HystericaLaughter Profile Joined September 2011 Australia 710 Posts Last Edited: 2011-10-02 05:48:50 #1



Please read the entire OP before casting your votes.



Bronze and Silver level - Zerg



My reasoning for this is because of the significant difference in the macro mechanic Zerg has compared with Terran and Protoss. Larvae injecting is almost non-existant past the first few minutes in my experience, and forgetting to create workers (the bane of nearly all low-level players) tends to punish Zerg most severely.



Poll: Bronze and Silver level



Zerg (3177)

78%



Terran (522)

13%



Protoss (382)

9%



4081 total votes (3177)78%(522)13%(382)9%4081 total votes Your vote: Bronze and Silver level (Vote): Terran

(Vote): Zerg

(Vote): Protoss





Gold and Platinum level - Terran



As macro and mechanics improve for all races, Terran's at this level can find themselves caught in an awkward rut. With often a little bit more to do than their apm can handle, Terran's can suffer from not being able to keep up with the production of a Zerg or Protoss because they cannot mass-produce/instantly warp-in reinforcements. No race at this level really has the apm to continue producing units while controlling their army or dealing with harrassment, and Terran is punished harder for this than either Zerg or Protoss because of the way Terran production facilities function.



Poll: Gold and Platinum level



Zerg (2270)

67%



Terran (717)

21%



Protoss (425)

12%



3412 total votes (2270)67%(717)21%(425)12%3412 total votes Your vote: Gold and Platinum level (Vote): Terran

(Vote): Zerg

(Vote): Protoss





Diamond and Master level - Protoss



With another jump in apm, mechanics, game knowledge and strategy to this level of play, Protoss can have the most difficulties. Terran can maintain production on par with Protoss, and Zerg, well, know how to make drones and infestors... I kid. More importantly, players of the other two races learn how to read the Protoss' opening and have decent scouting, causing timings to fail and making it very easy to counter the Protoss composition.



Poll: Diamond and Master level



Terran (1556)

41%



Zerg (1246)

32%



Protoss (1032)

27%



3834 total votes (1556)41%(1246)32%(1032)27%3834 total votes Your vote: Diamond and Master level (Vote): Terran

(Vote): Zerg

(Vote): Protoss





Grandmaster and Pro level - Read below



Ok its the big one, which race is the hardest to play at the highest tier of skill? I think this one is very difficult to discuss without bringing up balance, which I DO NOT want to do. So I think I'll just leave explanations to you guys. I voted Zerg, because they have the greatest reliance on scouting, which becomes the most inconsistent variable when mechanics are fine.



Poll: Grandmaster and Pro level



Protoss (2037)

52%



Zerg (1075)

28%



Terran (776)

20%



3888 total votes (2037)52%(1075)28%(776)20%3888 total votes Your vote: Grandmaster and Pro level (Vote): Terran

(Vote): Zerg

(Vote): Protoss





Hope you enjoyed the thread, please read the whole OP before posting



Edit: I'm a diamond Terran so no bias Hey teamliquid community I had some time on my hands so I thought I would create a thread asking everyone what race they think is the most challenging to play at each level of skill in Starcraft II. I have my own opinions and arguments included, I have given this a good deal of thought. Not including random for simplicity.Please read the entire OP before casting your votes.Bronze and Silver level - ZergMy reasoning for this is because of the significant difference in the macro mechanic Zerg has compared with Terran and Protoss. Larvae injecting is almost non-existant past the first few minutes in my experience, and forgetting to create workers (the bane of nearly all low-level players) tends to punish Zerg most severely.Gold and Platinum level - TerranAs macro and mechanics improve for all races, Terran's at this level can find themselves caught in an awkward rut. With often a little bit more to do than their apm can handle, Terran's can suffer from not being able to keep up with the production of a Zerg or Protoss because they cannot mass-produce/instantly warp-in reinforcements. No race at this level really has the apm to continue producing units while controlling their army or dealing with harrassment, and Terran is punished harder for this than either Zerg or Protoss because of the way Terran production facilities function.Diamond and Master level - ProtossWith another jump in apm, mechanics, game knowledge and strategy to this level of play, Protoss can have the most difficulties. Terran can maintain production on par with Protoss, and Zerg, well, know how to make drones and infestors... I kid. More importantly, players of the other two races learn how to read the Protoss' opening and have decent scouting, causing timings to fail and making it very easy to counter the Protoss composition.Grandmaster and Pro level - Read belowOk its the big one, which race is the hardest to play at the highest tier of skill? I think this one is very difficult to discuss without bringing up balance, which I DO NOT want to do. So I think I'll just leave explanations to you guys. I voted Zerg, because they have the greatest reliance on scouting, which becomes the most inconsistent variable when mechanics are fine.Hope you enjoyed the thread, please read the whole OP before postingEdit: I'm a diamond Terran so no bias My wife for hire! - Zealot

Beardfish Profile Blog Joined January 2006 United States 525 Posts #2 I'm a diamond Zerg and I completely agree with the majority so far.

