They weren’t broken in most situations but they weren’t engaging. From the tower rusher perspective it required little to no effort to keep up the pressure, meanwhile the defender had to invest a disproportionate amount of energy and work to solve the situation and counterattack. The defender was left exhausted, and in the end, even if tower rushing it wasn’t quite as effective as some people stated, and it does not guarantee you to win in equal matchups, it was regardless a frustrating playstyle to encounter several times on a row.
There’s no way this happens above 1100 elo. The purpose of tower rushing is to trade eco and military development in exchange for a time advantage while keeping pressure on your opponent, it was never meant to “end the game early”, which does not happen outside low elo or AI matches. Now this is also possible, but it’s simply harder to pull off and less braindead.
Overall the woord nerf on towers was very good due to how it doesn’t dissuade you from placing forward towers, but it also forces you to do quick decisions and long-term planning with your eco, as the previous 25 wood cost was simply laughable.