Playing Protoss in Starcraft 2 has always felt like an abusive relationship. For months we’ll be on top of the world. One day we’ll be skipping through a meadow with our trusty ‘Ruptors, then wake up tomorrow to find a Tier 3 water balloon. At the beginning of Legacy of the Void, we were given a shiny new toy: The Disruptor. This unit almost immediately became my favorite. It had enormous potential to change the course of the fight, while at the same time running the risk of whiffing completely or dying before detonation, costing you a hefty 150/150 for no damage whatsoever. It was a difficult unit to use, especially in conjunction with the Blink Stalker force that it most commonly complemented.
More games than I can count my Disruptor-based Army would get surrounded by Speedlings or out-muscled by a skilled Terran’s Marauder splits; but still I would try. That tantalizing memory of that juicy center-mass detonation on Roach/Hydra five games ago… would always keep me coming back.
Essentially what this means is that your purification nova, instead of detonating after a timed fuse, will explode as soon as the center of the ball touches an enemy unit. It splashes against the first thing it hits, utilizing AT MOST half of the ball’s overall area. The “new” Disruptor is terribly unsatisfying and even causes a fair bit of friendly fire when triggered by units like Zerglings or Zealots.
Anyone who has played the test server knows how ridiculous and disappointing this change is.
To explain better than I ever could, one of the great pioneers of the all mighty ‘Ruptor…
Ladies and Gentlemen, MCanning:
Goodbye Disruptor: You purified my heart
This change is not meant to “revitalize” the Unit and make it more common in the Korean scene where it is all but absent. It’s not about balance or counterplay, this change is primarily about Silver league armies blowing up in the blink of an eye. It’s about “game-ending potential” versus poorly controlled armies. Really? Not only are there dozens and dozens of ways to lose a game in the blink of an eye, but many of them are far more lethal than a good ‘Ruptor hit. Should we get rid of Storm too? Doom drops? Cloaked units? Proxies?
This is not Hello Kitty Island Adventure, this is Starcraft 2. Mistakes have consequences. When you suddenly lose a game to any number of units and strategies, you LEARN! The Disruptor is one of the easiest units to adjust to: split, pick up or go air. Maybe don’t have your army standing still and clumped without vision of what’s near it.
Of course, I want players of all skill levels to enjoy Starcraft 2 and to be able to ladder without anxiety. But removing one of the most entertaining units to use and one of the most exciting mechanics to spectate is not helping anyone out, it’s nerfing the game.
Say goodbye to game changing, crowd cheering booms. The Disruptor will vanish, never to appear in professional play again.
Removing the Mothership core and adding Shield battery seem like very promising ideas, but please… don’t take the Disruptor.
Photos Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
Video Courtesy of McanningSC2
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