The Results Are In!

Over a month ago, TeamLiquid announce a map contest to find the very best that the community could offer. With Blizzard over looking the contest, the possibility of a community made map reaching the ladder was particularly tantalising. The maps that we received were of exceptional quality. Picking the very best maps were very difficult, but after many play tests, we have decided on seven 1v1 maps that we believe offer unique and fun gameplay. We also have three team play maps which are also fun to play on.

But first, let me introduce the people who judged the contest:

Plexa: You know him as an admin on this site. He hosted this contest and kept you informed about what was going on. He is a Masters rated Protoss player who watches more replays than what is good for him.

Nightmarjoo: He once was the voice of foreign BW mapping and ran the website broodwarmaps.net. Now retired as a mapper, he spends his time laddering on the NA server. He is a high rated Masters Terran player.

Zelniq: Not only is he a banling on this website, but he is also a very talented Zerg who has reached GM level. He has been very vocal about various aspects of Starcraft 2 and knows what he is talking about when it comes to the game.

We would also like to thank Ares[Effort], Trueredemption and Odal for their assistance in playtesting these maps and for their feedback and Empyrean for his assistance in sorting through the entries. Special thanks to iGrok for checking the maps for any doodad or terrain errors.

So what were the judges looking for? Our primary focus was on how well the map played and whether or not it was a map players liked to play on. Even if a map was strictly speaking balanced, if it isn't fun to play on then it isn't a successful map. We also restricted the finalists so that map concepts weren't repeated. The judges believe we have 7 maps which play really well and are enjoyable to play on.

Of course there were more than 7 maps which fulfilled this requirement. So the point which separated out the maps is which maps followed Blizzard's mantra of "easy to learn, hard to master". In other words, which maps could be played on by anyone and still enjoy playing on the map and reward players for taking advantage of the maps features. The maps which achieved this the best we have chosen as our finalists.

Without further delay, in alphabetical order, the maps we have chosen are as follows:

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The Finalists

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Burning Altar

by Samro225am and TPW


- Features 3 bases per main, all spawn points enabled
- Xel'Naga towers do not give away too much information, a careful opponent can avoid its reach but a lazy opponent will walk in plain view
- When destroyed, rocks shorten attack paths to your opponents third, but also allow you to defend your own third quicker
- Map allows for both aggressive play and long macro games which means no strategies are eliminated on this map

Cloud Kingdom

by Superouman and ESV

- 2 player map with an easy to defend natural
- Many variations in terrain make deciding where to battle a pivotal decision
- Expansions become progressively more difficult to take as the game progresses
- Allows for clever tactical troop management and makes for long macro games
- Affectionally named "Bobby's Flying Castle" during test games, upon playing the map this name should be clear

Haven's Lagoon

by Timetwister22

- Map increases in height as more and more expansions are taken
- Map emphasises exploiting the height differences to gain an advantage
- Rewards players for controlling their units well and taking slightly longer paths for better position
- Allows for a variety of playstyles including air and harass based play due to the large space between mains
- One of the most enjoyed maps by playtesters

Korhal Compound

by monitor and ESV


- Formerly known as Daggoth Crater
- Features a natural flow to taking expansions
- Often results in split map situations where careful navigation around the middle is required
- The towers are useful in defence, but can easily be acquired by an attacker
- Usually results in long macro games

Ohana

by IronManSC and TPW

- Extremely technical map with many features
- Backdoor doesn't prove to be imbalanced as the second ramp allows you a second chance to defend
- Expansion layout only allows you to claim 4 bases with ease, you really have to work for the last base
- Many back passageways to allow players to do surprise attacks and counter attacks with ease

Sanctuary

by Grebliv and ESV

- Three player rotation symmetry with minimal positional imbalance
- Controlling the other main allows you to get an extra base in a split map scenario
- Map allows for standard macro play and key chokepoints around your third allow for good defensive positions
- An aggressive player can hold the Xel'Naga Watchtower and gain vision of the entire center, making this an important point to control
- Movement around the sides of the map can lead to surprise flanks

Twilight Peaks

by Ragoo and LoS

- 4 Player map with 3 bases per main, rotational symmetry with minimal positional imbalance
- The third look easy to take on this map, but the towers give you a false sense of security and can lead to aggressive play off of two or three bases
- Once aggression has settled, players can easily obtain 5 bases and fight over the remaining 2 bases
- Allows for a diverse number of strategies to be played

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Teamplay Maps: Honourable Mentions

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Citadel of Gaia

by prodiG and ESV

- Inspired by Twilight Fortress
- Innovative third base can be taken defensively, but only provide minerals, or offensively which gives both minerals and gas
- Ramp can be defended by two forcefields, but you risk being caught out of position by doing so

Fields of Strife

by Apom

- Described by one playtester as 'like Xel'Naga Caverns, but bigger and better'
- Multiple attack paths can be opened up by destroying the rocks
- Towers are located in very useful locations, controlling them is a good idea
- Single backdoor expo allows for new strategies to emerge

Hipster Heaven

by Mashmed

- Unique '3 Player' 2v2 map (three spawn possibilities for teams)
- Teams start of more separated than on traditional 2v2 maps, allows more mobile forces to exploit weaknesses in one player
- Each spawn has 5 bases between two players, making the remaining spawn extremely valuable in long games

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Understandably, some of you may be upset with these results. We would like to stress the high level of entries that we received and that this decision was not easy. Some of you may feel cheated that we only decided to go with 7 maps, but we felt that there were no more maps that were of the same level as the ones we selected. Plexa is happy to answer any questions about the contest and provide feedback on your entries. Hopefully that will illuminate the judges decision for you.

While originally we had planned a Progamer Invite tournament, we felt that this would limit player contact with the maps. As such, the voting for these maps will take place after a special TL Open held at the end of this month. To be precise, on the weekend of the 26th-27th, the weekend following MLG Providence and before the NASL Grand Finals.

Until then, you can playtest these maps by searching for [TLMC] on NA/SEA/EU. We are eager to hear your feedback on the maps and a thread in the mapping forum will be create for you to post feedback.

It has been our pleasure organising this contest, and we hope we can do another one some time soon.

Nightmarjoo, Plexa and Zelniq