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I admit I haven't been searching for too long so I apologize if someone already came up with that idea, but I found the idea of an all-time maps power rank by the community interesting.
My top 10 :
10. Merry Go Round
One of the rare 3-spawns maps to be successful. I can think of a lot of great games that took place on that map (Dream vs Life) and the map felt really great to play. A close top 10 finish, but well deserved.
9. Neo Planet S
I truly loved that map. The layout was both interesting and innovative, and it tended to provide superb games. A lot of great Proleague games were played here. A solid and fun one.
8. Iron Fortress
A very underrated map in my opinion, Iron Fortress' design encouraged aggressive play and gave us many great games. TvPs on that map tended to be especially good. Just a personal favorite of mine, it would probably be even higher on the list without the Z decal on the Xel'naga ^^
7. Whirlwind
Probably the second best HotS 4 players map, Whirlwind consistently provided excellent games and had awesome aesthetics. The map never felt broken in any mu and I can think of a lot of awesome games that took place there. An easy choice.
6. Shakuras Plateau
A WoL map that knew many versions, and the last one stood the test of time. When it came back into the #dreampool I realised how solid a map it was for its time. Another map that tended to provide intense and hard fought games. In the end, not a top 5 favorite of mine, but it was a heartbreaker not to put it into that top 5.
5. Foxtrot Labs
One of the most underrated maps of all-time if you ask me, and certainly the most unfortunate one, being very short-lived for a map of such quality. Interesting in its concept with its nice gold bases, fun both to play on and to watch, a truly great map that deserved better recognition.
4. Frost
Easily the best HotS 4 players map in my opinion, Frost saw so many great games (Dear vs Maru <3) it would have been insanity not to have it in the top 5. Well executed in all regards, both dynamic and fun, that map easily deserves that high spot. I personally hate 4 players maps with 3 spawns, probably explaining why it misses the top 3 ^^
3. Habitation Station
One of the only maps to have an apparently gimmicky feature (an easily accessible gold base) that can be exploited (the legendary gangnam Terran styles) and to still allow for incredibly stable macro play. A lot of terrific games were played on that map (oh God, Scarlett vs Bomber...) and I truly love that it was at the same time original and stable.
2. Overgrowth
Yeah, I loved Overgrowth, even after playing it for the 1000th time. It was just the perfect map, astonishingly beautiful, stable and fun both to watch and to play. A map I'm looking forward to play again on if there is another #dreampool some years from now 
1. Bel'shir Vestige
My favorite map of all-time, for the same reasons as Overgrowth : stunning aesthetics, solid gameplay, lots of history. Maybe it took the #1 spot from Overgrowth because it wasn't played as much and didn't see a lot of swarm hosts games. Just a perfect standard map, even if I think that a lot of Zerg players won't like that choice ^^. I don't care, this is just my personal ranking, and I miss that map so much.
Honorable mentions for Metalopolis, Dual Sight, Yeonsu (if only blink hadn't been insanely broken on that map), Tal'darim Altar, Terraform, Crossfire and, of course, Cloud Kingdom, King Sejong Station and Daybreak. I'm aware of how influential and good these were, they're just not personal favorites. And sorry, no LotV map deserves any recognition in my opinion so far (I guess Dusk Towers and Orbital Shipyard are OK and Ulrena can produce entertaining games, but nothing great), though the game feels incredible.
So guys, what would be your personal top 10 ?
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Incineration Zone (feel free to be a hater)
Xel'Naga Caverns
Cloud Kingdom
Those are three that come to mind.
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mmmh, top 5 without a particular order (cant think of a proper top 10):
whirlwind
frost
overgrowth
king sejong station
daybreak
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1) Ulrena
2) Scrap station
3) Prion terraces
4) Klontas mire
5) Dash and terminal
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1. King Sejong station: Unique but also very balanced and interesting (look blizzard, this is possible)
2. Merry go round: I think I have played more epic games on this map than on any other one. Also first 3 player map so extra points for uniqueness.
3. Daybreak: Set the standard for a good, balanced 1 vs 1 map together with Cloud Kingdom.
4. Cloud Kingdom: Set the standard for a good, balanced 1 vs 1 map together with Daybreak.
5. Akilon Waste: Loved it
6. Echo: A shame this was only in the mappool for 1 season. I loved this map.
7. Overgrowth: Maybe a bit boring but extremely solid and balanced.
8. Frost: Best 4 player map.
9: Whirlwind: Also an extremely solid 4 player map.
10. Cactus Valley: Quite unique 4 player map that is also relatively balanced and interesting
edit: Ah I forgot Vaani research station. replace that with cactus valley
I really hope we get some kind of dreampool back one day.
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Xel Naga Caverns
Scrap Station
Antiga Shipyard
Blood Bath
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Favorite maps? hmm these ones certainly bring back a lot of fond memories:
Xel'Naga Caverns
Cloud Kingdom LE
Ohana LE
Daybreak
*cries tears of joyful reminiscens*
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On February 23 2016 08:28 Battle51 wrote:
1) Ulrena
2) Scrap station
3) Prion terraces
4) Klontas mire
5) Dash and terminal
What's with:
-Inferno pools
-Secret spring
-Steppes of war
-Central protocol
-Daedalus point 1.0
?
