By Zileas, The Funky Master of Protoss Air…
Thanks to Xaanix from long long ago to putting me on the right course in developing this. I took it a lot farther in detail, but you told me it was possible…

Basically the first thing to realize when playing Protoss vs Zerg is that you dont need to kill them to win. Meaning, you don’t need to hurt them early, nor do you need to do anything to attack their bases (although it certainly helps) as long as you get at least 35% of the map. I have a good sense of timing and always end it well before this point, but playing it safe is ALWAYS ok and wont screw you over like it will on land against zerg (as long as you are expanding that is)

Also, keep in mind that although the zerg can regenerate his units very very quickly, if they take enormous losses at any point, fast attacks on their main base generally will allow you to take out key structures. Killing a spire, a dozen overlords, or a hive or lair are CRIPPLING to a zerg. Especially in combination.

The Basic Order:

Always build probes unless i specify otherwise or you hit 20 total on your main base (or have saturated your minerals.. this is for ladder maps) 1) 7: Pylon
2) 8: Assimilator (key point. MAKE SURE YOU DO THIS)
3) [3 Probes on gas]
4) 10: Gateway
5) [starting probe 12: Put 4th probe on gas]
6) Cybernetics core as SOON AS YOU CAN (i.e. the second the gateway comes out. Cancel a probe if you must)
7) Citadel of Adun
[Consider making a dragoon IF YOU ARE SURE YOU CAN GET THEIR OVERLORD]
9) Pylon, preferably such that you will get good cannon spread (i.e. behind minerals)
10) Forge
11) Templar archives (note that if you wont have enough minerals for archives immediately second the citadel pops, you do NOT want to do forge first.. generally you can however)
12) 2 Cannons, preferably very near your nexus
13) Psi Storm, templar [Keep pumping templars continously throughout the game for the most part. When in doubt build more templars.. if you see gas accumulation, build another gateway and build templars, etc.]
14) Robotics Facility if it wont delay templar #2 by more than about 10 seconds. Then also get a cannon as soon as you have 150 and it won’t interfere with your templar production.
15) More templars, cannon #4
16) Once you have cannon #4 you can usually (if you are fast with psi storm)go ahead and get your first shuttle out of your robotics bay. I suggest getting 2 shuttles before expanding, so if you can que these you may as well. If you are a slow clicker, get a 5th cannon in the middle of your base, then do this.
17) Around templar #3 or 4 you want to go ahead and get robotics support bay. Also around templar 4, archon your two weakest templars and expand with a templar, an archon and a probe.

Optional early forks:
Xaanix’s Fork: Dual gateway and dual pump templars, delay robotics facility a bit. Get a fast archon and shield battery to defend vs most mutas.
Lameking’s Fork: Archon/Templar rush on zerg base to decimate peons and destroy spire, THEN expand (works well vs mutas, works VERY poorly vs hydras.. of course you could always expand instead if you see hydras…)
KGOR/Maynard’s Fork:Fast/Reaver Archon attacks in succession

Basics of Establishing an Island Expansion

Protoss have great island defense. The key to getting an expansion going is to build it in the blink of an eye, with a significant defense. Usually a templar or two + some other relevant troops (usually archons or against terran or protoss reavers and dragoons). I recommend nexus first, then 3 pylons followed by around 6 cannons. Sometimes you want batteries too and I’ll discuss this below. You want the cannons on the edge of the Island, and you also watn a good number of templars. If you are really fast you can make do with 1 or 2 templars (and use scouts do defend guardians) but since most people are not lightning quick, and most zerg like queens anyway, your better off putting around 6 templasr per expansion when you can afford to do so. Although early game, 4 is more than adequate. Remeber to use the hotkey T. Also you ALWAYS Want speed upgrades for shuttles and scouts, the sooner the better.

The Midgame

Zerg have a fininte number of powerful strategies which they may use against you. Understanding these is the key to defeating them. Here are a brief list of the early midgame zerg strategies that I often see (or even rarely see) and their counters. Some are more effective than others, but any of them CAN kill you if you do the wrong things . Also, as a general rule, if you expand and havent seen any air force, you aught to scout the zergs main base with a spare shuttle. Chances are they are either expanding like mad, or have gotten a hydralisk drop together. Either way, youll want a reaver about now in this case.

1)Mutalisk Rush. Use your templars and cannons to shred this easily.

2)Mutaharass/blockade on your expansion. This requires good unit control to beat. Generally unless the zerg is very good and your psi storm control sucks, the archon and templar will shred this. However its a VERY good idea to bring in massive reinforcements when they try this one. If they are obnoxiously hit running your templars and archon, consider keeping the templar in the shuttle hotkeyed until you need it. Also if they are succesfully bashing down the archon, get a battery up and bring in some dragoons and another archon. Dragoons RIGHT ON TOP of your archon with hold position will discourge mutaharass very very effectively. Once you get like 2 cannons up, or in most cases just a shield battery the zerg will be at a disadvantage. If they mutaharass and you stop it somewhat quickly, i recommend a reaver/archon or archon/templar drop on their base with the objective of killing all their drones and their spire.

