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Which SC2 expansion had the most entertaining esports?

Forum Index > SC2 General
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TL.net Bot
Profile Joined June 2004
TL.net136 Posts
July 04 2024 12:08 GMT
#1
Discussion thread for front page poll: "Which SC2 expansion had the most entertaining esports?"
Chris_Havoc
Profile Joined August 2016
United States600 Posts
July 04 2024 12:23 GMT
#2
For me, Heart of the Swarm. That's when I was most into the GSL, Proleague, WCS, and even many Tier 2 tournaments.

Miss some of the maps from the HotS-era too like Overgrowth, King Sejong Station, Frost LE, and Habitation Station.
Owner of the SC2 Esports Anthology channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SC2EsportsAnthology
Fango
Profile Joined July 2016
United Kingdom8987 Posts
July 04 2024 13:13 GMT
#3
HotS did, but not necessarily because the game was always in the best state. We just had a much bigger scene, and Proleague was always the most entertaining Starcraft tournament. Plus the larger WCS circuit, Blizzcon etc
Zest, sOs, PartinG, Dark, and Maru are the real champs. ROOT_herO is overrated. Snute, Serral, and Scarlett are the foreigner GOATs
dysenterymd
Profile Joined January 2019
1250 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-07-04 13:25:20
July 04 2024 13:21 GMT
#4
On July 04 2024 22:13 Fango wrote:
HotS did, but not necessarily because the game was always in the best state. We just had a much bigger scene, and Proleague was always the most entertaining Starcraft tournament. Plus the larger WCS circuit, Blizzcon etc

100%, even though HotS had multiple metas that were a complete mess (mainly Swarmhosts and hellbats being the main culprits, though early 2014 TvP was also miserable), everything besides the meta itself was so much more exciting. By the second half of 2015 the HotS meta was pretty good though (I never minded the mine-out mech games, but maybe I'm in the minority there), wouldn't have minded if it lasted a little longer.

The game itself has been in its best state since 2020 though, sad that that coincided with the scene shrinking so much. Proleague in this gamestate would be amazing.
Serral | Inno | sOs | soO | Has | Classic
Cricketer12
Profile Blog Joined May 2012
United States14000 Posts
July 04 2024 17:30 GMT
#5
HotS > WoL > LotV
Engage, Zero target Engage, Engage, Kagari target Engage, Engage.
Charoisaur
Profile Joined August 2014
Germany16082 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-07-04 18:08:17
July 04 2024 17:55 GMT
#6
On July 04 2024 22:21 dysenterymd wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 04 2024 22:13 Fango wrote:
HotS did, but not necessarily because the game was always in the best state. We just had a much bigger scene, and Proleague was always the most entertaining Starcraft tournament. Plus the larger WCS circuit, Blizzcon etc

100%, even though HotS had multiple metas that were a complete mess (mainly Swarmhosts and hellbats being the main culprits, though early 2014 TvP was also miserable), everything besides the meta itself was so much more exciting. By the second half of 2015 the HotS meta was pretty good though (I never minded the mine-out mech games, but maybe I'm in the minority there), wouldn't have minded if it lasted a little longer.

The game itself has been in its best state since 2020 though, sad that that coincided with the scene shrinking so much. Proleague in this gamestate would be amazing.

I think 2017/2018 had just as good of a gamestate as 2020 onwards and the scene was in a much healthier state.
Although there was no Proleague anymore, 2017/2018 still had a strong, exciting GSL and the story of emerging strong foreigners (Neeb, then Serral) and I think the circuit system was better (WCS EU and WCS NA being a battle of "washed up" koreans was a bit of a mess).

Overall, my vote goes to LotV because of 2017/2018 being my favorite sc2 years.

2016 and 2019 unfortunately had a much worse gamestate, then Covid happened and after that the scene basically was a shadow of its former self
Many of the coolest moments in sc2 happen due to worker harassment
radracer
Profile Joined March 2020
United States75 Posts
July 04 2024 18:38 GMT
#7
PURELY Entertaining? It's gotta be when the game was new/fresh/hype

When Barcrafts were happening all the time and SC2 was the most popular esport on the planet: it's WoL.
old
Xamo
Profile Joined April 2012
Spain886 Posts
July 04 2024 19:19 GMT
#8
HotS, specifically the second half of HotS, is the clear winner for me.
There were so many tournaments, with almost all historically relevant players participating... and on top of it felt nicely balanced.
My life for Aiur. You got a piece of me, baby. IIIIIIiiiiiii.
Starcloud
Profile Joined September 2018
138 Posts
July 04 2024 20:08 GMT
#9
On July 05 2024 03:38 radracer wrote:
PURELY Entertaining? It's gotta be when the game was new/fresh/hype

When Barcrafts were happening all the time and SC2 was the most popular esport on the planet: it's WoL.


Yeah, agree 100% on this. Everything was new. HYPE was good. New strategies emerged all the time. Playerbase was in its peak and new talents were coming/going frequently. Very entertaining and surprising. Only thing missing was foreingers success, which we had to wait for bit too long to emerge.

As I loved the zerg and especially the single player campaign in HOTS, the majority of it was pretty dissapointing in terms of e-sports. Of course all remember the dreaded BL/Infestor-era, which we would gladly erase from SC2 history if given the choice. The end of expansion started to be bit better if I recall right.

LOTV is kinda divided expansion for me. I think nowadays the balance is and has been actually pretty good, though terran is bit favoured especially in TvZ. Nothing major though. Bit downside is, that early game and proper cheeses have almost gone and the lategame seem to be a bit dull at times.

So all in all, for me its; WOTL -------------> LOTV---------> HOTS.


SUGGESTION::: Nowadays seems that nostalgia is the name of the game in gaming industry; WOW, Fortnite, PUBG, WC3 etc. seem to bring the OG-maps and gameplays back and they seem to be very popular. What IF there would be a chance to play with WOTL maps and units etc. ? With different server ? Would that bring back players or create any hype ?
Blitzball04
Profile Joined June 2024
191 Posts
July 04 2024 21:08 GMT
#10
Definitely LoTV in terms of viewing experience and skill level

WOL and HOTS was literally boring especially the first couple minutes of just building workers. HOtS definitely was the worst due to some of the most cancer build such as swarm host vs swarm host.

Or turtle mass raven/mech hiding in their main and trying to make the game into a draw
Ciaus237
Profile Joined July 2015
South Africa288 Posts
July 04 2024 21:46 GMT
#11
On July 05 2024 06:08 Blitzball04 wrote:Definitely LoTV in terms of viewing experience and skill level

WOL and HOTS was literally boring especially the first couple minutes of just building workers. HOtS definitely was the worst due to some of the most cancer build such as swarm host vs swarm host.

Or turtle mass raven/mech hiding in their main and trying to make the game into a draw


100% this.

Going back to watch old blizzcon and gsl videos is, despite the nostalgia, a bit painful. The pacing just feels slow, and the number of genuinely awful late-games in HotS is just too high for me to rank it above LotV in viewing experience.

