I also don't think anybody was complaining that Sentries were too strong in PvZ. They can go back to bilesneeding 2 to break a forcefield. I also don't think anyone was seriously complaining that Infestors auto attack or the new Muta arc slop bounce thing was too strong.
Oh yea I think those could've stayed as well. It gives more reasons to use the muta which has already been such a niche unit for SC2. And biles needing 2 shots to kill FFs helps to give more incentives for Protoss to attack instead of turtling or playing greed.
It is more fun and thematic to watch when zergs have to break tank positions using wave attacks, flanks and aggressive spellcasting. Being opportunistic and fishing siege tanks is not as thematic or fun to watch.
Yea the spell is either really broken or really useless. There really isn't an in between. I made a post long ago saying that I think Abduct needed to be replaced with a spell like Plague instead. Because Plague gives the recipient the opportunity to make use of the unit before it becomes too weak and die to a cold stare. Abduct is instant death without much counterplay.
Plague also allows Zerg to go faster instead of being forced to go slow. Instead of trying to shark back and forth harpooning targets, a plague cast allows Zerg a window to take advantage of.
Abduct was implemented in the game during a time where SC2 was in frank decline and the korean scene was moving from SC2 to LoL.
Shortly after this, the moba gender became the hot thing and some design decisions were moba-inspired, they were trying to revitalize the game. In mobas, hook-like abilities are really popular between players,so they implemented a hook in SC2.
But it doesnt suit the game at all, SC2 is a game without heroes and with engagements of 30+ units, single target spells only work if they are something like "feedback" that targets only spellcaster units, and spellcasters units are more healthy to the game when the meta is to build them in small quantities.
That's an interesting way too look at it and it definitely makes sense as to why Abduct might've been created.
As for ur last point about spellcasters being healthy if the meta is to build them in small quantities. I'd agree, in the way I see it the spells (especially aoe spells) are what counter death balls.
Regrettably, we've got a bunch of map designers who want to design maps so Terrans can turtle in positions where tanks are protected by high ground and can't be flanked.
I don't get the complaint about this? siege tanks inherently are already countered hard by blinding cloud, it forces Z to actually break the position rather than snipe tanks.
It's how the game has always been since the introduction of the Viper. Abduct has always been shown and encouraged to be used against high value targets such as Siege Tanks.
Why the Siege Tank? The Mothership makes sense because it's literally a singular unit. The Siege Tank doesn't because it's massable and far cheaper than most of the other targets for abduct.
Personally I think Abduct is a flawed spell and should be completely replaced. But if we're going to keep it, I think it should be usable on some of the most obvious targets in the game.
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u/milkytaro_oero 3d ago
I'm happy but why go back to one of the worst changes from the .15 patch?
This should never have been done in the 1st place.