EPTWatching OSL
I hate
Daybreak. This is kind of surprising because it's one of the most well wanted maps and one week ago even I was happy playing on it on the ladder. Now I think it has to go.![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Wl67h.png)
I was one of them
I was watching the OSL and to be more precise Team Liquid Fantasy vs Nestea (part
2) where Fantasy took out Nestea with multipronged harassment and drops. I was entertained and happy, although Nestea was quite slow. It reminded me of glorious games of MMA droping on 2
different locations while pushing through the middle on Metalopolis back in the days when Idra was still
find a way to handle this playstyle without shutting it down completely, maybe with clever counterattacks forcing Terrans to defend. And I hoped that PvT would also evolve into something more
like MVP vs Flying, where Protoss is constantly attacking and harassing, forcing Terrans to keep units back at the main base and
defending while (hopefully) dropping at the same base. Now I know the games I linked aren't top tier Code S quality but I'm more entertained by these games than most of Code S because the
idea was there.
Instead we are seeing dull boring games, where almost nothing happens up to the 10 minute mark. What happened? I
found the answer (before I even had the question) in the Lessons from OSL Kespa thread:
On August 29 2012 23:13 bo1b wrote:
That style stopped because zergs learned how to deal with it. Mma did it far better then what fantasy displayed yesterday.
That style stopped because zergs learned how to deal with it. Mma did it far better then what fantasy displayed yesterday.
Now it was true. And it felt completely wrong. If Zergs were able to completely shut down dropping like this how was there ever a chance of multipronged attack (read: splitting up the
deathball)? And how comes this is true? My answer was amazingly simple: The bases are too easy to defend. Daybreak, the best map on the planet, enters the stage.
Daybreak
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/tJBhY.jpg)
This whole photoshop thing is harder than it looks
The numbers depict the order expansions are taken and once the third expansion is taken there are two attackpaths (the red arrows) on the ground. But if we put our army around the green circle
we are able to reach both attackpaths in a fair amount of time and defend both expansions. Furthermore there is only one flank to drop into which i'm not bother much because we learned how
to defend that(read: it's near to our army so that stimmed marines/speedlings/stalker reach it in a reasonable fast time.) So we are able to put our army (read:deathball) at one place to
defend alle three bases considerable fast. So we are good set up for the lategame.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/moRxm.jpg)
The X surely doesn't mark treasure
Once a foothold at the watchtower is gained, it immediately shuts down the upper two attack paths which secures both the fourth base and the main. Funny enough we also secure our fifth base
through this because once more then a fistful of lings is seperated from the army to attack the fifth (read: the deathball is split up) we simply waltz through the remainder of the army at the
opposite watchtower, kill his fourth and have opened a path to the second/main. We win every baserace because we just crushed half of his army and reach his production earlier. This leads to
two deathballs dancing around each other in the middle of the map.
I think the reason why this map is so popular is easy to spot: It is easy to play "safe" and "standard" on it. But this also shuts down any form of multipronged aggression.
P.S.: You can also apply the same logic to almost all (ladder) maps: Ohana, Antiga, Condemned Ridge, Entombed Valley, and even TDA
A new hope
Now this train of thought is not really new. There were a few clever guys who figured this out way before I did it and
they even took action to change something. In short: In BW people were all over the map, because the map forced them to. Let's make more expansions each with less ressources. This will
force people to spread out more and also force more (small) engagements.
I also think that this is the right direction. The reason for this Blog lays in the relatively small impact they had but I think they deserve more attention. Furthermore there is the unique opportunity to really change the maps Starcraft II is played. OSL (and their mapmakers) hopefully is able to change the way Starcraft II is played together with the upcoming expansion where balance will be in shambles.
Furthermore the BW players seem to want to drop all over the place (warpprism!), so let's give them the maps where they can shine.
TL,DR: Maps like Daybreak favour deathballs far too much. We need maps that allow easier attacks on bases which encourage the breakup of deathballs. Maybe the OSL guys can make it.
P.S.: I know protoss had a hard time taking expansions before maps like daybreak emerged. Oddly enough I think rocks might solve the problem, because they alter the terrain in the favour of P until P is able to set up their defence.
