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    Starcraft Co-Op Mutation #236: Train of the Dead

    October 28, 2020

    Starcraft Co-Op Mutation #236: Train of the Dead

    Co-Op Mutation #236: Train of the Dead

    Posted: 26 Oct 2020 04:02 AM PDT

    The infested terrans on Tarsonis are everywhere. They're in the ground. They're on the trains. Before long, they'll be in your base. And you may never see them coming.
    ­

    Map: Oblivion Express

    Walking Infested
    Enemy units spawn Infested Terran upon death in numbers according to the unit's life.
    Outbreak
    Enemy Infested Terrans spawn continuously around the map.
    Darkness
    Previously explored areas remain blacked out on the minimap while outside of player vision.

    ­

    Rating: Brutal +2

    Video Replays on Brutal:

    Player 1                                   Player 2
    [CtG(Shadow of Death Alarak)]
    [CtG(Dark Prelate Zeratul)] [Hunter (Khalai Phasesmith Karax)]
    [CtG(Chief Engineer Swann)] [Hunter (Swarm Broodmother Zagara)]
    [CtG(Frightful Fleshwelder Stukov)] Galle (Renegade Commander Raynor)

    ­

    Notes:

    • This is the fourth repeat of Train of the Dead.
    • The train and enemy waves are not revealed on the map, however you do get to see the part of the tracks that you have vision on.
    • Infested spawn from the buildings continuously. Aberrations start spawning at 20 mins.
    • Destroying all buildings will prevent the infested from spawning.
    • The attack waves and trains are not marked on the minimap until you have vision of them, or the tracks where the trains go through.
    • The trains spawn a lot of infested.

    Vote for [Commander of the Week] and [Mutation Difficulty]!

    Do you like this mutation? [VOTE HERE]

    Commander of the Previous Week: [Tychus]!
    Previous Week(Fire in the Hole): [2.94/5.00(Average)]
    Previous Week Approval Rating: [0.39]
    ­

    [Weekly Mutation Database]

    Clearly Superior Version:
    [Battle.Net]
    ­
    Relevant Links
    Maguro's Mutation List
    starcraft2coop.com
    ­

    submitted by /u/CtG526
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    ESL DreamHack SC2 Masters Winter week 2 match thread

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 04:41 AM PDT

    Welcome to ESL Pro Circuit Winter Season Finals! Today we will play the Korea Play-Ins, continue the EU Group Stage and begin the NA Group Stage.

    This week, based on the suggestion of /u/Pelin0re, instead of a separate match thread for each day, I will be keeping up this singular one for the entire week. Feedback on this (and any other match thread matters) are most welcome.

    I will be posting the scoreboards of concluded broadcasts in the comments and they can also be found, as always, on Liquipedia as well. As and additional part of this experiment I have replaced the "Countdown to LIVE" section of the post with a section with the daily broadcast times of each regionals.

    -----------

    Live updated scoreboards on Liquipedia and I will also do my best to keep up the ones in this post throughout each day.

    For the Latin America regionals, I will update the scoreboards afterwards as I will be asleep at the time they are played.

    -----------

    Daily broadcast times

    CN: 11:30 UTC

    EU: 15:00 UTC

    NA: 19:10 UTC*

    *The Sunday broadcast of NA regionals begins at 18:10 UTC instead

    -----------

    Liquipedia Tournament Page. Includes a regularly updated bracket visual as well as timestamps

    -----------

    VODs for previous broadcasts are available in the following places:

    ESL Archives YouTube

    ESL Main Stream

    ESL B-Stream

    sc2links.com (spoiler free)

    -----------

    Tl.net match thread

    r/starcraft discord for live commentary and more

    -----------

    For newer viewers

    CreightonOlsen's guide to watching a game of Starcraft

    ------

    ESL Main Stream (English)

    ESL B-Stream (English)

    3D!Clan Stream (Russian)

    -----------

    All today's matches best of 3 (first to win two maps wins the match)

