• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 07:09
CEST 13:09
KST 20:09
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2914Serral wins Maestros of the Game 243ByuL, and the Limitations of Standard Play3Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12
Community News
Weekly Cups (July 20-26): Early returns on 5.0.16b0IntoTheTV X SOOP SC2 League : Weekly & Monthly4Clem: "I don't have that much hope in Blizzard"7ZeroSpace Early Access is Now Live!38Weekly Cups (July 13-19): Terran & Protoss rise; Zerg falters2
StarCraft 2
General
Weekly Cups (July 20-26): Early returns on 5.0.16b 3kb/s downloading patch..... are we back to 1998? Terran or Protoss Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16) MC vs IdrA, Boxer vs Nal_rA to be Legacy Matches @ BlizzCon
Tourneys
RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament PIG STY FESTIVAL 8.0! (13 - 23 August) IntoTheTV X SOOP SC2 League : Weekly & Monthly INu's Battles#18 - Cure, herO, Rogue & ByuN
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Industrial Park New Map Maker - Looking for Advice - Love or Hate
External Content
Mutation # 536 Railroad Switch The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 535 Assembly of Vengeance Mutation # 534 Burning Evacuation
Brood War
General
screpdb: new Starcraft reporting tool ASL22 General Discussion ASL 22 Proposed Map Pool Klaucher discontinued / in-game color settings BW General Discussion
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues 2v2v2v2 Tournament Star Con San Diego 2026 Escore Tournament - Season 3
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates Simple Questions, Simple Answers PvT advise for noobs
Other Games
General Games
ZeroSpace Early Access is Now Live! Path of Exile Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread General RTS Discussion Thread Nintendo Switch Thread
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
TSM pausing esports and CLG Dead
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Power Rank TL Mafia Community Thread NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance
Community
General
Russo-Ukrainian War Thread US Politics Mega-thread Artificial Intelligence Thread European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread How to buy a book - shipping from Korea to Europe
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club The HerO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread Series you have seen recently... [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread 2026-27 Football Thread placeholder TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Simple Questions Simple Answers FPS when play League Of Legend on laptop
TL Community
Northern Ireland Global Starcraft The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Games, Hormones, and "Dark" …
TrAiDoS
Hello guys!
LIN1s
ASL S22 English Commentary…
namkraft
Poker (part 2)
Nebuchad
An Exploration of th…
waywardstrategy
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 7626 users

The awkward third base - Page 4

Forum Index > SC2 General
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 Next All
brain_
Profile Joined June 2010
United States812 Posts
January 07 2011 18:53 GMT
#61
I feel awkward taking third base IRL.
ParasitJonte
Profile Joined September 2004
Sweden1768 Posts
January 07 2011 19:16 GMT
#62
On January 08 2011 02:41 Comeh wrote:
Unfortunately, a lot of the newer sc2 players don't understand that awkward really translates into "nearly impossible to defend against well executed build orders" or "Really only feasible of taking when you are ALREADY dramatically ahead and will win regardless".
This, unfortunately, lends to less exciting and diverse game play, making it more predictable and stale.


Perfectly explained.

A lot of posts here go along the lines of: "it shouldn't be easy and cozy."

That misses the point however. And by that logic, then why not just make all 2nd expansion awkward as well. The result of that would of course be a lot worse games (even worse than what we have now).
Hello=)
Numy
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
South Africa35471 Posts
January 07 2011 19:20 GMT
#63
On January 08 2011 04:16 ParasitJonte wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 08 2011 02:41 Comeh wrote:
Unfortunately, a lot of the newer sc2 players don't understand that awkward really translates into "nearly impossible to defend against well executed build orders" or "Really only feasible of taking when you are ALREADY dramatically ahead and will win regardless".
This, unfortunately, lends to less exciting and diverse game play, making it more predictable and stale.


Perfectly explained.

A lot of posts here go along the lines of: "it shouldn't be easy and cozy."

That misses the point however. And by that logic, then why not just make all 2nd expansion awkward as well. The result of that would of course be a lot worse games (even worse than what we have now).


