Hmm, I wouldn't say starcraft, or the rts you've described in the beginning, as
tactical arcades. Starcraft is
much more than simply 'a tactical intuition'.
There are simply too many variables within the game to for you to correctly have a counter for everything and anything. If you're playing or envisioning Broodwar in such a fashion, then 'nerdifying it' would be fitting. Players who nerdify the game are at a loss when they're up against micro builds, which taxes stamina. But then again, builds themselves
do not win you the game, but rather, understanding what the other player is going for while having an end game meta-strategy for you yourself. Understanding the builds, the map, and the terrain/resources are merely the elements in which the game is played; they are and should already be, be taken into account. And the player's stamina levels and psychological temperments are also added into the equation, as well as the meta-game being unfolded in the game, not to mention the already given micro and macro levels.
As for complexity, in the Broodwar scene (in Korea) there's always been a cycle of refinement. First is micro, then macro, then meta, than a combination of all. Once this cycle is accomplished, it goes on another level taking in everything that the top players have experienced. There an entire gaming culture that revolves around Broodwar that's been multi-generational; teams have even formed in their Air Force (ROKFA) so that players would be able to sustain their gaming condition throughout their 2 year mandatory military service. No other game comes close to the combination and depth, complexity, and culture found within Broodwar.
I'd see it as a difference between normal chess game and fast chess, where the player has to decide where their attention should be allocated, in games of blitz or bullet players are forced to make sub-optimal moves, as long as they save time and put themselves under no immediate danger, forcing the opponent to spend more time to respond.
This exactly.
Starcraft is
both normal chess and blitz chess. That's what makes it almost an art form. It's psychologically demanding, because of the cognitive shifts you have to make, in order to counter or adjust to conceptually differing situations. The ability to grasp what to prioritize in the game, is the meta aspect that is lacking in the rest.
Just as a trivia, most casual players have an apm (actions per minute) of 150, which is around 3 actions per second. The professionals have double that, (300), though some come close to 400. This includes grouping, positioning, microing, macroing, etc.
Do Spider and Free Cell count?
