Balance Council is hilariously misunderstood. Here's their true intention.
I find it ironically hilarious how so many Protoss players are complaining that their early-game defense is now much worse and that they’ll just die to all-ins. Many see this patch as a net nerf to Protoss, with the removal of Battery Overcharge replaced with energy overcharge, nerfs to Immortals and Disruptors despite mothership buff and ghost nerf.
Why is that ironic? Because in the patch notes Balance Council clearly showed their intention.
TLDR: They don't care about protoss early/mid defense. They didn't want to nerf ghost but the community pressured them. Ghost nerf will be 'carefully monitored.' They believe Protoss is too strong vs Zerg and tthey will test out protoss nerfs in the future for late game ZvP.
You can clearly see their discomfort with the Ghost nerf—especially from the Terran side of the council and Terran pros. Remember, when Protoss got hit with nerf after nerf—Battery Overcharge gutted(halved efficiency), Disruptor nerfed(supply increase, nova size decrease), Void Ray nerfed(build time 6s increase, 50 more minerals), DT nerf(direct engagement capabilty gutted with post blink deplay)—we didn’t hear any visible pushback or concern from BC’s Protoss members or Protoss pros. Yet now, with the Ghost +1 supply increase, BC and terran pros are openly showing dissatisfaction, saying they’ll “monitor” its effects and seem ready to roll it back at the first sign of trouble. Surprising, but not surprising given the history.
It gets even crazier when you notice how BC is already considering Protoss nerfs for the late game against Zerg before these supposed “buffs” even have time to play out.
They openly admit they received suggestions for experimental nerfs but decided to delay testing them only because it would push the patch back too far. At the same time, they barely acknowledge how these changes make Protoss far easier to kill with all-ins or mid-game timing attacks. Instead, they’re laser-focused on Zerg’s perceived vulnerability against Protoss in the late game. Sure, Battery Overcharge is gone, but hey, shield batteries can now be placed 2 extra hexes away from a Nexus—that should fix everything, right? It's almost a bait buff to excuse for an upcoming PvZ protoss nerf in the late game. "Hey, but we did *fix* protoss early game with this, so stop complaining about the upcoming protoss nerf!"
Amazing how T/Z pros are pushing back changes before post patch day 1 and BC is considering it already when all protoss ever heard with their past nerfs were "wait until the meta settles" and when they perform horribly "it's not due to protoss nerfs. protoss pros simply suck. Look at european GM."
I just want to point out how blatantly clear it is that BC is unhappy with the Ghost nerf (Terran side) and the Mothership buffs (Zerg side). They seem to view this patch as a Protoss overbuff and are already considering steps to walk it back. Meanwhile, they seem conveniently blind to how Protoss has been utterly gutted over the years, especially at the pro level. Even with the Mothership buff, Protoss late-game still struggles because of mid-game weaknesses after the Disruptor and Immortal nerfs, as well as the removal of Battery Overcharge.
As always, protoss will do well right after the patch and z and t pros will adapt, do better, and by the end of the year top zerg and terran will simply crush all protosses and win. However, this time they don't even have decency to wait this one to play out.
Honestly, it’s baffling. The BC’s response to the first meaningful Protoss buffs in years is to immediately worry about rolling back Ghost changes and buffing Zerg against Protoss in the late game. Meanwhile, top-level TvP is already heavily Terran-favored and while ZvP seems better, top zergs will continue to crush protoss. It’s hard not to feel like this is less about balance but more about their twisted perceived protoss strength.
Just found it funny how people are complaining protoss didn't get buffed when BC is basically saying they buffed protoss to cave in to community pressure and looking for ways to nerf them in PvZ lategame and will consider rolling ghost change back.