3)Chrono’s Mutaharass with Scourge. This is a real toughie. But scourge are a big sacrifice. Usuaully you can get shuttles in anyway. If they go LIGHT scourge just try to dodge and manually drop your stuff. Empty shuttles make great scourge killers . Also if they go HEAVY HEAVY Scourge IMMEDIATELY (cancel templars if necessary) get speed upgrade and get spare shuttles. Try to break the blockade. If you do before you get speed upgrade, start preparing a nasty archon/reaver/templar drop so that once you DO get speed you can quick kill their main base since they will have minimal defense. Get the expansion first always however. If they do it like chrono does, chances are youll need a dragoon or two to stop the harassing of your archon.. But then again.. only chrono plays like chrono on air.. well KGOR too…

4)Hydralisk Drop. This seals the zerg’s fate. Just get reavers. If they chose to defend and expand with this, just out expand them. Its not hard.

5)Stratus’ Ever-So-Deadly and Extremely Bitch-Ass “Parasite Zileas’ Shuttles then try to scourge them” tactic. This is probabaly the meanest thing a zerg can do to you early on. It is really effective. Basically they start parasiting everything you have, in particular templars, reavers and shuttles especially, in an attempt to contain you. Get speed upgrade immediately and keep pumping templars. It may be wise to stash templasr in a shuttle deep in your cannons so that they can’t paraiste these templars but still cant scourge the shuttle. Generally if you can get speed upgrade you should expand, but at this point youll have enough stuff that you can also drop the shit out of them. Make sure you use a non-parasited shuttle, or at least try to, and then drop like 2 temlars and an archon on their main base or something. They wont have much early defense, and unless they are really good and worthy of using this strategy (Stratus, Zhelkas) they will tend to die. Id recommend taking 3 shuttles.. one with a drop, one with an exp package, and one empty. Send the empty one out to a random area, then follow with the drop and the exp, in any order, or simaeltaneously.

6)TillerMaN’s Moderately Effective Guardian Rush. Generally whenever you see a hive or the start of a hive you need to get scouts RIGHT AWAY. As in, cancel templras as necessary, and put scouts all over in non scourgeable locations. Also you aught to drop the zerg a lot while hes trying to get his guardians in order to make the tech climb be even riskier if he actually uses it. Generally when a zerg is doing guardians you can hit and run with scouts. Its recommended that you get speed upgrade for your scouts in a timely manner as well so mutas and scourge dont hurt your scouts, even if the scouts get ensnared. Guardian rush is VERY deadly if you dont see it coming. IF you get hit and didnt see it coming, use your templars and pray, and drop them HARD in order to buy yourself time. Im talking taking low mana templars and archoning them and things like this. The only way out of this is god-like templar control, lots of spare mana, and a fast climb to scouts, OR a quick kill on their greater spire . Consequently, my only loss to a zerg on air this season was to a guardian rush. In retrospect, a simple series of hard drops on his main wouldve taken him out, but I was gimpish. Make sure you hit hard and hit often on their main if they try this.

7) Mutaharass with hydra drop. Stop this attack with templar as the hydras are dropping and possiblya reaver. Then hit their main base hard with a reaver and an archon. This should quick kill them if you manage to stop the first attack. this strategy is particularly annoying to fight against on solar (which btw is a war for the center. Dont bother for the small islands).

8){PH}PhatMan’s mass zergling drop/mutarush. Be very wary of this. If you think its coming, make sure you have 2 reavers and you should be ok. If this catches you without reavers, you are dead.

Annoying stuff you can do, and SHOULD do throughout the game

Generally speaking zerg expansions are poorly defended. Also, no matter how well sunkened or spored the expansion is (or the main) you can usually get off a psi storm in plenty of time (or two) if you drop another unit first. I’ve detailed the particulars of this here .

Also, never, and I cannont stress this enough, forget how much the zerg’s spire is worth to them. A spire is a very very high priority target, and worth lots of sacrifice. If you lose 3 archons killing it suicidally so what.

Finally, never forget the power of a diversion. Something that LOOKS like its a drop keeps the zerg from focusing on manically expanding even if its not a drop. One really cool thing you can do is start throwing hallucinations of shuttles all over the map then suddenly mix in REAL shuttles with REALL payloads on multiple targets. Keep up the hallucinations and you have a permanently confused zerg whos probabaly not expanding, and possibly forgetting to build units. Similarly, overlord hunting with scouts is a REAL pain in the ass for a zerg, especially if you dont kill mutas to push down their supply

Late Game Concerns, Late Game Cleanup

The late game, if you haven’t killed the zerg before this, is essentially clean up. Assuming you have 3 expansions that is… If you dont have 3 expansions, and its late into the game (25 minutes +) you really need another expansion. Unless youve been putzing around, chances are the reason you dont own the map is because the zerg has all the other expansions. At first glance this may seem highly hopeless, but I assure you, you are indeed in the clear. I’ll detail how to deal with this sort of situation in a bit.