Helps that LotV has also been around long enough to collect a lot of good games.
The time that we kill keeps us alive
FataLe
Profile Joined November 2010
New Zealand4553 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-07-04 23:57:20
July 04 2024 23:04 GMT
#12
If I take away the shiny new toy syndome of WoL then by a landslide it's got to be LotV. Game feels far more fluid and dynamic, games develop quicker and it's fairly balanced at the highest level. HotS was the era I stopped playing and watching because I couldn't take anymore swarm host meta. But I otherwise really enjoyed HotS as an expansion and without that specific meta era, I may have it my 2nd place. WoL was always the time I'm most fond of however, staying up reeeeally late just to watch Fruit Dealer take the first GSL using a dynamic and varied playstyle all on a grainy, pixelated viewport. Or watching Tester fend off a proxy 2 gate with just 1 gate of his own. Or watching San Zenith make Artosis eat his own words by playing by far the highest level P v T game we had seen at that time. So many core memories made during that era. It's the expansion i'll remember most but ultimately, LotV is a far more entertaining game to watch.

LotV > WoL > HotS
hi. big fan.
Riquiz
Profile Joined June 2011
Netherlands402 Posts
July 04 2024 23:41 GMT
#13
Depends on what you enjoy the most I think.

If you enjoyed the flourishing of the scene and lots of people learning about starcraft and all of its inticracies together with the whole esports scene + twitch exploding? Yeah WoL and HotS take the cake.

Do you enjoy high level high quality starcraft with foreigners slowly creeping up on the koreans? LotV

I have a lot of nostalgia for WoL and HotS - as a player I enjoyed HotS the most - but I think LotV is just arms and shoulders above its predecessors. (although the WoL campaign still kicks ass)
Caster man does casting on yt/RiquizCasts
AirbladeOrange
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
United States2574 Posts
July 05 2024 00:37 GMT
#14
Can't beat the hype, craziness, and drama of the early years. Wings of Liberty had terrible maps and frustrating strategies, but it was a magical time.
geokilla
Profile Joined May 2011
Canada8252 Posts
July 05 2024 01:21 GMT
#15
On July 04 2024 22:13 Fango wrote:
HotS did, but not necessarily because the game was always in the best state. We just had a much bigger scene, and Proleague was always the most entertaining Starcraft tournament. Plus the larger WCS circuit, Blizzcon etc

I'd like to also add that with HotS, we actually had an early and mid game. Now there's no early game and mid game lasts for about 3 minutes and late game kicks in at 10 minutes. The game is way too fast for it to be entertaining to watch.

With Legacy of the Void, the game doesn't feel as entertaining to watch anymore. A lot of players do the same strats as everyone else and it all comes down to who can macro and micro better. I'm sure other players who are more knowledgeable in the game disagree but that's what it feels like when I watch now. I find CS2 and LoL to be more entertaining to watch nowadays, and I was never a LoL fan.
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland27110 Posts
July 05 2024 01:52 GMT
#16
As with much of SC2 if I could bottle various elements from different eras that’d be nifty

WoL had novelty which was nice, HotS had probs the peak of competitivity and Legacy probably had the best game state.
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
Mizenhauer
Profile Blog Joined February 2015
United States1939 Posts
July 05 2024 01:58 GMT
#17
https://tl.net/forum/starcraft-2/561920-2015-the-renaissance-and-golden-age-of-korean-sc2
┗|∵|┓Second Place in LB 28, Third Place in LB 29 and Destined to Be a Kong
BisuDagger
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
Bisutopia19368 Posts
July 05 2024 11:27 GMT
#18
WoL was peak entertainment given all the personalities involved between players, casters, event organizers, and shows in between.
LOTV is peak in game entertainment. The flow to the game has vastly improved over the past couple years.

HoTS is barely memorable. What I remember are just the boring stalemate games.
ModeratorFormer Afreeca Starleague Caster: http://afreeca.tv/ASL2ENG2
Creager
Profile Joined February 2011
Germany1946 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-07-05 11:41:20
July 05 2024 11:40 GMT
#19
On July 05 2024 10:21 geokilla wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 04 2024 22:13 Fango wrote:
HotS did, but not necessarily because the game was always in the best state. We just had a much bigger scene, and Proleague was always the most entertaining Starcraft tournament. Plus the larger WCS circuit, Blizzcon etc

I'd like to also add that with HotS, we actually had an early and mid game. Now there's no early game and mid game lasts for about 3 minutes and late game kicks in at 10 minutes. The game is way too fast for it to be entertaining to watch.

With Legacy of the Void, the game doesn't feel as entertaining to watch anymore. A lot of players do the same strats as everyone else and it all comes down to who can macro and micro better. I'm sure other players who are more knowledgeable in the game disagree but that's what it feels like when I watch now. I find CS2 and LoL to be more entertaining to watch nowadays, and I was never a LoL fan.


Wings was definitely the most entertaining era for me, balance issues and relative skill level (compared to today) aside, especially with the sheer volume of events/tournaments, much better player diversity paired with the general novelty/popularity of the game.

I 100% agree that the 12 worker start made the game less entertaining to watch overall.
... einmal mit Profis spielen!
Creager
Profile Joined February 2011
Germany1946 Posts
July 05 2024 11:43 GMT
#20
On July 05 2024 08:41 Riquiz wrote:
Depends on what you enjoy the most I think.

If you enjoyed the flourishing of the scene and lots of people learning about starcraft and all of its inticracies together with the whole esports scene + twitch exploding? Yeah WoL and HotS take the cake.

Do you enjoy high level high quality starcraft with foreigners slowly creeping up on the koreans? LotV

I have a lot of nostalgia for WoL and HotS - as a player I enjoyed HotS the most - but I think LotV is just arms and shoulders above its predecessors. (although the WoL campaign still kicks ass)


Haha, same, as a more defensive Terran player with a mech affinity HotS just offered the best environment for me to play, by far.
... einmal mit Profis spielen!
tokinho
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
United States792 Posts
July 05 2024 12:08 GMT
#21
WOL had brood lord infestor. I didn't find that state of the game strategically interesting. Bascially it was camping until zerg got to that point.

