mixed feelings, I disagree with the current pool and whats going on but wouldn't necessarily call it bad, I just don't expect it to work given other factors.
With the arrival of the new maps, all races have taken to all-ins. The all-ins are not unique, but the difficulty in holding the all-ins is unique. Additionally, each map requires wildly different special tactics to secure additional bases. I like that we got a bunch of new maps to replace a few odd or imbalanced maps, but the new maps are not intuitive or easy to defend in macro play. Many players are forced to reevaluate how they play Starcraft this season and I find that very frustrating.
Dash and Terminal has multiple attack paths into the natural and no ramp at the natural, making it tough to even gain two bases. Being close by air often lends itself to air play, and the walls present, or required, to secure the natural prevent good defense across three bases. Nearly every PvZ is opened with 14/14 into hyper aggression.
Bridgehead has tons of viable proxy locations that cannot all be scouted efficiently. With easy air and ground access to the natural and the 3rd, it requires being in two and three places at once to defend. The main and natural are too cramped for building placement and good flow through the bases. While mineral line harass isn't great with air, it is easy to bounce between the mineral line and the structures that are forced to the perimeters of the bases. Zerg usually goes for a roach/hydra bust at the natural, due to the destructible rocks leading in. If PvP isn't a battle of proxies, it skips two-base play and goes right into macro.
Moonlight Madness looks like taking a 3rd ought to be easy enough, but the number of ways into the 3rd is silly. The way the first three bases spread horizontally leaves the 3-base player wide open for being attacked or dropped everywhere since the circulation from natural to 3rd is easier for the attacking player. Taking a 4th is a death sentence, again due to how open the harass locations are.
Terraform has a zillion different attack paths, tons of viable proxy locations, and securing more than a 3rd is difficult. Of the new maps, this has played out most of the macro games I've played this season. Both players in a macro game typically mine out the main and natural, then cling tenaciously to either their 3rd or 4th. The map structure somehow holds the players to one or two active mining bases at any given time.
Shall we discuss the rate at which community maps get unto ladder or just any of the bullet points on the above media?
At the moment there isn't enough games on the new maps to see how their balance really is but in my opinion the ones who will end up being reasonably well balanced should stay on the ladder for more than 1 or 2 seasons while the really imbalanced ones should just be getting rid of by the end of the season. Keeping decently balanced innovative maps provides entertainment to the viewers thanks to the changes in meta game that occur in the process of figuring the map out and it provides a more stable map pool for players who often like to play on the same maps for a prolonged amount of time.
See foxtrot and expedition lost for example. At the frist I hated Foxtrot but toward the end I felt like the game on this map became really interesting and I was actually sad to see it go eventhough it had stayed for 4 seasons on the ladder. On Expedition Lost in TvZ a tank, marine+medivac push was made toward the end to abuse the cliff between the zergs main and natural. It would have been interesting to see how this would have developped. Would this have created a balance shift in TvZ on this map or would the Zergs have figured this push out?
Moonlight Madness looks like taking a 3rd ought to be easy enough, but the number of ways into the 3rd is silly. The way the first three bases spread horizontally leaves the 3-base player wide open for being attacked or dropped everywhere since the circulation from natural to 3rd is easier for the attacking player. Taking a 4th is a death sentence, again due to how open the harass locations are.
Moonlight Madness looks like taking a 3rd ought to be easy enough, but the number of ways into the 3rd is silly. The way the first three bases spread horizontally leaves the 3-base player wide open for being attacked or dropped everywhere since the circulation from natural to 3rd is easier for the attacking player. Taking a 4th is a death sentence, again due to how open the harass locations are.
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Wait, what?
I have no doubt I have a little bit of this going on right now:
I just reviewed my last five games on Moonlight Madness (1 PvT and 4 PvZs). Here is what I can see: You are right, going from the mineral line or town center of the natural to the third is a straighter line than the attacking player. That is the not common movement, however. To stay near the natural or 3rd means the attacking player can gain the concave.
A big contention point seems to be the high ground outside of the natural.
As the defending player, the location gives a good staging point for moving across the map and a good defensive position for the natural. Being there puts a lot of real estate between the army and the 3rd and most defensible 4th.
As the attacking player, having that location outside the opponents natural yields a soft contain with a highround advantage, a concave, and a direct by air attack path into the 3rd.
Should the defending player's vision of the U be lost (natural highground to 3rd highround), as is the case against a roach/hydra or muta player (or an acute Terran player), the attacker can bounce between natural and 3rd faster than the defending player can see and react.
Taking a 4th puts even greater distance away from either the natural or the 3rd, depending upon which 4th it is.
EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/qBlpk6S.jpg)
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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/6nAtv87.jpg)
