how big is this starcraft 2 patch?

I want to play the game(not online just single player to see how rts games are) and it just try to download a patch. can i disable that?

I thought Starcraft 2 was online only, even if you wanted to just play the SP.

There is an option to play it offline if you are lacking an internet connection, at least, there used to be. But they changed how the patcher works so if you are connected to the internet you have to patch now. However, you might as well download the patches, just run them in the background while doing other stuff. The only way I believe to avoid it is to disable access to the internet for starcraft 2.

Absolutely not. Always been able to work offline.

In response to the OP, though, did you just get the game for the first time? Assuming you did because you mentioned just wanting to see how RTS games are, implying you've never played one. If that's the case, it's going to be patching up to the latest version, which will likely be a lot of patching. If you really can't wait for the patch to finish, uninstall, and try reinstalling with the internet disconnected, so the game doesn't have a chance to start downloading a patch.

It's been a while for me tbh.

I remember people complaining about a 12 or 14 GB update at one point lol

You need to sign in and an connect to the Blizz initially, and every few (I think 30) days or so, but you can go totally offline in between. I recall too that some updates can run in the background while you play... so I'm guessing patches very minor or just maybe just gui/aesthetic updates (?).