You must be trolling, shade is the worst possible second hive option. It's not even worth taking as a first hive imo, simply because it puts you at risk of dramatically gimping your lategame if you team does not manage to secure a third hive. (And the 'benefit' of first hive shade is not large enough that securing a third hive becomes any easier, really)
The argument that matters here is not so much that camouflage is absolutely terrible per se, it's that camouflage and even silence simply aren't as competitive as the other upgrades. Which is where combining them could come in.
Because by the time second hive usually comes out the majority of the team can go lerk and fade and shade will do very little for them. Shade is somewhat acceptable at hive 1 because everyone is still skulk at that time. You should be picking hive choices with higher lifeforms in mind, which is why anything but shade on third hive is usually a terrible idea. Celerity is absolutely godsend on lerks, and you need lerks to compete in the early-mid game.
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The argument that matters here is not so much that camouflage is absolutely terrible per se, it's that camouflage and even silence simply aren't as competitive as the other upgrades. Which is where combining them could come in.
Silence was and still is as viable as ever. Particularly for skulks and fades.