EPTThere are two very distinct playstiles I observerd in RTS / ARTS games that warrant a bit of elaboration. Let me start by defining those.
In one camp which we can refer as robots, there are players who have planned all the decisions they will make in a game in advance so in training, they can focus on the execution of those plans and perfect that area to a high degree. More often than not this playstile pairs with a rather defensive early to midgame style which unravels during the later stages. But the core idea isn't directly bound to a macro or lategame oriented strategy. You can apply the same rigorous planning to a cheese or all-in strategy. Their success is often bound to the almost perfect execution of their strategy and they overwhelm their opponents just by having more or better stuff on the field. Their highest valued virtues are precision, efficiency and diligence.
The other camp, the unicorns, train in basic mechanics which they tactically apply to a given situation or build. The strategy part in their games often have a smaller impact on what they actually do while the tactical decision making is what defines most of their play. More often than not they will use unique strategies and timings during the earlier stages to create unusual situations. Their success is often bound to their ingame momentum and clutch decision making. Their highest valued virtues are skill, creativity and intuition.
Most players and teams often have properties of both camps. Superficially these styles appear to be contradictory and there are interesting problems that can occur if we observe some situations with them in mind:
1. In ARTS those can be conflicting ideas between team members when it comes to decision making. A robot will stubbornly stick to his rules and plans, while a unicorn will value his on the fly decision making and adaptability much more and perhaps overemphasize occuring differences from standard play. This conflict is a very common problem seasoned DotA and LoL players are facing and can lead to major communication issues.
2. In RTS games a lack of robotism often leads to mechanical mistakes which have a huge impact on the power a player has ingame. This is why most of the advice people give to new players boils down to "Improve your mechanics!" or "Grind out this build!". It is often overlooked how much tactical decision making is required even at the beginner level. On the pro level we see games where robots just completely overwhelm unicorns in one game and then unicorns being able to throw off the stubborn plans of robots. A unicorn who brings out an exciting new and powerful style can dissapointingly lose with it by making alot of small mistakes.
On a deeper or let us say higher level, there are players who can merge these concepts together. They plan out and practice their builds almost to perfection while still being able to take tactical opportunities which occur during the games.
So my question is: In which camp do you see yourself and other gamers / progamers? And which progamers do you think have the best of both worlds?
