First, a note: Jungle Basin, Steppes of War, and Delta Quadrant have been removed from the map pool. Lost Temple, Xel'Naga Caverns, and Metalopolis have been modified to prevent blocking off the ramp with 3 pylons or two bunkers. GOM statisticians have done the math and determined that this change will increase the average lifespan of Zerg players by about five years due to decreased stress.
The most intriguing changes to the map pool, however, are the new maps. Let's take a look at the battlefields we'll be seeing next season!
Crevasse
click on the picture for a larger version
The first thing on Crevasse that jumps out is the number of expansions. Look at all those beautiful minerals -- none of which have destructible rocks blocking them! Already I am getting excited at the prospect of a long, drawn out TvT on this map, with the battle being all about who can gain an advantageous position in the center. I think this map will really reward players who plan their play out, not just in TvT, but in any matchup where taking and holding space is possible (read: mainly TvX).
Note that the 4 middle expansions have a single gas and only 6 mineral patches, making them less desirable.
This map is large, but the center looks cramped due to the various cliffs, ramps, destructible rock walls, and impassible terrain. It really would not take very many tanks for a Terran to secure 3 1/2 expansions against a Zerg ground army (although I might be underestimating the size of the center… It's sort of difficult to get a sense of scale just from looking at pictures). On that note, Zergs really shouldn't be going heavy ground against Terran or Protoss on this map. Just thinking about battles between tanks or Colossi against roach/hydra in the middle of this map is making me cringe. A harass-oriented playstyle is the way to go here. Delaying the ability of the Terran or Protoss to control the middle will be important.
A final note that I think will become a theme on these new maps: Protoss players can easily take three bases here and turtle until they have a powerful Colossus-based death ball. We'll have to see how Zerg players deal with that. Initial reports from Korea seem to be that they're not currently handling it well, but that might change.
Crossfire SE
click on the picture for a larger version
A map loosely based on the SC:BW map Peaks of Baekdu, Crossfire SE looks like a map where armies would get lost trying to find the enemy. With enough bridges and ramps to make Euler's head spin, this map seems like a place where it's important to know the location of the enemy's main force at all times, and to also know where that force can go and what it can easily attack. This map is so long that base trading situations might arise due to armies not being able to return to defend their main before it gets entirely leveled.
The two Xel'Naga towers here are more critical than they are on any other map in the pool, since they can see any route that a scout tries to take to the area past the tower. The space around the towers seems well-suited for tanks for this same reason. A single siege line can defend four expansions at once.
Muta and void ray harass on the mineral lines at the third base, the main, and the gold seems like it would be difficult; it looks like the sides of the map guard those two locations much like the baseline helps guard the hoop in basketball. Muta play in general seems strong here, though, because of the distance between expansions.
Much like Crevasse, thinking about Zerg engaging Protoss death balls in the slightly cramped center is making me cry. We'll have to see how Zergs play the map without being able to attack the Protoss army head on.
It occurs to me that Colossi will be very susceptible to VIking harass when they are in the middle of the map on those three bridges. We see a lot of that sort of harass on Xel'Naga Caverns around that large central pit and I think we'll be seeing it a lot more on this map from smart Terrans.
Terminus Re
click on the picture for a larger version
So many expos! So many free expos! Here, players have 2 1/2 expansions available to them, all defendable by a single choke. The center is more open than the first two maps we looked at, and sort of reminds me of Delta Quadrant, if Delta Quadrant had 4 Xel'Naga watchtowers.
There's not much to say about this map; it looks much more "Blizzard-y" than the other new maps, which is to be expected since it is in fact a modified Blizzard map. I don't expect to see much different play on this map than what we've seen in previous GSL seasons, except that bad one-dimensional players will do 2 1/2 base timing attacks every game instead of 2 base timing attacks.
Tal'Darim Altar
click on the picture for a larger version
This map is outrageously large. I mean, look at it. I think Steppes of War could fit into that boxed area in the middle. This map is large to the point of being confusing, but let's try to make sense of it.
Again, we have three bases that are easy to take and hold. We also have a pretty large, open center that will force players to be careful of flanks. Controlling the four Xel'Naga towers will be useful in late-game situations for this reason.
