• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 19:57
CEST 01:57
KST 08:57
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Summer's End9Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2915Serral wins Maestros of the Game 244ByuL, and the Limitations of Standard Play3Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7
Community News
Weekly Cups (August 10-16): SHIN doubles2GSTL Returns in 2026!45Weekly Cups (Aug 3-9): Protoss get shut out7RSL goes to London! 2026 Offline Finals Nov 21-2212Weekly Cups (July 27-Aug 2): SHIN's big week0
StarCraft 2
General
GSTL Returns in 2026! SC4ALL II: SC2 Player Announcement 6/8 - Maru Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16) Serral wins Maestros of the Game 2 Weekly Cups (August 10-16): SHIN doubles
Tourneys
SC2 AI Tournament 2026 Fall 2026 GSTL Announcement Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2) PIG STY FESTIVAL 8.0! (13 - 23 August) WardiTV Mondays
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
Nexus Wars 2021 GUIDE [M] (2) Industrial Park
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 539 Thunder Dome Mutation # 538 Media Blackout Mutation # 537 Hostile Territory
Brood War
General
Are you ready for ASL 22? NEW HYPE VIDEO BW General Discussion [ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Summer's End BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ How Famous was FlaSh before his Debut?
Tourneys
Small VOD Thread 2.0 [Megathread] Daily Proleagues KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3 [ASL22] Ro24 Group C
Strategy
Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation Fighting Spirit mining rates Any training maps people recommend? Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread General RTS Discussion Thread Anyone here play Quakeworld back in the day? Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread EVE Corporation
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish TSM pausing esports and CLG Dead
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Power Rank TL Mafia Community Thread NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Dating: How's your luck? Artificial Intelligence Thread The Letting Off Steam Thread
Fan Clubs
The Creator Fan Club MarineLorD Fan Club The ShoWTimE Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread Series you have seen recently...
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread MLB/Baseball 2023 TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 NBA General Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Simple Questions Simple Answers FPS when play League Of Legend on laptop
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Northern Ireland Global Starcraft
Blogs
Young Players Exit Esports E…
TrAiDoS
LOCKPICKING NOOB
LUCKY_NOOB
Cathedral Of CS And NY pizza a…
FuDDx
Please support my new stand…
Peanutsc
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 5379 users

Advantages of Each Race?

Blogs > OdiousTea
Post a Reply
1 2 Next All
OdiousTea
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Australia357 Posts
August 29 2011 08:28 GMT
#1
So the other day, a friend of mine whom just bought StarCraft 2asked me a pretty tough question, What are the advantages of each race?

After giving it some thought I came up with this:

Terran: your everyday RTS race, Terran rewards you the most for superior mechanics (multitasking, macro, micro etc.).

Zerg: The race that most easily dictates the pace of the game because the non- linear unit production from larvae. (Extreme examples, Powering Drones, 6 pool)

Protoss: Possibly the hardest to define, but I feel it relies on army composition, micro and positioning due to the race's reliance on core units (Colossus, High Templar)

What are your thoughts on this?

+ Show Spoiler +
Not sure where this is supposed to go, so I'm putting this in my blog. Chill this is my first OP


***
Vlare
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
748 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-08-29 08:40:11
August 29 2011 08:39 GMT
#2
The advantage of Terran is being the best race.

I really don't know how else to answer.

There aren't "advantages" to being zerg or protoss, as both races feel unfinished and are simply unique. Zerg has mobility I guess. But even their slow/clunky units are good so it just depends what you make.


I think each race is simply unique.