HOTS was interesting especially when proleague started the SKT1 Protoss literally made the meta. There was a time when I started really getting involved and laddering that I felt like I understood it. All the games started really going late. Some of the wildest games happened in this era, like the 2 hours gumiho vs losira match with like 20 minutes below 100 supply. Proleague was my favorite tournament of all time. Lower level player often liked the turtle fest. (Unless the got rolled by skill.Hosts)

LOTV was great to see protoss not turtle at some point and wait for late game. But Protoss representation overall has been bad. It's felt like ZvT the entire patch has dominated except Zest and Parting. Innovation games were so consistent and predictable. Korea felt like it's fallen off over time except Byun, Maru, Gumiho, Dark, and Parting. (ye I never felt like Hero has been as good as Parting)

For me the best strategic and mechanical games have been LOTV. I don't like that some maps just typically end up as stomps. The maps have at times been worst in LOTV than the other 2. I felt like after liquid.Bunny left, EU had no strong terrans for a while and then there was 2.0 with a period of new young players that have been super fun. (I.e. Firefly, Nightmare, Reynor, Clem, Jieshi, Trigger, Future, Astrea)
Smile
Fango
Profile Joined July 2016
United Kingdom8987 Posts
July 05 2024 12:47 GMT
#22
On July 05 2024 20:40 Creager wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 05 2024 10:21 geokilla wrote:
On July 04 2024 22:13 Fango wrote:
HotS did, but not necessarily because the game was always in the best state. We just had a much bigger scene, and Proleague was always the most entertaining Starcraft tournament. Plus the larger WCS circuit, Blizzcon etc

I'd like to also add that with HotS, we actually had an early and mid game. Now there's no early game and mid game lasts for about 3 minutes and late game kicks in at 10 minutes. The game is way too fast for it to be entertaining to watch.

With Legacy of the Void, the game doesn't feel as entertaining to watch anymore. A lot of players do the same strats as everyone else and it all comes down to who can macro and micro better. I'm sure other players who are more knowledgeable in the game disagree but that's what it feels like when I watch now. I find CS2 and LoL to be more entertaining to watch nowadays, and I was never a LoL fan.


Wings was definitely the most entertaining era for me, balance issues and relative skill level (compared to today) aside, especially with the sheer volume of events/tournaments, much better player diversity paired with the general novelty/popularity of the game.

I 100% agree that the 12 worker start made the game less entertaining to watch overall.

I think the 12 worker start made the average game more entertaining to watch, but it made strategic depth a high-stakes proxies less of a thing.

We see a much greater variety of openers now, but they all kinda end up the same
Zest, sOs, PartinG, Dark, and Maru are the real champs. ROOT_herO is overrated. Snute, Serral, and Scarlett are the foreigner GOATs
SharkStarcraft
Profile Joined April 2011
Austria2271 Posts
July 05 2024 13:52 GMT
#23
Up until the point where people figured out BL/Infestor, which actually hailed the most cancerous era of all of SC2, i believe WOL was the peak viewing experience. Everything was fresh and exciting, major meta shifts were happening continuously, moments like FruitDealer's first GSL win or MVP vs Squirtle will always remain special in my heart. MLGs, GSTL and many other formats peaked in WOL imo.
Cogito, ergo Toss
Captain Peabody
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
United States3135 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-07-05 14:51:04
July 05 2024 14:46 GMT
#24
WoL had the highest highs with the enormous fun of the first few years, but also probably the lowest lows with the endless BL-Infestor era. I voted for LotV which I think taken as a whole has had the best and most consistent gameplay, viewer experience, balance, tournaments, player skill, and storylines, but still, nothing in that really hits the sheer fun of the community and experience of early WoL, so I could have gone either way.

HotS is idolized by some but I'm not really sure why, as the gameplay and viewer experience was kind of all over the place with Swarm Host and Blink eras and the scene while there was a ton of content had nothing super exciting or unique going on.

Of course, answers will likely vary a lot based on what each person actually watched and enjoyed and what players and tournaments they were most personally hyped for, as that's probably a bigger determinant than anything else.
Dies Irae venit. youtube.com/SnobbinsFilms
yubo56
Profile Joined May 2014
690 Posts
July 05 2024 15:01 GMT
#25
I think hots had one of the most exciting metas of all time whenever TvZ went down the muta ling bane vs bio mine route. It also had some of the worst metas though between raven/SH and blink play in both PvZ and PvT.

I think lotv is one of the most consistently entertaining, but nothing will beat peak hots imo. You had this sense that the scene was at its healthiest and most polished. Wol was more hype and new, but felt unpolished and has aged the worst (just b/c the skill level was so much lower compared to pro play today), while lotv has coincided with a rapidly diminishing scene, which decreases hype (even though the play itself is at its highest level, and games from early lotv have aged very well). The best of hots just manages to lie at the intersection of these two for me, as the goldilocks expansion.
Jung Yoon Jong fighting, even after retirement! Feel better soon.
Slydie
Profile Joined August 2013
1966 Posts
July 05 2024 15:53 GMT
#26
WoL can't win because of the BL-Infestor vs SoulTrain meta, which coincided with MOBA games overtaking SC2 as e-sports. Terrans were locked out of top level pro play for a year?

20 Infestors spamming Infested terrans with 3-3 upgrades anyone?

Hots was ok, but does anyone really miss the Mothership core and its Nexus click? The Helbat Drop craze was embarrassing, and endless rally pushes in TvZ became boring.

Lotv is the best designed version of the game by far.
Buff the siegetank
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20340 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-07-06 06:51:56
July 06 2024 06:51 GMT
#27
On July 05 2024 20:27 BisuDagger wrote:
WoL was peak entertainment given all the personalities involved between players, casters, event organizers, and shows in between.
LOTV is peak in game entertainment. The flow to the game has vastly improved over the past couple years.

HoTS is barely memorable. What I remember are just the boring stalemate games.


Wasn't there a single game in a series that took 3 hours of realtime because of swarmhost stalemate draw into replay swarmhost stalemate? :D
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
Creager
Profile Joined February 2011
Germany1946 Posts
July 06 2024 08:36 GMT
#28
On July 05 2024 21:47 Fango wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 05 2024 20:40 Creager wrote:
On July 05 2024 10:21 geokilla wrote:
On July 04 2024 22:13 Fango wrote:
HotS did, but not necessarily because the game was always in the best state. We just had a much bigger scene, and Proleague was always the most entertaining Starcraft tournament. Plus the larger WCS circuit, Blizzcon etc

I'd like to also add that with HotS, we actually had an early and mid game. Now there's no early game and mid game lasts for about 3 minutes and late game kicks in at 10 minutes. The game is way too fast for it to be entertaining to watch.

With Legacy of the Void, the game doesn't feel as entertaining to watch anymore. A lot of players do the same strats as everyone else and it all comes down to who can macro and micro better. I'm sure other players who are more knowledgeable in the game disagree but that's what it feels like when I watch now. I find CS2 and LoL to be more entertaining to watch nowadays, and I was never a LoL fan.


Wings was definitely the most entertaining era for me, balance issues and relative skill level (compared to today) aside, especially with the sheer volume of events/tournaments, much better player diversity paired with the general novelty/popularity of the game.

I 100% agree that the 12 worker start made the game less entertaining to watch overall.

I think the 12 worker start made the average game more entertaining to watch, but it made strategic depth a high-stakes proxies less of a thing.

