[2022] Is the AI still just really sad?

Literally almost any tactic is viable. You can stand out in an open field and not even use a base if you really wanted to.

There's just a few Meta tactics that many people follow because it's an easy thoughtless solution and creativity and experimentation is lost on them.

Most people think the AI is way too smart; So they use cheese and meta designs to counter it, since all the work of figuring out how to guide the AI around is already done for them.