I think what people don't understand is taking a 3rd quickly is still risky in BW maps, it's always risky. The problem is SC2 maps make it way hard to get on top of it being risky.
0neder
Profile Joined July 2009
United States3733 Posts
January 07 2011 19:23 GMT
#64
The map pool third bases are all too far away to encourage taking a third base. It is encouraging that in spite of this, we still see a lot of third base taking, so when the maps improve it should be even better.
ALPINA
Profile Joined May 2010
3791 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-01-07 19:33:50
January 07 2011 19:33 GMT
#65
So much false info in this topic.

Jungle, Meta close and LT close are very imbalanced.

ZvT on Jungle you pretty much can't win as zerg if the terran is decent and knows what he is doing.
You should never underestimate the predictability of stupidity
StuBob
Profile Joined March 2010
United States373 Posts
January 07 2011 19:40 GMT
#66
I read the topic title, and thought this was about girls n stuff XD
I play RANDOM!
eloist
Profile Joined September 2010
United States1017 Posts
January 07 2011 19:45 GMT
#67
*browsing BW maps on liquipedia*

Hey, that paranoid android map totally is scrap station.
AntisocialGR
Profile Joined December 2010
Greece21 Posts
January 07 2011 19:47 GMT
#68
I can't say I'm enjoying the current map pool however you have to account for mule/chronoboost mechanisms practically allow you to get a strong eco on 2base pretty fast compared to BW
Two_DoWn
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
United States13684 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-01-07 19:55:21
January 07 2011 19:54 GMT
#69
I think this is the biggest problem in the current map pool. All of the bad factors discussed to death in the current map pool, too small, positional imbalances, and just straight up stupid spawns (metal close is closer than stepps) make it incredibly hard to get and secure a third. This in turn just makes massing off 2 base the safest strategy, or trying to all in before the opponent can get to a 2 base mass (ie 2 rax).

edit: whoot 1k!
"What is the air speed velocity of an unladen courier?" "Dire or Radiant?"
Kimaker
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
United States2131 Posts
January 07 2011 19:55 GMT
#70
I feel like it depends alot on race. Z will always feel awkward on Jungle, but Terran's should love the layout since they can expand toward their opponent, which is advantageous. Same with P, except in PvT where expanding away can be more useful. So, right now I think that the thirds just hurt Z MORE than the other races. However, maps like Blistering certainly suck taking a third whatever race you're playing.
Entusman #54 (-_-) ||"Gold is for the Mistress-Silver for the Maid-Copper for the craftsman cunning in his trade. "Good!" said the Baron, sitting in his hall, But Iron — Cold Iron — is master of them all|| "Optimism is Cowardice."- Oswald Spengler
Minimi][
Profile Joined September 2010
Germany43 Posts
January 07 2011 20:03 GMT
#71
You actually dont need a third base in 3/4 of the games because how the economy in SC2 works,
because you wont build more than 75 harvesters and 60 harvesters are 2 base saturation.

Even as zerg often times it is easier to make a macro hatch an delay the third until your main starts to dry out.
J.E.G.
Profile Joined May 2010
United States389 Posts
January 07 2011 20:06 GMT
#72
It's awkward for both people playing.
Do or do not; there is no try.
Numy
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
South Africa35471 Posts
January 07 2011 20:08 GMT
#73
On January 08 2011 05:03 Minimi][ wrote:
You actually dont need a third base in 3/4 of the games because how the economy in SC2 works,
because you wont build more than 75 harvesters and 60 harvesters are 2 base saturation.

Even as zerg often times it is easier to make a macro hatch an delay the third until your main starts to dry out.


You need way more gas than 2 bases. So waiting on 2 bases will not be good for you.
Sm3agol
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States2055 Posts
January 07 2011 20:14 GMT
#74
On January 08 2011 02:33 Smigi wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 08 2011 02:25 mangoloid wrote:
Blizz likes to say that they want a varied and interesting map pool, but this was the first thing I thought about when I heard that statement. The Blizz pool loves to punish expanding, and the majority of maps are set up to reward 1- and 2-base play. They do not want you to take third, and this is a huge problem with their map pool in my opinion.

So, agreed, 3rd base in LT is often awkward.


The 3rd is awkward.

For one, the cliff. Especially in ZvT. It literally kills the match-up on that map, period.
Also, close positions Lost Temple is almost as big of a joke as steppes of war. Close positions Lost Temple makes all-ins stupidly more effective then they already are in ALL match ups.

