It seems Blizzard is not a fan of the scientific process as they deploy two nerfs for the reaper simultaneously. The basic problem here is that if this resolves the problem… they won’t know which nerf actually did it.
Each nerf comes to resolve a separate issue.
Nerf #1: Require a Supply Depot to Build a Barracks
So blizzard makes a build time change on reapers. Unfortunately though the reaper is one of the more exciting terran units to use because of their speed and micro-intensiveness. So people found a neat solution.
I covered the bunker rush in a past post. The idea behind this is you build a barracks just outside their base, float it into a fog of war spot and build a bunker in their base while the marines you pump out defend your SCV. Well people decided to apply something like this to reapers.
Only one SCV gets made in this cheese. With one SCV building the barracks you have 3 SCVs on gas and 3 SCVs on minerals. This gets you just enough to build one reaper at a time and be able to build a bunker. The reaper goes up and the bunker is constructed. It is extremely all-in because at no point do you build a supply depot or create beyond 4 reapers.
So blizzard made this supply depot/barracks change specifically so that people could not do this anymore. I should note this tactic gets used more often in team play than in individual play.
Nerf #2: Nitro Boosts in Factory
This is a nerf that is pretty hard for me to understand. I will tell you the reason, then explain why it doesn’t make sense. When a reaper comes out all terrans get it nitro boosted. This forces zerg players to get the speed zergling upgrade or roaches. They’ve increased the range on roach attacks and also removed the nitro boost upgrade so zerg no longer have to get the speed upgrade.
Of course that’s silly.
Every Zerg player gets speed zerglings for every single match up. In fact terrans got nitro boosts specifically because all Zerg players get speedlings. The nerf will be the final blow for reapers. The current life of a reaper is maybe a third reaper, that is until speedlings come out and shut down reaper play. Now reapers may not go beyond one reaper.
Hence reaper play is dead.
TheGameGuru.Me 