McPhiz Profile Joined April 2011 Canada 183 Posts #3 well im still bronze and i've played all three races and i almost never lose with P or Z, T seems to be the hardest for me!

corpsepose Profile Blog Joined August 2010 1640 Posts #4 definitely for me its zerg at lower levels, then somewhere around platinum/diamond things get difficult for terrans... hard to say for master/grandmaster because i have no experience playing at that caliber. things have been looking particularly grim for protoss right now tho, so i guess itd be those. so in essence i agree entirely with the majority vote so far. http://www.twitch.tv/corpsep0se

sVnteen Profile Joined January 2011 Germany 2228 Posts Last Edited: 2011-10-02 07:58:52 #5

i played terran and zerg and random also but everything was WAY harder than the protoss

i mean you can really do good stuff with protoss which take a lot of skill and an awful lot of multitasking but in my opinion terran is the hardest by quite a bit

then zerg because of decision making and protoss at the easiest



EDIT:

just look at this:

(this is only pro level ofc) ok guys im only masters but how can protoss ever be the hardest race?i played terran and zerg and random also but everything was WAY harder than the protossi mean you can really do good stuff with protoss which take a lot of skill and an awful lot of multitasking but in my opinion terran is the hardest by quite a bitthen zerg because of decision making and protoss at the easiestEDIT:just look at this: http://www.sc2charts.net/en/edb?zone=7 for example and it shows how the metagame is by far hardest for terran right now(this is only pro level ofc) MY LIFE STARTS NOW ♥

AdelSC123 Profile Joined March 2010 France 362 Posts Last Edited: 2011-10-02 07:58:09 #6 it's not as back and white as you make it sound

Monkeyballs25 Profile Joined October 2010 531 Posts #7 Definitely Zerg at bronze/silver. You have to learn how to scout properly quite a bit earlier than the other two races, your early game defence is quite fragile and you can't rely on a nice easy 1 base timing push build.

Vedad Profile Blog Joined May 2010 Sweden 34 Posts #8 On October 02 2011 16:56 sVnteen wrote:

ok guys im only masters





said nuff. not being GM disqualifies you to discuss the GM statistics, also if you look at the site you linked to and go to progamer statistics, they disagree with you. said nuff. not being GM disqualifies you to discuss the GM statistics, also if you look at the site you linked to and go to progamer statistics, they disagree with you.

sluggaslamoo Profile Blog Joined November 2009 Australia 4304 Posts #9 On October 02 2011 16:56 sVnteen wrote:

ok guys im only masters but how can protoss ever be the hardest race?

i played terran and zerg and random also but everything was WAY harder than the protoss

i mean you can really do good stuff with protoss which take a lot of skill and an awful lot of multitasking but in my opinion terran is the hardest by quite a bit

then zerg because of decision making and protoss at the easiest



EDIT:

just look at this:

(this is only pro level ofc) ok guys im only masters but how can protoss ever be the hardest race?i played terran and zerg and random also but everything was WAY harder than the protossi mean you can really do good stuff with protoss which take a lot of skill and an awful lot of multitasking but in my opinion terran is the hardest by quite a bitthen zerg because of decision making and protoss at the easiestEDIT:just look at this: http://www.sc2charts.net/en/edb?zone=7 for example and it shows how the metagame is by far hardest for terran right now(this is only pro level ofc)



I've played in tournaments as both Protoss and Terran. IMO its just so easy to lose to timing attacks as Protoss, at Masters/Diamond level the timings are always late or not very powerful, but at high masters/GM they get it perfect and you feel helpless. I've played in tournaments as both Protoss and Terran. IMO its just so easy to lose to timing attacks as Protoss, at Masters/Diamond level the timings are always late or not very powerful, but at high masters/GM they get it perfect and you feel helpless. Come play Android Netrunner - http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=409008

ondik Profile Blog Joined November 2008 Czech Republic 2906 Posts Last Edited: 2011-10-02 08:06:14 #10 Z

T

P

P



I don't see how terran's hardest for diamond/masters, the players there are good enough to abuse majority of things the race offers. Bisu. The one and only. // Save the cheerreaver, save the world (of SC2)

iamke55 Profile Blog Joined April 2004 United States 2805 Posts #11 Results seem spot on. I'll never understand how anyone below diamond plays Zerg, as it just takes too much higher level thinking for people who have trouble avoid supply blocks. At the diamond and master level, Terran needs a lot of micro to overcome Zerg and Protoss' AOE unit compositions that can 1a for the win. At the pro level, Protoss players need to make extremely subtle reads on scouting information, never take their eyes off the minimap and react instantly to any dots that appear on it, and defend vs pressure using the minimum number of units possible to maintain the tech lead needed to win. During practice session, I discovered very good build against zerg. -Bisu[Shield]

figq Profile Blog Joined May 2010 11851 Posts #12 I don't think there's much difference in any ladder league, when we look at the whole population of players in that league. Blizzard maintains the ladder itself close to that. Only at progaming level (above gm) they don't have enough data and analysis to ensure that. Although they're doing their best. If you stand next to my head, you can hear the ocean. - Day[9]

CatNzHat Profile Blog Joined February 2011 United States 1468 Posts #13 I currently think that terran has the highest skill cap, the the koreans would seem to agree.

