I'm so disappointed in Blizzard for making such unnecessary huge changes.

So the patch is a reality, we have a preview out and we know what the final changes are going to be. It's a sad day for me and pretty much every other Terran player who is happy with the state of Terran matchups as is. The majority of this post is going to just discuss from a Terran perspective because I'm not going to pretend to have enough knowledge of the other matchups to decide whether these changes are beneficial or not.



Making mech "compelling" - Look, I was a brood war player. I'm not a SC2 newbie who wants to avoid mech forever and ever, but even coming from BW, bio is just so much more dynamic and fun than mech. I'm so afraid of mech becoming the dominant strategy in at least one matchup (and it seems inevitable) - there is almost no chance of ever creating an equal dichotomy, game balance and maps will always dictate that one playstyle will eventually be stronger. Making tanks stronger and removing their mobility seems to suggest that TvT is going to turn into defensive mech/air wars. Removal of tankivac and significant buffs to banelings and hydras will make bio play that much more difficult vs Zerg, while mech has gotten massive improvements. Bio will probably remain the dominant style vs Protoss, at least.



The terran core playstyle should include bio units in all matchups. This fantasy of playing completely without barracks units is ridiculous - it's not like the mech units are at all unused. We frequently see mine drop openers in all matchups, and mines being utilized in the midgame vs Z and P. Tanks are already a core unit in TvT, very common in TvZ and plenty viable in many TvP situations. Hellion/hellbat strategies have risen in popularity in both TvT and TvZ and we almost certainly haven't seen the end of this play with different mech compositions being used in all matchups (see ByuN's aggressive cyclone builds TvT, Innovation's cyclone/hellion TvT, etc). I think there is still plenty of time to see where mech ends up... the only unit desperately in need of help is the thor.



My prediction is that if defensive mech styles become popular, we're going to realize it's like WoL broodlord infestor and that compositions almost entirely based on defending are fucking boring when they're standard in every game and your opponent is just trying to break you. Even if we see aggressive mech play, why is that any better than bio!? Bio is so much more exciting, more multitasking and micro, and much higher skill cap than mech units.



We will never have a game where several compositions are equally strong in all matchups. Metagame and maps will dictate that there is always one dominant playstyle and then other niche playstyles develop as counterplay. The game is more exciting, fun to play and watch when bio is part of that core composition.



I don't believe there is anything wrong with Terran matchups as is and only a few small tweaks need to be made to bring certain units in line. I hope Blizzard is careful and doesn't let mech become overbearing to terrans who have been happy playing bio for six years. You're playing with fire, Blizzard, and potentially scaring away the people who are currently happiest playing Terran.

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