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On February 23 2016 08:36 Charoisaur wrote:Show nested quote +On February 23 2016 08:28 Battle51 wrote:
1) Ulrena
2) Scrap station
3) Prion terraces
4) Klontas mire
5) Dash and terminal What's with: -Inferno pools -Secret spring -Steppes of war -Central protocol -Daedalus point 1.0 ?
#nightmarepool ^^
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your Country52797 Posts
(11. Ohana
Beach theme)
10. Korhal Sky Island
I was really, really excited for this map to get on ladder, as I figured it was the start of Blizzard introducing lots of unique maps into the pool. Little did I know..
9. Daybreak
It's just a classic. While it is easy to say a lot of stuff about this map, that's only because of how long it was able to stick around.
8. Shakuras Plateau
Another classic. To be fair, if it was made today, it would be seen as a really average/bad map, but it worked really well for players 4-5 years ago and it's only because we've gotten so much better at mapmaking (even Blizzard...).
7. Echo
I was really hyped for this map since Uvantak made it. Was slightly disappointed because not only was it picked over Ganymede, but it didn't really last long enough to become memorable.
6. Emerald Plaza
Yes, I know it's not on ladder. Blame Blizzard for not picking it from TLMC.
5. Cactus Valley
I have a theory that Cactus Valley is the last great 4p map we're going to see for a really long time, unless Blizzard goes full TLMC4 and picks 4p maps for the next season.
4. Ganymede
See #6.
3. Frost
Self-explanatory.
2. Habitation Station
This is the only map I can instantly think of that had its own rules. I would be very satisfied if Blizzard put more maps this unique on ladder... although that hasn't worked out so well for them so far.
1. King Sejong Station
Also self-explanatory.
0. Steppes of War
On February 23 2016 08:14 MrMotionPicture wrote:
Incineration Zone (feel free to be a hater)
Incineration Zone was my favorite map for years, but then HotS came around and I stopped thinking about it.
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Steppes of War
Incineration Zone
Jungle Basin
Desert Oasis
Blistering Sands
Slag Pits
Klontas Mire
Secret Spring
Ulrena
Central Protocol 1.0
+ Show Spoiler +Real List
Cloud Kingdom
Fruitland
Cactus Valley
Whirlwind
Habitation Station
Frost
Overgrowth
King Sejong Station
Neo Planet S
Daybreak
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10. Antiga Shipyard
9. Ohana
8. Neo Planet S
7. Cloud Kingdom
6. Daybreak
5. Whirlwind
4. King Sejong Station
3. Habitation Station
2. OvergrowtH
1. Frost
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On February 23 2016 08:48 The_Templar wrote:
2. Habitation Station
This is the only map I can instantly think of that had its own rules.
I really like how you phrased it. That's exactly what I would have written if I was more eloquent
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Austria24417 Posts
1) Cloud Kingdom. Simply the best.
2) Whirlwind
3) Frost
4) King Sejong Station
5) Entombed Valley
6) Belshir Vestige
7) Neo Planet S
8) Overgrowth
9) Daybreak
10) Ohana
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I guess a good mix between weird and standard maps so
Daybreak
Antiga shipyard
Frost
Overgrowth
Metalopolis
Terraform
Foxtrot labs
Crossfire
Outboxer
And my favorite map of all times by some margin: khoral sky island
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Wow thanks imre for remembering me Crossfire existed. Adding it to my honorable mentions
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10. Scrap Station
9. Daybreak
8. Cloud Kingdom
7. Whirlwind
6. Overgrowth
5. Coda
4. Tal'Darim Altar
3. Akilon Flats
2. Bel'Shir Vestige
1. Frost
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I'm a hipster, many of my favorite maps have never been on ladder. anyway I'm going with maps on ladder + pro maps
KSS
Xelnaga Caverns
Frost
Daybreak
Tal'darim altar
Outboxer
Icarus
Crossfire
Polar Night
Overgrowth
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On February 23 2016 09:07 Xenotolerance wrote:
I'm a hipster, many of my favorite maps have never been on ladder. anyway I'm going with maps on ladder + pro maps
KSS
Xelnaga Caverns
Frost
Daybreak
Tal'darim altar
Outboxer
Icarus
Crossfire
Polar Night
Overgrowth
Icarus is the map with two gold patches on the natural right?
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your Country52797 Posts
On February 23 2016 09:15 sAsImre wrote:Show nested quote +On February 23 2016 09:07 Xenotolerance wrote:
I'm a hipster, many of my favorite maps have never been on ladder. anyway I'm going with maps on ladder + pro maps
KSS
Xelnaga Caverns
Frost
Daybreak
Tal'darim altar
Outboxer
Icarus
Crossfire
Polar Night
Overgrowth Icarus is the map with two gold patches on the natural right?
Yes.
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So many good maps being mentioned that I hadn't thought about for a long while.
Seems like an article waiting to be written. One of my favourite BW articles is about the historical progression of maps: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/brood-war/84214-a-decade-of-promaps-dec-1998-dec-2008 . An SCII equivalent would be fascinating though with all the ground work being done we never got maps as pioneering as Peaks of Baekdu, Ride of the Valkyries, Monty Hall, Arkanoid.
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On February 23 2016 09:22 ZigguratOfUr wrote:So many good maps being mentioned that I hadn't thought about for a long while. Seems like an article waiting to be written. One of my favourite BW articles is about the historical progression of maps: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/brood-war/84214-a-decade-of-promaps-dec-1998-dec-2008 . An SCII equivalent would be fascinating though with all the ground work being done we never got maps as pioneering as Peaks of Baekdu, Ride of the Valkyries, Monty Hall, Arkanoid.
