• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 01:50
CEST 07:50
KST 14:50
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Serral wins EWC 202532Tournament Spotlight: FEL Cracow 202510Power Rank - Esports World Cup 202580RSL Season 1 - Final Week9[ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall15
Community News
[BSL 2025] H2 - Team Wars, Weeklies & SB Ladder8EWC 2025 - Replay Pack4Google Play ASL (Season 20) Announced43BSL Team Wars - Bonyth, Dewalt, Hawk & Sziky teams10Weekly Cups (July 14-20): Final Check-up0
StarCraft 2
General
The GOAT ranking of GOAT rankings Tournament Spotlight: FEL Cracow 2025 Classic: "It's a thick wall to break through to become world champ" Firefly given lifetime ban by ESIC following match-fixing investigation Serral wins EWC 2025
Tourneys
TaeJa vs Creator Bo7 SC Evo Showmatch Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond) FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $10,000 live event Esports World Cup 2025
Strategy
How did i lose this ZvP, whats the proper response
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 484 Magnetic Pull Mutation #239 Bad Weather Mutation # 483 Kill Bot Wars Mutation # 482 Wheel of Misfortune
Brood War
General
Google Play ASL (Season 20) Announced Which top zerg/toss will fail in qualifiers? BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ 2025 Season 2 Ladder map pool Flash Announces (and Retracts) Hiatus From ASL
Tourneys
[ASL20] Online Qualifiers Day 1 [Megathread] Daily Proleagues Small VOD Thread 2.0 [BSL] Non-Korean Championship - Final weekend
Strategy
[G] Mineral Boosting Muta micro map competition Does 1 second matter in StarCraft? Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Beyond All Reason Total Annihilation Server - TAForever [MMORPG] Tree of Savior (Successor of Ragnarok)
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Canadian Politics Mega-thread Stop Killing Games - European Citizens Initiative
Fan Clubs
INnoVation Fan Club SKT1 Classic Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Korean Music Discussion
Sports
2024 - 2025 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 NBA General Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Gtx660 graphics card replacement Installation of Windows 10 suck at "just a moment" Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
TeamLiquid Team Shirt On Sale The Automated Ban List
Blogs
The Link Between Fitness and…
TrAiDoS
momentary artworks from des…
tankgirl
from making sc maps to makin…
Husyelt
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Socialism Anyone?
GreenHorizons
Eight Anniversary as a TL…
Mizenhauer
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 565 users

In defense of the Widow Mine

Forum Index > SC2 General
Post a Reply
1 2 3 Next All
Pentarp
Profile Joined August 2015
219 Posts
May 17 2020 20:26 GMT
#1
Let me first say that I have always hated the widow mine. As a Terran scrub on ladder, I never could control the mines to do as I wanted. When even Bomber could not control the mines well, what hope is there for the rest of us?

Well, that's what makes the mines great. In the right hands, mines can do terrible, terrible damage. In the wrong hands, it'll still do terrible, terrible (friendly-fire) damage. And for most of us, it will be somewhere in between.

Widow mines differentiate the best from the very good Terrans.

This is also true for the opposing side. Mines can do very little damage if handled correctly. Even without detection, the top players are able to spot the slight animation before a mine fires - and protect their mutalisks or oracles. Even when the mines do fire, their splits are on point - well defended mine drops usually kill only 1 or 2 sacrificial probes. Lings can drag mine hits into the enemy lines.

Widow mines, again, differentiate the best from the very good non-Terrans.

So, why the hate? Why are mines so universally condemned by both Terrans as unreliable, friendly-fire monsters and non-Terrans as game-ending eviscerator of mineral lines?

Precisely because it raises the skill-ceiling for all parties involved. And our egos can't handle it. So my dear fellow whiners, let's take a hard look at the hate for widow mines and reflect on how it can influence the health of the scene.