The late game is usually a situation where the zerg has almost infinate units, limited only by the number of hatches they have and the limit of troops. You can however use this against them to some extent. And repetitive slaughters of their mutalisks will beat their gas reserves down to zero. It takes very little time to reduce the zergs army from 100 mutalisks to zero mutalisks, and if you kill the spire while you are doing this, chances are, they will lose.

A couple objectives must be kept in mind to deprive them of the their current units, and prevent them from having more. 1) Get a full group of full upgraded scouts. These, if used wisely, will NOT die no matter hard the zerg tries. The speed upgrade is most important, then weapons, then shields, then armor. I recommend dual cybernetics Facilities to accomplish this goal quickly and efficiently. Dont forget banks of 2-3 shield batteries at key locations. You also need to use scouts with good technique. This is posted here. Also keep in mind that scouts are your best defense against guardian attacks. Sure templars work, but scouts are much better. Watch out for scourge though.

2) Get a highly mobile heavy drop force. I have one technique that works well, and can be adapted as you need (you often dont need the hallucinations suggested). It is posted here .

3) Remember that mobility is so so key. If you can get half of their army on one side of the map, and instantly crush a key area, like say.. a greater spire.. you will win. Use your mobility, and use their inabilty to similarly ambush you to your advantage. Zerg CANT overrun your expansions quickly. Its an arduous process. They also cant overrun your main. You can however use speed upgrade scouts and shuttles to instantly wipe key structures off the map. Also, if you DO take out a key facility, dont hold back. Wipe them off one expansion at the very least, or possibly finish off their main base. Ive always been a fan of killing a key structure in the main base, then crushing their biggest expansion however.

4) Use hallucinations to draw off forces to allow you to kill key targets, as well as using them to take out scourge, which are really the only good late game counter (besides nydus/hyudralisk defense which dies to other things) which really works against this sort of thing.

Here are some “priorities” for a game thats 30 minutes in and involves a protoss with 2 expansions, and a zerg with the map.

1) Get an expansion. Usually a cannon push will work.. you need to be very careful because the third expansion is very key.

2) Destroy spire

3) Destroy hydralisk den

4) Destroy hive/lair

5) Destroy spawning pool

6) Destroy Evo Chamber

7) Other Production buildings (defiler mound, ultralisk den)

Doom drop, or standard drop primary expansions.

9) Establish cannon network and templars on the former expansion even if you dont plan on mining it.

[Make sure you always psi storm muta swarms that are targets of opportunity. Think in terms of gas gained/lost. If you come out killing twice as much gas as you are losing its at least an even trade.]

If you heed this, and your unit control is good, you will win. Zerg do not compare to Protoss late game… of course a Zerg with superior unit control will still beat you, but a zerg with equal unit control will not.

1

Or.. if you prefer.. Using scouts A La Zileas.

Scouts are one of the most mobile units in the game, and in terms of air to air power, are the fastest way to move a huge punch anywhere. However, most protoss dont realize the power of scouts, or for that matter max out the power of scouts. Scouts are for quick strikes on key targets, as well as support for heavier units vs land. They also are great for killing stragglers of any variety, and killing transports in a single salvo, and the Protoss’ first line of defense against guardians.. Scouts are cheap to upgrade.. make sure you do so. Also, they are nearly worthless without the speed upgrade and to a lesser extent the sight upgrade.

Basics of Scout Control

Scouts are rarely effective against land targets (or even air targets) in groups less than 5. However, in larger groups they indeed own a lot of things. The biggest things to remember when controlling scouts are:

1) Don’t take on heavy anti air defenses with them. Have a reaver do it. If theres long range anti ground units (tanks, templars) feel free to rush in and kill the unit then run out quickly and put the scouts out of range on hold position.

2) Use shift queing against certain units. In particular swarms of other air fighter units, and weak anti air land units. Shift queing is essentially you do a normal attack on one unit (not an area) then hold shift while right clicking on the units you want to kill after this. This gets an OPTIMAL fire distrubtion, and you dont sit around beating up 10 units at once, you concenrtate firepower on one unit at a time and slowly decimate them that way. This is much better because you reduce the firepower of the opposing forces much faster, thus taking less damage. Units that should be shift queed against are ghosts, wraiths, small groups of battlecruisers, other scouts, carriers, hydras, marines in small numbers, goliaths, and mutalisks. This technique is also fun to use against other things, but units that are a direct threat against the scout are most important.