I hope this gives stuchiu the incentive he needed ^^
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Shakuras Plateau
Antiga Shipyards
Metropolis
Cloud Kingdom
Daybreak
Atlantis Spaceship (Mostly because of when TaeJa was able to own on this map despite BL/Festor)
Ohana
Bel'shir Beach / Bel'Shir Winter
Yeonsu (strangely enough, I remember having fun generally when playing this map)
Neo Planet S
I still have a lot of WoL nostalgia to process through 
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Edit: Nearly forgot Akilon
1. Whirlwind : To think I originally thought this map was too open and totally uninspired. Not only did I have many a great game on it, but by both my own reckoning and what appears to be the public's there were also probably more of the greatest games of all-time played on it than any other map by quite a large margin.
+ Show Spoiler [Just to bring up a few] +
- DRG vs Bogus
- Jjakji vs Dream
- Flash vs Bogus
- Flash vs Ryung
- Taeja vs Rain
- Supernova vs Bogus
- RorO vs PartinG
- Nestea vs PartinG
- Mvp vs MMA
- Bomber vs Bbyong
- Fantasy vs TRUE
- Leenock vs TY
2. Frost : Honestly, I really feel like putting this one at #1. It probably would have outdone WW had it actually stuck around for longer, but WW just was allowed to have more lasting appeal. Frost was gorgeous, maintained good balanced throughout its run, showcased different varieties of play depending on the spawns and much like WW gave us a staggering number of great professional games. Never felt like Frost overstayed its welcome either, in fact it may have died a bit early.
3, King Sejong Station: An amazing map that maintained good balance gave many exciting macro games and showcased quite a lot of variety even far into its lifespan. In fact the biggest negative I can think of with KSS was how friendly it was to boring SH games. SPL needs to get back to being a trendsetter in map-making.
4. Cloud Kingdom: One of the most beautiful maps of all-time. Not much more to say that hasn't already been said about the above three. Very similar to KSS in the variety it demonstrated, though not quite as well balanced.
5. Daybreak: The map that just wouldn't die. I still loved it though. Perhaps if it hadn't stuck around for so long it wouldn't be remembered with such dread.
6. Akilon Wastes (Flats): How did I almost forget this one. LOVED this map early on in HotS (and basically the WoL version). Never got why it didn't get more recognition. It had good variety and was fairly consistent at giving quality macro games. Also Gumiho vs Losira was kind of the best game ever.
7. Shakuras Plateau: Even from a Zerg perspective I loved this map. Sure it turned out to be really imbalanced, but back in the day it was a nice reprieve from so many of the other smaller (and terrible maps) in the pool. Also, MKP vs Nada and DRG vs MMA were played on it. IMO two of the top 10 games of all-time.
8. Metropolis: Just to be clear I mean this map . I don't care how imba it was, we got so many memorable games on it. #1 map I wanted to see make a return in HotS. Also....ez Zerg wins >____>
9. Tal'Darim Altar : One of the earliest large maps and still one of the best.
10. Habitation Station: A map that dared to have balls and succeeded. Easily one of the most beautiful maps of all-time that unfortunately died too young. Was really SH friendly at times though.
Honorable Mentions: Cactus Valley and Metalopolis
Cactus probably would've ended up as top 5 had it stuck around for longer and not appeared during one of the weakest eras of sc2. Metalopolis was just too much of a classic not to mention. There was a map that had me going back and forth in emotion with all the evolutions it went through.
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Catallena
Daybreak
Overgrowth
Vaani
Metalopolis
Coda
Deadwing
Ruins of Seras
Scrap Station
Cloud Kingdom
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On February 23 2016 09:07 Xenotolerance wrote:
I'm a hipster, many of my favorite maps have never been on ladder. anyway I'm going with maps on ladder + pro maps
KSS
Xelnaga Caverns
Frost
Daybreak METALOPOLIS
Tal'darim altar
Outboxer
Icarus
Crossfire
Polar Night
Overgrowth
I forgot about metal, how did I forget about metal
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10. Dusk Towers
9. Whirlwind
8. Terraform LE
7. Antiga Shipyard
6. Overgrowth
5. Bel'Shir Vestige
4. Korhal Compound
3. Cloud Kingdom
2. Daybreak
1. Orbital Shipyard
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I'm definitely leaving out a lot of maps here, this is just stuff I remember off the top of my head, in no particular order:
Edit: Ladder maps only, again not in order. Note the distinct lack of any blizz maps.
- Cloud Kingdom - the rest are unordered but this is a definite number 1, it helped solidify the standard map criteria along with being one of the first ladder maps to use chokes effectively
- Daybreak - the other standard map codifier
- Overgrowth - the best refinement of the standard map concept, clearly based on the previous two
- Foxtrot Labs - great ramp placement, forces you to think about army movement
- Planet S - unique circular layout allowed for reasonable distances and spread-out bases on an unusually small map
- King Sejong Station - interesting layout, not much else to say about it
- Habitation Station - golds n stuff
- Frost - as someone who hates rotational asymmetry, this is one of the very few 4p ladder maps I have genuinely liked
- Dash and Terminal - very interesting use of chokes
- Terraform - my last, completely unbiased selection
Honorable mentions:
Favorite map I made: Miris Spele
Favorite BW map: Oxide
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man if you're going to bring in all maps ever this gets way, way harder
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10) Polar Growth
9) Habitation Station
8) Ohana (means family)
7) Cactus Valley
6) Daybreak
5) Whirlwind
4) King Sejong Station
3) Overgrowth
2) BelShir Vestige
1) Frost
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Daybreak and Cloud Kingdom were the biggest leap, map-wise.