Here's my humble opinion. Anything that creates more opportunities for the top-most players to shine; anything that makes us plebs wide-eyed in admiration for feats of skill and talent; anything that makes us groan or cheer in a roller-coaster of emotions - deserves love (even if its begrudging) , not hate.
Plogamer TL.net RedRocket B.net
ZigguratOfUr
Profile Blog Joined April 2012
Iraq16955 Posts
May 17 2020 20:32 GMT
#2
Players can also show their skills in ways that don't involve instantly losing the game to a moment of inattention. SC2 has long had a problem with game-ending moments, and widow mines are part of it. Mind you they (and disruptors) are probably among the more benign game-ending things that the game has had, but that doesn't make them a 'great' unit. It's far from the worst unit though.
Ciaus_Dronu
Profile Joined June 2017
South Africa1848 Posts
May 17 2020 20:44 GMT
#3
**** the widow mine.
It's an awful unit, that exists to suddenly end games out the blue, almost cannot be cost-inefficient, and is just immensely frustrating to play against. Playing against a Terran using mines you just always accept the risk you may suddenly lose to 4 mines under a tank or some other nonsense.

It wouldn't be such an issue were it not for them also being so cheap, reactorable, and available pretty much the whole game.
The fact that the balance team wants to buff them is concerning, to say the least.
Pentarp
Profile Joined August 2015
219 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-05-17 20:47:51
May 17 2020 20:45 GMT
#4
On May 18 2020 05:32 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
Players can also show their skills in ways that don't involve instantly losing the game to a moment of inattention. SC2 has long had a problem with game-ending moments, and widow mines are part of it. Mind you they (and disruptors) are probably among the more benign game-ending things that the game has had, but that doesn't make them a 'great' unit. It's far from the worst unit though.


Moment of inattention vs storms? Moment of inattention vs banes? Moment of inattention vs tanks?

We have accepted these to be standards for skill and talent. Why not mines?

On May 18 2020 05:44 Ciaus_Dronu wrote:
**** the widow mine.
It's an awful unit, that exists to suddenly end games out the blue, almost cannot be cost-inefficient, and is just immensely frustrating to play against. Playing against a Terran using mines you just always accept the risk you may suddenly lose to 4 mines under a tank or some other nonsense.

It wouldn't be such an issue were it not for them also being so cheap, reactorable [pentarp: as in able to produce in mass], and available pretty much the whole game.
The fact that the balance team wants to buff them is concerning, to say the least.


Banelings also fit the criteria for why you think mines are such an issue.
Plogamer TL.net RedRocket B.net
Wrathsc2
Profile Joined March 2011
United States2025 Posts
May 17 2020 20:49 GMT
#5
mines are great and almost always create exciting gameplay. some of the best games in sc2 involve tvz bio mines. they just do what tanks cant and that is be cost effective vs lings and zealots. there are tons of units that end games super fast, thats just how sc has always been.
A marine walks into a bar and asks, "Wheres the counter?"
Superouman
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
France2195 Posts
May 17 2020 20:50 GMT
#6
I think units like the widow mine or the disruptor have been added to emulate the feeling sc1 Reavers have.

The game design decisions in sc2 factor in the esport side and sc1 reavers often were hype moments because of the uncertainty of the damage.
Search "[SO]" on B.net to find all my maps ||| Cloud Kingdom / Turbo Cruise '84 / Bone Temple / Eternal Empire / Zen / Purity and Industry / Golden Wall / Fortitude / Beckett Industries / Waterfall
naughtDE
Profile Blog Joined May 2019
158 Posts
May 17 2020 20:51 GMT
#7
You are funny Pentarp. Next tell us why there is nothing wrong with swarmhosts please.

User was warned for this post.
"I'll take [LET IT SNOW] for 800" - Sean Connery (Darrell Hammond)
Ciaus_Dronu
Profile Joined June 2017
South Africa1848 Posts
May 17 2020 20:57 GMT
#8
On May 18 2020 05:45 Pentarp wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 18 2020 05:32 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
Players can also show their skills in ways that don't involve instantly losing the game to a moment of inattention. SC2 has long had a problem with game-ending moments, and widow mines are part of it. Mind you they (and disruptors) are probably among the more benign game-ending things that the game has had, but that doesn't make them a 'great' unit. It's far from the worst unit though.


Moment of inattention vs storms? Moment of inattention vs banes? Moment of inattention vs tanks?

We have accepted these to be standards for skill and talent. Why not mines?

