A way to set up an efficient defense as Protoss: Part 2

Last time we already learned how to secure our ecoline from harass in the PvP mirror. This time I want to take a look at the two remaining match ups, and their most established ecoline killers: Bio with Medivacs and Mutalisks. Both share an incredible mobility, which makes it easy to catch an unprepared Protoss player out of position, but once you get an eye for the important things, they become easy to hold off.

Your most important tool is the minimap, it's your life policy. You need to keep an eye on it as often as possible. The earlier you spot incoming units, the more time you have to place and reorganize your units. A missed look can decide a game, since most of your units are slower than boosted Medivacs or Mutalisks. In case you know your opponent is sending something towards your base, try to spot his position.

Remember: one quick look at the minimap at the cost of a slightly delayed unit is pretty cheap compared to a destroyed economy. As Protoss, you have the slowest recovery of workers in the game. All you have is your Chronoboost, but after the early midgame is over you really want it on your upgrades and units, not on your nexus.

In PvT you have one big unique advantage, because Bio play is very common and currently something like the default strategy. If you don't spot any Mech play besides Hellbats and initial Widow Mines, you can certainly be sure that you will have to deal with drops at least once in the game. The higher your league, the more often Terrans will try to catch you at a weak moment.

In PvZ you need to scout his unit composition, gas use and Lair timing. An early Lair, defended by just Zerglings while still running on 4 gases is a heavy indicator for a timing attack with gas heavy units, like Mutalisks.

Medivacs like Mutalisks, both will always focus your mineral line as primary target, which leads us the the next very important and often even on pro level disregarded point. The fact that many Drops or harass are aimed for the area around your probes, makes the space behind the mineral line very dangerous for any kind of important buildings, including your tech structures. In fact it's the worst place where you could place your most important tech buildings like Robotics Bay or the Templar Archive.

If you don't make it in time to defend the drop, you can be sure that those buildings are the first which get sniped down. In this spot you drop so far behind, that the game is theoretically over. For this reason you should place your important structures always on spots which are easy to defend, for example the area between your main Nexus and your natural expansion. This limits the damage which can be dealt with a single harass attempt.

 

The next step is getting as much vision as your opponent let's you take. Vision is important because time can heavily affect the outcome of trades. With more available time you can move units over a longer distance or finish warp ins where you need them, in addition it helps you to prepare your Forcefields and position your army. A good unit for this purpose are of course observers, you should get at least 3 for area's which are hard to spot. An underestimated tool are Pylons which are spread over the map. When you go into a heavy high tech composition with Colossi and High Templars, you will always have a few minerals flooding your bank to afford those. 

The Pylons have the disadvantage of being lost when they are spotted, compared to observers they have two advantages which are outstanding. The first one is obvious, you get a lot of Warp-in spots around the whole map. The second is a mindgame. You know that your opponent will and has to destroy them when he spots any Pylons on the map, and that's what you want to abuse. On small circular maps like Bel'Shir Vestige you can place one or two to guard the way to the entrance of your third or fourth base. This will not only allow you to see approaching Medivacs or army in time, but will also delay his push or completely shut down his drop for a moment. 

Keep in mind to use this tool only at the most important places, maybe even only hidden on highgrounds when you are facing a Zerg, since it doesn't afford a lot of effort for him to send a few lings to destroy it

Defending your base

At this point I want to split the case in two parts, starting with the PvT.

Once you spot an incoming Medivac, or when it already arrived, use a small force to defend it, not your whole army. You can never be sure if he wants to outsmart you. The ideal numbers of units you want to have are 3 Stalkers and 2-4 Zealots. Additional warp ins help you to deny any kind of damage, focus the Medivac with your Stalkers while Zealots are dealing with the Marines. Your primary target should be the Medivac itself. One reason is, because it's an expensive unit and a loss can really hurt a Terran.

Besides getting rid of it you want to trade in an effective way with his units. Without a Medivac he loses the ability to stim cost effectively, and also the option to fully retreat. The magic numbers are 3 Stalkers for 1, and 6 for 2 Incoming Medivacs, to 4 respectively to 2 shot them. Overall you need 11 shots as Medivacs are armored, and Stalkers deal bonus damage against them.

If you feel like you need a cannon, place it there where you avait the biggest action, somewhere near to your mineral line. Placing them at the edges of your base doesn't work that well anymore after the Boost buff. Your cannons will only deal DPS while the Medivacs are about to boost over them, which isn't as cost effective as at a place around your minerals.

 

Against Mutalisks you want to split your army to cover all bases, this is your biggest advantage. Stalkers deal descently in a straight up fight, at least well enough to buy you enough time until the rest of your army joins. You most likely have to place cannons to get additional DPS for the defense, at this point it is important to take an in depth view at the situation. Many players, even professionals, tend to place their cannons around their mineral lines. If we take a closer look at their impact on the fights when they are placed there, we will see a few disadvantages. I won't say it's wrong, but the Zerg gains a lot of space in your base and fly close to your Nexus, which makes it easier to predict the risks for him. In addition, when he decides to trade a few Mutalisks against a cannon, you won't only lose the cannon, but also a few Probes which die to the bouncing attacks.

The slightly better solution is a placement at the edge of your base. This way you force a decision by him when he is still faw away from your minerals, he can't just ignore and fly over them, cause he doesn't know what's waiting behind in your base. If he decides to go for a trade, you have enough time to position your units. He will always be far away from being able to deal damage to your economy, and that's what you want. It also makes it easier for your Stalker forces to cover the remaining areas

 

Ideally you want to get your first Phoenix out before the first Mutalisks spawn. If that's not the case you are forced to go out with a few units and your Mothership Core to deal significant damage to his third. You have nothing to fear besides Zerglings, in case you are standing in front of an impossible task, you can always teleport back. The point is to hurt him as much as you can while it's possible. Defending long enough while teching up to High Templars isn't that viable anymore after the Mutalisks got the Health regeneration buff. He will continue to mass up Mutalisks, and when you finally get your storms, he will be able to afford a poke into one while sniping out some key units. Those trades are extremely hard to win, for this reason you should use your Sentry energie to spot everything what he is doing with Hallucinations.