As much as I love Zerg, I need to spend more time understanding Protoss, and Apollo’s tutorials REVAMPED from a few months ago provides a solid framework for Protoss. Similar to his Zerg style, he depends on reactive, macro-based play. Given that, it’s harder to summarize the late game, but I did write up his build orders, and they should give you a sense for the different matchups.

Note that these builds are from Wings of Liberty, so they are slightly out of date. Primarily, the Mothership Core should come down somewhere in these builds, but I’m not exactly sure when.

Protoss versus Protoss

Ah, PvP: the most aggressive matchup. Apollo says there are 4 ways to play PvP:

1. Robo
2. Stargate
3. DT
4. Blink

The safest of the 3 is 1 Gate Robo, so let’s start with that:

Apollo’s PvP 1 Gate Robo

• 9 Pylon (scout)
• 11 Chronoboost
• 13 Gateway
• 13 Chronoboost
• 15 Assimilator
• 17 Pylon
• 18 Cybernetics Core
• 19 Zealot
• 22 Assimilator
• 23 Warpgate, Stalker
• 25 Pylon
• 26 Robotics Facility (after clearing scouting)
• 27 Sentry (cut Probes)
• 29 Observer
• Gateway x2 OR Nexus
• Immortal

Notes on the build:

1. Use your first Stalker to kill any scouting Probes before putting down the Robotics Facility
2. Cut Probes around 28ish supply until you get your 2nd base up. That is pretty good mineral saturation, and you might need the minerals in other places
3. Depending on what you see, you can go up to 3 Gateways or Nexus at around the 6:00 mark. If you decide to go 3 Gate, the Nexus will come around 8:00
4. In WoL, Protoss late game was just Colossi with some Archons mixed in to tank damage, so this is what Apollo continues to (Robotics Support Bay coming in before 10:00). Skytoss is much better in HotS, so you probably need a better mix

The only other build he showed off was a Stargate opening, which is perhaps more interesting in HotS:

Apollo’s PvP Stargate Opening

• 9 Pylon (scout)
• 11 Chronoboost
• 13 Gateway
• 13 Chronoboost
• 15 Assimilator
• 16 Pylon
• 18 Cybernetics Core
• 19 Assimilator
• 20 Zealot
• 23 Warpgate
• 24 Sentry
• 25 Pylon
• 27 4:30 Stargate
• 29 Robotics Facility, Gateway (cut probes)
• 29 Phoenix (chrono, attack with 2, get 4 total)
• 35 6:30 Nexus
• 39 Observer
• 7:30 Gateway
• 8:45 Gateway
• 10:15 Robotics Support Bay

Notes:

1. Chronoboost all of your Phoenix. Attack when you have 2 and max out at 4 Phoenix total
2. Again, Apollo transitions into Robo because Colossi was PvP late game. You can stick with Skytoss if you like.

Protoss versus Zerg

PvZ is the matchup I dislike the most. Protoss is pretty much required to fast expand, and it’s difficult to get aggression going early in the game. Like the other matchups, Apollo likes aiming for Colossi.

There are so many ways to do fast expands, but you can probably get away with 2 variations: Nexus first and Forge Fast Expand (FFE). I’ll present them together, and the notes will apply to both:

Apollo’s PvZ Nexus First

• 9 Pylon at wall (Scout)
• 11 Chronoboost
• 13 Chronoboost
• 16 Nexus
• 16 Forge
• 16 Pylon
• 20 Cannon
• 21 Assimliator x2
• 26 Cybernetics Core
• 28 Zealot
• 32 +1 Attack upgrade (with first 100 gas)
• Warpgate
• 6:30 Gateway x3
• 7:10 Assimilator x2
• Robotics Facility

And then the safer FFE

Apollo’s PvZ Forge Fast Expand (FFE)

• 9 Pylon at wall (Scout)
• 11 Chronoboost
• 13 Chronoboost
• 14 Forge
• 16 Nexus
• 16 Cannon
• 16 Pylon
• 17 Gateway
• 20 Assimilator x 2
• Cybernetics Core

Some notes on these builds:

1. If you’re only going to know 1, know the FFE. As you progress, however, you should be flexible in using both builds depending on the scout. If it’s anything earlier than a 14 Pool, go FFE. Otherwise, go Nexus first.
2. You can send your 8th Probe down to the natural area to build the wall at 9 Supply. Learn how to wall in on all of the maps: it’s subtly different
3. React if the Zerg pressures early. Don’t be afraid to build an extra Gateway to complete a wall.
4. The rest of Apollo’s strategy is Colossus Double Forge

Protoss versus Terran

This matchup has also changed as everything new is a bummer for Protoss: Reapers can be annoying if you don’t get your Stalker quickly, Medivac speed boost will tear you apart, and Spider Mines can get a good pop on your slower units. Despite that, Apollo’s guide is still solid. He goes for a “reactive Colossus double Forge” style, using Archons, Zealot, and High Templar in the late game while getting lots of Robotics Facilities up for an easy tech switch. To get there, he uses a 1 Gate Expand into Robo. It’s usually safe enough. He plays the prototypical game at this point in the video, so watch it for almost exactly the build below.

Apollo’s PvT 1 Gate Expand

• 9 Pylon (scout)
• 11 Chronoboost
• 13 Gateway
• 13 Chronoboost
• 15 Assimilator
• 16 Pylon
• 18 Core
• 18 Zealot (rallied across the map)
• 23 Warpgate, Stalker
• 23 Pylon
• 25 Stalker
• 27 4:50 Nexus
• 31 5:20 Assimilator
• Pylon
• 34 6:00 Robo
• 6:30 Gateway x2
• 7:00 Assimilator x2
• Observer
• 7:30 Robo Bay
• 60 8:40 Colossus, Double Forge
• Thermal Lance
• 9:30 +1/+1 upgrades
• 10:30 Gateway x3
• Twilight Council
• 12:30 3rd Nexus (timed with your opponent’s)
• 110 13:00 Templar Archives
• Zealot Charge
• 15:00 Gateway x6

And the last bunch of notes:

1. The 9 Scout is key because Terran players will wall off and keep you out of their base. It’s very important to see if they have taken their gas and will 1 Rax gasless expand or whether you should consider anything else coming from them
2. The Zealot and 2 Stalkers should poke early, so send the slow Zealot across first. This poke is probably replaced with a Zealot/Stalker/MsC poke in HotS, but either way, it’s important for scouting, and you may even do some significant damage.
3. The Twilight Council may need to be earlier nowadays for Blink to deal with Medivac boost

Conclusion

Like in the Zerg tutorials, Apollo goes for a safe, reactive, macro-oriented style. It appears that he really likes Colossi compositions, so all of his builds move towards that. I’ll likely be going over some Artosis footage soon since he’s so good at commentary during his games, and that will be a good complement to this piece. Still, these builds are pretty standard through about 30 supply, so definitely try them out.