It’s so simple to fix…
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It basically doesn’t affect pro level play. Solar for example absolutely stomped it when he ran into it. I haven’t had any issues against it either. Sure, there are scenarios where the cyclone is strong. But at the same time I’ve won games from behind vs it and that simply wouldn’t be possible against an 8 rax for example. If you are ahead vs an 8 rax, you are still behind. If you fall down to where you are equal, you better get ready to type gg soon.
This is what happens if you push an 8 rax back, gain control of the map, and decide that maybe you can attack:
https://i.imgur.com/t0sMFIh.png
8 rax is crazy strong and I still wouldn’t call it OP. Another indicator the cyclones aren’t OP is that cyclone players will transition if you scout it. If you scout the factories or see blueflame prematurely then they will start to make tanks. If cyclones are OP, why do terrans transition off of it.
Protoss on the other hand. You know exactly what they will do. You know exactly when they will attack and expand. You know exactly what opener they will use. It will be stargate into a third into blink into a fourth into storm into tempest immortal. Zero variation because toss players know it’s a guaranteed win and there is no need to ever deviate from this path. Zerg goes mutas – toss wins. Zerg goes roach – toss wins. Zerg goes 1 base allin – toss wins. Zerg does 2 base allin – toss wins. Zerg rushes hive – toss wins. Zero adaptation. That, right there, is an overpowered strategy. If it weren’t overpowered, toss would sometimes mix it up and change their trajectory depending on what they scout. Most toss players don’t even bother to scout.
Another indication that cyclones aren’t OP is that zerg has multiple counters. VS an op strat, you will have only 1 counter and it will be a soft counter. Swarm host nydus is a hard counter. Lurkers are a hard counter via burrow ambush or nydus or both. Burrow play is a hard counter. Simple surrounds are a hard counter. Ling bane is a soft counter with flanks and surrounds. Hydras are a soft counter. Ravagers are a soft counter. Broods are a hard counter. Fungal is a hard counter.
What hard counter exists vs tempest immortal storm? None. If toss gets there you GG because it’s over. Save energy for the next game.
While there are hard counters to the cyclones, the cyclones also hard counter certain things. Ultras are terrible. Slow roaches are terrible. Mutas are terrible. Cyclones are more bad than they are good because with a proper response his cyclones are useless meanwhile you are making units that are useful. They rush out the factories only to die to a 2/2 roach hydra amove. The reason this works for zerg is because his tank counter will be low. He just can’t survive timings that you could survive if you had been making tanks instead. Zerg has to go for vipers and that gives you time to get out thors and ghosts and liberators.
There might be a place for cyclones as a tech switch style after a big late game trade. A zerg might be caught off guard by 10 cyclones that delete 20 morphing broods for example. Outside of that they are actually really bad units.
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The bug may be a simple fix, but it isn’t overpowered either. The balance team “may” decide to keep it as the new cyclone cooldown.
r/sh!tonlyterranswouldsay
Again, the Cyclone is not currently overpowered, even with the bug.
Doesnt mean its ok. For example if its meant to be a niche unit, its not ok that due to a bug its actually not only a niche unit but so strong and versatile that you can win games off of it.
In short: If the bug conflicts with the philosphy of a unit, its still a huge problem.
It is OK as long as the unit remains balanced, and the bug doesn’t break some important unit interaction.
In this case, the Cyclone continues to fill the roles that it was designed for, and all of its counters remain effective in each match-up. This is why I think it is likely that the balance team won’t revert the Cyclone’s cooldown in the next patch. They “might”, but I doubt it.
This particular “bug” doesn’t conflict with the Cyclone’s design philosophy.
The Cyclone remains a unit that must lock-on and kite without breaking the lock-on in order to trade well in combat, and it remains a unit that underperforms when it is forced to stand and fight (whether that is due to a surround, fungal, longer-ranged enemies, etc).
Obviously a terran will do some heavy mental gymnastics to justify that:
“As of Patch 5.0.14, the Lock On cooldown is 2.86 (≈ 4 / 1.4) seconds at Faster speed instead of 4.29 (≈ 6 / 1.4) seconds.”
Bugs shouldnt be fixed if its about terran. I wish I never heard that story before.
I shouldnt waste my time with trolls anyway. Have fun telling yourself and other terrans that a 66% of the actual cooldown is okay and shouldnt be fixed.
Yeah, and if you can reduce the cooldown by that much without causing problems, then the original cooldown was arguably too high to begin with.
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Sure sure, if you say so.
Then give us back the colossus range bug.
Oh another thing. The cyclone works by kiting backwards, which means it has to give up terrain. If you are fighting his side of the map, giving up terrain is equivalent to losing a base. Tanks by contrast don’t have to give up terrain in order to fight. So yeah, the cyclone is garbage even with the lock on bug. I honestly hope they keep it (even if it’s just to enrage the protoss players - “ReEeEEeeeEe protoss is supposed to be the EZ race, not cyclones!!!”). Don’t you think it’s time that mech was the easy way to play starcraft, and that protoss took some skill? I sure do. If protoss is fine, then the cyclone is fine times a thousand.