    -----------

    CN Group A scoreboard

    Match Players Score: Aligulac result prediction:
    1 (KaiZi Gaming) TIME vs. (Team LP) Wanted 0-0 2-0
    2 (Dragon Phoenix Gaming) Firefly vs. (Invictus Gaming) XY 0-0 2-1
    3 (Winner's match) M1 winner vs. M2 winner 0-0 TBD
    4 (Loser's match) M1 loser vs. M2 loser 0-0 TBD

    CN Group B scoreboard

    Match Players Score: Aligulac result prediction:
    1 (Team LP) Jieshi vs. (Starlight Twinkle) Jaedongoz 0-0 2-0
    2 (Invictus Gaming) MacSed vs. (Brave Star Gaming) Cyan 0-0 1-2

    EU Group C scoreboard

    Match Players Score: Aligulac result prediction:
    1 (Cascade) SKillous vs. (Team STARCOM) Kas 0-0 2-0
    2 (Mousesports) HeRoMaRinE vs. (Cascade) DnS 0-0 2-0
    3 (Team Rotti) Goblin vs. (Team Blacer) Krystianer 0-0 1-2
    4 Lambo vs. (TKAP) MarineLorD 0-0 2-1

    EU Group D scoreboard

    Match Players Score: Aligulac result prediction:
    1 (Team Liquid) uThermal vs. (GamersOrigin) Stephano 0-0 2-1
    2 MilkiCow vs. (Team WardiTV) Rail 0-0 1-2
    3 (RYE Gaming) PtitDrogo vs. (Ence eSports) Serral 0-0 0-2
    4 (Team eXoN) SouLeer vs. (Kosmos Esports) SouL) 0-0 0-2

    EU Group A scoreboard

    Match Players Score: Aligulac result prediction:
    1 ShaDoWn vs. (TKAP) Denver 0-0 1-2
    2 (Team QLASH) Reynor vs. (Team Liquid) MaNa 0-0 2-1

    NA Group A scoreboard

    Match Players Score: Aligulac result prediction:
    1 MCanning vs. (Alpha X) Vindicta 0-0 1-2
    2 (PSISTORM Gaming) JonSnow vs. (Genesis Gaming) PiLiPiLi 0-0 1-2
    3 (Brave Star Gaming) Scarlett vs. (Team eXoN) Nina 0-0 2-1
    4 (Alpha X) Future) vs. (ROOT Gaming) DisK 0-0 2-1

    NA Group B scoreboard

    Match Players Score: Aligulac result prediction:
    1 (PSISTORM Gaming) Epic vs. PattyMac 0-0 2-1
    2 TLO vs. (Ting) Neeb 0-0 0-2
    3 (Alpha X) Astrea vs. (Alpha X) Asuna 0-0 2-0
    4 (Alpha X) MaSa vs. (PSISTORM Gaming) Namshar 0-0 1-2

    -----------

    If you've read this far, do also check out the event calendar on tl.net for further tournaments or events. There's plenty of Starcraft going on before and after this event!

    ----------

    Enjoy the games!

    submitted by /u/TheGoatPuncher
    [link] [comments]

    Young Artosis Watching Bisu Play on Plasma

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 04:44 PM PDT

    My genius is frightening

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 06:07 AM PDT

    Every time I think a race is op.. I try it.. then I get crushed :0

    Posted: 28 Oct 2020 12:49 AM PDT

    It's part of the fun to learn each of the races. But it makes you a master of none for sure.

    submitted by /u/Lennek_ttv
    [link] [comments]

    Chris Metzen and Mike Gilmartin announce Warchief Gaming

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 10:59 AM PDT

    Trap coaches me on how to react safely vs 1 base Terran wall-off builds. He also roasts the fuck out of me

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 09:15 AM PDT

    Look at Unit Design

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 08:59 AM PDT

    Look at Unit Design

    https://preview.redd.it/ki2ir50cpov51.jpg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4b0e317f5e89d285005b111c475eb3766b865d15

    INTRO

    The goal of this post is to look at few unit designs and unit mechanics that aren't working perfectly and learn from them. This is not meant to be a critique. We can learn a lot from StarCraft II, whether it is from its successes or failures. The ability to directly compare to Brood War, which shares a lot of characteristics, is very valuable as well.