Show nested quote +
On May 18 2020 05:44 Ciaus_Dronu wrote:
**** the widow mine.
It's an awful unit, that exists to suddenly end games out the blue, almost cannot be cost-inefficient, and is just immensely frustrating to play against. Playing against a Terran using mines you just always accept the risk you may suddenly lose to 4 mines under a tank or some other nonsense.

It wouldn't be such an issue were it not for them also being so cheap, reactorable [pentarp: as in able to produce in mass], and available pretty much the whole game.
The fact that the balance team wants to buff them is concerning, to say the least.


Banelings also fit the criteria for why you think mines are such an issue.


The word also was important there.
Banes are often cost ineffective, rarely kill things from cloak (and require good map awareness to do so) and have much less ability to launch sudden death out of nowhere. Banes normally have to run into your army to kill it, which makes the instalose potential rather less sharp, especially if you have a it of vision around the map (they also can't kill air units, which have a tendancy to clump).
Slydie
Profile Joined August 2013
1919 Posts
May 17 2020 21:16 GMT
#9
On May 18 2020 05:57 Ciaus_Dronu wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 18 2020 05:45 Pentarp wrote:
On May 18 2020 05:32 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
Players can also show their skills in ways that don't involve instantly losing the game to a moment of inattention. SC2 has long had a problem with game-ending moments, and widow mines are part of it. Mind you they (and disruptors) are probably among the more benign game-ending things that the game has had, but that doesn't make them a 'great' unit. It's far from the worst unit though.


Moment of inattention vs storms? Moment of inattention vs banes? Moment of inattention vs tanks?

We have accepted these to be standards for skill and talent. Why not mines?

On May 18 2020 05:44 Ciaus_Dronu wrote:
**** the widow mine.
It's an awful unit, that exists to suddenly end games out the blue, almost cannot be cost-inefficient, and is just immensely frustrating to play against. Playing against a Terran using mines you just always accept the risk you may suddenly lose to 4 mines under a tank or some other nonsense.

It wouldn't be such an issue were it not for them also being so cheap, reactorable [pentarp: as in able to produce in mass], and available pretty much the whole game.
The fact that the balance team wants to buff them is concerning, to say the least.


Banelings also fit the criteria for why you think mines are such an issue.


The word also was important there.
Banes are often cost ineffective, rarely kill things from cloak (and require good map awareness to do so) and have much less ability to launch sudden death out of nowhere. Banes normally have to run into your army to kill it, which makes the instalose potential rather less sharp, especially if you have a it of vision around the map (they also can't kill air units, which have a tendancy to clump).


Excuse me for bringing this up, but the damage banelings can do for their supply can be equally silly to that if WMs. The mines seems to have been introduced as an equalizer for a gameplay style I have problems with.

Watching Maru play like a god against banelings in the gsl and finally getting some insane WM hits to seal the game made Terran look OP, but nobody else has that combination of micro, multi tasking, awareness and macro. I still would have liked to balanced TvZ around better baneling counters and just remove the mines. Helbats, cyclones and helions are better designed units which can do their job imo.
Buff the siegetank
ilax30
Profile Joined November 2019
720 Posts
May 17 2020 21:21 GMT
#10
On May 18 2020 05:51 naughtDE wrote:
You are funny Pentarp. Next tell us why there is nothing wrong with swarmhosts please.


Wait what you are actually comparing a unit that can be very cost effective but can also do extreme friendly fire damage to a swarmhost that 99% of the times gets value and is far far more reliable?
Pentarp
Profile Joined August 2015
219 Posts
May 17 2020 22:05 GMT
#11
On May 18 2020 06:16 Slydie wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 18 2020 05:57 Ciaus_Dronu wrote:
On May 18 2020 05:45 Pentarp wrote:
On May 18 2020 05:32 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
Players can also show their skills in ways that don't involve instantly losing the game to a moment of inattention. SC2 has long had a problem with game-ending moments, and widow mines are part of it. Mind you they (and disruptors) are probably among the more benign game-ending things that the game has had, but that doesn't make them a 'great' unit. It's far from the worst unit though.


Moment of inattention vs storms? Moment of inattention vs banes? Moment of inattention vs tanks?

We have accepted these to be standards for skill and talent. Why not mines?

