Warcraft 2, for it's time, was a pretty big step for the RTS genre. I played a lot of Warcraft 2, I thought it was a pretty sweet game.
But then there was Starcraft...
And, honestly, I can't see how people didn't convert from Warcraft to Starcraft.
Warcraft/WC2 might be credited more, in terms of gameplay it took more steps for the RTS genre. Starcraft and Warcraft 3 offer some new features, but they are mostly just super-refined, near-perfect, games.
Warcraft 3 has that RPG element to it, and it's kind of focused on micro management. I think a lot of it is just preference though. For instance, I've always preferred Warcraft and Starcraft to Command & Conquer. And even within that series, Starcraft was always my game of choice. Warcraft 2 is a lot of fun though. You get some pretty big sea battles going, and there are some cool units/spells. Warcraft 3 is so much prettier and has more stuff though.
And then there was Age of Empires...which I've always considered a sim-strategy game.
But yeah, I think it's just an individual preference thing.
Edit: Who needs strategy.