Edit: Oh and protoss has OP forcefields =)
Mass zerglings doesnt fail
BLitZkRiEG.
Profile Joined June 2011
Australia1 Post
August 29 2011 08:53 GMT
#3
@ Vlare I think what he's trying to get across is not what is the best race, but how each race's different design plays out compared to other generic rts games' races.

to the op: I agree with the you about terran and zerg, but protoss just seems to be the race that relies the most of timings or making an unbeatable army, not so much on positioning.
"i wouldnt play terran cuz i have self respect"
FoolieCoolie
Profile Joined November 2010
Serbia71 Posts
August 29 2011 08:59 GMT
#4
Zerg likes to fight in open spaces. Also positioning.
Protoss likes to fight in chokes . Also timing.
Terran likes to fight in multiple places, in small numbers. Micro.
Vlare
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
748 Posts
August 29 2011 09:06 GMT
#5
On August 29 2011 17:53 BLitZkRiEG. wrote:
@ Vlare I think what he's trying to get across is not what is the best race, but how each race's different design plays out compared to other generic rts games' races.

to the op: I agree with the you about terran and zerg, but protoss just seems to be the race that relies the most of timings or making an unbeatable army, not so much on positioning.


Well in that case.

Terran : Every unit has the potential to end the game
Zerg: Many very quick and flimsy units - Super succeptible to quick losses by being caught off guard.
Protoss: super dependent on not losing units and using unit spells well/actively.

User was warned for this post
Mass zerglings doesnt fail
vanhio
Profile Joined November 2010
Niue1017 Posts
August 29 2011 09:08 GMT
#6
I think currently, zerg can easily abuse infestor.. Fungal so easy to use, unlike storm if you hit once its all over, you cant dodge. And if you have 3 infestors with full energy you can destroy expansions in seconds. Very, very easy to abuse.
Vlare
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
748 Posts
August 29 2011 09:10 GMT
#7
On August 29 2011 18:08 vanhio wrote:
I think currently, zerg can easily abuse infestor.. Fungal so easy to use, unlike storm if you hit once its all over, you cant dodge. And if you have 3 infestors with full energy you can destroy expansions in seconds. Very, very easy to abuse.


I don't think this really is relevant to what the OP is asking for.
Mass zerglings doesnt fail
vanhio
Profile Joined November 2010
Niue1017 Posts
August 29 2011 09:12 GMT
#8
Your spell caster is very easy to use - advantage ?
Vlare
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
748 Posts
August 29 2011 09:14 GMT
#9
On August 29 2011 18:12 vanhio wrote:
Your spell caster is very easy to use - advantage ?


I think pressing emp is just about as hard as hitting fungal. I wouldn't call it a unique advantage.
Mass zerglings doesnt fail
vanhio
Profile Joined November 2010
Niue1017 Posts
August 29 2011 09:16 GMT
#10
Ok, use 200-300 energy with your ghost on my expo and try to kill it.
Vlare
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
748 Posts
August 29 2011 09:19 GMT
#11
On August 29 2011 18:16 vanhio wrote:
Ok, use 200-300 energy with your ghost on my expo and try to kill it.


Terran doesn't need to use 200-300 energy because they can just drop 4 marauders and stim. I really think if someone brand new to the game is told "HEY RACE X CAN MAKE A SPELLCASTER TO KILL AN EXPO IN SECONDS". This is a pretty terrible way to introduce them to the game.

And while my explanations were rather vague as well, they did cover some major points that a new player should know.
Mass zerglings doesnt fail
vanhio
Profile Joined November 2010
Niue1017 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-08-29 09:23:16
August 29 2011 09:22 GMT
#12
Im just saying what is one of the advantage of Zerg. With 6 food army you can destroy tech/bases, its good to now. Im not saying its imbalanced or something. Simply its easy to abuse, you can use it, its not a bad thing.
Vlare
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
748 Posts
August 29 2011 09:25 GMT
#13
On August 29 2011 18:22 vanhio wrote:
Im just saying what is one of the advantage of Zerg. With 6 food army you can destroy tech/bases, its good to now. Im not saying its imbalanced or something. Simply its easy to abuse, you can use it, its not a bad thing.


Sure ^ You can also say this for DT, banshee, any burrow moving unit, any drop, nukes and many other things.

Mass zerglings doesnt fail
Malyce
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Switzerland112 Posts
August 29 2011 09:27 GMT
#14

Terran: is a scrappy race that relies on good unit positionning and multitasking to win the game It has a very strong harass potential and is very cost-effective in small numbers. It has a wide variety of units that can serve every purpose and really adapts to play style. Terran basics are accessible seeing that it is easy to turtle up, but very hard to master due to complex macro and micro.

