StarCraft 2

From a strategical and tactical perspective, the playstyle of the two races have changed completely. Though the Protoss feels more fundamentally stable and familiar, the Terrans feel rather different. Simply put: the Terrans do not feel like Terrans anymore. For over 10 years of StarCraft, Terran players everywhere, ranging from all skill levels, have been groomed a certain way. Terran Players utilized their Barracks and Factories to produce Marines, Tanks, Vultures, Goliaths, Turrets, and a few Science Vessels to push against the enemy. There is no more of that now mainly because of how the Factory has been redesigned, the units in particular, and how numerous Terran air units are now. To exemplify, I’ll relate to two of the most common Terran strategies of our time: Marines and Medics (MM), and Factory-related units (Metal/Mech), and apply them to the only match-up we were allowed to play: 2v2 Terran vs. Protoss.

I’ll tell you right now that even though MMs are still viable, there is no more Factory-related builds. Aside from the Siege Tank, none of the units in the Factory work the same way as the original StarCraft. There are no more Vultures; therefore there are no Spider Mines, or early game harassment unit capable of raiding Probes, scouting, utilizing mines into map control, or blocking Dragoons with mines to prevent retreat. Instead, the only early game unit that the Terrans can employ from the Factory is the Viking. To make this story a little sadder, the Viking costs 100/50 and functions in the same way as a Goliath. From a gameplay point of view, I say that the lack of Spider Mines and Vultures play a huge role in how Terran players must play their game vs. Protoss. The standard Terran vs. Protoss match-up unit compilation used to look something like this: Terrans use Vultures, Siege Tanks, Turrets and Goliaths vs. Zealots, Dragoons, Reavers and Carriers. Now it’s go MM or die, because there’s no factory-equivalent, and MMs are pretty effective against early Protoss units. To affect the match-up even more: Dragoons have been replaced by Stalkers, and there are no more Reavers. I will talk about this later, but you kind of got the gist of what I’m getting at. In this particular match-up (TvP), Terran players in StarCraft 1 had to use Vultures and Tanks to set up their defenses while constantly raiding and controlling Protoss with Vultures. Proper Vulture and Tank micro were the highlight of the Terran player’s arsenal in competitive StarCraft 1. That’s gone. Although there is something similar to the Vulture in the Terran arsenal, there is no unit capable of striking fear into the Protoss player’s mind. The fear factor and the micro skill required to play Terran vs. Protoss is not there; therefore the whole match-up has changed.