will also talk about picking your race.

Starcraft 2’s Races

First of all, in Starcraft 2 there are three races; Terran, Protoss and Zerg. Right you already knew that but the important thing is actually the differences between them. It is important to note that no one race is better than the others, nor is any race easier to learn. But they are all very different and you may find that you prefer the way one race plays over the others.

“No one race is better than the others, nor is any race easier to learn.”

A very general description would see us describe the three races in the following way:

Terran

Terran is seen as the most resourceful race, they have many tactical options available to them and can come back from the brink of a loss if the opponent does not completely destroy them. As mankind is known for utilising their surroundings to their fullest advantage so to do Terran. On the scale of troop numbers to troop survivability Terran are the middle ground with a good number of fairly survivable units.

Planetary Fortress are the best defensive building in the game, especially when combined with the repair ability of the SCV.

Main features of Terran:

• The ability to wall of  ramps or choke points with buildings that can either lift off or submerge to allow units to pass.
• The ability for most buildings to lift off and fly to a new location make them able to relocate to a new base or tactical position with ease.
• SCV’s can repair buildings and mechanical units. This feature allows for easier defence as well as the ability to maintain an aggressive mechanical army.
• Free bunkers. Bunkers can be salvaged for a refund of their cost price. As such, they can be used defensively and aggressively with little economic risk.
• Planetary fortress are an extremely powerful defensive option and are even better when combined with SCV’s repair ability.
• Cloaked helicopters. Need I say any more?

Protoss

Protoss is an advanced and ancient race but their numbers are few. They make up for this by being the sturdiest of the three races and also by having an excellent selection of support units. This combination often sees deceptively small forces of Protoss units overcome much larger armies.

Forcefields can turn the tide of a battle for Protoss.

Main features of Protoss:

• Buildings warp in rather than build. A Probe need only start the Warp-in process after which they can move on to another task. This feature means that can a single Probe can set up an entire base very quickly.
• A selection of Protoss’ units can be warped in almost instantly anywhere a power grid exists (created by Pylons and Warp Prisms). This means that a large defensive army can be raised instantly or that an attacking army can be easily reinforced. Warping in of units can also be used to sneakily bypass opponents defensive forces.
• All Protoss units and structures have a good selection of Psionic abilities such as forcefields can change the course of any battle.
• Lasers are cool!

Zerg

Zerg is a race of insect like units that are controlled by a single mind entity. Zerg units are individually fragile but they more than make up for this with far greater numbers than the other races. If you are precious with your units Zerg is not for you. Zerg players are well known to expand, surround and chip away at the enemy army until an opening in their defences is found at which point they flood in and devour everything.

Attacks from a Nydus Worm can end the game for an unprepared enemy.

Main features of Zerg:

• Larvae system see multiple units able to spawn at the same time. Because of this it is possible for Zerg to replenish its forces almost as quickly as they are killed.
• Many units can burrow underground and some can even tunnel allowing for the repositioning of units and giving them the ability to carry out a surprise attack after which they can re-burrow and tunnel away.
• Nydus Network allows for entire armies to enter a giant worm at one end and exit at another end anywhere the Zerg player has vision. Using this an army can even be released in the back of your opponents base, attack, and when defensive forces arrive the army can retreat to the safety of the network. This mechanic easily makes Zerg the most mobile race.
• Zerg players are arguably the most badass of Starcraft 2 players.

Selecting Which Race to Play

Selecting your race can be difficult, so just pick which you think is the coolest!

Choosing one race to stick with is advisable at the beginner level, specialising in this way allows you to learn moreabout your race and how it plays. After you are confident with one race you may wish to learn another or to play random, but in the beginning pick just one. But how do you make this decision, what if you end up hating the race?

Well, the first thing to remember is your choice is not permanent. If you do want to learn another race at a later date you can easily do it and what you learned with your first race is not wasted. On the contrary, it gives you a deeper understanding of that race’s strengths and weaknesses which will benefit you when you play against them.

I recommend that you just pick your first race purely based on which one you think is the coolest, which one you think suits your personality the most or which one you think will be most fun to play. After all you want to identify with your race choice and to have fun with it.

Which race did you choose? If you have already decided how did you come to that decision? Leave a comment and let everyone know!