Guide: Tail's 14 Gate 16 Nexus PvZ

I hope I'm not the only one who sometimes feels the monotony of grinding the ladder. Most of us have a "go to" build in every match up. Things might change depending on the opponent, map or what we scout but the opener always stays the same. PvZ, for a lot of us Protoss, is probably that matchup. How many of you just FFE or die trying every game?

The good news is, if you're anything like me, you like to shake things up a bit and I've got just the build for your PvZ. Let's just call it the "Tails 14 Gate 16 Nexus" special. 

While Tails doesn't stream this build anymore (he FFEs now,) I watched and learned from him for about a week while he experimented with this opening every game early in this season. To say that he dominated every PvZ doesn't do his experiments quite the justice they deserve. I don't think I ever saw him lose a PvZ until he started FFEing. He peaked at a very brief #1 GM on the NA ladder during that week, taking games off players like Idra and more.

If you fellow Protoss don't follow the always awesome and extremely underrated Tails, hailing from team MVP, you really should. But for me, this build was more than just another crazy innovation from a top level player. This was a build to break the monotony of a meta game that sometimes makes the ladder feel more like a chore.

Since Tails doesn't save his streams or post replays and I can't find anything about this build via Google, liquipedia or on drop.sc, I'm pretty much stuck with my own experience on the ladder as well as what I learned from watching Tails. I'll try to post replays later if people are really interested to see it in action but I'll admit, I'm no grand master... Or master.

The opener:
9 - Pylon
2x Chrono on Nexus
14 - Gateway
16 - Nexus
16 - Gas
16 - Cyber Core
16 - Pylon
16 - Zealot (chrono)
18 - Resume Probes
19 - Zealot (chrono)

The basic idea of this opener is a fast expo but still getting fast Warp Gate tech research and a few Zealots to counter any early Ling harass. Baring any cheese, you'll be hitting a delayed 4 Gate timing off 2 bases instead of 1, and then reacting from there. You want to build your first 2 Pylons, Gateway and Cyber Core against your main base (as if preparing for an early pool) and leave your Nexus at your natural all by itself for now.

Like so:

The options available to the Protoss player from here are all based upon scouting.

One of the things I've noticed on the ladder is that Zerg simply don't know how to respond to this kind of opening. It's not exactly standard. It seems they're often left wondering "that's a fast Nexus, should I get a 3rd Hatch up?" Or "his front door is wide open, should I just mass lings and run them in?" The one thing that is for certain is that the answers from Zerg players are extremely varied. A lot of what you do after 19 supply is based upon what you scout.

Do also keep in mind that Tails never scouts, he just figures out where his opponent spawned before the push and pushes out when the time is right. As weird as that sounds, he swears that the extra minerals from mining are worth never sending the Probe. While his philosophy on scouting might be efficient, some of us mere mortals still ladder with 6 pool heroes. Which conveniently brings me to the "what ifs."

What if he cheeses? (Pool first AKA: 6-9 Pools, any play where the Zerg drops a Pool before he makes a second Overlord)

Cancel your 2nd Nexus and drop a Forge back by your Gateway/Cyber Core. Drop a Pylon and Cannons to protect your mineral line and production facilities while you chrono out enough Zealots. You may have to defend with just Zealots/Probes while Cannons warp in since your Forge is much later than the standard FFE.

Most everyone should know how to deal with a 6 Pool so I'll spare all the details. If somebody 6 Pools, you're in an even better spot than a FFE Protoss because you shouldn't even lose your 2nd Pylon or Forge and you can get upgrades going during or immediately after the attack. Not to mention with your Forge still intact you can Cannon rush with warp ins at his natural if he tries to expand. Defending requires a bit of micro with Zealots/Probes but it's nothing too complicated.

What if he didn't Pool First but is still one basing? (10-14 pool)

This is probably less common than getting 6 pooled but could be completely normal in low leagues. Continue scouting because he may be hiding an expo somewhere. I would still get the expo up but instead of dropping 3 more gates, get a Forge and 2 more gates. Get Cannons at your natural's wall ASAP.  Once you can afford some tech between constant warp ins off 3 gates and Probe production, I'd go Robo for Obs scouting and Immortals. At this point you should focus Chronos into WG or units and prepare for an early Roach rush or Baneling bust. If you hold the aggression and he never expands you auto win with additional gates and a counter attack. However, I've never actually seen an opponent elect for this option. Once a Zerg sees you take your Natural his immediate reaction is always to follow suit.

What if he follows up with his own expo? (A pretty much standard play)

Great! Because this is where the build gets fun. You want to drop your 22 supply Pylon up front at the choke point to your natural. You'll be using your next 3 Gateways to nearly wall off the front, leaving a spot for a Zealot/Pylon to finish the wall. You'll likely be dropping the Gates around 28 supply but if you're early (without cutting probes) it can be better to just drop them as you can to at least make a Zergling funnel for your Zealots to catch run by's in.

I can't count how many times staggering my Gateways (instead of the standard 4 Gate method of saving up 450 minerals and dropping all 3 Gates at the same time) has saved me a lot of headache by funneling late Lings into my awaiting Zealots.

Here you can see my wall up front:

You're essentially lining up a 4 gate timing attack for when Warp Gate tech finishes but don't chrono Warp Gate unless you have to (IE: All Gates are almost done but you're going to be waiting on WG tech,) just let it finish and focus chrono on Probe production.