On May 18 2020 05:44 Ciaus_Dronu wrote:
**** the widow mine.
It's an awful unit, that exists to suddenly end games out the blue, almost cannot be cost-inefficient, and is just immensely frustrating to play against. Playing against a Terran using mines you just always accept the risk you may suddenly lose to 4 mines under a tank or some other nonsense.

It wouldn't be such an issue were it not for them also being so cheap, reactorable [pentarp: as in able to produce in mass], and available pretty much the whole game.
The fact that the balance team wants to buff them is concerning, to say the least.


Banelings also fit the criteria for why you think mines are such an issue.


The word also was important there.
Banes are often cost ineffective, rarely kill things from cloak (and require good map awareness to do so) and have much less ability to launch sudden death out of nowhere. Banes normally have to run into your army to kill it, which makes the instalose potential rather less sharp, especially if you have a it of vision around the map (they also can't kill air units, which have a tendancy to clump).


Excuse me for bringing this up, but the damage banelings can do for their supply can be equally silly to that if WMs. The mines seems to have been introduced as an equalizer for a gameplay style I have problems with.

Watching Maru play like a god against banelings in the gsl and finally getting some insane WM hits to seal the game made Terran look OP, but nobody else has that combination of micro, multi tasking, awareness and macro. I still would have liked to balanced TvZ around better baneling counters and just remove the mines. Helbats, cyclones and helions are better designed units which can do their job imo.


While I appreciate the support, I have to disagree that hellbats/hellions and cyclones are better designed to counter banelings. A change/buff to those units would result in a flat increase to the power of Terrans throughout the skill curve. They are essentially a-move units (except cyclones but barely).

Widow mines' power level scales with the skill level of both players in a game.

Mines do a much better job of differentiating the skill level of the Terran compared to a Hellbat. Mines punish a lack of control. A poorly controlled Hellbat will be ineffective, but not punishing. On the opposing side, unlike hellbats, mines can be dragged into Terran armies. This also helps showcase the skill level of a non-Terran.
Plogamer TL.net RedRocket B.net
pvsnp
Profile Joined January 2017
7676 Posts
May 17 2020 22:50 GMT
#12
Mines are great because the alternative is tanks. Mines produce faster, more exciting, and more dynamic games than tanks do. Multiprong is more entertaining than deathballs.
Denominator of the Universe
TL+ Member
AbouSV
Profile Joined October 2014
Germany1278 Posts
May 17 2020 23:05 GMT
#13
On May 18 2020 07:05 Pentarp wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 18 2020 06:16 Slydie wrote:
On May 18 2020 05:57 Ciaus_Dronu wrote:
On May 18 2020 05:45 Pentarp wrote:
On May 18 2020 05:32 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
Players can also show their skills in ways that don't involve instantly losing the game to a moment of inattention. SC2 has long had a problem with game-ending moments, and widow mines are part of it. Mind you they (and disruptors) are probably among the more benign game-ending things that the game has had, but that doesn't make them a 'great' unit. It's far from the worst unit though.


Moment of inattention vs storms? Moment of inattention vs banes? Moment of inattention vs tanks?

We have accepted these to be standards for skill and talent. Why not mines?

On May 18 2020 05:44 Ciaus_Dronu wrote:
**** the widow mine.
It's an awful unit, that exists to suddenly end games out the blue, almost cannot be cost-inefficient, and is just immensely frustrating to play against. Playing against a Terran using mines you just always accept the risk you may suddenly lose to 4 mines under a tank or some other nonsense.

It wouldn't be such an issue were it not for them also being so cheap, reactorable [pentarp: as in able to produce in mass], and available pretty much the whole game.
The fact that the balance team wants to buff them is concerning, to say the least.


Banelings also fit the criteria for why you think mines are such an issue.


The word also was important there.
Banes are often cost ineffective, rarely kill things from cloak (and require good map awareness to do so) and have much less ability to launch sudden death out of nowhere. Banes normally have to run into your army to kill it, which makes the instalose potential rather less sharp, especially if you have a it of vision around the map (they also can't kill air units, which have a tendancy to clump).


Excuse me for bringing this up, but the damage banelings can do for their supply can be equally silly to that if WMs. The mines seems to have been introduced as an equalizer for a gameplay style I have problems with.