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your Country52797 Posts
On February 23 2016 10:00 Xenotolerance wrote:
man if you're going to bring in all maps ever this gets way, way harder
I'm just gonna pick 10 maps I made, no bias.
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On February 23 2016 10:00 Xenotolerance wrote:
man if you're going to bring in all maps ever this gets way, way harder
The problem with considering all maps, is that few (no?) maps that haven't been on ladder or been featured in major tournaments have faced sufficient scrutiny from the pros to expose all of their flaws.
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On February 23 2016 10:13 ZigguratOfUr wrote:Show nested quote +On February 23 2016 10:00 Xenotolerance wrote:
man if you're going to bring in all maps ever this gets way, way harder The problem with considering all maps, is that few (no?) maps that haven't been on ladder or been featured in major tournaments have faced sufficient scrutiny from the pros to expose all of their flaws.
Yeah I think we should stick to tournament/ladder maps.
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On February 23 2016 10:15 [PkF] Wire wrote:Show nested quote +On February 23 2016 10:13 ZigguratOfUr wrote:On February 23 2016 10:00 Xenotolerance wrote:
man if you're going to bring in all maps ever this gets way, way harder The problem with considering all maps, is that few (no?) maps that haven't been on ladder or been featured in major tournaments have faced sufficient scrutiny from the pros to expose all of their flaws. Yeah I think we should stick to tournament/ladder maps.
Then I vote for Dire Straights
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I'm truly amazed Foxtrot Labs gets little to no love. I really enjoyed playing that map and I remember a lot of great televised games on it. It was also conceptually interesting and very well done overall.
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On February 23 2016 10:18 Naracs_Duc wrote:Show nested quote +On February 23 2016 10:15 [PkF] Wire wrote:On February 23 2016 10:13 ZigguratOfUr wrote:On February 23 2016 10:00 Xenotolerance wrote:
man if you're going to bring in all maps ever this gets way, way harder The problem with considering all maps, is that few (no?) maps that haven't been on ladder or been featured in major tournaments have faced sufficient scrutiny from the pros to expose all of their flaws. Yeah I think we should stick to tournament/ladder maps. Then I vote for Dire Straights
That map would make my top 5 StarCraft ladder default maps (ahead of Acropolis and Polaris Prime).
edit: Actually on second thought it might make top three. Lost Temple and Rivalry are definitely better, but you could convince me that Ashrigo and Proving Grounds are worse.
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On February 23 2016 10:18 Naracs_Duc wrote:Show nested quote +On February 23 2016 10:15 [PkF] Wire wrote:On February 23 2016 10:13 ZigguratOfUr wrote:On February 23 2016 10:00 Xenotolerance wrote:
man if you're going to bring in all maps ever this gets way, way harder The problem with considering all maps, is that few (no?) maps that haven't been on ladder or been featured in major tournaments have faced sufficient scrutiny from the pros to expose all of their flaws. Yeah I think we should stick to tournament/ladder maps. Then I vote for Dire Straights
I'm missing the joke here, been searching a bit for "dire straights" and nothing SC related seems to come out. Link ?
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On February 23 2016 10:27 [PkF] Wire wrote:Show nested quote +On February 23 2016 10:18 Naracs_Duc wrote:On February 23 2016 10:15 [PkF] Wire wrote:On February 23 2016 10:13 ZigguratOfUr wrote:On February 23 2016 10:00 Xenotolerance wrote:
man if you're going to bring in all maps ever this gets way, way harder The problem with considering all maps, is that few (no?) maps that haven't been on ladder or been featured in major tournaments have faced sufficient scrutiny from the pros to expose all of their flaws. Yeah I think we should stick to tournament/ladder maps. Then I vote for Dire Straights I'm missing the joke here, been searching a bit for "dire straights" and nothing SC related seems to come out. Link ?
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/Dire_Straits
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On February 23 2016 10:28 ZigguratOfUr wrote:Show nested quote +On February 23 2016 10:27 [PkF] Wire wrote:On February 23 2016 10:18 Naracs_Duc wrote:On February 23 2016 10:15 [PkF] Wire wrote:On February 23 2016 10:13 ZigguratOfUr wrote:On February 23 2016 10:00 Xenotolerance wrote:
man if you're going to bring in all maps ever this gets way, way harder The problem with considering all maps, is that few (no?) maps that haven't been on ladder or been featured in major tournaments have faced sufficient scrutiny from the pros to expose all of their flaws. Yeah I think we should stick to tournament/ladder maps. Then I vote for Dire Straights I'm missing the joke here, been searching a bit for "dire straights" and nothing SC related seems to come out. Link ? http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/Dire_Straits
thanks
people so excited about island maps
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your Country52797 Posts
On February 23 2016 10:28 ZigguratOfUr wrote:Show nested quote +On February 23 2016 10:27 [PkF] Wire wrote:On February 23 2016 10:18 Naracs_Duc wrote:On February 23 2016 10:15 [PkF] Wire wrote:On February 23 2016 10:13 ZigguratOfUr wrote:On February 23 2016 10:00 Xenotolerance wrote:
man if you're going to bring in all maps ever this gets way, way harder The problem with considering all maps, is that few (no?) maps that haven't been on ladder or been featured in major tournaments have faced sufficient scrutiny from the pros to expose all of their flaws. Yeah I think we should stick to tournament/ladder maps. Then I vote for Dire Straights I'm missing the joke here, been searching a bit for "dire straights" and nothing SC related seems to come out. Link ? http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/Dire_Straits
Looks similar to this- coincidence??
