With the addition of two new maps, Autobahn and Sylphid, to the ASL6 map pool, there is a possibility that new strategies will emerge. We'll also likely be treated to some entertaining games. In order to further our understanding of the maps and their quirks, Ty2 has went through the meticulous task of analyzing them. Feel free to comment below and happy reading!




Autobahn is an upcoming 2 player map for the ASL 6 map pool. Compared to last season's maps, Autobahn is far more standard and tame. At a glance, the map shares a few features from Camelot, but there are a few twists and turns that make Autobahn a distinct map.

Generally speaking, matchups tend to have a rock-paper-scissors trend as follows: Terran > Zerg > Protoss > Terran. That follows for the early and mid-game, but as the late game approaches, Terran usually has the upperhand just by virtue of the map having few bases to expand to.


The most prominent feature that sticks out the most are the stacked minerals and stacked power generator doodads. The minerals themselves don't have any minerals to harvest, so workers won't have any cargo after a full mining cycle. Players can offensively mine-out the minerals, bringing 3-4 workers, to bypass front line defenses. Marine medic or hydra pushes can be benefactors of such plays. I can even see Lurkers being mineral hopped past the generator doodad. At the very least, we can expect to see a lot of strategies oriented around the threat of the backdoor as seen by Jaedong already.

At first glance, Autobahn is a Terran favored map that Zergs must overcome. The map resembles Camelot in a few ways, but thankfully there are wider and more varied avenues of attack that make the mech switch easier to deal with.

Two player maps for TvZ always inquire the best proxy locations for 8 raxes. Potential spots are the 9 and 3 O'Clock at the high ground expansions that Zergs may want to scout early. Conversely, the travel distance to retreat marines back home is long, but might not matter if Terran does a factory followup. Another proxy location, but for factories, would be the 12 and 6 O'Clock grey bases to be floated over later. Terran can then transition into a 2 starport play.

The naturals are wall-able and zergling tight thanks to neutral Zerg eggs placed at the chokes. That gives Terran the opportunity to safely expand and little incentive for Zerg to press the issue early game.

Another difficulty of the map is Zerg expanding to a third. The corner bases are the apparent locations to expand to. The width of the outside ramp is sensibly made easier to defend by two eggs. Still, the ramp is uncomfortably wide and makes power plays of +1 5-rax stronger versus lurkers. Forgive the outdated map picture that shows a fallen battlecruiser doodad instead.

Interestingly, we've seen Zergs taking their thirds at the corner base connected to the Terran. That way expanding to a corner base has far more value, worth the difficult defense Zerg encounters in the mid-game. It essentially creates a defiler highway for dark swarm and lurker pushes. The late-game centric play shows promise in pressuring Terran efficiently on only 3 bases and switching the focus from taking a fourth.

The mid and late game is flexible for Terran to either go SK Terran or mech switch. Late game mech switches are complimented by an expand pattern to a far corner. Terrans simply need to mine out their backdoor minerals and place a few mines at the narrow ramps leading to the base. The relative security of having only one entrance makes the expansion an ample choice. On the other hand, if Zerg gets fast drops, the long distance of the base can be a drawback. If Terran manages to establish the corner base, they can expand to the center bases. However, the wide ground leading to the base makes them susceptible to large surrounds. The two large ramps are the main factors for a surround.


For Terran mech to go on the offensive, the approach is slightly cumbersome. There are several places to mine, and they're also level and wide open stretches of ground. That gives Zerg some ammunition to fight back and outmaneuver Terran with more avenues to attack and swing around the main army.

SK Terran is another choice for Terran that with a lot more mobility has an easier time being aggressive. The center bases would be the best expansions with this style considering how Terran will be front and center against Zerg. Terran can simultaneously put on pressure and defend the base. Also, SK Terran has a lot of tactical options to threaten a Zerg that attempts to expand to the center bases.

Shown below, there are two staging grounds that Terran can place their bio force in. Assuming Zerg attempts to take the center base, Terran threatens two places at once for the Zerg. Zerg has to put their army far forward, and a drop into the Zerg's main at the same time can wreak havoc. Considering SK Terran is the popular style nowadays, I can't expect much else to be shown.