I would imagine that someone like MarineKing would never ever lose a game on his map, since his style seems to fit it perfectly. An endless supply of minerals, and an enormous map on which he can exploit his mobility to its fullest.
Other than this map's largeness, there don't seem to be that many distinguishing features to it.
Team Ranking
Disclaimer: the following opinions may be really stupid.
Am I biased? Maybe. But oGs's lineup looks like a 4th of July parade. If their players aren't qualified for the GSL, they're high enough on the ladder that they're favored to do so in the future. Also, Jinro is eligible to play, or so I've heard. All signs point to oGs victory in this event; if nothing else, they're certainly the deepest team.
The winner of the Zotac Team Invitational deserves a high spot. ST has a plethora of players that they can send out and hope to take a game or two off the other team. July, Bomber, Rainbow, and Squirtle is a powerful 4-person lineup. Who on their team is elite enough to pull off an all-kill, though? No one, really. We'll see if Startale can continue their team league success in this event.
I'm pretty sure MVP has more all-kills in team league environments than anyone else, but don't quote me on that. He and Nestea make a capable one-two punch: the best players of their respective races. However, this team isn't very deep at all, and if teams are smart, they'll prepare builds to knock out Nestea and MVP.
Look at all those colors. TSL's coach sure knows how to pick good players; all but one of his carefully crafted team's members are in the GSL. Unfortunately, none of these players looks capable of competing with the best in the world at the moment. In other words, TSL as a whole is underachieving (especially Clide!)
I hate putting fOu so far down here, since I just like their team in general. Leenock is the destined Code A tournament winner (he really shouldn't be anywhere but Code S) and thebestfOu is #1 on the ladder (I guess he really is thebest, amirite???) but all of the higher teams are so stacked that I can't move fOu higher.
ZeNEX placed well in the Zotac Team Invitational, but that was mostly due to the all-kills of two unknowns, Puzzle and Byun. Neither will likely be able to replicate their success unless Byun is better than the good-but-not-great play we saw in his Code A 2nd place run.
Since the start of SC2, Prime has never looked worse. Every single one of their stars except MKP has been showing shaky play recently. Maka dropped down to Code A, Check showed that he simply doesn't have the macro to hang with top class players, anypro only stayed in Code S by the grace of Moon's awful play... the list goes on.
SlayerS doesn't really have any notable players. Boxer didn't play in the Zotac Team Invitational and there's no reason to think that he'll play this time.
On February 07 2011 13:35 motbob wrote: Disclaimer: the following opinions may be really stupid.
I agree that they are, but definitely enjoy hearing your opinions nonetheless. Seems you value player's performance in the GSL very highly yet almost completely disregard previous team league performance?
Also thanks for the write-ups on the maps that was great! So pumped for GSTL
On February 07 2011 13:35 motbob wrote: I'm pretty sure MVP has more all-kills in team league environments than anyone else, but don't quote me on that.
well I will quote you on it b/c: Well technically NEXPuzzle has the most :x
unless you're including BW experience then yes, but I don't know how that relates to this Team League (Also NEXPuzzle's all-kills were on IM and oGs and yes MVP and MC were playing, just NesTea wasn't)
Also fOu is terrible, Leenock is slumping and Choya is DQ'd so they really only have 2 decent players
Startale is that hight and Prime is that low? Don't get me wrong, Prime aren't going to do amazingly, and but they're not that much worse than what Startale looks to be.
Also I'm sad to see oGs vs IM in Round 1. I wanted that to be the finals.
Lots of info I was looking for about the composition of each team. Very nicely done by adding that Code A/S!
In the TL poll, I put IM to win, but after looking at oGs more carefully, I'm starting to have doubts on my vote. One thing I do know is that the next few days will be good!!
On February 07 2011 14:58 lbmaian wrote: Great post (especially love the roster lists). Shouldn't this be on the front page, like the other GSL previews/recaps?
Watching the Code S group selections right now, and Jinro is wearing an oGs jacket, only a few hours before the Team League starts so maybe he is elgible to play for oGs or on the roster.