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On February 23 2016 10:33 The_Templar wrote:Show nested quote +On February 23 2016 10:28 ZigguratOfUr wrote:On February 23 2016 10:27 [PkF] Wire wrote:On February 23 2016 10:18 Naracs_Duc wrote:On February 23 2016 10:15 [PkF] Wire wrote:On February 23 2016 10:13 ZigguratOfUr wrote:On February 23 2016 10:00 Xenotolerance wrote:
man if you're going to bring in all maps ever this gets way, way harder The problem with considering all maps, is that few (no?) maps that haven't been on ladder or been featured in major tournaments have faced sufficient scrutiny from the pros to expose all of their flaws. Yeah I think we should stick to tournament/ladder maps. Then I vote for Dire Straights I'm missing the joke here, been searching a bit for "dire straights" and nothing SC related seems to come out. Link ? http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/Dire_Straits Looks similar to this- coincidence??
let's see... one is a bunch of blobs with bases on them, the other is a bunch of blobs with bases on them - yep, similar indeed
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On February 23 2016 10:33 The_Templar wrote:Show nested quote +On February 23 2016 10:28 ZigguratOfUr wrote:On February 23 2016 10:27 [PkF] Wire wrote:On February 23 2016 10:18 Naracs_Duc wrote:On February 23 2016 10:15 [PkF] Wire wrote:On February 23 2016 10:13 ZigguratOfUr wrote:On February 23 2016 10:00 Xenotolerance wrote:
man if you're going to bring in all maps ever this gets way, way harder The problem with considering all maps, is that few (no?) maps that haven't been on ladder or been featured in major tournaments have faced sufficient scrutiny from the pros to expose all of their flaws. Yeah I think we should stick to tournament/ladder maps. Then I vote for Dire Straights I'm missing the joke here, been searching a bit for "dire straights" and nothing SC related seems to come out. Link ? http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/Dire_Straits Looks similar to this- coincidence??
Huh. I had never seen that map before. It does have the same layout albeit rotated even including the double base islands in the middle.
On February 23 2016 10:29 [PkF] Wire wrote:Show nested quote +On February 23 2016 10:28 ZigguratOfUr wrote:On February 23 2016 10:27 [PkF] Wire wrote:On February 23 2016 10:18 Naracs_Duc wrote:On February 23 2016 10:15 [PkF] Wire wrote:On February 23 2016 10:13 ZigguratOfUr wrote:On February 23 2016 10:00 Xenotolerance wrote:
man if you're going to bring in all maps ever this gets way, way harder The problem with considering all maps, is that few (no?) maps that haven't been on ladder or been featured in major tournaments have faced sufficient scrutiny from the pros to expose all of their flaws. Yeah I think we should stick to tournament/ladder maps. Then I vote for Dire Straights I'm missing the joke here, been searching a bit for "dire straights" and nothing SC related seems to come out. Link ? http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft/Dire_Straits thanks people so excited about island maps
Island maps in BW are great. As a general rule, Zerg gets destroyed.
My favourite island map would be Troy, which is (to my knowledge) the only reverse semi-island map in the game. Also featured an amazing drone drill game in the OSL finals.
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Xel Naga Caverns
Terraform LE
King Sejong Station
Metalopolis
Expedition Lost
In no particular order.
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WoL was best era with best maps.  Metalopolis, Scrap Station, Xel&, Antiga Shipyard, Entombed Valley, Cloud Kingdom - no any TLMC can beat any of them.
In HotS - The King Sejong Station, Deadwing, Foxtrot Labs,Catallena, Whirlwind, Merry Go Round, Habitation Station were decent ones.
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1 - Cloud Kingdom
2 - Frost
3 - King Sejong Station
I also very much like Habitation Station, Antiga, Shakuras, Neo Planet S and Bel'Shir Beach.
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Entombed was also a good one. One of very few Blizzard maps I can say that about.
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What was that one that got yanked really fast;
it was in the shape of a 'V' (somewhat Ulrena like);
this was early HOTS or later Wings?
It had a lava-environment theme to it.
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I like the lists of worst maps... but man noone mentioned searing crater. damn that was fun
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Whirlwind
Bel'Shir Vestige
KSS
I adored those 3 maps. There's nothing that can compare.
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1. Steppes of War
2-10: Also Steppes of War
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On February 23 2016 11:37 WeddingEpisode wrote:
What was that one that got yanked really fast;
it was in the shape of a 'V' (somewhat Ulrena like);
this was early HOTS or later Wings?
It had a lava-environment theme to it.
I think you're talking about Incineration Zone.
But maybe Scrap Station?
