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My thoughts:

I think that the reintroduction of the Spider Mine is great. It's great from a nostalgic stand point and it's great from a balance stand point. The Nomad will have to use energy to produce Spider Mines now and when they detonate you'll have to replace them using more energy, this creates a risk/reward factor. Originally the Nomad would use energy to build a Mine Drone which was a structure that created three mines and when those mines detonated the drone would rebuild more. There was no micro involved and there was no risk/reward system with the Mine Drone.

I also think it's important that we've learned that the Reaper's mines can be targeted and destroyed before they detonate; I think you will see a lot of players trying to quickly destroy these mines using their drones/scvs/probes rather than running for the hills. Also, Reapers now have to upgrade to be able to use mines. This is a good addition that will balance early game economic harassment because it adds a risk/reward factor. Do I tech to grenades or do I spend my money elsewhere?

The answer to the Baneling question comes as news to me, apparently when you kill a Baneling it still explodes and does AoE damage. Also, if it's lifted into the air by the Nullifier's anti-gravity ability and killed it still does AoE damage to whatever enemy air units are around it; this will at the very least be your Nullifier. Not sure I like this and I'm hoping Karune misspoke. Where is the reward for having good micro skills and focus targeting incoming Banelings before they detonate on your troops?

The Blizzard dev team has made plenty of changes to the units and gameplay of StarCraft II in the recent months and undoubtedly is making changes as you read this, but perhaps the most interesting to me are those that involve the Terran. I've always been more of a Terran player than anything else and every time I read about the changes in Terran units I think about the effects those changes have on the overall balance of the game. This week I take a look at the new Terran Jackal and weigh its effectiveness against the unit it has replaced, the Vulture.

The original StarCraft saw limited use of the Vulture, it was a quick and agile scout that's best weapon was its spider mines, but you had to upgrade to get them first. Will the new Jackal simply take over the Vulture's place and role? Or will it redefine the role of scout by adding some offensive prowess to an otherwise limited and underused unit?

For those of you who haven't heard, Blizzard will be hosting the 2008 World Wide Invitational in Paris, France on June 28th and 29th. I will not be personally attending the invitational but I believe someone from GamePro will be which means we'll have plenty of live, fresh coverage for you.

Today, Blizzard has announced that they will be holding plenty of tournaments for the attendees in Paris, France. There will be matches to watch between some of the world's top pro StarCraft players as well as community matches for everyone else to prove their mettle. GosuGamers will be hosting StarCraft: Brood War qualifiers in order for entrance into the StarCraft II tournament.

What this means for you:

Most of you, including me, won't be in Paris, France to experience the World Wide Invitational but we will get to see and read about all of it online. Blizzard will certainly have plenty of exciting new updates for the world and we are sure to see some new gameplay trailers showcasing the progression of StarCraft II. May should be an exciting month leading up to the event in Paris, and June is sure to knock our socks off.

What to look for from WWI 2008:
• Unveiling of new Zerg artwork
• Unveiling of new Terran artwork
• Lengthy gameplay trailers showcasing game changes
• Videos of professional StarCraft 2 matches
• New trailers showcasing SC2's singleplayer aspect
• Unveiling of Battle.net 2.0
• Beta announcement
• Diablo 3 announcement (just throwing it out there)

Check out Blizzard's 2008 World Wide Invitational site here, as well as the list of cool prizes that will be won.

Alright all you StarCraft n00bs listen up! IGN has graciously put together a cumulative preview video that recaps some of -- and I do stress "some of" -- the various key aspects of StarCraft 2 up to this point in its development.

For anyone who is a die hard StarCraft 2 fan and has been following the developments from day one, this video will tell you absolutely positively nothing new. However, for anyone who is new to the world of StarCraft, who hasn't been following the progress of the game every day, this video is for you! In true bullet point fashion, it will fill you in on a potential game of the year candidate and only take roughly 5 minutes of your life.

So without further ado, I present to you...well...if I continue this it's going to form a pathetic rhyme, so forget it just watch the damn video!