    StarCraft II isn't perfect. There is design baggage carrier over from Brood War, and not all new things worked out perfectly. That said, StarCraft II development team did a lot of great work to improve things since Wings of Liberty was released, leading to arguably the best game state StarCraft II has ever been in.

    Force Fields, while originally very problematic, are in a good state today. Death-balling has been greatly reduced compared to Wings of Liberty and Heart of the Swarm due to economy changes and good unit design. Similar thing has been done to the strength of air unit compositions. The economy model received improvements in Legacy of the Void, even if it's still in some ways inferior compared to certain double harvest models and Brood War economy model.

    I'm including these units not because their design is bad altogether. I'm including them because despite some parts of their design aren't good, these units work surprisingly well in other aspects, and often lead to good interactions and fun game dynamics. This contrast makes them more interesting. I'm mentioning only units I found particularly interesting.

    WIDOW MINE

    https://preview.redd.it/9ra53uzcpov51.jpg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d1b012d8e757159878ffe498334ef91d49299053

    Widow Mines are great when micro is involved. Splitting, target firing, target switching, Stalker Blink micro, Mutalisk micro, all those are fun to execute as a player or watch as a viewer. I would even say the randomness tied to Widow Mines is good for spectating. "4M vs Muta-Ling-Bling" is one of the best parts of StarCraft II.

    However, especially in TvZ you often see the most impactful damage to be done when neither player is paying attention or microing with or against Widow Mines. Nobody wants a potentially game deciding thing to be a random Widow Mine that one player didn't see and the other forgot about. This is likely even more frustrating for casual players that will not micro and forget detection.

    Another thing is that the most execution burden falls on the defending player. That's not inherently a bad thing, and it's good that there are counterplay options. But if the execution is mostly on the defending player, the mechanic will feel more punishing and kills by Widow Mines will seem more undeserved. Note that I'm not saying they are undeserved, only that it will seem more that way.

    If the execution is more on the player using a unit, the result will feel more deserved. However, there still should be some counterplay through skill on the defending side. It's all about the right balance. In this case execution a bit too focused on the defending player, and randomness a bit too high.

    NUKES

    https://preview.redd.it/c19aa5tdpov51.jpg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=919a307761416c37beb9341ef799b177237789ce

    From today's perspective and general recognition of the importance of accessibility in games, adding a game mechanic that is based around looking for a red dot somewhere on the map would sound a bit crazy. But seeing it as a legacy mechanic from Brood War makes it at least understandable. If you aimed to make nukes more mainstream, you would have to make changes this mechanic.

    It's even worse if we consider color blindness, which affects roughly 8% of men. As you can see the red dot is significantly less visible, and that's placed against a dark background. Putting the dot directly on the Nexus would make it close to invisible. StarCraft II has built-in color-blind mode, but its effect is very limited.

    https://preview.redd.it/dqevltqepov51.jpg?width=1417&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1561c2a9041c1b7e22102350d072a673697835c1

    Images simulated here

    Cloak and burrow mechanic are in a similar situation. Units should be either visible or not. Whether you will spot a cloaked or burrowed unit is too reliant on your vision and game settings. Neither of them should be a deciding factor in a competitive setting.

    SWARM HOST

    https://preview.redd.it/y9oursdfpov51.jpg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bc747bc37d292b2adb71458d2924531d64bf5b41

    People often complain about "free units", but difficulties with Swarm Hosts will apply to any unit that can deal almost guaranteed damage while being safe. If you as player are taking damage and can't do anything about it, it will always feel frustrating even if the game is balanced.

