What Are Premium Units on Starcraft 2?

Terran

• The Terran's premium unit is the Battlecruiser, a huge, heavily armored airship that can tear apart airborne units and dominate airspace, as well as rain down fire on ground units. Its Yamato Cannon can vaporize key enemy structures and eliminate defenses, paving the way for a ground assault. The Battlecruiser does have downsides, however. It's an expensive unit to create, costing 400 minerals and 300 vespene gas. It is also slow moving, making it an easy target that may not be effective without the proper support.

Protoss

• The Protoss' elite unit is the Mothership, a command ship that packs enough psionic energy to destroy whole squadrons of enemy forces. The mothership has a cloaking field that can cover all nearby units and buildings, and a vortex that swallows units in a targeted area, making them unable to move or fight as long as the vortex is active. It can also instantly recall units to a location. Its disadvantages include expense -- 400 minerals and 400 vespene gas -- and the fact that you can only field one mothership at a time.

Zerg

• The Zerg race has units that are more evenly balanced, and some might debate whether it has a premium unit. The closest unit would be the Ultralisk, a powerful ground unit that can attack multiple enemies at once and deal high armor and hit points against their foes. They can also burrow in the ground and break force fields, and they are immune to mind control and stun effects. At 300 minerals and 200 vespene gas, they are somewhat pricey, but not as expensive as other premium units. They are, however, weak against air units such as Terran Banshees, Zerg Mutalisks and Protoss Void Rays.

Other Premium Units

• Other units could qualify as premium in the three races. The Terran, for example, can build the Thor, a giant bipedal robot that is heavily armored and can lay waste to air and ground targets. The Protoss, meanwhile, can build a fleet of carriers, large battleships that can host groups of small fighters that swarm and overwhelm enemy targets. The Zerg has the Brood Lord, a flying unit that throws broodlings to the ground, which can tear up ground-based units.