The newest Q&A update from Karune is shorter than usual but did give us a new screenshot of a Baneling invasion which I posted yesterday before the actual Q&A was posted by Blizzard. This update talks briefly about a number of different topics that are all kind of equally cool and basically just clear up some confusion. I guess the most notable thing about this update is there is nothing unveiled in this Q&A that we didnt already know about. Nonetheless, it is still a quick and worthy read. Enjoy!

Karune posted:

Reminder: This is the final week for I<3 SC Submissions to be eligible for T-Shirts! Send your entries in today! Be a part of StarCraft history! http://www.blizzard.com/us/inblizz/contests/ilovesc/

ScreenCraft: This batch's screenshot is to show the significant size increase of the Baneling since the original Protoss announcement gameplay trailer. The size increase is to allow the possibility of focus firing on incoming Banelings with additional micromanagement.

Feel free to discuss the evolution of the Baneling in our Monthly Discussion Topic at: http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.aspx?fn=sc2-general-eu&t=463

Baneling Invasion

http://www.starcraft2.com/screenshot.xml?s=80

An army of Banelings invade a developing rival Zerg base.

Blizzard just posted a new screenshot of a group of Zerg Banelings wreaking havoc on another Zerg Base. A very kick ass screenshot showing the devastation that the Baneling can inflict. To see/download a hi-res version of the image check it out here.

A fan created this video designed to inspire the gaming community to get involved in the creation of the future of the RTS genre by giving Blizzard your feedback on StarCraft 2.

A very cool video indeed.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SZwq0_GEt4

A few weeks ago when the Zerg were unleashed upon the world, Blizzard also released some minor and mostly overlooked information regarding the fate of the Terran medic, namely that it was being cut. Now maybe this doesn't piss you off because you're not a Terran player like myself, but for anyone else that plays Terran listen up.

Your beloved Medic has been cut from the game!

Blizzard has instead decided to replace the medic with a unit called the medivac dropship. The medivac dropship is basically nothing more than a modified version of the original dropship. Now in addition to being able to transport troops it can also heal infantry. For weeks after the Zerg announcement we had limited details on the medivac, all we knew was that it was now in the game. But last week the devs addressed a question in the 34th Q&A that shed a little more light on this developing situation.

So, this week I would like to have a showdown between the two most non-violent units in the StarCraft universe, the medics! And I promise you, there won't be anyone standing by to heal them.

The 35th update batch brought us some exciting news, some of it good, some of it not so much. I break it down for you and give you my thoughts on what these changes mean if left in for the final release.

My thoughts:

The most notable news in this batch is the return of the Sunken Colonies and the Spore Colonies. They now return with a new trick up their sleeve, they're mobile. That's right; the Zerg's static base defenses are static no more. Now they can uproot from the creep and crawl to anywhere else creep is present. This is a HUGE advantage for the Zerg, especially if used in conjunction with the Overlord's ability to generate creep anywhere on the map. You can essentially use your defensive structures on offense now. The devs thought this capability was "more Zerg like," and I have to agree with them.

However, the Protoss Phase Cannon mine as well go back to being called a Photon Cannon because the devs have taken away its ability to "phase" and relocate within Pylon power. So the Zerg gain a huge advantage and the Protoss lose a huge advantage. Is this a fair swap? Not in my opinion. The devs now have to go back to the drawing board with the Protoss static base defenses and rethink what they should be. Both Zerg and Terran have new additions -- retracting bunkers and crawling colonies -- and the Protoss are left with their same old Photon Cannons.

Another topic that has become a thorn in my side is the Mothership, should it stay, should it go, what the heck should it be? Let's face it; the Mothership is a shell of its former self. Conceived and developed as a Protoss super weapon, now it has been relegated to nothing more than a support unit, like an Arbiter. Why should this unit even be in the game anymore? It's a huge monstrosity in the air sure, but it does little to no damage to anything anymore. Either give the unit back some of its oomph, re-conceptualize it and give it some new art, or scrap the thing all together. I think the Mothership needs to be the devs next big focus.

Today Blizzard has released the second part of the StarCraft 2 saga. It covers the story from the Brood War up until the start of StarCraft 2. This includes everything from the evacuation of Aiur due to the Zerg invasion, through Zeratul's disappearance and reappearance during the cutscene in the single player demonstration video.

Check out the story, screens and videos that accompany it here at the official StarCraft 2 site.

Source: StarCraft2.com