I’m here at MLG Spring Championship in Anaheim, where people downstairs are currently playing StarCraft 2’s yet-to-be-released expansion pack, Heart of the Swarm, right now. Blizzard’s opened it up to the public for the first time, and noobs and pros alike are giving the new units a whirl, including the show-stealing Protoss Tempest.
SC2 Lead Designer Dustin Browder is very quick to stress that everything you see here is subject to change. Heart of the Swarm has not even entered beta yet ("Summer 2012" is Blizzard’s estimated beta date, though no word on how one can participate yet), and things are sure to continue changing throughout the next few months. In the meantime, I’m hoping that my favorite thing, the Tempest, remains largely unchanged despite accusations of being OP, because look at that badass. Just look at it. Browder tells us that the range on these things is huge, and come on — who’s not incredibly thrilled at the thought of giant flying scythe blades spewing lethal energy balls?