In masters league on NA, i find that terran is the most mechanically challenging of the races, and has the least forgiving decision making, if you miss read and react with improper tech, you're usually gonna be way behind due to having invested a ton in production that can't be use otherwise, compared to toss and zerg which have much more forgiving tech trees (build robo, no biggie immortals are very versatile and obs are required anyways for mobile detection, build roach warren, no biggie, just don't make roaches).





High masters terran btw (rank 400 masters NA atm).

DjRetro Profile Blog Joined December 2010 Chile 309 Posts #14 The most difficult race to play in masters and grand masters is Terran... i'm absolutely convinced of that. In higher levels of play, you need a lot of APM and multitasking to play as terran.



However, i'm a bit confused... i don't understand why the poll shows us that protoss is more difficult than terran in GM... in a lot of cases, as masters (high) you can play against a GM guy perfectly... that's a fact. SpaceSynth-ItaloDisco-HiNRG http://www.radiostaddenhaag.com/

AxionSteel Profile Joined January 2011 United States 7753 Posts Last Edited: 2011-10-02 08:16:40 #15 Totally agree with all the results so far. Terran only dominates at the top end of Korea, which shows that it has the highest skill cap with the micro and multitasking that is required.

Iatrik Profile Joined August 2010 Germany 159 Posts #16 Scouting in Bronze-Platium is really really bad => Zerg "hardest" in Bronze-Platium



Playing Diamond-Masters is a suprise box. Get a real hard macro player or a real hard all-in. Since it takes less skill to get into Diamond-Masters as Terran and those people don't know how to defend these attacks, => Terran "hardest" in Diamond-Masters



Protoss macro is very very easy, but very strict in tech, which doesn't give you a lot of options to react fast enough.

So you have to make the difference by splitting your units, flanking from the sides, dropping your opponent, control your army very good.

(Why? A protoss maxed army will always have a lower "unit-count" , so proper micro effects the battle way more)

That doesn't really happen yet. Pros like f.e. IncontroL are still having all there units in 1 control group... Making 1 emp kill your whole army. => Protoss "hardest" in GM





Feed me more

HolydaKing Profile Joined February 2010 20329 Posts Last Edited: 2011-10-02 08:16:40 #17 I choose Zerg for all except for Grandmasters, where i choose Terran.



Why? Because it doesn't ask which is the best race but which is the hardest to play.



Zerg imo is the hardest to play until each race players are pretty damn good. At the highest level however Terran has so much to do, simultaneaous dropping, microing etc... It's the reason why in Korea Terrans dominate imo. You can do the most things if you have skill and play terran.



Toss on the other hand is pretty easy to learn but can however do not too much on higher level, although the stronger warp prism changed that a bit recently, as seeing SaSe streaming showed me some impressive games of warp prism use... Still it doesn't change the fact that it probably is still the easiest race.



Just my opinion.

HaXXspetten Profile Blog Joined October 2009 Sweden 15716 Posts #18 In my opinion:



Bronze/Silver - Zerg (Too much multitasking for that low apm)

Gold/Platinum - Zerg (Same as above)

Diamond/Master - Terran (Can't really explain why I think it's T here, but I tend to fail my macro while controlling my army all the time, whereas I can macro without any problem as Z and P)

GrandMaster - Protoss (Okay, now we've past my skill level, but I think Protoss terrible winratio at prolevel recently is proof by itself. Not necessarily hardest race to play at that level, but rather there are too few things to capitilize on even when you have the skill to theoretically do so, whereas your Terran and Zerg opponents still can)

decaf Profile Joined October 2010 Austria 1797 Posts #19

This is what NesTea has to say about it

Binabik Profile Joined January 2011 Germany 686 Posts #20 On October 02 2011 17:10 DjRetro wrote:

The most difficult race to play in masters and grand masters is Terran... i'm absolutely convinced of that. In higher levels of play, you need a lot of APM and multitasking to play as terran.



However, i'm a bit confused... i don't understand why the poll shows us that protoss is more difficult than terran in GM... in a lot of cases, as masters (high) you can play against a GM guy perfectly... that's a fact.

APM and multitasking is no problem in GM, decision making seperates weak from strong players. APM and multitasking is no problem in GM, decision making seperates weak from strong players.

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