Starcraft 2 Zealot Rush

The Zealot rush is one of the easiest and most effective ways to win games. The Starcraft 2 Zealot rush is a bit different from the original Starcraft (but not too much!).

There are two main ways to perform this technique, the standard method or by proxy.

Standard Method

The standard method involves building 2 gateways in your base and pumping out 4 to 6 zealots and then sending them in.

A good build order for this would be probes to 8/10 supplies, then a pylon, then 2 to 3 more probes, then 2 Gateways. Produce the Zealots then send them in. This is known as the 2-Gate Zealot Rush.

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The biggest thing to understand about the normal Zealot rush is that it is rarely a fatal technique. The main purpose of the standard Zealot rush is to slow down your opponent.

Because this technique is simply meant to slow the opponent, while you are sending in your Zealots, be sure to continue to produce more probes, start harvesting gas, and build pylons and tech up.

If you decide to stick with ground or extend your Zealot rush, build a third Gateway when you get a chance and make sure you get a lot of Probes to harvest minerals (up to 16).

If your initial rush is devastating, you can always produce more Zealots and finish the job. Most normal rushes will not be devastating.

A good rush involves killing a few harvesters and just generally slowing the enemy down. If you interrupt his build order by making him use harvesters for defense, or spend extra resources on defense, then you are doing quite well.

After performing a good rush, mass units over the next few minutes (Zealots, Sentries, and Stalkers) and then send them in to finish the job. If your initial rush was good, 12 units should be enough to finish them off.

The other rush method is by proxy. This method is a lot riskier and requires good speed.

A devastating rush would be wiping out all offensive unit producing buildings like a Spawning Pool, Gateway, or Barracks. If you do this, just keep producing Zealots and finish off the job before the enemy can rebuild.

Proxy Zealot Rush

A proxy involves building a pylon right outside the enemy's base (or even inside it if the base is big enough) and then building your Gateways there. This makes rushing really fast since units do not have to travel far.

Note: The "proxy" Starcraft 2 Zealot rush will be less effective with the coming of patch 1.1, as Zealot build time is being increased. However, it will still be useful in some situations, so do not abandon it entirely.

As soon as the game starts, immediately send one Probe to build a pylon just outside the enemy base. This works best if the pylon is hidden so the enemy cannot see it.

Build 2 Gateways as soon as possible. You do not need more than 9 probes to start.

As soon as the Gateways are done, build Zealots and use the Chrono Boost ability of the Nexus to speed Zealot production.

If you are playing a Terran player, send in your first Zealot right away. You cannot afford for the enemy to build a Reaper, which could wipe out your entire base! You also do not want to give your enemy enough time to wall the entrance.

If the entrance is walled, get 3 Zealots and take it down. Terran cannot produce Marines fast enough to beat 3 proxy Zealots.

If the enemy is Protoss, I would recommend waiting until you get 4 Zealots before going in. Almost no Protoss player will be able to withstand this. Kill his few Zealots and then take down the pylon(s) powering his Gateway(s).

Once he can no longer produce Zealots, you win!

Do not proxy versus a good Zerg player. If you do, do not build so close to the base because Overlords will find you. Zerglings can easily spoil a proxy attempt.

However, Zerg players do struggle versus a normal rush of about 6 to 8 Zealots.

Effectively mastering the Protoss Zealot rush alone is enough to take any player up to the Platinum league. However, it can be boring so I would recommend checking out some of these strategies:

The proxy is most effective Starcraft 2 Zealot rush versus Terran and other Protoss players. It works best when you are playing someone that is "Favored" (i.e. ranked higher than you) since it is risky. You need to be fast if you want to get your Zealot in before the Terran player gets too many Marines.

If you come to a wall with 4 Marines, you are too late. If there are just 1-2 Marines and you have 3-4 Zealots, you can easily bust down a Supply Depot (even with SCVs repairing it). Remember that SCVs repairing are SCVs not harvesting!

You do not want to risk a loss against someone you are favored against by performing a Starcraft 2 Zealot rush by proxy. It is not worth the risk to lose a lot of points if they discover your Gateways early and prepare for it. 

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