head to head
vs
StarCraftvsThe Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II
StarCraft leans Optimization (Grand Arena); The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).
StarCraftThe Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II
Axis by axis
Execution7 vs 5
StarCraft leans harder on execution: APM and micro control ceiling is huge
Reads6 vs 5
StarCraft leans harder on reads: scouting and predicting human opponent builds
Variance1 vs 2
The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II leans harder on variance: Mostly open information, light randomness
Optimization9 vs 7
StarCraft leans harder on optimization: build orders and economy are near-solvable
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.