PC Gamer has launched a community-wide tournament to crown the greatest real-time strategy unit of all time, pitting 16 iconic game units against each other in a bracket-style vote that runs until Sunday evening. The initiative revisits the outlet’s original “best RTS units” list from nearly a decade ago, but replaces editorial curation with a head-to-head, winner-take-all format in which readers decide the outcome through direct voting.
The tournament structure pairs the 16 shortlisted units in randomised face-offs, with the winners advancing to the quarter-finals early next week. A shortlist was compiled by PC Gamer writers last week, and the public now has two days to cast their ballots before the victors move on to the next round. The outlet has framed the exercise as a pure test of popular preference, deliberately stripping away deliberation in favour of brackets and voting.
Defining “best” is up to the voter
While the mechanics of the tournament are straightforward, the outlet has left the definition of “best” deliberately open. Voters can reward a unit for its effectiveness in a 1v1 brawl, its visual design, or its ability to blend into the environment as a decoy. The only firm rule is that when a unit appears across multiple entries in a series, a single version has been selected—so the Peon, which features in all three Warcraft games, has been represented by its Warcraft 3 incarnation, which the editors describe as “extra goofy”.
The 16 competitors span a wide swath of the genre’s history, from the humble Peon of Warcraft 3 to the 19-kilometre Executor Super Star Destroyer from Star Wars: Empire at War. The field also includes the Mammoth Tank and Petard, the Psyker and Rohirrim, the High Templar and Pride of Hiigara, the Mirage Tank and Ballista, the Attack Cycle and the Atreides Sonic Tank and Dolphin, and the Peewee and Priest.
The competitors
The Peon is championed as the unsung backbone of the Orcish Horde, a labour unit that the editors argue is “too important to die in battle” even though it is “frankly, terrible” at direct combat. The Glass Dragon from Rise of Legends is highlighted for its ability to slag enemy tanks and its striking visual design, with one editor insisting the game is real despite feeling “like I hallucinated it from whole cloth”.
The Mammoth Tank is remembered as “implacable Soviet strength wrought in steel and pig iron,” while the Petard from Age of Empires 2 is celebrated for its suicidal dedication to destroying enemy structures. The Psyker from Dawn of War is praised for a mechanic that makes using its powers a genuine risk, and the Rohirrim from Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth is recalled as a near-cheat-code charge that defined a generation of players.
“This enormous Death Triangle is the ultimate wish fulfilment vessel in Empire at War… The damn thing is practically the size of Manhattan, and you can really feel that scale in the game. It makes regular Star Destroyers look like Doritos by comparison.”
Wes Fenlon, Senior Editor, on the Executor Super Star Destroyer
The High Templar is remembered for the game-changing power of its Psionic Storm, while the Pride of Hiigara from Homeworld 2 is noted as both a capital ship and a mobile base. The Mirage Tank is lauded for its stealthy disguise mechanic, and the Ballista from Warcraft 2 is defended with characteristic bluntness as a unit armed with “a really big arrow”. The Attack Cycle, the Atreides Sonic Tank, the Dolphin, the Peewee, and the famously vocal Age of Empires Priest round out the field.
A wider tournament
The RTS unit tournament is part of a broader push to survey reader preferences across the genre. PC Gamer noted that it is also running a separate tournament to determine the best units across subgenres, from battle royale to prop hunt, inviting readers to participate in that contest after casting their votes here.
Community reaction has leaned heavily on nostalgia, with several editors referencing how specific units shaped their early gaming habits. The voting window remains open until Sunday evening, after which the quarter-finals will begin early next week, with subsequent rounds continuing the knockout format until a single greatest RTS unit remains.
Looking Ahead
The first round closes on Sunday evening, with the quarter-finals kicking off early next week. Winners will advance through successive rounds in the same randomised, winner-take-all format until a champion is crowned. Readers who have not yet voted are encouraged to cast their ballots before the polls close, as the outcome will be decided entirely by community preference rather than editorial decision.
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