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Form my Top 9 (In no real Order):
Metropolis
Daybreak
Shakuras Plateau
Atlantis Spaceship
Cloud Kingdom
Ohana
iCCup Testbug (MMA killing his CC into idra GGing will forever be in my memory)
Terraform
Habitation Station
Now for 10... A bit of a tie between:
Original Tal'Darim Altar / Crevasse - I really liked the single rich Vespene at the 3rd and natural on respective maps.
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On February 23 2016 11:37 WeddingEpisode wrote:
What was that one that got yanked really fast;
it was in the shape of a 'V' (somewhat Ulrena like);
this was early HOTS or later Wings?
It had a lava-environment theme to it.
Klontas Mire?
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1. metalopolis
2. steppes of war
3. star station
4. lost temple (not shattered temple)
5. xel'naga caverns
6. slag pits
7. cloud kingdom
8. yeonsu
9. heavy rain
10. secret spring
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Now I would kill for a classic map tournament. So many memories, it makes me all weepy...
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1. Bel'Shir Vestige
2. King Sejong
3. Cloud Kingdom
4. Yeonsu
5. Crossfire
6. Expedition Lost
7. Xel'Naga Caverns
8. Desert Oasis
9. Entombed Valley
10. Daybreak
Fucked up on the ordering, but these are my 10 best.
Edit: Forgot the newest: Echo LE, Terraform I think these top Entombed/Daybreak. Ulrena gets special mention for best map of current pool.
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steppes of war,
drone rushing and winning.
nah i'm kidding.
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1. Ohana LE (reason: It was the first map i ever played on)
2. Secret Spring
3. Bel'Shir Vestige LE
4. Akilon Wastes
5. Habitation Station LE
6. Neo Planet S LE
7. Overgrowth LE
8. Star Station v1.10 (When it was 4 base)
9. Heavy Rain LE
10. Frost LE
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From top to bottom:
WW
KSS
Neo Planet S
Overgrowth
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Czech Republic12129 Posts
1) Alterzim Stronghold
I love this map, it is my favorite map from HotS. So many great memories Also some of the best games happened there(sOs - Yoda? Zest - soO(I think))
2) Yeonsu
I was never into blink builds, but I kinda loved this map in PvP and PvT, it is a nice map with an interesting style with winter and green sets
3) Inferno Pools
Many great memories tied with this map. Like PvZ for more than hour, where I played on 1 base and Zerg had the whole map and I was just migrating with MS from base to base, oh the good ol' SH stalemates 
4) Akilon Wastes
Map with Carrier build, everything explained
5) Antiga Shipyard
One of the best small maps
6) Tal'Darim Altar
Great memories and probably one of the only maps where I wasn't that much furious because there were no ramps
7) Cloud Kingdom
Obvious.
8) Shakuras Plateau
Dark map yet visible. Interesting layout. Defendable against drops yet open to drops. This map is good
9) Zerus Prime
MEGA MAP with so many free bases, so many insane builds, so many insane games(Hi, CatZ!(he played there a game where he won with Carriers, storms and blords))
10) Metalopolis
The 1st map where I practiced the walling thingy and it worked(except the 1 game where I blocked my nexus with a pylon ) Love this map
What I think is interesting, many of my maps are NOT DARK! See, Blizzard, you can have a map pool with bright maps!
(no LotV maps as I still think LotV sucks and I don't play it)
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Katowice25012 Posts
On February 23 2016 08:49 LongShot27 wrote:
Fruitland
This man speaks the truth, that map was craziness. The kind of weird shit only GSTL got away with.
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France9034 Posts
My top ten is quite simple.
1.Cloud Kingdom
2.Cloud Kingdom
3.Cloud Kingdom
4.Cloud Kingdom
5.Cloud Kingdom
6.Cloud Kingdom
7.Cloud Kingdom
8.Cloud Kingdom
9.Cloud Kingdom
10.King Sejong Station
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hahahahaha, I do remember #dreampool where we had to vote for our favorite maps, that was a real nightmare, not gonna even try again.
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United Kingdom36161 Posts
On February 23 2016 19:24 Ragnarork wrote:
My top ten is quite simple.
1.Cloud Kingdom
2.Cloud Kingdom
3.Cloud Kingdom
4.Cloud Kingdom
5.Cloud Kingdom
6.Cloud Kingdom
7.Cloud Kingdom
8.Cloud Kingdom
9.Cloud Kingdom
10.King Sejong Station
not bad. i like it.
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Every map when you can wall in ZvZ against stupid ling allin.
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If we're only counting maps that got played in broadcasted tournaments :
10. Expedition Lost
Because #ByuLshit. Also a good map, interesting and innovative, that sadly got a lot of hate because it was non-standard.
9. Pantanal
A good, while somewhat forgettable, solid map, which was really enjoyable to play on at first. Too bad it got overplayed and everyone grew sick of it. It also had the tendency to produce always the same PvT games.
8. Neo Planet S
Yeah it's an early HotS map, but yeah it was awesome. Like, really awesome. Also, the memories of Stephano vs ForGG will forever be in my mind.
7. King Sejong Station
A proof that PL maps are best maps. It's innovative, it promotes interesting play, yet is balanced if we look at the figures. It's also a snow map, and everything that breaks from the terrible trend of grey-black-dark map is GOOD (you know guys, there's "star" in "starcraft", and stars are supposed to be related to LIGHT).