All of the problems Zerg faces may force players to rely on the thin ramps of the 12 and 6 O'Clock bases.


Terran will also have an easy time defending against Mutas. Unlike other maps, there are no ridges close to the mineral lines that Mutas can hover around to abuse lack of vision. Furthermore, the main bases are surrounded by two corners of the map. That means less area for turrets to cover, but that also makes Terran drops less effective due to scourge patrols.

Speaking of drops, the thin alleyway between the naturals and the corner bases are deadly drop locations. Once Zerg has mined out the stacked minerals to get to their 3rd, Zerg leaves their 3rd and natural open.

Overall, Zerg has few incentives in the early game and needs to play defensively against Terran for much of the game. Contrarily, Terran won't be as late game favored considering the wide open areas that make mech switches more difficult.

Protoss' biggest plays on 2 player maps are proxies, and there are two gateway locations: one too far away and the other too obvious. Additionally, Protoss can place robos in the thin alleyway, at the grey tile bases, or even a robo at the front of Terran's base. Placing a robo at the front of Terran is a good setup for reaver first plays vs. fast command center builds. Then there's a tiny little cranny next to the grey tile bases which can fit DT tech, or, even gateways.


Terrans will likely crawl their army up the small ramp to the third. However, the wide area of the base gives plenty of opportunity for Protoss to execute some shuttle drop or general timing attacks into the exposed area. Terran as a counter measure can build supply depots for better defense.

The other early game option for Protoss, the gas steal, is a viable choice on the map.

Protoss' expansion choices are really only limited to one safe expansion - the corner bases. The other bases, if Terran creates a siege at the Protoss natural, are in direct presence of the army. The close proximity of the bases is reminiscent of Gold Rush.

Carriers look to be a good unit for the map. They can weave around the ridges of the center to pick away at the goliaths as Terran hobbles their army through the two bridges. In addition, there are several spots that carriers can threaten multiple bases, all of which have long reinforcement points for goliaths to be.


When Terran does push, Protoss thankfully has several places to maneuver their army around - namely, the center bases. That way Protoss can swing their army around the Terran's, setting up for surrounds and backstabs.

Expanding to a corner base as a fourth for Terran might prove to be a hurdle. They'll be exposed on several fronts, and the sheer wideness of areas for Protoss to move their armies around is overwhelming. In fact, a timing attack oriented around Terran taking a fourth could prove to be a decisive opportunity for Protoss.


Ultimately, I see Protoss being slightly favored on this map. They are given a lot of maneuverability from the open areas of the map and the difficulty Terran will have holding their expansions. Also, the potential for carriers is prevalent.

On first impression, Zerg appears to have the upper hand. A massive contention point is Protoss safely expanding to a third. On Fighting Spirit you only had a small ramp to defend, but on Autobahn you have a land wider than the sahara. Aggressive plays will have plenty of opportunity to take full advantage of the wideness of the map.

I also see a lot of opportunity for drops on the map. Some locations include the alleyway between the natural and third, the main right at the choke, and the natural. Once Protoss mines out the minerals of the backdoor to access the corner base, Zerg can covertly drop a few lurkers, or even a small army. Zerg then simultaneously threatens the natural and corner base. Protoss will have a truly hard time securing all potential drop spots with so much area to cover.


In the mid-late game engagements, there are only wide open plains leading to Zerg's choice of bases except the corner base. A Zerg that masses lair units finds itself easily surrounding entire Protoss armies.

In the mid-late game, if Protoss snowballs their midgame army when dragoons are in high numbers, they can be deadly. Before Zerg has hive tech, a major point of attack would be the center bases. Their close proximity and wide-open ramps can prove to turn around in Protoss' favor.

When Protoss expands to four bases, assumedly to the center and corner base, Protoss will have an easier time defending. Their mobile armies just need to move in a vertical line back and forth. The far away placement of the corner base is the only concerning matter, susceptible to drops.