We see a much greater variety of openers now, but they all kinda end up the same


Spot on, but exactly how do you define the average game? Both players opting for macro? High-stakes options is exactly what I want to have at the player's disposal, I don't really see the appeal in having diverse openers when everything, the failed 2-base all-in included, can transition into a macro game.
... einmal mit Profis spielen!
freelifeffs
Profile Joined April 2018
97 Posts
July 06 2024 10:55 GMT
#29
whatever expansion had the most ling bane muta vs bio. so prolly hots. peak rts. peak esports.
Sent.
Profile Joined June 2012
Poland9317 Posts
July 06 2024 15:35 GMT
#30
I remember WoL fondly but mostly because of the personalities, the games weren't that great. In my memory HotS is a dark time with occasional lightnings disrupting the sad, clouded sky. LotV isn't pefrect but it's way closer to perfection than the other two.
You're now breathing manually
TheDougler
Profile Joined April 2010
Canada8313 Posts
July 06 2024 15:46 GMT
#31
Man I’m gonna get some hate for this one… But I legitimately really enjoyed the GomTvT era of WoL, and a plurality of my favorite SC2 moments are from that time:

Kyrix vs Foxer
Huk vs Idra
Idea vs MMA
DRG vs MMA
Nestea vs Mvp
Mvp vs MMA
Mvp vs Squirtle

It was new it was fresh, and it might’ve been I’m a as shit but damn was it entertaining, for me as a spectator.
I root for Euro Zergs, NA Protoss* and Korean Terrans. (Any North American who has beat a Korean Pro as Protoss counts as NA Toss)
DarkPlasmaBall
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States46163 Posts
July 06 2024 15:59 GMT
#32
For me: WoL >>> HotS >>> LotV. I just gradually lost interest alongside most of the community and pros.
"There is nothing more satisfying than looking at a crowd of people and helping them get what I love." ~Day[9] Daily #100
Dingodile
Profile Joined December 2011
4139 Posts
July 06 2024 16:25 GMT
#33
WoL > LotV > HotS as a viewer for me.
WoL only problem was the first 5 minutes in each game. It should have started with 10-12 workers.
Daybreak could have been the map of all time if that rock in the middle was indestructible. Because of that destructible rock, the games became stalemate immediately.
Grubby | ToD | Moon | Lyn | Sky
egrimm
Profile Joined September 2011
Poland1201 Posts
July 06 2024 19:54 GMT
#34
Ok, so the answer would depend on the the question's interpretation. I interpret it as "when did you had the best time watching StarCraft 2?"
And to that my answer is: Proleague.
This was the time when I truly started to understand and appreciate the impact and importance of preparation to the oppenent, map and matchup meta.
Before that I was the "just play noble, straight up game without these early unfair cheese proxy shenanigans!" guy, but then "i stopped worrying and learned to love the $O$"
On top of that we had the TL fantasy Proleague which even further added spice to the results of the matches.
On the other hand the 12 worker start in LotV killed a lot of early game strategy variance which to this day saddens me. I really miss mixing different forge and gateway openers in PvZ.

So for me it would be HotS > LotV > WoL
sOs TY PartinG
Waxangel
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
United States33648 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-07-06 20:46:30
July 06 2024 20:35 GMT
#35
The gameplay might have sucked, but I think first two years of WoL were really fun because of the sheer volume and variety of tournaments. MLG, NASL, DreamHack, IPL, IEM all holding live events with their own unique character... Yeah they were all ruined by BL-Infestor in terms of the actual games, but the vibes were great.
AdministratorHey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
Luolis
Profile Blog Joined May 2012
Finland7182 Posts
July 06 2024 21:29 GMT
#36
WoL/HotS easily. Legacy is just not as good of a game. Never was.
pro cheese woman / Its never Sunny in Finland. Perkele / FinnishStarcraftTrivia
lestye
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
United States4209 Posts
July 06 2024 22:28 GMT
#37
On July 07 2024 05:35 Waxangel wrote:
The gameplay might have sucked, but I think first two years of WoL were really fun because of the sheer volume and variety of tournaments. MLG, NASL, DreamHack, IPL, IEM all holding live events with their own unique character... Yeah they were all ruined by BL-Infestor in terms of the actual games, but the vibes were great.


Yeah, it's hard to argue with this. I think LotV was a much, much better game but the optimism, and having SC2 be THE premier game when streaming and starting a new era of Western esports.
"You guys are just edgelords. Embrace your inner weeb desu" -Zergneedsfood
BeoMulf
Profile Joined January 2014
United States94 Posts
July 07 2024 01:35 GMT
#38
I think LotV has given us by far the best games, and it did a lot to shore up the pain that was the end of HotS - mech making Byul cry in the GSL was pretty emblematic of how strong mech was after the SH nerf. That being said, I think a lot of people are going to go back to the era that got them into SC2. For me, that was early Heart of the Swarm with muta/ling/bane v biomine and scarlett's incredible rivalry with bomber.
Find me at twitch.tv/beomulf
phodacbiet
Profile Joined August 2010
United States1740 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-07-07 01:55:55
July 07 2024 01:52 GMT
#39
To me, LoTV brought in the best iteration of sc2. The games are so much more action packed and there are trades and battles going on throughout the game. Rewatching some of the HOTS and WOL games, many matches had literally nothing happening for the first 8-10 minutes while both sides built up their death balls OR one side just straight up cheese and win the game within the first 2 minutes.

That being said, it was much more hyped during WOL. It probably was because the game was new and modern esports was still young, but the crowds were much better. I think had LoTV been the game that was delivered off the bat sc2 would be a much bigger esport.
Shellshock
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States97276 Posts
July 07 2024 02:21 GMT
#40
HoTS was peak for me outside of really cancerous swarmhost games
Moderatorhttp://i.imgur.com/U4xwqmD.png
TL+ Member
Whatson
Profile Blog Joined January 2012
United States5357 Posts
July 07 2024 02:37 GMT
#41
WoL 2010-early 2012 when there was actually hype and the game felt fresh. People were trying some absolutely wild shit even in high-stakes tournaments and SC2 was considered a top dog among video games.
¯\_(シ)_/¯
radracer
Profile Joined March 2020
United States75 Posts
July 07 2024 08:20 GMT
#42
On July 07 2024 11:37 Whatson wrote:
WoL 2010-early 2012 when there was actually hype and the game felt fresh. People were trying some absolutely wild shit even in high-stakes tournaments and SC2 was considered a top dog among video games.


Basically started the modern esports boom, the wild west days ended and things got so much more serious / official
old
SC-Shield
Profile Joined December 2018
Bulgaria869 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-07-14 09:50:14
July 14 2024 09:49 GMT
#43
Wings of Liberty when the game was new and had a big enough player base. Gameplay was better than HotS. LotV comes close to WoL in terms of gameplay for me but player base is no longer there.
Agh
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States1068 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-07-14 18:13:10
July 14 2024 17:30 GMT
#44
WoL simply because every unit that was added to the game simply made it worse.

