Great to see Brian Leahy talking about Starcraft again. Best write up I've read on the HotS changes.

I hadn't heard that Blinding Cloud prevents spells. Finally Zerg has a way to deal with spell casters besides just killing them.

My body is ready.

Woo Brian Leahy rocks my face off.

Follow-up questions! Whose got'em?

Who wants to bet money on Carriers making a triumphant nostalgia-pandering comeback in the last expac?

@Scrumdidlyumptious said:

@empathe said:

Follow-up questions! Whose got'em?

Did you get to meet or see MVP or Nestea or MMA or DRG or Fantasy or Bisu or Jangbi or Jaedong or Day9 or Tasteless or Artosis?

Unfortunately, no!

I didn't get to go Friday and Saturday was crammed with getting this coverage done.

Some of these changes/units seem so crazy and exploitable that I don't see how they make it into the final version. The Replicant, burrowed Baneling movement, the Shredder and the new spellcasters in particular. They basically make this an entirely different game, which is both good and bad I guess.

I will personally like the variety and playing with the new units, but this will throw the pro scene into complete disarray, even assuming that everyone switches over to HotS. You'll basically have to rethink and redevelop entire strategies for every matchup and we'll be back where we were at the start of WoL. And as spectators we'll have to relearn everything and we'll possibly lose pros who can't pick up the new game.

@empathe: Did you get a sense of how the community thinks this will affect tournaments/pros? In my mind SC2 is building a lot of momentum as a competitive game and is breaking through in some ways that other games haven't, but I think Blizzard could easily be shooting themselves in the foot by releasing a follow-up that radically changes things and then pushing the pro scene to switch over.

I could not believe this wan't Brad. Or for a cross-over, Mr. Chan, who seems quite the player.. But ppl. seem to know who this is...

Everything sounds super imba.

For a minute there I thought it read "they took out the overlord" and I was like WHAT WTF! then I read again, ah overseer, well I rarely used those so yay. lol

@Deathpooky said:

Some of these changes/units seem so crazy and exploitable that I don't see how they make it into the final version. The Replicant, burrowed Baneling movement, the Shredder and the new spellcasters in particular. They basically make this an entirely different game, which is both good and bad I guess.

I will personally like the variety and playing with the new units, but this will throw the pro scene into complete disarray, even assuming that everyone switches over to HotS. You'll basically have to rethink and redevelop entire strategies for every matchup and we'll be back where we were at the start of WoL. And as spectators we'll have to relearn everything and we'll possibly lose pros who can't pick up the new game.

@empathe: Did you get a sense of how the community thinks this will affect tournaments/pros? In my mind SC2 is building a lot of momentum as a competitive game and is breaking through in some ways that other games haven't, but I think Blizzard could easily be shooting themselves in the foot by releasing a follow-up that radically changes things and then pushing the pro scene to switch over.

I think it's way too early to tell since so much of this will change between now & beta & launch.

@FluxWaveZ said:

@empathe: Is the burrowed Baneling/Ultralisk movement a Hive upgrade?

I'm not 100% on the banelings - that game I loaded up versus AI and just clicked everything. The demo was limited to 30 minutes a session so I didn't have time to actually write it all down and take note.

The Ultralisk ability is given to them by default upon hatching.

@Green_Incarnate said:

Everything sounds super imba.

not necessarily bad though, alot of things in BW felt imba but since all 3 races had alittle of that it ended up being balanced.

@Brad said:

@CJduke said:

Idk what I think of these changes. A lot of this stuff sounds/looks seriously overpowered. Just the description of the viper pulling immortals down from the high ground and then using the cloud spell to make it so stalkers have a range of 1 sounds completely ridiculous. I can't wait to see what the pros think.

That story in particular scared the shit out of me. IMBA IMBA IMBA or something

Yeah lol, I'm a Protoss player like you, and these changes are just scaring me away more than my inability to get past platinum already has.

Brian LEAHY, watcha gonna SAY-EE on the front PA-EE-GEE?

Oh man, if Brian joins Whiskey Media, I will be a very happy man.

Great article. Always nice to read something by someone who knows what they're talking about. Looking forward to more articles by this "Brian Leahy".

Looking forward to more articles by this "Brian Leahy".

Ugh...time to switch to protoss.

Best write-up on the new unit / changes I've read so far. I can't wait until these changes hit the pro circuit, even in an exhibition match.