    Moreover, the balancing itself will be more difficult with units like these as a situation can snowball very quickly. With Swarm Hosts often the first two waves are the most important.

    From the historical perspective the Swarm Host redesign patch was quite interesting. It came very late to Hearth of the Swarm when Legacy of the Void beta has already started. Previously Swarm Hosts served as a core unit that enabled Zerg to fight Terran and Protoss lategame armies. And while many players didn't enjoy games with Swarm Hosts, game was balance decided by individual maps.

    The patch changed this core unit into a harass unit with a high supply cost. They do fit into Legacy of the Void now, but at that time this change left a gaping hole in the design of Zerg race. However, one could argue that given the already running beta of Legacy of the Void, and how close the release was, making such change was reasonable, and the meta didn't have a time to reach a degenerate state.

    BATTLECRUISER

    https://preview.redd.it/dvan871gpov51.jpg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=73f17c50e9430f29097f47cd52ae844edb1be52d

    Battlecruiser might be the most interesting unit to look at. There are design issues with the unit and its abilities. However, it's also arguably the most interesting capital ship in StarCraft II and closest to its Brood War counterpart. Let's first look at the abilities.

    https://preview.redd.it/n3ywhhzgpov51.png?width=76&format=png&auto=webp&s=c289999ae68f0ce2694fc5c61b2986ae28a8194a

    TACTICAL JUMP – 71s cooldown / 4s casting time

    The main issue with Tactical Jump was the lack of counterplay. Fortunately, this was significantly improved after Battlecruisers had become more used, and the casting time was increased. Before that a professional player should have never lost a Battlecruiser on the opponents side of the map with Tactical Jump off cooldown.

    Other than this delay only Infestors with Neural Parasite or Fungal Growth can help to stop Battlecruisers from escaping. I wouldn't consider this ability a big issue anymore, but it's tied with high front-loaded damage of Yamato Cannon, which puts this closer to the Swarm Host issue where the damage is guaranteed and comes with a minimal risk.

    https://preview.redd.it/08bg49ahpov51.png?width=76&format=png&auto=webp&s=b89e7a33381825fc971438cf351fe3fa35a17650

    YAMATO CANNON – 71s cooldown / 240 damage / 2s casting time / 10 initial casting range

    This ability has again very limited counterplay and doesn't have high skill ceiling. In MOBAs we see a lot of skill shots as they provide much better opportunity on both sides to show off skill. Guaranteed damage and minimal risk doesn't help in this case. However, this is again understandable as design baggage carrier over from Brood War, and as an intention to preserve this iconic ability.

    So why do Battlecruisers still work well in StarCraft II? There are few reasons for it. Even if there are issues with those abilities, they still provide higher skill ceiling and options for making decisions than for example Carriers have. Those abilities also enable Battlecruisers to be effective early and in few numbers, and not just as a part of death-balls.

    This is closer to Brood War, where for example in TvZ few Battlecruisers are used to put the Zerg off balance. The Zerg player has to balance anti-air and anti-ground more, and is likely to take worse fights because of that. This is similar to early game Battlecruisers in StarCraft II's TvZ which again test the Zerg player in balancing proper response against both air and ground threats.

    QUEEN

    https://preview.redd.it/cudw510ipov51.jpg?width=1644&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=df928c12a78be5da6d9dccd13ed79ba7c02f0bb9

    I'm including the Queen here mainly to show the contrast between local design issues and global ones. With Battlecruisers the local design of its abilities has issues, but the unit fits well into the global game design.

    Here we have a Queen, a unit which many players will argue is too well-rounded for defense. However, it's not due to any design of the Queen, instead the unit was slowly forced into this role over the years by the lack of other Zerg units that could come early enough and defend against enemy threats. So the problem is not directly with Queens, and solutions would have to come from looking at other Zerg units and tech progression.