Watching Maru play like a god against banelings in the gsl and finally getting some insane WM hits to seal the game made Terran look OP, but nobody else has that combination of micro, multi tasking, awareness and macro. I still would have liked to balanced TvZ around better baneling counters and just remove the mines. Helbats, cyclones and helions are better designed units which can do their job imo.


While I appreciate the support, I have to disagree that hellbats/hellions and cyclones are better designed to counter banelings. A change/buff to those units would result in a flat increase to the power of Terrans throughout the skill curve. They are essentially a-move units (except cyclones but barely).

Widow mines' power level scales with the skill level of both players in a game.

Mines do a much better job of differentiating the skill level of the Terran compared to a Hellbat. Mines punish a lack of control. A poorly controlled Hellbat will be ineffective, but not punishing. On the opposing side, unlike hellbats, mines can be dragged into Terran armies. This also helps showcase the skill level of a non-Terran.


I agree so much not to the underlined phrase.
While storm and banes require good positioning and engagement, mines can be randomely burrowed and we'll see what happens.
This is especially true for random mines in the middle of the map. No micro or map awareness required from the mine user, but the other one is looking away at the wrong half second and can lose 10+ supply.
mholden
Profile Joined April 2020
2 Posts
May 17 2020 23:07 GMT
#14
**** the widow mine.
It's an awful unit, that exists to suddenly end games out the blue, almost cannot be cost-inefficient, and is just immensely frustrating to play against. Playing against a Terran using mines you just always accept the risk you may suddenly lose to 4 mines under a tank or some other nonsense.

It wouldn't be such an issue were it not for them also being so cheap, restorable, and available pretty much the whole game.
The fact that the balance team wants to buff them is concerning, to say the least.


I think this is correct. But what Blizzard chose because Terran's splash ability is so low. With a relatively weak tank, this is Blizzard's thinking. These criticisms have remained since the beta and will continue. They don't balance the way we'd like.

I think the mine is too random to be reliable, so it has to be high DPS to compensate. I think its a poorly designed unit in the over all concept of Terran.
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20285 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-05-17 23:30:44
May 17 2020 23:29 GMT
#15
Widow mine is my most hated unit design of any race. I hope it gets the HOTS Swarmhost treatment.
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
brickrd
Profile Blog Joined March 2014
United States4894 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-05-17 23:58:31
May 17 2020 23:56 GMT
#16
i wish they would redesign mines to have something like concussive shell slowdown instead of just mass damage so they have more of a zone control role instead of "everything either dies or doesn't". then maybe buff banshees against protoss or something so terrans have stable harassment. T should be able to harass, but mine drops are stupid, and it's a bad interaction for casual players

if mines had slowdown they could potentially synergize with defensive bio/siege play in a way that punishes a player who a-moves into microed defensive units, but doesn't erase 15 units at once based on RNG
TL+ Member
Starcloud
Profile Joined September 2018
137 Posts
May 18 2020 00:14 GMT
#17
On May 18 2020 05:26 Pentarp wrote:

Here's my humble opinion. Anything that creates more opportunities for the top-most players to shine; anything that makes us plebs wide-eyed in admiration for feats of skill and talent; anything that makes us groan or cheer in a roller-coaster of emotions - deserves love (even if its begrudging) , not hate.


The concept of widow-mine is far from creating anything but chaos, being it doing friendly fire or killing 30 lings/banelings. Its just a disaster of a unit, which definitely doesnt promote skill but randomness and chaos. It can end the game in 1 second of non-observation and in lower leagues it kills mineral lines with no skill whatsoever. Its just a horrible unit in every way possible. Even more horrible than disruptors, which is enough said. You burrow 2-3 mines around the map in any phase of the game and just go back to macro. Then suddenly you hear Boom! Headshot! and your opponent has 10-15 supply less units without you doing any action to cause it.

On May 18 2020 05:32 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
Players can also show their skills in ways that don't involve instantly losing the game to a moment of inattention. SC2 has long had a problem with game-ending moments, and widow mines are part of it. Mind you they (and disruptors) are probably among the more benign game-ending things that the game has had, but that doesn't make them a 'great' unit. It's far from the worst unit though.