3) Dont make scouts win air to air fights. Let them clean up. This means, always have shuttles with templars handy. A full group of scouts is powerful, but scouts are VERY expensive and its foolish to take on 30 mutas with 14 scouts. Sure youll win, but youll lose most of youir scouts. If you mix in a few templars and start psi storming, youll take probabaly no losses, and basically do most of the damage with psi storm, then finish off the mutas with scouts. Often its ok to NOT shift que when you do this because you want all units being attacked kinda. Even battlecruisers take mondo damage from psi storm. Keep this in mind.

4) Dont send scouts into battle without full shields. Retreat scouts that are taking insane ammounts of damage to a shield battery, and maintain groups of shield batteries at tactically useful locations. this means, dont be afraid to set up an outpost (not to be confused with an expansion) nearby the point of attack consisting of some shield batteries and a cannon or two. If you can keep these nearby and in a defended expansion, even better yet.

5) Hit and run a lot. Once your presence is felt, it wont be long till an army shows up. You dont want to be around when the army shows up. When you hit, do a surgical strike and kill a bunch of producers, or ONE key structure, then run like mad. My personal favorite is running into a zerg base, ignoring the spore colonies and ripping up a spire in like 10 seconds then running like mad.

6) Kill spellcasters even if it involves taking some hits. If you lose some shields so what! A full mana spellcaster is worth a lot more than their base cost. Templars and defilers especially are high priority, as are science vessels. Ghosts and queens are important to a lesser extent.

7) You can widdle down large air fleets with hit and run attacks, particuarly if you out range them. A spread out pack of mutas will lose a muta per salvo of missles, so you may as well hit and run this way.. this can work as well TO A CERTAIN EXTENT with the slow bcs if you hit the edge, but you aught to be very careful about that.

So. In conclusion:

Dont make scouts take damage when another unit can do the job better.

Hit and run a lot. Kill targets of opportunity with abundancy.

Scouts should take advantage of shield batteries more than any other unit.

Carriers suck because they lack fast attacking and retreating

Templars win fights. Scouts are the clean up crew.

Shift queing is your friend.

This order is pretty much the generic build for destroying another protoss on a medium or small land map. On larger maps, it may be advantageous to try a double nexus, but even on them this build is somewhat reliable even then as you may be able to onslaught them hard enough early on to come out ahead.

The build gives you a powerful offense, defense against any attack, especially some early cheese builds AND a powerful reaver rush, and gives you options to protect against dark templars. Overall, its pretty much the best build you can play against another protoss on mid or small land.

It is very important that you build technology structures on time in this build. If you do not, you could be in big trouble — Being behind on a reaver can be your death easily. Similarly, that first zealot is kind of important to. You should be familiar with the peon/zealot defense just in case you are VERY early rushed with a proximal gate. Chances are, you wont need to do this at all, but its handy to have just in case you get hit right before your first goons come out.

Keep in mind this build is optimized for moderate starting mineral maps. Larger starting mineral ammounts, like those found on the hunters, favor a third gateway.

The Build Order:

Note: Produce probes in the gaps here, and make sure you dont OVERproduce probes as you WILL NOT be maynard transfering with this build at all. There is no reason to overproduce probes in this build, and doing so will put you at a slight disadvantage, and is not recommended.

1) Pylon-8
2) Assimilator-9
3) Gateway-10, take probe and scout
4) 3 Probes on gas, Cybernetics core when gateway is finished
5) Zealot
6) pylon at 17
7) Gateway #2
Begin Dragoon production (i.e. produce dragoons constantly, and just build structures at psis provided. Also produce pylons as needed, but always build production structures before pylons if they fall on the same psi numbers)
9) Forge- 25
10) Weapons Upgrade- 29
Option 1: If you suspect a dark templar rush, throw up 2 cannons or so such that your buildings are all covered by detectors. Otherwise, dont build cannons. Also if you suspect a reaver rush, it will be advantageous to spread your dragoons a little bit and have one or two near the mineral fields to make quick reaver strikes ineffective. If you are slightly worried (but not horribly suspicious) about dtemps here its pretty easy to just throw up one cannon right touching your nexus and this should protect from dtemps doing MAJOR damage. After that, you can get the observer anyway. Optimally when you place your robo after this, it should be within the detection range of your cannon. Generally, building one cannon is safe, and its not going to hurt you much long term, though I woudlnt recommend two unless you are sure they are detmping. Usually its pretty safe and a good idea.
11) Robotics Facility-33
12) Range Upgrade for Dragoons 35
13) Shuttle -39
14) Robotics Support Bay – 41
15) Observatory
16) Reaver #1
17) Observer
18) Reaver #2
Once youve done this, you can probabaly press the attack with a dragoon/shuttle/reaver mix (with an observer trailing of course). You can also continue to build. It is crucial that you start fanning out observers and determine if they are attempting to expand (which is consequently something you do with the probe earlier). If they try to expand, immediately attack the expansion with your dragoons and you should prevail. When you have reavers, use those as well to attack. If your opponent is turtling a lot, go ahead and expand in here.