    CARRIER

    https://preview.redd.it/phpvk8nipov51.jpg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=621e19b70b35a5fbd835b62bde39237ae1971b42

    There is nothing inherently bad about Carrier's design but nothing great either. The unit had difficult time finding its place in the grand scheme of things despite it being such iconic Protoss unit.

    This is partly because of lacking micro potential compared to Brood War's Carrier, partly because of Protoss tendency to death-ball in StarCraft II, and partly because of lacking interactions it had with Brood War's Goliath.

    As with Battlecruisers, Carriers in Brood War forced the opponent in PvT to carefully balance its anti-air and anti-ground. Plus their main counter being a ground unit added more depth to the game as they had to take advantage of terrain. StarCraft II moved a lot of anti-air to air units (Vikings, Corruptors, Void Rays, Tempest, Battlecruisers, Liberators) and this dance between air and ground units is less common. And so Carriers in StarCraft II were left in a position with fewer interesting interactions, and a place that's more difficult to balance.

    CONCLUSION

    StarCraft II isn't perfect, and we should learn from it.

    • Widow Mines show the effect of execution on how the result is perceived.
    • Nukes remind us that accessibility shouldn't be overlooked.
    • Swarm Hosts present the difficulties of units with close to guaranteed damage and minimal risk.
    • Battlecruisers highlight the importance of counterplay, and that despite local design issues the unit can still work well.
    • Queen is an example of how global design can affect one unit.
    • Carrier is a unit seeking its place after having lost its interesting interaction.

    Blog – Twitter

    submitted by /u/Fluffy_Maguro
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    Help me find a VOD?

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 10:44 PM PDT

    I've been trying to find a VOD from a very old match. It was a GSL match (not sure if code S or A), played sometime around 2009-2011.

    It was definitively a TvZ on Shakuras Plateau. The T player was definitely MarineKing (he may have still gone by BoxeR at the time). Zerg may have been Nestea, but I'm not sure.

    Terran was in the upper right, Zerg on the bottom left. MK just... made marines (idt he had stim/combat shields in his build, literally just marines) and sent them and microed them in the way MK eventually became known for. I think he eventually overwhelmed the Z from just regular ol' marines + micro. It was a nuts moment at the time.

    For whatever reason I want to review that VOD.

    Help?

    submitted by /u/NotSpartacus
    [link] [comments]

    Starcraft remastered issue

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 10:11 PM PDT

    Solar got extremely close to the ESL Open Triple Crown Yesterday

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 06:36 AM PDT

    Yesterday, Solar was two games away from doing something that's never been done before: playing and winning all 3 regional ESL Open Cups.

    Over a 15 hour day, he beat Armani, Nina, Golden, Neeb, soul, Creator, Zoun, trap, and Dark. His only loss was a high ping ZvZ to Reynor in the semifinals of the EU cup.

    That's pretty mind blowing display of both Starcraft skill and stamina. Going 14-1 over such a grueling and stacked events crazy.

    Mad respect to Solar, and I hope he or someone else can actually pull this off someday !!

    submitted by /u/99decks
    [link] [comments]

    I LOVE GSL Code S. Which games were absolute bangers this year? Trying to get some friends into SC2.

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 08:14 PM PDT

    Hi there fellow starcraft viewers. I watched a TON of starcraft over quarantine and believe GSL Code S is THE PREMIER form of entertainment. I want to show some good games to some friends, but I'm having trouble remembering which specific matches were action packed, back-and-forth, and/or just plain BANGERS. I'm remembering some JUICY distruptor hits, slugfest engages, and sneaky DT's. Any games would be super helpful! Thanks :)

    TL;DR - NEED AWESOME GAMES FROM GSL CODE S 2020 TO GET SOME FRIENDS INTO SC2 :)

    submitted by /u/ninesevenoh
    [link] [comments]

    "We plan to deliver on the things Blizzard promised and never did (team matchmaking chief among them), as well as a lot more." - ShieldBattery version compatible with SCR in the works

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 08:57 AM PDT

    Did the Terrans at one point have teleportation technology?

