Hey Reviled,
To get back to your original question,
These are the 3 strains I keep religiously.
1. Wyeast 1272 - All American Ale. I used to keep 1056 - American Ale, just discovered this one- I like it B) Use this for APA with Chinnok & Cascade, or Amarillo & Willamette.
2. Wyeast 1084 - Irish Ale - Use this in your dark beers with whatever hops youre currently using.
3. Wyeast 3068 - Weihenstephan - Use for whear beers. Good for mucking around with hops too - I have used Saaz, Hersbrucker & Willamette with this one. Might not like the sound of wheat beer - its my least brewed, but makes for a great summer change up.
As for why are liquids better?
Firstly they're not dehydrated. IMO dried yeasts lack a little 'spark' when compared to their supposed liquid equivelent.
Also, you can split on first generation by making a starter and create (in theory) endless supplies. (not really possible), but with a $10 pack I will get six brews (as personally I split first generation into six parts and use each of them only once) Others will go on and on. A new dried yeast is $4 anyway. You could do the starter with this and split I suppose...
Give liquid a go - you'll like it. I was sold when I did a side by side with [Liquid]Wyeast 1056 against [dry]US-56 which is now US-05
Similar, but liquid was better. Kinda like driving a 3 year old car, then trading up to this years model