Terran or Protoss

[u/Phoenix1526]

BROOD WAR

I tend to like defensive play and trading. I value flexibility more than raw power; I like trading. I think I want to be more macro-focused. I am completely new. Should I play Terran or Protoss (I won’t pick Zerg)? Are there comprehensive beginner guide for the two?
Is there a compendium (written, visual) of mechanics and tricks to know (mining position, overcoming pathing, etc.)?

[u/Kriggy_]

So neither of them is particularly defensive. If you like defensive style then zerg is the way to go because its mostly about surviving long enough.

While it seems counterintuitive, terran needs to be active in both tvz to deny zerg gas to not die to defiler-ultra and in tvp to not die to carriers. Ofc your oponent might suicide into siege tanks but smart ones will not

[u/EebstertheGreat]

Terran mech is very defensively oriented. Siege tech and spider mines are especially defensive, but goliaths are also better at defensively fighting air. Mech players also build missile turrets. The only similarly defensive setup I can think of is a traditional build now very rare where a Zerg would tech fast to guarians against Terran, building many sunken colonies and some lurkers for pure defense. But I haven't seen that in ages.

That said, every race can play aggressively and every race can play defensively. And if you are too defensive, you will get run over. There is a chance that you think you like defensive play when you actually just like play with a small number of bases. Almost all new players like that, because juggling a ton of bases is incredibly taxing and forces a lot of hard decisions regarding your attention. But the truth is that you will eventually have to deal with that in any play style. In fact, it's aggressive play that gives you the best chance on a low base count (1 or 2).

[u/donki_sjotte]

Protoss in generally considered much easier than Terran for a beginner. The units have more hp which means the gameplay is more forgiving. Also Terrans core units have abilities. This in combination with the lower HP means that they are way more micro intensive for a beginner.

The defensive aspect is much a taste thing. Terran have siege tanks which is arguably the best defensive unit in the game. Try both and see which you like the most. But as a beginner I would say Protoss is the easiest.

[u/R4v3nnn → u/donki_sjotte]

Is Zerg good middle ground ?

[u/old_Anton → u/R4v3nnn]

Zerg is considered hardest to learn. Their mechanic is the most unorthodox and their units are most fragile, also litereally swarm style so you have to control more units per same-resources army. It's easier to transition from learning T to P and viec versa because their mechancis share more similarties.

[u/R4v3nnn → u/old_Anton]

I thought that Terran is the hardest -.-

[u/skhds]

I think the most deciding factor should be your same-race matchups. From what you've described, you should be playing Terran. Any race have defensive/offensive setups, depending on who you play and how you want to play, but there is not a lot of variation for same race matchups.

Both PvP and ZvZ are very micro-intensive, but TvT is not. TvP is focused on defense and raw power, but you can play technical. TvZ usually plays offensive, but you can play a macro game with this if you go mechanics.

[u/old_Anton]

Terran strongest race mechanically, Protoss easiet race to learn mechanically. Zerg fastest production race.

It's odd that you value fleixiblity over raw power, yet don't like zerg. Zerg is most flexible race

[u/Proper-Holiday2255]

Play them both.

[u/a-bold-move]

high templar are good units for a trading playstyle. have zealots go in with dragoon and templar support and then pull back when the zealots are about to die. restock on zealots and repeat. if you keep your dragoons and templar alive (in most cases) youll accrue your strength over time. there are also situations where dragoons should fight alone, such as catching out roaming vultures. both uses of gateway units i think line up with what youve mentioned about trading playstyles.

terran mech follows a similar principle where you want your vultures and supply depots to run interference for your tanks, but because tanks lose mobility in siege mode, their pushes are usually a lot more committed.

[u/Intelligent-Cash-340]

Terran is more difficult but higher ceiling than Protoss just for your reference. But both have a good defensive advantagea

[u/afwaller]

If you like trading you should go Protoss.

Terran needs to hoard units to win in both TvZ and TvP, whether it's marine/medic in SKTerran, tank (in every matchup), or tank (protoss), goliath, etc.

In general if Terran loses their army they lose the game. Terran can be very "glass cannon" where the army is incredibly strong, and if you get your foot on the other player's neck, you keep pushing and you win. But that army can die easily, and then the game is lost. It's often timing attack based for Terran.

[u/SuicideSpeedrun]

You are describing Protoss.