Starcraft 2 Immortal and Sentry Timing Attack Build Order vs Zerg

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The Immortal / Sentry All In is a commonly used timing attack by Protoss players against Zerg in Starcraft 2. The attack seeks to hit Zerg players with an army of primarily Sentries, Immortals, and other Gateway units.

The idea behind the timing attack is that a Zerg with an economic mindset will only have Zerglings, Roaches, and Spine Crawlers to defend themselves. Immortals are very strong versus both Roaches and Spine Crawlers, while enough Force Fields from the Sentry can completely negate the effect of Zerglings.

In order to counter this unit composition, the Zerg will need some sort of tier 2 unit. Large numbers of Mutalisks, Hydralisks, or Swarm Hosts are needed to stop this build. If the Protoss' timing is fast enough, the Zerg could not have possibly mined enough gas to field this large Mutalisk or Hydralisk army.

Since the Zerg is not likely to have units to defend against the timing attack, it is very difficult for Zerg players to stop if the Protoss player executes the timing effectively. Read on to discover the best build order and strategies for using this build in PvZ!

The Stardust +2 Weapons / +1 Armor Build Order

While there are several ways to initiate this attack, we are going to focus on the build order popularized by the pro SC2 player known as Stardust. This variant delays the attack slightly in order to quickly get out +2 Weapons and +1 armor. The Zerg player will often be at 0/0 at this point or at best 0/1, leaving the Protoss player with a big advantage when they hit with their timing attack.

Here is the build order:

9/10: Pylon
17/18: Nexus
17/18: Forge
18/18: Pylon
18/18: Gateway
19/26: Photon Cannon
20/26: Assimilator
21/26: Assimilator
26/36: Zealot
27/36: Cybernetics Core
30/36: Ground Weapons Level 1
33/36: Zealot
33/36: Pylon
35/36: Warp Gate Research
40/44: Stalker
41/44: Pylon
42/44: Robotics Facility
**Sacrifice Zealot to Get Scouting Information**
42/52: Assimilator
45/52: Sentry
45/52: Assimilator
46/52: Pylon
48/52: Twilight Council
48/52: Forge
51/60: Observer
53/60: Pylon
53/60: Gateway x3
53/60: Ground Weapons Level 2
53/60: Ground Armor Level 1
57/68: Immortal
59/68: Mothership Core
60/68: Pylon x2
**Probe Production Cut at 47 Probes**
62/68: Sentry
66/76: Immortal
66/76: Gateway x3
70/84: Sentry x2
74/84: Zealot x2
78/84: Immortal
78/84: Pylon x2
84/84: Zealot x3

Rarely, you will get rushed by Zerglings as a Protoss player. This may cost you the game or at the very least drastically change your build order. Given how effective this build is, most Protoss players are willing to take this risk and stick with the Nexus first opener. The rare loss is more than made up for by the fact that this timing attack will result in wins for most of your other games.

Executing the Build

Once you get to the end of the build mentioned in the last section, it is time to move out. Your third Immortal should have finished and your upgrades will not be much longer. Bring 1-2 Probes and head out and build a Pylon in the center of the map. Sit on the Pylon until it finishes. Warp in a wave of as many Sentries as you have gas for and spend the remaining Warp Gate cooldowns on Zealots.

Take your large army and drop another Pylon or two at the edge of the creep near the base you want to attack. Again, sit on this for a bit, allowing the Pylon to finish. Warp in one more large wave of Sentries and Zealots. You are now ready to attack.

If the Zerg attacks you before you get to their base, use your Sentries to split the army in half as well as to prevent Zerglings from getting too close to your ranged units. Zerglings should not be allowed to directly engage Sentries or Immortals. Zerglings and Zealots are fine to fight each other. With the +2 weapons, Zealots fair well against Zerglings.

Generally it is good for the Protoss player to make a mess of their Force Fields by placing them everywhere, as Immortals outrange Roaches and Sentries outrange Zerglings. However, if there are Hydralisks, you have to be more discerning with your Force Field placement, as Hydralisks outrange Sentries. Try to split the Zerg army in half or separate the Hydralisks from the Zergling and Roaches rather than trying to box in your own units. Be sure to use Guardian Shield to help reduce Hydralisk damage.

From here, continue to reinforce with wave after wave of Zealots and Sentries. If Mutalisks enter the field, warp in a round of Stalkers. You will want to keep sending in a steady stream of reinforcements until you win the game. If you pulled the attack off well, you should not need to fall back at any point. Just constantly hit the Zerg with units until you wear them out.

If you inflicted a lot of damage but feel like you are running out of steam, use a Probe at home to grab your third base. Continue your attack as long as you can maintain it, delaying the Zerg while you get your third up. If you get your third up, you can then tech into High Templar or Colossi and make a follow up attack before the Zerg gets back on their feet.

Conclusion

The Immortal Sentry All-In is an effective and fun strategy to use in Protoss vs Zerg. It takes a good amount practice to use the Sentries to protect your Immortals and effectively negate Zerglings, but once you do, this build can feel unstoppable!