Yeah, exactly this, although I still think WM is by far the worst unit in SC2. Disruptor is a "good" second place.

Pentarp
Profile Joined August 2015
219 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-05-18 00:38:47
May 18 2020 00:37 GMT
#18
On May 18 2020 08:05 AbouSV wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 18 2020 07:05 Pentarp wrote:
On May 18 2020 06:16 Slydie wrote:
On May 18 2020 05:57 Ciaus_Dronu wrote:
On May 18 2020 05:45 Pentarp wrote:
On May 18 2020 05:32 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
Players can also show their skills in ways that don't involve instantly losing the game to a moment of inattention. SC2 has long had a problem with game-ending moments, and widow mines are part of it. Mind you they (and disruptors) are probably among the more benign game-ending things that the game has had, but that doesn't make them a 'great' unit. It's far from the worst unit though.


Moment of inattention vs storms? Moment of inattention vs banes? Moment of inattention vs tanks?

We have accepted these to be standards for skill and talent. Why not mines?

On May 18 2020 05:44 Ciaus_Dronu wrote:
**** the widow mine.
It's an awful unit, that exists to suddenly end games out the blue, almost cannot be cost-inefficient, and is just immensely frustrating to play against. Playing against a Terran using mines you just always accept the risk you may suddenly lose to 4 mines under a tank or some other nonsense.

It wouldn't be such an issue were it not for them also being so cheap, reactorable [pentarp: as in able to produce in mass], and available pretty much the whole game.
The fact that the balance team wants to buff them is concerning, to say the least.


Banelings also fit the criteria for why you think mines are such an issue.


The word also was important there.
Banes are often cost ineffective, rarely kill things from cloak (and require good map awareness to do so) and have much less ability to launch sudden death out of nowhere. Banes normally have to run into your army to kill it, which makes the instalose potential rather less sharp, especially if you have a it of vision around the map (they also can't kill air units, which have a tendancy to clump).


Excuse me for bringing this up, but the damage banelings can do for their supply can be equally silly to that if WMs. The mines seems to have been introduced as an equalizer for a gameplay style I have problems with.

Watching Maru play like a god against banelings in the gsl and finally getting some insane WM hits to seal the game made Terran look OP, but nobody else has that combination of micro, multi tasking, awareness and macro. I still would have liked to balanced TvZ around better baneling counters and just remove the mines. Helbats, cyclones and helions are better designed units which can do their job imo.


While I appreciate the support, I have to disagree that hellbats/hellions and cyclones are better designed to counter banelings. A change/buff to those units would result in a flat increase to the power of Terrans throughout the skill curve. They are essentially a-move units (except cyclones but barely).

Widow mines' power level scales with the skill level of both players in a game.

Mines do a much better job of differentiating the skill level of the Terran compared to a Hellbat. Mines punish a lack of control. A poorly controlled Hellbat will be ineffective, but not punishing. On the opposing side, unlike hellbats, mines can be dragged into Terran armies. This also helps showcase the skill level of a non-Terran.


I agree so much not to the underlined phrase.
While storm and banes require good positioning and engagement, mines can be randomely burrowed and we'll see what happens.
This is especially true for random mines in the middle of the map. No micro or map awareness required from the mine user, but the other one is looking away at the wrong half second and can lose 10+ supply.


That is what will differentiate the skill level of the opponents. Good opponents will send small lings or observers to sweep the map before getting hit by a random mine. And mines are never really random, they are placed where the Terran expects units to path through. And the supply and resource cost of spreading out mines are not insignificant at the professional level.

On May 18 2020 08:56 brickrd wrote:
i wish they would redesign mines to have something like concussive shell slowdown instead of just mass damage so they have more of a zone control role instead of "everything either dies or doesn't". then maybe buff banshees against protoss or something so terrans have stable harassment. T should be able to harass, but mine drops are stupid, and it's a bad interaction for casual players

if mines had slowdown they could potentially synergize with defensive bio/siege play in a way that punishes a player who a-moves into microed defensive units, but doesn't erase 15 units at once based on RNG


Ravens got the same treatment. They were turned into a support unit. As a result, Terrans lost tremendous late-game power. Buffing banshees will be the same as buffing hellbats - a flat increase to power level. And I cannot imagine how banshees can be changed to be relevant vs ling/bane/muta.