The game just needed a few minor changes and it was near perfect.
eg)
-Slightly rebalance most t1 (mostly unit sizes with very little actual number changes)
-Remove high ground warpin
-Replace forcefield with a slowing spell
-Brood lords no longer spawn units
-Infestor in current state
-Mules removed from the game (Orbital slightly faster build time, call down supply gives bonus health as well as armor)
-1v1 supply cap removed / raised to 300


That a long with not having a lot of its life span wasted on absolutely fucking terrible maps would have been the dream. (Shoebox of war, Delta Quadrant, Metalopolis, Shakuras Plateau, Antiga shityard to name a few)
I may appear to be an emotionless sarcastic pos, but just like an onion when you pull off more and more layers you find the exact same thing everytime and you start crying
Ciaus237
Profile Joined July 2015
South Africa288 Posts
July 14 2024 17:42 GMT
#45
On July 15 2024 02:30 Agh wrote:
WoL simply because every unit that was added to the game simply made it worse.

The game just needed a few minor changes and it was near perfect.
eg)
-Slightly rebalance most t1 (mostly unit sizes with very little actual number changes)
-Remove high ground warpin
-Replace forcefield with a slowing spell
-Brood lords no longer spawn units
-Infestor in current state
-Mules removed from the game (Orbital slightly faster build time, call down supply gives bonus health as well as armor)


That a long with not having a lot of it's life span wasted on absolutely fucking terrible maps would have been the dream. (Shoebox of war, Delta Quadrant, Metalopolis, Shakuras Plateau, Antiga shityard to name a few)


Aww yeah some minor changes there. Just a few pixels away from perfect, except for an overhaul of terran economy, terran's core unit DPS density, zerg core unit splash vulnerability, protoss's main early game defence, and all of Zerg lategame.
Those are not minor. Those are more substantial than adding a handful of midgame units by miles.

WoL was a great game, but it's just unbelievably worse than LotV.

The time that we kill keeps us alive
Agh
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States1068 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-07-14 20:25:36
July 14 2024 17:58 GMT
#46
On July 15 2024 02:42 Ciaus237 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 15 2024 02:30 Agh wrote:
WoL simply because every unit that was added to the game simply made it worse.

The game just needed a few minor changes and it was near perfect.
eg)
-Slightly rebalance most t1 (mostly unit sizes with very little actual number changes)
-Remove high ground warpin
-Replace forcefield with a slowing spell
-Brood lords no longer spawn units
-Infestor in current state
-Mules removed from the game (Orbital slightly faster build time, call down supply gives bonus health as well as armor)


That a long with not having a lot of it's life span wasted on absolutely fucking terrible maps would have been the dream. (Shoebox of war, Delta Quadrant, Metalopolis, Shakuras Plateau, Antiga shityard to name a few)


Aww yeah some minor changes there. Just a few pixels away from perfect, except for an overhaul of terran economy, terran's core unit DPS density, zerg core unit splash vulnerability, protoss's main early game defence, and all of Zerg lategame.
Those are not minor. Those are more substantial than adding a handful of midgame units by miles.

WoL was a great game, but it's just unbelievably worse than LotV.


Except literally everything I listed there addresses every issue that you typed out.
Won't spoonfeed but something like a ball of marines is significantly less punishing if their size is increased, since it lowers the number that would normally be able to attack (and also would allow things like an additional ling to attack them) The actual unit stat adjustments would be extremely minor and only apply to a few units.

These aren't even hindsight ideas since I had someone make a map (unfortunately defunct now) and it was truly a breath of fresh air, and everyone enjoyed it.




Edited the supply changes in since that was the only thing I forgot other than Queen changes but it was one of the larger/game altering changes so I didn't include it.
+ Show Spoiler +
for anyone wondering the base idea was 1 queen limit per hatchery. (Injects tied to that hatchery [from anywhere and also overlapping like current], net energy regen increased (resulting in 5 excess per inject, current transfuse).

Also had a secondary idea when they played with the idea of auto-injects, but that's separate.

I may appear to be an emotionless sarcastic pos, but just like an onion when you pull off more and more layers you find the exact same thing everytime and you start crying
KobraKay
Profile Joined March 2010
Portugal4349 Posts
July 14 2024 22:19 GMT
#47
Easy win for WoL to me. Not even close.

Hots changes were not the best but there was still something there.....then lotv just killed it with how much wrong it got.

Stopped watching sc2 all together when lotv came out. It no longer represented starcraft to me.

Played the campaign and did an effort to watch some games but nope.

CJ Fighting! (--.--)
Yoshi Kirishima
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
United States10376 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-07-15 03:30:22
July 15 2024 03:29 GMT
#48
300 max supply? That would take massive redesigning and rebalancing.

How about just start with suggesting 250 supply first... or 225 if we're not trying to make the numbers pretty.
Mid-master streaming MECH ONLY + commentary www.twitch.tv/yoshikirishima +++ "If all-in fails, all-in again."
Gescom
Profile Joined February 2010
Canada3513 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-07-15 03:53:32
July 15 2024 03:49 GMT
#49
WoL was 'exciting' but 5 rax reapers, Metalopolis/Scrap Station/Steppes of War, Protoss 4game, 1 base play etc etc was objectively BAD.
Jaedong Hyuk || Bisu Jangbi || Fantasy Flash
radracer
Profile Joined March 2020
United States75 Posts
July 15 2024 06:17 GMT
#50
It was objectively bad as any early era RTS'es builds, imo. but objectively the popularity for WoL was the highest, which i'd argue is hard to match in terms of excitement, the sheer crowds at every event, numbers in the streams, all added to the excitement of enjoying the esport together.
old
fLyiNgDroNe
Profile Joined September 2005
Belgium4105 Posts
July 15 2024 10:51 GMT
#51
Pretty sure the best was that one in which Nexus could shoot shit in all different directions, which was balance fixed by moving this ability to A FUCKING PYLON.
Drone is a way of living
sertas
Profile Joined April 2012
Sweden890 Posts
July 15 2024 11:23 GMT
#52
hots killed the game. Speed dropships ruined starcraft. WOL had terrible endgame but it was far better than anything that came after
Cricketer12
Profile Blog Joined May 2012
United States14000 Posts
July 15 2024 13:33 GMT
#53
On July 15 2024 20:23 sertas wrote:
hots killed the game. Speed dropships ruined starcraft. WOL had terrible endgame but it was far better than anything that came after

Speed Drops being your final straw over BL-Festor, Swarm Host mirrors or Tankivacs is...interesting
Engage, Zero target Engage, Engage, Kagari target Engage, Engage.
ejozl
Profile Joined October 2010
Denmark3509 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-07-15 14:31:40
July 15 2024 14:22 GMT
#54
For the average ladder joe, WoL>hots>lotv. For watching: LotV>hots>WoL. I think lotv>wol>hots for gameplay, but hots, WoL did feel more polished.
Tempest without the aoe should just be cut it's the dullest concept ever and medivac boost wad the beginning of the end. It's david kim's philosophy of making things that are more "fun" overpowered. The entire game got powercrept ever since with mobility increases and other things that increase the pacing and it was all because of this.
In WoL the answer to bl\infestor would've been increasing the size of the maps and\or implementing lotv economy. EMP was there to answer at the time as well, but t's were not good enough to play this.
In HotS sh's were fixed so the final iteration was actually good and it was the most balanced version of sc2. All of the overcharge spells were lame Band-Aids, but pylon overcharge is actually better than battery overcharge. If it was spawned from the nexus, the amount of pylon cheeses would've also been kept in check.
And I don't think increasing the supply is that game breaking, actually.