Other options:

After this, consider going templar archives for two reasons. 1) Make dtemps available, and make them worry about these, and even use them against them. 2) get higher level weapons upgrades. Shield batteries may be useful at times. It’s also sometimes a cute thing to make a “firebase” with a pylon and a shield battery. A second robotics facility for extra reavers is sometimes useful as well.

Other things to keep in mind:

DO NOT build armor and shield upgrades until after youve expanded (if you expand). Generally you should not expand until youve had a decisive victory in the field (i.e. your 500-600 minerals ahead in forces)

The High ground is your friend.

Zealots mixed in with goons, when in front (in small numbers) are advantageous.

Dragoons when used to hit & run will decimate zealots. If your opponent goes all zealots, you will want a few of your own though, so that you can do a delaying action and butcher their zealots with your dragoons. Remember to use good fire control.

Expect trouble if a Terran opponent is producing a lot of infantry. StimPacked infantry are devastating against the Protoss, especially when Medics are around to heal them. Because Zealots are melee attackers, stimmed Marines can simply bolt away, turn, and resume firing. Firebats are Zealot’s worst nightmare; they cause the same damage as a Zealot (16 HP of damage per blast), and can also damage multiple Zealots at a time. When stimmed, Firebats can clean off a pack of Zealots and bolt forward to take on more. Medics accompanying the infantry swarms can be a big problem, especially when they’re healing Firebats. Reavers and Dark Templar are the best defense against a mass of stimmed Terran infantry. A couple of Reaver blasts can turn the tide of a potentially lethal attack; large numbers of infantry can be slaughtered with ease. Later on, Psionic Storm will solve your infantry problems

If you see that a Terran is neglecting air defense for masses of infantry, hit him with a Reaver Drop. Not only can you wipe out the SCV’s, but the attacking force as well. Consult the page discussing Reaver drops for ways to effectively perform this maneuver.Dealing with Siege Tanks

Siege Tanks in Siege Mode are able to shell positions outside the range of defenders, and can be a real pain to a Protoss player. Be sure to have Observers scouting positions from which a Siege Tank assault can be launched. Putting Dark Templar on hold outside your defenses can be an excellent way to dispatch of Siege Tanks before they’ve even set up. Researching Zealot Leg Enhancements at the Citadel of Adun is important so that Zealots can rush out to take care of attacking Siege Tanks. Unfortunately, an intelligent Terran player will escort his tanks with infantry, limiting the use of Zealots. Perhaps the best way to take care of a Terran land force is with the High Templar’s Psionic Storm. Positioning High Templar on ledges above a choke point gives them excellent range for such a counter-attack. Carriers also work well, as they have an increased range.

Arbiters can effectively extend the range of your defending units. Position an Arbiter just behind a line of defensive Photon Cannons. Reavers can now be put on hold outside the cannons and within range of enemy Siege Tanks. The Reavers cannot be targeted by the tanks unless a ComSat sweep is conducted. Note, however, that the Terran cannot see the Arbiter positioned behind the Photon Cannons; the only way the Terrans will know of the Reavers is after they’ve attacked, by which point the Terran forces should be destroyed.

As a cheaper and lower-tech way of getting rid of Siege Tanks, take advantage of their splash attacks. Load a Shuttle with a few Probes. When Siege Tanks attack, fly the Shuttle out and drop off a Probe next to a tank. The other tanks will attack the Probe, splashing damage onto each other. This tactic works extremely well, and costs only the price of the Probe. It can, however, be countered easily enough with a few infantry to intercept the Shuttle.Dealing with Wraiths

Cloaked Wraiths can be trouble for a Protoss player. It’s important establish a perimeter of Photon Cannons to detect and attack cloaked Wraiths, especially around your worker line. Photon defenses can be rushed with enough Wraiths, though, so be sure to station a pair of Observers inside your base. A complete web of Observers over the map is also very important to counter Wraiths. It’s difficult for a Terran player to effectively hunt out Observers, so your Scouts and Corsairs can rule the skies without fear of being ambushed by a pack of cloaked Wraiths. Dragoons are powerful against air units, but are only able to bring down Wraiths if the detection exists.Dealing with Battlecruisers

Battlecruisers be troublesome for a Protoss player, especially considering the fact that their Yamamoto Cannon can destroy a Photon Cannon in one shot. The best way to deal with these behemoths is to use the High Templar’s Psionic Storm. Two or three Psionic Storm attacks will whittle away most of a BattleCruier’s hit points, after which your Scouts and Dragoons can finish ‘em off. Backing up your defenders with Shield Batteries will help prolong their lifespan against the slow-firing Battlecruisers.

