Written by: Cyniko
PvZ late-game with Socke and MC
LZGamer's Mutalisk/Swarm host in PvZ Jaedong's and Leenock's double evo opening against Naniwa 
Goody's mech in PvT
Inspirational Protoss play is not easy to come by these days. sOs, Rain, and PartinG are the names that are thrown around as the top dogs of Aiur. While there’s no dispute that these three are great, there’s a lack of inspiration from them lately. The type of inspiration that hits you right in the gut and makes you think “damn, what am I watching right now?!” The type of inspiration that makes watching Flash and Innovation so fascinating because you feel them pushing their race to new limits each time you watch them. No wild all-in or total reliance on funky timings, but an overall approach to a match-up that is so solid you can’t help but admire it.
That’s exactly the type of inspiration that First was able to achieve against Fantasy in the OSL Ro 16. Let’s look at 5 reasons why.
PvT in Heart of the Swarm has been progressing similarly to how it did in Wings of Liberty. Protoss players are figuring out how to play defensively until they get the economy and tech to feel comfortable against the Terran. In most cases, the defensive protoss builds are thought out to the point where they can defend perfectly against hellbat and widow mine aggression with the least amount of investment. If the aggression is held off with low probe losses and minimal investment, it’s considered a big success.
First takes it one inspirational step further and has counter harassment as an integral part of his PvT Philosophy. It doesn’t matter which defensive build he chooses because as long as he holds off the aggression, he’s coming for blood.
In Game 1, First stayed on just one gateway for so long and was able to get an incredibly strong economy and quick robotics as a result. He held off Fantasy’s marine/hellion/widow mine/hellbat aggression with the perfect amount of gateway units and static defense, and he utilized the reward of a better economy in an aggressive manner. He was able to rush out a quick warp prism into Fantasy’s main base and put him on the back foot, which allowed First to take control of the game by following up with DTs.
In Game 2, First opened phoenix to crush the hellbat aggression that he scouted and then stayed very consistent with phoenix harassment throughout the game. It’s intuitive that once you utilize phoenix defensively that you should use them offensively, but rather than just wait around for medivacs to expose themselves or only scout for more drops, First was able to pick off units coming out of barracks as often as possible.
Two different defensive builds from First with the same principle, don’t leave the terran alone when you’ve executed a perfect defense.
A perfect defense followed by a quick warp prism and third nexus from First puts him in a great position coming into the mid-game.
Red pylons all around the map
To be clear about this list, it’s not any one of these reasons in isolation that make First’s play inspirational, but all of them combined. Reason #2 is something we’ve seen out of all top protoss players in all match-ups, but it’s how he gets there that’s the inspiration. If you look at reason #1, it’s a great way to approach the PvT match-up, but it’s the additional advantages he picks up during the harassment that sets him even further apart.
One of those big advantages is the amount of pylons he’s able to get around the map that gives him incredible map awareness and harass potential for the rest of the game. These pylons are the hidden dark knights of First’s first map victory. Once Fantasy’s aggression is shut down and First ramps up his counter harassment, Fantasy has less opportunity to be active on the map. A lesser protoss would just begin to place pylons down around the map and Fantasy could just as easily kill them. However in both of their games, First was able to get a serious amount of pylons up because Fantasy was busy with zealots and phoenix constantly locking him down. First was able to utilize the proxy pylons to harass the third of Fantasy in both games which makes it a clear part of his overall strategy.
It’s no mystery that part of the reason First was so fascinating to watch was because of his relentless warp prism production, and that prisms are more viable because of the speed buff making it faster than the Viking. Once again, the reason his play is inspirational isn’t just because he made a bunch of buffed warp prisms, any player can do that. It was the way he utilized his robotics facility at all points in the game that made it something special.
First starts by getting an observer, but in many cases will follow with a warp prism as soon as it’s safe. Once he has established some harass and containment with one prism, he will continue with unit production in immortals or colossus. This isn’t wild play yet, but where it gets interesting is that when First decides he wants to start his transition into high templar. When he’s made the decision to switch tech, First turns his robotics facility into an aggressive mineral dump. 200 minerals for the prism and as many zealots as he wants, anywhere he wants. This was non-stop warp prism production coming in and forcing Fantasy to play defensive during the delicate transition to templar.
No matter what build or style you play as protoss, every single one knows the feeling when you’re trying to transition into high templar. The fundamental principle of utilizing what is typically a gas-intensive defensive tech structure and turning it into an aggressive mineral dump is something First does in both games, and it proves to be vital to his victory.
Utilizing his proxy pylons and warp prisms, First aggressively mineral dumps into Fantasy’s mineral lines throughout the game, despite the presence of bunkers
Another advantage of the constant harass besides safely getting a large bank of high templar on the field is the economy First is able to secure through this style. Not only does he secure a quicker third occasionally, but more importantly a quicker fourth. Many will focus on the fact that First won these games simply because he was able to secure a fourth base each game while denying Fantasy’s third.
It’s incredibly important. It’s the reason he was able to continue his mineral dump aggression and pool his gas for more high templar and colossus which sealed up the games for him.
The four reasons listed so far put First in a great position to take the game, but the final reason ties it all together. First’s patient positional play is something we’ve seen from other top protoss players such as Rain. However, it’s the way he is able to utilize his constant aggression throughout the game but know exactly when to be patient with his main army. First establishes that fourth base and holds onto it, knowing that as long as Fantasy never gets a fourth, he can continue to cost-effectively trade against bio until he takes the game. First knows just how strong defender’s advantage is in this match-up, and it’s the reason he never made a full commitment to a frontal attack until it was a 100% sure-win.
I want to note that First was very conservative with stalkers for a large portion of the game. He warps them in right when he feels the threat of the Vikings, and it shows how beautifully First paces his economy and harassment with his production and tech. He only warps them in to punish Vikings when they get out of position. First dances back and forth while warping in mass zealots into the main until he pulls you apart. Inspirational play from start to finish with complete control, First should be on everyone’s radar.
First takes a note out of the Terran playbook and continues to split Fantasy’s army and look for holes while never fully committing at the front
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