I made a mod that you can use for WoL it increases supply to 300, pylons give 6 supply only and you start with 12 workers and there is lotv economy, with slightly more minerals on the fat fields. I think something like this would make wol rly interesting to play. There is an elegant simplicity in wol and the game is still really deep. There are other things you could do as well such as lowering vision slightly on most units, especially zerg ones.
The 6 supply pylon keeps the 300 supply somewhat in check, while also making it more costly to further your army supply as opposed to remaking army supply. Sc2 can be very snowbally.
SC2 Archon needs "Terrible, terrible damage" as one of it's quotes.
andrewlt
Profile Joined August 2009
United States7702 Posts
July 15 2024 15:06 GMT
#55
WoL. BL-infestor and SH killed my interest in watching SC2. BW zerg was the aggressive race. Turning it into the late game turtle race was a total failure.
StarcraftHistorian
Profile Joined November 2022
United States162 Posts
July 15 2024 21:03 GMT
#56
LOTV has by far the most entertaining gameplay. Overall I would say I agree with those who have said LOTV>WOL>HOTS. In the early part of the LOTV era we still had loads of top tier Koreans, we saw the player base spike up after f2p, had the largest prize purses in SC2 history, hit peak all time viewership numbers on streams, all while having dynamic and engaging gameplay.

WOL was super hype and obviously when SC2 was on top of the world it was a great time to be a fan. The quality of the games was largely trash though with several minutes of dead air in the early game, and rudimentary mistakes being the deciding factor in so many games.

HOTS had an amazing era in Korea with KESPA finally behind SC2, but overall the scene was suffering. Viewership started to tank, we went from one awful stale meta in Broodlord/Infestor, to an even worse meta thanks to Swarmhosts. The HOTS era still produced a load of wonderful moments and I'm happy I never walked away from the game, but imo the HOTS era is what gave the world the perception that the game was dead.

The scene was on life support when LOTV released, and here we are 9 years later. We may be struggling with playerbase issues after some years of decline, but overall I think even now we are better off than at the end of HOTS.
Haku
Profile Joined August 2013
Germany550 Posts
July 15 2024 21:46 GMT
#57
HotS but not because of the game itself, rather the pro scene, especially proleague!
We had awesome team tournaments, a very competitive scene and nice storylines.
Jaedong | Life | MKP | PartinG | LosirA | ByuN | TaeJa | TY | TLO | Bomber | HerO | Rotti | Dark | Stephano | Maru | Ragnarok | MC | IdrA | Serral | Creator | Bunny | INnoVation | Liquid | Prime | JinAir
Olli
Profile Blog Joined February 2012
Austria24422 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-07-16 07:08:11
July 16 2024 07:01 GMT
#58
Agree with the sentiment of many others here - the game itself isn't so much the deciding factor as the scene, players, tournaments around it. Late WoL was an absolute mess with the dominance of BL/infestor, but WoL SC2 was extremely fun anyway. The metagame was still developing, team houses were still a thing - that allowed certain players to pop up seemingly out of nowhere for a while because they discovered certain strategies early (hi, Seed!). We had a lot of entertaining personalities in and around the game and there was always discourse of some kind. We had team leagues and a large variety of offline tournaments, but still had the GSL as the holy grail of SC2 and a different format altogether.

HotS was by far the better game and I enjoyed playing it far more, but towards the end of it we already started thinning out - in terms of players, personalities and variety in the game itself. And even though LotV is probably an even better game, that trend has only continued. Nowadays I can take a break from the game for months, come back and I'll have missed very little strategic or metagame development.
Administrator"Declaring anything a disaster because aLive popped up out of nowhere is just downright silly."
inermis
Profile Joined September 2010
353 Posts
July 16 2024 08:51 GMT
#59
this shouldn't be a discussion, its obvious, #1 WoL - new game, everyone learning the game, new strategies everyday, huge hype all around the world. #2 LotV - game became quicker and more fun to spectate. #3 HotS - swarm hosts... need i say more lol...
play hard go pro
Slydie
Profile Joined August 2013
1966 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-07-21 07:42:50
July 17 2024 10:54 GMT
#60
On July 16 2024 00:06 andrewlt wrote:
WoL. BL-infestor and SH killed my interest in watching SC2. BW zerg was the aggressive race. Turning it into the late game turtle race was a total failure.


That was not intentional, it was just the best way to play after the Queen range+2 buff. Creep was also way stronger back then, even though the players were much worse at abusing it.

The bl/Infestors composition itself was not that problematic, it was just too easy to get there using by hive rushing and spending almost only mineral units to defend.

I am still a bit sad the game is balanced around mules, warp gate, chronoboost, injects and Queens, but I am used to it by now.
Buff the siegetank
KristofferAG
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
Norway25712 Posts
July 18 2024 07:25 GMT
#61
WoL, but that's nostalgia and new game hype talking. HotS was great too, but more fun to play than watch IMO.
@KristofferAG | http://vestkyststoy.bandcamp.com | last.fm/user/KristofferAG
Nathanias
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States290 Posts
July 18 2024 19:14 GMT
#62
I miss hots TvZ a lot. PvP is best in current state I think, and maybe I miss hots TvP too. really just the swarmhost and turtle mech era was brutal (anyone remember special vs violet wcs america getting a draw with a flying base?)
CommentatorNever give up, Never surrender
Geo.Rion
Profile Blog Joined October 2008
7377 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-07-18 20:19:19
July 18 2024 20:18 GMT
#63
I was most active and followed most consistently in WOL, but it was a terrible, awful version of SC2, in hindsight.

From the horrible maps, to the lack of balance, GSL bracket phase games being decided by bugs introduced by a new update, i could go on.

We had Incontrol and lot of big names were almost exclusively focused on SC2, who in the meantime transitioned away... And it was nice to be known as THE e-sport, or one of the top3 the very least, so yeah... But as far as competitive RTS goes LotV >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> WoL
"Protoss is a joke" Liquid`Jinro Okt.1. 2011
andrewlt
Profile Joined August 2009
United States7702 Posts
July 18 2024 23:46 GMT
#64
On July 17 2024 19:54 Slydie wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 16 2024 00:06 andrewlt wrote:
WoL. BL-infestor and SH killed my interest in watching SC2. BW zerg was the aggressive race. Turning it into the late game turtle race was a total failure.


