Maybe you have but you should not think that from this game. You had significantly better economy than Alfystar because he expanded less. Your army of Moderators and Placeholders would probably have been beaten by either Dagger or Halberd, neither of which were made.

On a similar note how about this buff for Moderator?

• Cost 240 -> 220
• Health 450 -> 680
• Speed 1.9 -> 2.1
• Damage 500 -> 622
• Area of Effect 0 -> 96
• Range 420 -> 450
• Ability to traverse water.

To moderate the buff it would also have these few nerfs:

• Remove slow
• Worse turn rate
• Worse slope tolerance
• Replace instant hit weapons with slow missiles.

I have just described what it would take to turn Moderator into Scalpel, looks quite extreme even with the nerfs. In particular note that Moderators:

• Are slower than Scalpel
• Are one shot by Scalpel
• Need two shots to kill Scalpel.
• Cost more than Scalpel

This is on top of Dagger and Halberd. I don't expect Hover to have a problem against Moderators.