Starcraft 2 and pure tactics

I've been doing my best to improve at Starcraft II, which I'm finding more and more is not a matter of gaining a tactical mind and superior knowledge of feints, and more about "doing things the right way". I play single player on maximum difficulty (and completed it - challenging but not impossible) and while the AI is smarter in every way, the thing that strikes me most is that it pidgeonholes me into a certain playstyle. To be more specific, it requires I create units in the order it wishes me to, and if not, I am punished. Hard. Like a dominatrix armed with an electric-powered ice cream scoop and a square metre of chain-link fence.


I keep getting beaten online - solidly, but not resoundly. The problem lies not with my partner-in-crime, and although his standard of play is not the same as mine, he would be if he did the goddamn tutorials. The reason why I suck is because I don't want to play like all the "pros".


I truly love the challenge of the Xanatos Gambit; multiple feints, hit-and-fade, pure tactics. These are the best puzzles for the same reason why men are considered the best prey - they think, they deceive and they can be smarter than you. But this isn't the case at all with Starcraft II - I can't tell if they are smarter, or have more strategic ability, or whether I'm locking horns with a true master. All that happens when I lose is the demonstration of the others' ability to play the game better.


I am not frustrated by losing - I learn something every time, but it is becoming more and more apparent that unless I play that VERY specific way, I won't be winning anytime soon except against the nubs.


Perhaps I should stick to chess for strategy or poker for a battle of wills, rather than lessons in the best bureaucrat from Starcraft. Learning how to build the most efficient economy, base construction and then getting it all destroyed by space monsters? This isn't a strategy game - it's Sim City.