PC Gamer has launched a public bracket tournament to select the single best real-time strategy unit in gaming history. The outlet's editorial team selected a shortlist of 16 classic units from real-time strategy franchises, organizing them into head-to-head match-ups for community voting. Readers have two days to cast votes in the opening round, with the winners advancing to the quarter-finals.
Iconic Contenders Across Decades of Strategy Games
The tournament bracket spans iconic base-building and military units across multiple eras of RTS development. Warcraft 3 is represented by the humble Peon worker unit, while Command & Conquer: Red Alert brings both the heavy Mammoth Tank and the stealthy Mirage Tank from Red Alert 3. Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun enters the Nod Attack Cycle, and Red Alert 2 contributes the aquatic Allied Dolphin unit.
Sci-fi and fantasy strategy staples also occupy major slots in the tournament. StarCraft 2 features the Protoss High Templar alongside Homeworld 2's mobile base ship, the Pride of Hiigara. Dune 2 contributes the Atreides Sonic Tank, while licensed strategy titles include the Rohirrim from Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth and the massive Executor Super Star Destroyer from Star Wars: Empire at War.
Bracket Structure and Reader Voting
The initial slate pairs competing units in direct head-to-head polls. Early round face-offs include Warcraft 3's Peon against the Glass Dragon from Rise of Legends, the Red Alert Mammoth Tank against Age of Empires 2's Petard, and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War's Psyker against Rohan's Rohirrim. Other match-ups pit the High Templar against the Pride of Hiigara, the Mirage Tank against Warcraft 2's Ballista, and the Attack Cycle against the Executor Super Star Destroyer.
Additional first-round pairings pit Dune 2's Atreides Sonic Tank against Red Alert 2's Dolphin, alongside Total Annihilation's Peewee Kbot against the classic Age of Empires Priest. PC Gamer plans to keep the initial polling open through the weekend before commencing the quarter-final round.
AI-generated editorial illustration; not a documentary photograph.
Source: The greatest RTS units of all time, determined by democracy
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