Edit: All the oGs jackets have a team liquid patch on the sohulder omgomg!!1
just wondering but where do you spawn on crevasse is it on the double high ground so your nat is below you or on the high ground where the nat is on the higher ground inside your base
I like the proposal of new maps, though I must be honest I still have not quite gotten to know these ones inside and out (I'm Zerg, trying to make map specific strats... kinda failing lol)
Otherwise, I hope that this GSTL will show that these maps have balance, and cannot wait till Blizzard releases their map pack, and bug fixes (although I do not know what the bug fixes are)
On February 07 2011 13:45 BLinD-RawR wrote: oGs=SKT1(always an all star lineup) IM=KT(2 ridiculously good players everyone else is average)
I'm in a Dilemma here because KT is my favorite BW team.
That's actually quite the opposite of how KT and SKT1 were in the beginning. In their earlier incarnations, when they were actually KT and skt1, KT had the star studded lineup (KT had Chojja/Nada/Yellow/Nal_rA/Reach/Goodfriend/sync and more) while SKT1 had a small amount of very notable players (Boxer, Oov, Rainbow and Kingdom). Things developed into the opposite as times went on and KT players lost relevance while SKT1 picked up star players from other teams.
On February 07 2011 13:45 BLinD-RawR wrote: oGs=SKT1(always an all star lineup) IM=KT(2 ridiculously good players everyone else is average)
I'm in a Dilemma here because KT is my favorite BW team.
ummmmmmmmmmmmm Bisu is not a lineup, he's just a person better example for oGs would be Woongjin and IM would be Oz/KT/SKT1 any of those
skt has more than just bisu as their star, just because he happens to be the only one consistently performing currently doesn't make skt an one man team. if you forgot, fantasy best and hyuk all contributed to their finals appearance last season and both fantasy (recent osl winner) and best (past osl finalist, regarded as having the best macro) certainly can be considered allstars.
anyways, I digress from the main topic here, I think that while ogs has the deepest roster, they are playing IM in the first round and unless MC plays better than he's recently shown in the team league, Nesta and MVP will take it for IM.
On February 07 2011 14:46 Kazzabiss wrote: Also fOu is terrible, Leenock is slumping and Choya is DQ'd so they really only have 2 decent players
What's the story on Choya's DQ.. i must have missed that.
He was caught winning/losing games on the ladder by playing a game of rock-paper-scissors in the chat. This blew up into a small scandal, which caused him and his coach to publicly apologize for this rather silly way of exploiting the ladder.
It's kinda disappointing to see that Choya is out, especially considering how he was definitely one of the stronger players on the fOu team.
Boxer actually did play in the Zotac cup, on Jan 24th. It was only 2 games, but all the same, it happened. Regardless, I'm SURE he'll play in the GSL team league. I feel like Slayers in last place is a little low. Honestly, I'd give that honor to fOu.
I also think IM might be a little high, given they are really a 2 man team, and that's never a good thing. If this is in winner's league format then they can really put on a show, but looking at Zotac the rest of the team is just not up to par. I might've dropped them a place or two myself.
Also, I don't understand people questioning Startale in this topic. They have a solid roster, and they just proved it a couple weeks ago by taking Zotac, with relative ease. Overall they went 8-2 in that league. Now, it was during GSL so a lot of the top players didn't have a lot of time for Zotac... but most of them made some appearances anyways. They're definitely a top team.
I'm a big fan of Prime, especially MakaPrime and while I also see that they haven't been doing too well recently (other than MKP), I still think they deserve to be higher up. Hopefully their recent history is just a bit of a slump and they do well.
On February 07 2011 14:46 Kazzabiss wrote: Also fOu is terrible, Leenock is slumping and Choya is DQ'd so they really only have 2 decent players
What's the story on Choya's DQ.. i must have missed that.
He was caught winning/losing games on the ladder by playing a game of rock-paper-scissors in the chat. This blew up into a small scandal, which caused him and his coach to publicly apologize for this rather silly way of exploiting the ladder.
It's kinda disappointing to see that Choya is out, especially considering how he was definitely one of the stronger players on the fOu team.
Oh it was that? I thought it was something new and or serious. Stupid getting yourself banned over something like that. bet he's kicking himself.
On February 07 2011 16:26 Chicane wrote: I'm a big fan of Prime, especially MakaPrime and while I also see that they haven't been doing too well recently (other than MKP), I still think they deserve to be higher up. Hopefully their recent history is just a bit of a slump and they do well.
