[Interview] SEA Terrans talk about the Hellbat buff

As an amateur Terran player I was really excited about the new Hellbat buff which removed Transformation Servos, and changed the transformation requirement to an Armory. So I decided to ask all the pro Aussi Terrans (Kappa) about their opinion on the patch and its potential effects on the meta. Hope you guys enjoy it.



Q: Since the nerf to Widowmines, we have been seeing Terran players experimenting with different factory units to mix into the bio composition. Hellbats are a popular alternative, but we have seen players like Bunny focus on mixing tanks and thors into his bio armies. What in your opinion is the preferable TvZ army composition vs ling bling muta at the moment?



Iaguz: No idea and currently there's no real consensus amongst top terrans which factory units to mix in with the 8+ barracks of bio production. Mines and Thors are unreliable and Zergs have figured out how to play around them. A few terrans like to use tanks but I'm not a fan, they have too many weaknesses that are not outweighed by their strengths. I don't have one I like the most and I'm always mucking about with something.



Hut: Depends on the player. If you can split really well and have nice multitasking, you can play a heavy bio style with a few mines. Personally I prefer Thor / Hellbat to complement my Marine / Medivac ball.





Q: Did you ever use the Transformation Servos upgrade in your play prior to the patch? Did you see any potential use for it?



Iaguz: No. it was the 250mm strike cannons of HotS. Good to see they realised no one was using the bloody thing and removed it.



Hut: The upgrade was only relevant in mech games, and I never play mech, so no. It was worthless as a bio player since you lose your 1st 6 hellions eventually anyway, and then you make hellbats from the factory normally.





Q: There have been whispers (mostly from Terran players) recently within the community that the TvZ matchup is slightly Zerg favoured. Do you agree with this statement? If so, do you think this patch will help balance out the match up?



Iaguz: Well it's definitely not bad for zergs. The current map pool is the best they've had in HotS with wide open spaces for setting up engagements, mains that don't have like 5 entrances for reapers and nice easy thirds. Basically this map pool is the opposite of Yeonsu. Zergs have also tightened up their early and midgames against reaper and hellion play, being able to drone a bit better and creep a bit harder and they've understood how to adapt their ling bane muta vs whatever terran is doing, a mixture of counter attacks, muta harassment and larger baneling counts to deal with heavier thor/hellbat styles.

I haven't fully assessed the hellbat buff but so far it seems like an alternative blue flame hellion style; something strong against queens and lings but almost suicidal if they go for a faster roach or muta attack. It's just cheaper then making blue flame and 16 hellions. I'm not sure if it's assisted in making consistent styles but there might be.



Hut: It was generally regarded by both sides as being Zerg favoured. Not massively, but they had a number of ways to consistently get ahead. I agree they were stronger in the mid-game which gave them advantages in the late-game. The patch allows for ALOT more flexibility from Terran and stops Zerg just defending with Ling / Queen early on.





Q: Many people are excited about the prospect of transforming the initial 6 hellions into Hellbats to strengthen the 10:30 medivac bio poke. Now that the change has come into effect, would you utilize the ability in your TvZ and how? How will this, if at all impact the Meta game?



Iaguz: Didn't do shit.



Hut: It makes the push really strong, you can force Zerg into bad engagements off creep and win. You can delay the 4th base from going up easily until after mutas are on the field, as well as killing a bunch of creep. Hellions just didnt last long enough before.





Q: Do you think this change benefits Mech or Bio more in TvZ?



Iaguz: It benefits anyone that wants to make more then 6 hellions early game which doesn't have to be any style.



Hut: The biggest change I see is doing stuff like 2 factory blue flame builds and incorporating an armory for a strong cheese, or even adding an armory and going with 10 hellions from the original factory. I haven't played with these styles too much though yet, so I can't say anything yet.





Q: Will this change impact any of the other match ups? Will this encourage more players to go for the Mech composition in TvT?



Iaguz: Not that I've noticed, and mech is still a joke vs Protoss.



Hut: It has the potential to make mech really imba TvT I think, but we'll see. There haven't been many high level TvT games at all from Korea, so the metagame has become quite stagnant in that match up.





Contributors:-

Interviews, editing: x5 MaruMarine

Banners: x5 Dot



All Starcraft 2 images are the property of Blizzard Entertinment Contributors:-Interviews, editing: x5 MaruMarineBanners: x5 DotAll Starcraft 2 images are the property of Blizzard Entertinment As an amateur Terran player I was really excited about the new Hellbat buff which removed Transformation Servos, and changed the transformation requirement to an Armory. So I decided to ask all the pro Aussi Terrans (Kappa) about their opinion on the patch and its potential effects on the meta. Hope you guys enjoy it.No idea and currently there's no real consensus amongst top terrans which factory units to mix in with the 8+ barracks of bio production. Mines and Thors are unreliable and Zergs have figured out how to play around them. A few terrans like to use tanks but I'm not a fan, they have too many weaknesses that are not outweighed by their strengths. I don't have one I like the most and I'm always mucking about with something.Depends on the player. If you can split really well and have nice multitasking, you can play a heavy bio style with a few mines. Personally I prefer Thor / Hellbat to complement my Marine / Medivac ball.No. it was the 250mm strike cannons of HotS. Good to see they realised no one was using the bloody thing and removed it.The upgrade was only relevant in mech games, and I never play mech, so no. It was worthless as a bio player since you lose your 1st 6 hellions eventually anyway, and then you make hellbats from the factory normally.Well it's definitely not bad for zergs. The current map pool is the best they've had in HotS with wide open spaces for setting up engagements, mains that don't have like 5 entrances for reapers and nice easy thirds. Basically this map pool is the opposite of Yeonsu. Zergs have also tightened up their early and midgames against reaper and hellion play, being able to drone a bit better and creep a bit harder and they've understood how to adapt their ling bane muta vs whatever terran is doing, a mixture of counter attacks, muta harassment and larger baneling counts to deal with heavier thor/hellbat styles.I haven't fully assessed the hellbat buff but so far it seems like an alternative blue flame hellion style; something strong against queens and lings but almost suicidal if they go for a faster roach or muta attack. It's just cheaper then making blue flame and 16 hellions. I'm not sure if it's assisted in making consistent styles but there might be.It was generally regarded by both sides as being Zerg favoured. Not massively, but they had a number of ways to consistently get ahead. I agree they were stronger in the mid-game which gave them advantages in the late-game. The patch allows for ALOT more flexibility from Terran and stops Zerg just defending with Ling / Queen early on.Didn't do shit.It makes the push really strong, you can force Zerg into bad engagements off creep and win. You can delay the 4th base from going up easily until after mutas are on the field, as well as killing a bunch of creep. Hellions just didnt last long enough before.It benefits anyone that wants to make more then 6 hellions early game which doesn't have to be any style.The biggest change I see is doing stuff like 2 factory blue flame builds and incorporating an armory for a strong cheese, or even adding an armory and going with 10 hellions from the original factory. I haven't played with these styles too much though yet, so I can't say anything yet.Not that I've noticed, and mech is still a joke vs Protoss.It has the potential to make mech really imba TvT I think, but we'll see. There haven't been many high level TvT games at all from Korea, so the metagame has become quite stagnant in that match up.

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