Here’s a Preview of Alexei Stukov, the Next StarCraft II Co-Op Commander

A huge fan favourite and a frequent request since the introduction of StarCraft’s Co-op mode, the infested Terran Alexei Stukov was finally unveiled at BlizzCon 2016. Today, a full preview of his army and upgrade progression has been shown off by Blizzard.

Perfectly blending Terran machinery with Zerg infestation to create an army of horrible biomechanical abominations, Stukov’s army will have a mix of both worlds. He starts each game with a Colonist Compound, which produces waves of infested for free to batter enemies while you build up your army and can be upgraded to unleash literal hordes.

Once he gets going and gains a few levels, Stukov will be able to unleash the monstrous Apocolisk or summon his infested Battlecruiser Aleksander to carve destruction through his foes. Despite slight concerns about his variety of units being extremely limited and plain, he still does look like a lot of fun, and I’m excited to finally play him.

Of all the StarCraft II updates released with the launch of Legacy of the Void, Co-op mode has been the biggest surprise sleeper hit. A less demanding mode for playing StarCraft with a friend and taking on the computer in an array of bite-sized challenges with a steady progression system? It’s the kind of RTS niche that we didn’t know needed filling until we had it, and it’s been receiving steady updates ever since its inclusion.

While there has been no official announcement for his release date, past trends related to these previews would suggest Patch 3.9 will go live on Tuesday, December 13th. However, this is still speculation, so take this with a grain of salt. Stukov will cost $4.99 USD.

If you’ve not had a chance to try the Co-op mode yet, it is available with the FREE Starter Edition of StarCraft II. Additional Commanders are available to those who have purchased Legacy of the Void, and more are available for similar prices to Stukov.

Are you keen to bring a new meaning to Zerg Russian? Ready to bring the zombie horde down on Amon’s forces? Sound out in the comments!