That was not intentional, it was just the best way to play after the Queen range+2 buff. Creep was also way stronger back then, even though the players were much worse at avising it.

The bl/Infestors composition itself was not that problematic, it was just too easy to get there using by hive rushing and spending almost only mineral units to defend.

I am still a bit sad the game is balanced around mules, warp gate, chronoboost, injects and Queens, but I am used to it by now.


Oh, the community back then definitely deserves some of the blame for how the game turned out. Back in the 90s, it was considered a newb mistake to tech up without any defenses and get rushed. Imagine my surprise when a large part of the SC2 community considered the rusher the newb and put the onus on Blizzard and mapmakers to defend against it (even in progames). They wanted a turtle meta. They got a turtle meta.

In retrospect, SC2's status as THE e-sport at the time was unearned. WoL was released when WoW was at its peak and so was Blizzard's reputation. A lot of people who never were into BW or even RTS in general jumped on the bandwagon. They warped the feedback Blizzard was getting and then they jumped off the bandwagon soon afterwards.
Agh
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States1068 Posts
July 20 2024 15:57 GMT
#65
On July 19 2024 08:46 andrewlt wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 17 2024 19:54 Slydie wrote:
On July 16 2024 00:06 andrewlt wrote:
WoL. BL-infestor and SH killed my interest in watching SC2. BW zerg was the aggressive race. Turning it into the late game turtle race was a total failure.


That was not intentional, it was just the best way to play after the Queen range+2 buff. Creep was also way stronger back then, even though the players were much worse at avising it.

The bl/Infestors composition itself was not that problematic, it was just too easy to get there using by hive rushing and spending almost only mineral units to defend.

I am still a bit sad the game is balanced around mules, warp gate, chronoboost, injects and Queens, but I am used to it by now.


Oh, the community back then definitely deserves some of the blame for how the game turned out. Back in the 90s, it was considered a newb mistake to tech up without any defenses and get rushed. Imagine my surprise when a large part of the SC2 community considered the rusher the newb and put the onus on Blizzard and mapmakers to defend against it (even in progames). They wanted a turtle meta. They got a turtle meta.

In retrospect, SC2's status as THE e-sport at the time was unearned. WoL was released when WoW was at its peak and so was Blizzard's reputation. A lot of people who never were into BW or even RTS in general jumped on the bandwagon. They warped the feedback Blizzard was getting and then they jumped off the bandwagon soon afterwards.


Just wanted to point out from an argumentative standpoint you're directly contradicting your point. (Your example could be directly applied to your implication)

Aside from that the meta will dictate itself be it perceived or actuality.

When there are fundamental issues with the game that are brought to light and acknowledged from pretty much your entire playerbase and they go ignored (or acknowledge and mocked a la DK) the quality and longevity of your game is going to suffer.

SC2 had everything you could hope for in a title, and even with all of its flaws it was still -that- good.

To correct you a little bit WoW's decline was very much underway. The neglect SC2 received didn't help and they were both very much contributors to the overall decline of blizzard that noticeably began around that time.
I may appear to be an emotionless sarcastic pos, but just like an onion when you pull off more and more layers you find the exact same thing everytime and you start crying
deacon.frost
Profile Joined February 2013
Czech Republic12131 Posts
July 20 2024 21:00 GMT
#66
On July 16 2024 17:51 inermis wrote:
this shouldn't be a discussion, its obvious, #1 WoL - new game, everyone learning the game, new strategies everyday, huge hype all around the world. #2 LotV - game became quicker and more fun to spectate. #3 HotS - swarm hosts... need i say more lol...

Proleague, Kespa - both were present mostly in HotS. We had the most competitive scene in the history of SC2. Just check some RO16 back then...

Gameplaywise - screw speed medivacs and anything that came after them.
I imagine France should be able to take this unless Lilbow is busy practicing for Starcraft III. | KadaverBB is my fairy ban mother.
Husyelt
Profile Blog Joined May 2020
United States838 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-07-21 02:14:03
July 21 2024 02:13 GMT
#67
LotV and its not even close, anyone saying otherwise is cope

WoL was so bad for so long, HotS was finally beginning to become ok, but LotV is the best for balance and game variation / playstyles.

edit and when i say WoL was so bad, i mean its still the greatest game of all time
You're getting cynical and that won't do I'd throw the rose tint back on the exploded view
Cricketer12
Profile Blog Joined May 2012
United States14000 Posts
July 21 2024 03:10 GMT
#68
On July 21 2024 11:13 Husyelt wrote:
LotV and its not even close, anyone saying otherwise is cope

WoL was so bad for so long, HotS was finally beginning to become ok, but LotV is the best for balance and game variation / playstyles.

edit and when i say WoL was so bad, i mean its still the greatest game of all time

Considering the poll asked what was entertaining, a metric that is subjective by nature, to call a different opinion cope might be reddit level stupidity.
Engage, Zero target Engage, Engage, Kagari target Engage, Engage.
Slydie
Profile Joined August 2013
1966 Posts
July 21 2024 07:50 GMT
#69
On July 21 2024 00:57 Agh wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 19 2024 08:46 andrewlt wrote:
On July 17 2024 19:54 Slydie wrote:
On July 16 2024 00:06 andrewlt wrote:
WoL. BL-infestor and SH killed my interest in watching SC2. BW zerg was the aggressive race. Turning it into the late game turtle race was a total failure.


That was not intentional, it was just the best way to play after the Queen range+2 buff. Creep was also way stronger back then, even though the players were much worse at avising it.

The bl/Infestors composition itself was not that problematic, it was just too easy to get there using by hive rushing and spending almost only mineral units to defend.

I am still a bit sad the game is balanced around mules, warp gate, chronoboost, injects and Queens, but I am used to it by now.


Oh, the community back then definitely deserves some of the blame for how the game turned out. Back in the 90s, it was considered a newb mistake to tech up without any defenses and get rushed. Imagine my surprise when a large part of the SC2 community considered the rusher the newb and put the onus on Blizzard and mapmakers to defend against it (even in progames). They wanted a turtle meta. They got a turtle meta.

In retrospect, SC2's status as THE e-sport at the time was unearned. WoL was released when WoW was at its peak and so was Blizzard's reputation. A lot of people who never were into BW or even RTS in general jumped on the bandwagon. They warped the feedback Blizzard was getting and then they jumped off the bandwagon soon afterwards.


Just wanted to point out from an argumentative standpoint you're directly contradicting your point. (Your example could be directly applied to your implication)

Aside from that the meta will dictate itself be it perceived or actuality.

When there are fundamental issues with the game that are brought to light and acknowledged from pretty much your entire playerbase and they go ignored (or acknowledge and mocked a la DK) the quality and longevity of your game is going to suffer.

SC2 had everything you could hope for in a title, and even with all of its flaws it was still -that- good.

To correct you a little bit WoW's decline was very much underway. The neglect SC2 received didn't help and they were both very much contributors to the overall decline of blizzard that noticeably began around that time.


