The 4 Warpgate Rush is an extremely popular StarCraft 2 build for Protoss players that focuses on putting heavy pressure on the opponent, and keeping it on by constantly warping in units at a proxy Pylon. While it is technically possible to transition out of this rush, it is considered “semi-all in” as you must either do significant economical damage to your opponent or flat out win within several minutes of your initial push. There are many variations of this build, although the standard outline is as follows:

9 Pylon
12 Gateway (Scout with Probe)
14 Assimilator
16 Pylon
18 Cybernetics Core
19 Zealot
23 Pylon
24 Stalker
25 Research Warpgate Technology
27 Gateway
28 Sentry
30 Gateway
30 Gateway
31 Proxy Pylon

The build is fairly straightforward from this point on. Once your Warpgate research has completed, you will want to continuously warp in units at your proxy pylon outside of the enemy’s base (your unit composition should be based around whatever you scout your enemy making). Move your army into the enemy’s natural expansion. If you find his army at his expansion and have the superior force, Forcefield his ramp with your Sentry to block off reinforcements and engage. If you don’t find his army at the expansion, send a unit or two up his ramp to check the size of his force. If you don’t think you can win the fight, continue to warp in units until you feel safe to engage.

On some occasions, you may find that your opponent has scouted your 4 Warpgate Rush and  invested in a substantial amount of static defense such as Bunkers, Spine Crawlers, or Photon Cannons. In this situation, it’s best to abort the rush and immediately expand to catch up in economy unless you’re sure you break through.

Tips:

  • Feel free to use your Chrono Boost however you see fit, but make sure to save 50 energy to Boost your Warpgate Research twice.
  • If possible, do not let your opponent scout your third and fourth gateway: place them after you’ve killed their scout, hide them in a corner of your base, etc.
  • As a general reference, Gateways placed when WarpGate Research is at 50% completion will complete at around the same.
  • It’s generally a good idea to place a second proxy Pylon at a different location just in case one is scouted and destroyed.

Almost all build orders are a rough estimation and can usually be adapted depending on your enemy’s actions. ALWAYS scout your opponent and adjust your build accordingly.

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