Corsairs and Carriers are useless against Battlecruisers; they can’t penetrate the Cruiser’s +3 armor. Corsairs and the Carrier’s Interceptors only case 5 HP of damage, so even slightly upgraded Battlecruiser armor will be impermeable to attack. Also, the Yamamoto Cannon makes quick work of a Carrier. The best way to prevent devastation from enemy Battlecruisers is early detection by Observers. This will allow you to organize a good anti-air defense to dispatch them.Dealing with Science Vessels

Perhaps the most devastating weapon the Terrans have against the Protoss is the Science Vessel’s Electro-Magnetic Pulse shockwave. An EMP attack wipes out all shields of units and buildings caught within its blast-radius. Also, any special-ability units such as High Templar, Dark Archons and Corsairs will have their energy drop to zero. EMP is especially devastating to Archons, whose defenses are comprised of almost entirely shielding. Be sure to have Shield Batteries on hand whenever Science Vessels are near, and try to avoid bunching of units.

Science Vessels should be the highest-priority target for a Protoss player. Get rid of them immediately! Not only can they cast EMP and reveal your Observer’s positions, but they can Defensive-Matrix friendly units and irradiate High/Dark Templar! The best way to take care of Science Vessels is with Scouts or Dragoons. Both have relatively high HP and no energy, so the effects of EMP will be minimal. Also, they are both impermeable to irradiate. Successfully Mind-Controlling a Science Vessel is a risky maneuver, but pulling it off yields high rewards. Also, Feedback is an excellent way to prevent a Science Vessel from using its abilities (and probably destroy it in the process).Dealing with Ghosts

The Ghost’s Lockdown spells death for a Protoss air force. The best way to prevent high Carrier/Scout losses is to dispatch the Ghost before he can Lockdown your units. As always, a web of Observers is very important for cloaked detection. Using an Arbiter, casting Stasis over a locked-down unit will protect it until the Lockdown wears off. Protect Reavers from Lockdown with Archons, which are impermeable to its affects. Dark Templar placed on hold a short distance out from a base’s perimeter will also kill Ghost’s quickly.

One of the most widely-used Reaver tactics, the Reaver Drop involves using a Shuttle to ferry a Reaver to an enemy’s worker line. The Reaver pops out and systematically  massacres the enemy workers, and hops back into the Shuttle at any sign of opposition. A tactic that should be executed fairly early on, the Reaver Drop is most effective when playing against a Terran opponent (Reavers eat up Marines). Protoss players occasionally fall victim to this too, but performing a Reaver Drop against a Zerg player is difficult; swarms of Zergling and Hydralisk are simply too much for the slow-firing Reaver to handle. The trick to successfully pulling off a Reaver Drop is speed; the Shuttles has to get in and out before air defense has been erected. What follows is a build order that leads to a quick Reaver Drop while still keeping in mind the need for anti-rush defense.

Order the original four Probes to gather minerals at separate patches. Warp in three more Probes at the Nexus, assigning them to mineral patches as they are produced. With the third Probe (7/9) warp in a Pylon, then order it to gather minerals.
Warp in a Probe, setting the Nexus’s rally point next to the warping Pylon. As soon as the Pylon is finished, begin a Gateway and send the Probe to gather minerals.
Move the Nexus’ rally point to the Vespene vent and warp in another Probe (your Psi Meter should read 9/9). Begin an Assimilator as soon as the Probe finishes. Immediately start a tenth Probe, but this time set the Nexus’ rally point to the Pylon. The Probe will warp in and move to the Pylon. By the time it gets there, you should have enough minerals for a Cybernetics Core. Assign this Probe to gas (the Assimilator should just have finished) and pull a Probe off minerals for Vespene-gathering too. Warp in another Probe, ordering to gather gas.
As soon as this Probe has finished (11/17 on the Psi Meter) warp in a Zealot and use it to scout out the enemy’s position. Warp in two more Probes, ordering one to gather gas and one to gather minerals. You should now have four Probes on has and 9 on minerals.

About 15 seconds before the 15/17 Probe is completed, the Cybernetics Core will finish. Build the Robotics Facility as soon as you can, and when you can afford it another Pylon. When the Pylon is about half-finished, you’ll have enough minerals on hand for a second Zealot (bringing the Psi Meter to 17/17 until the Pylon finishes).
Begin pumping Zealots out of your Gateway, but give priority to the Pylons. Never have more than one Pylon or Zealot queued up at a time. When the Robotics facility has warped in, start a Robotics Support Bay and a Shuttle. Also build a Shield Battery or two to support your defending Zealots.
Warp in a Reaver when the Bay is complete. Hot-key the Shuttle to one number and the Reaver to a different number. Queue up five scarabs for the Reaver, but don’t wait for them to build; immediately load the Reaver and two Zealots into the Shuttle and head for the enemy base (the scarabs will build en route).  If you’re not worried about an enemy rush or if you’re playing a one-on-one, send the defending Zealots along too (you should have about seven to nine).

Be sure to have located the enemy base before sending out the Shuttle. It’s also important to have a route chosen that avoids enemy defenses; if your opponent sees an incoming Shuttle, he’ll be alerted to the imminent attack. Also, flying over Terran Bunkers can be hazardous to your Shuttle’s health! Try to slip in the rear of a base. Drop the Reaver off right in the middle of enemy workers. It’ll automatically start pounding them; single scarabs can take out as many as four at a time! Remember to continually                   cue more scarabs (running out is embarrassing!). Use the two Zealots to distract enemy defenders. If the situation looks grim, bring over the Shuttle and collect your attackers.