If we are playing the hindsight game, Blizzard refusing to make their own MOBA game was probably the worst decision for their e-sports. Heroes of the Storm was WAY too late. LoL and Dota 2 did to them what Blizzard used to be the best at: finding a proven game formula and upping the game quality and player experience. Heck, Why didn't they make an amazing mobile Tower Defense game as well?

The WoL era was amazing for quantity of player personalities leagues, and tournaments, but it was obviously not sustainable, and still isn't. If that equals "entertaining" is subjective.
Buff the siegetank
Durnuu
Profile Joined September 2013
13324 Posts
July 21 2024 07:58 GMT
#70
On July 21 2024 11:13 Husyelt wrote:
LotV and its not even close, anyone saying otherwise is cope

WoL was so bad for so long, HotS was finally beginning to become ok, but LotV is the best for balance and game variation / playstyles.

edit and when i say WoL was so bad, i mean its still the greatest game of all time

So much game variation and playstyle variation, skytoss and mech are in the shitter, mutas are non existent outside of ZvZ and everyone gets 4 bases for free before the game starts
BUNNYYYYYYYYY https://i.imgur.com/BiCF577.png
Drahkn
Profile Joined June 2021
198 Posts
July 21 2024 11:01 GMT
#71
Early WoL was the best when we were all still oblivious to how absolutely broken some units and tactics were since then it became a train wreck of abusive meta's dominating which started to take its toll as the years went. I wish SC2 woulda stayed the biggest esport on the planet but alas
Drahkn
Profile Joined June 2021
198 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-07-21 11:12:26
July 21 2024 11:12 GMT
#72
imData
Profile Joined February 2013
France32 Posts
July 23 2024 11:49 GMT
#73
For me HotS was the best in terms of chills. It was the time I really was into the competitive scene. I arrived at the very end of WoL so I didn't really lived it. And I lost interest for the game in LotV.

But in terms of level and "wow" it's definitely LotV by far. Even the worst players in Katowice today would roll over the best players in Blizzcon from peak HotS era. Just because of the absurd step-up in mechanics.
Husyelt
Profile Blog Joined May 2020
United States838 Posts
July 25 2024 05:20 GMT
#74
On July 21 2024 12:10 Cricketer12 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 21 2024 11:13 Husyelt wrote:
LotV and its not even close, anyone saying otherwise is cope

WoL was so bad for so long, HotS was finally beginning to become ok, but LotV is the best for balance and game variation / playstyles.

edit and when i say WoL was so bad, i mean its still the greatest game of all time

Considering the poll asked what was entertaining, a metric that is subjective by nature, to call a different opinion cope might be reddit level stupidity.

yeah i shit post deal with it

opinions are wrong, sorry. LotV has the most fluid gameplay and offers the most playstyles.
You're getting cynical and that won't do I'd throw the rose tint back on the exploded view
Cricketer12
Profile Blog Joined May 2012
United States14000 Posts
July 25 2024 16:45 GMT
#75
On July 25 2024 14:20 Husyelt wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 21 2024 12:10 Cricketer12 wrote:
On July 21 2024 11:13 Husyelt wrote:
LotV and its not even close, anyone saying otherwise is cope

WoL was so bad for so long, HotS was finally beginning to become ok, but LotV is the best for balance and game variation / playstyles.

edit and when i say WoL was so bad, i mean its still the greatest game of all time

Considering the poll asked what was entertaining, a metric that is subjective by nature, to call a different opinion cope might be reddit level stupidity.

yeah i shit post deal with it

opinions are wrong, sorry. LotV has the most fluid gameplay and offers the most playstyles.

Don't cut yourself on all that edge.
Engage, Zero target Engage, Engage, Kagari target Engage, Engage.
Husyelt
Profile Blog Joined May 2020
United States838 Posts
July 28 2024 03:28 GMT
#76
On July 26 2024 01:45 Cricketer12 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 25 2024 14:20 Husyelt wrote:
On July 21 2024 12:10 Cricketer12 wrote:
On July 21 2024 11:13 Husyelt wrote:
LotV and its not even close, anyone saying otherwise is cope

WoL was so bad for so long, HotS was finally beginning to become ok, but LotV is the best for balance and game variation / playstyles.

edit and when i say WoL was so bad, i mean its still the greatest game of all time

Considering the poll asked what was entertaining, a metric that is subjective by nature, to call a different opinion cope might be reddit level stupidity.

yeah i shit post deal with it

opinions are wrong, sorry. LotV has the most fluid gameplay and offers the most playstyles.

Don't cut yourself on all that edge.

garbage response do better. shitposting has rules, rules Cricketer

this is TL.net, the most hallowed of all StarCraft forums, you need to pair your "edge" comment (frankly overdone), with something tangible.

The only thing Hots has going for it was the higher number of top pros at the time. Other than that they all were playing in primitive playstyles on a primitive expansion pack.
You're getting cynical and that won't do I'd throw the rose tint back on the exploded view
BonitiilloO
Profile Joined June 2013
Dominican Republic627 Posts
July 28 2024 05:09 GMT
#77
WOL
How may help u?
RPR_Tempest
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
Australia7799 Posts
Last Edited: 2024-07-28 10:27:15
July 28 2024 10:24 GMT
#78
WoL and it genuinely isn't even close. The only time it got bad was towards the end of 2012 as we got closer to HotS and BL/Infestor had been around for ages at that point. But the scene was still so, so active and crazy that it easily made up for it.

HotS was probably the most fun to play once they ironed stuff out and got rid of the broken stuff. I also wouldn't begrudge anyone for picking it because Proleague was around at that time and while there were some bad metas like swarmhost stuff, blink stalkers, etc, they never stuck around long enough to be truly awful.

LotV just kind of...doesn't really offer anything? I guess it's the fastest and probably has the most interesting games on average, but that's just in a vacuum without any context.
Soundwave, Zerg player from Canberra, Australia. @SoundwaveSC
Comedy
Profile Joined March 2016
469 Posts
July 29 2024 07:08 GMT
#79
On July 04 2024 22:21 dysenterymd wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 04 2024 22:13 Fango wrote:
HotS did, but not necessarily because the game was always in the best state. We just had a much bigger scene, and Proleague was always the most entertaining Starcraft tournament. Plus the larger WCS circuit, Blizzcon etc

100%, even though HotS had multiple metas that were a complete mess (mainly Swarmhosts and hellbats being the main culprits, though early 2014 TvP was also miserable), everything besides the meta itself was so much more exciting. By the second half of 2015 the HotS meta was pretty good though (I never minded the mine-out mech games, but maybe I'm in the minority there), wouldn't have minded if it lasted a little longer.

The game itself has been in its best state since 2020 though, sad that that coincided with the scene shrinking so much. Proleague in this gamestate would be amazing.


hots towards the end was awful. Sentries + Blink + mothership core mechanic was a disaster for the game in pvz
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