Last time we talked about nationality, with a focus on StarCraft II's top Korean players; this time we'll focus on the controversial topic of race. One of the hallmarks of modern-day competitive videogames is asymmetry; instead of giving both sides identical resources to guarantee balance, asymmetric games give players distinct units and abilities and hope to avoid imbalance with careful design and perpetual tuning. StarCraft is the ultimate expression of modern asymmetrical game design, its 3 different races each featuring distinct units and unique mechanics that lead to entirely different styles of play.
This three-race structure ensures a large degree of variety in competitive StarCraft, as every combination creates a match-up with its own particular strategic and tactical complexities. It also creates a pervasive metagame in which the races jockey for overall dominance while Blizzard attempts to maintain parity and players complain endlessly about imbalance. A good strategy for those new to watching StarCraft is to pick a race you like and use that as a default setting to determine who to root for in any match. With that in mind, let’s take a close look at each race to see what they’re working with.
Protoss
Theme: An ancient, star-faring civilization with highly advanced technology. Fierce warriors who fight with honor for a noble cause.Samurai soldiers with laser beams.
Main Idea:The Protoss army is composed of powerful, expensive units. Because of the incredible firepower that Protoss units can muster and their powerful synergy when combined in large numbers, it’s not a good idea to let the Protoss get a strong economy. Many games boil down to the Protoss player attempting to assemble an unstoppable “death ball” of units while his opponent desperately races against time to prevent it.
What to watch for:The Sentry is a Protoss support unit that can create temporary barriers called force fields, which allow players to direct the flow of a match by transforming the very terrain of the battlefield itself. Used poorly, they can help the player’s opponent more than him, but used creatively and precisely they are one of the most powerful and versatile tools in all of StarCraft. Careful Sentry control and effective force field placement is the essential skill of a high-caliber Protoss.
Root for Protoss if: You wear a monocole and top hat, and drink tea with your pinky sticking out.
Zerg
Theme: Bloodthirsty alien creatures. Primal, organic killing machines driven by a ruthless hive mind to devour everything in their path.
Main Idea: Zerg are designed to win through overwhelming force. Their signature unit is the Zergling: cheap, fast, and plentiful, packs of Zerglings can take down stronger enemy units by surrounding them in a deadly swarm. However, the most famous phrase in StarCraft, the “Zerg rush”, is something of a misnomer in StarCraft II. Of the three races, the Zerg is actually the most reactive, often responding defensively to early pressure while attempting to expand to multiple bases and build up a massive economic engine with which to out-produce the enemy.
What to watch for: The Baneling (pictured) is a unit that can self-destruct with splash damage capable of taking out multiple enemies in a single explosion. Watching these chubby green suicide bombs roll across the battlefield while enemy units frantically back-pedal away from them is one the most entertaining sights in eSports.
Root for Zerg if: You like to wallow in your own filth.
Terran
Theme: Terrans are lovable, redneck space troopers with a truckload of near-future weaponry and a git-'er-done attitude.
Main Idea: Terran is meant to offer a flexible middle ground between the expensive but powerful Protoss army and the cheap and numerous Zerg swarm. The Terran arsenal provides a wide variety of strategic options, mainly defined by a choice between Zerg-esque “bio” (plentiful foot-soldiers) and Protoss-like “mech” (powerful armoured vehicles). This gives them something of a Swiss army knife feel.
What to watch for: Terran is the master of early-game harassment, with myriad ways to annoy the enemy. One of the most fun to watch is the Banshee, a flying unit that can turn invisible. Watching a Banshee pick off enemy worker units and then zip out of range just as its cloaking wears off always delivers a sweet dose of schadenfreude. In the late game, when a Terran goes mech, keep your eyes on the Siege Tanks. Knowing how and when to move these lumbering, long-range artillery units is an art unto itself, and often the difference between victory and defeat.
Oh, and finally, stay on the look-out for Manner Mules. The Mule is a Terran super-worker unit, named after the classic Dani Bunten Berry game. When a Terran is convinced he’s about to win he will sometimes drop a Mule right into the middle of battle as an uncouth way of declaring victory. It’s the greatest taunt in videogames.
Root for Terran if: You’re full of fear and hatred for anyone who's different from you.
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Next time we’ll talk about build orders, attack timings, the overall contours of “game shape” and the supremely important concept of cheese.