This season, we're bringing modular space stations, rich oases, and strange lands of varying mineral supplies to the StarCraft II ladder. To help prepare you for your new battlegrounds, we've put together this blog to share details about this set of upcoming maps, which have largely been sourced from the community thanks to their efforts and the Team Liquid Map Contest 8.
These maps will be coming at the start of 2017 Season 2, which begins soon! On Tuesday, April 25, a ladder lock will go into effect. During the lock, player cannot be promoted or demoted and bonus pools stop growing. However, MMRs will still change and players can compete for standing in their specific division. The lock lasts one week, from April 25 to May 2nd, at which point 2017 Season 2 will begin and these maps will join the pool!
Below is a preview of each of next season's maps. As always, the main goal here was to have strong variety in map types so that ladder play can be more diverse and fun. We hope you like them!
Ascension to Aiur is a macro map that placed 2nd overall in the Team Liquid Map Contest. It features a more constrained center with open areas around the sides of the map. Its base layout also allows for players to have lots of choices in how they wish to expand.
Blood Boil is a map finalist from the experimental resource category from the Team Liquid Map Contest. This map features multiple bases with increased mineral patches but reduced Vespene gas geysers, most notably the protected expansion near your main base.
Defenders Landing comes from the Team Liquid Map Contest rush category. Featuring short distances between the main bases this map favors early aggression but a collapsible tower near the natural expansion can redirect these early attacks.
Odyssey was voted the winner of the last Team Liquid Map Contest. This map can favor either aggressive or defensive playstyles. Additionally, this map features several bases with unusual resource counts, including a strategically vulnerable base with 3 Vespene geysers.
Overgrown Facility provides different options for starting strategies.Coordinate with your teammate to choose your early game defenses carefully. Teammates can wall off their own individual main ramps, or work together to wall off the larger shared choke located just outside the main ramps. When attacking, players can attack from the front, or clear rocks to approach from the side. Gold expansions are located nearby but they can be risky to hold.
Traitor’s Exile allows large battles to take place in the middle areas. Watch out for frontal attacks in the early game and take note of the two destructible rocks that can be broken to open new attack paths.
Make sure to utilize the four natural expansions as well as the island expansions on Bastion of the Conclave. Also, destructible rocks can be destroyed to open up shorter attack routes.
On Black Site 2E, players can take nearby expansions fairly quickly. Fight over control of the center area in order to gain access to the High Yield expansions. Coordinate with your teammates to plan for an early rush, or expand to try and play into the late game.
All players start together and there are many safe expansions to take on Last Remnant. Coordinate with your teammates to gain an economic advantage or engage your enemy with an aggressive opening.
Allies share a fortress and nearby expansions can be quickly captured. Utilize the Xel'Naga Watch Towers to keep an eye on the center areas and prepare for large engagements.
We hope you enjoy the maps for the upcoming season, and please feel free to share your feedback with us. We'll see you on the ladder!
P.S: Tried to made preview images as clickable links. However I'm so bad with TL editor so at least this!
On April 20 2017 04:30 mizenhauer wrote: Meanwhile the pros are playing on Overgrowth, Deadwing, Daybreak and Frost. I cannot adequately express how lucky they are.
I was convinced that most of people are totally fed up with half of those (Overgrowth and Daybreak).
On April 20 2017 04:30 mizenhauer wrote: Meanwhile the pros are playing on Overgrowth, Deadwing, Daybreak and Frost. I cannot adequately express how lucky they are.
I was convinced that most of people are totally fed up with half of those (Overgrowth and Daybreak).
People would rather watch bad games on new maps than good games on good maps that have been around for years (because they are good).
On April 20 2017 04:30 mizenhauer wrote: Meanwhile the pros are playing on Overgrowth, Deadwing, Daybreak and Frost. I cannot adequately express how lucky they are.
I was convinced that most of people are totally fed up with half of those (Overgrowth and Daybreak).
People would rather watch bad games on new maps than good games on good maps that have been around for years (because they are good).
Those maps happen to be between mediocre and awful in LotV. In the case of Deadwing it was awful in HotS too.
On April 20 2017 04:30 mizenhauer wrote: Meanwhile the pros are playing on Overgrowth, Deadwing, Daybreak and Frost. I cannot adequately express how lucky they are.
I was convinced that most of people are totally fed up with half of those (Overgrowth and Daybreak).
People would rather watch bad games on new maps than good games on good maps that have been around for years (because they are good).
Those maps happen to be between mediocre and awful in LotV. In the case of Deadwing it was awful in HotS too.
Then why did the pros choose them in SSL instead of ladder maps that are far easier to practice on?
On April 20 2017 04:30 mizenhauer wrote: Meanwhile the pros are playing on Overgrowth, Deadwing, Daybreak and Frost. I cannot adequately express how lucky they are.
I was convinced that most of people are totally fed up with half of those (Overgrowth and Daybreak).
People would rather watch bad games on new maps than good games on good maps that have been around for years (because they are good).
Those maps happen to be between mediocre and awful in LotV. In the case of Deadwing it was awful in HotS too.
Then why did the pros choose them in SSL instead of ladder maps that are far easier to practice on?
I don't think anybody on Earth would be able to tell you why Deadwing was ever picked by anyone.
On April 20 2017 04:30 mizenhauer wrote: Meanwhile the pros are playing on Overgrowth, Deadwing, Daybreak and Frost. I cannot adequately express how lucky they are.
I was convinced that most of people are totally fed up with half of those (Overgrowth and Daybreak).
People would rather watch bad games on new maps than good games on good maps that have been around for years (because they are good).
Those maps happen to be between mediocre and awful in LotV. In the case of Deadwing it was awful in HotS too.
Then why did the pros choose them in SSL instead of ladder maps that are far easier to practice on?
I don't think anybody on Earth would be able to tell you why Deadwing was ever picked by anyone.
Probably picked as a memory test. "How many progamers do you think will remember there are no horizontal spawns on Deadwing?"
My goal is to get 1 more map on ladder and then hope blizzard does a "Sidian Throwback Season" where the entire ladder pool is just all my past ladder maps.
On April 20 2017 04:30 mizenhauer wrote: Meanwhile the pros are playing on Overgrowth, Deadwing, Daybreak and Frost. I cannot adequately express how lucky they are.
I was convinced that most of people are totally fed up with half of those (Overgrowth and Daybreak).
People would rather watch bad games on new maps than good games on good maps that have been around for years (because they are good).
The thing is, at one time Daybreak and Overgrowth were the new maps on the block. These maps have to be given a chance or we would never even get a Daybreak/Overgrowth. The great maps aren't these mystical beings that have just always been around.
Nor are they infallible - I know a lot of mapmakers think some of the "greats" have some major flaws that could be improved upon. Some even think that some of the greats aren't that great, they just happen to be maps that got played on a lot, and then people got used to them and they were accepted. And then of course because there's been a zillion games played on them people link a bunch of VODs of great games that were played on them because, of course, when you play enough games on literally ANY map it will have plenty of great games. Because Starcraft 2 is a great game so it produces great games a reasonable % of the time regardless of the map.
But back on topic: glad we finally went to all community maps. It's long past-due. I'm iffy on a couple of them but you can't account for everyone's tastes when picking. Overall should be a good pool.
On April 20 2017 04:30 mizenhauer wrote: Meanwhile the pros are playing on Overgrowth, Deadwing, Daybreak and Frost. I cannot adequately express how lucky they are.
While it's fine that old proven maps are still used for how solid they are, I don't like the implication that we should just stop making maps because "why would you need anything besides Daybreak and Overgrowth?"
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so at least this!
