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The myterious question. 3 races and map control

Blogs > jameswatts
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jameswatts
Profile Blog Joined October 2012
South Africa127 Posts
June 08 2013 18:21 GMT
#1
Ok.. I hope this writing doesn't evoke a monumental facepalm. But as I began describing the 3 races, specifically my thoughts on the zerg encountered something that made me wonder..

Terran
Transitional, circuitous, disjunctive
The most obvious description, being strategic and tactical. The deliberate race where the player initiates transition when prompted to do so. The Terran player reacts to what he observes.
The terran engage indirectly. Every move is supported with well-timed abilities activated. Their units individually are vulnerable but also everything adapted for imminent mobility survival. The Terran commander, and he must oversee everything guided with micro-management. A single mistake can be fatal and no force or structure is expendable. Map control, constant observation, insurgence and sabotage is the key, in this species of skill they have no rivals. The terran player avoids complacency, being continuingly aware of the enemy. They do not win with force, but method.

Protoss
omnipotent, intuitional, delicate, meticulous
At first glance appearing to be a, combination of the zerg and the terran. alien fibre merged with tech. The protoss are by sight the strongest of them all. They are comparatively a transitional race but do not always react to the behaviour of the enemy. The protoss dictate the course of battle, for the enemy must possess the power and means to undermine their force. The protoss are equipped for all situations and betray no weakness in design. If they amass in large number they are virtually invincible.

But there is more to their design than what meets the eye. While being immeasurably powerful, they are also, delicately fragile. Like resilient razor sharp crystal, abruptly shattering under a fatal blow. The protoss are vulnerable to harass and unprecedented aggression. The passive player will lose if they assume the enemy is idle. The protoss must play with care, placing every structure with deliberation. They must secure themselves against indirect invasion, endeavouring to predict enemy thought. Their weakness, is the danger of being unwittingly circumvented, while being lured into a trap where within the enemy has the upper hand. The opposing races possess exceptional tech, enough to disarm and render the protoss paralysed.
The core of the protoss is found upon their strength and power, and the player who assembles that power with devious malice remains unstoppable.

Zerg
Instinctual, imperviable, amorphous
Zerg, the race of shapeless essence. I do not believe the zerg have form. They are a mephitic stream of swirling energy the player directs with his mind. I would say. there isn't truly a distinctively unique zerg player. There is only the best zerg player. The best zerg player is the one who applies the entire race as a unified function. It is true, there may be some variation concerning the concentration of units, and that may effect the apposing transition of the opponent. But saying this, we are brought to the crux of my conjecture. The key unit of the zerg race is the queen, not really a unit per se but an integral function of the race. The zerg consume resources, expanding their Omni-presence across the field. If you like playing with instinctual brutality, a mode where little or no words describe your intent, this is your race. They are the most difficult race to play by far. I draw this conclusion not so much from theory but the sum total of their practical application. The zerg units cannot be separated, and work together as a harmonious entity. Every unit supports the next, while remaining indispensable in itself. But here I implicitly hint that the zerg player can simply perform by routine, while ignoring the enemy. I do not say this is true, but I question if it's possible. Why consider the zerg in a unique light is the nature of their tech tree.

They are constrained to progress upon 3 linear tiers of tech, based strictly upon the availability of resources and time. They cannot make a swift transition with duly response timed. But is it possible to play the zerg without considering the movements of the enemy? Is it possible to secure your self by routine against all forms of invasion, sustaining the swarm unconditionally? Are the preliminary resources accumulated enough to secure against everything. Basically what I'm saying is it possible to play so well and fast that you don't even need to scout your enemy. It sounds delightful in theory but vague and grim in practise. Foresight one must have, pre-emptive knowledge of some event, knowledge is needed to guide the actions of the player. Consider the familiar analogy, where an unlimited amount of monkey critters are found in a realm, surrounded by unlimited typewriters, and they're expected to eventually, by chance, produce the works of shakespeare. That will never happen. Such an outcome is impossible. Only if a higher intelligence intervened would order and structure manifest. And thus, some degree of conscious decision is needed in starcraft II anent the movements of the enemy.

So then, consider this scenario. There is a zerg player, who is absolutely elite. He is the greatest yet. His Mouse precision and knowledge is inexorable. It is impossible for him to get any better because he is the best. He plays the race with maximum efficiency. Natural expansion, banelings, maximum saturation, periodic scouting, spore crawlers, deadly viper micro, fungal growth and secures his base against all intrusion. He will remain undefeated but if he eventually loses, the victor would either be a terran or protoss, but theoretically never a zerg, because he is too powerful. Now if he remains unbeatable it is possible the zerg race is over-powered or he really is that good. If he does lose there might be some immutable advantage concerning the apposing race, being over-powered in comparison to zerg. Other reasons could be the map chosen, that the physical battleground played an unseen part favouring his opponent. Or maybe in THIS specific game his performance faltered but this is unlikely cos he's the best. It could be the opposing player, being terran or protoss is the best in the world with their respective race and so when two similar but disparate forces collide, unpredictable results transpire. OR, here we have a notion which is either false or slightly true to a definitive degree, where within all previously mentioned factors are taken into consideration, and merely remain contributive variables of influence. This notion, being that the environment of Starcraft II is a relative realm of chaos and the scope of the player, is eventually restricted within limits, unable to wholly seize control of the situation.

Immediately when contemplating this notion, several conflicting thoughts are evoked and I resist a facepalm of execrable disenchantment. Do not let disenchantment deter you, but do contemplate the notion, however paralysing, while too reconciling hope that the degree beyond are control may be definitively gauged. The purpose of this writing was not to destroy the spontaneous nature of gameplay but to introduce a thought, that must be confronted and engaged. Whether it is erased or solved may differ between people. But the question is not so much as to how much control we have, it is the mystery of which race is the most powerful?
concerning my opinion, I think we have 99.99% control of the battlefield. And the 3 races are equal in potential strength.
BUT OF SCOUTING, I STILL wonder - though I do not care to test this - how a veteran platinum or diamond would fair against a grand master, while the former has the advantage of 'tooktheredpill' cheat and the latter remains surrounded in shroud. In any case, the point is, play the game!! the enemy is surrounded in darkness, there is shroud everywhere, use it!! move through the shadows.. surprise him. OR conversely, establish map control, dominate the minimap and sweep away the darkness!

***
The essence of life flows within. The way is made clear when viewed from above
pluu.mooh
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
Austria142 Posts
June 08 2013 23:29 GMT
#2
Wow I must admit really well written and nice thinking. Basically I guess you describe all races as deep as possible.
Antylamon
Profile Joined March 2011
United States1981 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-06-08 23:49:32
June 08 2013 23:48 GMT
#3
Another nice thought I've heard about races is the following:

Zerg is the hard to learn yet easy to master race
Terran is the easy to learn yet hard to master race
Protoss is in between

EDIT: WHAT. Why is this blog only 3 stars?
isleyofthenorth
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Austria894 Posts
June 09 2013 04:28 GMT
#4
On June 09 2013 08:48 Antylamon wrote:

Zerg is the hard to learn yet easy to master race
Terran is the easy to learn yet hard to master race
Protoss is in between


yeah thats a whole bunch of BS
Marcinko
Profile Joined May 2013
South Africa1014 Posts
June 09 2013 10:02 GMT
#5
Nice Blog, but on one point I disagee with you. Zerg needs to scout, no scouting = death.
Still like your theory though.

FruitDealer was that Zerg once.
....
kubiks
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
France1328 Posts
June 09 2013 11:41 GMT
#6
As far as scouting goes, it's always usefull for all the races.
But I think you can distinguish between 3 kind of distincts informations :
-all-ins : is he all-inning/cheesing me ? -> that information is equally valuable for each races
-composition : is he doing mech/bio, is he going stargate/robo/concil, is he going roaches ?
-> terran don't really care that much, it's not like they can really change all their production on the fly (well you can add vikings/ghost academy but it won't help you for the next 3-4 minutes), zergs care a lot (because some of their units are really hardcountered, you don't want to mass zerlings agaisnt hellbats, protoss use it too)
-> tactical scouting (where is the army/expand) : usefull for everyone.

If there's a race that would be the best with maphack, it's zerg, because you can just drone so much more if you know your opponents timings

On June 09 2013 08:48 Antylamon wrote:
Zerg is the hard to learn yet easy to master race
Terran is the easy to learn yet hard to master race

I can blindly know your race just by looking at this post
Juanald you're my hero I miss you -> best troll ever on TL <3
Marcinko
Profile Joined May 2013
South Africa1014 Posts
June 09 2013 13:01 GMT
#7
On June 09 2013 08:48 Antylamon wrote:
Another nice thought I've heard about races is the following:

Zerg is the hard to learn yet easy to master race
Terran is the easy to learn yet hard to master race
Protoss is in between

EDIT: WHAT. Why is this blog only 3 stars?


So what you are trying to say is that Protoss is the easiest to learn yet the easiest to master?

Ok ok, I'm just joking..
....
Antylamon
Profile Joined March 2011
United States1981 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-06-12 23:50:55
June 12 2013 23:47 GMT
#8
On June 09 2013 20:41 kubiks wrote:
Show nested quote +
On June 09 2013 08:48 Antylamon wrote:
Zerg is the hard to learn yet easy to master race
Terran is the easy to learn yet hard to master race

I can blindly know your race just by looking at this post

I heard about it from someone else who plays Random... ._.
It's also an exaggeration when I say "easy."

Also, I'm Diamond Zerg. I main Terran, true, but at least I'm not blindly balance whining, which is what you seem to believe. SC2 is very balanced.
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