In the late game, if Protoss stabilizes, Zerg will end up starved on bases. The map has as many bases as Blue storm, minus the very center. The major difference here instead of one dividing line down the middle, there are several segmented routes. Protoss in the late game will have to maneuver their armies around intelligently, taking into account all of the areas. In situations where Zerg needs to do multipronged attacks, I'm seeing much success.

A fair shake to Zerg in ZvP, Protoss is going to have a tough time on the map.




Sylphid is the second addition to the ASL 6 map pool. The 3-player map is most heavily favored for Zerg in ZvP. Simply a base heaven, Zerg can expand to their heart's content. The web-like spread of bases that spiral outward force players to have an active presence on the map. Most notably, Sylphid avoids a lot of problems three base maps tend to have.

Three player maps' bases tend to have a variety of problems due to lack of symmetry. Usually there's at least one base with a greater arc of attack, but Sylphid avoids the problem. By having all three bases pressed against a single side of the map, the bases have 180 degree arcs of attack. The naturals are also similar, having 360 degree arcs, with the exception of the 9 O'Clock. Another problem 3 player maps face is depending on whether you've spawned clockwise or counterclockwise to your opponent, your 3rd may go towards your opponent. That's a big no-no in certain matchups where the longer the rush distance, the better. That problem is mostly smoothed over by the center high ground bases that are equally distant from the other two bases.

• Neutral Zerg egg placed at the choke between the main and natural, mainly for lurkers to defend versus Terran bio
• 8 mineral patches instead of the usual 7 at the natural, helping Terran and Protoss
• A total of 15 bases, 5 for each one third of the map
• Bases beyond a natural include a high ground base, a mineral only accessible by a bridge and other pathway, and a small high ground base with only one small ramp.
• A large main base circumference, juicy for drops
• A lot of passages and unique entrances, almost like a tiny maze (a tiny ramp, a bridge and open ground, semi-wide ramp to center bases)

• Ramps and high grounds in TvZ tend to be Zerg's best friend, but Sylphid has none. Zerg will have to mostly rely on the high ground of the 3 center bases and tight main choke points when microing mutas vs. bio
• Terran dealing with reaver harass and speed shuttles. This is Mini paradise
• Dealing with drop play from all races. The map seems to favor the player who strikes first
• Center and other outlying bases are zerg food. Wide open and short rush distances make defending expansions a hair puller
• The way bases spread out and are far apart will give Terran a hard time. The center bases are an unsightly bulge that Terran has to work their way around with mech armies
• Terran has to make a lot of stops around bases to knock them down one by one. Pathing could be a slight issue. The fanning out structure, variety of terrain features, and the semi-openish center will be slightly cumbersome

• PvZ will either end with Protoss gaining a strong lead to close the game early, or slowly peter out in the late game. Zerg tends to have trouble getting their fifth, but that's not an issue with the close proximity 5 bases. Zerg on even or slightly behind terms versus Protoss can easily outrun the toss economy. Split map or starvation plays just aren't feasible considering how difficult expanding to another main is.
• We'll see more aggressive 3 hatch muta plays that delay the 3rd slightly until lurkers are out. The exposed area of main bases stretches Terran thin, and the lack of space behind mineral lines make SCVs vulnerable. Sticking to two bases longer is to compensate for the difficulty of getting a third right away
• Drops. Lots of drops, especially from Terran. There's so much air space to cover that inevitably scourge can't cover the entire area.
• Shuttle speed harass while expanding everywhere in PvT. Terran will have a hard time keeping up, getting pinned down in their base
• Complimenting the trend of SK Terran, we're going to see a lot more of it on this map too
• A lot of taking bases very quickly. They're in arms reach, so it's not too hard to take them all quickly one after the next.
• The center of the map feels cramped, so if tanks are established there, I can see units being pinned to the edges and forced to go through the ramps of the green center bases like rats in a sewer. Terran though will have a hard time dealing with units sneaking by

Sylphid is a fairly interesting 3 player map that trends towards Z > P > T > Z. Unfortunately, the blatant Zerg favoritism vs. Protoss makes the map not well rounded. I do enjoy the incentives for drop harass and aggression though. I imagine we'll see games be fueled with attrition based warfare and constant action with so many resources to spend and deny Zerg from getting.

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