On May 18 2020 09:14 Starcloud wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 18 2020 05:26 Pentarp wrote:

Here's my humble opinion. Anything that creates more opportunities for the top-most players to shine; anything that makes us plebs wide-eyed in admiration for feats of skill and talent; anything that makes us groan or cheer in a roller-coaster of emotions - deserves love (even if its begrudging) , not hate.


The concept of widow-mine is far from creating anything but chaos, being it doing friendly fire or killing 30 lings/banelings. Its just a disaster of a unit, which definitely doesnt promote skill but randomness and chaos. It can end the game in 1 second of non-observation and in lower leagues it kills mineral lines with no skill whatsoever. Its just a horrible unit in every way possible. Even more horrible than disruptors, which is enough said. You burrow 2-3 mines around the map in any phase of the game and just go back to macro. Then suddenly you hear Boom! Headshot! and your opponent has 10-15 supply less units without you doing any action to cause it.

Show nested quote +
On May 18 2020 05:32 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
Players can also show their skills in ways that don't involve instantly losing the game to a moment of inattention. SC2 has long had a problem with game-ending moments, and widow mines are part of it. Mind you they (and disruptors) are probably among the more benign game-ending things that the game has had, but that doesn't make them a 'great' unit. It's far from the worst unit though.


Yeah, exactly this, although I still think WM is by far the worst unit in SC2. Disruptor is a "good" second place.



The most fun SC2 games to watch are chaotic. At lower levels, players can adapt and make static defenses against mines until their control/awareness is good enough to cut them. Again, a lot of the complaints seem to be from ladder heroes who find mines frustrating - which is exactly the point I'm making.

Mines ARE frustrating. But so are banelings, creep, storms, disruptors, doom-drops and pretty much everything about SC2.

But Widow Mines are the kind of frustrating that separates the wheat from the chaff.
Plogamer TL.net RedRocket B.net
brickrd
Profile Blog Joined March 2014
United States4894 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-05-18 01:10:10
May 18 2020 01:07 GMT
#19
On May 18 2020 09:37 Pentarp wrote:Ravens got the same treatment. They were turned into a support unit. As a result, Terrans lost tremendous late-game power. Buffing banshees will be the same as buffing hellbats - a flat increase to power level. And I cannot imagine how banshees can be changed to be relevant vs ling/bane/muta.

??? you don't seem to follow the meta very closely. almost everyone, including terrans, agrees that lategame mass ravens were terrible for the game and totally broken if the game ever reached that phase. new ravens are critical in TvT and also key in TvP in certain games. it's a clear improvement

banshees are a harassment opener in TvZ. they are already used against zerg by top terrans, and they hit long before mutas are built. so i don't know what you mean by "banshees being relevant against ling bane muta". mines are good against LBM but terran doesn't require mines to fight that composition anymore, maybe you're thinking of HotS TvZ where it was just bio mine medivac in every game. and i don't think you understand what i mean about mines - i'm not saying take away damage, i'm saying give them less damage but add something different as well

buffing banshees is simply an idea for alternative harassment against protoss. i didn't say anything specific, and maybe there's a better solution. but the fact is mines are a bad interaction because they're random and not fun. i don't understand people like you who respond to vague ideas with "no, that would never work." changes have to be tested before even pro players know exactly what will happen. pros have been wrong about balance changes before, so how can you claim you know exactly what would happen based on a vague idea?
TL+ Member
Pentarp
Profile Joined August 2015
219 Posts
Last Edited: 2020-05-18 02:54:31
May 18 2020 02:52 GMT
#20
On May 18 2020 10:07 brickrd wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 18 2020 09:37 Pentarp wrote:Ravens got the same treatment. They were turned into a support unit. As a result, Terrans lost tremendous late-game power. Buffing banshees will be the same as buffing hellbats - a flat increase to power level. And I cannot imagine how banshees can be changed to be relevant vs ling/bane/muta.