Keep scouting and maybe setup a proxy Pylon outside his 3rd!

What if he is 2 basing? (The common signs are more than 1 gas or continued gas mining after speed Lings/Lair)

I usually forget about the 4 Gate timing attack if I'm sure he's staying on 2 bases. At this point the 4 gate will already be up but will be used more defensively. The reason being that, he's likely massing units already on 2 base and moving out to proxy and setup the attack can often be deadly if you're caught in the open by speed Lings or a lot of Roaches, especially with a small army before a few rounds of warp ins. Even if you get the proxy pylon up, 4 Gates is not enough to reinforce with, especially if he's dedicated enough to throw down a macro Hatch or Spine wall on 2 bases. If you suspect he is staying on 2 bases, start getting more than 2 gases and tech up.

At this point I'd get up a Robo first for Obs/Immortals, as most Zergs will be going for Roaches but your first Obs should scout to confirm that before investing heavily into Immortal/Robo play. Adding 2 more gates (for 6 total) and getting a Forge for upgrades/maybe Cannons are generally the choices after Robo. If things really drag on or you scout an early Spire, add a Twilight Council for more upgrades and the eventual Archon/Storm.

What if he is looking for a third (common sign is a gasless FE or a 1 gas FE) or already took a 3rd?

Awesome! It's time to hit that delayed 4 Gate timing. Just before Warp Gate tech finishes drop your Twilight Council back at base, grab a worker, finish the wall at the front with a Pylon, and go proxy, warp in more units at home and run them up to the proxy, pylon should be done, it's time to attack. Most of the time you'll catch the Zerg with his pants down, forcing tons of units because this attack comes a lot faster than a normal FFE timing attack would, but has that fast Nexus, leaving some Zergs feeling deceptively safe, especially if you were sniping Overlords with a small group of units instead of a large collected army on your way out to proxy.

Here you can see me hiding my extra stalkers while moving out:

I knew his OV was there because I ran my Zealots out beforehand to clear the tower.

Here I'm continuing to clear up to his 3rd while my Probe is off to the left setting up a proxy pylon:

Which ends up baiting some Roaches...

Who get kited back into my full army:

As you can see with my Pylon warping in down in the SW and even more reinforcements coming this Zerg was caught completely off guard. I easily set up a closer Pylon and sniped his third to get me way ahead in this game and eventually win.

This build is not an all-in. Not only will probe production continue during your attack, but more importantly, this attack doesn't have to kill your opponent outright, it just has to force units.

What if the attack rocked him at the 3rd but didn't outright win the game?

If the attack goes really well, a common response from Tails was to drop a Dark Shrine. Most Zergs at this point will be pretty far behind on their Lair tech and Spore Crawlers should be non-existent. DT play can be that final straw that breaks the Zerg, often forcing GG or putting them even further behind in the worker count.

If I'm really steamrolling, I'll just drop some extra Gates during the attack for bigger warp ins later and keep pushing/sniping what I can. Researching Blink or getting a Robo for an Obs to stop burrow play if you're seeing a lot of Roaches, are both good options too. Immortals will have to punch through your own Pylon to get out should you decide to invest in them however building a few to do just that then join in on the fight can be an extremely effective surprise, or you can even leave them at your wall to defend against counter attacks. Dropping a Forge for upgrades is a great idea anytime extra minerals allow it too.

Taking your 3rd is also always an option, especially if you never actually sniped their 3rd Hatch but instead just traded efficiently and got ahead. Getting more ahead never hurts but leave some units guarding the wall or consider pulling back to establish your base as, without cannons, you're relying on warp ins/sentries to keep counter attacks out of your base.

What if the attack didn't go particularly well for me at the 3rd?

Pulling back is always an option if you don't like the fight at the third. Provided you didn't get your whole army killed, with your Twilight Council already up or coming and a decent amount of probes at your bases, transitions to more standard play are really quite easy. Most of the time I drop a Robo/Forge before I go up to 6 gates from here. Of course if you're seeing tons of Lings still, then suspect Banes and Spire tech (muta/corrupter play.) So I'd tech up to HT and Storm + Forge upgrades before investing too heavily into Robo. But if you're seeing the ever so common, ton of Roaches approach, keep pushing upgrades and teching Robo.

Finally, here's some of the pro's and con's of this opener I've learned over the last month.

Pros:
- Delayed 4 gate can really punish Zergs extremely common gasless fast 3rd openings and generally catch them off guard.
- Gets out faster Gateway pressure, while securing natural, which CAN lead to faster tech (DTs especially.)
- Zergs don't have a standard reaction to this opening and often don't know how to react.

Cons:
- Upgrades don't come as fast as other openers, especially FFE. This means no +1 Zealots chomping down Lings in your first push.
- Dependant on only Gateway unit's during first battles. Robo and Stargate support won't be coming for a while.
- Not nearly as flexible as a FFE (very Gateway dependant, not as much opportunity for say, double Stargate + 3 gates or other, more tech dependant styles.)
- Less room for error, especially if early Lings get in your base.

If you guys have any question or comments feel free to leave them. I hope this build can help some of you who get bored with standard play and want to try out new builds/styles. This one can really throw some Zerg for a loop, is a lot of fun to play and doesn't require a glass of whine to fully enjoy.