I agree, they should be a little higher. If I were ranking from 1 to 8, I'd probably put them around five.
My whole list would probably be like
oGs ST TSL IM Prime SlayerS ZeNex fOu
And this makes me realize that I still have IM at 4th, so maybe I shouldn't have criticized that bit of TC's list so much.
On February 07 2011 16:48 udgnim wrote: it seems the new GSL-TL maps are going to be used in GSL 5
H to the UZZAH
HUZZAH!!!!(yes,I just did that.No,I don't like Husky)
On February 07 2011 16:55 dkim wrote: the 3rd in crossfire seems too far to defend imo.
actually its not,slap some static antiair there an you can forget about it since there is only one way to get their by ground....its its through your army. plus the watch tower is mega useful because it covers all three routes.
On February 07 2011 13:45 BLinD-RawR wrote: oGs=SKT1(always an all star lineup) IM=KT(2 ridiculously good players everyone else is average)
I'm in a Dilemma here because KT is my favorite BW team.
ummmmmmmmmmmmm Bisu is not a lineup, he's just a person better example for oGs would be Woongjin and IM would be Oz/KT/SKT1 any of those
lolwut?
Bisu,BeSt,Fantasy,By.Sun,Paralyze,Kwanro etc etc etc.
Fantasy is bad in Team Leagues, pretty much everyone on the team that should be good, or has been good in the past is slumping or just past their prime, and
I can not seem to find exactly how this tournament will operate... The only thing I've seen is that this is not in a 2v2+ format. Can somebody provide a link, or please explain how this sort of tournament will operate?
On February 07 2011 17:05 VashTS wrote: I can not seem to find exactly how this tournament will operate... The only thing I've seen is that this is not in a 2v2+ format. Can somebody provide a link, or please explain how this sort of tournament will operate?
It runs on the all-kill format similar to the format that they use in the Winner's League part of the Proleague system that they have for the Brood War teams. Each match is a 1v1.
Each team has a list of players that they send out in order, not knowing the players that the other team is sending out.
The two players sent out will play each other in a 1v1 match. The winner of the match stays to play the next player that is on the opposing team's list for the next match.
The team that first achieves a certain number of total matches won is dubbed the winner of the entire series. There is a chance that a single player will not be knocked out and will win all the matches required to win the entire series (usually 4 matches in a best of 7), which is called an "all-kill," hence the "all-kill" format. There is also a chance that a player will get 3 out of the required 4 wins, but will be knocked by another player who proceeds to win 4 matches single-handedly. This is called a "reverse all-kill."
On February 07 2011 17:18 VashTS wrote: Those players that lose, are they out of the tournament, or just the series? Does the team get to change the order of the players between series?
Also, thank you for taking the time to explain this.
Losers are just out for the series.
I think teams are able to change their player orders between series, since their rosters are much larger than the maximum number of players that they can have for any series. I don't think there are any restrictions on player lineup as long as the same player doesn't play twice.
Anyways, hope you enjoy the GSTL. I'm sure most of your questions will be answered after watching it for he first time. BTW, be sure to check out BW Proleague games that are played from time to time, since they are the premier examples of this Team League format.
On February 07 2011 17:18 VashTS wrote: Those players that lose, are they out of the tournament, or just the series? Does the team get to change the order of the players between series?
Also, thank you for taking the time to explain this.
no they are only out of the series....and there is no order that players need to be sent in the series.
Jinro playing would be awesome, but doesn't seem likely with Liquid being listed as a separate team in the Team point standing on GomTV. But if he is eligible to play for oGs no way they dont play him.
Sweet. Looking forward to IM to continue showing their victory streak of GSL wins and making a GSTL win. Also looking forward for Coach Lee and his team to bring back the strength SCV Life previously had. All in all, it'll be epic.
I thought team MvP would play and not SlayerS. The age thread has MvP's age chart and not SlayerS, but this thread has SlayerS and not MvP. What is going on?
EDIT: Ok, ok, i checked GOM and looks like they included SlayerS. Well, cool. Tomorrow will be a good day for SC2 team league (oGs vs IM all the way!).
