Easy Starcraft 2 Strategy: Void Ray Rush

A standard Protoss build in Starcraft 2 almost always has a basic framework of ground units to start the build. From a basic army of Stalkers and Zealots the natural progression takes you to a Robotics Bay and Immortals/Colossi/Observers. These units are almost indespensible in games that last more then 15 minutes. Any build that ignores this basic progression is banking on ending the game quick. That’s why these posts have “Rush” in the title. If you don’t succeed with the rush, and your opponent is any good at all, you’re probably screwed. That principle is never more true then with this build:

Void Ray Rush

Here’s the scenario. You ignore ground units completely. Your goal is to get a Stargate as soon as humanly possble, then Chrono Boost the heck out of it to get your first Void Ray up to your opponent’s base with the goal of either killing his CC/Nexus/Hatchery or killing most of his peons before he can mass enough anti-air to make a difference. This strategy primarily effective PvT and PvZ. PvP is doable, but only if he’s out of position, or if you can out build him early and quickly kill any anti-air he has.

Also, if you play a lot of 3v3 and 4v4, you’ll see people abuse Void Rays like none other.

Without further ado, the build:

8/10 Pylon

11/18 Gateway

11/18 Assimilator
The earlier you can build your first assimilator the better. Gas will be your resource choke point, so try to start stockpiling early.

13/18 Assimilator

15/18 Cybernetics Core

16/18 Pylon

19/26 Stargate
You should have saved up the first 250 minerals and 150 gas so you can start building you first Void Ray the second the Stargate comes online.

21/26 Pylon

25/34 Stargate
1 Nexus = 2 Stargates. So for every expansion you build, you can build 2 more Stargates and be constantly building Void Rays. For the purpose of our rush build, we’re only going to build 2. If the game lasts long enough to build an expansion, chances are you already lost.

29/34 Pylon

That gets you your first Void Ray a little before the 5 minute mark, and 5-6 Void Rays by the 8 minute mark.  The success of your build hinges on your ability to scout your opponent and prevent him from scouting you. Blocking your ramp early is essential. If you see him building a lot of tier 1 units early, don’t even bother trying this build. The best you could hope for is a base swap.

As I mentioned at the top, this build is very popular in 3v3 and 4v4, and to a lesser extent 2v2.  I’m planning on covering some 3v3 and 4v4 strategies in the future for all you social gamers, so stay tuned for that.