[ZanC]

Intro

Mastering any skill involves learning and understanding, while constantly applying knowledge that you have. Practicing too much without understanding why you are doing certain things can be detrimental to your skill (in this case, strategy) and your enjoyment of it. This post serves to provide some brief insights into the "macro"/strategic mechanics of 1v1 Starcraft II.
I hope whoever reads this will find it useful to better understand the game.
(There are no pictures so exercise visualization )

Overview

When you look at the spending tab of a game, naturally, the flow would be: Economy -> Tech -> Army. So let's first determine what goes into these aspects.

1. Income
   • Workers
   • Bases
2. Tech
   • Basic Production Facilities
   • Higher Tier Production Facilities
   • Tech Structures
   • Ability Upgrades
   • Attack and Armor Upgrades
3. Existing Army
   • Size
   • Composition
   • Base defences

These are key elements which can be used to determine how ahead/behind a player is (in each aspect) at any point in the game.

Flow of Macro

Economy is the foundation.
One of the best times to develop your economy is in the early game before the action starts - resources will serve as fuel for your decisions throughout the game.
Always ensure that your economy is safe from any possible (game-ending) aggression by scouting and having appropriate defences.
Continue developing your economy by taking bases when you are able to defend yourself against aggression from your opponent.
However, simply having lots of resources does not achieve anything...

Tech wins games.
Having the tech advantage in the mid-game has significant impacts (i.e. map control, superior options) as compared to being ahead only in economy. Better units and upgrades are a large part of winning fights throughout the game.

Those who played or watched Starcraft II long enough have experienced fights where a player's seemingly superior army loses a big engagement.
Below are several reasons which is not always obvious to the player/viewer.

• Army size
• Army composition
• Key upgrades
• Attack/Armor upgrades
• Micro related reasons (e.g. Army positioning, shape, choke points, timing, mistakes)
• (And very rarely, luck)

In bold highlights important tech which are easy for both players and viewers to overlook.

In a battle, everything adds up.
The conclusion of most games is inevitably a player's army decisively defeating his opponent's and putting his opponent in an irrecoverable position (i.e. by pinning his tech or income).

Before deciding to take an engagement, do a quick evaluation of your situation.

• Armies (obviously)
• Positions
• Army Shape (Balled, spread, split etc.)
• Openness (Choke points, flanks, ease to surround)
• Elevation
• Vision
• Reinforcement times
• Key movements during the fight, AKA micro

Some of these are commonly known as the defender's advantage due to the nature of competitive maps.
(Un-)Preparedness before the engagement largely determine if battles are won swift and decisively, lost slow and painfully, or anywhere in between.

Final words

It can be difficult for the average player to understand and take advantage of uncommon or unorthodox plays; such as the passive, economical Fast 3 Hatch, or aggressive builds such as Oracle Harass & Expand. Hopefully, this thread will provide some understanding to their strengths and weaknesses.
Thank you for taking time to read this and feel free to share your perspectives.

[x5.RunaMoK]

good write up man! will defiantly help a ton of players

[PSISTM.AGTOrange]

good read!