The Reaver Drop is a devastating tactic that can severely cripple an enemy’s economy and permanently swing the balance of power for the entire game.

Racing for Dark Templar can  also be useful in a defensive situation. No one can attack with detectors during the early game. Overlords are too risky to loose. The Protoss don’t even have mobile detectors early on. If a Terran ComSats, then they’ll be out of energy, and subject to a counter attack.

This is a bold build-order, as no Zealots will be on hand until over three minutes have past. However, it yields three Zealots and two Dark Templar in just under six minutes.

Order the original four Probes to gather minerals at separate patches. Warp in three more Probes at the Nexus, assigning them to mineral patches as they are produced. With the third Probe (7/9) warp in a Pylon, then order it to gather minerals.
Warp in a Probe, setting the Nexus’s rally point next to the warping Pylon. As soon as the Pylon is finished, begin a Gateway and send the Probe to gather minerals.
Move the Nexus’ rally point to the Vespene vent and warp in another Probe (your Psi Meter should read 9/9). Begin an Assimilator as soon as the Probe finishes. Immediately start a tenth Probe, but this time set the Nexus’ rally point to the Pylon. The Probe will warp in and move to the Pylon. By the time it gets there, you should have enough minerals for a Cybernetics Core. Assign this Probe to gas (the Assimilator should just have finished) and pull a Probe off minerals for Vespene-gathering too. Warp in another Probe, ordering to gather gas.

As soon as this Probe has finished (11/17 on the Psi Meter) warp in a Zealot and use it to scout out the enemy’s position. Warp in two more Probes, ordering one to gather gas and one to gather minerals. You should now have four Probes on has and 9 on minerals.

About 15 seconds before the 15/17 Probe is completed, the Cybernetics Core will finish. Immediately begin a Citadel of Adun, and when you can afford it another Pylon. When the Pylon is about half-finished, you’ll have enough minerals on hand for a second Zealot (bringing the Psi Meter to 17/17 until the Pylon finishes).
As soon as you can, create another Probe. When it finishes, the Citadel should just be warping in. You’ll have enough Vespene on hand to start the Templar Archives. Warp in a third Zealot, then three more Probes.
Use the Probe that began the warp of the Citadel to scout out the location of your opponent. Continue warping Zealots in from your Gateway, but be sure to have only one unit   cued up at a time. Remember to make Pylons when the Psi Counter is at least two less than its maximum.
Once the Citadel is complete, begin warping in a Templar Archives. At this point, you should have four or five Zealots. Begin a second Gateway and a Forge.

The instant the Archives are complete, start a Dark Templar and a second Gateway. When the second Gateway is complete, create a Dark Templar there too. Once the Templar have been warped in, attack!

Continue cranking out Dark Templar from your Gateways and sending them to the enemy’s base. When making the initial attack, use Move instead of Attack-Move; you don’t want your opponent to know he’s in trouble until the Dark Templar are in position. Try to rush past the detection and take out the workers. If you see that a Terran has ComSat, take it out immediately! Avoid Missile Turrets and Photon Cannons. Key targets are Engineering Bays, Forges, and Academy’s; these structures are the key to detection, and must be destroyed.

The Protoss High Templar is a cheap unit that, despite having no natural attack, is equipped with abilities that have powerful ramifications. Available quite early on in the game, High Templar are a must for any Protoss force, whether offensive or defensive. High Templar are equipped with two incredible spells that are researched at the Templar Archives, namely Psionic Storm and Hallucination. High Templar also have the innate ability to combine with one of their brethren to form Archons, which are incredibly powerful psionic warriors.Using Psionic Storm

Psionic Storm perhaps the most widely used special ability in StarCraft, and rightly so. It costs only 75 energy to cast, and causes 120 HP of damage to all units caught in its area of effect. With an excellent range of 9 matrix squares, Psionic Strom is a possible solution to nearly any game situation. High Templar on Defense can mop up waves of attack infantry in a single strike, entirely eliminating the Terran Medic’s usefulness in one swipe. Zerg swarms can be ravaged in a single blow, and even burrowed are not immune to Psionic Strom’s effects. Even the mighty Battlecruisers and Carriers can be brought to the ground with repeated Storms.

High Templar are arguably the most important units a Protoss player can build.  At least two or three should be stationed at every base. When minerals are short, a pair of High Templar can be brought together  to form the powerful Archon. In fact, an excellent attack strategy for High Templar is to Psionic Storm enemy defenders, then immediately combine them to summon Archons to continue the devastation.