6. Heavy Rain
Yes, it's a symbol of the Blink era as well as of the Swarm Host era. Yes, this is the map on which the infamous Stephano vs FireCake 3-hour long ladder game was played. And yes, it's just fucking awesome. I like its "lane" concept, I like its aesthetics, I have the memories of good games played on it, including ZvZ. I just think it was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
5. Habitation Station
As Templar said, this map had its own rules. I only rank it fifth because of its tendency to create (annoying) SH vs P or SH vs mech games.
4. Foxtrot Labs
Okay, let's get real on this one. It's just the second best map which ever graced the ladder mappool with its presence. Yet people hated on it because it was what cool kids did, and because it's so much easier to hate on the map than to accept that in a strategy game, terrain has an influence on strategy. But that map is just legendary, as well as being one the only map that was both well-made and annoying to the players, as some maps should be.
3. Outboxer
The second proof that PL maps are best maps. That was a very good standard map with personality, which produced very good games both in PL and in NationWars. Really sad the ridiculous folks at Blizzard prefered to put Merry-go-round or Catalenna in the map pool.
2. Frost
Yep, sick map. Standard, solid, interesting in all positions. Got a bit overplayed too after a while, but well.
1. Kamala Park
The Zest of maps. A shame only O'Gaming had the balls to make players play on it. Yet with very few knowledge of the map, players delivered good games on it. This map is genius printed on screen.
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I'm sure some of my picks are a little less than standard, but I like what I like, I guess...
10. Bel'shir Vestige
All round solid map, easy top 10 pick, though not outstanding.
9. Frost
Solid economic map, enough said.
8. Polar Night
Interesting base layout, would have ranked higher had it utilized map space better.
7. Crossfire SE
I like the idea more than the map, still the concept is awesome enough to rank it in my top 10, including some incredible games.
6. Overgrowth
Solid aggressive map, enough said.
5. Whirlwind
Solid economic map, enough said.
4. Neo Planet S
Donuts for life. Interesting golds and pathing. Scary third in some cases.
3. Cloud Kingdom
Masterpiece of it's time. Before blink really became a problem.
2. Habitation Station
Map invented strategies not possible on other maps, big win.
1. King Sejong Station
Incredibly unorthodox pathing and base layout. Fun map no matter how I played it.
Edit: It warms my heart to see Yeonsu made a few peoples lists or honorable mentions, even if it didn't make mine :D
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The relative lack of Daybreak in these lists is dissapointing
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Russian Federation367 Posts
1) Crevasse
Ohana
Daybreak
Belshir
Cloud Kingdom
Overgrowth
Tal'Darim Altar
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1. Frost
2. King Sejong Station
3. Habitation Station
4. Echo
5. Shakuras Plateau
6. Daybreak
7. Terraform
8. Whirlwind
9. Cactus Valley
10. Tal'darim Altar
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For realsies though, I don't think I've played any maps more than Hunters or BGH.
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Clear winners are Overgrowth and Coda. I also liked Cloud Kingdom and Daybreak a lot, but I don't think they are very well balanced.
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Tal Darim Altar, Xel Naga Caverns...
And I know I'm going to get some haters but I have many fond memories of Kulas Ravine.
Since then Cloud Kingdom, Ohana, and (guilty pleasure) Prion Terraces.
Edit: Possibly also Fruitland.
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On February 23 2016 19:20 Heyoka wrote:This man speaks the truth, that map was craziness. The kind of weird shit only GSTL got away with.
Well to be fair proleague had some neat ones for a while. Especially Anarachnia (or whatever it was called. With the gazillion destructible rocks).
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On February 24 2016 03:30 TheDougler wrote:Show nested quote +On February 23 2016 19:20 Heyoka wrote:On February 23 2016 08:49 LongShot27 wrote:
Fruitland This man speaks the truth, that map was craziness. The kind of weird shit only GSTL got away with. Well to be fair proleague had some neat ones for a while. Especially Anarachnia (or whatever it was called. With the gazillion destructible rocks).
Arkanoid It was a BW map. Like bifrost and fighting spirit
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10. Korhal Sky Island - Really cool/fun map. Wish we saw more like it.
9. Ohana - really balanced and nice theme
8. Whirlwind - Macro boys!
7. Taldarim Alter - After the first 4 gate nerf, I had quite a number of good games here.
6. Belshir Vestige - I remember seeing this for the first time at IPL 5 Korea v World. Then it became one of the best HotS maps ever.
5. King Sejong Station - Probably my favorite/most balanced 2 player map. Plenty of great games, and not as many rushes as on CK and Ovie.
4. Cactus Valley - HYPE
3. Shakuras Plateau - What a brilliant map. This is was straight up an amazing map back in the day. HuK v Idra, Mvp v Nestea, DRG v MMA!
2. Akilon Wastes - When HotS beta was at a close, this map was by far my favorite. I know a lot of people dislike it, but I had a hell of a good time on it.
