Protection Warrior PvP Best Races and Racials — Midnight (12.0.1)

Gnome is competitively the best because of Escape Artist, allowing you to frequently break roots, which is one of Protection Warrior's greatest counters. Expansive Mind is a very minor bonus, and does not offer a lot for Protection Warrior.

Night Elf is incredibly strong and competitive with Gnome thanks to Shadowmeld, which can turn you invulnerable for a brief moment against any attack or CC. The passive stat increases from Nature Resistance and Touch of Elune are very minor and hardly matter.

Since the removal of Relentless, human fell off greatly, but is still a viable race to pick. Will to Survive is usable 30 seconds earlier than your trinket comes off of cooldown, allowing you to have a second cleanse for stuns ready roughly 1 cycle of Diminishing Returns before any other race does. Additionally, The Human Spirit is a decent increase to your secondary stats.

Orc is the best race on Horde because of Hardiness, making you more effective against stuns. You gain a good amount of primary stat from Blood Fury, and is off the global cooldown, so use it together with Warbreaker for extra burst.

Blood Elves are primarily picked because of Arcane Torrent, which can purge off important buffs like Blessing of Protection or Nature's Swiftness. Blood Elf is not a very strong alternative to Orc, but somewhat viable competitively.