Adept Woes

So it’s been a while since I’ve blogged about StarCraft 2, and given the recent patch in Legacy of the Void (the only version I play nowadays) I think a post is due.

The big change is that Terran players no longer have Mules. Which is a big deal. But let’s not forget that Protoss doesn’t have Chronoboost, and Zerg has auto-inject larva, in a nerf sort of a way because you can only get two instead of four.

On the one hand, I’m baffled by this turn of the events. Even as we speak, Red Bull is hosting a tournament for Archon mode. And Archon mode makes a lot of sense, because it means that a single player doesn’t have to multi-task like he would have before. You can have one player dedicated to micro on attacks and another on macro. But then removed the big macro mechanic from all three races. What the fuck is the other guy in archon mode supposed to do if the one responsibility he had is now out of the game?

And while we’re talking about Archon mode, I couldn’t believe my eyes, when Huk beat Taeja. Okay, let me clarify that it was Taeja and TheSTC vs Huk and MC. But still. You’ll remember that Taeja is my *favorite* player. He’s used to pwn the game like it was nobody’s business. I wouldn’t expect him ever to lose to Taeja. Even if Taeja was playing one handed on Xanax. And yet, Taeja was the first player eliminated from the tournament, and Huk destroyed him. What gives?

I’ll tell you what. It was a combination of the removal of Mules, which were a big party of Taeja’s play, and the addition of Adepts. Which happen to do double damage to light units now. What a rip off. I always thought that a stalker was about as good against a marine as any protoss unit should be in the early game. But now Adepts can two shot marines (if I’m not mistaken). Add in their teleport spirit ability, and you have a unit that is *insanely* good in the early game. If you play as Protoss, you can’t *not* make Adepts lickety split. People are migrating to Toss in droves, just to use Adepts.

What else really sucks about Adepts is that they completely shut down reapers. Reapers are the only unit that Terran has in the early game, and suddenly Toss gets a unit that does double damage against them, and that can teleport. A reaper, which is supposed to be the fast, nimble early game unit, literally can’t escape from an Adept. Add to that a standard Mothership Core, which a reaper can’t hit, and what the fuck is a Terran player supposed to do against the Protoss. Did Blizzard even test this change before going live on the servers?

I saw this kind of abuse and thought I could come up with some kind of answer to adepts. But I couldn’t.  Sure, you don’t have to sink 150 minerals into Orbital commands anymore. But as a Terran player, the only answer I could come up with is to make Planetary Fortresses. I’m serious. It’s that bad.

My earlier attempts were to simply make a proxy Barracks and to mass some reapers asap and attack the protoss before they could get Adepts. Some games it works, mainly because of the aoe power of their grenades. But as soon as an Adept comes onto the field, your reapers are *fucked*.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Protoss has *options*. If he so desires, once the toss sees that you’re making a few reapers, he can throw down a Starport and make an oracle or two, and you’ll have *nothing* to stop it. So in TvP, it’s almost like you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t.

Then I played a few games, rushing for Banshee. I figured, they’re the natural hard counter to Adepts, so why not start with a little 1-1-1 action and go for cloak. But that didn’t work out well for me, either. Why? Because photon overcharge on a nexus, and your banshees can’t really do damage. While the adept counter attack is still a viable option for the protoss player.

The state of the game is seriously fucked right now.

The worst part about it is that the protoss player can get adepts and oracles without too much trouble. But the defense against adept/oracle player from the terran player’s point of view is fucking impossible. You’d need Marauders, turrets, bunkers, and preferable a Viking, too. All of which are really only good for defense. And even if you do defend perfectly, the toss is left with viable units to incorporate into his army and keep map control, while you’re probably stuck on one or two base without really being able to counter attack.

I mean, is there a unit I’m forgetting? Is there something I haven’t tried? Taeja went for a CC first, which I think is fucking insane. But it was something he was always able to get away with. Until LotV at least. It really makes me sad to see my hero, a man who I *still* think of as the God of the game, to fall so far from grace.

Basically, as a Terran player, you now have to wall off against toss. You probably need Planetary fortresses. And you have to do damage with a mine drop, or cloaked banshee. Thanks to photon overcharge, those are really your only two options.

And here I was, just a few hours ago, thinking I’d be able to write a nice blog post about how to counter Adepts. But like all the other Terran players in the world, I find myself brought to my knees by the unit.