Using High Templar with Shuttles makes for excellent hit-and-run maneuvers. Shuttles can ferry the Templar and their deadly Psionic Storm to any location quickly. When coupled with a web of Observers, enemy troop movements can be quickly ambushed. You opponent will be scratching his head as to how you can continually kill off his units, and he’ll become paranoid to expand.

Use Shuttles to ferry the High Templar to ledges that overlook the enemy’s base. From this position, several Psionic Storm attacks can quickly destroy an enemy’s worker line or infantry reserve.Using Hallucination

Hallucination is a spell that creates two replicas of a specific unit. These “hallucinations” can’t attack and have only %50 of the original unit’s hit points, but are otherwise indistinguishable from real units (they even appear to attack, even though they cause no damage). Using Hallucinated units is an excellent decoy when attacking an enemy. Intermixing Hallucinated units with the real attackers increases the lifespan of your real units at no cost, as your opponent hasn’t a clue which targets to hit. Hallucinated units can make excellent scouts. Obviously Observers make great scouts too, but the beauty of Hallucinated units is that defenses can be tested. Also, they provide an element of psychological warfare.

Continually Hallucinate Shuttles and send them in against enemy defenses. This makes an excellent diversion, and your opponent will really mess his pants if he sees incoming Shuttles. If you see a weak spot in his defenses, exploit it using a real Shuttle loaded with troops. Hopefully, however, your opponent will gradually learn to ignore the incoming Shuttles, at which point you can substitute the replicas with real Shuttles and catch him by surprise!

Hallucinating Critters gives you an innocent-looking spy that you can use to investigate an enemy’s base. Be warned, however; most enemy units will fire upon the Critter-copy if his movements look suspicious!

If the Protoss have been using Hallucinated units, their are ways to root them out from an attacking force. Look for enemy units that seem to be taking particularly high amounts of damage. All Hallucinations have zero kills by default, so only target units that have accumulated kills to guarantee hitting real units. One destroyed, Hallucinated units vaporize with a distinctive sound and explosion, so be observant.

Never let your guard down when playing against the Protoss. Be sure to kill enemy units, even if you think they’re Hallucinations. It’s easy to become lazy and fall victim to a surprise attack. At the same time, however, try not to reveal too much about the state of your defenses when destroying Hallucinated units. Prematurly revealing a Battlecruiser fleet allows an enemy to prepare for the immanent assault!

Prior to Brood War, Protoss air fleets were expensive and slow to assemble. With the expansion pack came Corsairs, a light support craft that, in numbers, can really shell out damage. Corsairs are the cheapest air unit                   (excluding Observers), costing 150 minerals and 100 gas. Although more expensive than the Terran Wraith and Zerg Mutalisk, the Corsair is more heavily armored with a whopping 80 shields and 100 hit points. Corsairs also warp extremely quickly (they only take 40 seconds to complete). Although their Neutron Flares cause only 5 HP of damage, the Corsair’s fast attack-rate and splash damage make up for it.

Perhaps the real value in Corsairs lies their special ability, the Disruption Web. This powerful spell costs only 125 energy to cast. It’s effect? Disruption Web temporarily disables the attack                   capabilities of all ground forces caught in its area of effect. This includes all defensive structures (ie: Sunken/Spore Colonies, Photon Cannons, Bunkers and Missile Turrets). Disruption Web is researched at the Fleet Beacon, which is a price venture. However, its effects far                   outweigh its costs. Laying down five or six Disruption Webs is the perfect way to crack the defenses of a                   "turtling" Terran. Using Disruption Web as a defensive measure can protect friendly buildings from short-range enemy attacks.

Casting Disruption Web is an excellent pre-cursor to nearly any Protoss attack.  Use the spell against three or four Terran Bunkers.  Move in with Dragoons and Reavers and clean up. The Terrans will be forced to pop their infantry out of their bunkers in order to move out from under the web, making them Reaver bait. Cast Disruption Web on enemy defenses allows Dark Templar to march into an enemy base unhindered (keep in mind the Dark Templar can’t attack while under the web either).  Disruption Web can also make for an excellent diversion or to sneak Observers into an enemy base. Corsairs equipped with Disruption Web are an integral part of a Protoss attack force, and should be used liberally.

When using Disruption Web, be sure not to cast it on friendly units, as they too fall victim to its effects. If your units are caught under a web, m     ove them out immediately. Also, upgrading the energy capacity of the Corsairs at the Fleet Beacon allows your units to cast an extra Disruption Web, which can be valuable if you use it often.

Packs of Corsairs can be a real pain; their splash damage and fast attack-rate allows them to clean up packs of grouped air units very quickly. Early in the game, create five or six Corsairs and go Overlord hunting with them. Corsairs do well against all Zerg air units in general. Corsairs shouldn’t be used against Battlecruisers or Carriers, though; their low attack strength can barely penetrate the heavy armor of the large flying behemoths. Instead, use scouts or Dragoons to mop up the larger enemy air units.

For more tactics involving the Corsair, refer to the section on Dark Templar Tactics.