StarCraft 2 - Season 7 is live. Someday I'll ladder, honest

[granturismite]

I've been replaying the campaign on the hardest difficulty recently. They call it BRUTAL for a reason. They target your medics, send colossus when you only have m&m&m, and produce a lot of units really quickly. Also, because I made some bad tech tree choices, I have to get the research points again. But its fun!

I have also been playing the starbattle mod on the US server. Man, that fun. Except people who blame "noobs" for their problems. Seriously, your mad because someone else wants to try this game? [/rant]

 

[Owen.C93]

So what do you guys speculate the new zerg unit will be in HotS? Theres a silhouette of it posted on the starcraft site.

It looks like some sort of siege unit for Zerg which would be nice. The teasers are pointless though, I don't care about what it looks like, just give me one stat about it and I'd be happy.

 

[Casio]

Did my NA placement matches, I'm a Gold ranked player on NA. Too cool. Now to get out of Bronze in SEA...

 

[Azuremen]

Did my NA placement matches, I'm a Gold ranked player on NA. Too cool. Now to get out of Bronze in SEA...

We need to play again sometime. Or better yet, have you sit in on some of the in house games with my group.

Also, them games at Blizzcon. Though I'm not a big fan of MVP at all, cocky sob

 

[Blackbird.]

So watching that matchup with mvp and nestea... that was epic. I was four rows back near the middle, the rts stage was packed. All the games were great but that final match was amazing.100 plus banelings at one point, i think 6 nukes dropped, 13000 minerals nestea had at one point, nesteas last ditch effort made 13 brood lords. It was great, if that match ever surfaces which im sure it will watch it if you find them entertaining.

The new units are mostly cool. The tempest, basically the muta denier, is cool but i smell a nerf before hots goes live. The shredder for terran seems really useless, im glad they emphasize that its subject to change. Thor becoming similar to the mothership(only one allowed on the battlefield at one time) disconcerns me. Thors are basically the best answer to mutas mid to late game. Next id say is stimmed marines which yes is devastating but not as mobile as a flying unit and mutas easily outrun marines. But i digress.

 

[granturismite]

Thor becoming similar to the mothership(only one allowed on the battlefield at one time) disconcerns me. Thors are basically the best answer to mutas mid to late game. Next id say is stimmed marines which yes is devastating but not as mobile as a flying unit and mutas easily outrun marines. But i digress.

Wait....WHAAA!!! only one Thor at a time? Why not make it one Ultra at a time, or one BC, or one Collossus? The Thor is Terrans only Teir 3 ground unit, that is essential for taking down mutas if you go mech. I hope to any god you care to name that Blizzard back down from this, or give the Thor a significant buff (see Odin in the WoL campaign). Some say the Thor is overpowered, but Thors form a major part of the late game army in a TvZ.
[/rant]

In other news, I played a game with SlayerSBoxer the other day... it was a custom map game, and he got kicked before the game actually started, but still....

 

[Blackbird.]

Well yes the thor will be bigger badder and harder to kill. Also the mothership is being removed. If you want it the old way when the expansion releases you can always play WoL.

 

[Azuremen]

Wait....WHAAA!!! only one Thor at a time? Why not make it one Ultra at a time, or one BC, or one Collossus? The Thor is Terrans only Teir 3 ground unit, that is essential for taking down mutas if you go mech. I hope to any god you care to name that Blizzard back down from this, or give the Thor a significant buff (see Odin in the WoL campaign). Some say the Thor is overpowered, but Thors form a major part of the late game army in a TvZ.
[/rant]

In other news, I played a game with SlayerSBoxer the other day... it was a custom map game, and he got kicked before the game actually started, but still....

Yeah people invite eFamous people all the time, doesn't me they actually know them...

And it isn't like the meta game is going to be the same at all in HotS, so the Thor change isn't going to be a huge deal I'd say. And Terran will still have Marines, so shrug.

 

[Casio]

And Terran will still have Marines, so shrug.

Yeah, my current 2v2 strategy won't change, aka, make Marines while my team-mate does whatever he wants.

I think a few of the new units are pretty gimmicky, particularly that Toss unit that forcefields mineral lines, and that Terran shredder thing.

Burrowed Baneling move though just seems insane to me.

Oh and the replicator just sounds like an easy way out from having to balance the game properly to me...

 

[Blackbird.]

I think a few of the new units are pretty gimmicky, particularly that Toss unit that forcefields mineral lines, and that Terran shredder thing.

Apparently the shredder "thing" right now is a viable defense tactic for expansions. Which everyone is bitching about because everyone says Terrans have it easy expanding, which is true. But my point is it's not gimmicky.

Burrowed Baneling move though just seems insane to me.

I agree with you completely, it's gonna force us in 1v1 to have at least a MT at our ramp and then... I dunno invest in Ravens for our army?

BTW, incase anyone hasn't seen this page yet this gives a better overview of the changes.

http://us.battle.net/blizzcon/en/bl...player_Panel_at_BlizzCon_2011-10_21_2011#blog

 

[Casio]

Apparently the shredder "thing" right now is a viable defense tactic for expansions. Which everyone is bitching about because everyone says Terrans have it easy expanding, which is true. But my point is it's not gimmicky.

