We're very proud to announce the fourth edition of the Team Liquid Map Contest and another opportunity for the community to get maps into the ladder and WCS. This map contest will be looking for maps to be considered for use for WCS Season 3 -- if you missed Blizzard's announcement regarding the map pool for WCS Season 2 you can find that here. We're also including a team play map section for this seasons contest. The high placing maps in that contest will also be considered for use for on the ladder.

The TLMC has a very proud history of creating truly exceptional maps which have become tournament staples and which have served as a canvas for some of the best games in SC2's lifespan. Maps like Cloud Kingdom, Ohana, Frost, Yeonsu and Habitation Station all found their way into tournament use through the TLMC. We're excited to see what new and interesting maps the community will create for this contest.

For the 1v1 portion of the competition there is one very important restriction for this season -- maps with only two spawn positions will not be considered. This means we will only be considering maps with 3-5 spawn positions for this contest. Please consult the FAQ for more information about this restriction.

Please PM your map(s) files to TL Map Contest with the following format before Saturday, Apr 19 6:59am GMT (GMT+00:00):

Map Name:

[img]A picture of your map[/img]

Main to Main distance: (in game seconds using a worker from town hall to town hall)

Natural to Natural distance: (in game seconds using a worker from town hall to town hall)

[img]Any relevant analyzer images (optional)[/img]

[url=]Your maps download link[/url]

Entries not in this format may be excluded from consideration. Please do not send questions to the 'TL Map Contest' account; contact TLMC organizer Plexa instead.

Each edition of the TeamLiquid Map Contest has seen a high number of submissions, and we don't expect that to be any different this season. As such, we are restricting the number of entries per mapmaker to two per category. This means you can submit up to two 1v1 maps and two team play maps.

• The contest has two categories - 1v1 and team play. Mappers can submit up to two maps to each category.
  
• We suggest maps follow the following restrictions:
  1. Normal bases are always 8 normal mineral patches and 2 normal geysers
  2. High yield bases are always 6 high yield patches and 2 normal geysers
  3. Don’t change values on Neutral units. For example:
        a. Don’t change Xel’Naga watch tower or destructible rock graphics
        b. Don’t change values on mineral patches, geysers, or rock health/armor values
        c. Don’t resize mineral patches or rocks
  4. Map sizes should be sensible, use the current map pool as a guide.
  
• Maps with locked start positions are okay. This means "two in one" four player maps are acceptable entries.
  
• The following map art guidelines should be followed to ensure a smooth QA process if the map is in contention for WCS/ladder use:
  - Avoid excessive use of water
  - Avoid weather effects like falling snow, snow drift doodads, etc.
  - If using the Ice tileset, avoid using the CliffGlacier* doodad series
  - Avoid excessive stacking/overlapping of doodads in concentrated spaces
  - Excessive use of decals, custom decals
  - Excessive use of doodads that produce dynamic shadows
  - Doodads under the terrain
  - Clusters of large/complex doodads
  
• Maps which encourage the meta-game to develop in interesting ways will most likely score well.
  
• Entries are not limited to non-Koreans, Korean mapmakers are welcome to submit entries.
  
• Maps which have already been used in premier competition are not eligible for submission. If you are unsure, check with Plexa.
  
• Don't steal other peoples work and try to claim it as your own, although this should go without saying!

Any maps which are selected/considered for the final shortlist may undergo changes which the judges request for balance purposes. Any maps selected for use in WCS/ladder will undergo an extensive QA process by Blizzard. If the QA guidelines above are not followed it is possible that your map may not be considered for use!

Once the maps have been submitted they will be checked over for quality and the remaining maps will be passed to representatives from the Team Liquid Strategy team for judging. As the people on this website who spend the most time thinking about strategies and the metagame we feel that the strategy team is the perfect group to decide the best maps. They will also suggest tweaks for the finalists to correct any minor balance issues. We will announce the finalists as soon as possible.

Once the finalists are announced the public will have the opportunity to vote on which map they like the most in both the 1v1 and team play sections of the contest. Appropriate members of the Team Liquid staff (including the strategy section) and appropriate progamers will also have an opportunity to voice their opinion on the finalists. More information about this will be made available once the voting thread is up. Everyone will have at least one week to cast their vote for the contest.

Q: Will the winning map automatically be included in WCS?

No. The top 3 maps will be submitted to Blizzard for consideration for use in WCS/ladder. If they feel like none of the maps are what the map pool needs for season 3 then it is possible that no map will be picked up. Similarly, if they feel the second or third place map is a really good fit for the map pool then that map may be chosen over the first place map.

Q: Why can't I enter two player maps?

It's no secret that two player maps are the most popular kind of map created by the community. But this also means that most of the maps that are considered for WCS use are also two player maps. When discussing with Blizzard about what kinds of maps would be most beneficial to the health of the map pool we both agreed that three to five player maps would fill a void in the map pool whereas a two player map probably wouldn't. We know that three to five player maps pose unique challenges to map makers to ensure that they're playable, but we've seen well executed multiple spawn maps submitted in the past and we're confident the community will rise to the challenge this season.

Q: But I really really want to submit my two player map, please let me?

Sorry, no can do. Hold on the map for next season and submit it then!

Q: Does the `two spawn' restriction apply to team maps?

No, you're welcome to submit 'two spawn' team play maps! For 4v4 maps this is probably necessary!

Q: How crazy can my maps be?

Maps need to be ladder appropriate, that means no features that require specialist knowledge (rising lava, geysers used to block ramps, etc.) If you map passes that test and complies with the guidelines above then your map is acceptable! Of course, if you are concerned that your map may not be suitable for ladder then please PM Plexa and he will tell you whether or not it is appropriate.

Q: I want to make an FFA map for the team map contest, can I do so?

Unfortunately, at this stage we are not accepting FFA maps as part of the 'team play' component of the contest.

Q: What are the prizes for this contest?

At the moment prizes beyond being considered for WCS/ladder use have not been confirmed. Once we receive updates on this we will communicate this information.

If you have any unanswered questions please do not hesitate to ask them below or PM Plexa who will be happy to answer them. Best of luck in the competition.