You know what's going to keep me from buying Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm? The fact I bought and own Starcraft 2. As much as I love my memories of Starcraft I quickly discovered that I just don't like those games like I used to and I didn't really have many good experiences with the "community". I'll stick to Dawn of War and Relic's business from here on out I suppose.

Brian LEAHY, watcha gonna SAY-EE on the front PA-EE-GEE?

Oh man, if Brian joins Whiskey Media, I will be a very happy man.

Well played, Blizzard.

@empathe said:

I think it's way too early to tell since so much of this will change between now & beta & launch.

I know things will change and the unmanageable units won't make it in, I just think the overall feeling Blizzard seems to have is "this is our opportunity to make huge changes to address big issues." Regardless of balance, it's going to throw off the pros/tournaments and radically change the game. I'm in favor as a player who wants to play the new campaign/units, I just think the pro scene will be harmed with major changes every few years that could cause a huge realignment, strategy switch, and potential division of the pros/fanbase.

Great article. Need more Leahy stuff around here and an appearance on the Bombcast

@lilburtonboy7489 said:

Ugh...time to switch to protoss.

What for? More gimmicky units and strategies?

I feel like the new units for the other races are way more solid additions than the Protoss ones. :/

@Moppy said:

Brian LEAHY, watcha gonna SAY-EE on the front PA-EE-GEE?

Oh man, if Brian joins Whiskey Media, I will be a very happy man.

I second this. Brian's sense of humour would fit in perfectly with the Whiskey media crew.

nice work brian leahy, used to enjoy your presence on the weekend confirmed podcast.  New expansion seems like it'll be great.

Nice wrap-up, looking forward to seeing what new crazy builds the pros will come up with. 

I have literally never played a Starcraft game but this shit is compelling as fuuuckkk. Man. Video Games.

I am so looking forward to Heart of the Swarm.

This sounds great, can´t wait to try out these new units!

More articles by Leahy please!

OMg about time something was done about that THOR BS, glad blizzard finally got the message on that imba shit. Really happy about the changes! looks like zerg won't be the underpowered race anymore... so... FOR THE SWARM!

Although i am not really sure what's going on with the toss air fleet... i mean the phoenix were the anti light units... and there is no carrier replacement... sucks intercepts were cool... and that mass recall from nexus... sounds okay but there's a good chance its OP.

I can't wait to watch people play this.

What an excellent article. I'd like to see more from Brian!

Damn good article. Great to see some gaming related from Brian again !

Great article! The Shacknews/Giant Bomb relationship grows tighter!

fantastic article!! new changes sound awesome.

Brian Leahy!?! Fuck I've missed this guy on Weekend Confirmed. Glad to hear he's doing some free lance work like this - looking forward to more of the same. /crosses fingers

My head hurts after reading that. These changes are B. I. G

Yes!

@empathe: @FluxWaveZ

I was at Blizzcon too!

The baneling burrow move upgrade is indeed Hive tech. I believe it was 150/150, but I don't recall the research time. It was not super long. Maybe 60-90s?

I am interested to know what you think about the Entomb ability on the Oracle. I played with it a bit and found it interesting, but not terribly effective. The force fields do disrupt your opponent somewhat, but I think good players will simply shift-queue some marines/lings to attack and kill them all rather quickly making the spell not so effective. Also the energy cost on it was rather high meaning you would have to wait a long time to be able to entomb and phase out any static defenses near their minerals. Given the oracle's low HP/Shields I would think you need to have that phase out ready for any turrets/spores in your way. YMMV.

Awesome! Brian Leahy!

These changes sound good. Glad Thors have been nerfed, but that Replicant sounds a little OP. I'm sure it will change before launch though.

I expected a 30 minute long video where Brad talked about SC2. I am disappoint.

Leahy! Would love to hear you on the podcast some time with the regular crew...

I really appreciate the in-depth analysis, as opposed to a boring list of tweaks that every other website slapped together. Great piece, Brian!

Great writeup Brian - would love to see more of your stuff here! Really in-depth.

@empathe: @FluxWaveZ

I was at Blizzcon too!

The baneling burrow move upgrade is indeed Hive tech. I believe it was 150/150, but I don't recall the research time. It was not super long. Maybe 60-90s?

Nice to have you aboard Brian.

So they made every race like Terran basically? instant detection whenever you need it, multiple Siege and contain options, and super turtling powers. I'm super tepid about these changes especially the removal of my overseer. I mean really? as if my larva count wasnt enough of a problem now I have to spend some just to have a decent scout? I believe in you Blizzard don't screw anything up.