head to head
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is reads, and it is a single point.

Optimization · Grand Arena
The definitive medieval RTS where castle drops and farm economies decide empires.

Optimization · Grand Arena
Fast tiberium-economy RTS with a once-thriving competitive 1v1 scene.
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings leans Optimization (Grand Arena); Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars leans Optimization (Grand Arena).
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
Micro, villager management, hotkey speed
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
Fast micro on squads and harvesters
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings leans a little harder on reads, though the gap is small.
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
High-level play is predicting human openings
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
Ranked 1v1 rewards reading enemy tech paths
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
Fog, map gen, civ matchups
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
Fog hides tech switches until scouted
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
Build orders refined over two decades
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
Tight build orders and tiberium control
A matching score does not mean a matching test. Two games can both sit at 10 on execution and demand completely different things of you - which is why the reasoning above matters more than the number beside it.
full breakdown
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings →
full breakdown
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars →