Optical Flare

[e][h]Optical Flare

Spell Information

Caster(s):

Medic

Cost:

 75

Hotkey:

F

Range:

9

Cooldown:

0.92s

Area of Effect:

Target Only

Researched from:

Academy

Research Cost:

 100  100  75.2

Research Hotkey:

F

Optical Flare (or Optic Flare on Battle.net, Flare for short or sometimes Blind colloquially) is a spell cast by the Terran Medic. This spell can be cast on a single unit. The sight range of the targeted unit is permanently reduced to 1 matrix, unless the condition is Restored by a Medic. It also removes any detection ability that unit may possess. The affected unit will display a 'Blinded' tag in its information box when selected. It will also affect units under the effect of Parasite. When both these spells are in effect the information box will only display the spell cast last.

Use

Optical Flare is very rarely used in the game. Its mainly use is nullifying the detection ability of some units (as vision reduction can be nullified by using other units to scout). Doing so would give cloaked units an opportunity to do what they do best, but a more effective way of dealing with detecting units is killing them. The benefit of blinding detector units instead of killing them is that the opponent might not notice his lack of detection, as the blind effect does not show when multiple units are selected (unlike Parasite for example). In competitive gaming there hasn't been found a firm place for Flare but it appeared in some professional Starcraft games and can also be found in Pimpest Plays. Blinding Observers to swoop in with Wraiths or launching a Nuke, or an Overlord to stall more with Mines are the tactical ideas behind this ability.

For discussion on use of Optical Flare in TvP see (I) Medic Flare versus Protoss, (Q) Optic Flare in TvP? and (I) Flare TvZ

In Combination with Other Spells

• As units in Lockdown, Stasis Field and Maelstrom will retain their vision, this is also affected by Flare. Units in Lockdown and Maelstrom can be Flared, units in Stasis Field can't.
• Flare will dispel Hallucinations.
• Flare can only be removed by casting Restoration.

Other

• Flaring either or both Templars morphing into an Archon will result in a blinded Archon.
• It is possible to Flare a Spider Mine. That way, it will only be triggered when the enemy unit is right on top of it, making it less likely the mine can be taken out before detonation. A drawback is that the Mine's attack range will be reduced.

Notable Games

• Pimpest Play from 2002: Boxer's "Blindspot"
• Pimpest Play from 2003: Ghosts and the Shells
• BoxeR vs JinSu on Gauntlet
• Bisu vs UpMagiC on Monty Hall - UpMagic's failed attempt at using Optical Flare in TvP (at ~18 minutes)
• Really vs Perfectman , 2010-02-07 Really uses Optical Flare with moderate success.
• Really vs Jangbi on Match Point 2010-01-30 Really uses Optical Flare again, this time against Jangbi.