head to head
vs
Total War: ArenavsWarcraft II: Tides of Darkness
Total War: Arena leans Reads (Mind & Math); Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).
Total War: ArenaWarcraft II: Tides of Darkness
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 6
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness leans harder on execution: Faster micro across land, sea and air units
Reads6 vs 5
Total War: Arena leans harder on reads: Reading enemy human team positioning and feints is central
Variance3 vs 3
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization6 vs 7
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness leans harder on optimization: Refined build orders and upgrade timings are studyable
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.