On top of that, the third gold expansion is NOT a gimmie. yes it has a tight choke, good for static defense and all. But First off, you need to kill off the rocks, secondly THE GOLD EXPANSION CAN BE HIT FROM BOTH CLIFFS THAT SURROUND IT.

A Thor can deny 2-3 of the mineral patches from the cliff
A High templar can storm the mineral line from the cliff
A Siege Tank straight up can attack the hatchery/nexus from the cliff.
and so forth..

Lost temple is not balanced size wise (close positions by ground), and it DOES have an awkward third.

If you have a 3rd base out before you can protect vs a cliff drop, then you are doing something BADLY wrong. The expansion cliff is so dangerous because you can straight up rape a zerg's critical and very necessary natural before you they even get anything that can remotely compete in firepower. Most Z have only zerglings/roaches at that point in the game. By the time you get a third, you should have air units, or at the very minimum, strong enough units to just straight up take out the threat cost effectively.
GoldenH
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
1115 Posts
January 07 2011 20:17 GMT
#75
I don't really have a problem taking a third on any map except blistering sands. Thing is a lot of the 'easy' thirds in SC2 are mineral only. I can't really see bothering to expand there unless there's a gas there, or if he just needs something because his main is mined out. I feel like gas is just so much more important in SC2, you can't have a non-gas expansion, but if it's too easy to get your 3rd base of gas then it makes the game so much more chaotic to play.
"(Dudes are) not going to say "Buy this game — I cried at the end". (...) I suppose the secret is to find a game that makes you shoot eight million fuckin' dudes and then cry about how awesome it is to shoot eight million fuckin' dudes." - Tim Rogers
Omni17
Profile Joined January 2011
United States141 Posts
January 07 2011 20:20 GMT
#76
Now that I think of it, the maps are very awkwardly designed T.T
"To Drone or not to Drone, that is the question."
Touch
Profile Joined August 2010
Canada475 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-01-07 20:39:03
January 07 2011 20:27 GMT
#77
On January 08 2011 01:25 Numy wrote:
Show nested quote +
On January 08 2011 01:22 Touch wrote:
On January 08 2011 01:14 Numy wrote:
On January 08 2011 01:09 LoLAdriankat wrote:
On January 07 2011 23:16 idonthinksobro wrote:
On January 07 2011 23:13 bonifaceviii wrote:
On January 07 2011 23:05 Jago wrote:
You are non "entitled" to a free and easy-to-defend third.

This is basically it right here.

Like it or not, Starcraft 2 seems to be designed for it to be comfortable to remain on two bases for a long time. A third is not a requirement anymore for any race as the game is currently.


have fun in the bronze league, or you play terran.

How cute. A new poster trying to be an elitist and contributing nothing.

It seems that Starcraft 2 is designed for long two base play. Have you guys watched the in-house Blizzard tournament finals that Day9 casted? That pretty much explains everything. Dayvie, balance designer and top 200 player, rarely takes a third and when he does, it's pretty late into the game.




You can't say "hey look at this player he doesn't do X thus the game is designed not to do X". That's ludicrous. In fact this is the most ridiculous argument I have ever heard.
Why? It's perfectly valid. If top ranked players do not take a third, there must be a reason, which is explained in the first post.


That's a completely different situation. The poster I quoted said David Kim did not take a 3rd in some random in house tournament thus the GAME is not DESIGNED to have quick 3rds. Yet the first post talks about how maps are pigeon holing 2 base play not that the game is designed for 2 base play.

Ah, I see your point. To be honest, with the new AI and the nerf of Siege Tanks (compared to BW), it really is difficult to take a 3rd base. For Zerg though, it's still very much the same, bases are taken quite quickly, but as for MUs such as PvZ and ZvZ, the number of bases is still very much similar to BW.
Sieg
Uncultured
Profile Joined September 2010
United States1340 Posts
January 07 2011 20:33 GMT
#78
I don't mind, and actually sometimes prefer to have it awkward. But where does it end, and why does it matter? I feel awkward every time I try to take a fifth base, personally... That doesn't mean the maps are broken because none of them allow for it easily..
Don't you rage when you lose too? -FruitDealer
Nokarot
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States1410 Posts
January 07 2011 20:38 GMT
#79
I see where you are going with all this, but there should be a clear distinction from awkward and bad, I think. This is not to say the maps are good, but that the lack of encouragement for 3base+ macro games on some maps and in some positions is lackluster.

