+1 Zealot Timing Rush

+1 Zealot timing Rush

Matchups:	PvZ
Type:	Opening
Creator:	Unknown
Popularized By:	Unknown

The +1 Zealot Timing rush was the most popular variation of the standard Fast Expand up until Bisu defeated sAviOr in GOMTV S1 MSL. Typically, the Protoss only takes a single gas and upgrades +1 as soon as his gas hits 100. As the Protoss income increases, he adds Gateways until he has 5 of them and upgrades Leg Speed as soon as he can. The object of this build from here is to attack the 3rd expansion of the Zerg and hope to kill it or force the Zerg to invest heavily to defend it, thus losing out on the exchange.

Build Order

• First the fast expand:
• 8 Pylon at natural, send this probe to scout
• If you see 12 hatch:
• 14(12?) Nexus
• If you don't see your opponent (or you see overpool/9pool):
• 11(10?12?)Forge

Alternative Build Order(less gateways):

• Send 7th probe to natural, build Pylon at 8 then scout
• If you did not find your opponent on the first try(or if he did not 12 hatch), build forge at 11/17
• At 14/17 add nexus, unless you scout fast zerglings, in which case add 2 well placed cannons
• At 16/17 halt probes, add gateway at natural, assimilator at main, pylon at main, cannon appropriately(if not built yet) according to ling count. Resume probe productions.
• Pump zealots from your 1 gateway constantly
• Gather gas as soon as assimilator is finished, should be around 18/25
• At 21/34(extra population by nexus), build cybernetics core, upgrade +1 right after
• At 24/34, put another pylon in main for gateway clustering
• At 27/34, build Citadel of Adun (right after cybernetics core finishes)
• Add 2 gateways consecutively right after, if hardcore, add 3. Pump zealots
• Get leg speed right after citadel finishes, get gas at natrual.
• You will have 8-12 zealots when your legspeed/attack finish at the same time. Send out your zealots slightly earlier so speed kicks in right when they reach the enemy base.

Countered By

Hard Counters

• Well timed lair techs such as 2 hatch mutalisks would be fatal if not scouted, as your zealots do not have upgrades(cannot pressure) and he already have mutalisks killing your main.
• As you do not have corsairs as you would in the bisu build, when you are denied scouting probe you can be in serious trouble if you apply the building order blindly.

Soft Counters

• Fast Lurker Builds
• 2 base hydra-break can be dangerous because your zealots do not have speed, cannon placement is crucial for this case.

Counter To

Hard Counters

• Greedy zerg who takes 3 bases and makes too many drones without defending them properly or with slow techs.

Soft Counters

• Not so greedy 3 bases zerg who reacts according to your pressure, but this build is designed to deal with greedy zergs in general.

Notable Maps

Strong

• Rush Hour

Mentality

The philosophy of this build is an extension of the 2-gate variants. You pressure zerg with your army, and the pressure would force your opponent to have a slower tech, lower economy, if not outright kill him, giving you the lead. Therefore in general, you would like to pressure with your first batch of zealots as soon as your upgrades finish, to either his natural or 3rd expansion. This will force him to use his newly produced lair units to defend his own base, instead of attacking you, giving you time to set up cannons at main/nat to defend against mutalisks/lurkers, and finish techings, and/or even a 3rd expansion if you manage to occupy the zerg for a long time. So be aggressive. If he already spend resources heavily guarding his bases, then your job is already done. Do not lose your army by suiciding them because it will lose you the map control.