That's really the whole point of the Planetary Fortress though isn't it...as a Terran player the last thing I want is more Turtly Terrans.

I agree with you completely, it's gonna force us in 1v1 to have at least a MT at our ramp and then... I dunno invest in Ravens for our army?

Yeah, I'm really not liking this extra emphasis on cloaking/detection that seems to be in HoTS. And even small groups of 3-4 Burrowed banelings placed everywhere on the map could be a nightmare, and what's the solution, constant scans and heavy ravens? I think they should bring back the Radar Tower upgrade to the sensor tower to deal with it, and take it away from turrets.

Though perhaps they have a longer borrowing action before they can explode. Probably hard to make an early call on it.

 

[Blackbird.]

That's really the whole point of the Planetary Fortress though isn't it...as a Terran player the last thing I want is more Turtly Terrans.



Yeah, I'm really not liking this extra emphasis on cloaking/detection that seems to be in HoTS. And even small groups of 3-4 Burrowed banelings placed everywhere on the map could be a nightmare, and what's the solution, constant scans and heavy ravens? I think they should bring back the Radar Tower upgrade to the sensor tower to deal with it, and take it away from turrets.

Though perhaps they have a longer borrowing action before they can explode. Probably hard to make an early call on it.

The best bet is mid to late game vs Zerg make it a neccesity for a sensor tower to at least know something you can't see is coming. Sensor towers alert you of burrowed units and cloaked units right? I hardly ever use them so i'm not sure.

My god the hellions aren't weak anymore!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUd_sqyQhjA

 

[Casio]

The best bet is mid to late game vs Zerg make it a neccesity for a sensor tower to at least know something you can't see is coming. Sensor towers alert you of burrowed units and cloaked units right? I hardly ever use them so i'm not sure.

My god the hellions aren't weak anymore!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUd_sqyQhjA

Sensor towers don't provide detect. Though in the beta it was different.

The Sensor Tower used to be a tower used for detection which could then be upgraded to a "Radar Tower", which then gave it the ability to sense enemy units in the fog of war. The Radar ability was later on moved to the Sensor tower, the Radar Tower being scrapped.

 

[Azuremen]

Sensor towers would be so broken if they could detect cloak or borrow units. I'm honestly glad most people don't realize how damn good they are once you hit mid game, because it just allows a Terran to play defensively even easier.

I really, really don't get how a Terran can complain about detection. If you are playing smart you'll have at least two orbitals in any match up, and likely more. On top of that, the Raven is a good unit, EMP can reveal cloaked units, Scan, and missile turrets are cheap. And having a Missile Turret at the natural should basically be standard. At least in TvZ and TvP.

Borrow banelings that can move aren't going to change the game too much, since baneling mines are fairly standard already. Knowing when to scan is a pretty critical skill at the top level play, if just to deal with baneling mines.

The Replicator is an interesting idea, and is a throw back to the Dark Archon's mind control. It should lead to some very creative play, which Protoss kind of needs at this point because they are getting stuck on some fairly rigid builds at the high level.

The game is effectively balanced guys. Any time anyone that isn't playing at the highest level talks about balance, it makes me cringe. And if you are sub High Masters, balance isn't even the issue if you wanted to claim it anyhow - it is just you are playing poorly.
And Hellions were never weak.

 

[Blackbird.]

Youre right im not a high level player at all im like rank 55 silver 1v1. And no I dont commonly use units like the ghost or raven. My micro is sub par probably not even average for an rts gamer. I usually stick to a basic composition of MMM and tanks, of course switch it up a little when it calls for it. Im trying to improve my gameplay. Like recently i tried to adopt one of mvps strats against zerg with hellions and it worked well. But since my micro and multitasking isnt that great i supply blocked myself hardcore and gave him time to react and ultimately loss. Im new to rts, im new to 1v1 i used to primarily do 2v2. So please understand where im coming from, im not here to troll. The hellion comment was partially sarcastic. After last night hellion harass is great versus zerg but i simply dont have the micro yet to be as effective as it can be yet.

 

[Casio]

The game is effectively balanced guys. Any time anyone that isn't playing at the highest level talks about balance, it makes me cringe. And if you are sub High Masters, balance isn't even the issue if you wanted to claim it anyhow - it is just you are playing poorly.
And Hellions were never weak.

Now I think about it more it may not be as different as you say. Though it may mean more Raven play vs Zerg which I think is pretty interesting.

I think I just hate cloaked/burrowed units with a passion. Nothing is more annoying then when some jerk Protoss comes into my base with 8 DTs 1 second after I just used my MULEs. Oh well.

Will try to get on the NA server this afternoon again if you're online...

 

[Azuremen]

Now I think about it more it may not be as different as you say. Though it may mean more Raven play vs Zerg which I think is pretty interesting.

I think I just hate cloaked/burrowed units with a passion. Nothing is more annoying then when some jerk Protoss comes into my base with 8 DTs 1 second after I just used my MULEs. Oh well.

Will try to get on the NA server this afternoon again if you're online...