1. Metropolis - Islands. Long enough for safe macro. Too bad the ladder version lagged like all hell...
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On February 23 2016 19:03 deacon.frost wrote:1) Alterzim StrongholdI love this map, it is my favorite map from HotS. So many great memories Also some of the best games happened there(sOs - Yoda? Zest - soO(I think)) 2) YeonsuI was never into blink builds, but I kinda loved this map in PvP and PvT, it is a nice map with an interesting style with winter and green sets 3) Inferno PoolsMany great memories tied with this map. Like PvZ for more than hour, where I played on 1 base and Zerg had the whole map and I was just migrating with MS from base to base, oh the good ol' SH stalemates 4) Akilon WastesMap with Carrier build, everything explained 5) Antiga ShipyardOne of the best small maps 6) Tal'Darim AltarGreat memories and probably one of the only maps where I wasn't that much furious because there were no ramps 7) Cloud KingdomObvious. 8) Shakuras PlateauDark map yet visible. Interesting layout. Defendable against drops yet open to drops. This map is good 9) Zerus PrimeMEGA MAP with so many free bases, so many insane builds, so many insane games(Hi, CatZ!(he played there a game where he won with Carriers, storms and blords)) 10) MetalopolisThe 1st map where I practiced the walling thingy and it worked(except the 1 game where I blocked my nexus with a pylon ) Love this map What I think is interesting, many of my maps are NOT DARK! See, Blizzard, you can have a map pool with bright maps! (no LotV maps as I still think LotV sucks and I don't play it) for alterzim yes it was zest v soo gsl finals season 1 2014 g6
Sos, are yountalking about the carriers? If so that was jjakji, at iem ro8? Iem WC 2014 g3
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1. Cloud Kingdom
- Perfect set up of expansions, pathways and chokepoints. The most strategical map ever created.
2. King Sejong Station
- Great base set up, cool balance between chokes and open areas. Produced some of the most diverse and fun games ever.
3. Metalopolis
- The first good map in SC2. Obviously not as great as many of the others, but the perfect map to start SC2. Kinda. Once they disabled close spawns.
4. Daybreak
- The Grandfather of standard maps. Interesting expansion choices. Almost still playable.
5. Overgrowth
- A map so good it was often seen as bad for the game. Allowed for a great diversity of styles in all matchups.
6. Habitation Station
- The revolution in matchmaking. Maybe it didn't produce only great games, but it opened many eyes to the possibilities within SC2.
7. Whirlwind
- The only 4 player rotational symmetric map on which spawn positions didn't feel like winning/losing the lottery.
8. Yeonsu
- The map that should have been what Overgrowth eventually became for HotS. Got blunk out of the mappool.
9. Antiga Shipyard
- A very straight forward map whose central watchtower platform with access to a goldbase 4th created very dynamic and positional games.
10. Frost
- Great map, with a few sympathic flaws. Finally a community made 4 player map that wasn't rotational imbalanced.
Probably forgetting a lot of great ones.
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On February 23 2016 21:00 OtherWorld wrote:
4. Foxtrot Labs
Okay, let's get real on this one. It's just the second best map which ever graced the ladder mappool with its presence. Yet people hated on it because it was what cool kids did, and because it's so much easier to hate on the map than to accept that in a strategy game, terrain has an influence on strategy. But that map is just legendary, as well as being one the only map that was both well-made and annoying to the players, as some maps should be.
I don't think I can agree with this. This map was very hard in ZvT in top left/bot right because of a gold 3rd for Terran and considerably hard in PvZ in the other spawns because of how difficult it was for Protoss to defend their 3rd.
Foxtrot had its charm, but it also had some nasty flaws that weren't necessarily roach/bane or 8/8/8
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On February 24 2016 03:59 Cricketer12 wrote:
9. Ohana - really balanced and nice theme
For gods sake, come on man. That map ended up being one of the most unbalanced maps in the entire map pool (60-65% for PvZ). The soultrain was almost unstoppable on that map, even with zerg being overpowered during that time.
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On February 24 2016 05:21 NikaLogy wrote:Show nested quote +On February 24 2016 03:59 Cricketer12 wrote:
9. Ohana - really balanced and nice theme
For gods sake, come on man. That map ended up being one of the most unbalanced maps in the entire map pool (60-65% for PvZ). The soultrain was almost unstoppable on that map, even with zerg being overpowered during that time.
Does it help if i didnt partake i gross things like that?
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On February 24 2016 05:21 NikaLogy wrote:Show nested quote +On February 24 2016 03:59 Cricketer12 wrote:
9. Ohana - really balanced and nice theme
For gods sake, come on man. That map ended up being one of the most unbalanced maps in the entire map pool (60-65% for PvZ). The soultrain was almost unstoppable on that map, even with zerg being overpowered during that time.
Thread asks what your favorite maps are personally, not what you think the greatest ones are in SC2 history balance-wise. Biased or not, let the man have his opinion.
For me, I'll go with Ohana because I made it and it has a lot of sentimental value to me. Otherwise it's Cloud Kingdom (although I hate the purple contrast personally), Daybreak, Lost Temple (the newer one), and Frost. I haven't played in a while so I know there's a few more on the list but I can't remember the names.
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sorry meant to edit previous post and quoted accidently
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KSS
BelShir Vestige
Frost
Habitation
Polar Night
Vaani Research
Overgrowth
Ulrena
Dual Sight
Xel Naga
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On February 24 2016 05:21 NikaLogy wrote:Show nested quote +On February 24 2016 03:59 Cricketer12 wrote:
9. Ohana - really balanced and nice theme
For gods sake, come on man. That map ended up being one of the most unbalanced maps in the entire map pool (60-65% for PvZ). The soultrain was almost unstoppable on that map, even with zerg being overpowered during that time.
balance =/= fun
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Man my favorite map was Whirlwind, taldarim Altar 2nd. God I want more maps like whirlwind damnit!
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EPT