??? you don't seem to follow the meta very closely. almost everyone, including terrans, agrees that lategame mass ravens were terrible for the game and totally broken if the game ever reached that phase. new ravens are critical in TvT and also key in TvP in certain games. it's a clear improvement

banshees are a harassment opener in TvZ. they are already used against zerg by top terrans, and they hit long before mutas are built. so i don't know what you mean by "banshees being relevant against ling bane muta". mines are good against LBM but terran doesn't require mines to fight that composition anymore, maybe you're thinking of HotS TvZ where it was just bio mine medivac in every game. and i don't think you understand what i mean about mines - i'm not saying take away damage, i'm saying give them less damage but add something different as well

buffing banshees is simply an idea for alternative harassment against protoss. i didn't say anything specific, and maybe there's a better solution. but the fact is mines are a bad interaction because they're random and not fun. i don't understand people like you who respond to vague ideas with "no, that would never work." changes have to be tested before even pro players know exactly what will happen. pros have been wrong about balance changes before, so how can you claim you know exactly what would happen based on a vague idea?


I agree that mass raven was not good for the game. But nerfing the raven without any other changes neutered late-game Terran for a very long time.

Mines are still relevant vs LBM, especially before transitioning into libs and ghosts. And as to why I did not understand your comment about changes to the mine, it's because you didn't make it very clear. Your initial comment was vague, but then complain about my vague reply. Damage is also very important. EMP is not as feared as storms because they lack the killing power.

Thing is, mines are not completely random. Top-level Terrans use stop-fire, unburrow-reburrow, or target-fire to control how the mines land. Top-level non-Terrans split, bait-out shots, drag shots, etc. Of course there is randomness to it, especially at lower skill level. But it is not a complete roll of the dice.

As for the banshees vs LBM; it's an opener and not a composition. Banshees get traded out by the time mutas hit the field because mutas make them irrelevant.

If mines are causing so much problem at lower levels, that won't change because Blizzard wants to make it easier for professional Terrans to access the full potential of mines. At lower levels, it is easy to have the extra resources and time to research the upgrade and make your life hell regardless.

I sense that the frustration around requiring proper map-control, unit-control and detection is the reason why there is so much hate for the Widow Mines.
Plogamer TL.net RedRocket B.net
1 2 3 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Korean StarCraft League
03:00
Week 78
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
WinterStarcraft638
Nina 188
StarCraft: Brood War
BeSt 7472
Snow 659
ggaemo 266
Larva 214
ToSsGirL 130
Dota 2
monkeys_forever640
NeuroSwarm139
LuMiX1
League of Legends
JimRising 825
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King102
Heroes of the Storm
Khaldor53
Other Games
summit1g8822
shahzam717
Organizations
StarCraft: Brood War
Afreeca ASL 2163
Other Games
gamesdonequick811
StarCraft: Brood War
UltimateBattle 146
lovetv 9
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
CasterMuse 0
sctven
[ Show 13 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• practicex 89
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Lourlo1480
• Stunt543
Upcoming Events
CranKy Ducklings
4h 10m
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
6h 10m
Mihu vs QiaoGege
Zhanhun vs Dewalt
Fengzi vs TBD
WardiTV European League
10h 10m
ShoWTimE vs Harstem
Shameless vs MaxPax
HeRoMaRinE vs SKillous
ByuN vs TBD
Sparkling Tuna Cup
1d 4h
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
1d 8h
Bonyth vs TBD
WardiTV European League
1d 10h
Wardi Open
2 days
OSC
2 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
4 days
The PondCast
5 days
[ Show More ]
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
6 days
RSL Revival
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

BSL 20 Non-Korean Championship
FEL Cracow 2025
Underdog Cup #2

Ongoing

Copa Latinoamericana 4
Jiahua Invitational
BSL 20 Team Wars
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 3
BSL 21 Qualifiers
ASL Season 20: Qualifier #1
HCC Europe
CC Div. A S7
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025

Upcoming

ASL Season 20: Qualifier #2
ASL Season 20
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
BSL Season 21
RSL Revival: Season 2
Maestros of the Game
SEL Season 2 Championship
WardiTV Summer 2025
uThermal 2v2 Main Event
MESA Nomadic Masters Fall
Thunderpick World Champ.
CAC 2025
Roobet Cup 2025
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.