I might be but I have to learn me some math and stuff.

And guys, all you have to do at that level really is just macro macro macro. Solid macro will win if you only make marines while expanding and teching to Medivacs, while getting upgrades on your Marines. Will get you into platinum with minimal micro; good micro will win you a GSL if you keep the macro up

 

[Blackbird.]

Hmm

I cant imagine mass marines and medivacs will be my answer to colossus/stalker. But I agree on macro.

Now I think about it more it may not be as different as you say. Though it may mean more Raven play vs Zerg which I think is pretty interesting..

Indeed, since we already need it late game too look for burrowed banelings why not research seeker missle and demolish zerg armies!

 

[Blackbird.]

Edit

 

[Azuremen]

Hmm

I cant imagine mass marines and medivacs will be my answer to colossus/stalker. But I agree on macro.

Marauders and medivacs then. And maybe some Vikings if you are letting them get more than 1 or 2 Colossi.

 

[Casio]

Did my placement for season 4 and am finally in Silver league on my main SEA account. 👍 Definitely aiming to get to Gold soon, I beat nearly all silver players so should be too hard.

The funny thing is, I played awfully in my placement match, stuffed up everything at the start, and my GF was showing me clothes she had just bought for 50% of the game so was super distracted. And in the end won with pure Marine/Hellion despite being attacked by 89 banelings, a flock of Mutas, losing my only expansion, and a billion SCVs. Gotta take them though.....

Here is the replay if you want to see how bad a Zerg can play in Silver league...

 

[Blackbird.]

Did my placement for season 4 and am finally in Silver league on my main SEA account. 👍 Definitely aiming to get to Gold soon, I beat nearly all silver players so should be too hard.

The funny thing is, I played awfully in my placement match, stuffed up everything at the start, and my GF was showing me clothes she had just bought for 50% of the game so was super distracted. And in the end won with pure Marine/Hellion despite being attacked by 89 banelings, a flock of Mutas, losing my only expansion, and a billion SCVs. Gotta take them though.....

Here is the replay if you want to see how bad a Zerg can play in Silver league...

Season 3 my 2v2 ended up rank 5 gold so well see if we can end up in platinum.

 

[granturismite]

I ended season 3 in the top 20 in my bronze division, at about a 75% win rate overall, and after my placement match (which I won convincingly) I wound up about rank 80 in bronze again. So I have played about 10 games in Season 4, and only lost one. I am currently in the top 8, but I doubt I'll be leaving bronze behind soon, even if I am beating silver- league players more often then not

 

[Formulations]

The funny thing is, I played awfully in my placement match, stuffed up everything at the start, and my GF was showing me clothes she had just bought for 50% of the game so was super distracted..

Pic, or it didn't happen

 

[Casio]

Pic, or it didn't happen

What? Picture of distraction?

 

[Casio]

Might be good days ahead for all you Toss players out there.

PATCH 1.4.2 PTR NOTES

Balance

PROTOSS

Forge

The cost of Upgrade Shields Level 1 has been decreased to 150/150, down from 200/200.

The cost of Upgrade Shields Level 2 has been decreased to 225/225, down from 300/300.

The cost of Upgrade Shields Level 3 has been decreased to 300/300, down from 400/400.

The cost of Upgrade Ground Weapons Level 2 has been decreased to 150/150, down from 175/175.

The cost of Upgrade Ground Weapons Level 3 has been decreased to 200/200, down from 250/250.

The cost of Upgrade Ground Armor Level 2 has been decreased to 150/150, down from 175/175.

The cost of Upgrade Ground Armor Level 3 has been decreased to 200/200, down from 250/250.


TERRAN

Ghost

EMP radius has been decreased from 2 to 1.5

 

[granturismite]

With regards to the balance mentioned above, I have to say I agree with the reduction in armour and shield, but not weapons. Considering the other races get durability upgrades that affect the entire life of the unit, it makes sense to lower the cost of the 'toss durability upgrades because each upgrade (in general) affects half the unit durability. Weapons, however, should be the same as the other races.

And I understand the reason for the reduction in Ghost EMP radius, but I don't like it. I know I have pretty bad micro, and this just discourages me (and probably other low level Terrans)from using ghosts apart from nuking. A nice buff for PvT matches then.

 

[Blackbird.]

Well i hardly use ghosts anyhow, unless i see high templars in the mix.

 

[Owen.C93]

Well i hardly use ghosts anyhow, unless i see high templars in the mix.

Right now there's no reason not to use EMP against Protoss, you can do thousands of damage with a simple EMP or 2 and get rid of forcefields, it's definitely OP. They've reduced the area by almost half in 1.4.2, which might be a bit much I don't know.

 

[Azuremen]

And I understand the reason for the reduction in Ghost EMP radius, but I don't like it. I know I have pretty bad micro, and this just discourages me (and probably other low level Terrans)from using ghosts apart from nuking. A nice buff for PvT matches then.

Learn to micro then. Which means getting Ghosts and working with EMP a bit more. As mentioned, there is no reason to not use Ghosts in a TvP, as they talk half a Stalker's life off instantly, not to mention ruin Sentries and Immortals.