Zerg: is a swarm race that relies on heavy scouting and timing knowledge to optimise its production. It has massive amounts of very cheap and cost-effective units and good harassment potential. It has complicated macro when executed correctly, but slightly easier micro in most circumstances. This race is difficult to begin with but progress comes smoothly once the basics are mastered. It can be strong in all stages of the game.

Protoss: a technological race that relies on few expensive units. It has the least harassment potential, and is usually most effective when massing up a large and expensive death-ball. Its units are mostly cost-effective in large numbers. It is also the most spell-casting race. It has macro and micro of medium difficulty. A race that is slightly less accessible for beginners than terran namely due to early-game relative weakness, but you can get better quicker.

These descriptions are very general though, if Terran is playing mech for example the description won't apply as much. I hope this helped in some way though.
Opera
Profile Joined March 2011
France469 Posts
August 29 2011 09:42 GMT
#15
I'll speak for the two races I know best: Zerg and Terran.

Zerg: For a newcomer to RTS, the main advantage of Zerg is that the macro is quite forgiving. If you don't miss to many larva inject, you will always be able to spend your money by creating a shitload of units at once. On the other hand, the thought process is really different because of the way unit/building creation is handled (larvae and drone "sacrifice").

Terran: It's the most straightforward race to play. You have tech buildings, unit creation buildings and the queuing system is very easy to understand. As a drawback, I'll say that if you don't have good mechanics, you'll have a lot of difficulties producing a strong army.

I think army compisition is easier to handle with Terran. Bioball + tanks + medivacs work in the three matchups at bronze - platinium level.
It ain't over till it's over
marttorn
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
Norway5211 Posts
August 29 2011 09:42 GMT
#16
I'm not exactly GM myself so I'm not the know-all be-all on this, but I'll try. And besides, doesn't hurt to get in a somewhat long post considering I participated in the MLG LR's. I'm ashamed.

I'll only be looking at the races from a complete beginners perspective.

Terran: Probably the easiest to get into because of simple, recognizable (as in recognizable from other RTS games) mechanics. Having played AoE when I was younger, I instantly familiarized with Terran. Your units build over time, you build workers from your Town Hall, it's easy to understand basically. The more advanced mechanics like teching up, dropping mules and using scans come with time. I remember when I first started playing I never dropped mules or switched addons etc, because it was too difficult to execute TT;;

Protoss: Makes units in rounds as opposed to building them slowly, like terran. This has obvious benefits, but it gets tough if you miss one round of units. Has a very powerful, cost-efficient lategame army that many (if not most) people in the lower leagues easily get crushed by. Chrono boost makes everything faster, and it's an easy mechanic to use. As for how beginner-friendly it is I'd say protoss is in the middle.

Zerg: Zerg has the most unfamiliar and "weird" mechanics of all, and will probably be the hardest for complete beginners to get into unless they have extensive RTS experience. I recall asking a zerg friend of mine when I first started playing: "But wait... Uhm, what's the zerg barracks called"

This represents basically the most unique and special aspect of zerg, in that (put in simple terms) their town hall builds units, instead of having to build a bunch of barracks or warp gates. They have weaker units (in general) but can build very very many of them. Due to being generally weaker, their units are also very fast. Queen management and use is very important to understanding zerg, but that's just mechanics stuff that comes with time.
memes are a dish best served dank
GhostKorean
Profile Blog Joined November 2008
United States2330 Posts
August 29 2011 10:00 GMT
#17
I'd argue that Zerg is not swarmy at all :\. Roach/Infestor is closer to Protoss than Zerg if anything
jhNz
Profile Blog Joined September 2006
Germany2762 Posts
August 29 2011 10:59 GMT
#18
i think the biggest advantage of zerg are the easy tech switches.
http://twitter.com/jhNz
Klaca
Profile Blog Joined August 2011
318 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-08-29 11:11:19
August 29 2011 11:10 GMT
#19
The advantages are immediately visible from unit speed: EVERY zerg unit is faster than EVERY protoss unit which are in turn faster than EVERY terran unit: Truly, it is the speed that seperates the races, the and is the defining quality in how their units are used for gameplay
deathly rat
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
United Kingdom911 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-08-29 11:25:31
August 29 2011 11:23 GMT
#20
On August 29 2011 18:27 Malyce wrote:

Terran: is a scrappy race that relies on good unit positionning and multitasking to win the game It has a very strong harass potential and is very cost-effective in small numbers. It has a wide variety of units that can serve every purpose and really adapts to play style. Terran basics are accessible seeing that it is easy to turtle up, but very hard to master due to complex macro and micro.

Zerg: is a swarm race that relies on heavy scouting and timing knowledge to optimise its production. It has massive amounts of very cheap and cost-effective units and good harassment potential. It has complicated macro when executed correctly, but slightly easier micro in most circumstances. This race is difficult to begin with but progress comes smoothly once the basics are mastered. It can be strong in all stages of the game.

Protoss: a technological race that relies on few expensive units. It has the least harassment potential, and is usually most effective when massing up a large and expensive death-ball. Its units are mostly cost-effective in large numbers. It is also the most spell-casting race. It has macro and micro of medium difficulty. A race that is slightly less accessible for beginners than terran namely due to early-game relative weakness, but you can get better quicker.

These descriptions are very general though, if Terran is playing mech for example the description won't apply as much. I hope this helped in some way though.


I approve this message.

On August 29 2011 20:10 Klaca wrote:
The advantages are immediately visible from unit speed: EVERY zerg unit is faster than EVERY protoss unit which are in turn faster than EVERY terran unit: Truly, it is the speed that seperates the races, the and is the defining quality in how their units are used for gameplay


What? You have to be trollin'. Stalkers are faster than roaches, everything is faster than hydra, hellions are really fast. It's like you never even seen a game of SC2.
No logo (logo)
1 2 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 3m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
CosmosSc2 48
StarCraft: Brood War
GuemChi 1927
Artosis 1185
ajuk12(nOOB) 12
Dota 2
monkeys_forever437
XaKoH 418
canceldota176
League of Legends
Doublelift4486
Counter-Strike
summit1g6247
minikerr61
Super Smash Bros
PPMD139
Other Games
gofns13602
Liquid`RaSZi1696
Day[9].tv719
shahzam474
hungrybox364
C9.Mang0295
NeuroSwarm101
Mew2King61
Trikslyr58
ViBE56
JuggernautJason24
Organizations
Other Games
BasetradeTV267
[ Show 12 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 66
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Other Games
• imaqtpie956
• Scarra836
• Day9tv719
Upcoming Events
Replay Cast
3m
CranKy Ducklings12
CranKy Ducklings SOOP6
Escore
10h 3m
PiG Sty Festival
12h 3m
Serral vs Reynor
HeRoMaRinE vs herO
Big Brain Bouts
16h 3m
MaNa vs Kelazhur
Nicoract vs HeRoMaRinE
Serral vs Cure
CranKy Ducklings
1d 10h
PiG Sty Festival
1d 12h
Zoun vs Solar
SHIN vs Maru
Patches Events
1d 16h
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
PiG Sty Festival
2 days
The Patches Monday
3 days
[ Show More ]
GSL
4 days
PiGosaur Cup
5 days
Replay Cast
5 days
Replay Cast
6 days
The PondCast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-08-19
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
Eternal Conflict S2 Finale

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
K-JUNGMAN
ASL Season 22
Super Anchor Qualifying S3
CSL Season 22: Qualifier 1
RSL Revival: Season 6
PiG Sty Festival 8.0
META DYMY #4
Esports World Cup 2026
Esports World Cup 2026: LCQ
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S3: W8
CSL Season 22: Qualifier 2
CSL 2026 AUTUMN (S22)
Acropolis #5
Acropolis #5 - TRS
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Acropolis #5 - GSA
HSC XXX
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
Big Dog Cup 2026 Div 1
IEM Beijing 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
1win Private Club #1
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.