When Ahead, Get More Ahead

If you find yourself in a game of StarCraft, and ahead of your opponent, the worst thing to do is to try to wipe them out.

This is counterintuitive. You have a better economy and a stronger army. Why not attack?

The first reason is in game theory. StarCraft is very similar to rock-paper-scissors: you can defend (rock), attack (scissors) or build economy (paper). When your opponent is defending, they have the defender’s advantage and attacking straight in is unwise.

The second reason has to do with non-linear growth. If your position is only 30% better, and both your economies grow 200% per 5 minutes, in 10 minutes you’ll have massive absolute advantage.

The only exception to this is when there’s literally no more ahead to be getting (the game limits the number of units you can produce and upgrades you can get).

In the real game the rule is a little more nuanced: knowing you are ahead is not free, the edges between rock, paper and scissors are blurry and compounding is not smooth. But it is a good guide if you are just getting started.