To be clear what I mean by versatility. I mean how many mutations can a commander excel at vs how many they underperform at? Out of the commanders I’ve played I think I’d say.
Dehaka P2
Dehaka has answers to almost every mutation. Creeper hosts are so good of a unit for mutations since they can bypass many of the mechanics to how they work. Same goes with packleaders. P3 can better for mutators like just die and P0 or P1 betteer when dealing with lots of incoming enemy waves from multiple directions. Dehaka can do good at most mutations, but two he really suffers with are killbots and missile command.
Egon Stetmann
Outside of ultras and broodlords this commander suffers from a lack of early game tanky units. Unless you count super gary. However due to his ability to provide massive healing, energy and speed bonuses to himself and allies as well as provide lots of vision, he can be an absolutely valuable commander to have as a partner.
Vorazun
Time stop is incredibly valuable. Her dts are lethal. Her invisibility fields can be game changers.
Honorable mentions
Zagara
Definitely not the most flexible commander, but she does heavily excel at certain mutations like killbots, fatal attraction.
Zeratul
Extremely powerful commander. So powerful in fact that he was the only non zerg that was able to solo hardware malfunction.
Stukov p1 or p3
Countered by many mutations. But also excels at many mutations.
Karax
Amazing at certain mutations and certain maps. Easily countered by some. Most notably eminent domain and propagators.
I haven’t played Abathur, but was told he is quite flexible.
I don’t have any hard metrics. As in I took each CO or even their prestige and went through all 331 Mutations we have in rotation to find out. However, these seem to be the top ones, in order from most to least…
I don’t know why Raynor and Mengsk weren’t mentioned yet, because they definitely deserve to be.
What Raynor can do:
ramp up production from a single base (for any mutator which makes expansion difficult);
make easily replaceable infantry that can be dropped anywhere on the map (for Black Death, Kill Bots, Hardened Will, Laser Drill, Void Rifts, Minesweeper, Going Nuclear);
spam Spider Mines to take out enemy attacks without retaliation (for Fear, Transmutation, Self-Destruction);
scan (for Darkness, Short-Sighted, We Move Unseen);
summon air units from the top panel for free (for Void Rifts, Black Death, Aggressive Deployment, Scorched Earth).
What Mengsk can do:
ramp up somewhat decent production from a single base (for any mutator which makes expansion difficult);
make easily replaceable infantry that can be dropped anywhere on the map (for Black Death, Kill Bots, Hardened Will, Laser Drill, Void Rifts, Minesweeper, Going Nuclear);
on P3, make infantry shock force that explodes in face of tough to kill enemy waves (for Barrier, Avenger, Diffusion, Double-Edged);
build solid defense walls (for defensive missions, as well as mutators for enemy interception, such as Aggressive Deployment, Walking Infested or Void Reanimators);
generate infinite mandate for free infantry calldowns anywhere on the map (for Slim Pickings, Void Rifts, Going Nuclear);
use ESO and top panel abilities to deal with enemy attacks with virtually no retailiation (for Void Rifts, Black Death, Aggressive Deployment, Self-Destruction, Scorched Earth);
cheese-kill main objectives on several missions with ESO, which allows to bypass many mutators.
I never took this “skill to play the commander” hint seriously.
I mean, Raynor is considered as a “noob-friendly” and Swann is considered as “skill required”, whereas Raynor is actually far more complex than Swann in terms of mechanics (assuming you don’t play as Raynor P1, ofc).
Not to mention that Tychus and Zeratul are considered as “skill required” too, despite the fact they are crazy OP and as easy to play as can possibly be.
Yea one of the things I found somewhat off putting about Zeratul. Like okay. I can get behind the idea that he doesn’t require pylon power fields or starting at 100 supply or even the automatic vespene extractors, but all his upgrades cost nothing and are automatic too? Its just a bit too much in my opinion.
You do need to seek the Artifact Fragments. If you get good at them, great!, but even doing the “rally line in Prem. Bubble” trick takes work for some. If he loses enough units, it can be difficult to recover from them.
Agreed. I like macro, and zeratul has none (same reason I don’t like abathur). They just have their own busted mechanic that’s way simpler and more boring than building a base in an efficient way.
OP -
I personally like H&H. P1 is a go-to for me when I’m not sure what commander to play. I find them to be pretty versatile. They’re of course known for the strike platforms, but that’s not all they have. Fast loading mines are an incredible map presence, and Han’s units are varied enough that they provide pretty good optionality. They suffer the most against orbital strike type mutators b/c the galleons are slow AF and it’s extremely bothersome to replace them once they’ve been upgraded.
As much as I like Mengsk, I find him to be more of a one trick pony in brutations. If he can cheese with ESO, he’s great. But otherwise, not so great. His army comps are complex and require a lot of attention. I don’t often get much success with Mengsk in brutal+ (that is, I have to work way harder to get around pretty basic stuff). I will also say I don’t like Mengsk as an ally. Most people just go for ESO’s which are a total solo tool - they work and I have nothing to do, or they don’t work and I’m doing everything.
You should try Mengsk P3 some day. Mobile squads of explosive Troopers alone are often enough to turn the tide, even on missions where ESO is not suitable (such as Void Launch).
Not nearly as hard as Mengsk army control on the other prestiges. Just arm the Troopers and send them to attack. Either they kill the enemies, or the enemies kill them, the enemies will die either way.
Mengsk P0 works for DoN defense just as well, if we talk about pure defense. Fully armed bunkers with tanks behind and blimps above do wonders.
Mengsk can also defend on the other prestiges too, albeit with slight disadvantages.
On P1 he loses nukey-nukes for help, on P2 he can build less tanks, and on P3 he can’t get tanks just as fast because of gas expenses for Troopers’ weapons.
However, if we talk about Mengsk not only defending, but also somewhat helping with the offense, then P1 or P3 may be more viable options.
Dehaka is also amazing for Dead of the night because guardians are so good. They have long range, attack quickly, excellent for sniping nydus worms, do good aoe damage. And as soon as night is over you can start attacking with them.