Many reasons why Karax is the best base defender?
Benefits:
Karax has great defensive tools, but his biggest weakness is that he doesn’t do splash damage (other than topbar). Versus masses of constant swarmy units flaming betty and seige tanks win.
He’s definitely a good defensive choice, but I’d still lean more towards saying Swann and Mengsk are better at defense in many situations.
Though it needs to be said, in most situations in coop, defense structures are a trap.
I’d contest the word “best” but he is definitely a choice but that’s where I draw the line, hahaha.
Strongest only with P1 machinegun monoliths via chrono wave. Once chrono wave is over, Swann and Mengsk has it better
Normally, without any prestige, Swann wins no doubt, splash dmg from siege tanks and turrets is just too good.
Now with prestiges, I’m not sure which is better, P2 Swann or P3 Mengsk, weaponized troopers inside bunkers are insanelly good, and then there’s ESOs.
I would say Karax, Swann, Raynor, Mengsk, … are great choice for base defense. I would not say Karax is the best for base defense.
Abathur is underrated when it comes to base defense. Swarm hosts can easily hold back armies, vipers can drag high priority units and completely disable ground…He is very strong without the need for structures.
Yes, his swarm hosts are awesome, even without the support from vipers. But he’s OP so doesn’t count. 
Neat thing is Karax can do defense well without using supply. If you want to count Energizers, then that’s still less than what other COs
Karax isn’t the best, but he’s definitely the easiest to use, and that’s why he might appear to be the best for many people. Setting up a defensive line or being aggressive with turrets is much easier when you need only 1 worker, everything you place builds instantly, and your repairs are always on.
To compare, someone like Swann takes much more effort to set up, and it’s very easy for him to destroy his own economy if the player builds too much and too fast.
But make a good player play Swann and there will be nothing Karax will be able to do (especially if if Swann decides to spawncamp with turrets, everything will die before Karax can even react to use his abilities).
Zaratul’s Tesseract Monolith canchain stun, it’s pretty OP for both defense AND offense.
depends on what criteria you consider for a defensive commander. If basing on structures alone I think Karax is the best as he has sustain and staying power on his side because of repair beam and shield batteries even with the lack of splash damage. If considering structures + units I think Swann or Mengsk would edge him out because of artillery. Zeratul has good cc and burst damage but ultimately lacks sustain. Personally , on hold out missions I would prefer Karax, with a defense line of cannons, monoliths and some colossi sprinkled in for splash damage.
True.
In a way, Stukov Barracks can be great defensive structures. Infested from it spawn almost instantly, and they can fight ground and air, intercept banelings, and chase after or intercept special infested that otherwise could provide various annoyances (outranging defenses, spitting acid with aoe, stunning units upon landing, catching and paralyzing a hero…).
It requires money, supply and micro, but it may still be the most flexible defense.
oh yeah totally forgot about Stukov. If nothing else, he’s the best Zerg defense commander all-round. Infested siege tanks that fire technically banelings and has a built-in spine crawler is awesome.
I would say Karax is my favorite defensive commander on what I consider defensive maps mainly Void Launch and Oblivion Express.
I consider Swann and Stukov better defensive options on Dead of Night because of splash damage. Dead of Night by the way is not a defensive objective map but has a defensive element to it.
I love how Swann can load a Herc up with units and 8 SCV’s to teleport anywhere on the map and quick build defenses. Hybrids on Part and Parcel are a lot less scary when you can build defenses around them before they spawn.
Now that I think about it, even though I played “cannon rush” a lot with Swann, I never cannon rushed those hybrids.
After all, unless an ally do something stupid, they just go wild in their little corner, and you can concentrate on collecting parts, getting resources, building army, and only afterward paying them a visit.
Well I guess if you successfully ignore the 1st, then preparing to cannon rush the next 2 is possible.
You could try pushing into an enemy base with P2 statics, it’s fun 
alot of micro and macro.
That’s a good thought but sometimes those Hybrids teleport far out of range from your statics.
Eh, just use Spider Mines, game lags for a moment, and the Hybrid is magically gone! 
Aren’t they invincible though?
As in, until they complete their cycles of splitting and reuniting, the amount of firepower is irrelevant, so the mines would just advance one step?