The 2 maps that really interest me were Crevasse and Tal'Darim... (Pronounced Taal-DA-reem for Artosis)
I found Tal'Darim no problem under popular, but Crevasse is actually spelled with a funny E at the end. Looking through a list by searching GSL brought it up about 10th on the list.
At least this was the case doing the searching on NA. These maps are really fun to play on
The centers of the maps, which actually allow for some form of tactics, are what really interest me.
Watch the Tal`darim matches on gstl!!! THose games were sick, it so resemble sc1. This is what I have been waiting for. Just from this one map the whole sc2 metagame will change!
On February 08 2011 12:02 SoLaR[i.C] wrote: I may be the odd man out, but I absolutely hate the fact that it's so easy to secure several expansions on some of these maps.
I fear that the days of small, micro-intensive battles will soon be gone...
Well these maps take map size and close expansions to the max. I too feel that they are too big and will be big macro-fests. They are great concepts, but can only be balanced if they are much smaller. Tal'Darim Alter is something like 156x170... LT is 120x128 or so.
On February 08 2011 12:02 SoLaR[i.C] wrote: I may be the odd man out, but I absolutely hate the fact that it's so easy to secure several expansions on some of these maps.
I fear that the days of small, micro-intensive battles will soon be gone...
Well these maps take map size and close expansions to the max. I too feel that they are too big and will be big macro-fests. They are great concepts, but can only be balanced if they are much smaller. Tal'Darim Alter is something like 156x170... LT is 120x128 or so.
I think the games will be even more micro fest because you will have to do a lot more harass base tactics with the multiple expansions. Also you can only really support 2 1/2 bases and have so many probes so there will be a lot of army swapping and etc. So far the games havent been a macro fest at all.
I don't understand this misconception that large "macro maps" won't have as much micro as smaller maps. There probably won't be as much cheese, but have you watched the two Taldarim matches? There was constant engagements between the two players, where each of the engagements were won and lost in micro. When there wasn't micro, that only shows that a player has room to improve, not that micro is unimportant. If anything, the larger maps allow a player the possibility to come back from an earlier mistake through good use of macro/micro.
On February 08 2011 15:13 Rokk wrote: I don't understand this misconception that large "macro maps" won't have as much micro as smaller maps. There probably won't be as much cheese, but have you watched the two Taldarim matches? There was constant engagements between the two players, where each of the engagements were won and lost in micro. When there wasn't micro, that only shows that a player has room to improve, not that micro is unimportant. If anything, the larger maps allow a player the possibility to come back from an earlier mistake through good use of macro/micro.
Exactly, bigger maps = More micro intensive, clever play. Less A-move timing pushes and cheese.
On February 08 2011 12:02 SoLaR[i.C] wrote: I may be the odd man out, but I absolutely hate the fact that it's so easy to secure several expansions on some of these maps.
I fear that the days of small, micro-intensive battles will soon be gone...
Well these maps take map size and close expansions to the max. I too feel that they are too big and will be big macro-fests. They are great concepts, but can only be balanced if they are much smaller. Tal'Darim Alter is something like 156x170... LT is 120x128 or so.
Is it just me that feel like maps that has 4 starting locations and the main + the natrual point towards another main - is bad/umbalanced when two placers spawn close-position? let me try to show u. X=Main base/spawn and the arrow is where the natrual entrance is:
X <-X \|/ /|\ X-> X
just like Crevasse and Terminus Re. I just think that if a Terran spawn at 6 and P/Z spawn at 3, the terran player will can allways just load up a drop-ship and drop other player's main, kill of alot and then be back and def his natrual when his opponent pushes out. the player at 3 doesn't have the time to drop the other players main while he pushes out but the player at 6 does. and with the fact that drop ships are faster than a common coloussous/HT P army or an hydra/roach army off creep, I just think that some of the 4players-map is imbalanced when all natruals "points" towards a main
EPT
![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/IgzLZ.png)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/opUS5.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/dvxGe.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/3dlYh.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/PTWYF.jpg)
박상익/oGsTheWinD
김상철/oGsEnsnare
송준혁/oGsInCa
July)
RainBOw)
Virus)
고병재/GuMihofOu (#100 KR)
I wanted that to be the finals.
