Stargate into Glaives
Detected if a Stargate is the FIRST tech building, Twilight Council is added before any Robotics Facility, and the FIRST Twilight upgrade is Resonating Glaives (completed BEFORE Blink and Charge) -- a Stargate opener into Glaive Adepts. Classification is order-based with no Gateway-count window: a Robo added after Twilight is support and cannot steal the Glaives label, while Robo-before-Twilight remains AlphaStar or Stargate into Robo.
47.6% win rate over 42 games vs Master opponents since patch 5.0.16
n = 91 games from 3 players · Stats updated Sep 28, 2026
Since patch 5.0.16, 3 players logged 91 PvZ ladder games with Stargate into Glaives, winning 52.8% of the decided ones. The likely range for its true win rate is 42.6–62.7%, so it is too close to call against a coin flip. It is played most against Master opponents, where it wins 47.6% over 42 games. It appears in 16.3% of the 559 PvZ games in the guide sample. This guide is newly published, so there is no weekly trend yet. This is still a small sample (n = 91), so treat it as a directional read.
Video guide
PvZ Stargate into Glaive Adept Timing
Published Aug 29, 2026
This PvZ build hides an 18-Glaive-Adept timing behind what looks like a normal Stargate opener—and punishes Zerg players who drone too hard.
- 14 Gateway / 17 Nexus on this four-player map
- Two Adepts for early scouting and pressure
- Stargate at 150 gas
- Void Ray first to disguise the follow-up
- Third Nexus → two more Gateways + Twilight Council
- Clear nearby Overlords before revealing Glaives
- Produce Adepts from four Gateways
- Move before Glaives completes
- Add the final round: 14 → 18 Adepts
- Choose Fleet Beacon, Blink + Forge, or Robo based on the scout
Win rate by league and MMR
Grouped by the opponent's league and MMR band. Bands without enough games are left out.
By opponent league
| Group | Win rate | Likely range (95%) | Games |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master | 47.6% | 33.4–62.3% | 42 |
| Grandmaster | 60.0% | 42.3–75.4% | 30 |
Key timings
These timings come from 87 recorded build orders by 3 players. Buildings are timed when construction starts, upgrades and morphs when they finish, exactly as the replay records them. The median player starts Forge at 7:08, with the middle half between 5:31 and 7:46. Winning games start 3rd Nexus at 5:08 on median, against 5:01 in losses. Timing data is still thin (n = 87 replays), so expect these medians to move.
| Milestone | Early (p25) | Median | Late (p75) | Wins vs losses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pylon startedin 87 games | 0:33 | 0:34 | 0:35 | 0:34 vs 0:34same in wins and losses |
| Gateway startedin 87 games | 0:56 | 0:57 | 1:00 | 0:57 vs 0:57same in wins and losses |
| Assimilator startedin 87 games | 1:09 | 1:11 | 1:15 | 1:11 vs 1:11same in wins and losses |
| 2nd Nexus startedin 87 games | 1:49 | 1:52 | 2:02 | 1:52 vs 1:511s later in wins |
| Cybernetics Core startedin 87 games | 1:57 | 2:02 | 2:05 | 2:02 vs 2:011s later in wins |
| Stargate startedin 87 games | 2:59 | 3:12 | 3:27 | 3:09 vs 3:134s earlier in wins |
| Warpgate donein 87 games | 4:52 | 4:59 | 5:16 | 4:58 vs 5:024s earlier in wins |
| Twilight Council startedin 87 games | 4:44 | 5:00 | 5:19 | 4:56 vs 5:015s earlier in wins |
| 3rd Nexus startedin 84 games | 4:46 | 5:05 | 5:43 | 5:08 vs 5:017s later in wins |
| Resonating Glaives donein 87 games | 6:49 | 7:03 | 7:22 | 7:05 vs 7:014s later in wins |
| Forge startedin 77 games | 5:31 | 7:08 | 7:46 | 7:08 vs 7:091s earlier in wins |
Army at 6, 8 and 10 minutes
At 6:00
Median count when present · 87 replays
Adept×4in 94% of games
Oracle×1in 80% of games
Void Ray×1in 70% of games
At 8:00
Median count when present · 77 replays
- Adept×13in 95% of games
- Oracle×1in 74% of games
- Void Ray×1in 56% of games
Stalker×4in 43% of games
At 10:00
Median count when present · 60 replays
- Adept×7in 70% of games
- Stalker×7in 67% of games
Zealot×5.5in 63% of games
When it wins
Win rate by game length: does the build close games early or pay off late?
| Group | Win rate | Likely range (95%) | Games |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10–15 min | 47.4% | 32.5–62.7% | 38 |
Common macro leaks
Average macro score 76.3 over 91 games from 3 players.
- Supply Blockedin 98.9% of games90 of 91
- Chrono Efficiencyin 87.9% of games80 of 91
- Mineral Floatin 80.2% of games73 of 91