Commentary by Neuro on “Faster is not better”

Published on by Max

This is the first of the few commentaries on the Faster is not better article I published recently. It is prepared by Neuro.

Austin “Neuro” Filsinger is an American Zerg player from Dallas, Texas who is currently playing for ROOT Gaming. He is a very popular streamer in StarCraft and is widely known as “the mindset and mentality guy” in the scene.

Please note that I asked Neuro to write this commentary before I published my article.

Are strategic gameplay and a good fight mutually exclusive? From a fencing, boxing, or fighting perspective, Legacy of the Void is the best iteration of StarCraft 2 by a considerable margin. The amount of multitasking and raw speed required to win is enormous. Who’s to say that the game should necessarily be more strategic? If players enjoy fighting and focusing on speed and precision, then the enjoyment is top level. Mechanically, StarCraft 1 and 2 are the most keyboard + mouse-involved videogames in existence. Why slow it down?

Ultimately this comes down to preferences, both on the overall and the individual level. Some people prefer thinking about strats and counters. Others want to execute a sharp build and win as fast as possible. The great beauty of this game is that it allows players of both types to shine. I agree that the current trend in Legacy of the Void seems to be to reward mechanically strong players more than the strategically gifted. This factor makes Legacy less approachable for players who are new to the game and unwieldy for returning players.

Should StarCraft trade mechanical tempo for more strategy? The economy factor, as you mention, is vital to consider. Which direction is better for the continual survival and growth of StarCraft? The obvious answer is: more strategy. It’s fun and easy to talk about when compared to discussing the physical side of optimizing hotkeys and working on camera management. Nonetheless, the fast and brutal mechanics are one of the favorite aspects for many StarCraft players.

-Neuro, streamer and content creator, Zerg player, USA

Twitch: Neuro
Twitter: NeuroZerg
YouTube: NeuroZerg
Patreon: NeuroZerg

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2 thoughts on “Commentary by Neuro on “Faster is not better””

  2. Personally, I’d agree that faster paced and more mechanical gameplay has served LOTV far better than HOTS, and is definitely worth the trade off for a less dynamic meta. But what we as a community really should be talking about is whether or not Max’s claims about build order and strategic diversity in HOTS are true, and if so, how to recapture some of that strategic level of gameplay that was lost in LOTV without regressing to slower, less mechanically-demanding HOTS games. How to keep starcraft’s niche while also retaining the human, strategic part of the game.

    Idk, maybe the current meta is just a result from blizzard trying to reach an equilibrium point in terms of balance instead of spicing things up?

    Anyway, nice to see the perspective from top-level players and content creators like Neuro.

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