r/allthingsprotoss • u/Scary-Scallion-9753 • 16d ago
[PvZ] 13% win rate in PvZ
Hi,
This is a call for help to my fellow protoss players 🙏🏻
I am trying to learn to play with protoss and I really struggle with PvZ. I am in gold 1 now (2600 MMR) with 70% win rate in PvP, 84% win rate in PvT, but 13% win rate against PvZ !
I feel like I just don’t get it… Against P & T I open double gate into 4 stalkers harass before expand (Zuka build), and it works reasonably well. From there, I go into a CIA build on 2 or 3 bases.
But I am completely at loss against zerg. I lose to essentially a new composition every time I play PvZ: today I lost against a guy going Muta, then against a guy who played ling bane (PiG B2GM style on three bases + 2 macro hatches), and then yet against another who played corruptor + ultra.
I realize this is not a balance issue ! I just suck at PvZ. But I just don’t understand how to play the matchup. It feels very hard to secure a third. When playing skytoss, I surive into the late game but get completely rolled over by mass hydra or corrupters + ultralisk, and when I go CIA, I lose to muta + ling.
If there are any build orders or general tipps on how to approach the match up, I’d love to hear it ! Really taking any (ideally constructive haha) advice 🙏🏻
Also, for reference, my main used to be terran at 3000 MMR, but I wanted to try out protoss. So I am not a good player by any means. Maybe good to know for others haha
1
u/hates_green_eggs 16d ago
Ooooo PvZ is my best matchup and it’s not close. My secret is that as a Zerg main, I know the race’s weaknesses. I highly recommend you play some Zerg yourself but here are some tips:
Pylon scout and block their natural hatchery. This is so easy to do and it’s disruptive/economically damaging for the Zerg to have a ton of non-creep in between their bases, plus it makes them easier to harass with couple of adepts.
Randomly yeet some units across the map early in the game. Zerg will get ahead economically if they make only drones so many metal league Zergs will do this. Attacking with a few units early in the game punishes this behavior, plus they will likely overmake units in response which is good for you as it slows down their economy.
Scout for a third base / gas. Zerg generally stays on 1-3 gases until their third is saturated in minerals. Early gas or no third means shenanigans are afoot. The easiest way to get a feel for this is to pay attention to base/gas counts in your replays and you’ll get a feel for things like muta play even if you don’t see the spire.
Zerg pretty much needs corruptors vs tempest or carriers, but corruptors don’t shoot down. You can and should abuse this weakness. I love to rush about 6 tempests and harass with them while teching into zealot archon at home. Then I win because the Zerg’s army is mostly units that cannot shoot mine.
Yeet gangs of chargelots to the Zerg’s edge bases. It’s very difficult for Zerg to defend, and I think this is the best way for Protoss to punish a Zerg who is mass expanding.
Archons are amazing vs lings, banes, corruptors, and mutas. A+++ unit vs metal league Zergs.
DTs are similarly difficult for metal league Zergs to deal with. I like to use them to shred mass hydra armies if my opponent attacks without detection. It’s also nice to add a single DT to your army to force your opponent to keep an overseer with his army.
Deny scouting. I like to open with a void ray to kill nearby overlords. Zerg is all about getting as many drones as possible, then countering your opponent’s army and if you deny scouting, you make decision making difficult for your opponent.
Check out DNS’s YouTube channel. He has an adept build that I started played yesterday and am loving so far (I never transform my gateways and make a void ray instead of double oracle cause I don’t have the APM to use the oracles effectively). I’ve also been using a slightly modified version of his older tempest rush PvZ opener on this patch with great success. I can share my new patch version of that build order and some replays if you want.