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 11:05 PM PDT

    When you first go into the installation with Jim and his crew to retrieve the data disks, they step onto beacons that quite literally move them from one location in the facility via teleportation. Do people dismiss this point as a game quirk separate from established lore, or did Confederate Terrans have teleportation that was reliable enough to move entire human beings perfectly intact?

    submitted by /u/TheBigSmol
    [link] [comments]

    Well-Edited Streamer Highlights #6!!! DESTINY'S MAGNET RETURNS + Solar's Insane ZvP Strat!

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 11:46 AM PDT

    Two years ago, Flash v Effort in the ASL S6 Finals

    Posted: 28 Oct 2020 02:33 AM PDT

    How did the Terran know that the aliens that initially attacked them were called "Zerg"?

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 10:17 PM PDT

    When that SCV first comes out of the bunker and says that they'd been under attack for days from the
    "Zerg", I'd always thought that the Terrans named the Zerg... but both the Zerg and the Protoss use that name... Like, Zerg as in the species name, y'know? Am I making any sense?

    submitted by /u/TheBigSmol
    [link] [comments]

    The benefits of raising your rank?

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 09:22 AM PDT

    So, I've realized that unless I'm actually winning tournaments and getting money, rising in the ranks doesn't really affect me in any way. For me, the ranking system serves one purpose, to pair me with similarly skilled players. I've also found that the most fun the game brings me is when I have a really close game with a similarly skilled player. Whether I was in bronze, or where I'm at now, (high plat) the exhiliration was the same.

    Don't get me wrong, I enjoy learning, and I really enjoy seeing myself get better over time. But being focused solely on raising my rank really doesn't serve me. Like at all. I think I can net more happiness by enjoying losing a really close game.

    What I'm saying is don't let the ladder stress you out. It's not necessarily there just for climbing.

    submitted by /u/antares07923
    [link] [comments]

    GSL Style Tournament for Diamond and Under Set Over A Few Months

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 07:27 PM PDT

    We are happy to announce season 1 of the LittleMac StarCraft League.

    For players not exceeding 4320 MMR in the last 3 seasons

    Matcherino: https://matcherino.com/tournaments/37151/overview (code: LMSL1)

    Please use the code to help us raise the prize pool!

    Bracket: https://challonge.com/60pcwgyo

    You must be a member of our discord if you want to participate: https://discord.gg/y4VcF69

    Games will be played during the week at the participant's convenience and then casted from replay on: https://www.twitch.tv/little__mac

    A more complete list of the rules can be found in our discord.

    If you are Diamond 1 and under, we hope to see you in the tournament!

    submitted by /u/dunkthelunk666
    [link] [comments]

    If you're looking for GSL Music of this and last season

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 03:16 AM PDT

    Check this YT Channel here.

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwEhD_OYv12HPCPBiIzVRuA

    ​

    I was trying to find the below track for weeks and gave up eventually. When looking it up again today, I finally found it!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBx8jg3T0fo

    submitted by /u/Techxxnine
    [link] [comments]

    bring the salt in commit let me know on the video

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 07:27 PM PDT

    TIL Finland has mandatory military service

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 07:10 AM PDT

    I feel like I should have read about this somewhere sooner, but finland actually also has mandatory military service (I think for a year) for all Males like Korea.

    This means at some point in the future Serral would have to also leave for military service.

    submitted by /u/il8677
    [link] [comments]

    Hey, Check out Matiz Cup #7, 75$ prizepool, starts at 8:30 PM CET, you can win $10 just by playing. PostDH entertainment with young talent and future DH participants!

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 09:42 AM PDT

    Casting ESL and playing cello the same day isn't easy

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 09:44 PM PDT

    ASL Ro.8 Day Four

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 04:21 AM PDT

    TIL Plasma is older than Fighting Spirit and Circuit Breakers

    Posted: 27 Oct 2020 05:35 AM PDT
    Read more
    at

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