Personally, I like the fact that a map can achieve two different styles of play based on spawn positions. People (zergs, and I say this as a zerg, albeit a bad one) might claim that certain spawns come down to luck, but I think close spawns on Lost Temple versus Terran is the only one I can agree with- not necessarily even because of the tank/thor cliff drop, but because of the contain potential at the Xel Naga. On Metalopolis, can still find yourself cornered, but you can do so in a much more open capacity.

That being said, I think its more important to have a balanced map pool as opposed to balanced maps, in tournaments at least. On ladder, just downvote ones you hate ^_^.
beep beep boop
Shiragaku
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Hong Kong4308 Posts
January 07 2011 20:39 GMT
#80
On January 08 2011 04:54 Two_DoWn wrote:
I think this is the biggest problem in the current map pool. All of the bad factors discussed to death in the current map pool, too small, positional imbalances, and just straight up stupid spawns (metal close is closer than stepps) make it incredibly hard to get and secure a third. This in turn just makes massing off 2 base the safest strategy, or trying to all in before the opponent can get to a 2 base mass (ie 2 rax).

edit: whoot 1k!

Perhaps that was the reason why the map was specifically used by WCG?
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
INu's Battles
11:00
INu's Battles#18
Cure vs herOLIVE!
ByuN vs Rogue
IntoTheiNu 488
WardiTV169
LiquipediaDiscussion
Sparkling Tuna Cup
10:00
Weekly #139
CranKy Ducklings106
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Lowko223
SortOf 103
ProTech69
BRAT_OK 68
SHIN 25
Trikslyr24
StarCraft: Brood War
Calm 7589
Shuttle 2977
firebathero 994
Jaedong 517
BeSt 369
Light 317
Mini 292
actioN 290
Zeus 230
Larva 203
[ Show more ]
EffOrt 201
Dewaltoss 163
Rush 144
Soulkey 143
Stork 132
Mong 129
Pusan 121
Sharp 64
Hm[arnc] 57
ZerO 54
ToSsGirL 49
ggaemo 45
Mind 44
scan(afreeca) 43
hero 42
Killer 38
[sc1f]eonzerg 31
JulyZerg 30
Shine 27
soO 26
sSak 26
Sacsri 15
Icarus 15
sorry 13
JYJ 11
Yoon 10
ajuk12(nOOB) 10
Sea.KH 5
Dota 2
BananaSlamJamma77
Dendi1
Counter-Strike
shoxiejesuss1228
x6flipin347
kRYSTAL_71
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King121
Other Games
singsing1507
crisheroes233
B2W.Neo221
Pyrionflax212
Sick183
XaKoH 112
ZerO(Twitch)11
Liquid`LucifroN1
Organizations
Other Games
BasetradeTV53
StarCraft: Brood War
lovetv 13
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH305
• StrangeGG 70
• CranKy Ducklings SOOP8
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• WagamamaTV283
League of Legends
• Jankos2527
• Stunt634
Upcoming Events
PiGosaur Cup
12h 51m
The PondCast
22h 51m
Kung Fu Cup
23h 51m
Patches Events
1d 4h
Replay Cast
1d 21h
CrankTV Team League
1d 23h
OSC
2 days
Replay Cast
2 days
Escore
2 days
CrankTV Team League
2 days
[ Show More ]
Replay Cast
3 days
Afreeca Starleague
3 days
RSL Revival
3 days
ByuN vs SHIN
Solar vs Lambo
WardiTV Summer Champion…
4 days
Afreeca Starleague
4 days
RSL Revival
4 days
Clem vs Serral
herO vs Rogue
WardiTV Summer Champion…
5 days
WardiTV Weekly
5 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-07-27
SCTL 2026 Spring
Eternal Conflict S2 Finale

Ongoing

CSL 2026 Summer (S21)
KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
RSL Revival: Season 6
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
PGL Astana 2026

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S3: W5
ASL Season 22: Qualifier #1
ASL Season 22: Qualifier #2
Acropolis #5
CSLAN 4
ASL Season 22
Acropolis #5 - TRS
HSC XXX
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
PiG Sty Festival 8.0
Light Tournament 2026
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
Logitech G Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #5
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.